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Halibut and bonito fill the days before bluefin season
One more grunion run predicted before no-take kicks in
Another solid halibut caught during the Dolphin's Halibut Derby Wednesday trip in San Diego Bay
Dock Totals 3/9 – 3/15: 497 anglers aboard 18 half-day to 3-day trips out of San Diego landings over the past week caught 26 bonito, 2 calico bass, 17 halibut (24 released), 21 lingcod, 14 rock crab, 189 rockfish, 311 sand bass, 215 sanddab, 752 sculpin, 10 sheephead, 42 spiny lobster (70 released), and 321 whitefish.
Saltwater: Another week with blustery conditions kept angler counts and trips down, but fishing was excellent for those who did get out on the water. There was one trip that made it south of the border to target rockfish and lingcod out of the 18 trips for the week, while the local runs targeted sculpin, sand bass, and sheephead. The Dolphin had another fantastic Wednesday Halibut Derby trip inside San Diego Bay, with 17 legal halibut to 23 pounds caught and another 23 shorts released. They also ran into some bonito feeding in the bay and boated 26 of the feisty fish.
Bonito often gets a bad rap in the fishing community as "mushy" and not worth eating. One old joke about bonito goes something like this: “The best recipe for bonito: place the filets on a cedar plank, cut them into one-inch cubes and season with pepper and garlic salt. Lightly coat the seasoned cubes in flour, then toss them all in the trash and eat the cedar plank.” But I beg to differ. While it is true that bonito flesh can turn soft rather quickly if not properly cared for, if the fish is bled and put on ice immediately after caught, bonito can be fantastic table fare, resembling a light tuna in texture and flavor.
When I was living on the beach in Bahia Asunción, I could catch a bonito and cook it within ten minutes of landing it. My morning ritual was to sit on the patio — coffee in one hand, binoculars in the other — and study the water. If I saw any boils behind the shore break that might be yellowtail or bonito, I could usually run down to the beach and catch one within 50 yards of my gate. It's true: through much of my life, bonito were a "pest," a fish that often got between me and what I was actually targeting. But when circumstances suggested that I actually try some that was fresh caught and prepared, I was truly shocked at how good it was!
Since then, I have often eaten bonito, unseasoned and fried in olive oil, within minutes of catching it. Yes, taste is subjective, but if you like a freshly seared chunk of tuna, then you get the idea. I would often make a salad out of fresh-caught and fried bonito leftovers, and that always turned out well, too. That said, once bonito flesh goes soft, it is best used as a cat treat, or better yet (though the cats may disagree on this point), cut the filets into strips with the skin still on and freeze them for your next catfish trip. Bonito is a pungent, oily fish, and like mackerel, it makes an excellent catfish bait.
Solid yellowtail action between the cold fronts for Garcia’s Sportfishing out of San Quintin
While the mid-range fleet gears up for spring bluefin, most boats have been concentrating on the Baja coast and looking for rockfish, lingcod, and the occasional yellowtail. The yellows are in "spring mode," popping up on bait then dropping back out of sight, so most pangeros have been going at them "run and gun" style: spot activity, run to the boils, and cast surface irons or drop through them until they go down and away, then repeat. Wind and waves pushed by the series of cold fronts that have reached down into the northern half of Baja have made it tough, but there have been a few flat, calm days between the blows, and that is when we have seen good action on the forktails from off of Ensenada down to Punta Baja.
Spotter planes have been reporting good signs of bluefin, with several active schools working within 1.5-day range and 75 miles of Point Loma. Boats that have been doing dock work or fishing coastal Baja, including the Horizon, Pacific Dawn, Constitution, Producer, Old Glory, and the Tribute, are all planning 1.5-day to 3-day trips to go out and see if they can get into some of that bluefin action soon. Over the past few years, bluefin began hitting the decks for the 1.5-day to 3-day fleet in late March/early April. Let’s hope those fish don’t have lockjaw, as is often the case with bluefin in the springtime.
We had a solid grunion run this past week on some San Diego beaches to kick off the season. There are two species of grunion in our area, California grunion and Gulf grunion. Gulf grunion are very similar to our California grunion, except that they are only found in the northern third of the Sea of Cortez, while California grunion range from Monterrey to Punta Abreojos halfway down the Pacific side of the Baja Peninsula. Another difference: the Gulf grunion is listed as Near-Threatened by the IUCN Red List of endangered species, while California grunion are not listed by the agency. Still, California grunion were so depleted by the 1920s that a three-month no-take period was established in 1927 from April to July, which is the most active period in their spawning season.
There is one more run predicted before the fishery is closed on midnight March 31, so if you want to get some of the slippery little buggers for bait or canning, this will be your last chance until July. The runs should be from after 10 pm until about 1 am on March 29th through midnight on the 31st for take. Remember, grunion gatherers never may use any form of gear, nets or traps to catch grunion, only bare hands. During open season, when take is permitted, anglers over the age of 16 must have a valid California marine fishing license. The daily limit for grunion is 30 fish. Whether the beach, bay, lake, or offshore, they’re out there so go out and get ‘em!
Here's something you might be interested in.
Halibut and bonito fill the days before bluefin season
One more grunion run predicted before no-take kicks in
Halibut and bonito fill the days before bluefin season
One more grunion run predicted before no-take kicks in
Another solid halibut caught during the Dolphin's Halibut Derby Wednesday trip in San Diego Bay
Dock Totals 3/9 – 3/15: 497 anglers aboard 18 half-day to 3-day trips out of San Diego landings over the past week caught 26 bonito, 2 calico bass, 17 halibut (24 released), 21 lingcod, 14 rock crab, 189 rockfish, 311 sand bass, 215 sanddab, 752 sculpin, 10 sheephead, 42 spiny lobster (70 released), and 321 whitefish.
Saltwater: Another week with blustery conditions kept angler counts and trips down, but fishing was excellent for those who did get out on the water. There was one trip that made it south of the border to target rockfish and lingcod out of the 18 trips for the week, while the local runs targeted sculpin, sand bass, and sheephead. The Dolphin had another fantastic Wednesday Halibut Derby trip inside San Diego Bay, with 17 legal halibut to 23 pounds caught and another 23 shorts released. They also ran into some bonito feeding in the bay and boated 26 of the feisty fish.
Bonito often gets a bad rap in the fishing community as "mushy" and not worth eating. One old joke about bonito goes something like this: “The best recipe for bonito: place the filets on a cedar plank, cut them into one-inch cubes and season with pepper and garlic salt. Lightly coat the seasoned cubes in flour, then toss them all in the trash and eat the cedar plank.” But I beg to differ. While it is true that bonito flesh can turn soft rather quickly if not properly cared for, if the fish is bled and put on ice immediately after caught, bonito can be fantastic table fare, resembling a light tuna in texture and flavor.
When I was living on the beach in Bahia Asunción, I could catch a bonito and cook it within ten minutes of landing it. My morning ritual was to sit on the patio — coffee in one hand, binoculars in the other — and study the water. If I saw any boils behind the shore break that might be yellowtail or bonito, I could usually run down to the beach and catch one within 50 yards of my gate. It's true: through much of my life, bonito were a "pest," a fish that often got between me and what I was actually targeting. But when circumstances suggested that I actually try some that was fresh caught and prepared, I was truly shocked at how good it was!
Since then, I have often eaten bonito, unseasoned and fried in olive oil, within minutes of catching it. Yes, taste is subjective, but if you like a freshly seared chunk of tuna, then you get the idea. I would often make a salad out of fresh-caught and fried bonito leftovers, and that always turned out well, too. That said, once bonito flesh goes soft, it is best used as a cat treat, or better yet (though the cats may disagree on this point), cut the filets into strips with the skin still on and freeze them for your next catfish trip. Bonito is a pungent, oily fish, and like mackerel, it makes an excellent catfish bait.
Solid yellowtail action between the cold fronts for Garcia’s Sportfishing out of San Quintin
While the mid-range fleet gears up for spring bluefin, most boats have been concentrating on the Baja coast and looking for rockfish, lingcod, and the occasional yellowtail. The yellows are in "spring mode," popping up on bait then dropping back out of sight, so most pangeros have been going at them "run and gun" style: spot activity, run to the boils, and cast surface irons or drop through them until they go down and away, then repeat. Wind and waves pushed by the series of cold fronts that have reached down into the northern half of Baja have made it tough, but there have been a few flat, calm days between the blows, and that is when we have seen good action on the forktails from off of Ensenada down to Punta Baja.
Spotter planes have been reporting good signs of bluefin, with several active schools working within 1.5-day range and 75 miles of Point Loma. Boats that have been doing dock work or fishing coastal Baja, including the Horizon, Pacific Dawn, Constitution, Producer, Old Glory, and the Tribute, are all planning 1.5-day to 3-day trips to go out and see if they can get into some of that bluefin action soon. Over the past few years, bluefin began hitting the decks for the 1.5-day to 3-day fleet in late March/early April. Let’s hope those fish don’t have lockjaw, as is often the case with bluefin in the springtime.
We had a solid grunion run this past week on some San Diego beaches to kick off the season. There are two species of grunion in our area, California grunion and Gulf grunion. Gulf grunion are very similar to our California grunion, except that they are only found in the northern third of the Sea of Cortez, while California grunion range from Monterrey to Punta Abreojos halfway down the Pacific side of the Baja Peninsula. Another difference: the Gulf grunion is listed as Near-Threatened by the IUCN Red List of endangered species, while California grunion are not listed by the agency. Still, California grunion were so depleted by the 1920s that a three-month no-take period was established in 1927 from April to July, which is the most active period in their spawning season.
There is one more run predicted before the fishery is closed on midnight March 31, so if you want to get some of the slippery little buggers for bait or canning, this will be your last chance until July. The runs should be from after 10 pm until about 1 am on March 29th through midnight on the 31st for take. Remember, grunion gatherers never may use any form of gear, nets or traps to catch grunion, only bare hands. During open season, when take is permitted, anglers over the age of 16 must have a valid California marine fishing license. The daily limit for grunion is 30 fish. Whether the beach, bay, lake, or offshore, they’re out there so go out and get ‘em!
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