A 3,900-peso surf perch

Dock Totals August 6-12: 6,782 anglers aboard 253 boats out of San Diego landings this past week caught 106 bluefin tuna, 2,633 yellowfin tuna, 47 skipjack tuna, 3,010 dorado, 12,021 yellowtail, 546 calico bass, 7 sand bass, 2,974 rockfish, 844 sanddab, 24 lingcod, 2,448 bonito, 42 barracuda, 158 sculpin, 91 whitefish, 48 sheephead, 5 halibut, 22 bocaccio, 1 mako shark , 1 thresher shark, 1 opah and 1 striped marlin (released).

Saltwater: Though the yellowfin tuna count nearly doubled, the bluefin tuna count dropped to ¼ of the fish caught the previous week. Many of the bluefin are in the 200+ pound class. The yellowfin are mostly school-sized, from 15 to 30 pounds. A few skipjack are being caught in the mix. Dorado and yellowtail continue to dominate the counts, and while most are smallish and under 12 pounds, some yellowtail have been caught in the 20-30 pound class. The dorado are averaging about 8 to 10 pounds and are running in large schools. When dorado are larger, over 20 pounds or so, they tend to swim in small packs of a few fish to 15 or so, with one or two males and the rest females. The ¾ day trips are getting mostly yellowtail, dorado, and bonito; the longer trips are getting the same with good numbers on yellowfin tuna and a few skipjack and bluefin.

Down south in San Quintin, Carl and Sue’s Surf Perch Derby, drew 183 entrants to the beach along Santa Maria Bay. The tournament, centered at Fidel’s Pabellòn, has grown by 40 or so entrants each of the last three years.

The morning was foggy and coolish on the beach and the perch didn’t want to bite until around 8:00 am or so. By 10:30, they quit again. I managed to catch a few barred surf perch (the only fish accepted at weigh-in), including a fat 1.21-pounder that ate a thumb-sized sand crab. To my surprise, it was the largest fish of the day. I won the tournament and chose the cash, 3,900 pesos. Second place was David Holliday, who chose a custom-wrapped rod. Jesus Garcia took third place and 2,800 pesos.

Top boats of the week:

August 12 – The Pegasus returned to the dock from a 2 day trip with 132 yellowfin tuna, 51 dorado and 1 bluefin tuna for the 14 anglers aboard.

August 11 – The Reel Champion with 5 anglers aboard their ¾ day run reported20 dorado and 20 yellowtail caught.

August 10 – 21 anglers aboard the Sea Adventure 80 3.5 day trip caught 21 yellowtail, 1 halibut and 315 yellowfin tuna. The Mission Belle reported 2 dorado, 8 bonito, 5 rockfish, 14 yellowfin tuna and 155 yellowtail for the 31 anglers aboard their ¾ day run to the Coronado Islands.

August 9 – The Ocean Odyssey called in with 240 yellowfin tuna, 9 dorado and 33 yellowtail for 24 anglers aboard their 2.5 day trip.

August 8 – 21 anglers aboard the Point Loma ¾ day run caught 105 yellowtail and 5 dorado. The San Diego reported limits of 250 yellowtail along with 59 bonito, 1 bluefin tuna, 2 dorado and 2 rockfish for the 50 anglers aboard their ¾ day run.

August 6 – 50 anglers aboard the Liberty ¾ day run caught limits of 250 yellowtail.

Fish Plants: No plants this week.