San Diego sportboats searched hard for fish over the holiday weekend. They found yellowtail under paddies and rockfish on high spots and a few bonito and bluefin tuna in open water, but no albacore. There was talk on the dock that the Grande had an albacore up to the boat before it escaped, but the story was unverified at this writing.

The Condor, under the guidance of owner Scott Meisel, had ten bluefin aboard when the boat retuned to Fisherman’s Landing May 28, up to 40 pounds.

Excel Three-Day

Owner Bill Poole was aboard Excel, as was his daughter-in-law Sarah Poole and 30other fishermen. Randy Toussaint skippered the trip, and covered a lot of water; all the way from “The Cross,” some 200 miles south, and back to port, said Bill.

At Fisherman's Landing, Toussaint said the water was mostly near 63 degrees, and four bluefin were caught by Excel anglers along with the paddy fish. The bluefin were shared with American Angler, he said.

Excel winners showed off some early-season bluefin.

Long Tran of San Bernadino won first place for a 33-pound bluefin tuna. He said he got it with a sardine on a 2/0 Gorilla hook, with 30-pound P-Line on a Trinidad 16 N reel and a Loomis eight-foot rod.

Cong Vu of Orange won second place for a 28-pounder, and Danh Thao of Garden Grove was third, for a 25-pound bluefin.

Season’s First Opah

Sam Patella skippered American Angler on a three-day trip with 28 anglers, who also found yellowtail under the paddies. Nine bluefin were caught, but a 77-pound Opah or moonfish won jackpot honors, and generated a bit of excitement.

Gabriel Slatton of San Diego caught the big red fish on a blue and white Salas 6X Jr. jig, about dawn, near a paddy. It’s early in the season for an opah, but those are the usual conditions to encounter one. It bit at about 200 feet, said Slatton, who had plans to have the fish mounted.

“I thought it was a big squid at first,” he remarked at the scales at Point Loma Sportfishing when the boat returned May 28. “But while it was fighting, it kept surging down.”

First One: A moonfish rounded out the jackpot for American Angler fishermen.

David Gross of Oceanside won second place for a 37-pound bluefin he bagged with a sardine on 20-pound Izorline, and George Swarberg, San Diego maker of the Rod Knobie, was third, for a 27-pound bluefin tuna.

Lady Rookie Wins

Kimberly Rhinelander of Culver City won the jackpot on her first-ever fishing trip, aboard the Shogun with skipper Norm Kagawa, on a three-day trip that returned with 29 anglers May 28.

Her First Trip: It was a lucky one for Kimberly Rhinelander on the Shogun.

Kimberly caught a 16.4-pound yellowtail on a mackerel pinned to a 6/0 Eagle Claw hook, with a dropper loop on 50-pound Izorline, a Penn 113 HS reel and a Calstar 660 rod.

Shogun winners found some big lings to go with Kimberly's yellowtail.

Robert Thomas of Newport Beach was second for a 14.4-pound ling cod, and he was tied by Andrew Kang of Burbank, who also got a 14.4-pound toothy critter.