Anglers Hitting a Striped Marlin Jackpot

Marlin, dorado, swordfish . . . Southern California has gone exotic.

“It’s nuts,” said John Doughty, owner of J.D.’s Big Game Tackle on Balboa Island. “I’m having a hard time keeping up with the demand for marlin flags.”

Striped marlin in local waters is not unusual, but the number of billfish being seen and caught this month off the east end of Catalina is reminding many of the good old days.

“There have been years in the past where we’ve recorded 500 fish in a season,” Doughty said. “This season started late, but it’s going real strong now.”

Strong? The San Diego Marlin Club recorded 90 marlin catches and/or releases in the past week. The Balboa Angling Club’s count is more than 60. Anglers on party boats have even gotten into the act, hooking marlin on the troll.

Avalon Sea Foods, the official weigh station at Catalina, weighed 14 striped marlin Saturday and three Sunday and anglers reported releasing dozens more.

“I’m weighing in fish right now,” the fish market’s Roger Cadman said Monday. “I’ve weighed in 17 marlin, and I just weighed a 34-pound dorado. There are lots of those coming in and they’re going about 30 pounds, and that’s a lot of mahi-mahi.”

Cadman on Saturday also weighed in a lot of swordfish, a 257-pounder.

But marlin remain the target species, and their invasion--the result of sea surface temperatures to 75 degrees and an abundance of baitfish--couldn’t have come at a better time, this being the middle of the tournament season.

Highlighting the weekend’s action was a catch Saturday of the largest striper in more than 10 years, a 256-pounder landed by Paul Liberti of Long Beach during a charity tournament sponsored by the Avalon Tuna Club.

The catch, after a 1 1/2-hour fight on 30-pound Dacron line, made Liberti’s membership into the club official. (A sponsored member has to post a catch of a certain species over a specific weight in relationship to the strength of the line.)

“I’m still in a state of shock,” Liberti said. “And I give at least 90% of the credit to the skipper, Hal Neibling.”

Naturally. Neibling is acting Tuna Club president.

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Add marlin: Upcoming tournaments--Catalina Gold Cup, Sept. 15-17, (805) 644-2200; Catalina Classic, (805) 985-4142; United Anglers Celebrity Marlin tournament, Oct. 4-5, (714) 846-8259; Charity Heart-Mission Bay Marlin Club tournament, Oct. 5, (619) 224-8229.

Briefly

BAJA FISHING--The fall multi-day season is beginning and already is shaping up to be a bountiful one. Bigeye tuna, from 60-100 pounds, are showing as close as 70 miles from Point Loma. Yellowfin tuna to 100 pounds are teeming at Guadalupe Island. Yellowtail are prowling around Benitos Island and wahoo are burning up reels at Alijos Rocks. Closer to home, dorado are still lurking beneath floating kelp. And marlin and swordfish are adding to the chaos, occasionally striking lures put out for tuna. On Monday three anglers on a private boat collectively battled a 236-pound swordfish for more than six hours near the Coronado Islands. “The fish beat them up for 6 1/2 hours, and then it was a problem to get it into their 22-foot boat,” said Bill Roecker of the San Diego Sportfishing Council.

HUNTING--The largest fall flight of ducks in more than 25 years will benefit hunters in that they will be able to shoot more. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates the fall flight will be 89.5 million ducks, a 16% increase over last year. Abundant rainfall the last few years in nesting areas across western Canada, and various projects by conservation groups, are largely responsible for the increase. In California, the bag limit has been increased from six ducks per day to seven. The season begins Oct. 5 in northeastern California and Oct. 19 in the rest of the state. Reservation applications for state-run wildlife areas have to be in the DFG’s License and Revenue Branch in Sacramento by Oct. 2 to be included in the drawing for opening day. Details: (916) 227-2268.

HIKING--The Sequoia Natural History Assn. is leading hikes to and into Crystal Cave--at 2.42 miles the third-longest known cave in California--Fridays through Sundays through Sept. 23. The Sequoia National Park trips begin every hour on the hour beginning at 10 a.m. Cost is $4 for adults, $2 for children. Details: (209) 565-3759 or 565-3784 on weekends.

MISCELLANY--Things haven’t been very pleasant for the fish in Pleasant Valley Reservoir in recent weeks. Many of them died as a result of oxygen-depleted water flowing into the Eastern Sierra reservoir from Crowley Lake. Glenn Singley, northern district engineer with the Department of Water and Power, explained that Crowley Lake becomes “stratified” for a few weeks every summer, whereby cold water, along with bacteria and algae, settles at the bottom. As the bacteria feeds on the algae, the oxygen level lowers. And since the water flowing from Crowley to Pleasant Valley Reservoir--the water eventually makes its way to Los Angeles--does so through an outtake at the bottom of Crowley, it occasionally creates problems for the fish in Pleasant Valley. “It was a little more severe this summer because of the heat,” Singley said, adding that a few hundred dead trout were collected from the reservoir. “But we haven’t had any show in more than a week, Crowley is cooling at the surface and the lake should turn over soon. As far as we’re concerned, the problem is old news.”