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.