“Hello from all of us out here on the high seas,” said the Independence report for July 15. “We had an excellent day on the 50 to 75-pound bluefin tuna today, 90 percent of the fish are 60 to 70 pounds, just a fantastic grade of tuna we are catching, the weather again was very nice to us. The plan is to stay here and hope to repeat the day we had. We will send some pictures when we can. Have a great day. Mark, Paul, Kevin, Doug, Jesus, Oscar, Ed and Michele.”

Out Of The Gate

“Today was our first fishing day of our Ray Jarvis Memorial 8-day,” noted the report from Intrepid July 14. “We spent the entire day on the Bluefin grounds. The morning was spent on the hunt, finding one school of Bluefin that did not want to bite and releasing smaller yellowtail found on kelp paddies. Just after noon we located a school that wanted to bite and it was game on. 50 to 80-pound Bluefin tuna erupting behind the boat, down swell, off the bow, biting 50, 60, and even 80-pound line. After a morning of practice, it was time to go to work. Most guys were fishing 50-pound and getting bit good. For the next six hours we were all busy with any where from three to 10 fish hooked at any given time. When the dust had settled and we no longer had any more hooked up we had boated just under 100 fish for the day. All of which were in the 50 to 80-pound grade. Very impressive, a spectacular way to start our trip.”

“Great First Day”

“We had a great first day with 62 nice 50 to 75-pound Bluefin,” said the report from Red Rooster III for July 15. “We drifted most of the day and had steady fishing for most of the time We are going to be here again tomorrow.”

More BFT

“Today was a good day,” reported Royal Polaris July 15. “Our morning started out very slow, with only a few yellowtail under kelps, and most of them we released. But around 14:00 hours, it was game on. We found a school, and we started drifting and didn't start the boat until 19:30 hours. We ended our day with 86 Bluefin tuna, most were in the 50 to 60-pound range, with a few in the 70 to 80-pound range. It was a beautiful grade of fish. We are now under way looking for another school, but most of our anglers are down for the count.”

Short Trips

Fisherman’s Landing recorded the following scores July 15: “736 Yellowtail, 248 Bluefin Tuna, 7 Dorado, 1 Yellowfin Tuna, 58 Sand Bass.” The sand bass came on the Dolphin’s morning run.

Point Loma posted this: “331 Sand Bass, 54 Rockfish, 7 Sculpin, 2 Lingcod, 28 Vermilion Rockfish.” Again, the sand bass were from the Daily Double’s half-day trips.

H&M half and ¾ day trips accounted for 246 sand bass and 41 rockfish; day and day and a half trips got 148 yellowtail, 16 bluefin and a dorado.

Seaforth Landing posted this score for 10 boats: “155 Yellowtail, 51 Bluefin Tuna, 2 Sculpin, 303 Sand Bass, 13 Calico Bass, 43 Barracuda, 36 Rockfish, 1 Dorado, 60 Calico Bass Released.”

What Line Test?

“Hi Bill:

I'm going on a 6-day trip. I wonder how many rods and what pound test line to bring that now it seems the boats are running in to some big guys. What pound would you take? Thanks,”

Greg D. (by email July 16, 2013)

Bill’s Reply

Glad you’re getting out there, Greg. At this still early point, this is the best bluefin summer I can remember. Yellowtail, yellowfin tuna and an early dorado bite seem to offer promise of an exceptional fishing season.

If I were heading out, I’d want to take 30, 40, 50 and 80-pound rigs, with two-speed reels on the two heavier outfits. I’d take two-speeds on my 30 and 40-pound stuff too, if I had it. You could fill in the 60-pound gap if you have an outfit that qualifies. Most of your fishing is likely to be with the lighter gear, but you never know when you might run into a school of 60 to 100-pound-plus bluefin.

As they were when I fished bluefin in June, the tuna are feeding on some small finbait and mass quantities of red crab. Most of the photos I looked at today showed decks covered in crimson crustaceans.

There are plenty of big tuna out there right now; that’s for sure. Good luck, Greg, and please let the smaller yellowtail, dorado and tuna, the five to 12-pounders, go free. They’ll be back next year, almost twice as large.

Bill

Fishing Long Range 101: Bluefin Tuna

Many anglers haven’t fished long range style because they don’t think they’ll enjoy the trip.

“How can you stay on a boat for ten days or more?” some ask.

The truth is that time on a long range boat is relaxing, productive and enjoyable. You don’t have to spend a long time aboard to learn if you like it. Bill Roecker’s “Fishing Long Range 101” is an introduction to long ranging. Here you’ll see that a short trip of a day and a half to three or four days will take you to fishing that’s more comfortable and exciting than any you’ve had before, and it comes with some of the world’s best guides and equipment.

Learn about long range style fishing for tuna, yellowtail and dorado from Bill Roecker and the skippers and crew aboard Royal Star and Searcher, two of San Diego’s best-known long range sportfishers. During early summer, you don’t have to spend two weeks or more at sea to catch fish! You’ll be fishing within hours of clearing San Diego Bay. On a day and a half trip, traveling is at night and the day is all about fishing. See how to bait and cast to feeding tuna, how to play and land ‘em. Enjoy stateroom quarters and chef-prepared meals served at your table. You’ll have more fun and stay out of tangles with a polite crewman at your side as you play your tuna! See bluefin tuna and albacore leaping out of the water just a cast away!

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