OUTDOOR NOTES : Catch Off San Diego ‘a Real Variety Pack’

The game fish found last week by San Diego’s sportfishers have yet to move north as expected, but skippers operating on an overnight schedule are reporting a vastly improved albacore bite and steady catches of other exotic species.

Some captains reported catching more than 50 albacore by early Tuesday afternoon. Buzz Brizendine, skipper of the Prowler, told Phil Friedman of 976-TUNA over the marine radio that his passengers boated 60 of the longfin tuna in one stop Monday. “This stuff is averaging 18 pounds. It’s a beautiful grade of fish,” Brizendine said.

As for the variety, Brizendine added: “In the same area there’s dorado, there’s bluefin tuna up to 35 pounds, there’s yellowtail, there have been both bigeye tuna and yellowfin tuna caught (Monday) and this morning--and the skipjack (tuna) are there; it’s just a real variety pack once you get there.”

The fish are still being found about 140 miles south of Pt. Loma. A band of dirty water--about 115 miles south of the landings--still exists and is believed to be thwarting the northward movement of the fish.

However, Michael Laurs, a biologist with the National Marine Fisheries Service, said late last week that he expects the dirty water to dissipate, thus providing an avenue for the fish.

The largest billfish of the season--an 858-pound blue marlin caught July 10 by Bellflower’s Mike Pierce--highlights some of the best marlin fishing this year off the southern Baja California peninsula.

“The marlin bite is excellent, better than excellent,” said Darrell Primrose of Tortuga Sportfishing. “I had five boats out (Monday); they had 10 marlin, two sailfish, some dorado to 45 pounds and a couple of tuna around the 30- to 40-pound range. They leave the dock at 7:30 a.m., and every boat was back by 1 o’clock.”

Pierce, 38, a McDonnell Douglas employee, was fishing aboard the Gaviota fleet and trolling a light-green marlin lure when his fish struck at 8:30 a.m.

Five hours into the fight, the handle on the reel broke. Pierce’s brother, John, stripped enough line from the reel, so there was enough slack to cut and splice the line onto that from another reel and fasten the reel to the rod before the marlin picked up the slack.

It worked. Pierce boated the fish after 7 1/2 hours.

“My arms are still tired,” he said.

Rounding out the top four billfish this season are blue marlin weighing 702, 653 and 549 pounds. The largest ever caught off Cabo San Lucas is a 1,056-pounder, by North Hollywood’s John Conant aboard one of the Tortuga’s fleet, on September 8, 1977.

White seabass are still being targeted at Santa Rosa Island, with those aboard commercial and private sportfishers occasionally finding fair-sized schools of the powerful croakers--and some of the other game fish the area has to offer.

Phil Headrick of Thousand Oaks, fishing aboard Tom Palmer’s 28-foot Hard Drag, used 20-pound test line and successive baits to land a 12-pound white seabass, a 47-pound halibut and a 48-pound 3-ounce yellowtail.

Rick Grant, manager of Cisco’s Sportfishing in Oxnard, said it was the largest yellowtail he had seen.

Palmer said: “It’s almost unheard of to catch a yellowtail there. Once in a while you get one.”

Large halibut are not uncommon, however. The world-record halibut for 20-pound test line--a 53-pound 4-ounce fish caught in July 7, 1988--was also taken from the waters off Santa Rosa Island.

Marlin fishing remains slow in Southland waters. No marlin have been weighed yet this season at Avalon, and the last one reported at the Balboa Angling Club was a catch-and-release fish on June 30.

The BAC’s Jaye Apperson said Rowan Henry of Marina del Rey caught a swordfish Sunday. Henry was fishing 10 miles south of the Coronado Islands. He fought the 129-pound broadbill for 10 hours 15 minutes.

Fishing instruction: The East Fork Fly Fishing Store in Irvine, casting classes for intermediates, Saturday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Sept. 29 and Dec. 8. Cost: $50