Autumn Offshore Transition

Awesome summer tuna trip aboard Vagabond previews transition to amazing autumn


By Steve Carson

As July turned to August this year, the summer tuna bite for the San Diego long-range fleet was absolutely on fire; as evidenced by the success found by 22 Penn Fishing University anglers who ventured out for a 5-day long-range trip aboard Captain Mike Lackey’s ‘Vagabond’, out of Point Loma Sportfishing in San Diego.

The sizzling action also gave hints about the autumn bite soon to come, and why many anglers believe that September and October are the best months for offshore action out of San Diego.

Bluefin and Yellowfin Tuna
The first two days saw the Vagabond staying approximately 100 miles from San Diego, and hammering away at large schools of bluefin tuna that ranged from 10 to 60 pounds. Captain Lackey expertly kept us moving along a temperature break that was right at 68 degrees, which had the bluefin stacked up against it.

Favored rod and reel combos were compact 2-speed lever drag reels like the Penn Torque TRQ25NLD2 filled three-quarters full with 65-pound superbraid, with a 25 to 50 yard topshot of 40-pound test monofilament. Terminal rig is 4 feet of 40-pound test fluorocarbon leader and a size 2/0 Owner Ringed Mutu circle hook. As always with bluefin tuna, selecting the liveliest possible bait is paramount.

Day three saw the boat venture down to the 300-mile mark, and encountered a large group of yellowfin tuna preparing to move up from the 70 degree water. The yellowfin were ranging in the 15 to 30 pound category, so slightly lighter tackle than used for the bluefin was indicated. The yellowfin also hit well on both trolled and cast lures, while the bluefin responded almost exclusively to live sardines.
As the warm water continues to push north, the yellowfin tuna will follow it, and should arrive in numbers for overnight boats out of San Diego by the first of September. If the warm water persists, yellowfin may even be caught by anglers as little as 10 miles out off the Orange County coastline. Depending on how long the temperatures hold up, local yellowfin tuna may be available until the end of October or even a week or two into November.

Dorado
For the anglers aboard the Vagabond, the dorado were just starting to make their presence known. A half-dozen dorado up to about 25 pounds were caught each day, mixed in with the various tuna and yellowtail.

Dorado often strike on trolled tuna lures or live baits intended for tuna; both on tackle that dampens their fighting abilities. Ideal dorado tackle is light live bait gear like a Penn Fathom FTH15 with a topshot of 20-pound mono. A 4-foot leader of 30-pound fluorocarbon is mainly for protection from their small but sharp teeth. A weightless sardine pinned on a size 2/0 Owner Ringed Flyliner J-hook completes the terminal setup.

For anglers fishing with one-day range of San Diego, the warm waters of September and early October mean that is almost always the most productive period for dorado.

The key is almost always finding large floating “kelp paddies’ in the warm blue offshore waters. Dorado love to lurk under these paddies, and a patch of kelp not much bigger than a child’s desk can hold numerous fish, and the big truck-size “hotels” can literally hold hundreds of dorado from “necktie” size on up to bulls exceeding 30 pounds.

Yellowtail
With the more glamorous bluefin tuna in such abundance, yellowtail were mostly an incidental catch aboard the Vagabond. However, plenty of yellowtail will be on the menu for San Diego offshore anglers at least until the end of October. The same floating kelp paddies that attract and hold dorado will also be prime locations for finding the mostly 10 to 30-pound yellowtail.

Jackpot winners
The final tally was something out of any angler’s dreams: 229 bluefin tuna, 45 yellowfin tuna, nearly 100 yellowtail and about 20 dorado. Overall jackpot honors went to Richard Wilson of West Covina for his 63-pound bluefin tuna, who took home a 2-speed Penn Torque TRQ25NLD2 reel and a nice tuna plaque. Largest yellowtail was the 27-pounder caught by Greg Jacobs of San Luis Obispo, who took home a Penn Baja Special reel. Biggest dorado was the 25-pounder caught by Dylan Palmer of El Cajon, who got a Penn Squall SQL15 reel.

The Flambeau Hero Fish was caught by Randy Koenig of Laguna, and the coveted Flambeau True Sportsman Award as voted by the crew of the Vagabond went to Mike Stocker of Rancho Cucamonga. The next 5-day PFU excursion aboard the Vagabond will take place in the last week of July, 2014; check out Vagabondsportfishing.com for more information.

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