THE OUTDOORS : Dorado Is Caught Off Coast

On a shark fishing trip Tuesday about 7 miles off Dana Point, Joe Bairian, skipper of Bongos, a vessel run by Davey’s Locker Sportfishing in Newport Beach, noticed a large kelp-paddy floating on the surface.

Shortly after instructing his passengers to throw some bait in the area--yellowtail are sometimes caught under such paddies--13-year-old John Reihner of West Los Angeles, hooked up to what was first believed to be a yellowtail.

Reihner’s fish, however, turned out to be a 7-pound dorado, an exotic species highly prized in Mexican waters, where they are primarily found.