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SoCal might be best known for phenomenal weather, longboards, and great music but I think fishing should top that list. San Diego is home to a diverse fishery both near- and offshore, with a wide variety of species calling the inshore wrecks, reefs, and kelp paddies home. Further out, you’ll encounter pelagic species such as swordfish, striped marlin, and many members of the tuna family.

I was invited to San Diego by our friends at Costa to sample the excellent fisheries and test out their latest offering, the King Tide. On the first day of our trip we hit the inshore grounds on one of SoCal’s most famous head boats. We ventured further out on the second, taking 25-foot Parker some 50 miles out in pursuit of Pacific bluefin. The trip gave us the opportunity to test out Costa’s newest offering, which builds on the company’s 40 years of sunglass experience with a host of new features.

Inshore Bounty

San Diego is home to a thriving head boat culture, and the heart of that scene may just be located at the Point Loma Sportfishing center. This marina is home to well-stocked tackle shops, tackle rentals for visiting anglers, and over a dozen head and charter boats. Referred to locally as “sporties,” these boats take fares out on half-day, full-day, and long-range trips that can be at sea for a week or more. A devoted group of anglers take advantage of this fleet, and the fertile waters they frequent.

The Daily Double is one of the oldest boats in the San Diego fleet, built 65 feet long with a 20-foot beam to comfortably fish the wrecks, reefs, and kelp paddies off the SoCal coast. At the helm was Capt. Fred Huber, who has been plying the area waters for decades. On the Costa trip, Huber took us to a few inshore pieces before hitting a productive patch of kelp on the way in. Rockfish, calico bass, sand bass, and sculpins would be our targets for the day, and they proved to be abundant.

Fishing strategy was of the “keep it simple” variety, utilizing three-way rigs baited with live sardines or anchovies, as both were available at the local bait pens. Once in place, the boat dropped the hook to keep us in position over the most productive stretches of structure. The mates set out hurling handfuls of bait overboard, which would kick start the action. After a few minutes of chumming, the waters came alive. Rods bent as calicos and sand bass aplenty came up to the rails, though almost all were released as we had other dinner plans. Fishing was so hot at points that bait was swapped for jigs and still the rods stayed tight.

Beyond the excellent fishing, SoCal’s sport boats typically offer high-quality cuisine. As we hung out in the parking lot waiting for the boat to depart, a gentleman came up to me show me pictures of both the yellowtail he caught on a recent trip, but also the dinners he was served while underway. The breakfast burrito I ate aboard the Daily Double was as good as I’ve ever had anywhere, and the burger I had for lunch rivals anything you’ll find in a top-tier diner around here. It’s said that you can tell how long a mate has worked on the sporties by the pounds they have packed on. Be sure to bring your appetite.

Another unique aspect of fishing out of San Diego are the military vessels you’ll encounter while going to and from port. Naval Base San Diego serves as the homeport to much of the Pacific fleet, and is the second largest surface ship base of the United States Navy housing over 50 vessels at any given time. During my last trip to San Diego several years ago, we saw the USS Ronald Reagan, a Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier returning to base. On this trip, we passed an Ohio-class nuclear submarine heading out to parts unknown. Though the Daily Double is fairly large, it shrinks when passing a vessel of that size.

Kite Fishing for Bluefin

There’s more than a little debate surrounding the origins of kite fishing, with a few regions declaring the technique as their own. Whether or not it originated in SoCal, the captains around here have it pretty dialed in. On the second day of our Costa adventure, we took to the seas in one of the boats in the Pinnacle Sportfishing fleet for some epic kite action, West Coast style.

The Parker we fished off was piloted by Capt. Cameron Bingham. If there ever was someone that figured out what they should do with their life, it’s Bingham, and that purpose is catching big bluefins. His enthusiasm was infectious, and kept everyone stoked the entire steam out to the fishing grounds. Two hours clicked away in the blink of an eye listening to Bingham’s stories, his soft SoCal inflection sometimes jumping octaves with pure excitement about past bites.

The value of kites, Bingham explained, was their ability to present baits quietly behind the boats. The baits could be kept 200 yards or greater away from the vessel, limiting exposure to the fish-spooking outline. And suspending them from above meant that the terminal tackle was all hidden from the supersized eyeballs of the bluefin, helping ease their minds about the easy meal being served up.

As soon as we hit the tuna grounds, Bingham set to work rigging up a pair of flying fish to dangle below the kite. Having an extra bait at the ready would ensure we could get back in the action quickly if we got bit and there were other tuna around. Winds that day were under 10 knots, which made for flat seas but less than ideal kite fishing conditions. Bingham said that winds between 10 to 20 knots made keeping the baits aloft easy, but there were workarounds.

Stashed in the cabin were a brace of helium tanks that were used to inflate balloons that would be affixed to the kite; one to the cross arms and another further down the line. Aided by the two helium-filled balloons, the kite would have no trouble keeping the flying fish on the water’s surface. A line attached to a Penn International 50 Wide was run through a snap swivel on the kite’s line, affixed to the flying fish, and ferried out behind the boat.

Once we were in a likely spot with the kite deployed, Bingham climbed up to the upper station and scanned the water with a big pair of stabilized binoculars looking for signs of life. Once he found some surface-feeding tuna, known as a “foamer” in Left Coast vernacular, he hit the throttles and we made our way over at 10-knots, using the kite’s scope to present baits well away from the din of the motors.

Once the bait was in place over a feeding school, Bingham yarded on the line to add even more life to the hovering fish. It proved too much for a healthy bluefin of about 160 pounds to take, and it smashed the bait with a reckless abandon. In that moment, I knew what Bingham was talking about on the ride out. It was all but impossible to not high five the other anglers on board as the rod doubled. About 15 minutes later, we had deep color. Some final theatrics took place at the rail and the gaff found its way home.

We were able to repeat this scenario with another tuna, a 150-pound specimen, later in the trip. The take may have been even more impressive, as the fish made several swipes before finding the hook. Anticipation was high as the flying fish hung in shreds below the kite, but the tuna eventually engulfed it and the fight was on.

After returning to port, our bluefin were taken to a processor for the trip home. Fast and Easy Mobile Fish Processing made quick work of our bounty, working out of the back of a box truck. We loaded coolers for our plane ride home the next morning, and enjoyed some sushi in the hotel before calling it a day. The whole thing had a very SoCal feel about it.

Tuna fishing is always fun, but adding a kite in takes it to the next level. If you ever get an invite, take it. Especially if it comes from somewhere around Point Loma.

Californication

Costa choose Southern California to introduce the new King Tide sunglasses because they were partly influenced by area’s culture. Most of Costa’s performance sunglasses feature what is known as an 8-base curve, which tightly hugs the face to keep stray light out. But Cali is the home of flat bills and fashion-forward eyewear. Costa wanted to develop a pair of sunglasses that would live up to their 40 years of heritage as while fitting in with the cool kids that call SoCal home.

To give them a look that would be appreciated by the fashionistas among us while still delivering the on-water performance that makes them so popular with anglers, Costa developed removable side shields. This allows Costa to produce the King Tides in both the familiar 8-base curve as well as a flatter 6-base curve as you might find in a pair of Wayfarers or other sunglasses designed for looks instead of performance. The removable side shields block light from sneaking in from the peripherals even on the flat frames, preventing squinting and letting you spot fish even on the brightest days.

The full coverage afforded by the side shields also helps block wind, an important consideration with the rise of the fast offshore center console. Duane Diego, proprietor of Pinnacle Sportfishing and Costa ambassador says the King Tides help make long runs more comfortable. I certainly noticed the wind-blocking properties while out in the water.

And, you can easily take the side shields off and stuff them in the case when not in use. Though I don’t care much about fashion, I find myself swapping the Reeftons or Blackfins I typically wear on the water for a pair of Santiagos or other lifestyle frames once I get back to my truck. With the King Tide, you can just remove the sides if you decide you want less coverage. And the tops of the glasses are rubberized, which will keep them from sliding off the console when you throttle down.

Another notable feature on the King Tides is the shark-inspired sweat channels built into the temples. These innovative grooves serve to funnel sweat from around your eyes down to the end of the stems, exiting the bottom through a small notch. To perfect this technology, Costa’s engineers developed “Sweaty Eddy,” an artificial head that secretes sweat like a linebacker at an NFL training camp in south Florida in the middle of July. This allowed them to see how the new sweat-management technologies worked in real-time, allowing them to fine-tune the system and all but eliminate fogging.

On Friday, July 7 the King Tide 6 and King Tide 8 will be available in black frames with 580G blue mirror lenses at select retailers. Suggested retail pricing starts at $329. By September 15, 2023 you can expect to find them on costasunglasses.com and their retail partners worldwide.

If you want a piece of history, you can grab one of the limited-edition King Tide 6 and King Tide 8 models starting on Tuesday July 11. These models feature a black gold frame and never before seen 580G gold lenses. Costa is only releasing 40 of the 6 and the 8, so act fast if you want to get your hands on a pair.

The post San Diego: Inshore and Off appeared first on Salt Water Sportsman.

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Based on a unanimous vote of the federal Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC), California’s commercial and recreational ocean salmon season faces a complete closure for the 2023 season. The decision was based on recent projections indicating that king (aka chinook) salmon populations in the ocean waters off California have reached historic lows.

“California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) staff estimate that less than 170,000 fall Chinook salmon are expected to return to the Sacramento River this year, one of the lowest forecasts in 15 years and 200,000 fewer than returned in 2022,” said Larry Phillips, Pacific Fisheries Policy Director of the American Sportfishing Association. “Biologists also anticipate that only 104,000 fall Chinook salmon will return to the Klamath River in 2023, the second-lowest estimate since 1997.”

With the PFMC recommendation, the National Marine Fisheries Service will likely take regulatory action to enact the closure, effective in mid-May. In addition, the California Fish and Game Commission is expected to follow suit and adopt a closure of inland salmon fisheries at around the same time.

“This decision, while difficult, is intended to allow salmon to recover in order to provide future fishing opportunities,” said Charlton Bonham, director of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

“The state is committed to ensuring long-term survival of our salmon runs and supporting our struggling fishing communities,” Bonham added, in reference to California businesses that depend on salmon sport and commercial fishing.

In recent years, California has been plagued by a prolonged and historic drought, severe wildfires and associated impacts to rivers that provide salmon spawning and rearing habitat. In addition, harmful algal blooms and ocean forage shifts have contributed to some of the lowest stock abundance forecasts on record for Sacramento River Fall Chinook and Klamath River Fall Chinook.

However, the primary negative influence on California salmon stocks in recent past years have been policy decisions made by water managers at the state and federal levels, says Marc Gorelnik, chair of the PFMC. “Water managers have for years held back (from damned reservoirs) the flow of cold water that’s vitally necessary in summer for the Sacramento and Klamath river fall chinook fry to out-migrate down river,” Gorelnik explains. This reason for the holdback?  Water is prioritized for the state’s massive and ever-expanding agricultural needs.  

“With the lack of cold, fast-moving river water, the salmon fry are annihilated by the excessively high temperatures and predators that find the young salmon easy pickings in the shallow, slow-moving tributaries,” says John McManus, says senior policy director for the Golden State Salmon Association that represents both commercial and recreational interests.

“The poor conditions in the freshwater environment that contributed to these low forecast returns are unfortunately not something that the PFMC can, or has the authority to, control,” Gorelnik points out. “That said, recommending a full closure was the right decision based on the data we have available,” Gorelnik added.

“Many recreational anglers voiced their frustration about the closure at the March PFMC meeting in Seattle, stating that inaccurate preseason forecasts, the lack of in-season management, in-river policies that don’t prioritize the needs of fish and the recent drought all contributed towards the closure,” said Phillips. “Last year, biologists with CDFW estimated that only 61,000 adult fall Chinook returned to the Sacramento River. This is the lowest estimate on record and is likely to impact recreational opportunities for several years.”

On the good news side of the salmon equation, patterns indicate that salmon returning three years from now will benefit from the ample precipitation California has experienced this year.

“We deeply appreciate the fishing community in California voicing support for this serious step to help these stocks recover,” said Bonham. For more information regarding the PFMC actions, visit pcouncil.org.

NOTE: This page was updated on April 12, 2023 with quotes from Larry Phillips, Pacific Fisheries Policy Director of the American Sportfishing Association.

NOTE: This page was updated on April 14, 2023 with quotes from Marc Gorelnik, chair of the Pacific Fishery Management Council, and John McManus, senior policy director for the Golden State Salmon Association.

The post California’s Ocean Salmon Fishery Faces Complete Closure for 2023 appeared first on Salt Water Sportsman.

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A conservation movement aimed to mitigate climate change, enhance biodiversity and ensure equitable access to outdoor spaces sounds like program that everyone, including anglers, can get behind. These goals are part and parcel of the so-called 30×30 initiative, a global movement conceived and promoted by environmental groups to protect 30 percent of the ocean and land by the year 2030.

Yet, sportfishing communities from coast to coast have grown skeptical and suspicious of the political influence and true intent of the forces behind the movement. Those forces include well-financed environmental groups such as the Audubon Society, Azul, Defenders of Wildlife, and the National Resource Defense Council. Strong and determined, these organizations have already set the wheels in motion for 30×30 programs at federal and state levels.

This is the story of one of those states — California — where implementation is moving ahead with greater speed than anywhere else in the country, largely because proponents aim to set precedent here for implementing 30×30 throughout the US and around the globe. Yet the process in California is far from complete, and outcome not quite clear. While no one’s exactly sure how it will turn out, the experience so far might provide guidance to angling groups facing 30×30 initiatives in other states.

But before heading west, let’s take a closer look at 30×30 and how proponents envision its implementation, particularly in coastal waters.

Defining 30X30

The National Resource Defense Council — one of the most visible environmental groups behind this initiative — defines 30×30 as “… protection of at least 30 percent of the world’s oceans and 30 percent of all lands and inland waters by 2030.”

The goal, according to the NRDC’s 30×30 fact sheet, is to safeguard air and water quality, protect our food supply and health, prevent mass wildlife extinctions, and protect treasured natural spaces.

While that sounds fine, it’s the single-minded manner in which environmental groups propose to achieve these goals in ocean waters that raises the hackles of anglers. The NRDC fact sheet states: “’Highly and fully protected’ MPAs (Marine Protected Areas) are the most effective (means), providing safe havens for ocean life to recover and thrive without pressures from extractive activities like industrial fishing and oil and gas drilling.”

More MPAs

Interestingly, the NRDC fact sheet fails to discuss critical ocean issues such as minimizing pollution due to agricultural or urban runoff or sewage spills. Nor does it recognize sustainable and proven fisheries management tools such as seasonal closures or catch limits as legitimate conservation measures.

“Their end goal is to expand the MPA network,” says Bill Shedd, CEO of AFTCO and chairman of the Coastal Conservation Association of California. “It’s not about biodiversity. It’s just MPAs. Proponents of 30×30 want to see as little fishing as possible. They think that sport fishermen are the problem.”

Shedd points out that no-take MPAs remain unproven as ocean conservation tools. He has aggregated on the AFTCO website more than 10 scientific and mainstream articles, including a paper by Shedd himself, to support this argument.

“A deep dive into the MPA studies shows that US-based no-catch marine protected areas do not increase fisheries productivity, and that current fisheries management tools are far superior at achieving the goal,” Shedd states in his article.

Western Battle

In the spring of 2020, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, proponents of 30×30 attempted an apparent sneak play in the California Legislature with the introduction of Assembly Bill 3030 (Rep. Ash Kalra, D, Santa Rosa). Many in the sportfishing community believe that the sponsors exploited Covid restrictions and concerns to try to pass the bill before opponents could gear up. Whether the timing was intentional or not, the sportfishing community was caught off guard as AB3030 swiftly flew through its first two committee hearings and was approved by a majority vote of the Assembly within a few weeks of its introduction.  

The balance began to shift as AB3030 reached committee hearings in the state senate. The Coastal Conservation Association of California (CCA CAL) along with a coalition of other stakeholder groups ramped up opposition efforts through lobbying arms, and mobilized anglers and other outdoor enthusiasts to voice concerns to their state senators through aggressive outreach programs and online petitions. And it worked. While AB3030 passed through the first senate hurdle in the Natural Resources and Water Committee, it stalled in the Appropriations Committee and failed to move on to a vote in the upper house.

Executive Edict

While AB3030 effectively died in committee in mid-August 2020, the big-money environmental groups behind 30×30 staged an end-around play. They had ear of California’s Governor Gavin Newsom. The groups, along with Rep. Kalra, convinced Newsom to use his executive powers to bypass the legislature. In a stunning example of gubernatorial over-reach following the defeat of AB3030, Newsom signed Executive Order N-82-20, committing the state to the principles of 30×30.

Pathways Document

Newsom’s executive order directed the California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA), along with its sub-agency, the Ocean Protection Council (OPC), to engage and collaborate with key stakeholders, including fishing organizations, and other state agencies to develop and report strategies for achieving the goals of 30×30. The report eventually gained the title, Pathways to 30×30.

Interestingly, shortly after the executive order was issued, CCA CAL’s Mark Gorelnik, Chairman of the CCA CAL Government Relations Committee, and Wayne Kotow, Executive Director, were contacted by the Director of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Charlton Bonham, who promised that CCA CAL, as a key stakeholder in the 30×30 process, would have a “seat at the table” during the development of the report. That did not occur.  

“CCA CAL did not get a seat at the table, because there was no table,” said Mark Gold, then director of the Ocean Protection Council.

Instead of CCA CAL having the opportunity to provide meaningful direction, the CNRA and OPC scheduled public meetings, in this case, nine regional workshops (with 150 to 350 participants in each event), plus two topical workshops with up 467 and 283 participants each. There was also an online questionnaire. Following publication of the draft, there was also a 60-day period for public input.

CCA CAL participated when possible, but Gorelnik believes that these opportunities for input are largely perfunctory in nature. “We expected measures that would allow us meaningful input, as we were promised a seat at the table by Director Bonham,” he explains. Gorelnik describes the actual opportunities for input on the Pathways document as more symbolic than substantive.

Like Language

A draft of Pathways to 30×30 emerged in December 2021 from the California Department of Natural Resources, and the 72-page document held disappointment for angling groups such as CCA CAL.

“It is no coincidence that the draft of the Pathways document and AB3030 have very similar language,” Gorelnik says. This serves as an indication that input from proponents of 30×30 held the greatest weight in the development process, he feels.

The document’s definition of conservation as it relates to 30×30 has emerged as a major point of contention. It defines conservation as: “Land and coastal areas that are durably protected and managed to support functional ecosystems, both intact and restored, and the species that rely on them.” A key phrase here is “durably protected,” and it’s not precisely defined in the document.

Yet the authors (staffers at the CNRA and OPC) seem to know it when they see it, to paraphrase the US Supreme Court. A great concern in the angling community is that it includes only areas that forbid fishing. And therein lies the sportfishing community’s skepticism of the true intent behind 30×30 and suspicion that the political forces behind the movement are anti-fishing.

Ambiguous Phraseology

The good news is that some of California’s existing MPAs permit fishing, while others limit fishing or forbid it all together. The bad news is that the state’s MPA network is calculated in the document to cover 16 percent of the California coast and offshore islands. Based on this, it will require nearly twice as many MPAs to meet the goals of 30×30.  

CCA CAL has officially protested the decision to include only state-managed MPAs in its definition of durably conserved, as there also exists a number of National Marine Sanctuaries along the coast and offshore islands, which if included, would bring the percentage of ocean waters much closer to 30 percent. Only time will tell if the CNRA eventually pays heed to CCA CAL’s protest and accepts the National Marine Sanctuaries as being durably conserved.

Lip Service or Sincere?

The Pathway document seems to contain another ray of bright news. In the section titled “Access to Nature,” it states: “Conservation must consider a broad range of community needs and priorities … fostering active recreation including hunting, fishing, hiking, boating and more.”

That would seem to indicate that angling and 30×30 can coexist, but California angling groups have heard such platitudes before, specifically during the implementation of the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) more than a decade, but in the end lost big sections of the coast and offshore islands to no-take fishing MPAs.

“As far as I am concerned, this is MLPA 2.0,” says Shedd.

What’s Next?

In 2022, the final Pathways to 30×30 document was published, and it contained no substantive changes from the draft document. The vague language regarding “durably protected” MPAs still stands.

However, the California regulatory agencies charged with 30×30 implementation — including the CNRA and the OPC — have been obliged to put 30×30 development on hold with regard to coastal waters. This is because much of the coastal planning hinges on the findings of a long-anticipated Marine Protected Area Decadal Management Review.

This study was mandated in the implementation of California’s Marine Life Protection Act that established the state’s MPA network in 2012. Intended to evaluate the effectiveness of the MPAs and provide guidance for changes in the network, that 137-page study was released in January 2023 and is currently under review by CCA CAL and other stakeholder groups.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) in coordination with the OPC, California Fish and Game Commission, and the Resources Legacy Foundation hosted a MPA Decadal Review Forum on March 15, 2023, in Monterey, California. The idea is that the findings of the study and stakeholder input will help guide the 30×30 process.

After that, it is anyone’s guess as to how the 30×30 process will proceed or what the sequence of events or calendar of opportunities for public input will look like. “An executive order is not exactly a democratic process,” Gorelnik points out. “It’s not like the legislative process that requires opportunities for comment, public debate and voting by lawmakers.

“It’s just the governor telling his state agencies to get it done, and staffers are obliged to comply, or get fired.”

Angler Outreach

In the meantime, CCA CAL is not sitting on its hands. It has gone on the offensive, launching an aggressive multi-media campaign to generate public awareness and opposition to the establishment of more coastal no-fishing areas within California’s 30×30 plan.

The campaign kicked off in February 2023 with a “Stop the 30×30 Closures” theme, encouraging anglers and others to help battle against the potential for 30×30 fishing closures by joining and contributing to CCA CAL.

“The State of California views anglers as a problem, but in reality, we are the original conservationists with a vested interest in strong marine ecosystems and biodiversity,” Kotow adds. “We are committed to working toward solutions that conserve marine resources and at the same time preserve coastal fishing access. That includes fishing access for kids, for under-served communities, for everyone.” Other sportfishing organizations are launching separate campaigns to bring to bear political pressure on California politicians and regulators to include recreational fishing in 30×30 areas.

Only time will tell what ultimately occurs in California, but the fate of recreational fishing as we know may well hang in the balance. With 30×30 programs underway in other states and at the federal level, no-fishing policies adopted in California could well spread to the rest of the country. States such as New York, New Jersey, Oregon and Washington, for example, often follow California’s lead.

But if CCA CAL’s response to the potential for coastal fishing closures in the 30×30 process is any example, the angling community is not going down without a fight.

The post The Problems With 30X30 appeared first on Salt Water Sportsman.

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This scenario ­repeated itself time and again this summer off the Southern California coast: Boats would pull up on huge schools of surface-feeding bluefins—known as foamers for the vigorous way they churn up the water—charged with the expectation of multiple hookups on hard-fighting tuna. Lines baited with live sardines, anchovies or mackerel would be cast into the fray, while other anglers would toss a range of swimming jigs known as surface irons, including Colt Sniper spoons, surface poppers and other lures, working them right through the melee.  

Occasionally, the fish would respond, and an ­angler or two would hook up on a bluefin that could range from a 25-pound schoolie to a 200-pound jumbo. More often, these tuna would disappear in a cloud of baitfish scales, never touching anything with a hook, leaving anglers stumped. 

Such was especially the case over this past summer as bluefins of all ­sizes were often feeding on massive schools of “micro bait”—tiny anchovies, sauries and other finfish smaller than your pinkie finger. And as these oft-­repeated angling experiences indicated, when tuna are focused on devouring small baits, it’s devilishly hard to get them to notice anything else.   

The cheat code for summer 2022 came in the form of the clear popper. Poppers of various ­sizes and colors have been popular for ­many years to catch surface-feeding bluefins. Their effectiveness makes perfect sense: These lures create splash, noise and commotion, appearing from below like a frantic baitfish trying to escape a feeding frenzy. They come in a wide range of metallic and natural baitfish colors, some with internal rattles to add to the commotion and illusion of a freaked-out baitfish.  

However, even these popular lures were now being dissed by tuna laser-focused on eating as many tiny baitfish as they could scoop into their considerable jaws. Tackle developers figured: If you can’t mimic the profile of a tiny baitfish in a practical-size lure, why not create a lure with no profile at all? Tackle manufacturers like Nomad Design, Fish Lab, Clear Choice Lures, Chasing Pelagics and Tackle House offer different styles of surface poppers that are literally see-through.  

The concept is that these transparent lures displace water and create surface commotion when retrieved, much like any popper, yet tuna can’t get a good visual on the lure’s body size or profile. Tuna strike at the noise and splashing without the chance to get turned off by something that doesn’t look right.  

Popular models include Clear Choice’s Ghost 150 Popper, Tackle House’s Feed Popper 150 Clear, Nomad’s Chug Norris 95 Holo Ghost Shad, Chasing Pelagics’ CP175 Clear Popper, and Fish Lab’s Scrum Popper Clear. Some have internal rattles, some don’t. While most are completely clear, the Chug Norris Holo Ghost Shad has a small internal color spot, giving the fish something appropriately small to key in on. While stealth is the overall approach, these lures are made heavy enough to cast on reasonable-size gear and tough enough to stand up to savage strikes and prolonged battles. 

“Clear poppers are the best option when tuna are feeding on tiny bait,” advises Capt. Jimmy Decker, an expert Southern California ­tuna angler and fishing guide. “The fish key in on the motion, and I think they see the points of the two treble hooks as six tiny baitfish. I work the lure with a pop-pop-stop action. When your lure is in the middle of that foaming Jacuzzi tub of ­tuna, just leave it still. Nine times out of 10, you’ll get bit.”

“If the frenzy dissipates without a fish hitting your paused popper, work it ­vigorously back toward you to call in nearby tuna,” adds Erik Landesfeind, a fellow bluefin specialist. “Work the lure by sweeping your rod tip to the side rather than up. This keeps the popper face in the water for better noise and commotion.”

“When you do it right, be ready for explosive strikes,” says Capt. Gerry Mahieu, a successful tournament angler, professional fishing guide and owner of Clear Choice Lures. “The lack of visual profile eliminates any doubt fish may have, and they literally engulf these lures.” 

Read Next: Southern California Bluefin Tuna Fishing at Night

Your tackle needs to be able to cast these relatively light lures yet still handle large tuna. For bluefins up to 60 pounds, Landesfeind uses 400-size saltwater baitcasters with 65-pound braid and a short 80-pound fluorocarbon leader paired with a heavy-action saltwater bass rod. When targeting bluefins from 80 up to 200 pounds, he goes with a Penn Fathom 25 Narrow two-speed reel spooled with 80-pound braid and 100-pound leader. He pairs it with an 8-foot medium-action graphite composite rod. 

SWS Tackle Box

• Rods: Daiwa Proteus 810H (tuna to 80 lb.); Calstar 800H (tuna over 80 lb.)
• Lures: Poppers such as the Feed Popper 150, Fish Lab Scrum Popper or Chug Norris 95 Holo Ghost
• Line: 65- to 80-lb. braid; 80- to 100-lb. fluoro top shot
• Reels: Daiwa Lexa 400, Okuma Komodo 400SS or Shimano Tranx 500; Penn Fathom 25N two-speed for larger bluefins

The post Using Clear Poppers to Catch Bluefin Tuna appeared first on Salt Water Sportsman.

The small fish that Steve Bowcott of Saugus, California, hooked on the back side of Southern California’s Catalina Island raised no hope of being the yellowtail or white seabass he was after. But it sure raised questions — as to its identity. Bowcott says the small fish “ate a live squid that I fished on 25-pound test with a small sliding egg sinker in about 35 feet of water.” The angler says the fish measured about 16 inches, weighing a couple of pounds.

“That green beast with the bright blue eye and the light blotch on its back is an opaleye, Girella nigricans,” says California-based Milton Love, one of our Fish Facts experts. “This is a reef species found from Oregon to the tip of Baja California with an isolated population in the Gulf of California. Juveniles live in tide pools and then migrate onto nearshore reefs (to depths of about 100 feet) as they mature,” Love says.

Love typically sees them in small schools within a few feet of the bottom, but says Bowcott’s catch is rather unusual.

“Opaleye feed primarily on algae — gleaning nutrients from both the plants and the small animals that live on them. Anglers most often catch them on such fare as mussels or green peas, and only very, very rarely on a whole squid.”

Speaking of mussels, that’s what the IGFA all-tackle world-record opaleye was caught on — in Monterey in 2019. For an opaleye, it was indeed a whopper at four pounds. The opaleye isn’t really a commercial species — occasional catches are by recreational fishermen — though Love says do they turn up occasionally in large fish markets of Southern California. “Personally,” he adds, “I think they taste terrible, but what the hey, some people like eggplant so what do I know?”

Milton Love PhD, a research biologist at the Marine Science Institute (UC Santa Barbara) is one of Salt Water Sportsman’s fish facts experts. He is the author of several superb books on Pacific Coast fishes. Type in his name in an Amazon book search to see and/or order any.

The post Fish Facts: A Surprising Catch from California’s Catalina Island appeared first on Salt Water Sportsman.

Using a 15-foot inflatable boat for fishing off the coast of Southern California makes perfect sense to Chris Madison. The vessel is inexpensive to own and maintain, and it’s easy to transport to and from the water. But it does require some caution when fishing for the one species that is practically designed to puncture an inflatable boat.

Madison, a 32-year-old staff sergeant (E-6) in the Marine Corps, has caught thresher and mako sharks, and bluefin tuna from the inflatable. Now he’s accomplished his goal of boating a swordfish — a 215-pounder on the morning of Nov. 4, near Oceanside, CA.

A Swordfish Charging Toward the Boat

“I thought it was a shark at first, because it had dogged me down for 10 minutes and wouldn’t come up,” Madison recalled. Then the line shot toward the horizon. “I thought, oh yeah, it’s acting like a swordfish now.”

Things got really interesting about an hour later. “It actually charged the boat a couple times when I got it close. I just hit the throttle and moved away from it,” he said. “When I got it up to the swivel, it started shaking back and forth, and a couple of times it hit the side and the prop. It gets the adrenaline going and made me a little anxious, but at the same time, I had expected it and was able to counter what the fish was doing.” After another 20 minutes, the fish was in the boat.

Madison landed the 215-pounder from a homemade fighting chair. He used a rod he built for the occasion, with a Penn 50 Wide reel spooled with 65-pound braid and a 12-inch squid and skirt on a size 22/0 circle hook. The entire set-up was put together with the small, inflatable craft in mind.

Madison’s fondness for small vessels began with kayaking. He was shopping for pedal kayaks when he found the Saturn KaBoat, with twin, chambered PVC tubes. It was less expensive than a Hobie pedal kayak, easy to carry in the back of his truck, and a good size for Madison and his 8-year-old son Donovan to chase bass and halibut inshore. He set the boat up with a 9.8 horsepower Tohatsu motor.

Meanwhile, he started seeing swordfish over the summer. “We were going out looking for bluefin, and we’d see them sunning themselves,” he said. “That perked my interest. I said to myself, ‘I really want to get one of these.’”

He got some advice from Bandon Hayward, owner of Bight Sportfishing in San Diego and mentor to Dylan Reed, who has gotten some attention for catching swords from a similarly sized (but non-inflatable) boat.

More Swordfishing in an Inflatable?

Will there be more? “I’m debating,” he said. “I got so much meat from that fish, I literally gave away an entire side to people at the dock. It’s fun targeting them, but I don’t know if I can safely do catch and release from the boat.”

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The numbers tell the story: 14-foot boat, one person aboard, 12 miles offshore, 175-pound swordfish feeding at a depth of 1,000 feet.

San Diego-based Dylan Reed, holder of a 1,600-ton captain license, catches big fish with a small boat. It’s not because he’s a daredevil; he studies weather forecasts and picks his days carefully. Reed fishes from a small craft because it lets him fight the fish, operate the boat, and reach his flying gaff all from one place.

On a larger vessel, like the 23-foot and 28-foot Parkers he uses when guiding for Bight Sportfishing, “there’s more real estate, there’s more distance between everything,” Reed said. “This boat is a lot of boat packed into a small package. I don’t even think it’s really that small.” Swordfishing is growing in popularity along the West Coast, and Bight’s boats caught 19 last year.

Solo Swordfish Vessel

But Reed often found himself fishing for swords alone, so he set out to build the perfect solo swordfish boat. He spent six months outfitting a Mexicat catamaran hull with gear including a 50-horsepower Tohatsu outboard, reinforced rod holders, and a 1Kw B175L transducer for reading bait and bottom structure at the depths that swordfishing requires. “The things I thought would work, worked,” he said.

His first solo sword from the Mexicat came in late September, on a squid with a 10-pound weight. Pulling the fish up from that depth is not as difficult as you might think, Reed said. “When they go to swim away, the sinker pulls the hook on the fish, and it’s getting pulled down, so the fish swims straight up,” he said.

When the rod goes slack, Reed gets ready for the fight, drinking water and positioning the gaff. “Then I start taking tension on the fish to see where it’s going. You’ve got 1,000 feet of line out. It might come up right next to the boat or it might head for the horizon. If it’s a big one, it might swim with the sinker for a mile.”

Reed was using 80-pound braid with a 300-pound mono leader on an Avet 50 reel and a rod he built himself. The fish eventually came up and “bulldogged” Reed for 20 minutes. Finally, “I could see it on its side,” which is a good sign the fish is getting tired,” he said.

The fish was soon on the deck and the Mexicat headed back to San Diego. Along the way, Reed and his fish got noticed.

“I was going through the bay with it and I had the fish covered up, but part of it was kind of hanging over the side,” Reed recalled. Passengers on a pleasure boat knew what they were seeing and cheered him – and posted a picture on Instagram. “I had 20 text messages by the time I got to the dock,” Reed said with a laugh. Maybe as word gets around, he won’t have to fish alone anymore.

Another Big Swordfish

That big sword was no fluke. On October 19, Reed repeated the feat. This one weighed 150 pounds, and he garnered the same attention in port as he had previously.

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California’s Department of Fish and Wildlife has warned anglers of significant changes to the state’s bottomfishing regulations beginning next year in response to recent scientific information suggesting some nearshore groundfish species are in decline.

“To reduce pressure on these stocks, fishing seasons will be shorter in nearshore waters, but new opportunities in deeper water are anticipated,” the CDFW states on its website. More than 90 species of bottom-dwelling species will be affected by the new regulations including rockfish (60 varieties), lingcod, California sheephead, ocean whitefish, cabezon, greenling, sablefish, and some sharks and skates.

Shorter Seasons for California Groundfish

In 2022, nearshore groundfish season lengths ranged from 8 to 10 months. But in 2023, they are expected to shrink to no more than 5½ five months in California’s five coastal Groundfish Management Areas, beginning in January.

“These (new regs) were developed by the Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) over the past year and reflect outcomes of a public decision-making process where the CDFW worked with fishing industry representatives, non-governmental organizations, and state, federal and tribal governments to balance the need for fishing season closures in nearshore waters with the needs of these communities and industries,” the Department states. California fishing regulations traditionally fall in the line with the PFMC.

Smaller Bag Limits for California Rockfish

In addition to shorter seasons, sub-bag limits of one fish each for quillback and copper rockfish, and four fish for vermilion rockfish will continue in 2023 within the 10-fish daily combined rockfish, cabezon and greenling bag limit. These sub-bag limits were established in January 2022 in response to research indicating severe declines in the populations of these species.

On the positive side, the state said that new opportunities to fish in deeper water beginning in 2023 will allow anglers to target healthy populations of schooling widow rockfish and yellowtail rockfish, as well as bottom-dwelling blackgill rockfish. In addition, sport fishing seasons for some other federally managed groundfish species like sablefish (aka black cod) or will be open year-round without depth constraints. The maximum depth limit for bottom fishing along much of the California coast in 2022 was 600 feet.

To stay informed of in-season regulatory changes, anglers can call the Recreational Groundfish Hotline at 831-649-2801 or visit the CDFW’s summary of recreational groundfish fishing regulations.

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Thousands of dead fish washed up along the shores of San Francisco Bay over the weekend, victims of a red tide algal bloom.

Rotting fish lined the water’s edge in parts of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, California. “Tens of thousands” of killed fish are starting to stink up Lake Merritt, a tidal pond in downtown Oakland, and hundreds of thousands have perished around the bay, the top scientist at San Francisco Baykeeper told local news media.

The dominant blooming algae species is Heterosigma akashiwo, a “red tide” algae that’s native to the bay at background levels, Baykeeper reported. The algae releases toxins that are harmful to fish and could accumulate in shellfish, and the group advises that people and pets stay out of the water and not eat its fish until the bloom subsides.

State and regional wildlife officials are studying fish specimens to pinpoint the cause of the kill, Eileen White, executive officer of the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board, told the Mercury News. “We’ve never seen anything of this magnitude,” she said.

The bay, which covers 1,600 square miles including connecting estuaries and wetlands, is home to fish species such as striped bass, largemouth bass, rainbow trout, Chinook salmon, and white and green sturgeon.

Hot, sunny weather and drought-shrunken flows in the bay’s tributary rivers probably don’t help, but Baykeeper thinks human activity bears some of the blame for the bloom.

“Treated sewage discharges from the bay’s 40 sewage treatment plants and the pollutants from five dirty oil refineries create conditions ideal for algal blooms,” Baykeeper executive director Sejal Choksi-Chugh said in a statement. “Baykeeper scientists have been actively working for the past five years through agency technical advisory committees to prevent large blooms of any number of potentially toxic microorganisms from becoming commonplace in the Bay.

“The Regional Water Board needs to get excessive sewage and refinery discharges under control, and Bay Area cities need to invest in water recycling to keep wastewater out of the Bay in the first place. These changes must happen fast in order to keep algal blooms like the ones cropping up right now in the Bay from taking over more regularly.”

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White seabass, angler favorites from Baja California to Alaska, are known by a multitude of nicknames, including Catalina salmon, seatrout, king croaker or white weakfish. They are part of the croaker family and are prized for both their fighting ability and taste on the plate, although they don’t freeze well.

Anglers should key in on dolphins and porpoises feeding through big schools of baitfish, especially anchovies. A bird show usually accompanies the sea bass feeding frenzy. Below the surface, schools of adult white sea bass are often feeding on the same baitfish. A stealthy drift through the scene can result in powerful hookups.

Depending on the season and fishing conditions, white sea bass can be caught on live or freshly dead squid, sardines or mackerel. Jigging or casting feathers or small, flashy metal lures can also produce fish. Some seasoned fishermen shy against using bait that’s too lively, noting that white sea bass seem to prefer an easy meal.

According to the International Gamefish Association, white seabass are usually found near the mainland shore, usually over rocky or sandy bottom or around kelp forests. While they can be found in waters up to 400 feet deep, they seem to prefer depths under 200 feet or less.

They have large mouths with a slightly protruding lower jaw with no barbels on the chin. They have two dorsal fins, and their pectoral fins have a black spot at the base. Their lifespan ranges from 12 to 20 years. Adults are steel blue to gray on the upper portion of their bodies and silvery with golden below.

Here is a look at 11 of the biggest white sea bass, as recorded in the IGFA record books.

All-Tackle World Record – 83 Pounds, 12 Ounces

Lyal Baumgardner is the all-tackle world record holder with an 83-pound, 12-ounce white sea bass. It was 65.50 inches long with a 34-inch girth. Baumgardner caught the fish March 31, 1953, while fishing off San Felipe, Mexico. He was using a Sila-Flex rod with an Ocean City 107 reel. The line was 12-thread Rainbeau Surf. He was drifting a sardine. This catch is also the record in the Male 30-Pound Line Class category.

All-Tackle Length World Record – 35.83 Inches

The all-tackle record for length is held by Timothy Humphrey with a 35.83-inch fish. Humphrey caught the fish June 2, 2013, off Santa Barbara Island, California. He was using a Seeker rod, Daiwa reel and 65-pound PowerPro line. He was bait fishing with live squid.

Female Junior World Record – 57 Pounds, 6 Ounces

Kale’a Patricia Woodard reigns as female junior world record holder with a 57-pound, 6-ounce white sea bass. Her fish measured 54 inches with a 26-inch girth. She was bait fishing with a squid off Punta Colonett, Baja California, Mexico, on June 18, 2014, when the fish bit. She was using a Calstar rod with an Okuma reel spooled with 40-pound Izorline.

Male Junior World Record – 59 Pounds

In the male junior division, Shane Aviano is the record holder with a 59-pounder that also measured 59 inches. The fish had a 34-inch girth. Aviano caught the fish June 21, 2002, off Imperial Beach, California. He was using a Seeker rod and a Shimano Corsair 400 reel. The line was 15-pound Ande. He was casting a Slammer Jig.

Male 16-Pound Tippet Fly Fishing World Record – 38 Pounds, 9 Ounces

Unsurprisingly, given the fish’s propensity to feed well down in the water column, there are many vacant records in the fly-fishing categories for white seabass. Angler Stan Pleskunas has the 16-pound tippet record with a 38-pound, 9-ounce fish. It taped out at 49 inches long with a 25-inch girth. Pleskunas caught the fish on Sept. 9, 2001, off Monterey, California. He was using a G. Loomis rod with a Ross Saltwater III reel loaded with 15-pound P-Line. He was fishing with a Stan’s Squid fly.

Male 50-Pound Line Class World Record – 79 Pounds

A more recent record was set April 24, 2021 in the male 50-pound line class. Angler Frank Bruder’s 79-pound white sea bass was caught off Corona Del Mar, California. The fish was 58.27 inches long with a 33-inch girth. Bruder was wielding a Phoenix reel paired with a Shimano reel. The line brand is not specified in the records. He was using live bait.

Male 16-Pound Line Class World Record – 78 Pounds

David Sternberg is the male 16-pound line class record holder with a 78-pounder caught April 4, 2002, off Monterey, California. Sternberg’s fish was 62 inches long with a 32-inch girth. The gear included a Shakespeare Ugly Stik, Daiwa S027LC reel and 12-pound Maxima line. He was drifting a squid.

Female 50-Pound Line Class World Record – 67 Pounds, 4 Ounces

Taylor Kingsmill’s 67-pound, 4-ounce white seabass nails down the female 50-pound line class record.
Her 58.50-inch-long fish (girth not recorded) came off Dana Point, California, on April 25, 2018. She was using a Shimano rod and reel combo with 50-pound line. She mixed things up, pairing a spoon with a live mackerel to catch the fish.

Female 30-Pound Line Class World Record – 62 Pounds

A 62-pound fish is the world record in the female 30-pound line class category. Mrs. D.W. Jackson caught the white sea bass on Dec. 6, 1951, while fishing off Malibu, California. The fish was 57 inches long with a 28-inch girth. Jackson was using a Harnell hollow glass rod and a Penn #250 reel spooled with 36-pound Golden Dot line. She caught the fish on a live sardine.

Male 6-Pound Line Class World Record – 56 Pounds, 3 Ounces

Vick L. Sommers holds both the 6-pound and 8-pound line class world records. His 6-pound line class record fish was a 56-pound, 3-ounce catch on June 15, 2015, off Newport Beach, California. It measured 55 inches long and had a 29-inch girth. Sommers’ tools included a Phoenix rod, Daiwa reel and Ande 6-pound line. Sommers’ 8-pound record white seabass, caught in June 2012 off Newport Beach, weighed 66 pounds, 14 ounces

Male Smallfry World Record – 54 Pounds, 13 Ounces

Gavin Simmons holds the male world smallfry record with a 54-pound, 13-ounce fish caught July 3, 2009, off Point Mesquite, Baja, Mexico. Simmons’ fish was 56 inches long and had a 28-inch girth. He used a Seeker rod with a Shimano TR 2000 reel. The line was 25-pound P-Line. He was bait fishing with a squid.

Editor’s Note: Anglers interested in supporting sport fishing worldwide should consider buying a membership to the International Game Fish Association (IGFA). Salt Water Sportsman is a strong supporter of the IGFA and their mission. IGFA members receive access to the IGFA World Record database, historical videos, a monthly International Angler digital publication, and discounts on tackle and charters from IGFA partners.

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