OUTDOOR NOTES : Boats Look for Albacore to Keep Getting Customers

The albacore aren’t going to come to the fleet, so the fleet is going after the albacore.

The Predator, out of H&M; Landing in San Diego, returned Tuesday from a 1 1/2-day exploratory run, which proved fruitless, according to Bill Dowling at the landing.

Dowling said skipper Mark Hall did encounter a school of bluefin tuna but added there were no hookups. Hall did not say where he was fishing.

“Nobody has spotted any (albacore),” Dowling said. “We’ve been looking at all the other long-range boats that are coming in (from the other landings), and none of them have brought any albacore back.”

The Seabisquit, out of Islandia Sportfishing, will embark on a two-day exploratory run late Saturday night. Asked why, owner Bob Hodgden replied: “Economics, I guess. We need the fish.”

Hodgden said he will work an area not fished by the long-range boats returning up the Baja California coastline. “I’m going to try it farther outside, more to the west of those people,” he said. “Hopefully . . . who knows?”

With yellowtail fishing having slowed substantially in recent days, such runs are going to be necessary if the fleet is going to find the popular tuna and maintain an adequate flow of customers.

“You’ve got to look for them to find them,” biologist Michael Laurs said of the albacore. Laurs, a migratory species expert with the National Marine Fisheries Service, said he has had few reports of albacore from San Diego skippers, mostly because there has been little effort by the fleet, which has been content fishing the offshore kelp paddies for yellowtail.

Laurs did offer a bit of optimism, however, claiming that the body of albacore that made a brief showing in early May could show again any time.

“That body of fish will eventually show up in the Southern California Bight again,” he said. “Based on all the tagging studies, once the fish get into the bight, they remain for the remainder of the season.”

Laurs said a few albacore are starting to show several hundred miles off the coast near Mendocino, adding that they are heading toward the coast off the Pacific Northwest.

While sport fishermen on the coast have for the most part stopped fishing for white sea bass off Santa Catalina Island, anglers living on the island have found the fish are still there. The bite continues to be strong, but it’s in the middle of the night.

“There’s fish in there and they’re big ones,” said John Cadman, 36, a resident of Avalon. Cadman said he and friends have been battling fish regularly after midnight in an area near the rock quarry, just outside the harbor.

“A lot of people don’t realize that these things will bite in the middle of the night,” he said, adding that the biggest so far is a 50-pounder caught by Larry Mebust, a commercial fisherman who normally targets swordfish.

“He heard there were a lot of sea bass, and the swordfish bite has completely shut off, so he decided to take a little break,” Cadman said. “He came in here and got a 50-pounder.”

A similar bite is reportedly occurring on the backside of the island near the isthmus, Catalina and Shark harbors.

“They’ve been catching some pretty big ones themselves, 30- to 40-pounders,” Cadman said.

Briefly

The Pasadena Casting Club will have its annual auction--with fly fishing trips and various items--Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at the Masonic Temple in San Marino. Proceeds will be used to support the club’s conservation projects. Information: (818) 286-2743. . . . Waterskiing: The $100,000 California Cup, featuring six world record-holders and all six reigning world champions, will be held Friday through Sunday at Long Beach Marine Stadium. Tickets are available at Ticketron outlets and the stadium. . . . Showtime: The American Boating Jubilee ‘90, displaying boats of all types and sizes, will be held July 20-29 at Shoreline Village Marina in Long Beach; admission: $5 for adults, free for children. Don Bullock’s Gun-Knife-Collectors’ show & sale, Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Los Angeles County Fairgrounds in Pomona; admission: $6 for adults.