Albacore, yellowtail fishing grounds blown out -- will game fish remain?
It's blowing 25 knots out of the northwest, so this could bring to an end the impressive late-season fishing for offshore albacore and Cortes Bank yellowtail.
A big wind always seems to blow when a skipper says something like "This bite could last till Christmas," and at least one captain spoke those very words last week.
But it had been going well. The Sea Adventure 80 returned to H&M Landing in San Diego on Saturday night with 60-plus albacore caught about 70 miles southwest of Point Loma.
Yellowtail to 40-plus pounds had been cooperating for anglers at the Cortes Bank, a seamount 100 miles west of Orange County, but upwelling caused by wind will drop the water temperature and may drive those fish away.
The Toronado, out of Pierpoint Landing in Long Beach, was set to depart for Cortes Bank on Saturday night. Its passengers wisely chose to cancel.
--Pete Thomas
File photo shows Randy Stanger with a large albacore. Credit: Pete Thomas/Los Angeles Times
