Today's offshore fishing was once again good for a mix of yellowtail, dorado, albacore, bluefin tuna and yellowfin tuna. I would say that the fishing for the yellowtail and dorado was about as good as it was on Friday but that the fishing for the albacore, bluefin, yellowfin and bigeye tuna was not as good as the fishing on Friday.
The weather was reported to be pretty nice today with some periods of breeze and chop. As always, do be sure to check the latest marine weather forecast before you go.
Generally speaking, up above Point Loma, there were some dorado and yellowtail reported on kelp paddies about half way between the 181 and 182 Spots and there were also some dorado reported on a kelp paddie at the 209 Spot. It took slow trolling sardines past a kelp paddie at the 209 Spot to get the dorado to go for one private boater. As you work further south to the Kidney Bank, 371 Bank, 425 Bank, Hidden Bank and below you start to get more and more of a chance of getting some of the tuna species in the catch as well.
Private boater Marcus Hale of the Old Blue reported in at around noon and at that time he had 3 albacore and a bunch of yellowtail aboard and was still fishing. The albacore were all caught on bait from a kelp paddie that he found about a mile and a half inside of the 371 Bank. Take a look in the area of latitude and longitude coordinates 3215 and 11729 which is 27 miles 197° from Point Loma. The yellowtail went to 11 pounds and were caught down between the 425 Bank and the Hidden Bank at 3206 and 11720 which is 33 miles 178° from Point Loma.
I asked Marcus if he had heard of any bigeye tuna being caught and he said that he heard of one boat that had caught a couple of 40 pound tuna that were either yellowfin or bigeye but that he had not yet heard of any tuna up in the 65 to 80 pound class as were caught on Friday.
Private boater Captain Bob Woodard of the Christina Lynn reported in during the middle afternoon hours and had six albacore and three yellowtail aboard. Their best albacore action was a stop where they had a jig fish and 2 bait fish at 3205 and 11725 which is at the Hidden Bank at 33 miles 178° from Point Loma. Bob said there was a very good kelp paddie where a lot of boats were catching fish at 3210 and 11728 which is below the 371 Bank at 33 miles 178° from Point Loma. Bob said they fished that kelp paddie and had an albacore and 3 yellowtail. Their albacore trolling strike that produced the 3 fish stop came on a black and purple jet head.
Private boater Joe Winklemann of the Shadow reported spending much of the day fishing around the 371 Spot and did not find much happening. He worked up to the 230 Spot outside of the Kidney Bank and found some action in that area and picked up 4 albacore and 2 dorado. He said that all the fish were jig fish except for 1 of the dorado. The action was centered in the region of latitude and longitude coordinates 3222 and 11744 which is outside of the 230 Spot at 31 miles 225° from Point Loma.
Private boater John Grondona of the Whippet Good passed along a report from his friend Alan who was fishing aboard his friend Bob Ferran's boat Lucky Bill. They got a jig strike while fishing 3 miles below the 425 Bank this morning and caught a nice 35 pound albacore. Later in the day they found a kelp paddie that produced a 15 pound bull dorado and 4 nice sized yellowtail. There were a good number of yellowtail around and they lost 3 additional yellowtail hookups in the kelp. They were fishing in 70.1 degree water and they trolled their way back up the line a good way back toward Point Loma with no additional jig strikes. They also stopped on several additional kelp paddies that they found on the way home that were dry.
There were some dorado and marlin to be caught around the middle part of the 9 Mile Bank. Private boater Captain Ron Bowers of the Salt Fever was out fishing with Ken Schilling today aboard Ken's boat Jovita and they caught 2 marlin and 5 dorado. They kept the dorado and 1 of the marlin and released the second marlin. Their action was centered in the area of 3235 and 11725 which is 12 miles 236° from Point Loma.
Here are coordinates where action has been reported. I will start up to the north and work south and put *** next to some of the coordinates to help mark some of the best catches:
Latitude and Longitude Course and Distance from Point Loma
3247 and 11745 29 miles 274°--kelp paddie reported to be holding a lot of dorado between the 181 Spot and the 182 Spot
3227 and 11730 19 miles 217°--dorado kelp paddie inside of the 302 Spot
3226 and 11734 22 miles 221°--coordinates for the 302 Spot--there were dorado and yellowtail being caught under kelp paddies found around the 302 Spot--one boat was reporting 7 dorado and 1 yellowtail
3220 and 11733 25 miles 208 degrees---albacore between the 371 Bank and the bottom of the Kidney Bank
****3218 and 11737 29 miles 210 degrees---kelp paddie for limits of large yellowtail
***3216 and 11739 32 miles 211 degrees---very good kelp paddie outside of the 371 Bank that a boat fished all morning for lots of fish---they caught dorado, yellowtail and albacore
3215 and 11739 32 miles 210 degrees---2 albacore outside of the 371 Bank
***3215 and 11722 25 miles 186°--coordinates for the 425 Bank where a private boater was reporting five albacore this morning
3214 and 11723 26 miles 186°-- productive kelp paddie below the 425 Bank
3213 and 11734 32 miles 202 degrees---productive kelp paddie for yellowtail and dorado below the 371 Bank
3213 and 11726 28 miles 190 degrees----2 productive dorado and yellowtail kelp paddies below the 425 Bank
3210 and 11725 30 miles 187 degrees--kelp paddie for 6 dorado
3207 and 11724 33 miles 183 degrees--a yellowfin tuna below the 425 Bank
3206 and 11740 40 miles 202°--a nice sized yellowfin tuna caught inside of the 390 Bank
3206 and 11727 35 miles 188°--a kelp paddie that produced eight yellowtail and an albacore above the Hidden Bank
***3203 and 11724 37 miles 181°--albacore stop at the Hidden Bank----other tuna were caught nearby at 3203 and 11725 as well as 3202 and 11723
3156 and 11732 45 miles 188°--an albacore stop between the Hidden Bank and the Upper 500 Bank
3150 and 11713 49 miles 167°--an area that produced a few dorado, yellowtail and albacore above the Inner Bank outside of Ensenada
3148 and 11754 62 miles 201°--some albacore reported caught along the western side of the 213 Bank
Here are a few reports from Friday's fishing:
Private boater Lou Brito was out on his new boat Chill and he fish to down below the 371 Bank and had some good kelp paddie action for 3 albacore and enough dorado and yellowtail to round out their limits..
The dorado were nice sized fish that included one big jumbo that went up over 40 pounds and the yellowtail were nice sized fish in the 20 pound class. The biggest of their albacore was up in the 35 pound class. Their best kelp paddie was found at 3211 and 11738 which is between the 390 Bank and the 371 Bank at 35 miles 205° from Point Loma.
Private boater Dave Devoy of the Scott Free reported coming down from Dana Point and starting his day fishing at the 302 Spot where they found very good fishing for 5 to 8 pound dorado. He said there were lots a kelp paddies around the 302 Spot that were holding a lot of the small dorado which he reported were eager to bite. They proceeded down to the 425 Bank where they caught a 14 pound yellowtail or and a 30 pound albacore on bait. Dave said that he had a group of business associates aboard who were inexperienced anglers from out-of-state and that they had a great time in catching all the dorado along with the big albacore and the yellowtail and that they headed for home. Dave said that on the way back up the line they saw quite a few dorado jumping around all the way up to the area of the 181 Spot.