If you fish but think the only time you may catch 50 oto 60 pounds of of tuna stewks in one outing is in your dreams. You’re wrong
the waning weeks of summer has seen record setting tuna catches by the party boat fleets here in San Diego.
Many of the all-day boats have tied up at the end of the day with mixed limits of yellowfin tuna, yellowtail and Dorado(aka Mahi mahi) caught not 100 miles offshore, but close enough to the San Diego Coast tha even the three quarter day boats are occassionally tying into tasty tuna schools..
The all day party boats have the tuna schools dialed in, so fishermen spend less time taking boat excursions and more time getting and keeping their lines and live bait wet.
two of my favorite party boats, the Malhini and the Producer, berthed at H&M Landing in San Diego Bay with onw tuna per rod and almost one dorado per fisherman.
H&m’s fleet catch for September 14 was: 9 boats, 214 anglers: 577 Yellowfin Tuna, 509 Yellowtail, 121 Dorado, 108 Bluefin Tuna, 90 Skipjack Tuna, 38 Bonito, 15 Barracuda, 12 Calico Bass, 2 Wahoo, 1 Sand Bass
the reason una party boats have been doing so well, this late in the season is the exceptionally. warm sea temperatures and abundant schools of bait here on the Southern California coast the favorable conditions are not limited to San Diego and [party boats based further north and fishing Catalina and San Clemente Island are also reporting exceptionally large catch numbers.
While the H&M party boat fleet has been posting red hot daily catches, the Point Loma Fleet-- further down San Diego harbor appears to be on track for a record year. for example, it’s 9/14 catch report lists 942 Yellowfin Tuna, 671 Yellowtail, 185 Calico Bass, 178 Dorado, 108 Bonito, 108 Bluefin Tuna, 95 Skipjack Tuna, 82 Rockfish, 15 Barracuda, 4 Barred Sand Bass, 3 Wahoo, 1 Sheephead, 1 Sand Bass for 350 anglers on 17 boats.
Given current catch rates, some anglers are going back to their cars with 80 pounds or more of fish.
The price of deep sea fishing out of SanDiego starts at about $45 for a half-day trip fishing the edges of the kelp beds, or beyond and tops out at aroundand goes to $250 for overnight trips. Longer trips are more expensive. the fee for most trips includes Mexican offshore fishing permits and tackle can be rented on the boats for the fishing gear challenged.
To view daily catch reports go to to:http://www.sportfishingreport.com/pages/landingdetail.php?landing_id=23.
with a strong EL Nino predicted, the tuna could remain near off shore for several more months.
So, grab your gear and sea sickness patches. It’s tuna time.-- tight lines and bloody decks,Jim Forbes on 09/14/2015.