| And then they were gone... at least for a couple of days.
The Humboldt squid that were literally everywhere from San Diego to Point Dume bailed out yesterday (Tuesday), with no squid in the counts for the daytime or twilight runs.
"They just split," reported Brian Woolley on the Sum Fun out of Dana Wharf Sportfishing. "Almost the whole coast missed on squid; maybe the new moon phase had something to do with it."
The only boats scoring squid for Tuesday was the fleet out of Ventura.
For those looking for exotics, the smaller charter boats like the Sea Jay and Island Tak have been getting shots at white seabass at Santa Cruz Island, while along the coast there's also been some shots at seabass, like on Tuesday when the half-day boat Matt Walsh out of L.A. Harbor Sportfishing turned in 13 white seabass to go with almost 60 mixed calico and sand bass.
And then there's yellowtail. The Rockpile has been giving up shots at yellowtail for the San Diego 3/4-day fleet. Aside from 1.5- and 2-day trips for yellowtail, dorado and tuna, it's the best deal going out of San Diego.
Tuesday, September 27
1,213-lb. Cabo Grande Negro landed after 28 hours!
BY ROBIN WADE WON Staff Writer
CABO SAN LUCUS, BAJA SUR —This
past weekend one angler did, what others can only dream of, land a
Grande Negro while fishing out of Cabo San Lucas and a fish of a
lifetime. Tracy Ehrenberg of Pisces Sportfishing called the captain and
the angler to get the low down straight “from the horse’s mouth” and
filed this report with WON.
“A
1,213-pound blue marlin was caught in Cabo San Lucas Sunday, or should
we say Saturday, as the fish took 28 hours to boat,” Tracy Ehrenberg of
Pisces Sportfishing said. Angler Richard Biehl, Traverse City, MI who is
credited with the catch said, “That was the hardest thing I ever did in
my life by far. It was the greatest experience of my life. I travel all
around the world, Africa, Asia and nothing comes close to this.”
Ehrenberg
said Capt. Luis Abaroa took off from the dock at 7:00 a.m. on Saturday
morning with two anglers onboard and headed to the 95 Spot, where he
thought he could find some marlin. “Lines were in the water and they
were trolling by 7:30 a.m.,” Ehrenberg said. “At 8:20 a.m. a huge marlin
crashed the right outrigger which was set up with a small Zuker
guacamaya lure (orange/green/yellow) intended more for striped marlin.
Knowing he only had 60-pound line on a Shimano 50, Abaroa would wait for
the fish to take out half the spool then quickly follow him, recover
the whole spool of line and then follow again; his objective was to not
let the fish go down but to follow him around, and he said it was kind
of like taking a strong dog for a walk on a leash.”
As
the battle ensued, both Biehl’s energy and the boat’s supplies ran low.
“By 5:00 p.m. they were out of food and water and had to resort to
drinking the melted ice water in the cooler,” Ehrenberg said. “Abaroa
called his brother Frankie, another captain, who showed up with supplies
and kept them company. The fish jumped one more time before sunset;
this time closer and they reconsidered their size estimate to 800 to
1,000 pounds.”
“By
this time Biehl could not go on and Frankie’s deckhand went onboard to
work on the fish, as they settled in for the night, with the guys
struggling at times to stay awake,” Ehrenberg said. “By noon Sunday they
had the fish to the boat and Biehl the angler, said, “It’s a once in a
lifetime fish. I want to take him”. That said, they gaffed him and tried
to get him on board, but the huge body would not fit through the
transom door so they had to leave half of the fish in the water and
motor the long way back to port since the fish had taken them on a long
ride, ending 30 miles off of the Old Lighthouse.”
“Back
at the dock, they had to borrow an electronic scale from another boat
which showed 972 pounds, however they could not get it completely clear
of the floor, so they ended up measuring the fish; 137 inches long
without the bill and a girth of 75 inches,” Ehrenberg said. “According
to the formula used, the fish was 1,213 pounds.”
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