BY DAVE HURLEY
HALF MOON BAY – It was Elvis in 1957 who sang, “You’ll be doing alright
With your Christmas of white. But I’ll have a blue, blue, blue, blue Christmas.” Elvis certainly wasn’t a fan of a Blue Christmas, but there are some very dedicated northern California anglers who braved the offshore elements during the brief weather windows after Christmas Day to enjoy a ‘Blue Christmas,’ that’s a ‘Bluefin Christmas.’
It takes a certain type of individual to head out into unknown waters, burning gallons of fuel, braving the elements, to have the belief that bluefin tuna are still hanging around offshore in 54.5-degree water in late December. Bluefin fishing without prior information in a huge ocean is ‘like finding a needle in a haystack.” Steve Carson, aka ‘Senor Tuna,’ said, “The bluefin obviously didn’t read the book as there were several big ones caught during this brief window. The problem with hunting them down during the winter is the weather is deadly. The migration pattern of the Eastern Pacific bluefin has changed since 2016, and I’m impressed about the people who scouted that little window for success, however, I still hold to my credo, ‘No fish is worth dying for.’” Carson will be conducting seminars on all things bluefin during the upcoming International Sportsmen’s Exposition in Sacramento.
Ryan Ang and his crew of his brother, Jeff Mac, and Dr. Newinski ventured out on Ang’s 21-foot Striper, the Marci Jade, on December 27, and he reported, “We got to the Half Moon Bay ramp at 6:00 am, and there wasn’t a soul in sight. The wind was ripping, and the rain was coming at us sideways, and I had to remind my buddies that no one is dying for fish today as I am responsible for calling it off if it gets too rough. Right out of the harbor was a washing machine tossing us all over the place as the wind waves were rolling and breaking on our gunnel. I watched closely because if even one wave broke over that gunnel I was going to call it. But none did, and so on we went, slow and steady. About 30 miles out, we see bird piles everywhere. We get the gear in the water and start working the birds. 30 minutes into the troll and ZZT, ZZT, ZZZZZZ!! We landed the first with a 100-pound tuna over the rail within about 10 minutes. We put the gear back in, and off we go. An hour later, another one. And another hour later, another one. All the hits were within a football field of each other with two fish on pink Mad Mac 200’s and one on a mackerel 200 trolling at 12 to 14 knots trolling at 45, 75, and 120 seconds back. All three setbacks got hit, ending up with three fish all about 100 pounds apiece. We only saw one other boat out there. I would like to note that the Marci Jade is equipped with 2 radios (1 constantly on channel 16), 2 EPRBs, 2 bilge pumps, and a radar for low visibility conditions. The Coast Guard radio only reaches 16 miles on a good day, so you NEED an EPRB if you are attempting this kind of fishing. We are serious about safety and don’t want to encourage any reckless behavior.”
Ang wasn’t the only private captain out their tuna hunting as Dave Gault landed a bluefin the following day north of the Farallon Islands near Rittenburg Bank off of the shelf on a Hot Pink Mad Mac at a setback over 1300 feet.
Ken Brown, owner of Bodega Tackle in Petaluma said, “I have heard from commercial anglers that fish all winter that the bluefin are out there, and there are currently holding from Pioneer Canyon to Cordell Banks along the shelf,” adding, “We are champing at the bit to get out there, and when the next weather window happens, we are going to shut down the shop and hunt them down.”
Who would have thought a Blue Christmas was possible, but it’s clear that the bluefin are here along with dedicated anglers watching the offshore conditions very carefully.
