This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Sports

1,119-pound Marlin Caught but Where's the Tuna?

The latest from Baja to the Channel Islands: blue whales, white sea bass and notable catches.

San Diego Tuna 

Things can’t get much worse. It remains very slow for tuna with a few nice bluefin tuna caught from time to time and that’s about it. The 4th of July has come and gone and still no sign of albacore anywhere near San Diego. Anglers and charter  boat Captains are hoping for a late season. 

San Diego local 

Find out what's happening in Belmont Shore-Napleswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The local bite has been quite good with excellent sand bass and barracuda fishing off Tijuana, and some good calico bass and more barracuda off La Jolla. There has also been a few yellowtail taken here, too. 

Cortez Bank 

Find out what's happening in Belmont Shore-Napleswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Some big yellowtail are biting out here at Cortez Bank, located 90 miles south of Long Beach, as are some 10-pound bonito and lots of great eating rockfish. There has also been some bluefin tuna too, but they have been reluctant to bite. 

The Toronado out of Pierpoint Landing in Long Beach has scheduled a 1.5 day trip for Cortez Bank departing Saturday at 9 p.m. and returning Monday morning. Captain Ray Lagmay says that if they miss on tuna and yellowtail, they are guaranteed a sack of rockfish. The trip is $200.

 Catalina Island  

If you can live without white seabass and yellowtail, the bite here has been very good. Excellent calico bass, barracuda, perch, rockfish, and a few white seabass and yellowtail make the Island a great three-quarter day destination. 

The Native Sun from Long Beach Sportfishing fished Catalina Island recently for good calico bass fishing, a few barracuda and some perch and rockfish. More important, skipper Gabriel Ceballos said that conditions were perfect; 71-degree water and lots of life.

 The three-quarter day Gale Force out of LA Harbor Sportfishing has been going to Catalina Island and having great calico bass fishing, lots of barracuda and seeing more and more yellowtail everyday. “Fishing has been very steady,” said Captain Chris Batts.   

Oceanside to Dana Point  

Much improved calico bass fishing along with more sand bass and a few halibut and yellowtail. Water temps are on the rise and that has the bass bite warming up too. Thresher sharks offshore too. 

Newport and Corona del Mar 

Private boaters are still taking thresher sharks here with several over 200 pounds. Ed Lambeth from Chino was coming back from Catalina Island on his sail boat when he saw three thresher sharks ½ mile west of the red buoy off Newport Beach. The sharks were lounging on the surface with their elongated tails sticking out of the water. “It was like they were sun bathing,” said Lambeth. 

The sportboat Freelance out of Davey’s Locker in Newport Beach reported catching their first tuna of 2011 at Catalina Island this week. It was a skipjack tuna, one of the less targeted species but a tuna nonetheless.

 Private boaters fishing the coastal kelp lines continue to do well on calico bass with some barracuda and an occasional big white seabass.

 Huntington Beach to Long Beach 

It has been up and down on the Flats with some days of great barracuda fishing along with some sand bass and other much slower days. The Westerly, out of Long Beach Sportfishing had excellent sand bass fishing along with a few barracuda on Tuesday.

 Twilight trips have been producing some calico and sand bass along with an occasional halibut. One lucky first time angler fishing on the Native Sun on a twilight trip caught a 24-lb halibut this week.

 Palos Verdes 

Excellent calico bass fishing along the rich kelp lines, off Point Vicente as well as around Rocky Point. There is also a very good chance for a big white seabass and/ or yellowtail. The fish are biting best on live or fresh dead squid as well as live sardines.

 Anchoring just off the kelp line during high tides has produced some of the best bites. There has also been some more halibut taken too. Jimmy Bass from Tradition Sportfishing has been catching lots of big sheepshead around Marine Land Reef as well as some lingcod, perch and other rockfish. “This has been a great year for action,” said Bass.

 Redondo 

The squid grounds off Hermosa Beach continue to produce occasional big halibut as well as some big white seabass. As we move closer to the full moon, the bite could well accelerate as tidal flows are normally at their apex. It is during the high tides that we see some of the best white seabass fishing.

 Justin Horwath is just getting in to fishing and was on board the Highliner this week and caught a nice 28-pound white seabass  fishing off Hermosa Beach. Not to be out done, Horwath’s friend Danny O’Connor caught his biggest halibut ever; a 32-pound flattie. Rick Pazjak then decked his first white seabass in 25 years of fishing.

 Channel Islands

 Santa Rosa Island kicked out the largest California halibut ever taken last week at 67.1 pounds for Frank Rivera fishing on the Mirage. This week, the white seabass bite has been off the hook. Limits of seabass (3 per rod) has not been uncommon on croakers to over 50 pounds.

 Surf fishing

 Excellent surf fishing now around Bolsa Chica State Beach for big corbina. Shawn Morgon from Big Fish Tackle in Seal Beach said that corbina in the 3-4 lb. class have been common. Morgon said that there are plenty of sand crabs along the beach and they have been working great. There is also lots of barred perch.

 Thresher sharks continue to be taken off the Huntington Beach Pier on live mackerel. There is also good perch and corbina fishing here along with an occasional halibut. Same kind of thing around the Seal Beach Pier.

 We are also seeing improved corbina fishing mixed with barred perch around Rats Beach as well as the Hermosa and Manhattan Beach Pier.

 Blue Whales

 Harbor Breeze Cruises in Long Beach treated a group of workers and their families from Cabi Clothing in Rancho Dominguez to a day of blue whale watching. The group started at the Aquarium of the Pacific where they spent several special hours.

 Eight year old Hector Medina and his 10-year old brother Manuel from Carson didn’t want to leave the shark and ray touch tank. Either did 77-year old Mary Guzman from Costa Rica. “There is so much to see here,” said Guzman. “I just loved the giant tank with all those big fish.”

 In the afternoon, the group headed out of Harbor Breeze Cruises and came upon three magnificent blue whales about 10 miles from port. The largest creatures to ever inhabit the earth brought the group to their feet with excitement. The trio of leviathans, each about 80-feet in length, entertained the whale watchers for a good hour. There appears to be copious amounts of krill in the water which should keep these fascinating creatures around for a while.

 In the end one of the creatures took a deep dive, showing off its magnificent fluke for all to see. “I will never ever forget the whales and will never forget the joy we all felt seeing our first blue whales,” said Ruth Guzman Jara.

 Notable catches

 Mike Plossel from Laguna Niguel caught a giant, bright colored Opah on the Searcher out of Fisherman’s landing in San Diego on a recent trip. Opah are rarely caught by recreational anglers and remain an enigma. Almost nothing is known of opah biology and ecology.

 The catch of a 1,119-pound blue marlin by Dave Albury shatters a 32-year-old Bahamas Billfish Championship series tournament record, and represents a new record for the Bahamas.

It also places local angler Albury into the elite club of fishermen to have landed a "grander," or a marlin weighing 1,000 pounds or more. Only a handful of granders are caught each year globally.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

More from Belmont Shore-Naples