California Ocean Fishing - All About Yellowtail

Few Southern California anglers would disagree that except for the far offshore species like billfish and tuna, Yellowtail is the premier game fish of Southern California. The combination of power and aggressive fight along with the excellent table fare of the Yellowtail makes it the most desired fish in these waters.

Successful Yellowtail fishermen Yellowtail (Seriola lalandei) are members of the Jack family and are sometimes also called Amberjack, though that name actually belongs to another member of the jacks. In Australia and New Zealand, the term kingfish is used for these fish. Along the Pacific coast, Yellowtail range from Southern California all the way south to Chile and on the other side of the Pacific, from New Zealand north to Japan. They can grow to 80 pounds (100 lbs. on the other side of the Pacific - like the one on the left from New Zealand) but are very rare over about 40 lbs. In the 1960's an annual Yellowtail Derby was held by the main sport fishing landings in San Diego. The biggest fish of the season could win the lucky angler a new car. Typically, the grand prize for the season was a fish in the 40 to 45 lb. class.

Yellowtail are truly handsome, fast, and powerful. After herding bait into tight balls, they sweep through schools of squid, mackerel, or anchovies with ferocity, gorging themselves on their prey. When they strike a fly or lure, the angler knows it instantly and they follow the first vicious strike with punishing, deep diving runs, only yielding when exhausted. The angler's gear and technique needs to be in top form to land these wily creatures. The first yellowtail I'd ever seen hooked on a fly, about an eight-pound fish, hit a blue and white streamer fly on a 10-weight graphite rod with 30 lb. tippet (some say enough stick for sail fish). The angler, the editor of a fly-fishing magazine and no slouch at fly fishing for big fish, had no chance in stopping the fish's first run. That ‘tail ran immediately for the kelp paddy we were fishing near, balled the line around the kelp strands and snapped the line like it wasn't even there.

The Yellowtail populations went into serious decline throughout the 1960's and 1970's. This was due, in no small part, to the decline in the kelp forests from over harvesting. In addition, commercial gill net fishermen followed the kelp cutter ships and set their nets directly into the recently cleared waters killing all of the fish, juvenile and adult alike. In the 1980's, Yellowtail fishing in California was an unpredictable affair, restricted to San Clemente Island, far offshore, and the Coronado Islands, just across the Mexican Border and off limits to American commercial fishermen.

With the banning of gill nets, the cessation of kelp harvesting and some early and strong El Nino years (years when the water temperature is warmer than usual), Yellowtail have staged a remarkable comeback in the 1990's. Sport fishing harvests in the late 90's have been the highest in 30 years and this magnificent predator is now a staple of the sport fishing industry.

Typically, in early spring when the water temperature rises above about 62 degrees, Yellowtail arrive in Southern California from Mexico in search of schools of squid. They winter far down the Baja coast in deep reefs. They feed throughout the summer as far North as the Santa Barbara coastline but seem to prefer the offshore islands. By October, they begin working themselves South and usually seem to disappear during the winter. However, there are home guard Yellowtail who chose to spend the entire year in California, presumably to take advantage of the winter squid spawn, as evidenced by catches all winter.

Catching Yellowtail

Successful Yellowtail fishermen Yellowtail take just about any type of bait or lure. You can catch on trolling feathers while trolling past kelp beds or floating paddies that break loose from the main body of kelp. You can catch them with blue & white, green & yellow, squid purple, or "pissed off squid" mottled black bone jigs. They'll strike a rubber swim bait, especially when fished deep, in brown herring, blue shad, green sparkle or root beer colors. They'll hit an anchovy, a sardine or perhaps their favorite food, live squid. I've even caught one on a piece of cut squid when fly lining for calico bass near the kelp beds. In addition, any fly imitating any of these bait fish can be used to fool yellowtail, particularly when frenziedly feeding on chum.

Preparing Yellowtail

Yellowtail may be prepared in a variety of ways. Filleting is probably the best, though some like to steak the fish. The collar is one of the finest eating parts of the fish, as are the bellies. On a six pack trip a few years ago, I had the deck hand save all the collars and bellies from all the yellowtail we caught (several dozen), then took them home and smoked them and had a big party for the people from the boat and their spouses. Everyone raved at how good the parts they normally threw away were. The roe of Yellowtail are also very good eating, as are the heads, if you like that sort of thing.

Eating Yellowtail

One of the reasons Yellowtail are so esteemed by fishermen is partly for their fight and partly for their delicious flavor. Yellowtail are an oily white meat fish that may be grilled, broiled, baked, sautéed poached, or smoked, all with exceptional results. It's not ideal for frying, though, since it tends to trap in the fish's own oil. As with most fish, yellowtail are best when very fresh. Very fresh Yellowtail make excellent sashimi, also, so don't miss out on this taste sensation if you're a raw fish fan. Just ice it down and slice it up for some melt-in-your-mouth flavor. Yellowtail keep well frozen, too, especially when vacuum packed.

Jeff Spira is a fishermen and writer of fishing and seamanship books. His web site California Ocean Fishing offers further insights into this fun sport and has links to online sources for his books on the subject.

By JEFF SPIRA

California Ocean Fishing - All About Albacore

California Ocean Fishing offers further insights into this fun sport and has links to online sources for his books on the subject. ">One of the most fun and exciting game fish to be caught in the Southern California ocean are Albacore. These members of the tuna family are fun to catch and great to eat. The fastest, most wide ranging and least net-able of all the tuna, Albacore (Thunnis alalunga) are one of the most welcome visitors to Southern California. Only in years when the water temperature remains in the low 60's Fahrenheit until mid-spring will the Albacore arrive at all in Southern California. In warmer years they arrive in Central and Northern California coasts. Albacore are the best table fare of any of the tuna. They are the only fish allowed to be sold as "White Tuna" in cans. Fresh the meat is light and delicious with a decidedly meaty texture. Because of their habits of moving in very fast, very loose schools, It's nearly impossible for net boats to catch Albacore in commercially viable numbers. Nearly all fish are caught on hook and line, either trolled lures or by jack poles from commercial boats chumming with bait. This means there are always plenty of Albacore around for the sport fishermen to hook up. Catching Albacore Albacore are sometimes called "long fin tuna" for their distinctive extra long pectoral fins. They can get as big as 90 lbs or so but are commonly in the 25-50 lb range. They'll eagerly snap at almost any silvery object in the water when in a feeding frenzy, even bare hooks, and once on the line put up a classic, powerful tuna fight. Just because you get it on the end of your line, doesn't mean you'll land an albacore. It's dogged determination to get loose and seemingly herculean endurance make it a favorite among Southern California anglers. Something like 90% of all albacore are taken in water between 62 and 67 degrees F. I recently discovered this fact in my research but my personal experience had already taught me that if the water wasn't within a degree or two of 65, there weren't going to be any albacore caught. I first came to realize this when commercial Albacore trolling in Central California in the early 1970's. I was holding a hose supplied by a pump in the boat that took the seawater directly from a through hull fitting to the hose, and was washing down the deck. Suddenly I felt the water suddenly change from cold to warm indicating we'd just passed a thermocline. Immediately all eighteen of our trolled jigs had fish on! Then I realized the importance of water temperature for albacore and had a remote reading sea water temperature gage installed in my boat. From then on I noticed the water temperature when we ran into albacore and found it was always very near 65. Albacore are caught by trolling in likely tuna feeding areas especially over offshore banks until a school is located, then fly lining with live bait. Sometimes Albacore will be fussy with their diets and won't touch a sardine - only anchovies. It can be tricky at these times to keep you anchovy lively when fished on bigger hooks and heavier lines needed for Albacore fishing. Also a bait fish imitating lure or fly, if properly fished, will catch its share of these wily predators. Again, a fast retrieve with rapid, darting motions is the hot ticket. Fishing blue and silver single-tailed rubber lures "on the slide" is another very effective fishing techniques for Albacore. Preparing Albacore

My personal preference when Albacore fishing is to not allow deck hands to butcher my fish. They'll toss the best parts of the fish overboard to settle on the bottom and become crab lunches. Know what the BEST part of an Albacore is? It's the belly. Toro (Bluefin Tuna belly) in sushi bars is one of the most expensive things on the menu. It's also one of the tastiest. OK, even if you can't stand the thought of sushi, smoke those bellies for a taste sensation that will put Prime Rib to shame. It's melt-in-your-mouth fabulous. The kama (collar) and head of the tuna are also delicious eating and are parts that get tossed overboard every day by deck hands who are too busy making a few bucks than coaching tourists on how to eat great fish meals. I get my tuna gutted and gilled, then take it to my friendly local sushi bar for proper butchering. I've never seen nor heard of anyone eating tuna roe but would imagine if you found some it would be very edible.

Eating Albacore

Albacore may be universally prepared in a wide variety of techniques. It's great as sashimi, baked, broiled, grilled, steamed, poached, sautéed, smoked, marinated, just about any way you can imagine. About the only way not fantastic for eating tuna is deep fried. The oil content of the fish is sufficient that frying tends to trap too much oil in the fish. Lately, I've been enjoying Albacore marinated in soy sauce, sweet sake and grated garlic, then grilled on the barbecue. Tuna cooked in this manner melt in your mouth and would delight even the most ardent "I hate fishy tasting fish" picky fish eater. One of the last fish I personally caught last year had the fattest, most delicious bellies for sashimi I've ever tasted on any fish.

Jeff Spira is a fishermen and writer of fishing and seamanship books. His web site California Ocean Fishing offers further insights into this fun sport and has links to online sources for his books on the subject.

By JEFF SPIRA

All About Fishing for California Halibut

California Halibut (Paralichthys californicus) are the most famous of all sand flat fish. Everyone loves to catch and eat Halibut. This is not the species that grow to 300 lbs or more in Alaska (Pacific Halibut), but a home grown, Southern California only, species. They're just as tasty as their bigger cousins, though. Halibut start out their lives swimming more or less like other fish, vertically in the water with one eye on each side of their heads. As they pass from this juvenile stage into adulthood, one eye migrates from its original position around the nose of the fish and ends up on the other side. The blind side then turns white and the fish begins swimming horizontally over the bottom with the white, blind side down. Halibut are members of the left-eyed flat fishes, however 40% of them are actually right eyed (the left eye migrates to the right side.)

California Halibut can grow to five feet long and 60 lbs, but most are far smaller. In fact, throughout most of the 1980's and 1990's it was very unusual to find a keeper sized Halibut (22 inches.) You would throw twenty back for every fish that measured up. Now, since conservation efforts and heavy restrictions on where trammel nets (the commercial nets used for flat fish) may be set, the population of Halibut is increasing and the sizes of sport caught Halibut is also increasing. By 1997, about half of all Halibut caught were breeding adults (bigger than 22 inches) so the comeback of this sought after game fish is well on its way.

Catching Halibut

Halibut are masters of ambush. They sit partially buried on the bottom awaiting prey to wander by, then leap out grabbing the unsuspecting forage fish. Halibut usually prefer live bait. Even scientists used to believe they were more like Sole or Sand Dabs grubbing for food and scavenging anything that came by, but now it's known they're aggressive predators. They eat sardines, anchovies, squid and any other smaller bait fish.

Halibut range from in-shore beaches, harbors and river mouths, all the way to deep, deep water. They live in over 1000 feet of water. Deep water caught fish are the best eating, but often trophy fish are caught in about 20 feet of water.

To catch Halibut, drift over likely sandy bottom with a live anchovy, sardine, herring or other bait fish (grunion work great too!) with a reverse dropper loop setup - that is, a sinker attached to a loop tied a foot or two above the bait. Keep it close to the bottom and just barely moving to cover more ground. Halibut wait for bait so if you keep your bait still, it might be literally inches from the tail of a big fish and it would never know it was there. Use just enough weight so that the bait stays on the bottom. When Halibut hit, they mouth the bait first so the strike is more like a slight ticking feel on the line. At this stage have patience, if you set the hook too soon, you'll pull the bait right out of the Halibut's mouth. Give it line and when you're fairly sure it's got the bait, go ahead and set the hook.

Halibut will also strike lures. Rubber swim baits seem to work best and are even more effective when baited with a thin strip of cut squid. Halibut have even been known to come up off the bottom and strike deep trolled salmon lures. Preparing Halibut

On the boat, have Halibut headed and gutted, then ice them down quickly. The meat is delicate so spoils easily. Once home peel four nice fillets off the fish. Don't bother trying to steak the fish, like Pacific Halibut in the grocery store, the local variety are usually too thin for this. Be sure to peel off the engawa (outer strip of meat at the base of the fins.) The Japanese know how to find these great eating morsels on different types of fish. It makes excellent sashimi!

Eating Halibut

Halibut are one of the best eating fish in California waters and have the most broad appeal to people with different tastes. I've never heard anyone ever say that fresh Halibut tastes fishy. They're excellent as sashimi, baked, broiled, fried, sauteed, and even poached. The meat is light, delicate, flavorful, and mild.

Jeff Spira is a fishermen and writer of fishing and seamanship books. His web site California Ocean Fishing offers further insights into this fun sport and has links to online sources for his books on the subject.

By JEFF SPIRA