CaliforniaDiver.com:
I love the water ...underneath or on top... but when it comes to fishing, saltwater fishing is the best for action.
In Louisiana, Redfish and speckled trout are all in the bays, and larger fish around the rigs. In California, I was able to enjoy fishing for Albacore and really enjoyed the action. Anyone have pictures and stories you want to share... I wrote an article on my website (still under construction) (californiadiver.com, norcaldiver.com, socaldiver.com) on the Albacore trip. Not that big, but they sure could fight. This is a SCUBA board... so I thought I could add this Thread for FISHING :fish:
Ok... I better make this thread more interesting....
Albacore fishing off the coast of San Clemente Island has proven to be very exciting. They fought hard to the very end, but by the time your ready to gaff them, both fish and fisherman do not have much of a fight left.
This was last year, we caught 7 albacore on this trip. Just 5 of us on a 32 foot boat. We started early out of Huntington Beach (Huntington Harbor) and headed for the southern point of Catalina Island, then made are way to the northwest side of San Clemente Island. Dawn was breaking about half way there. It was a calm ride to Catalina, but turning to the back side the waves and wind started to pick up. We had a few areas targeted based on fishing reports. It was another hour and a half before we we would get there into the wind. Once we reached the first area, we started trolling in the direction of the next. Take it from me, though you may think you have done your homework, when you see action from other boats, it doesn't hurt to make a coarse adjustment to check things out.
Live anchovies lead to our success. We started trolling with artificial jigs. Waiting for that moment until we had one on the line. You have to act fast, fighting the first fish and simultaneously tossing a few scoops of our choice anchovies in the water hoping for others. It happened all of a sudden, the top of the ocean came to life. When the water began to boil, we had to act fast. We placed two other lines in the water with a live 'chovie on the hook. It's a fine balance of organization and maximizing the opportunity, depending on the size of your deck area, you may get more.
Prior to getting into this situation, your team usually has an order determined by some finely calculated method like pulling straws, by age, pulling numbers, or by simple direction. Someone has to man the gaff and, of course, I had to man the camera. After the catch, you will soon realize, someone then needs to man the hose and brush because the deck can get a little bloody. But it is well worth it.
