Dock Totals 10/20 – 10/26: 2125 anglers aboard 101 half-day to 3-day trips out of San Diego landings over the past week caught 180 bluefin tuna (up to 120 pounds), 23 bocaccio, 1 bonito, 90 calico bass, 1 halibut, 38 lingcod, 9 perch, 21 rock crab, 7143 rockfish, 90 sand bass, 432 sculpin, 19 sheephead, 28 skipjack tuna, 104 spiny lobster (173 released), 245 whitefish, 1269 yellowfin tuna (up to 100-pounds), and 210 yellowtail.
Saltwater: Instead of heading out west for bluefin, where the action has slowed a bit, boats have been concentrating more on the great yellowfin tuna bite off the coast of northern Baja this past week. Good-sized yellowfin to 100 pounds showing within 3-day range are a rarity, especially as most of the fish caught have been running 40 to 60 pounds. A few skipjack tuna have also been caught in the same areas, but still no dorado to speak of north of Cedros in this season’s late developing pelagic action.
Yellowtail are still biting sporadically from the Coronado Islands south along the coast of Baja, while calico bass fishing picked up a bit off the kelp edges. Rockfish in 300 feet of water and deeper continues to be the main catch for both the short-run boats and those that have limited early on yellowfin. All in all, fishing has been very good for the fleet so far this fall for everyone heading out for half-day to multiple-day runs, and it looks as though that won’t change anytime soon.
The notable catch of the week was by angler Luc Ofield of Point Loma and owner of Anglers Choice Tackle Store with his 663.8-pound swordfish, potentially a new all-tackle California state record that, if certified, will eclipse the standing record of 520 pounds set last October. The fish was finally landed after a five-hour battle off the San Diego coast. The catch came just a little over a week after a 492-pound swordfish was caught by anglers aboard the fishing vessel Tuna Twins on October 14. Though October is around the end of season for swordfish, it seems this may be a "Rocktober" for targeting the big billfish.
Speaking of big billfish, the Bisbee’s Black and Blue marlin tournament was held in Cabo San Lucas on October 23rd through the 25th. This year’s event culminated in what seemed more like a rock concert than a fishing tournament. Billed as the "world’s richest fishing event," Black and Blue weigh-ins can be exciting. This year, the final fish to make the scales took the overall prize as top catch for the 3-day event. As the 634-pound black marlin was being wheeled on carts from the boat to the scales, overhead video shows throngs of people surrounded the fish and crew of the winning team, slapping high fives, sloshing beer on each other, and cheering while chanting the team name, "Crudo! Crudo!" GIven the total prize and jackpot money of $854,150.00, that is one impressive fish.
This year’s Bisbee’s Black and Blue tournament had 174 teams entered and a total payout of $6,847,200.00 in prize and jackpot money. With seven daily jackpot entries from $500 to $20,000, plus two daily release jackpots, teams could buy into several ways to win. Though team Crudo caught the largest fish of the tournament, they weren’t the top money winners. If you pay the $2500 entry fee and enter all the jackpots, the total entry is $49,000, though teams can enter as many o as few of the jackpots as they wish. Often, the team with the largest fish in the Black and Blue is not the team with the highest winnings, as was the case this year, with team Hooray taking the top amount of $1,559,500.
Team Hooray entered all but the $20,000 daily jackpot and took day one with a 450-pound black marlin in the six other jackpots. Had they entered the $20,000 daily, team Hooray would have earned another $400,000.00 and could have totaled just under $2,000,000.00 for the fifth largest fish caught in the tournament. All fish from both the Los Cabos Offshore and the Black and Blue are donated, with just the fish from the Los Cabos event on October 16 -18 providing 24,000 meals for those in need.
Freshwater: It’s that time of year when San Diego area lakes switch from catfish to trout, and Santee Lakes is on schedule as always. This coming weekend, November 2 & 3, Santee Lakes is holding their Trout Season Opener with 3500-pounds of Mt Lassen trophy lightening trout stocked between October 31-November 1, while Lakes 2, 3, and 4 will be closed until the opener on Saturday morning at 6 am. Permits are available at the General Store and can be purchased in advance or on the day of fishing. The Trout Season Opener will run from 6 am-5 pm Saturday and Sunday, gate entrance fee is $7 per carload, fishing permits are $10 for Adults, Juniors & Seniors are $6, and a second pole stamp is $4. Whether the beach, bay, lake, or offshore, they’re out there so go out and get ‘em!
Dock Totals 10/20 – 10/26: 2125 anglers aboard 101 half-day to 3-day trips out of San Diego landings over the past week caught 180 bluefin tuna (up to 120 pounds), 23 bocaccio, 1 bonito, 90 calico bass, 1 halibut, 38 lingcod, 9 perch, 21 rock crab, 7143 rockfish, 90 sand bass, 432 sculpin, 19 sheephead, 28 skipjack tuna, 104 spiny lobster (173 released), 245 whitefish, 1269 yellowfin tuna (up to 100-pounds), and 210 yellowtail.
Saltwater: Instead of heading out west for bluefin, where the action has slowed a bit, boats have been concentrating more on the great yellowfin tuna bite off the coast of northern Baja this past week. Good-sized yellowfin to 100 pounds showing within 3-day range are a rarity, especially as most of the fish caught have been running 40 to 60 pounds. A few skipjack tuna have also been caught in the same areas, but still no dorado to speak of north of Cedros in this season’s late developing pelagic action.
Yellowtail are still biting sporadically from the Coronado Islands south along the coast of Baja, while calico bass fishing picked up a bit off the kelp edges. Rockfish in 300 feet of water and deeper continues to be the main catch for both the short-run boats and those that have limited early on yellowfin. All in all, fishing has been very good for the fleet so far this fall for everyone heading out for half-day to multiple-day runs, and it looks as though that won’t change anytime soon.
The notable catch of the week was by angler Luc Ofield of Point Loma and owner of Anglers Choice Tackle Store with his 663.8-pound swordfish, potentially a new all-tackle California state record that, if certified, will eclipse the standing record of 520 pounds set last October. The fish was finally landed after a five-hour battle off the San Diego coast. The catch came just a little over a week after a 492-pound swordfish was caught by anglers aboard the fishing vessel Tuna Twins on October 14. Though October is around the end of season for swordfish, it seems this may be a "Rocktober" for targeting the big billfish.
Speaking of big billfish, the Bisbee’s Black and Blue marlin tournament was held in Cabo San Lucas on October 23rd through the 25th. This year’s event culminated in what seemed more like a rock concert than a fishing tournament. Billed as the "world’s richest fishing event," Black and Blue weigh-ins can be exciting. This year, the final fish to make the scales took the overall prize as top catch for the 3-day event. As the 634-pound black marlin was being wheeled on carts from the boat to the scales, overhead video shows throngs of people surrounded the fish and crew of the winning team, slapping high fives, sloshing beer on each other, and cheering while chanting the team name, "Crudo! Crudo!" GIven the total prize and jackpot money of $854,150.00, that is one impressive fish.
This year’s Bisbee’s Black and Blue tournament had 174 teams entered and a total payout of $6,847,200.00 in prize and jackpot money. With seven daily jackpot entries from $500 to $20,000, plus two daily release jackpots, teams could buy into several ways to win. Though team Crudo caught the largest fish of the tournament, they weren’t the top money winners. If you pay the $2500 entry fee and enter all the jackpots, the total entry is $49,000, though teams can enter as many o as few of the jackpots as they wish. Often, the team with the largest fish in the Black and Blue is not the team with the highest winnings, as was the case this year, with team Hooray taking the top amount of $1,559,500.
Team Hooray entered all but the $20,000 daily jackpot and took day one with a 450-pound black marlin in the six other jackpots. Had they entered the $20,000 daily, team Hooray would have earned another $400,000.00 and could have totaled just under $2,000,000.00 for the fifth largest fish caught in the tournament. All fish from both the Los Cabos Offshore and the Black and Blue are donated, with just the fish from the Los Cabos event on October 16 -18 providing 24,000 meals for those in need.
Freshwater: It’s that time of year when San Diego area lakes switch from catfish to trout, and Santee Lakes is on schedule as always. This coming weekend, November 2 & 3, Santee Lakes is holding their Trout Season Opener with 3500-pounds of Mt Lassen trophy lightening trout stocked between October 31-November 1, while Lakes 2, 3, and 4 will be closed until the opener on Saturday morning at 6 am. Permits are available at the General Store and can be purchased in advance or on the day of fishing. The Trout Season Opener will run from 6 am-5 pm Saturday and Sunday, gate entrance fee is $7 per carload, fishing permits are $10 for Adults, Juniors & Seniors are $6, and a second pole stamp is $4. Whether the beach, bay, lake, or offshore, they’re out there so go out and get ‘em!
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