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NOW IS THE RIGHT TIME FOR
TUNA
By: Ron Wilson
September 4, 2003.... For catching some really nice size Albacore Tuna you
should think September and
October off the coast of California.
That’s when the 25 to 50 pound fish start arriving in large schools.
I
recently boarded the Huli Cat, out of Pillar Point Harbor near Half Moon
Bay, to try my luck. I chose a boat that was 53 feet long because when
traveling 20 to 35 miles out in the ocean, I prefer a good size boat.
Once you put a boat in the ocean it’s nothing more than a floating cork in
the water, but I like the bigger corks for comfort. Mother nature can turn
mean and nasty in a hurry!
Capt. Tom Mattusch, Skipper of the Huli Cat, and the rest of the anglers
showed up and settled in. The Captain had a couple of the latest NOAA
colored charts in his hand that showed the latest temperature line breaks
in the ocean current.
When fishing albacore tuna the skippers look for temperature line breaks
where the ocean water temperature suddenly jumps from say 59 to 62
degrees, that seems to be where the baitfish like to hang out and the tuna
that feed on them won’t be far away. That’s not to say you can’t catch
Albacore in water as cold as 56 degrees.
Captain Tom had done his
homework not only did he have the charts showing where the ocean
temperature breaks were, but he had the lat/long numbers where the tuna
had been located the day before by Skipper Bob Franko, of the Fishin’
Machine.
We would be heading to
what is known as the 601 Spot. That’s where an underwater mountaintop
comes up from the bottom of the ocean about 35 miles off the coast.
Baitfish and tuna like to hang in that area!
The ride out would take a couple hours. Since most of us had been up since
midnight, driving from as far away as Fresno, this would give an opportune
time to take a nap.
Our deckhand, Dave Lapchuk, suddenly turned the cabin lights on about two
hours out of the harbor. The anglers that hadn’t been aroused by the
bright lights were awakened by Dave’s call “pay attention and I’ll make
tuna fishermen out of you before the day is over.”
Dave explained that he would set the rods out when we arrived at the
fishing grounds, he wanted them put in a “U” formation behind the boat.
That would allow as many multiple hookups as possible.
Dave also theorized that the boat looked like a large tight school of
baitfish to the tuna and the lures behind the boat would appear to be
straggling baitfish that were easy pickings for the tuna.
 We
arrived at the fishing grounds and Dave proceeded to set out the rods. He
had four rods out when three of the rod clickers sounded off. A triple
hookup to start the day! Captain Tom hollered, “That’s the kind of start I
like!”
While the anglers were
fighting the three tuna that were hooked, the rest of us fished the slide
using fishtraps, jigs and iron. Fishing the slide is where you go the side
of the boat where the wind is blowing in your face and drop you lures
down.
From that point on it was flopping fish and blood on the boat deck. No
sooner would the deck be washed down then the frenzy would begin all over
again.
I got a kick out of one
angler who was about five feet tall. He had on a nice albacore and the
fish would drag him from one side of the boat to the other and then
reverse course and take him back to were he started. Dave the deckhand
finally gave him a hand landing it so that the rest of us could start
fishing again.
Dave had to be one of
the best deckhands I have been out with, I watched him save a half dozen
fish for customers.
During the day I got acquainted with several of the anglers, one in
particular was Howard Story of Kerman. He stood out because of a memory I
had of his hometown some 40 years ago. Back then the town was so small you
would miss it if you blinked! However the local law enforcement didn’t
miss me. I got a speeding ticket going through town and was taken to the
judge to pay the fine right then. This hick town reminded me of Mayberry
RFD with its own Barney Fife!
The anglers had a ball
reeling in fish. The only complaint I heard was from one young lad wishing
he had caught more then three fish during the day. I told him, “You should
consider yourself lucky, I took a trip last year and didn’t catch a single
fish.”
I had to bite my tongue
and not tell him about the mistake that cost a lure and his fourth fish. I
was resting in the cabin watching him on the corner of the boat. He was
smoking a cigarette and starting to put a line in the water after we had
made a stop. As he swung the lure up the line hit the hot end of the
cigarette knocking fire from it. The line didn’t burn in two then but a
little later he had a strike and after a short fight the line busted. It
was pretty easy to figure out why!
The best hookup we had
during the day was five. The rest of the time it was singles and doubles.
The skippers are after the multiple hookups, that’s how they really load
the boat.
Captain Tom believes
in setting out lures that are close to the same colors, Mexican flag, and
tuna clones in yellow and green. The reason for using colors that are
similar is to entice multiple hookups for his clients.
Captain Tom and Captain Bob Franko have
been experimenting with colors that resemble each other for some time now.
They are getting more hookups per stop using this method.
The score for the day was a little over 10 pads. That’s radio talk lingo.
They don’t want non-charter boat listeners to have any idea what the fish
count actually is. A pad is 5 fish!
We had one experienced angler on the boat that kept loosening his drag so
that he could play the fish instead of quickly landing them so the rest of
the anglers could fish. I am sure this hurt the overall score for the day.
Some of the commercial fishermen are now using zip codes. Like 90957 they
will use the last two numbers to indicate the total catch. I chuckled as
Captain Tom told me this story, my immediate thought was, who really gives
a zip!
Captain Tom uses two meat
lines on the boat to enhance his spread of lures when fishing tuna. He has
a thick
rubber with about 50 feet of line and a lure tied to it that he puts out
on each corner of the boat stern. The huge rubber is to take the shock
from the strike, which reduces the chance of the line breaking.
It sure is awesome to
watch a tuna come up and hit the lures on the meat lines I saw two fish
during the day come up and smash the lures, these fish strike with
unbelievable speed! The boat is doing about 7 to 9 miles an hour while
trolling and the tuna come up and smash the lure like it was sitting
still!
I
also saw something very unusual that day. We were trolling along as I saw
the meat line rubber suddenly stretch and the line that was tied to it
quickly break. At the same time the rod I was standing next to screamed
for a split second and its line broke. I never saw the fish, but when I
thought about how quickly the lines busted, it had to have teeth like a
shark, was the only explanation I could come up with.
Captain Tom has a wide variety of reels for the fishermen to try when on
board. 2 speed Shimano’s and Penn’s, both black and gold. He’s also using
a new Penn that’s like a 407 but it has a narrower spool.
Captain Tom said he uses a wide variety of reels so his customers can get
a feel for the reels they would like to purchase if they ever feel the
urge to become hardcore anglers!
Captain Tom said he
really likes his job even though the fishing regulations have hurt his
business this year. Tom really loves to see the anglers go home happy.
Keeping those anglers happy makes for a repeat customer.
Tom said being a
charter boat captain is somewhat comparable to owning an ice cream shop,
if the customer drops a scoop on the floor you make sure you replace it.
Same goes for fishing, if an angler loses a fish, you make sure you put
that angler back on fish to replace it. Keep ‘um happy!
Fishing is great and the
bigger fish are here. For reservations call Captain Tom Mattusch (650)
726-2926. |
