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Pete Thomas, L.A. Times
6/6/03
Tuna Time?
Royal Star skipper Tim Ekstrom stepped ashore Wednesday morning after 1 1/2 days at sea and, with 80 albacore being unloaded, proclaimed the albacore season to have officially begun, although it's still "in its fledgling stages."
That's a good thing. The Southland's most popular saltwater game fish is acting in all the right ways, at just the right time. The longfin tuna are well scattered, as they should be at this time of year, traveling in small schools that are being encountered from about 100 miles southwest of San Diego down to about 250 miles in the same direction.
Over the next few weeks, if this is going to be a typical season, they'll group into larger schools and follow the currents north.
That can't happen soon enough for some of the skippers. This is tease time for the overnight "day-boat" skippers, who are able to scare up only a few fish per outing while the main schools remain just out of range.
A day before Ekstrom pulled in, Captain Bill Cavanaugh of the Pacific Queen arrived with 62 albacore for 15 anglers and said that while the fish "were off the bite," conditions seemed prime to ignite a full-scale feeding frenzy.
"I think it's going to be a good year, a banner year actually," he said, before heading back out Wednesday night. Cavanaugh is on a 1 1/2-day schedule through June.
Still Waiting
June gloom has double meaning for local landing operators. Yellowtail and white seabass, though some have been caught at San Clemente and Santa Catalina islands, haven't cooperated as they typically do each spring. And the result has been an overwhelming lack of interest among the angling public.
"We're all looking over the horizon for the albacore, to see if they get any closer," said Don Ashley, owner of Pierpoint Landing in Long Beach.
On the bright side, he added, a new wave of barracuda appeared Wednesday off Huntington Beach and they were bigger than in previous weeks, averaging about five pounds but some pushing 10. Most fishermen had little trouble bagging their 10-fish limits.
6/6/03
Tuna Time?
Royal Star skipper Tim Ekstrom stepped ashore Wednesday morning after 1 1/2 days at sea and, with 80 albacore being unloaded, proclaimed the albacore season to have officially begun, although it's still "in its fledgling stages."
That's a good thing. The Southland's most popular saltwater game fish is acting in all the right ways, at just the right time. The longfin tuna are well scattered, as they should be at this time of year, traveling in small schools that are being encountered from about 100 miles southwest of San Diego down to about 250 miles in the same direction.
Over the next few weeks, if this is going to be a typical season, they'll group into larger schools and follow the currents north.
That can't happen soon enough for some of the skippers. This is tease time for the overnight "day-boat" skippers, who are able to scare up only a few fish per outing while the main schools remain just out of range.
A day before Ekstrom pulled in, Captain Bill Cavanaugh of the Pacific Queen arrived with 62 albacore for 15 anglers and said that while the fish "were off the bite," conditions seemed prime to ignite a full-scale feeding frenzy.
"I think it's going to be a good year, a banner year actually," he said, before heading back out Wednesday night. Cavanaugh is on a 1 1/2-day schedule through June.
Still Waiting
June gloom has double meaning for local landing operators. Yellowtail and white seabass, though some have been caught at San Clemente and Santa Catalina islands, haven't cooperated as they typically do each spring. And the result has been an overwhelming lack of interest among the angling public.
"We're all looking over the horizon for the albacore, to see if they get any closer," said Don Ashley, owner of Pierpoint Landing in Long Beach.
On the bright side, he added, a new wave of barracuda appeared Wednesday off Huntington Beach and they were bigger than in previous weeks, averaging about five pounds but some pushing 10. Most fishermen had little trouble bagging their 10-fish limits.
