Post by hockeyhound on Aug 13, 2007 20:59:48 GMT -5
I went on-line last week and someone posted that they had caught a blue fin tuna at the south end of the Coronado Island (18 miles south from Point Loma California/Mexican waters). I was kind of skeptical of the report until today. We headed out of Point Loma Saturday morning at about 4:AM. When we approached the north island we began to troll with feathers. We saw a large number of birds crashing a bait ball and as we were passing by we noticed what looked like about a 6 foot blue shark on the surface. Several yards later we hooked up to a large bonito. We then circled around checking out the area and settled on a spot at the north island that had some good bottom terrain. Within an hour we filled the bottom of the boat with Vermilion rock cod many of which were 14" and longer. We mixed an occasional white fish and San dab and called it quits. By then the parking lot was getting full so we looked around for a space and settled in. We pulled in several Yellow Tails between 14-18 lb and had land a bunch of bonito. As the day went on things started to get a little congested so we moved down to the south island. The water temp. was between 68 and 71 degrees throughout the area. We parked on the west outside tip of the south island and that is were we hooked up to are first Blue fin Tuna of the season. We began fly lining some deans and one of the guys was reeling in to change bait when he got hit. As he was reeling in he thought he had lost the fish, but what had happen was the fish had snatched up his bait and headed right for the boat. When he finally realized he had a fish the fight was on. When we first saw color we thought wow thats a big bone. Then as we got it closer we realized it was a blue fin tuna. Talk about making our day. We did not weight it on the boat but I would estimate that it was between 25- 30 lbs. The guy on the message board was right after all. Hope everyone had a great weekend.
We were now on the look out for all signs of life ie., birds,jumping fish, boils of fish, dolphins, whales, bait balls, temperature breaks in the water, and most of all we were hunting for kelp patties. It was not long before we spotted our first kelp patty. Mark slid us up to a medium sized kelp patty and we were not sure what we were going to find. It was after our first cast we found out. Mark had hooked up to a 25lbs angry Yellow tail and the fight was on. ;D Usually when we get a fish that size we pull in our other lines and concentrate on hauling in the fish on line. The only exception is when we get a double hook up, and then it is every man for himself, good luck! The fight was on and it took about 15 minutes to land hour first big game fish of the day, wow what a monster. Thanks to the kelp patty the Yellow tail got tangled up in the kelp which acted as a net for us and we were able to inch the boat over and make the easy strike. After several unsuccessful attempts to draw fish from the patty we decided to move on to the next spot. We were now on alert and it only took us about 10 minutes to find our next patty. This patty was a little different because it was two large patties that were fairly close together. We snuck in above on the north west side of the patty, for the current was moving us at about 1.5 knots. With the proper distance we would have about three good chances to position our baits around the patties. Well, it only took one cast, and it was a double hook up, everyman for himself, it was on, Dorado time! The first Dorado cleared the surface with an impressive 4' jump in the air. He was hooked, and the fight was on. Mark was working his fish on the starboard side, and mine had moved me to stern of the boat. It took us both about 10 minutes, but we ended up landing 2, 15lb female Dorado's. The color of these fish are just amazing, it is almost like they are a florescent blue and yellow. After several passes we both managed to hook up another Dorado each. I had belly hooked one, and was able to finesse the fish to the boat, only to have Mark miss his gaff opportunity, and the fish broke free. Ouch! 
Mark was able to land his, and we were moving on. Because of the lack of patties and natural signs, we decided to head southwest. This turn out to be a great decision. We pulled in our lines, and decided to make a quick run for it. It took us about an hour before we rolled up to a good sized kelp patty. We got in tight, and we both sent out are baits on the fly. Bam!, double hook up! It was crazy, we started with two fish, and we ended up hooked to the same fish after our lines crossed each other. The fish I had was the biggest fish I had caught all day. Mark and I cranked hard, and we were able to get the Dorado to the boat within 5 minutes. It was then that all hell broke loose. When we realized we were both hooked to the same fish, and the fish was close enough to gaff; Mark dropped his pole, and went for the "what!" " The Net!" 
In all the excitement, Mark could not find the gaff so he turned around and grabbed the net. The fish was getting tired, and I had his nose up. Mark went to scoop up the fish, and the net "broke". Not only did the net brake, but it ended it up getting caught up in his line of Marks' pole. The Dorado decided to attempt one more get away. By know I am going crazy. I held my pole in one hand with the pole resting in my strap on pull holder, and I reached back for the knife. I quickly reached over and cut the line on Marks pole, and went back to wrestling with the bull. Mark looked around, and found the gaff. When I finally managed to get the fish close to the boat again; I said,"Mark you got one shot at this, make it count!" Mark swung and gaffed the fish on his first try. hallelujah!, but the fight was not over, this fish still had a lot of fight in him. Mark was able to get the fish on the boat and it was WWF, we looked like a couple of crazy men wrestling this fish down. I grabbed the knife, and immediately went for the kill. Wow, it was finally over. The boat was thrashed, we were thrashed, and the fish was almost dead! At least we were not in danger of him jumping out of the boat. The Dorado weighed 17lbs, but fought like a 30lbs fish. I have never caught a crazier fish in my life. The rest of the day was fairly uneventful so we decided to go home early. We were loaded with about $600.00 in fish. "$12.00lbs." MahiMahi. I will post some pics later. Till next time. Cya ;D