THEY’RE HOOKED : Most Predictable Thing About Albacore Is That They’re Unpredictable

As unwilling albacore were rapidly joining passengers aboard the Pacific Queen recently, it caused Jim Leisure to reminisce.

Leisure, 66, has been fishing local waters for untold years. However, catching albacore as if they were bluegill in an overpopulated lake was a new experience.

“This is the best day I’ve ever seen as far as albacore are concerned,” Leisure said. “It’s an awfully big ocean for them to hide in, isn’t it? Sometimes, they are like today. We hit a spot, and look at the albacore we caught.”

When Leisure had boarded the boat, he spotted a good omen. Among the passengers was 59-year-old Dr. Lelland Fletcher, considered one of the area’s top albacore fishermen.

Fletcher once caught 21 albacore on an all-day journey. He caught 18 on this trip.

While Fletcher was fighting No. 18 late in the afternoon, Leisure noticed his struggle.

“Hey Doc,” Leisure said. “Aren’t you getting tired, yet?”

“No sir,” Fletcher replied. “I’m not getting tired, I’m getting younger.”

Albacore fishing can keep the Dr. Fletchers of this world young at heart. His twice-a-week albacore excursions definitely keep him active.

It was a good day for all 12 passengers on the Pacific Queen. Each caught at least one albacore. The total fish count for paying passengers was 58 albacore and one bigeye tuna. Crew members also caught numerous fish, but theirs don’t count in the daily totals.

Things could have been a lot worse.

“The most predictable thing about albacore is that they’re unpredictable,” said Eddie McEwen, Jr., captain of the Pacific Queen. “Two weeks ago, we caught 170 fish in one day at one spot. We went back to the same spot the next day and caught zero.”

Albacore fishing is hit-and-miss in many ways.

The season generally begins the first week of June and may run as late as November. Normally, the season ends in mid-October as it did in 1984.

Albacore boats are offered by Fishermen’s Landing, H&M; Landing, Point Loma Sportfishing and Lee Palm’s Sportfishers on San Diego Bay, as well as Seaforth and Islandia on Mission Bay. Boats generally leave at 11 p.m. and return the next day about 10 p.m. The number of seagoing boats each day depends on the number of passengers.

Recent boats have been going 55 to 60 miles southeast to the Inner Bank, located 20 miles off Ensenada. The boat ride usually lasts six to seven hours each way.

All seemed calm on the Pacific Ocean when the Pacific Queen made its recent journey.

The sun peeked through the clouds on the eastern horizon. The 12 sleepy passengers aboard had been awakened by 6 a.m. for their day of fishing.

Suddenly, that lazy morning came alive.

“Hook up,” yelled one of the deck hands, causing passengers to scramble for their poles.

The hook up was by Jim Leisure, who had been trolling as the boat made its way to the southeast. It signaled that albacore were in the vicinity.

As it turned out, Lesiure lost his hook up. He caught two albacore later in the day.

“You can blame what happened at the first stop on me,” Lesiure said. “I got the fish clear to the surface, then he flipped off.”

Leisure was somewhat apologetic because an old theory has it that if one albacore is lost, the rest tend to shy away from the boat. Later in the day, when several albacore were lost at the last stop, the theory proved to be false.

Just four fish were brought aboard at the first stop. Fletcher caught two, Jerry Weiser caught one and Kirt Reynolds caught one. Weiser is the boat’s cook and self-described “PR man.” Reynolds is the second captain. Only the most experienced of fishermen had made connections at the first stop.

As the trip progressed, passengers were wondering when the big catch might occur. The second stop did not produce any fish, but the third resulted in eight albacore. When the fish stopped biting at a location for a short period of time, it was time for McEwen to move the boat on.

Before the fourth stop, Mike Hayward was trolling from the back of the boat. Hayward, a 29-year-old employee of Long Beach Oil Development, brought aboard a bigeye tuna estimated at 80 pounds while trolling.

After four stops with limited success, the 12 fishermen aboard the Pacific Queen were primed for action. The outlook appeared dim when three fishermen trolled for the next half an hour without a bite.

However, Leisure was about to make amends for his earlier loss.

“Hook up,” he yelled, causing a deck hand to echo his words. This time, Leisure landed the fish.

It was the beginning of the end for nearly four dozen albacore. Within the next two hours, a school of albacore weighing primarily between 20 and 30 pounds were brought aboard.

After the final fish of the day had been landed, a dozen fishermen reflected on their accomplishments. It was time to tell fish stories on the way home.

Leisure had perhaps the most unbelievable story. He recalled the time that he and another fisherman hooked the same albacore simultaneously. They brought the fish aboard the boat, and, as Leisure recalled the story, the other angler was given the fish.

Meanwhile, Fletcher was more than willing to share secrets on the key to catching albacore.

Fletcher said you could tell a good fisherman by the number of poles he brought along. According to Fletcher, a good fisherman brings at least three poles with varying test lines. Fletcher had brought aboard four poles this day with test lines of 15, 20, 25 and 40 pounds.

Experience, he said, is the most important aspect for a fisherman.

“If you want to catch fish, you have to fish hard,” he said. “You can’t just stand at the rail for half an hour. If you don’t get a bite in one minute, go find the biggest, liveliest bait you can and change your bait. If somebody else catches one, ask ‘em which test line they used. There are a lot of factors involved.”

Inexperienced fishermen also did well this day. Brian Salazar, 10, of Corona del Mar was making his first albacore trip. He caught three.

Dan Salazar, 34, said he owned a 16-foot outboard boat and had taken his son fishing before. However, the full-day boat was a new experience for Brian.

“I was kind of concerned when I brought him,” Salazar said. “A young kid could get bored if the fishing wasn’t good. Fortunately, it was good. He did great. He didn’t get seasick or whine about anything.”

There was a five-man crew aboard. McEwen was captain, Reynolds the second captain, Weiser the cook and PR man, and the deck hands were Tim and Chris Ekstrom.

McEwen’s responsibility was to find the best locations by spotting albacore on the boat’s depth recorder. Reynolds looked ahead through binoculars, helping McEwen spot boils of fish where the boat would stop. All crew members gaffed fish when they were brought to the boat, in addition to answering questions from passengers.

Reynolds, 19, said he began fishing with his father as a small child. He, along with other younger crew members, find their jobs difficult at times.

“It’s hard for a young guy like me to tell an older person how to fish,” Reynolds said. “They might have been fishing 20 years before I was born, and they tell me that. But I fish everyday. Fishing has changed a lot.”

According to Leisure, a veteran fisherman, the fishing was good because of the deck hands. Tim Ekstrom, who was chumming (throwing bait in the water), had the responsibility of keeping fish near the boat.

“Albacore are touchy,” Ekstrom said. “Every bite is different. You’ll get into albacore where you have to throw solid handfuls (to keep them near the boat). Today, I was throwing nothing but two at a time. If you break your pattern and throw three, you might send them away.”

Instead, Ekstrom kept the fish near the boat and sent fishermen home happy.

Before the trip, each fisherman had contributed $2 toward a jackpot for the biggest fish of the day. Hayward’s 80-pound bigeye tuna was the biggest, but it didn’t count because the tuna was caught while Hayward was trolling. That’s against jackpot rules. Fletcher had a 30-pound albacore thought to be the biggest on the boat. However, Times photographer Barbara Martin tied Fletcher for the biggest catch.

When Fletcher was asked what he would do with 18 albacore, he had a standard answer. He gives his fish away to passengers on each trip.

“It’s like when you are playing golf,” Fletcher said. “Your score is what counts. My score today was 18 albacore. I feel like I won.”