Fishing Report : Excellent Season for Jumbo Bigeye Tuna

Balboa Angling Club personnel have weighed in 18 bigeye tuna of more than 100 pounds each since August. The most recent jumbo bigeye was a 208-pounder, caught last weekend by John Corona of Orange, who caught the fish on 50-pound test.

“This has been the best season we’ve had for big bigeyes in years,” said Helen Smith, Balboa Angling Club spokeswoman.

The Times accepts and publishes the catch count as a public service. Any responsibility for accuracy is that of the landing operator.

MORRO BAY (Virg’s Landing)--23 anglers (1 boat): 12 ling cod, 56 rock cod, 57 red rock cod, 56 red snapper, 111 bass.

AVILA BAY (Port San Luis)--20 anglers (1 boat): 23 ling cod, 110 red rock cod, 65 yellow bass, 125 rock cod.

SANTA BARBARA (Sea Landing)--53 anglers (4 boats): 82 calico bass, 5 sand bass, 23 white sea bass, 1 halibut, 21 bonito, 125 mackerel, 1 barracuda, 65 whitefish, 60 red snapper, 174 rockfish, 20 spanish mackerel.

VENTURA (Ventura Landing)--20 anglers (1 boat): 1 cow cod, 300 rock cod, 1 ling cod.

OXNARD--86 anglers (3 boats): 870 rock cod, 16 cow cod, 2 ling cod, 50 red snapper, 60 rockfish, 100 whitefish, 65 calico bass.

MALIBU--41 anglers (2 boats): 65 calico bass, 95 sand bass, 2 halibut, 14 rockfish.

MARINA DEL REY--68 anglers (4 boats): 3 halibut, 137 calico bass, 49 sand bass, 225 rock cod, 7 rockfish, 14 bonito, 1 black sea bass (released).

REDONDO--88 anglers (3 boats): 1 yellowtail, 67 bonito, 213 calico bass, 1 barracuda, 1 halibut, 5 sargo, 62 rockfish.

SAN PEDRO (Ports O’ Call)--61 anglers (3 boats): 1 white sea bass, 128 calico bass, 43 sand bass, 82 bonito, 1 barracuda, 48 rockfish. (22nd St. Landing)--71 anglers (3 boats): 1 white sea bass, 144 calico bass, 107 bonito, 71 rockfish.

LONG BEACH (Belmont Pier)--27 anglers (1 boat): 242 rockfish, 210 mackerel. (Queen’s Wharf)--16 anglers (1 boat): 7 barracuda, 80 bonito, 81 calico bass, 3 sand bass, 13 rockfish, 6 whitefish, 20 mackerel.

SEAL BEACH--20 anglers (1 boat): 148 rock cod, 50 sand dabs.

NEWPORT (Newport Landing)--16 anglers (2 boats): 80 barracuda, 1 halibut, 19 rockfish, 160 mackerel. (Davey’s Locker)--70 anglers (3 boats): 7 yellowtail, 7 barracuda, 59 calico bass, 240 bonito, 18 rock cod, 1 sand bass, 105 blue perch, 30 mackerel.

DANA WHARF--50 anglers (3 boats): 99 bass, 183 bonito, 223 rockfish, 40 mackerel.

OCEANSIDE--39 anglers (1 boat): 190 bonito, 8 calico bass, 25 sand bass, 166 mackerel.

SAN DIEGO (H&M; Landing, Fisherman’s, Point Loma)--38 anglers (4 boats): 87 bonito, 34 sand bass, 247 rock cod, 15 mackerel. (Islandia)--79 anglers (4 boats): 2 barracuda, 397 bonito, 85 sand bass, 22 calico bass, 230 rockfish, 245 mackerel.

Freshwater

Southern California reservoir fishermen encountered good to excellent channel catfish results this week at several locations, most notably Lake Casitas and Vail Lake.

Hank Self of Oxnard, using cut mackerel over a 90-foot hole in Lake Casitas, weighed in a 25-pound catfish Tuesday. At Vail Lake, Claire Bacon, Encinitas, caught a trio of catfish that weighed 10-1, 11-12 and 16-3 Monday.

WILLOW BEACH--Fishermen report good catches of two-pound rainbow trout this week. Good boat-fishing for rainbows at 43, 48, 53 and 54-mile markers with standard trout baits.

LAKE MEAD--Good striped bass fishing at night in most Lower Basin areas. Some all-night fishermen report catching and releasing 100 stripers. Daytime largemouth bass fishermen using live baits in Echo Bay, Vegas Wash. Some shoreline striper success at Hemenway Harbor, Vegas Wash.

BULLHEAD CITY--Good trout fishing in lake, river, for both shore, boat fishermen. Stripers slow. Catfish spotty. Trout limits reported on river by boat fishermen drifting and using cheese baits.

SALTON SEA--Fair for orangemouth corvina in 6- to 10-pound class for fishermen in boats trolling Red Hill areas, late afternoons. Tilapia, sargo very good at Corvina Beach, Salt Creek areas. Croaker slow.

LAKE CACHUMA--Good rainbow trout fishing all week. Fishing with cheese baits at cistern near dam best bet, 50 to 60-foot depths, or trolling standard lures 6 to 8 colors. Shore fishing at Drake’s Cove good; cheese baits, nightcrawlers. Catfish fair. Some success on very small largemouth bass. Exception: Bryon Carver, Santa Barbara, 11-pound bass.

LAKE CASITAS--Very good catfish results for fishermen using cut mackerel in very deep water. Good fishing for planter rainbows, Wadleigh Arm, trolling by dam.

LAKE PIRU--Trout best bet. Some holdovers in 16-inch class this week, trolling six colors. Still-fishing productive with nightcrawlers, cheese baits. Some bass success in early morning with plastic worms, nightcrawlers. Fair for catfish, evenings.

LAKE SKINNER--Planter rainbows best bet. Catfish good. Other species slow.

CASTAIC LAKE--Improved for bass. Stan Kiefer, Inglewood, and Dick Trask, Los Angeles, 10 bass weighing 24 pounds--all at 50- to 60-foot depths, with plastic worm-split shot rigs. Good for planted rainbows.

LAKE ISABELLA--Good trout fishing in Kissack Cove, auxiliary dam area, cemetery area by Wofford Heights. Good night catfish action. Fair for largemouth bass.

IRVINE LAKE--Trout best bet, many limits this week. Good for catfish. Bass slow.

VAIL LAKE--Big bass and catfish. Ross Thompson, Cucamonga, 9-pound bass in four feet of water, Bayou Bay. Gary Foster, Beaumont, 9-5 bass. Limits of smaller bass this week.

LAKE SILVERWOOD--Good crappie fishing all week. Good for catfish. Stripers slow.

LAKE HENSHAW--Fair for crappie, catfish. Catfishermen averaging four to five per rod.

BISHOP AREA--Good results in wild trout sections of Lower Owens River with crickets. Same bait working at Pleasant Valley Reservoir.

(Note: Eastern Sierra fishermen may be fishing for a species of inland steelhead by 1989. The Department of Fish and Game has stocked waters above Crowley Lake and Bridgeport Reservoir with 60,000 McConaughy strain fingerling rainbow trout. Genetically, the fish are steelhead strain rainbows, which have provided Nebraska fishermen with steelhead runs in recent years. The fingerlings were hatched from eggs obtained from fish in Nebraska’s McConaughy Reservoir. Hopes are that the young steelhead will mature in Eastern Sierra lakes, then return upstream in 1989 to spawn.)

Trout Plants

A list of waters scheduled to be planted next week by the Department of Fish and Game, weather and road conditions permitting, by counties:

LOS ANGELES--El Dorado Park Lake, Legg Lakes, Peck Road Park Lake, Piru Creek (Frenchman’s Flat), San Gabriel River (East, West forks).

RIVERSIDE--Cahuilla Lake, Evans Lake, Perris Lake, Skinner Lake.

ORANGE--Laguna Niguel Park Lake.

SAN BERNARDINO--Colorado River (Needles), Cucamonga Guasti Park Lake, Santa Ana River.

SAN DIEGO--Doane Pond.

KERN--Hart Park Lake, Kern River (Borel Powerhouse to Democrat Dam, KR3 Powerhouse to Lake Isabella), Ming Lake.