10-14-2012, 02:33 PM
The New Puzzle
Posted on October 14, 2012
2
It’s been a strange year. During a typical year we do exploratory seabass trips to Catalina in February and find a few, but its in march that the bite really takes off. For as long as I can remember, its during the Fred Hall Show in LB that word of the first really good score starts spreading around. As soon as the squid get hard to catch at Catalina, the seabass bite goes full rack, sometimes for days at a time. The big thresher sharks show up off Newport and Dana early in the spring, and makos start to show about a month later. In May we usually see the yellows stack up at San Clemente Island, and the first rumors of albacore begin. Around the 4th of July the first striped marlin is caught in So. Cal. waters and the kelps have yellows. None of these things happened this year, but different does not mean it was a bad season.
We did not have a single great seabass bite at Catalina this year. There were good scores, but not the “40 boats all stacked up and gettin’em” kinda bites. Instead the bulk of the seabass swam all the way up to the Channel Islands, and they had an epic season. The costal seabass bite rose to biblical proportions at times, and the size of the fish re-wrote records that may stand the test of time. The squid never thinned out, instead they are everywhere and have been all summer.
There were just a handfull of big threshers caught this year in the “normal” areas, but the makos made a big showing. Even the little threshers were few and far between, a sharp contrast to years past. The sand bass moved onto the HB Flats for the spawn bite, and stayed long enough for the local 1/2 and 3/4 day fleets to make enough money to keep their boats from going back to the banks. Then the sand bass came back and spawned again, and again. Local twilight boats had good scores on sand bass starting way before the spawn, and way after. So much for the scientific studies that said our sand bass stocks were depleted.
The albacore did show, then left and moved up to the central coast. They are still getting them up there. Then more albies showed up and stayed, but just the big boys and in smaller numbers. The bluefin drove up the line and parked right in our backyard, and stayed. Then the dorado and yellowtail and finally the yellowfin. The dorado moved into local waters and were sometimes caught within swimming distance of shore. One was even captured inside Newport Harbor just this past week. For the most part they all stayed except the dorado (still in one day range), and are still here today, in October. The marlin showed after their 4th of July arrival date, and stayed in fewer numbers that we would normally expect. We were glad to have them, especially since we have had almost none for the last three years.
We all know that the earth goes through drastic climate changes from time to time, and the cycles we see are just a tiny spec in what is a greater reality. Studies of the sediment layers on the ocean floor reveal that change happens fast, and not over long periods of time. Could we be in the midst of a fundamental change in our weather, current and fishing patterns? Could all we’ve learned with logs and experience be changing for the rest of our lifetimes? I’d guess not, but I am ready if that turns out to be the case.
Many got out and had the best season of their lives, while others stuck to old habits and stomping grounds and are left bewildered. I took plenty of notes along the way and none of what I have resembles anything in my lifetime. Now to wait and see where this whole thing goes. We still have squid everywhere, and the offshore scene continues. I for one will be watching closely to see what next season brings. Will it be “back to normal” or will we all need to begin putting together the pieces of a whole new puzzle? Only time will tell.
captainonboard.org sunday read
Posted on October 14, 2012
2
It’s been a strange year. During a typical year we do exploratory seabass trips to Catalina in February and find a few, but its in march that the bite really takes off. For as long as I can remember, its during the Fred Hall Show in LB that word of the first really good score starts spreading around. As soon as the squid get hard to catch at Catalina, the seabass bite goes full rack, sometimes for days at a time. The big thresher sharks show up off Newport and Dana early in the spring, and makos start to show about a month later. In May we usually see the yellows stack up at San Clemente Island, and the first rumors of albacore begin. Around the 4th of July the first striped marlin is caught in So. Cal. waters and the kelps have yellows. None of these things happened this year, but different does not mean it was a bad season.
We did not have a single great seabass bite at Catalina this year. There were good scores, but not the “40 boats all stacked up and gettin’em” kinda bites. Instead the bulk of the seabass swam all the way up to the Channel Islands, and they had an epic season. The costal seabass bite rose to biblical proportions at times, and the size of the fish re-wrote records that may stand the test of time. The squid never thinned out, instead they are everywhere and have been all summer.
There were just a handfull of big threshers caught this year in the “normal” areas, but the makos made a big showing. Even the little threshers were few and far between, a sharp contrast to years past. The sand bass moved onto the HB Flats for the spawn bite, and stayed long enough for the local 1/2 and 3/4 day fleets to make enough money to keep their boats from going back to the banks. Then the sand bass came back and spawned again, and again. Local twilight boats had good scores on sand bass starting way before the spawn, and way after. So much for the scientific studies that said our sand bass stocks were depleted.
The albacore did show, then left and moved up to the central coast. They are still getting them up there. Then more albies showed up and stayed, but just the big boys and in smaller numbers. The bluefin drove up the line and parked right in our backyard, and stayed. Then the dorado and yellowtail and finally the yellowfin. The dorado moved into local waters and were sometimes caught within swimming distance of shore. One was even captured inside Newport Harbor just this past week. For the most part they all stayed except the dorado (still in one day range), and are still here today, in October. The marlin showed after their 4th of July arrival date, and stayed in fewer numbers that we would normally expect. We were glad to have them, especially since we have had almost none for the last three years.
We all know that the earth goes through drastic climate changes from time to time, and the cycles we see are just a tiny spec in what is a greater reality. Studies of the sediment layers on the ocean floor reveal that change happens fast, and not over long periods of time. Could we be in the midst of a fundamental change in our weather, current and fishing patterns? Could all we’ve learned with logs and experience be changing for the rest of our lifetimes? I’d guess not, but I am ready if that turns out to be the case.
Many got out and had the best season of their lives, while others stuck to old habits and stomping grounds and are left bewildered. I took plenty of notes along the way and none of what I have resembles anything in my lifetime. Now to wait and see where this whole thing goes. We still have squid everywhere, and the offshore scene continues. I for one will be watching closely to see what next season brings. Will it be “back to normal” or will we all need to begin putting together the pieces of a whole new puzzle? Only time will tell.
captainonboard.org sunday read