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After several tries we finally got our first trip of the year off in the first week of June on a perfect day. Although the day didn't start well when we lost all the bait, It turns out the yellowtail on the 213 Bank enjoyed the 'swimming challanged' bait. It was easier on the fisherman too. You could tell when you were bit when your bait revived and swam off ! We went on to find a school of willing (small) albacore 5 miles above the 220 that set the stage for much of the summer.The next week we limited by 8 in the morning fishing this school, and the next several trips worked this school of smaller fish. There were so many fish around that even the Skipper got to fish occasionally. Skipper
Towards the end of June a few bigger fish arrived in the mix and Bruce Ito managed a 40lb albacore on another nice day in june at the Butterfly Bank. Bruce
In the first week of July The ocean warmed substantially and the albacore were not having what we offered. We saw many small tuna gamboling in the warm water or posing for the fathometer but came home only with half a dozen small fish. One in the 15 to 20 lb range was caught by Tom Smith on bait at a Paddy Tom the remainder were tiny. Yellowtail and some classic Paddy fishing provided limits of some nice 15 lb fish before the day was over. Wayne
The cooler water returned the next week on our first trip to San Clamente this year and produced the seasons first quality albacore. August started slowly with scratchy trips to the Butterfly and the 295 banks in choppy weather and we earned the few albacore, yellowtail and Dorado. After a month off for a New Zealand trip we returned to the Mushroom bank for wide open fishing on smaller Albacore. As the bite on the smaller fish faded we picked up several larger albacore one at 21 Kg Jeff . one 25 lb bluefin and 4 nice Dorado.
In late september Our first attempt at tournament fishing got blown out Oh well maybe next year !
After a couple of false starts the last trip of the year in mid october made it out of the Harbor thru a thick pea soup that had boats groping their way out the channel at near idle speeds. The trip turned out to be a great trip to the Airplane Bank. The school we fished at the Mushroom a few weeks ago had grown a bit and we ended up with over 30 somewhat bigger albacore and one nice Bluefin from the Airplane Bank. Bruce On the way back we picked up a dozen or more fish on 2 very nice Paddys. Indeed it was difficult to drag both Skipper and crew from a very nice Dorado bite at about 6PM near the 390 spot. Nick and Arno The trip home on a flat ocean as the moon rose over the Mexican coast and the sun faded into the ocean (above) was a delight and the return to a fog free San Diego Bay entrance was a relief.
Next Season promises a mild El Nino and should provide another year of great fishing.