Results and Analysis:
2010 TYD Tournament
After a false start, the 2010 Beyond The Breakwater TYD Tournament was held on September 11, 2010. Ten contestants in four teams fished the offshore waters surrounding San Diego and northern Baja California. Thanks to the coldest summer in 75 years, fishing was tough, but a few fish were hooked, and two outstanding fish were landed.
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Summer 2010, North Island, Coronados
Global Climate Change? Or What?
2010 will be remembered for having one of the coldest summers in San Diego history. Official records indicate that the last time a summer this cold occurred was over 75 years ago.
Of course, summertime ocean temperatures were also well below normal in the San Diego area, and to make matters worse, there never seemed to be a window of sunny, stable weather to warm things up. While San Diego summer weather is usually pretty boring ("Sunny and warm again today, with coastal marine layer burning off around noon. Coastal temperatures in the low 70s, inland temperatures in the mid-80, light and variable onshore breezes in the afternoon"), it seemed like every other week was filled with heavy overcast, air temps in the low 60s, and gusty onshore winds.
The impact on San Diego ocean fishing was disastrous. Pelagic species like tuna, yellowtail and dorado were almost nonexistent within 100 miles of San Diego Harbor. That meant that while 2-day or longer party-boat trips could find some action, shorter day trip charters and private boaters remained out of luck for most of the summer. The impact on San Diego's sportboat fleet was so severe that it actually made the local TV news (see this clip from the local CBS affiliate).
For a time, we seriously considered cancelling the TYD Tournament. However....the week before the original August 28 event date, it looked like the weather was actually going to turn around. A more typical weather pattern was in the forecast, and as the week progressed, it looked like the fish were starting to inch their way north (well, it was about an inch on the charts...). Good news, but not enough to hold the TYD on the original date of August 28. After some hand-wringing, we decided to reschedule for two weeks later (September 11).
That turned out to be the right choice, at least from the fishing perspective. In the days following August 28, weather conditions and fishing reports began improving. The main body of fish (predominantly albacore, yellowfin and bluefin tuna) were concentrated in a "bubble" of warm water in a relatively small area known as the "Hidden Bank" (it's really not that hidden; the coordinates are well known, roughly 32.02N/ 117.26W). The bad news was that the fish were suspended anywhere from 30 to 200ft down, and were not responding to traditional fishing techniques. Even the newer deep water techniques, such as the Japanese Deep Jigs, produced only sporadic results.
Randy to the Rescue...
A week before the rescheduled event, things were still in doubt. Fishing was not improving as quickly as we'd hoped, and the weather seemed inconsistent. In addition, there were only three people signed up on the weekend before the event.
Enter our friend Randy Norris. Like many people, Randy had not been offshore all summer. But he went out the the Sunday and Monday before the tournament to do a little exploring, and managed to find some great fish...Like this 40lb yellowfin tuna (left).
Randy's secret was drifting a fly deep, with slow strips, while chumming with chunks. No red-hot foaming-at-the-corner frenzies, but Randy demonstrated that there were definitely nice fish to be caught, and they could be taken on the fly. Randy reported decent weather and water conditions, and the forecast was for more of the same. GAME ON!
What Else Could Go Wrong?
Choosing to reschedule the tournament was a calculated risk. Changing the date of any event like this raises the possibility of losing potential entrants due to schedule conflicts. And attendance numbers were bound to be low anyway due to the poor fishing. Still, we managed to get 10 people to sign up, not too bad considering we lost 11 "probable" contestants due to conflicts with the new date.
Another calculated risk was picking September 11 for the new date. September 11 was the date for the Make-A-Wish Tuna Challenge, which is one of the largest and most popular conventional-gear offshore tournaments in San Diego. The Make-A-Wish is based out of San Diego Harbor, so there wouldn't be any conflicts at the launch ramp. However, this year's Make-A-Wish drew 394 contestants, in almost 100 boats. All of which wound up fishing at...the Hidden Bank.
In addition to the Make-A-Wish, there were three other club tournaments that fished the same area. At the docks during the TYD weigh-in, we talked to a boat that had run down from Channel Island Harbor (about 160 miles as the crow flies) to fish a club marlin tournament! That is a whole lot of diesel...
So How Was The Fishing?
Just as Randy found earlier in the week, the tuna were all around the Hidden Bank, but suspended and being picky. During the tournament, Team Pacific One found a breaking school of bluefin but weren't able to reach them, and teams spotted occasional yellowtail or dorado under kelp paddies. But the paddy fish were not cooperating.
Three of the teams started at the Hidden Bank, or slightly south, following Randy's lead from earlier in the week. Fishing was extremely slow, so Teams Pacific One and Knot Bad began working their way north about mid-morning, along a north-south temperature break that ran up to the 371 Spot.
Team Pacific One caught their fish after stopping on a meter mark just short of the 371, and doing a little chunking. In addition to Steve Petit's fish, Rocky Tussey hooked and lost one just before Steve hooked his fish. Team Knot Bad, fishing in the same general vicinity, found a school of porpoise with yellowfin tuna under them. They slid in and immediately hooked up with a couple of fish. James Dwyer managed to land his winning fish after a one hour fight that took him around the boat 4 or 5 times.
How Did We Do Compared to Everyone Else?
With so many other events going on, it's natural to wonder how TYD contestants fared compared to anglers in the other events. After all, they were fishing the same general areas under the same conditions.
Well, the Make-A-Wish results were posted on the Internet a few days later, and I'd have to say we did pretty well! Jame Dwyer's fish would have won the Small Boat Division of the Make-A-Wish, and Steve Petit's fish would have placed 11th. Not bad for the fly flingers!
