Mahi-mahi, also known as dorado, move into Orange County waters

Mahi-mahi, anyone?

Those slender, golden acrobats, also called dorado, have moved into waters off Orange County, generating excitement generally reserved for El Niño summers.

Dana Wharf Sportfishing on Monday reported catching its first dorado of the season. Two in the 20-pound class were landed aboard the Reel Fun II three miles offshore. And two were landed aboard the Dana Pride.

Others were reportedly caught by private boaters over the weekend, and many have been seen illuminating blue water beneath kelp paddies, but they’ve been difficult to entice onto hooks.

This appears to be the start of a tropical-feeling few weeks.

Liquid Coast Highway skipper Dave Hansen told Philip Friedman of 976-tuna.com that he was three miles beyond Dana Point on Sunday and saw about 30 dorado beneath a paddy.

“They chased our baits but we couldn’t get a bite,” Hansen said.

Also Sunday, the Sea Horse out of Dana Wharf Sportfishing ran an overnight trip offshore and caught more than 50 dorado, 12 yellowtail and two albacore.

So it seems the tropical and sub-tropical species are taking over the offshore regions. If that’s the case, expect to see yellowfin tuna in the offshore counts soon.

“It’s going to be a bonanza,” Don Ashley, owner of Pierpoint Landing in Long Beach,” told Friedman. “Everyday we hear of more dorado, marlin, swordfish, yellowtail, albacore, bluefin tuna and yellowfin tuna moving in.”

What makes the local showing of dorado so exciting is that they’re reachable on half-day boats, presenting a rare opportunity for novice anglers.

Laguna team a big winner

For the Laguna Niguel Billfish Club, triumph was essentially clinched on the fourth day of last week’s Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament.

Robert Dudley boated a 695-pound blue marlin in the pristine waters off Kailua-Kona. Two days earlier, Dudley had landed a 973-pound marlin.

Never in the 49-year history of the HIBT had the same team landed two marlin of more than 500 pounds in the same tournament.

“It was a much smarter fish than the 973-pounder,” Dudley, the team captain, said of the battle. “She wanted nothing else but to get off that hook, and she worked hard the whole time. We even had to navigate through hazards, including other marlin getting in the way.”

With Capt. Steve Kaiser at the controls of Medusa, the battle was won in less than 90 minutes.

The two giant billfish, plus two releases, gave the Southern California team a runaway victory in the prestigious event that lured teams from around the world.

Top captain was Neal Isaacs of the yacht Anxious, whose five-day total of eight billfish gave him 2,000 points and the Henry Chee Award, given in the name of a Kona angling pioneer.

In all, 65 blue marlin were tagged and released and six were boated.

Add HIBT

The Laguna Billfish Club has won the HIBT three times and the latest victory might have something to do with the influence of late team member Bob McIntosh. His ashes were recently spread at sea off Kona.

Long-range catches

Tom McDyer of Chatsworth and Mark Lemieux of El Cajon each caught 31-pound yellowtail on a five-day trip aboard the Excel. Fred Miazaki of Encino caught a 25.5-pound yellowtail and 18-pound dorado aboard the Shogun. Ken Fujimoto of Torrance caught a 38.8-pound yellowtail aboard the American Angler.

Southern Baja

* Cabo San Lucas: Blue marlin, striped marlin and sailfish are being caught off Land’s End, and only the blues required long boat trips. Many more billfish are being seen than caught, though, according to Capt. George Landrum of Fly Hooker Sportfishing. Dorado fishing is very good, with many boats returning with multiple catches. Tuna fishing remains poor.

* San Jose del Cabo: The arrival of small schools of yellowfin tuna is a positive sign that unsettled water conditions have become stable, says Eric Brictson, owner of Gordo Banks Pangas. Less prized skipjack tuna abound and are almost bothersome. The action has picked up and bulls to 45 pounds are being caught by those trolling sardinas and bolito. Roosterfish are the main targets inshore, as a strong current has made bottom-fishing difficult.

* East Cape: Fishing has slowed offshore but there remains a lot of blue marlin and some striped marlin in the area, reports John Ireland, owner of Rancho Leonero Resort. Most of the blue being caught are sub-300-pounders, striking lures and slow-trolled bait.

Inshore anglers are catching roosterfish to about 60 pounds daily, mainly to the south. “Lots of 5- to 10-pounders, mixed with some real gorillas,” Ireland says.

* La Paz: Anglers in the Las Arenas area last week experienced the first sustained tuna bite of the season, reports Jonathan Roldan of Tailhunter International. Roldan said of the size: “Peanut and football-sized,” weighing 5-15 pounds. Breezing among the yellowfin were bonito and very small dorado. Fishing outside of La Paz Bay was slower.

Add East Cape

Winner of the Bisbee’s East Cape Offshore Tournament, which paid $317,310, was team Wildcatter, with a 360-pound blue marlin, worth $89,535.

Tournament anglers, headquartered at Hotel Buena Vista Beach Resort, teamed to release 114 billfish: 67 blue marlin, 20 striped marlin, one black marlin and 18 sailfish.

Freshwater notes

* San Vicente: A 63.05-pound blue catfish was caught by an angler named Catfish Russ, from Paradise Hills, on the head of a mackerel at the backside of the island.

* Diamond Valley Lake: A wide-open bass bite continues, the Hemet reservoir marina reports. Honree Davis of Winchester caught and released 15 totaling 65 pounds – the largest 8.1 – while using fluke underspin combos at the east dam. Some trout. Many catfish.

* Irvine Lake: Donovan “Catfish Slim” Swann of Fontana, caught a 17.9-pound blue catfish on mackerel in Santiago Flats. Catfish angling for much smaller channel cats remains good at night. Bluegill and red-ear perch are active near the docks. The lake is receding and muddy in places. European anglers Emil Jarksa and Janko Grnja caught carp weighing 19, 17 and 16 pounds on dough baits.

This week’s trout plants

LOS ANGELES – Bouquet Canyon Creek.

SAN BERNARDINO – Big Bear Lake and Jenks Lake.

INYO – Baker Creek, Big Pine Creek, Bishop Creek (Intake 2), Bishop Creek Lower, Bishop Creek (Middle & South Forks), Goodale Creek, Independence Creek, Lone Pine Creek, North Lake, Owens River (below Tinnemaha), Owens River (Section 2), Pleasant Valley Reservoir, Rock Creek Lake, Sabrina Lake, South Lake, Taboose Creek, Tinnemaha Creek and Tuttle Creek.

MADERA – San Joaquin River Middle Fork, Sotcher Lake and Starkweater Lake.

MONO – Buckeye Creek, Convict Creek, Convict Lake, George Lake, Gull Lake, June Lake, Lee Vining Creek, Lee Vining Creek South Fork, Little Walker River, Mamie Lake, Mammoth Creek, Mary Lake, McGee Creek, Owens River (Section 3), Robinson Creek, Rock Creek (Sections 1 & 2), Rush Creek, Saddlebag Creek, Saddlebag Lake, Sherwin Creek, Silver Lake, Trumble Lake, Twin Lakes Bridgeport (Lower & Upper), Twin Lakes Mammoth, Virginia Lake (Lower & Upper) and West Walker River (Sections 2 & 3).

 pete.thomas@latimes.com