Marlin fishing erupts

A huge migration of striped marlin into local waters has really

turned the off shore fishery around in the channel. The marlin showed

early last week for a couple of days, fishing then fell off due to

winds and chop, but great fishing returned earlier this week around

the 181 Spot.

Private yachts and sportfishers competing in the Riviera/Zane Grey

invitational Marlin tournament got into a wide-open bite on billfish.

Twenty-nine boats competed in the three day tournament based out of

Avalon and hooked 91 marlin and posted a record release rate of 92

percent. There were two large marlin boated during the Zane Grey

tournament that was based on a modified release format. Lynn Jasper

of Dana Point, fishing on her sportfisher Wait N Sea landed a 209

pound marlin and the Brian Collins team, fishing on the Sea Jewel,

also boated a 209 pounder.

Water conditions were almost ideal for marlin fishing with lots of

bait in the area of the 181 that held fish in the area for most of

week. Captains reported seeing good numbers of tailers and feeding

spikebills and the outlook for next week’s Hatteras Catalina Classic

Marlin tournament is excellent.

Most of the marlin that were hooked this past week ate drop-backed

green mackerel that would come up on E.A.L. marlin lures. Anglers

also would cast live baits to sleepers from the bow and many bill

fishermen were successful in getting a bait out in front of a tailing

marlin that would turn and attack a well cast greenie.

When the westerly winds backed off better fishing for yellowfin

tuna, dorado and yellowtail rewarded anglers on overnight trips to

the fishing grounds. This outdoor editor fished an Osterkamp Trucking

charter on the sportfisher First String in an area about 40 miles

southwest of Point Loma that accounted for some chunky tuna hooked

under a massive school of feeding porpoise.

Locally fishing remains good for bonito, calico bass and a few

yellowtail are being hooked at the islands. Yellowfin tuna and

yellowtail are being targeted by over night boats making the longer

run out to the blue water. Surf fishing is also holding up for the

early fall season with good numbers of barred perch, corbina, sharks

and a few big halibut being caught on the morning tides. Sand crabs

are still the bait of choice for most species swimming in the surf

line, but there are days that artificial Gulp worms, rigged Carolina

style, are producing for anglers practicing “catch and release”

fishing along the Newport and Huntington Beach coast lines.