It’s a Paradise South of Border : Fishing: With a shorter distance to travel, the Ensenada fleet becomes more attractive to Southland anglers.

A flotilla of sportfishers from San Diego is searching the offshore waters to the north, the crews trying to locate floating kelp--precious paddies, perhaps providing cover for highly prized yellowtail.

Fishing has been slow. The skipper of the Prowler announces his catch over the radio--four small yellowtail--and the noon sun means the long journey home is close at hand. The rest of the fleet of a few dozen boats reports similar catches.

Each captain is trying to outdo the others before the day is over.

Kelp paddies have been fished out and abandoned, encountered by another vessel and fished out again. It’s a routine assault, made daily.

Meanwhile, the Ensenada Clipper glides gently over the swells 40 miles south of San Diego’s fleet.

Here, there is no competition among captains. No berating the novice fisherman by the skipper or crew, who have such a strong desire to return to the landing with the most fish. If you lose your fish on the Clipper, it’s no big deal.

“We like to fish and we want people to catch fish. But we’re not going to kill them if they do lose a fish, or they have something happen,” says Sergio Susarrey, 25, co-owner of a four-boat fleet, ranging from the 85-foot Ensenada Clipper to the 46-foot Clipper II.

Oscar Susarrey, Sergio’s uncle and the pilot of the Clipper during its 18 years afloat, pulls alongside a small clump of kelp. The crew tosses anchovies into the water to attract the larger fish. Iron lures are cast hin the direction of the paddy.

One angler hooks up and his rod bends nearly double. After several minutes, what would become the largest yellowtail of the day--a 16-pounder--is boated by Torrance resident Philip Friedman. Another yellowtail hits the deck, then another, all larger than the six- to eight-pound “firecrackers” the San Diego skippers are talking about.

Bob Alvarez, also of Torrance, loses one--with his rod and reel, which slip out of his hands.

An experienced fisherman throughout Baja California, Alvarez can only watch as the fish races away from the stern, trailing his rig behind it.

“I’ve never done that before,” he insists.

“Those things happen,” the skipper says.

The fish stop biting, so the Clipper rolls along, in search of more floating kelp.

Another paddy is sighted a good distance off the starboard bow. The passengers scurry for their gear while the Clipper turns, exposing the starboard rail to the kelp. Irons fly in its vicinity.

More yellowtail are hooked, a few more landed. Some others have found refuge in the kelp, breaking lines in the process.

A mako shark moves into the area and strikes the lure cast by one passenger, who wins the struggle, despite the mouthful of razor-sharp teeth chafing the 20-pound line.

The shark is brought to the stern, where a gaff-wielding deckhand sticks it and heaves it up and over the rail. It bounces on the deck. Within minutes, it is subdued and turned into steaks.

The sun is well overhead, and not a single boat is visible in any direction over the vast expanse of ocean.

The San Diego overnight fleet is traveling north to the landings.

The Clipper’s day is young.

The barren Baja California coastline comes into view, and the Clipper anchors over the rocky reefs off Punta San Jose, about 40 miles south of town.

Strips of frozen squid are baited onto the iron lures, which are dropped to the bottom 100 feet below. Tugs are almost immediate, and the grinding of the reels begin.

A ling cod, with its viciously sharp teeth and tasty green flesh, is lugged over the rail. A rock cod, bright red and bug-eyed from the pressure change, is next. An ocean whitefish, a red snapper . . . the Clipper’s deck becomes littered with fish.

The wind is blowing hard, and the current becomes so strong that it’s difficult to reach the bottom. It’s time to quit and prepare for the three-hour journey home.

Some climb below for a nap, others onto the top deck to lounge in the sun.

The fish are cleaned and bagged, and the Clipper glides into Ensenada at 6 p.m. The San Diego fleet won’t be home for hours.

The Clipper fleet is becoming increasingly popular among Southern California fishermen, mainly because of its proximity to the fishing grounds.

“In terms of the fishing, they’re located right down the Baja coast, so there’s some time element you save,” says Friedman, who has fished aboard the Susarreys’ boats for 15 years. “There’s good fishing out at Todos Santos (Island) on a regular basis. There’s kelp paddies on the outside, and they can get down to the long-range areas . . . real easy.”

Todos Santos Island, just 10 miles offshore, provides the perfect day trip, with large yellowtail roaming its shores and an abundance of barracuda and bonito on the surface, plus an assortment of bottom fish below.

Straight offshore lie the outer banks, popular among the San Diego overnight fleet.

“The advantages? When you’re talking time, it really makes a difference,” Sergio Susarrey says. “The outer banks here take three hours to reach. They are also fished by San Diego’s overnight fleet, after a 12-hour boat ride that made many skippers run 1 1/2-day trips.”

Such trips are intended to give fishermen more time to catch fish. Boats depart between 10 p.m. and midnight, and the anglers spend daylight hours fishing. The ride back begins at dark, with arrival near dawn the following morning--at a cost of between $125 and $150.

For $75, the 85-foot Ensenada Clipper will take you out at 2 a.m. You’ll be fishing at dawn and be back in port by 6 p.m. Three-quarter day trips to Todos Santos Island run $25, and multiday trips average about $100 a day.

Fishing conditions, the Susarreys say, can be obtained by calling 976-TUNA or by calling their office at (706) 678-2185. They also have a number in San Ysidro, (619) 428-6946.

“Basically we never stop all during the year,” Sergio says of the growing popularity of his fleet since it recently began advertising in California. “All the time we’re busy, because when we’re not doing long-range on the Clipper, we’re doing one-day trips or whatever. We always try to keep the boat busy. The company works all year long.”

Much of that is due to the ambition of the company’s founder, Alfonso Susarrey, who began 30 years ago with a 15-foot skiff and a 10-horsepower outboard motor.

He was one of 32 members of the Ensenada Sportfishing Assn.--fleets consisting of mostly skiffs and small cruisers, which concentrated largely on fishing the bay.

“I used to take two people at a time,” recalls Alfonso Susarrey, 52. “I would catch yellowtail, barracuda, bonito . . . you just name it. I would stay in the harbor or sometimes go three or four miles out. We caught halibut to 30 pounds and even caught a 182-pound black seabass on the skiff.”

Susarrey had dreams of expansion, and 20 years ago he bought a 40-foot hull for $300. Not long after, he had the largest boat in the bay.

“Then I took off big,” he says.

But the other fleets were concerned. Here was this upstart skiff fisherman suddenly attracting too much business for the good of the association, which controlled the only bait boat and receiver.

“They would not do anything for me. They kicked me out and refused to sell me bait,” Susarrey recalls. “I had a little money put away. I could see the others parading around, and I knew I had to build my boats that are going to have to be nicer and bigger than anybody else; and if I do that, then I have a chance, because these guys, they’re not going to let me grow.”

Alfonso Susarrey went to San Diego, where he saw and fell in love with the Qualifier 85. Its owner, Bruce Barnes, took Susarrey out a few times and let him work on the boat.

With just $5,000 in his bank account, he was shocked to learn that a similar boat would cost about $350,000. He settled for a set of plans for $2,000 and started from scratch.

Two years later, with the help of credit from a San Diego lumber yard and the assistance of a local boat builder, Susarrey had in his fleet an 85-foot sportfisher, which he named the Ensenada Clipper.

Sergio Susarrey got into the business early, working on the boat since 5. At 12, he had learned enough English to start selling tickets. Thirteen years later, with a degree in industrial engineering and co-ownership of the business--along with the desire to cater to the serious fisherman rather than the weekend tourist--he had helped the Clipper fleet grow into a reliable operation.

Under construction in the boatyard Susarrey recently purchased is the 65-foot Executive Clipper, which will specialize in overnight trips to the outer banks. Drawn up and sitting under the glass atop the office desk are plans for a deluxe long-range sportfisher capable of reaching the tuna-productive Revillagigedo Islands.

Susarrey works 12 hours a day, upgrading his reservations system and planning for the future.

“If a guy is going to spend so much to come all the way down here, what I want to do, I want to make sure the guy doesn’t have to stay on the line for so many minutes to find out what he wants,” Susarrey says. “I want to give him an answer just like this,” and he punches a button on the computer.