Sep 19

The anglers aboard Capt. Art Taylor’s Searcher during last week’s Penn Fishing University five-day trip out of Fisherman’s Landing in San Diego were treated to the kind of multi-species tuna action that only comes along every few years.

Several anglers were even able to score a “Tuna Grand Slam” by catching bluefin tuna, yellowfin tuna and albacore, with a few skipjack tuna thrown in for good measure.

The first morning saw fish show up under the boat in the dark about 90 miles offshore, with several albacore hitting the deck just as the sun’s first gray light appeared. The next two days were classic run-and-gun albacore action, as Capt. Taylor skillfully maneuvered Searcher along the warm side of a temperature break.

The third day, the anglers headed to Mexico’s Guadalupe Island, but the fourth and final day of fishing found the anglers just 110 miles from San Diego. Near the Bell Bank, those aboard thrilled at smacking school after school of big albacore and a few yellowfin.

Favored rigging was 30-pound monofilament with a fluorocarbon leader and a lively sardine. My personal live bait rig was a Penn Torque TRQ100 reel with a 25-yard topshot of Big Game Mono over 300 yards of 50-pound Big Game Braid. Terminal rig was a 4-foot leader of aqua-blue Big Game Fluorocarbon attached with a 4-turn Surgeon’s Knot, and a size 1/0 Owner Ringed Gorilla live bait hook.

When the fish charged the boat, stepping up to a 25-yard topshot of 40-pound mono over 375 yards of 65-pound braid, Penn Torque TRQ200 reel and 40-pound fluorocarbon leader and a size 2/0 hook allowed much better control of the oversize albacore, and especially the larger bluefin and yellowfin.

Top trolling rig was the workhorse Penn International 30VSW reel with an “old school” 200-yard topshot of 80-pound Big Game mono over 350 yards of 130-pound Big Game Braid. All topshots were connected via a 12- to 14-turn “Worm Knot”, with a 5-turn “Uni-Knot Lock.”

Productive trolling lures ran the gamut of albacore-style feathers, but the top producer was a Braid Little Speedy plug in the baby yellowfin color, which not only caught numerous yellowfin and albacore, but also showed a remarkable knack for not catching any skipjack.

Guadalupe Island

Day three found the group at Guadalupe Island. The legendary big island was holding yellowfin tuna underneath schools of porpoises. Unfortunately, the porpoises were relatively few in number, and the tuna beneath them very reluctant to bite.

The best setup was a very short 40 or 50-pound mono topshot with a 50-pound test fluorocarbon leader, tied to a size 3/0 Owner Ringed Mutu circle hook with a lively sardine. No fish were caught trolling or by casting jigs at Guadalupe.

The ‘Lupe was very stingy in the end, kicking out only 19 yellowfin tuna for a full day’s effort, although among them was Alfonso Hernandez’ jackpot-winning 62.6 pounder. Even Guadalupe’s notorious great white sharks were scarce, with only a single solitary 12-footer spotted by the anglers.

“We had outstanding fishing conditions and blue 70 degree water offshore,” Capt. Taylor observed. “The first two days offshore, being on the warm side of the temperature edge was the key. On our final day offshore, the bite was associated with the Bell Bank.

“The outlook for the next three weeks is great; there are plenty of fish in the area,” he added. “There will be ample opportunities to catch some real quality fish during the fall season.”

Searcher’s final score was 212 albacore, 53 yellowfin tuna, 14 bluefin tuna, 15 dorado and more than 100 skipjack tuna. Veteran long-ranger Ken Roberts of Huntington Beach scored a “Tuna Grand Slam,” and related, “This is my seventh year in a row on this trip, and this one was one of the best. I caught a 50-pound yellowfin tuna, a 40-pound bluefin and a 35-pound albacore.

The overall jackpot winner was Alfonso Hernandez of Los Angeles, who took home a Penn Torque TRQ300 reel and a nice tuna trophy for his 62.6-pound yellowfin tuna. In second place was Jim Marshall of Jackson with a 55.6-pound bluefin, and he also won a Penn 525mag reel for the catch. The 53.6-pound yellowfin caught by David Park of Los Angeles was good for third place.

Bruce Saurer of Whittier won a Penn 535 reel for the largest fish on a demo rod: a 47.6-pound yellowfin. The Owner Hooks “first tuna” prize was caught by Jim Marshall, and the “first dorado” prize was taken by Alfonso Hernandez.

The Flying Fisherman “Master Jig Caster” prize for the largest fish on the iron was taken home by Jim Hartwick of Harbor City. And finally, the coveted “Flambeau True Sportsman Award” as voted by the crew went to 16-year old Tanner Huffer of Dana Point.

This article first appeared in the September 2009 issue of FishRap. All or parts of the information contained in this article might be outdated.