Humpbacks making a splash

Inshore: Bonito have moved into the inshore waters with the barracuda just off the kelp edges and are providing anglers with a little more variety. Halibut and sheephead are biting well when targeted. Whitefish are active on the bottom in 80-100 feet of water along with a solid sand bass bite. Calico bass are still in the kelp and eating the plastics and bait voraciously in anywhere from 20 to 80 feet of water.

Outside: Some 500 fewer anglers made it out this week compared to last. Though the tuna fishing is still wide open, there were approximately 5,000 less yellowfin tuna caught. The bluefin tuna catch increased threefold, 30% more dorado hit the deck and skipjack tuna came on strong with five times as many caught as during the previous week. Striped marlin and shortbill spearfish are being caught within one-day range of Point Loma.

August 16-22 Dock Totals: 7,088 anglers aboard 289 boats out of San Diego landings caught 12,998 yellowfin tuna, 456 bluefin tuna, 1,676 yellowtail, 3,611 dorado, 2,424 skipjack tuna, 4 bigeye tuna, 1 white seabass, 912 calico bass, 777 sand bass, 4 lingcod, 293 barracuda, 781 rockfish, 21 sheephead, 9 halibut, 1,964 bonito, 34 sculpin, 2 whitefish, 10 Spanish jack, 1 opah, 3 striped marlin and 4 shortbill spearfish.

Freshwater: Hot days and sultry nights usually mean it is prime time for catfish. Mackerel, chicken livers, night-crawlers and even hotdogs are working well on the whiskers. For bass, the drop shot continues to be the best method with plastic worms in the darker reds and purples being the hottest producers. Bluegill and red ear sunfish remain active in the shallows. The next scheduled catfish plant is 1,000 pounds on September 11 at Santee Lakes.

Whale Watch: Humpback whales are making an appearance in San Diego waters along with the blue whales normally seen this time of year. The most acrobatic of whales, humpbacks are found in every ocean on earth and grow to 50 feet in length and can weigh nearly 48 tons. A few Risso’s dolphin pods have been sighted; when mature, these animals are easily distinguishable by their mostly white bodies, bulbous heads and dark dorsal fins.