SoCalSalty – Weekend Update

Didn’t get out this weekend. Jake came home from his 2 week camp in Catalina last week and was severely asthmatic. Poor kid 🙁 As a result, he was on homerest all week and we couldn’t go out. I’ll get out this week, but until then here’s a quick update…

The boats have been saying for weeks now, “We’re seeing a lot of fish…it’s going to be crazy when they finally decide to bite.” Many people were predicting they would once we got past the full moon. Well there was a super moon this weekend and the fish bit. Pretty much if you went offshore this weekend, you scored. I’ve been saying that if you go, try to go at least 1.5, but it hit this weekend and even the San Diego (3/4 day boat out of Seaforth) had major scores on tuna going offshore instead of fishing the Coronados. The fish are within 50 miles and the tuna pens are back in play too.

What’s even more surprising, is the bite included bluefin…mostly in the 30-40lb class, but some bigger fish were found as well. If you’ve been sitting on the sidelines waiting for a “wide open” bite, it’s time. Go get ’em. Word has it that there are actually sardines! Bring 20, 30, 40 bait setups and you may want to bring a 4th setup (40+) to fish a heavy jig.

Also, check out Trip Finder from USA Sportfishing to find a ride. Tight lines!

EDITORIAL NOTE – Shortly after I posted this article, news broke that the Mexican government shut down bluefin fishing in their water. If you didn’t see the notice, you can see it HERE. So after the giddiness brought on by this weekend’s trips, suddenly people are all doom and gloom and cancelling trips.

My take is this…the counts this weekend were a combination of easy fishing at the tuna pens AND having sardines as bait which we really haven’t had all season so far. If this news means that bluefin can’t be caught in Mexican water (where the pens are), there is still a volume of fish to be caught outside Mexican water (international or US waters). And if there are still sardines, we’ll catch a lot of bluefin. Plus there is a lot of yellowfin, and yellowtail (and dodos too) to be caught offshore…Mexican water or not.

Expect to see an official statement at some point tomorrow (Tuesday, July 15) from the Sportfishing Association of California (SAC).

UPDATE – July 15

Here’s the official statement from SAC President Ken Francke…

1) As you are aware, on Monday July 14th, Mexico provided the announcement that there can be NO take of bluefin tuna in Mexican waters for the remainder of 2014.

2) To date, the Mexican government considers this closure to be for both recreational and commercial bluefin tuna catches.

3) The SAC attorney from Mexico City contacted Conapesca in Mazatlan and it was verified that the bluefin tuna closure does relate to recreational fishing as well as commercial fishing. SAC has been in contact with the U.S. delegation to the IATTC in Peru. They are currently attending the IATTC meetings and this is one of the issues we have asked them to discuss. We will remain in contact with the U.S. delegation and will report back to you as soon as we have new info to relay.