Tiger Shark Catch Could Blow Out World Record

Baja

Tropical storm Greg, soon to become Hurricane Greg, is not expected to be a threat to any land mass. The center of Greg is expected to remain well offshore of the coast of Southern Mexico.

Water temperatures near Cabo San Lucas and Baja’s East Cape have soared to more than 90 degrees in some areas. There has been some good dorado fishing at times of fish in the 8-12 lb class and still a few big tuna. Chucky Van Wormer took a 168-lb. yellowfin tuna recently out of Hotel Palmas de Cortez located in Baja’s East Cape. 

Thresher sharks

Private boaters continue to enjoy prolific thresher shark fishing. Great fishing off San Clemente, Laguna, Newport, Dana Point, Corona del Mar and many other coastal zones. There has been numerous thresher sharks taken off the Huntington Beach Pier too.

The sharks can best be found near bait schools. They swim through these bait schools and thrash their elongated tails back and forth,  leaving their stunned prey floundering.

That makes for an easy meal when the shark makes a U-turn to consume the helpless fish.

You should never take more sharks than you intend to eat. Avoid taking large females and use circle hooks to avoid shark fatalities. Please check with PIER for more suggestions on how you can do your part in shark conservation.

San Diego The offshore tuna bite has moved into one-day range with some excellent fishing for several boats. Floating kelp paddies, called hotels, have been holding dorado, yellowtail, yellowfin tuna and bluefin tuna. The Pacific Voyager radioed in on Wednesday afternoon with 75 bluefin tuna in the 12-18 lb. class. Most of the action has been located about 150 miles southwest of San Diego but that too is changing. Big schools of bluefin tuna were being seen as close as 50 miles from Point Loma. The Aztec reported 26 bluefin on board by noon Wednesday.

Wednesday was the first day of good one-day tuna fishing, so it remains to been seen if this bite will have lasting power.

Sea Adventure 80 skipper Scott McDaniels offered some practical advice for catching more fish. “Watch to see who is catching the most fish and talk to the guys that are doing well. Then copy their techniques.”

Kelp Beds
Fishing along the kelp beds slowed also. There is still some pretty good calico bass fishing but it’s lost much of its steam and consistency. Finding water temperatures over 65 degrees and fishing around the high-tides helps get you in position for a good catch.

Boats fishing the kelps around San Clemente, Newport and Corona del Mar not only managed some good calico bass fishing but there were several white seabass taken. The white seabass is a species that has a penchant for biting around full moon periods.

The Redondo Special was fishing the Palos Verdes kelp and caught 15 white seabass earlier this week, using live squid for bait. In addition, they have also caught some calico bass, sargo and a few halibut.

Surf Fishing
Most of the beaches are providing good surf fishing with corbina, barred perch, and more halibut during the present grunion run. There has also been some spotfin and yellowfin croaker too.

Light line is a must.

Sand crabs, clams, ghost shrimp and Berkley Gulp have been very effective baits.

Catalina Island
There has been some very good calico bass fishing at times, along with some barracuda flurries and a few yellowtail and white seabass. The Tradition caught some nice quality sheepshead and calico bass on Friday, using fresh dead squid for bait.

The Gale Force has had several days of limits of calico bass (10 per angler) this week too. Lots of perch, rockfish and sheepshead to go along with it.

Huntington Beach Pier
Saturday was the Huck Finn/Becky Thatcher kids fishing event. The children caught everything from guitarfish, to perch, rays, corbina, leopard sharks, jack smelt and more. Several hundred kids participated in the free event.

575-pound tiger shark taken on 13-pound test line
Brett Sinclair not only caught an enormous tiger shark but he caught it on 13-pound test line. The monster was taken off Western Australia and if it is approved by the International Game Fish Assn for this line class, it will beat the old record by 220-pounds.   

Stripper King Classic
The tournament is giving away thousands of dollars of quality raffle prizes including a $1,000 first-place prize from Last Chance Bait and Tackle from Hemet. Adult tickets purchased in advance are only $40 and kids under 12 are $10. Besides entry into the tournament, you will also have a great lunch catered by Ojo de Agua Taquerias and a $5 raffle ticket. Proceeds are to benefit Valley Wide Recreation and Parks and the Police Activities League of Hemet and San Jacinto.

Advanced ticket sales are available by calling last Chance Bait and Tackle at 951- 658- 7410 or the Diamond Valley Marina Store at 951- 926- 7201.

Sportfishing Conservancy from Long Beach in Berlen
An International Expert Consultation convened by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) agreed last week on the first international guidelines on responsible recreational fisheries in Berlin, Germany.

Tom Raftican from the Sportfishing Conservancy was there.

"Clearly we are not alone at taking the high road when asking anglers to step up to better conservation and it is an honor to further work on guidelines with the international experts assembled by the United Nations," added Raftican.