Dorados and Bonitos

Short report on my fishing ventures from the Labor Day weekend. Had a late start on Saturday, didn't launch until 8:00. Left the dock at 8:15, got bait and off to open water at about 8:45.

Headed out 20+ mile northwest of Pt. Loma and started the day trolling. Had 4 trolling rods out when we ran in to school of bonitos, all rods were hooked up. Took quite a bit of coordination and luck but got them all in and released. 

Kept trolling while also keeping eye floating kelps and diving birds. A couple of hours in to it, we saw a single bird sitting on a small floating kelp. We stop short of it and my buddy started throwing surface iron without any takers. So I decided to toss out a flylined sardine and got bit right away. I thought it was a yellowtail at first till it jumped out of the water and saw those beautiful colors, it was a Dorado. We started chumming live sardines right away and were able keep them there for awhile. We managed to pick off 5 dorados and and lost 2 in that little kelp paddy.

It's been windy and rough waters all day, so after the dorado bite shot off, we decided to call off the day. On our way back, we were lucky enough run into diving bird just outside the jetty. It was wide open bite on nice size calicos and small baracudas. They were biting on irons, plastics and the rest of the live sardines. It was definitely a fun day! PS...caught my PB (personal best) biggest dorado on this trip.

Mission Beach Surf Fishing - July 13

Since low tide is at 7:00 am, decide to get there around 5:30 to catch the outgoing tide. Turned out to be a good decision.

First cast, hooked up a nice size yellowfin croaker and then it was on. Seems I stumbled on a fishing hole full of yellowfin croakers which is not uncommon. Caught a nice size corvina as well.

Had some of the boys show up later on including my mate's dad Big Al Aylward visiting from New Zealand. Nice to see him catch his very first barrred surfperch. Wish we could have put him in more fish but the bite seem to have died after 7:00 am as the tide slack.

We did manage to catch a few small perch after but for sure not the same as our other outings. Here are some photos:

Here is a corvina and a croaker

Here's Big Al with a very nice Barred Surfperch

Here's my buddy Emilio with a nice Yellowfin Croaker

Some nice fish for the dinner table...

Fishing could have been better, but had lots of fun with the guys. 

Weapons of choice: 2-inch Berkley Gulf Sandworms in natural & camo colors on light tackle. Wanted to try some sandcrabs but could not find any.

Surf Fishing, Saturday June 1st

Went to Mission Beach to get some fishing in early before all the tourists overcrowds the beach. Got there around 5:30 am, overcast morning, air is in the cool side, water is warm and incoming tide.

Fishing was great early on with non-stop hook up for the first hour, then the tide started coming in and so did all the kelp. Had to work my way around the weeds in the water, after the first hour I don't think that I made a single cast without reeling back in some salad.

After awhile kinda got tired of unhooking the weeds of my hooks, fish on or not. Also, got tired of getting beat up by the surf, soaking wet and cold. Called it the day at around 8:00 am. Got  a couple of hours of fishing in, caught around 15 barred surf perch and 1 croacker.

Even with that misery, still a great morning to start the day with. Bait of choice was 2-inch Berkley Gulf Sandworms on light tackle.

Lake Poway, April 24

Took off work for the day to do some spring fishing. Got to the lake when it opened at 6:00 am, got the boat and off I went.

Weather was over cast and a little in the cool side. Started off fishing the shallows with a spinnerbait and was able hooked in to a couple, but nothing big. When the sun finally came out, decided to do some sight fishing and able to catch a few smaller male. Did really see any females, but did see a lot fry's swimming around so I figured it was in between spawn. The wind picked up and made it hard to sight fish let alone hold the boat in place. I then decided to anchor up and fish the rock pile, turned out to be a good decision. Switched to drop shot with Roboworm in bold bluegill color and just slayed them with some decent size bass.

After a couple of hours fishing that same rock pile, decided to call it a day. Ended up with 22 bass, with the biggest one at about 4 pounds. Here are some photos. Last fish was the biggest one, very long but skinny, figure it's a post spawn.

Massive Great White Caught at the Sea of Cortez

A great white shark nearly 20 feet long and weighing 2,000 pounds was reportedly hooked by commercial fishermen in the Sea of Cortez in northwestern Mexico.

The massive catch, according to local reports by Milenio News, would be one of the longest great white sharks ever recorded if verified at a length 19.8 feet, or 6 meters.

The shark, which was dead when it was brought to the surface, was netted by fishermen named Guadalupe and Baltazar, according to reports.

"We were amazed and immediately realized that we had a huge, dead, great white shark, and then we thought 'what are we going to do?'" Guadalupe told Pisces Sportfishing in Cabo San Lucas.

The fishermen towed the shark's carcass 2 miles to the beach while aboard their 22-foot-long ship. Dozens of people then helped drag the animal onto the sand, reports say.

Fishing Poway Lake...Prespawn

Took the day off from work and shot out to Poway Lake for a day of fishing. Got there around 6:00 am, a little cold and windy.

Looking to start fishing the rockpiles by the logboom, but there were a couple of boat already park there. So, I decided to hit up Hidden Bay for some structure fishing and to hopefully get out of the wind. Got there to find that I have the whole place to myself, meaning there were no other boats in there and there were no shore anglers.

Fished Hidden Bay for 3 hours and managed to catch 6 mostly on a dropshot. Caught a couple of early spawners sightfishing. There were a few fish on beds, but definitely still early for spawning. But in a couple of weeks during the next full moon, should be full blown spawn. Decide to leave Hidden Bay and brave the wind to head back to the rockpile, since the other boats had left. Caught a couple more there, then decided to leave cause I had enough of this wind. Since the rental boatsonly had trolling motors, it's very difficult to move around in a windy day like today.

Total fish count: 8 fish, biggest one at about 4 1/2 lbs.
Lures: Roboworm in Aaron's Magic color fished on a dropshot.
           Yum Money Craw in white, texas rigged.

New Arkansas largemouth bass record set....

Almost 36 years to the day, Arkansas’s largemouth bass state record has finally been broken. On Tuesday, Paul Crowder of Forrest City set the new record on Lake Dunn near Wynne. Crowder’s lunker weighed 16 pounds, 5 ounces, breaking the old record by just a single ounce.

Aaron Mardis of Memphis had held the state record since March 2, 1976. Mardis’ 16-4 fish was caught on Mallard Lake near Manilla in Mississippi County.

Crowder broke the record on the afternoon of Feb. 28 using a plastic 6-inch Mann’s jelly worm with a bullet sinker and plastic rattle in tequila sunrise. He was using an Enigma rod and reel combo purchased from Bass Pro Shops. Crowder caught the fish on Trilene 14-pound-test line. Arkansas Game and Fish Commission Fisheries Biologist Lee Holt certified the fish on a certified scale at Hayes Market in Wynne.

The fish measured 26 1/2 inches in length and was 22 3/4 inches in girth. Crowder said that he had been fishing all day for catfish without any luck.

The 80-acre lake is located in Village Creek State Park in Cross County. The AGFC is going to test the fish to see what genetic strain of bass it is, whether if is a pure northern strain of if it has Florida bass genes.

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).

33-year-old tuna world record shattered with a 405-pounder

Source: San Diego Union Tribune

Long-range fishing’s most coveted record, one that has lasted more than 33 years, was shattered Monday.

Pending approval by theInternational Game Fish Association, Mike Livingston’s 405.2-pound yellowfin tuna caught Nov. 30 on Capt. Mike Lackey's 80-foot sport boat, the Vagabond, will be the IGFA’s new all-tackle, world record. The previous record was the 388-pound, 12-ounce yellowfin caught April 1, 1977 by Curt Wiesenhutter aboard the Royal Polaris, owned then by Capt. Bill Poole.

Even if it’s not approved by the IGFA, Livingston’s tuna, which was weighed in at Point Loma Sportfishing on Monday, is the largest ever landed on rod and reel.

“This is a fish of a lifetime for Mike, for our crew, for me and the entire fleet, really,” said Capt. Lackey after the giant yellowfin was weighed in on Point Loma Sportfishing’s certified scale that was checked on Dec. 2 for certification. “When I think of all the captains like Bill Poole, Frank LoPreste and all the others who paid their dues down here, it’s just an honor to be part of catching such an incredible specimen. The whole fleet shares in this. I’m still in awe of this fish. It just sets the bar that much higher.”

Livingston, 63, of Sunland, Calif., north of Los Angeles, is a long-time angler who retired recently as a school superintendent. He called the fish “a fish of a lifetime,” and thanked Lackey and the crew for the job they did.

“It was my moment, my time,” Livingston said. “I’m certainly not the best angler, but I had enough skill to reel this one in. It was just my day.”

Bass Fishing in the Fall

Fall is a great time of the year to catch bass, if you're one of the many people who puts away those rods & reels during this time of the year, you're making a big mistake. Fall is the time for fishing and these fall bass fishing techniques will make you a much more successful bass angler.

Fall is my absolute favorite time of the year to be out in nature, especially doing what I love to do most, fishing. You can't talk about fall fishing without mentioning the beauty of nature. There is probably no better time of year to be out enjoying nature at it's best. To make you fall fishing more enjoyable, let's go over some techniques.

• Top Water - Fall is a great time of the year for top water fishing. Zara Spook, Jitterbug, and floating Rapalas are all good choices when it comes to top water fishing this time of the year. For the best results fish top water baits in the early mornings, late afternoons in to the evenings. The best time is in glassy condition, meaning the water is as flat as possible.

• Jerkbait - Bass make their fall transition along structures and contour lines. As they're moving along these structures, fishing a jerkbait can be a very effective strategy. Look shad busting the water or near the top of the water column. You can look for the shad visually or with your electronics. The bass school when moving along contour lines and feed on the shad. The bass will break the surface when feeding on shad and throwing a jerkbait into these schooling bass is a deadly. There are a lot of great jerkbaits out there, some of my favorites are a fluke or a Berkeley Gulp shad.

• Crankbaits & Spinnerbaits - Fishing Crankbaits and Spinnerbaits along the same contour lines mentioned earlier is an effective technique in the fall. The key with Crankbaits is that they look as realistic as possible, that is as much like the bass' normal forage as possible. When it comes to bass fishing in the fall, matching the color of the forage is always best.

So get out those rods and try some of the techniques just mentioned. As the water temperatures cool and oxygen levels increase bass become very active and are susceptible to all of the techniques mentioned. But most of all, go out and enjoy nature at its best.

How the weather affects fishing

All serious fishermen knows the how much the weather impacts fishing. The weather impacts the behavior of a fish, which in turn impacts fishing. Therefore, to be a successful angler you need to pay attention to the weather and how it relates to fish.

Weather is the state of the atmosphere at a given time and place, with respect to variables such as temperature, moisture, wind velocity, and barometric pressure. The part of the weather that we, as anglers, need to pay close attention of is the barometric pressure. The barometric pressure affects fish behavior to an amazing degree.

Fish can detect barometric pressure changes through their lateral lines and as the weather changes the barometric pressure changes. As the pressure changes the fish will tend to react differently. When the barometric pressure is stable, meaning that there are no fronts moving in or out of the area, the fishing will tend to be normal. On the other hand when the barometric pressure is falling (which many times means that the weather degrading or becoming worse) fish tend to become much more active. And when fish become more active the fishing tends to be much more productive. When the pressure is falling and bad weather is on the horizon, fishing can be epic.

A lot of people makes the mistake of looking outside, checking out the great weather, you know those great days with almost no clouds and and nothing but blue skies. This is when the barometric pressure is high, although these might seem like great days to go fishing, in these situations fish tend to be in deeper water and tends to be inactive. So when the weather seems to be great, the fishing can tend to be slow. 

The bottom line is that the weather and fishing go together to a much greater degree than you might think. Investing some time researching the weather and how it affects fishing will make you be a better angler.

Dropshotting For Bluegills

I was on a fishing forum the other day and ran in to this question, "Will a dropshot rig work for bluegills?". It's strange that I saw this question because I just tried this rig a few weeks ago in Lake Hemet.

Well the answer is yes, it works great. My wife and I were fishing for bass at Lake Hemet using dropshot, I was using a plastic worm and my wife was actually using nightcrawlers. Unfortunately, I only got a couple of bass that day. My wife were getting alot of strikes but none would take and everytime she reeled in, her crawlers are cut in half.

Looking at the water, we notice a lot of shadows darting underwater. So, I decided to downsize her hook and cut a nightcrawler in half. Sure enough, first cast and she hooks a really nice sunfish...then the second cast she hooks a nice bluegill. So I downsized my setup as well and we ended up catching sunfish and bluegills the whole time we were there.

So yes, the dropshot rig works great on bluegills, you just need to downsize your tackle and bait.

Could Be A New World Record Blue Catfish!

The 130-pound Blue Catfish caught by Greg Bernal in Missouri will not only break the world record by 6-pounds, but could break 3 other records.

If the report was correct that Bernal caught this big monster on 40 lb monofilament line then this big fish will break the IGFA's (International Game Fish Association) Blue Catfish all tackle world record, line class world record and the Missouri State record.

According to Bernal, he fought the big monster for 30 minutes and took him another 30 minutes just to get it in the boat. The big blue catfish is awaiting confirmation by the IGFA, Bernal said that he would mount it on the wall next to the 74 lb blue catfish that he caught previously.

Lake Fulmor - July 14th

This was the last day of our visit at Idyllwild. Checked out of our cabin at 8:00 am, had breakfast in town and headed over to Lake Fulmor to spend the rest of the day before heading home.

We've never been to the this lake before, but have heared a lot about how beautiful this place is. As we drove up and saw this lake, I would have to agree. Though is not the biggest lake, it sure is the most beautiful pond that I have ever seen.

We pulled up the parking lot accross the lake and find that there were only 2 cars there, which was awesome meaning we'd pretty much have the place all to ourselves. We walked accross to the lake and saw that there were a lot of structures such as weeds, grass, submerged trees and boulders. Although trout is the main fishery here, this definitely have the look of a prime bass & bluegill lake, the only problem is that the water on the whole lake is green from the algae bloom which happens in the warmer months. This explains why we did not get one bite in the 2 hours we fished. We just about tried everything: frogs, spinnerbait, senkos, jigs, dropshot and even tried live nightcrawlers for nothing...not even a nibble. I would guess that the best fishing here will be in the colders month, winter and spring. I would not recommend coming here in the summer for fishing, unless you just want to come up and enjoy the tranquil surrounding and relax.

Anyways, stayed here for a couple of hours and headed home. Although we did not catch any fish, Lake Fulmor is the definitely a jewel in the mountain. We truely fell in love with this fond and will definitely come back here in the future.