FISHING : Trip to Mexico Yields Big Yellowfin

South Bay anglers who returned recently from a trip to Socorro Island in Mexico said the yellowfin action was good. To prove their point, they brought back freezers full of fish.

Red Phillips, skipper of the 52-foot sportfisher Sharon G, said most of the action occurred in 200 feet of water 1 1/2 miles off Socorro Island in an area known as the high spot.

The best action took place during daylight hours when several triple hookups occurred.

Torrance fishermen Red Phillips, Charlie Opals and King Harbor Marlin Club member Wolfgang Nachsel hooked up with yellowfin.

After battling for more than 30 minutes, Opals’ fish snapped the leader. Phillips battled a yellowfin for two hours before he was able to bring it to deck. It was worth the effort, as the fish weighed 105 pounds.

Nachsel battled a fish for nearly four hours. The fish took him around the deck and spooled his 80-pound test line, although Phillips had another reel if more line was needed.

Deckhands tried unsuccessfully to drag the fish onto the stern of the boat with gaffs. They finally decided to rope the tail and use the boat’s boom.

The yellowfin weighed 359 pounds, one of the largest fish Nachsel said he had ever caught.

The trip’s total catch was 26 tuna and several amberjack and wahoo.

Nachsel said much of the action was videotaped for Marlin Club members to view.

Nachsel donated his catch to needy South Bay families.

With water temperatures climbing, local fishing started to improve last weekend.

Barracuda have come back with a strong showing from Santa Monica Bay to outside horseshoe kelp.

The half-day boat Matt Walsh from L.A. Harbor Sportfishing found good barracuda action at the rigs.

San Pedro fisherman Ken Ruff was tossing jigs and catching barracuda when he hooked up with a thresher shark.

The fish emerged from the water for several spectacular leaps before it headed to deep water.

Captain Don MacIntyre moved the boat as Ruff brought the shark toward the boat’s stern. After 45 minutes, the battle ended.

The thresher is the first weighed in at a South Bay landing this year. The eight-foot fish weighed 85 pounds.

Dick Redlich of Marina del Rey was trolling with a jig for bonito aboard his boat Brown Sugar when he tail-hooked a thresher shark.

Redlich battled the seven-foot fish for 35 minutes before bringing it to deck. It weighed 67 pounds at the Marina del Rey weigh station.

Three San Pedro anglers were able to catch big barracuda.

Fishing aboard the yacht Brandywine, 11-year-old Joel Thompson and Charlie Contres each caught five barracuda that weighed up to eight pounds.

Doug Brinks, 5, also caught five that averaged five to seven pounds.

South Bay catches--Cindy White of San Pedro, fishing off Catalina Island aboard the Dreamer, caught the whopper of the week, a 42-pound white seabass.

Marlene Voucher of Harbor City, fishing aboard the Aztec off Catalina, caught a 25-pound halibut.

Bernie Sherman of West Los Angeles, fishing aboard the Procrastinator off Catalina, caught a 25-pound white seabass.

Chris Brown of West Los Angeles, fishing aboard the Sea Spray at rocky point, caught a 23-pound white seabass.

Bob Hammat of Gardena, fishing aboard the Procrastinator off Catalina, caught a 15-pound halibut.

Ed Armenta of Hawthorne, fishing at rocky point aboard the Redondo Special, caught a 14 1/2-pound white seabass.

Freshwater notes--Randy Long of Gardena fished Irvine Lake and caught a seven-pound rainbow trout.

Ron Martinez of Long Beach fished Santa Ana River Lakes and caught a six-pound rainbow trout.