San Diego - At The Docks

Saturday, September 22 was a good day for trips returning from week-long trips. The four rigs that arrived in the morning had very good to excellent catches of mixed yellowtail, yellowfin and bluefin tuna, some chubby albacore and a few dorado. The Independence even had three wahoo in the catch. There were a few old-timers in the crowd to meet them. One of those was Charles Hunter a well-known jig fisherman not much seen for the past ten years. The catches were sweet, even exceptional.

“Excellent Fall Fishing”

Owner-skippers Tim Ekstrom and Randy Toussaint were both aboard Royal Star for her latest seven-day adventure, docking the boat at Fisherman’s Landing September 22. There were 25 anglers aboard with them, including chartermaster Tim Marshall, a North County firefighter.

“This is just excellent fall fishing,” remarked Toussaint, “and we had Roecker weather the whole trip.” We had stellar bluefin fishing on the first day, along with 15 big albacore.”

Bobby Seitz of San Diego won first place for a 52-pound yellowfin tuna. He posed for Bill Roecker’s camera with a typical fish from the trip. He said he got the big one with a sardine on a 5/0 Mustad J hook on 40-pound P-Line and 65-pound Power Pro spectra on an Accurate BX-2 500 reel and a seven and a half-foot Seeker Hercules rod.

Jack Middleton of San Diego won second place for a 46.7-pounder, and Brian Hedrick of Ventura won third place for a 43-pound yellowfin tuna.

“Bountiful Ocean”

Brian Kiyohara arrived next with his American Angler, docking at Pt. Loma Sportfishing with a fine mixed catch.

“It’s a bountiful ocean out there right now,” he said.

Glenn Bummer of La Crescenta won first place for a 48-pound yellowfin he said he got with a sardine on a 2/0 Mustad ringed circle hook, 30-pound Seaguar Premier fluorocarbon, 80-pound Line One spectra, a Trinidad 12 reel and a Seeker 870 rod. He also got the trip’s best albacore, a fish in the 30’s, on a Mean Joe Green Zucker’s jig. Skipper Kiyohara posed with that one.

Raj Nal of West Covina won second place for a 47-pound tuna, and Rick McPherson of Santee won third place for his 46.8-pound yellowfin tuna.

Halco Jig Takes Trolling Jacket

The Rob Pennel Group arrived at H&M Landing on the Red Rooster III under skipper Andy Cates’ hand, following a six-day trip that produced near-limits of yellowtail and tuna.

Brent Johnson of Ontario won first place for a 51.2-pound yellowfin that sucked in his sardine on a 4/0 Mustad J hook, 40-pound Seaguar Premier fluorocarbon, 40-pound Izorline on a Newell 440 reel and a Calstar 6470 rod.

John Daniel of Fallbrook got a 43.2-pounder, and John Antolin of Placentia won third place for a 42-pound yellowfin tuna. Joe Bayless of Reno won the trolling jacket for a 47-pound tuna he got with a new Halco jig. He posed on the right with the jackpot winners.

On The First Stop

Jeff DeBuys docked Independence at Pt. Loma Sportfishing after a seven-day trip with 24 anglers. The trip was sponsored by Save-On Tackle of Santa Fe Springs, and chartermaster was Tom Spayne, who wanted to offer a special thanks to Matt Salas for his generous donation of jigs, including some 7X surface jigs, which produced most of the yellowtail caught, according to the fishermen.

“We got into it on the first stop of the trip,” remarked DeBuys, “and when the smoke cleared we had ten of those big bluefin. We had our chances; it was what it was. I’d rate the trip a ten.”

What it was; ten big tuna up to 134 pounds, probably the best little group of the season.

Taking the best bluefin of his life was Mark Conroy of Granada Hills. His 134-pounder got first place. He said he bagged it with a 3/0 Owner offshore hook on 40-pound Seaguar Premier fluorocarbon, 40-pound Big Game line and 65-pound spectra. It fought for a hour and a half on his Avet LX reel and a Calstar 700 H rod.

Brett Edmondson of Santa Clarita won second place for a 133.8-pound bluefin. Close behind him was Don Klahs of Valencia, who brought home a 128.6-pound tubby bluefin tuna.

World Records For Blue Star Jack

Kathy Rounds of San Diego, long ranger and rep for Izorline and Accurate, has been awarded two world records from the IGFA. The records are for All-Tackle and 30-pound class line. The catch was made at Clipperton Atoll last April 13. The 29-pound, three-ounce bluefin Trevally (the species official name) was caught on a Salas 7X jig, 25-pound Izorline, an Accurate reel and a Calstar rod. Following is the species description as posted on the IGFA’s official site:

“Cuvier & Valenciennes, 1833; CARANGIDAE FAMILY; also called blue spotted jack, starry jack, blue crevally, omilu, bluefin kingfish. The bluefin trevally is widely distributed in the tropical and subtropical waters of the Indian and Pacific oceans. It can be found on the Pacific coast of America from Cabo San Lucas on the southern tip of Baja, California, Mexico, and the Islas Revillagigedos and Tres Marias to Panama.”