Tastes like summer out there

Dock Totals May 27 – June 2: 2,468 anglers aboard 115 boats out of San Diego landings this past week caught 36 bluefin tuna, 358 yellowtail, 310 calico bass, 146 sand bass, 3,543 rockfish, 372 whitefish, 63 lingcod, 102 bonito, 541 sculpin, 128 sanddab, 30 sheephead, 4 bocaccio, 6 halibut, 159 barracuda, 5 halfmoon, 2 white seabass (released), 1 cabezon, 3 treefish, 19 lizardfish, 1 mako shark, 2 black seabass (released),and 1 thresher shark.

Saltwater: It may be a subtle difference here in the southwestern corner of the country, but there is a point in time each year when spring’s two sisters, May Gray and June Gloom, give way and allow summer its due. For anglers, it’s not so much the weather we’re watching as the water; our season may turn from spring to summer over the course of two very similar days. Even though June’s gloom is hanging off the coast, the sun on the sand this morning feels like summer is here a bit early this year.

The fish counts reflect a change. There were over 100 total trips out of our landings for the first time this year. Barracuda and bonito are showing, and thresher and mako sharks are hunting off the coast. There were several threshers caught and released this past week.

The bluefin are out in the 1.5 day range, and yellowfin are further south. Until they do, the boaters and kayakers fishing the coast can be happy that the yellowtail and white seabass are boiling up on the bait off the kelp. Calico bass are getting active in the kelp beds and are eating plastics, especially anything sparkly and green that mimics a grunion, smelt or sardine.

Fish Plants: June 8, Santee Lakes, catfish (1,000)