Anybody have plans for finding Tuna?

[Al Gagnon]

I have been monitoring Bloodydecks and looks like slim pickings around the 425 and mostly the 371 showing some Albies, Dorado and yellowfin. I guess I have been thinking about going soon, but putting together the info that I have been reading. Weather is up, water is warm, surprised to see the Albie and Bluefin are still around. Fish usualy travel north west, SSOOO. Is there anybody fishing out West yet? Are the fish out by cortez bank? Or will they show up around the 302 or 182/181 next? People keep saying wait another few weeks or August will show fish. I have not fished Tuna localy over the years like some of the guys on this site, so I have to go with what I read. This site has not discussed much lately. Anybody going on any fishing trips in the next few weeks? A friend asked me to take him to San Clemente and have another boat go along. I never have been there and I am not familiar where to fish and anchor up. I think the WSB bite is over from what I have read. I burned about 100 gallons of fuel on my last trip to the Hidden bank and came back somewhat frustrated. I guess I am bored and want to go out soon. Where can I find out if there are any storms down south that will effect local weather? I heard the weather is up locally due to a storm around the cape. Good fishing to all of you guys. Just trying to break the silence on this site.

[NoSlack]

Al take a look at the water color shot from yesterday and you'll see why the fish are not pushing up above the 371 and 230 area.

This picture is a big improvement over last week and I would think in a week we should see the water clear up all the way to the 182 and the fish will fill in as soon as that happens. Be patient, we're in for great second half of the summer.

Mike

http://members.cox.net/noslack/color7-17.jpg

[Al Gagnon]

Mike , what tempbreak is that, chlorifil or temps. What do you look at when using tempbreak, temp, currents, chlorifil, etc.?? How far do you go out on your boat for tuna? I love to eat all the tuna group. I catch fish to eat and not to C&R. I throw back most sharks, and bass. I like to catch fish that will feed the family. Large barries(specialy the eggs with Salt&Pepper, butter, onions and garlic), Halibut, lingcod, yellow tail, etc. Raw or fried or oven coooked, dont matter. A little wine with some rice, hot rool with butter makes me happy. Afraid to go to the Dr. for my cholesterol ck. On the temp breakchart looks like green close to the beach and blue moving north. Need somehelp understanding it. Do you rely on these charts? I have just gone by the temperature.
I just looked at the tempbreak under the chloro map. I guess you are saying that the dark blue is better. Looks like darker blue is still down around the hidden banks . Does that make sense?

[NoSlack]

To me the water color is as important if not more important than the temp for the offshore fish. On Temp Break there is a bar graph to the left side that gives a number to the colors.

Tuna like the clean stuff from .1 on up to .25, yellowtail aren't to picky but it's rare to find them in the green stuff offshore. Marlin and dorado will expand the zone a bit and push into the clean green water if the bait is plentiful. On the chart that's where the darker blue is fading into the light blue.

This time of year the temp is good enough everywhere to hold fish, The reason we find them in one place and not the other is water clarity and bait.

That's how I see it for what it's worth.

Mike

[Al Gagnon]

Thanks for the update. When I did commercial purse seine, I just worked on the deck and was not privie to info on the radio's and in the pilot house. Worked with one skipper that wanted everyone off of the bridge if they were not looking for fish. Stay below and paint and clean the boat and mend the nets, etc. There are other things like the phase of the moon that evryone has different opinion. I think a lot of it is luck. I feel everyone has to be watching for signs, birds, radio, weather, sea life, etc. Thanks again.
Al

[Heron]

I am planning to go out Tuesday. Trying to decide on an area. The 230 has seen some action and has clean water. What about further out? San Salvador knoll or Butterfly? Any news on that area? There seems to be some reports around the 220. If anyone wants to work an area together, let me know. Bill

[Al Gagnon]

9:00 pm Sunday night-Read a report on BD saying fish at the 230 spot. My cousin just called me and said 976 bite reported a lot of fish caught today at 371, 302, 230 and kidney bank. All the same area. Looks like things are changing real fast.

[DOGHOUSE26]

I'm going as soon as Nielsen Beaumont gets down there and installs my new brain box . I tried to go this morning but the computer brain box said the outdrive was trimmed too high so it wouldn't let the starter turn.

I planned to hit the 224/302/230 areas based on what was said Saturday and the latest Chlorophyl Charts. You can see the pocket of cleaner blue water from the 371 heading NW towards the 224 then west out towards the 43/ San Salvador Knoll; this is a traditional highway for the bluefin and albacore as they rarely head up the ridge and go inside the Channel Islands. Yellowfin however frequently go up the inside with the marlin. The water temp affects how long they stay in the upper water column to feed; when the water is above 67-68 they don't stay up very long! Bill I would concentrate on the 230 and maybe west to the 1000 fathom canyon edge just west or the one south of the 43; for some reason I think the chickens prefer the edges of the canyons. These are bigger mid-season fish now so they won't be local very long, however if it stays fairly cool at the Tanner they could stack up there quite nicely as they did 2 years ago and bite for a month or so. I think there's going to be alot of YFT, Dodos, and YT to fill the void when they leave and hopefully a few bigeye to keep it interesting.

[Professor]

I got back Sat evening from 2 day offshore. I elected to not go way south as that bite dried up earlier in the week. In retrospect that was probably not a good decision. My observation about the area between the 425 and the 371 and south to the hidden bank is this. Inside the 425 was warmer water which would have been great if we could have found some paddys, but the lack of paddys was combined with REALLY SLOPPY water which made the hunt for paddys next to impossible. The 371 and outside had poor water color. The in between area had good water color, temperature is ok (66-68), there are a lot of fish, and the volume of feed is off the wall. The fish are scattered and are feeding on small stuff. They are getting their gut full fast and then are playing with food items. If the water doesn’t get too much warmer and they get the bait mopped up a bit the bite could be very good for at least a few days. We got 3 albacore (20-25#) and one dorado which is a pretty weak count for two full days fishing. We had three jig fish come unbuttoned and only saw one paddy which was holding rat tails. If you want to fish albacore and don’t want the 120 mile run I would watch the counts and If the bite starts to turn on in this area get on it now. Don’t wait until the weekend when it’s overrun or just over. My opinion which is kind of like……………everybody has one.

Me I would go long for two days as that bite is back and seems to be going strong. My next trip is Tuesday with my granddaughter and the Sand Bass have disappeared. I need to get rid of that black cloud.

[Zarco]

We are planning to head out fri night to fish all day sat.not sure where we are going.

[yellowfin1]

Hi Al,

I know that you want to catch fish on your outings and you are doing the right thing by asking the questions about temp/chlorophyll, etc. Especially asking guys like Mike, Jeff, and Yale. I know that sometimes fuel costs are a factor and we cannot all afford to fish every week but, If the boat is running well, you've got fuel (or a couple buddies willing to help pay)...Just go! I hear too many people saying "I'm not fishing because the counts were down yesterday". Many times the guys who catch fish regularily don't even report their catches. Look at the information available to you, plan your best estimate of where you think the fish are and Go! It's really all about time on the water and, who knows maybe you'll be the guy who finds that huge volume of fish where nobody else is looking.

Every once in a while, even I catch fish.

Just Go!

Good luck,
Scott

[Al Gagnon]

Thanks Scott, I guess it is like my wife says about Vegas. You do not win if you do not play. There is always next time, etc.. It is hard to find people that I hang with, to go during the week. I guess I need to meet new friends. I Retired to early or they cant afford to retire.

[yellowfin1]

I'm with ya Al. I also have a fairly flexible schedule and prefer to fish on the weekdays. I also have a hard time finding fishing buddies who can take a weekday off on short notice. Consider giving me a shout in those cases and I'd help pay for some fuel and bait.

Take Care,
Scott

[Al Gagnon]

OK Scott, thanks for the offer. I went out today with a cousing. Was a little hesitant going because he just bought the boat and only had it on a local Lake for a few hours. He used to be a chief engineer in the tuna fleet , in Alaska, for Tidewater, etc. I trust his work. Went to the kidney bank and all around it. Weather , the best, boat,ran great, beautifull fishing conditions. No Fish was the only thing missing. Radio sounded like no one caught much of anything. Left out of Mission Bay and the 22.5 trophy with a 4 cylinder. Crused at about 18 to 20 knots. 2 hours out and we hear a bearing squeeling noise in the engine area. It was a new bilge fan that went out. Everything else was great. Helped set up some waypoints. I will be taking him out next time I go and I hope the fish co-operate.