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BY MERIT McCREA
OCEANSIDE/SAN DIEGO — Over the past week bluefin tuna schools fanned into U.S. waters, with some schools finding abundant bait schools within a handful of miles of the coast between Oceanside and Newport. One of the hottest zones was just a couple of miles off Dana Point midweek.
By Sunday the charter fleet was working areas from just outside the Nine-Mile Bank west of Point Loma, up into the Catalina Gulf with a focus in the region about 15 miles east of San Clemente Island.
The best coastal flash was Wednesday before much of the private boater fleet got on the fish. The first signs were actually a week ago Sunday, with the Chubasco II making a crew-trip dash for local limits Monday just north of Oceanside.
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, 36 calicos and 33 yellows. The <em>Vendetta</em> had 48 calicos and 32 yellows for 12 folks Thursday.</p>
<p>Half-day fishing was good too, with Mission Bay-based <em>New Seaforth</em> getting calicos and barracuda locally. On Sunday 30 anglers took 70 keeper calico.</p>
<p>From San Diego Bay the <em>Premier</em> put 49 on 68 sand bass Saturday afternoon, while the a.m. run had produced 62 keepers for 45 folks. Monday that boat put a 10-year-old slinging a surface iron onto a hog yellow too, at 41 pounds!</p>
<p>Out of Oceanside, the<em> Oceanside 95</em> was on the bluefin and had plenty of openings for anglers. They had 8 of their 24 fish into the triple digits. With San Diego proper-based boats running at capacity, the <em>O’95</em> may be the opportunity anglers need to book as the focus moves to areas actually closer to O’side Harbor than just about any other.</p>
<p>At the SEA Center, the newly re-commissioned <em>Southern Cal</em> put one of those bluefin on deck on a half-day trip Friday, the perfect complement to local calico bass also in their catch that morning.</p>
<p>Most of the local effort was surface oriented, with lots of calico caught and released. But the <em>Chubasco II</em> kept the tuna schools in sight while out fishing rockfish on 3/4-day.</p>
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