Top to Bottom, Waters of Midway Have Great Allure

There was the Battle of Midway, and now there are the battles of Midway, more frequently being won by the Japanese--aboard the Yorktown no less.

Of the several hundred anglers expected to visit the remote North Pacific atoll this season, about 15% will be from Japan, and even more Japanese are expected in the coming years as Midway Sportfishing has hired a marketing representative in that country.

“They love GT in Japan,” says Capt. Rick Gaffney, referring to the tackle-busting giant trevallys that grow in excess of 100 pounds and thrive in Midway’s sprawling lagoons.

It’s nice to see tourists from the United States and Japan sharing a small piece of real estate--Midway is the second northernmost island in the Hawaiian chain, about 1,200 miles northwest of Honolulu--that was fought over so fiercely during World War II.

As for the Yorktown, it’s one of the top sportfishers in a fleet of half a dozen docked at the atoll.

The real Yorktown, of course, was sunk by a Japanese sub and rests in more than 16,650 feet of “crystal-clear water, the cleanest I have ever seen,” says Robert Ballard.

Ballard, who has led more than 100 deep-sea expeditions, located the 809-foot carrier on May 19, 1998, after an exhaustive systematic sonar search.

How deep is 16,650 feet? Well, it’s a lot deeper than where the R.M.S. Titanic sits, at 12,000 feet in the Atlantic Ocean. It’s even deeper than the German battleship Bismarck, which rests at 16,000 feet in the North Atlantic. Bob Ballard and Company located all three.

It’s a black ocean down there, frequented only by bizarre creatures of the deep.

There will be no attempt to raise or salvage the Yorktown. Ballard is against such endeavors, saying the Yorktown is a war memorial and should remain where it is. He does envision, however, a camera system with satellite uplinks, thereby creating a museum of sorts for Internet users.

Meanwhile, there will be plenty of attempts to raise game fish in and beyond Midway’s pristine lagoons.

BATTLING AWAY

Midway’s third full fishing season--the atoll had been closed to the public for more than 50 years--is getting underway with the proverbial bang. Some highlights, supplied by Gaffney:

* Honolulu’s Michael and Melissa Botha were among the first groups to visit, in mid-April, and their trip was one for the record books, perhaps. Michael caught a 4.4-pound queenfish, which nearly doubled the all-tackle world record. Melissa submitted a women’s 16-pound tippet fly-rod claim with a 14.6-pound GT. The International Game Fish Assn. still has to approve the records.

* David Itano of the University of Hawaii visited the atoll with a tagging crew in April and battled the elements as well as the game fish, still managing to tag 200 yellowfin tuna--all caught on hook and line--in only 3 1/2 days on a wind-swept sea. Itano said the offshore seamounts, which are only now being utilized by fishermen, might prove to be the most productive yellowfin grounds in the Pacific.

* In late April, a Japanese group lead by a Mr. Takahashi (Gaffney didn’t supply a first name) planned to spend a week fishing for GTs in the lagoons, but couldn’t tear themselves away from the offshore areas, which produced dozens of tuna, mahi-mahi and wahoo, all caught aboard the Yorktown using spinning gear and poppers and plugs.

* Russell Johnson of Seattle caught his first two wahoo before tagging and releasing an estimated 350-pound blue marlin after a two-hour fight. He turned the chair over to Bud Frye, 86, who caught a striped marlin. Next with the rod was Peter Pyle, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife biologist, who battled an estimated 400-pound blue marlin for two hours before the line broke.

* The Yorktown, a 38-foot Bertram, late last month completed a scientific journey to Kure atoll (the northernmost of the Hawaiian Islands) 52 miles northwest of Midway, where they tagged four marlin and lost another estimated to weigh 700 pounds.

Also tagged were 32 giant trevally, including four weighing at least 100 pounds. The crew then put down the tagging equipment and picked up the fly rods, and attempted (with limited success on the smaller fish) to land the GTs using 12- and 16-pound tippet.

“Destination: Midway” can be reached in Hawaii at (808) 325-5000. Gaffney, Midway’s sportfishing rep, can be reached via e-mail at captrick@kona.net.

THE ALBACORE SCORE

The northward migration continues, with jig strikes and jumping fish reported at the offshore banks southeast of San Clemente Island, according to reports from private boaters who have done a lot more seeing than they have catching.

These are good signs for an impending local bite, but the majority of albacore remains well south of the border. The Red Rooster III encountered an enormous school at 200 miles Tuesday and its anglers boated nearly 500 fish during a multiday trip.

One private boater reported a jig strike 22 miles off Point Loma, but the one-day party boats out of San Diego are concentrating on an area 50 to 60 miles southwest of the landings, where the action is fair to very good.

“We’re closing in on [five-fish] limits and we’ll be out here till dark,” Tracer skipper Steve Thompson said from his vessel Thursday at about noon. “Most of the boats out here have between 30 and 70 fish. We’re seeing a lot of fish jumping and getting a lot of meter marks, and it’s not too far between jig strikes.”

Just how far north these fish will come is anyone’s guess, but unusually clear and blue water off the Southland coast is an excellent sign, many believe.

“The water was so clear at San Clemente Island the other day that one of our skippers, just for the heck of it, threw a penny overboard at 45 feet and they could still see it all the way at the bottom,” said Don Ashley, owner of Pierpoint Landing in Long Beach. “We’ll have to wait and see what happens but right now it’s hard to put a negative spin on anything.”

A REAL WHOPPER

A San Diego man was arrested Tuesday for assaulting his girlfriend in a supermarket parking lot--with a 10-pound tuna he had just purchased.

Nicholas Anthony Vitalich, 24, was arrested after struggling with police officers after the alleged incident and could be charged with felony assault with a deadly weapon.

“People will use whatever weapon they have available . . . in this case it was a fish,” Lt. Jim Barker of the San Diego Police Department told the Associated Press. “It’s a serious incident.”

The victim told San Diego police that the two argued and that Vitalich then struck her several times in the face and lower body with the two-foot-long tuna. She suffered cuts and bruises but did not require hospitalization.

An investigation is underway.

HOT RAILS

* Overshadowed by the interest in albacore, but not to be overlooked, are all the white seabass still tucked up against the back of Santa Catalina Island. The few boats targeting them scored easy limits earlier this week, and the limit went from one to three per person Wednesday, which has sparked a renewed interest among seabass fishermen and resulted in bigger counts. The El Dorado out of Long Beach Sportfishing, for example, already had 39 aboard by 11 a.m. Thursday.

Closer to shore locally, off the Huntington Flats, half-day boats are into a barracuda bite bordering on ridiculous, with the slender, slimy game fish attacking anything thrown their way.

* East Cape: Bennett Mintz of Chatsworth fulfilled his goal of catching a roosterfish on a fly rod from the beach. He actually caught two small roosters on chartreuse and white Clousers while fishing with Baja on the Fly.

Gary Graham, owner of the business, said hotel fleets are concentrating on striped marlin and doing very well, which is no surprise because stripers flock to this region by the thousands in late June and July. They’re just a little late showing this year.

* Cabo San Lucas: Warmer water has resulted in an influx of billfish, which are giving fishermen something other than tuna to pull on. Stan Zabaglo of Thousand Oaks, fishing aboard Pisces Fleet’s Karina, released two striped marlin and kept a 380-pound blue marlin that died during the fight. Sailfish and even a few swordfish are being caught as well. And, yes, the tuna are still around. A 135-pound yellowfin was caught at Gordo Banks by a Las Vegas angler aboard one of Victor’s Pangas.

Surf fishing has really picked up. Guide Jeff Klassen has been catching 50-pound roosterfish all week and got spooled by one he said weighed at least 100 pounds. “He took 600 yards of 20-pound fireline without stopping,” Klassen said, adding that a friend Wednesday caught a 50-pound snook near San Jose del Cabo.

ON TAP

* Mountain biking: Snow Summit Mountain Resort is hosting cross-country and downhill Diesel/UCI World Cup mountain bike competitions Thursday through Sunday. The downhill event is always a crowd favorite and big names include John Tomac, Shaun Palmer and Nicolas Vouilloz of France. The women’s field is led by defending champion Ann-Caroline Chauson of France. An amateur event is also scheduled. Details: (909) 866-4565.

* Fishing: The annual Allison Marine Newport Bay Bass Tourney is scheduled for June 26 from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Cost is $110 per two-person team, with proceeds going to United Anglers of Southern California conservation projects. Top prize is a trip to Baja’s East Cape. Eligible species are spotted bay bass, sand bass and calico bass. Details: (562) 945-4096.

* Surfing: If you have Internet access, you’ll be able to watch the world’s top surfers in action during the 1999 Billabong MSF Pro at Jeffrey’s Bay, Australia, July 1-11, thanks to streaming media technology. The World Championship Tour event--as well as surfer interviews and live commentary--is being broadcast live at https://www.billabong.com.

WINDING UP

There will be no celebrating the Fourth of July on the slopes at Mammoth Mountain this season. Not on skis or snowboards, anyway. The mountain was closed Tuesday, much earlier than planned, with operators citing warm temperatures and the lack of snowfall in May. On the bright side, the mountain bike park will open early, with limited terrain available, June 26.