BY GUNDY GUNDERSON
SAN DIEGO – With long range quality and quantity in local waters, the fleet was making hay, posting limits or near limits of local bluefin. Most of the fish have been schoolies ranging from 40- to 60-pounds but there have been schools of better quality fish especially at night. Most jackpot fish have ranged up to 180 pounds. The volume of fish has been impressive. The general area is large. The prospects, going forward are excellent.
Big X on bluefin
The Excel was on the local bluefin grounds executing a series of 3- day trips. The volume and quality of fish on the local grounds can not be ignored. The big sportfisher, looking at the amount of fish, sent this report, “Incredible sign of bluefin. Scratching at them. Haven’t got the “Big Hit” yet. But it is coming, we can feel it.”
The trip wrapped up and the boat sent this report, “We returned this morning from our 3-day with an excellent grade of bluefin tuna. We had a great group of passengers with many of them coming from all parts of the country to experience their first multi-day trip. Unfortunately, we never had that “home run” school stick with us, but it’s only a matter of time until it does. We saw incredible schools everyday, managing to pick away at them throughout the trip.”
The next trip, the boat got the big hit, “We landed 111 bluefin tuna last night with everyone getting in on the action. What a way to start off a trip. We knew sooner or later it would turn and did it ever.”
The trip ended well with near limits posted, “Ended the trip just a couple short of full three-day limits of bluefin for our 33 anglers. Epic nighttime fishing. Hot jig was the Mustad 400g Rip Roller upgraded with a 5/0 treble 4X strong on the back.”
Indy on the bluefin grounds
The Independence returned from a 1.5-day with a nice catch of local bluefin. Capt. Matt Kaullen was at the wheel and sent this report, “Good fishing with a nice sample of quality fish. Just take a look at these jackpot winners, 1st place, Randy Mosteller with a 178, 2nd place, Greg Nord with a 174 and 3rd place, Ismael Jimenez with a 160. Very nice fish.”
The group then departed on a 3-day. Capt. Brian Pifer filed this report, “We left Friday on our Foreman 3-Day Trip with a great group of guys and gals. Headed south to the bluefin zone and had a tough go around. For two days we tried and tried, but had little results for our efforts. The last day Captain Brian decided to change up the game and go look for big ones. Last night we put the cherry on top of the trip. We had 42 bluefin, 25 of them went from 80 to 160 pounds and the rest being 30 to 50 pounds. Everyone was super stoked and had a killer trip. The JP Winners were, 1st place, Chris Graff with a 162-pound bluefin, 2nd place, Perry Gallup with a 161-pound and 3rd place, Scott Lindberg with a 144-pound bluefin tuna. Three toads.”
Intrepid on local bluefin
The Intrepid was also in the mix targeting the quality local bluefin. Capt. Bil Cavanaugh was at the wheel and sent this report after a successful 3-day, “We arrived home this morning from a very successful 3-day trip. Our final tally was 132 bluefin tuna that were mostly 40 to 60 pounds with six over 100 pounds, and another 10 over 70 pounds. Our jackpot winners for the trip are as follows: third place went to Ethan Schaffer with a 162.9- pound bluefin tuna, second place went to Ron Fogarty with a 164.6- pound bluefin, and first place goes to Kyle Jons with a 170.8-pound bluefin tuna.”
The boat embarked on another productive 3-day. Cavanaugh sent this wrap, “We returned home this morning with a beautiful load of bluefin tuna. We had great opportunitys throughout the trip. We had decent daytime action yesterday with a few schools that wanted to bite for us. We also managed to scrape up a few yellows in the process. Fly-line with 30-pound test and a small hook was the best method for getting a bite. The first night was our best fishing with lots of action throughout the night. Several stops kept things interesting for us. Jackpot winners go as follow, 1st place, Chris Kang with a 51-pound bluefin tuna, 2nd place, Greg Morris with a 45.6-pound bluefin and 3rd place, Brian Kim with 45-pound bluefin.”
