NOTES / PETE THOMAS : Conditions Offset Albacore Catch Again

Albacore, which have basically eluded Southland anglers for the last 10 years, are making a huge splash off the Central California coast.

But every time it appears a consistent bite is beginning, Mother Nature steps in to protect the long-fin tuna, which once appeared seasonally by the thousands, making them easily the most popular game fish in California.

“This wind or the doggone swells, it’s always something,” said Mike Hood, a spokesman for Virg’s Landing in Morro Bay.

No boats have been out since Friday, a day the Coast Guard spent searching for Jim Bertken, the Los Angeles Daily News outdoor writer presumed to have fallen overboard and drowned while on a trip aboard the Marauder out of Paradise Sportfishing in Avila Bay.

However, both landings are going to continue trying to get out to the fishing grounds 50-70 miles offshore. Because if and when the weather settles down and the fish cooperate, business will be as brisk as the wind that has been whipping the sea into a froth.

“Right now we’re just getting a lot of phone inquiries,” Hood said. “People really want to see a big count before they come out.”

Before the wind picked up, the 95-foot Admiral found scattered schools of albacore, posting counts of a dozen or so fish for three consecutive days before the wind picked up.

Two commercial jig-fishing boats posted counts of 100 albacore apiece Monday at the San Juan Seamount, 100 miles southwest of the Channel Islands, generating interest among landing operators from Santa Barbara to Ventura.

They had already been keeping tabs on the area. Some have even sent boats, to no avail.

“The weather has been kicking butt out there,” said Dave Boyett, a spokesman for Cisco Sportfishing in Oxnard. “We tried to send a boat out [Sunday night] but the weather kicked us back.”

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Albacore may be getting most of the attention, but white sea bass are not going unnoticed in the waters off the northern Channel Islands.

“They’ve been hitting [live squid] now for a couple of weeks,” Boyett said.

The Pacific Dawn left Cisco’s Monday night, turned on the lights to attract squid, brought a load aboard and early Tuesday morning boated 44 sea bass from 15-30 pounds. The Island Tak, on a two-day trip, boated 68 fish.

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As for the tuna south of the border, there is excellent fishing aboard the multi-day boats and spotty fishing aboard the overnight boats.

And there is the usual optimism that the fish are preparing to move within range of the overnight fleet, given that the yellowfin and bluefin on Monday and Tuesday were found in numbers about 100 miles south of Point Loma. Another 20 miles and the overnighters are in business, but the fish have come this close before.

Briefly

PADDLESPORTS--The annual 32-mile Catalina-to-Manhattan Beach Pier paddleboard race was held last Sunday under sunny skies and on calm sea. Mark Feighan of Huntington Beach won the unlimited division--boards of any length--by crossing the channel in 5 hours 56 minutes 43 seconds. The stock division--boards limited to 12 feet--was won by Frank Jester of La Jolla in 6:27.21. Bob Hogan, 63, who originated the event in 1955 and last competed in 1958, finished seventh in the stock class and 29th overall. Of 43 racers, 41 finished. Hogan became the oldest competitor in the event.

HUNTING--The Orange County chapter of the California Varmint Callers Assn. will present a seminar on calling and hunting black bears, coyotes, foxes, bobcats and badgers at 6 p.m. on Sept. 6 at Turners Outdoorsman in Fountain Valley. Jeff Buck and Skip Christensen will cover topics from calling to equipment to the handling of pelts. “Hunters can enjoy time in the field and bring home the fur to construct a beautiful coat,” Christensen said in a news release. Details: (714) 498-2765.

Hawaii recently became the 50th state to sign into law a bill making it illegal to interfere with hunters in the field. The state’s action marks the end of a campaign by the hunting community--notably the Wildlife Legislative Fund of America--against anti-hunters and animal-rights activists. “It has taken nearly 13 years, dozens of recorded harassment incidents and uncounted legislative attempts, but hunter harassment protection is now the law of the land,” the WLFA said. California signed an anti-harassment law in 1988.

BOATING--Preliminary findings in a study by Boat Owners of the U.S. Foundation for Boating Safety show that 30% of boating fatalities occur between 6:30 p.m. and 6:30 a.m., which is surprising only in that only 5% of boating activity occurs during these hours. Alcohol is believed to have been a factor in 62% of the accidents.