Albacore within range

Jim Niemiec

Schools of albacore moved into the outer channel waters this week and

provided pretty good early season action for party boats and private

yachts running out of Newport Harbor. Captain Norris Tapp at Davey’s

Locker in Balboa reported that the overnight sportfisher “Tail Chaser”

fished an area just southwest of San Clemente Island returning to the

dock with a dozen albies. The fish were within 55 miles of the coast in

an area known as the 181 spot. This area showed lots of bait, good color

and the right water temperature to hold fish for awhile.

Todd Garrett of Newport Beach was one of the lucky anglers to be on

board the “Tail Chaser,” captained by Bill Gorham of Newport, when a jig

strike stopped the boat. With plenty of good hook bait in the live well,

Garrett cast off the stern and got bit and landed a 17-pound longfin for

top fish honors of the day.

With schools of albacore staging off Baja Norte it looks like it could

be a good long season for local anglers fishing on sport boats out of

Davey’s Locker, Newport Landing Sportfishing and Bongos Sportfishing

Charters. The “Pacific Star” will be scheduling overnight trips with

limited loads out of the Pavilion while Newport Landing has already

started booking trips on the “Ultra,” a 50-footer that can accommodate

fish and anglers on its extended day trips to outer waters.

Both Catalina and San Clemente islands continue to produce for

anglers. Paul Chadwell of Newport Beach decked a 25-pound yellowtail

while fishing on the “Pacific Star” at San Clemente during a pretty good

pick on the yellows with squid for bait. Catalina has slowed a little for

white seabass due to fewer squid and nasty weather on the back side.

There are reports of yellowtail boiling in the chum line, but few hookups

have been reported by the sport fleet.

Locally, along the beach, barracuda are playing hide and seek. One day

big schools pop up off the oil rigs and Huntington flats producing limit

fishing on logs with the catch being made equally well on jigs and live

bait, while other days offer up limited catches. Sergio Fainzstein of

Costa Mesa fished on the 3/4-day boat “Freelance” earlier this week and

topped off his catch of big barracuda with an 8 1/2-pounder caught on a

blue and white jig cast into a school of breezing barries outside the

offshore oil rigs.

Good word on fishing is coming up from Cabo. The water temperature is

holding in the low 80s and blue water game fish have moved into calm

waters along Baja’s east coast.

Calm waters produced catches of dorado weighing to 50 pounds and a

number of striped marlin weighing up to 125 pounds that were released

while fishing on board fast sportfishers of the Amateur fleet. Lures and

live bait accounted equally for each day’s catch. Harbor area anglers

heading down to Cabo for a summertime fishing trip need to take note that

Alaska Airlines no longer allows fresh fish to be packed in ice for the

flight home.

Seems you will need to find dry ice somewhere in Cabo or at other

resorts along the East Cape, but no locations or prices were available at

the airport prior to the flight back to LAX.