FAIR GAME

Fat tuna

After the frenzy was over off Mexico’s Pacific coast, the Excel’s Shawn Steward filed the best report of his young career as a long-range sportfishing captain. “Everybody on board has at least one tuna over 150 pounds,” he said. “And we have only four people on board who do not have a 200-pounder. We have one that taped out at 303 pounds. We’re [releasing] everything under 180 pounds, because the boat’s almost full.”

Nearby, at an undisclosed location off Mexico’s west coast, the captains of the Red Rooster III and Royal Polaris were also filling their holds to the brim with giant yellowfin tuna.

So many big fish so early in the long-range season seems to suggest that the loss of a prime fishing spot, the Revillagigedo Islands, hasn’t decimated big tuna runs in the area. “It’s the best fishing we’ve seen in a year and a half, and as good as some of the best fishing we’ve ever seen,” Steward noted.

The Revillagigedo Islands, located more than 200 miles south of Baja California and 400 miles west of the Mexican mainland, were ruled off-limits in April 2002 when the Mexican government decided to ban sportfishing within the Revillagigedo Islands Biosphere Reserve.

The announcement surprised landing operators, since Eastern Pacific yellowfin tuna stocks were considered healthy. Unable to sway Mexico, they were left to wonder about the fate of a multimillion-dollar fleet built specifically for fishing the islands.

The search for alternative sites began last winter. Clipperton Atoll, about 600 miles southwest of Acapulco, and Hurricane Bank, west of the Revillagigedos, had been fished previously with good results, but they were not reliable because of the presence of so many sharks -- which can wreak havoc on a tuna bite -- and unpredictable weather. The focus shifted to areas closer to the mainland.

Cleophus Bank, off Puerto Vallarta, quickly produced big tuna and has become a new mainstay. The Roy Rose Bank, an uncharted seamount discovered by the Royal Polaris skipper, has become another.

But the captains hauling in the monster tuna are mum about the exact whereabouts of the seamounts they now fish, not wanting to alert yacht owners or commercial fishermen. Steward referred to his location simply as the “Lower Banks below Cabo [San Lucas],” where “there is no shortage of tuna.”

Panamania

While the captains of the dozen or so long-range vessels operating out of San Diego’s three largest landings -- Fisherman’s, H&M; and Point Loma -- are content to ply the waters off Baja and mainland Mexico, two have headed much farther south, operating off Panama.

Tim Ekstrom and Randy Toussaint, co-captains of the Royal Star, will relocate to Panama for six weeks and run four eight-day fly-down, fly-back trips beginning Feb. 17. The $4,000 price tag does not include airfare but does include two nights in a hotel -- and as many giant tuna as passengers can handle.

This will be their second season in the Central American nation. The first was largely experimental. “It has been known in the sportfishing world as a premier yellowfin tuna fishery, but none of the San Diego sport boats have gone down there,” Ekstrom said. “In my opinion it is the only destination on the west coast, besides the Revillagigedo Islands and some of the places south of Baja, that offers anglers a significant opportunity at catching a giant yellowfin -- something over 200 pounds.”

Most passengers fly home with 100 pounds of fresh-frozen tuna fillets, Ekstrom added, while the rest is donated to a fishermen’s association that benefits the families of those killed or seriously injured at sea.

Reel world

Fishing for a living has its drawbacks. Larry Nixon, 53, a bass pro from Arkansas, recently underwent surgery to repair an injury caused by decades of casting and reeling. Doctors fused two small bones in his right hand to his wrist, and the cast he has worn for eight weeks was recently removed.

He hopes to be ready for the 2004 Citgo Bassmasters Tour, but admits he has some serious rehabbing to do beforehand. “My first cast went backward,” he said. “I tried to cast a couple of days ago just to see if I could hold my spool down and I couldn’t.”

Meanwhile, Bernie Schultz, 49, a bass pro from Florida, has spent the off-season recovering from a severe herniated disk in his neck, presumably caused by 20 years of pounding boat rides.

To e-mail Pete Thomas or read his previous Fair Game columns, go to latimes.com/petethomas.