By Bill Roecker

Here’s a picture of a fish from East Cape. It’s a jack of some sort, and was given to us when we visited Rancho Leonero recently. We asked several scientists to identify the barred critter. We got back two educated guesses.

The first came in the form of a reply to Ed Everett, the gentleman familiar to anglers as the scientist with a measuring stick who checks out bluefin tuna as they arrive in San Diego each summer. The reply came from John R. Hyde, who wrote,” Definitely a Caranx (jack), likely Caranx caninus (Pacific Crevalle Jack). The dark bars are a bit odd but likely a juvenile pigmentation remnant. It doesn't appear to be a full-size adult but the scale is hard to figure...”

The problem with jack crevalle is that they don’t have the same sort of fin arrangement on the back. Also, having caught them from Panama to San Diego, I’ve never seen a jack crevalle with bars as an adult, or with the coloration we see in the picture, or without the dark spot near the base of the pectoral fin.

Paul Sweeney and I spent some time in my library and on the Internet. The only other fish we saw that looked like it might be close was a species called golden trevally. They seemed to be too small, though. Then we got a second educated guess, from an answer to a query for us from Steve Tagami at Mustad. It was from Charles Bergmann, who told us to see this Wikipedia link on Golden Trevally.

Then we went back to Fishbase.org's Golden Trevally page, and had to agree. I wrote Charles, “We’d checked that one at Fishbase.org and written it off. A re-check indicates that does get to the size of this fish, and then some. I believe that’s what it is. The other guess was a jack crevalle, but I’ve never seen one with so much color or those fins and markings. Even the face seems more blunt, stouter. Thanks, Bill”

Charles wrote back, “I had looked at photos earlier but while they had the same characteristics they looked different. I checked others but always came back to the golden trevally, due to the fins and body shape. When I saw this photo it was the same. The difference in head shape could be something to do with sex similar to that with dolphins (dorado).”

So we now think this fish is a golden trevally. What do you think?

By Bill Roecker

Searcher returned to Fisherman’s Landing June 18 after a five-day Qualia Reels charter with 20 passengers aboard. One of those was chartermaster Kent Cremolini of Walnut Creek, who showed off a bluefin tuna, one of three caught offshore with 48 albacore and a few yellowfin tuna.

“It was an awesome trip,” said Kent. “We had really good people on the boat.”

“We fished a bit on the way down and then fished offshore again on the way back,” said owner-skipper Art Taylor to dock reporter Bill Roecker.

“We had good fishing at the island, with near-limits of yellowtail. Those fish were mostly 15 to 18 pounds, and they bit on the yoyo iron and on bait. Not many tried the surface iron.”


Searcher regular Mark Seals of Cambria wailed on the albacore, catching a two-day limit of ten. His best one weighed about 24 pounds.

Doug Nance of San Diego took 15 minutes to wrestle with the trip’s best bluefin, a jackpot-winning 29-pounder.

“He fought well,” said Nance, who baited a sardine on a 3/0 ringed Mutu hook he said he found on the deck. He fished with 20-pound Ande line, a Torium 14 reel and a seven-foot Fenwick rod.

Dave Bell of San Diego won second place for a 25-pound yellowtail, and chartermaster Cremolini bagged third place for his 24.6-pound bluefin.



Vagabond Returns With Tuna

The following report was posted on the Vagabond’s website June 18:

“Fishing until 2 PM on Wednesday, anglers were able to land 80 albacore, three bluefin tuna and one yellowfin tuna. Gerald Kusumoto took the jackpot with a 39-pound bluefin tuna. Gerald's fish was the second to last fish caught on the trip.

“Second and third place jackpots went to Mike Livingston and Jeff "Panic" Squires. Mike's fish was 36 pounds and Jeff's fish was 32 pounds.

“Albacore and bluefin signs were very encouraging. Numerous mixed tuna schools were metered. Those who wanted to play provided lots of action, including a simultaneous strike on a five-person trolling team. Most fish were in the 14 to 20 pound range.

“Eddie Hagihara had the largest albacore, a 30-pounder caught on the troll. Clearly, the much-awaited 2009 albacore season is finally here. Space is still available on upcoming June trips. Anglers are encouraged to review the Vagabond trip schedule and call the office at 619-224-6500 to make reservations.”

"Once again the morning started out slow for us even though some of the other boats had some nice hits," reported Excel skipper Justin Fleck June 17.

"Just about lunchtime we found a good school on the machines and it decided to bite. We had 75 albacore and 25 bluefin out of that hit. It was down right good fishing there for a while. There were a few short stops in the afternoon before we decided to start sliding down south to put ourselves in position to be at the islands tomorrow. Hopefully the yellows will be waiting for us."



Vagabond Enjoys Mixed Catch; Burgers

"Tuesday afternoon," reported Vagabond June 17, "with near yellowtail limits on the boat, we spent our remaining time at the islands fishing for real-deal mossbacks and were not disappointed. As is stands right now, the jackpot will come from one of a half dozen fish taken off dropper loops.

"As this is being written we are trolling for albacore and bluefin. Adding to the anticipation are promising reports from boats that fished in this area yesterday.

"Fourth year Chef and newlywed Dan Cramer nailed the fresh yellowtail burgers. Several anglers swore those were the best they ever ate. Dan took advantage of fish that was swimming 30 minutes before it was served.

"Jig strike, got to go."



First Over The Hump

"We got out to the tuna grounds at daylight," reported American Angler owner skipper Brian Kiyohara June 17. "We had a weird morning as visibility was very poor and the moisture was so thick it was hard to determine if it was heavy mist or light rain. We saw a few scattered marks but nothing very good. We had the good fortune of having three of our other guys fishing in the same general area. There were a few decent stops in the morning but we were not the recipient of any. We wandered off to the west for nothing and the morning flew by. We had one albacore and three yellowfin tuna at one o'clock and it was high anxiety."

"Then we got in the zone and picked off a stop that was reminiscent of the bluefin drift years of the early and mid nineties. We kept one-to-six going all the time as they were showing down swell,on the corner and in the bow in classic bluefin style. We remember now why we love bluefin fishing so much."

"When it petered out and we started moving, the albacore were up, floating and eager. We had on the corner type fishing with everyone having one on several stops in a row."

"In one afternoon we experienced the "classic" bluefin drift on 25 to 40-pound fish and good on-the-corner albacore fishing. We compiled the first hundred fish day on albacore of the year and it certainly looks like there is a good chance that there will be more. In six hours of fishing we caught 114 albacore and 40 bluefin... we were very busy. If you have any ambiguity about the offshore fishing outlook we hope that we have answered the questions as the possibilities of a big day are here."



Indy Heading Up The Line

"Hello again," Independence owner Mark Pisano reported June 17, "(Captain Jeff DeBuys) called in tonight with the days report, fishing was again good for both yellowfin tuna in the 30 to 60-pound range and yelowtail in the 18 to 40-pound range. They had about 140 mixed fish with a few stand-out yellows up to 45 pounds and a few bigger tuna as well. They took off and are headed up the line to try a day at one of the islands to finish off on their limits of yellowtail and then fish the last full day offshore for albacore and bluefin. This eight day is turning out to to be another great trip. The weather is flat calm as well. Check back for reports on the last two days of fishing."