Kayaker lands record yellowtail off La Jolla...

Kurt Hoffman celebrated the recent lunar eclipse in a really big and memorable way.

Hoffman, an avid waterman who fishes from his kayak, landed what is believed to be the heaviest yellowtail ever caught by a kayak angler. His 55-pound yellowtail that he caught off La Jolla tops the 50.65-pound yellowtail landed by kayak angler Larry Laumann in November of 2005. Hoffman was fishing from his Hobie peddle kayak.

Hoffman said he was about to call it a day around 8 a.m. when he noticed a fellow kayak angler he had launched with at 4 a.m. The angler was fighting a fish, so Hoffman slid by. He had used his glow light to land 10 or so squid for bait, but he used them up on sand bass and calicos. He picked up a few more squid baits from the other kayaker and sent one down.

Hoffman said the yellowtail caps off an incredible fishing year for him from his kayak and his Boston Whaler. He and his son, Lucas, caught big yellowtail, white seabass and a 120-pound thresher shark from their Whaler.

Hoffman said he fished infrequently, but his trips were productive and produced 20 white seabass, including a 63-pounder, and 19 yellowtail that included the 55-pounder. He also caught and released black seabass, including one that he hooked the same day he landed the record yellowtail.

Paul Lebowitz, an editor with Kayak Angler Magazine, said he believes Hoffman’s catch is the best ever by a kayaker for yellowtail.

Hoffman checked with John Campbell, an International Game Fish Association representative who runs the annual Yellowtail Derby, and Campbell told him the largest yellowtail on record in the Yellowtail Derby was a 53-pounder.

Hoffman believes that this catch is a testament to the fact that the fisheries are very healthy and the current regulations are working very well to protect our great local resources.

Local Angler to Lead U.S. Team in International Fishing Tournament

Local kayak angler Morgan “Roosta” Promnitz of Carlsbad will lead a group of four from the Hobie Fishing Team as they compete Oct. 27-30 in the inaugural Hobie Kayak Fishing World Championships in Australia.

In addition to Promnitz, who is Hobie Fishing’s product manager, the U.S. team includes Keeton Eoff, Hobie’s marketing manager, Jackie Smith, Hobie’s team ambassador and Jose Chavez, Hobie’s fishing team regional manager. They will be part of an 18-team competition, representing five countries that include the U.S., Singapore, Thailand, South Korea and Australia.

The event is by invitation only and will be held in Port Macquarie along the New South Wales coast. The competition will be on Australia’s tidal rivers, where the kayakers will fish for golden bream. They’ll be outfitted in identically-rigged Hobie Mirage Pro Anglers.

Plastic debris found in 1 out of 10 fish sampled....

Source: SD Union-Tribune

Scientists from Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UCSD found evidence of plastic in more than 9 percent of the stomachs of fish collected during their voyage to the subtropical gyre, a giant swirling water mass in the middle of the north Pacific. Study authors Peter Davison and Rebecca Asch detailed their findings in the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series.

Of the 141 fishes spanning 27 species dissected for the study, Davison and Asch found 9.2 percent contained plastic debris, primarily broken-down bits smaller than a human fingernail. They said the number understates the true ingestion rate of plastics because fish may regurgitate the pieces, pass it through their digestive systems or even die from eating them.

Plastic debris can kill marine life and could have more insidious effects, such as concentrating poisons in larger species. The majority of fish examined in the study were myctophids, commonly called lanternfish because of their luminescent tissue.

Scripps officials have talked about another plastic-sampling voyage, perhaps to the southern hemisphere, but they said that none are planned.

Plastic pieces in the ocean are from garbage discarded on land and sea -- everything from plastic grocery bags to fishing nets. It eventually converges in an area known as the North Pacific Gyre, where trade winds can trap it for years.

The north Pacific gyre is rarely visited by ships and it has been understudied by scientists, leaving many open questions about marine debris in the area and its long-term effects on the marine environment.

Lake Poway - April 24...Fishing the Spawn

Got to Lake Poway around 6:00 am. Got in the boat and headed straight out to the other side of the opposite the boat dock looking for late spawners.

Just cruised the shoreline for 4 hours and was able to pick off a few late spawners, mostly males biggest one was probably close to a 4-pounds. Weather was cloudy, cold and windy which made it hard for sight fishing. It made it tough to see but also made it hard to hold the boat in position.

It is also spring break so the lake was super crowded, lots of boat in the water and lots shore fishermen as well. Decided to leave between 10:30 to 11:00 am. Fishing was okay, some late spawners but I think the spawn is pretty much over at Lake Poway...

Bed Fishing - Lake Poway

Since the weather was going to be warm, I decided to take off work and hit up one of my favorite fishing hole, Lake Poway.

Got to the lake around 7:30 am, yes I over slept a little. Asked the ranger how the trout fishing was and he said that it had shutdown because of the warm weather, but told me that the bass fishing was great. So, got my boat on the water by 8:00 am. Headed straight out across the lake from the boat ramp to the other end of the bouy line. Awesome, there were only three other boats in the lake.

A little breezy making the water a little choppy, so started out throwing spinnerbait. Got 3 bass in the first 15 minutes. The wind died down not too long after and the lake went glassy, I looked down on the water and there were spawning beds all over with fish on every one of the them. Tied on jigs and picked them off like crazy. I probably ended up fishing about 100 yard of shoreline and ended up landing 17 and had a few come unbuttoned. Definitely one of my better day of fishing in a while. Hear are some photos...

Quit fishing right around 12:30 pm, just got too hot out (90+ degrees) with no shades to hide the boat in. Plan to come back again this coming weekend or maybe during the week next week.

IGFA approves 405 pounder world-record yellowfin tuna

IGFA president Rob Kramer has made it official on Monday, that Angler Mike Livingston's 405.2-pound yellowfin caught on Capt. Mike Lackey’s Vagabond on Nov. 30, 2010 is now the all-tackle, world record. The fish shattered what is the most coveted record of all for long-range anglers who take multi-day voyages for big fish on San Diego-based boats. It broke the mark of 388 pounds, 11 ounces set by Curt Wisenhutter on the Royal Polaris on April 1, 1977 at Clarion Island of the Revillagigedo Islands.

The official announcement will be made at at a press conference Thursday at the Vagabond booth at the Fred Hall Fishing Tackle and Boat Show in Long Beach from Wednesday through Sunday. It also will be at the Fred Hall Show in Del Mar from March 24-27 and at Day at the Docks in Point Loma on Apri 17. Also, the IGFA plans to honor the two Mikes at a reception Friday night when the IGFA will honor new IGFA Chairman of the Board Paxson Offield, the first Californian to be named to that position.

Aquaculture Plan to boost fish-farming in oceans

Federal ocean officials on Wednesday released draft policies designed to increase the supply of domestic seafood, generate jobs, spur innovation and boost coastal ecosystems. They have implications for the coastal waters of San Diego County, where a major fish farm was proposed about two years ago but since stalled.

The Department of Commerce said Wednesday that it aims to:

1) Create a business climate and technological base for industry to develop sustainable aquaculture in the United States that provides domestic jobs, products, and services while conserving aquatic resources.

2) Support environmentally sound and sustainable aquaculture innovation that increases the value of domestic aquaculture production and creates American business, jobs, and trade opportunities.

3) Advance scientific knowledge to develop and refine aquaculture technologies and methods to improve production, safeguard the environment, and sustain local food and cultural benefits.

4) Support the development and application of aquaculture technologies that provide economic and/or ecological value by enhancing or restoring depleted, threatened, and endangered wild fish stocks and restoring habitat (e.g., oyster reefs).