Offshore Yellowtail

I cast the small mack to the edge of the kelp paddy and freespooled the reel as the mack took off, suddenly there was a thump on the line and the line started peeling off the reel at a very fast pace. I waited for the count of five and put the reel in gear, the rod bent nearly double and line started screaming off the reel as whatever was on the other end of the line wanted no part with what was on my end.

After a hard fought fifteen minutes, the fish started to come more easily to the boat and soon he was visible about twenty feet down in the clear blue water, I short pumped him hard and soon he was in my net, a beautiful twenty five pound Yellowtail. After a few seconds to admire his beauty we slipped him back into the water and watched him quickly disappear into the depths. We had already kept two for the dinner table and released ten more to fight again another day, and with arms aching and smiles on our faces we headed the boat for shore.

This is a common scenario off the coast of Southern California and Baja during the summer and fall months when migrating yellowtail flood into our offshore waters. This is also the time of the tuna invasion and the two species are fished in the same areas with common tactics. When I ran tuna trips out of San Diego we often caught Yellowfin tuna, Bluefin tuna, Albacore, Bonita, and Yellowtail on the same stop on a single kelp paddy, not all the time but it happened often.

Now I know your next question is, how do you find fish in that vast expanse of ocean? If you leave out of San Diego, do what the majority of sport boats do, run eighty miles in the dark
at compass headings of between 180 and 210 degrees ( follow the lights of the sport boats, they mostly go in the same general direction ) then just before dawn slow down to six and a half knots and drop your trolling lures in the water. Don't troll in a straight line, instead troll in a stretched "S" pattern, when you see several boats stopped in one general area troll towards them but always keep two to three hundred feet away from them.

If you don't catch any fish after trolling nearby for a while and you see they are hooked up stop about three hundred feet upwind of them and cut the engines and drift with live bait. Let the size and eagerness of the fish dictate rod and line size, if the fish are eating any and all baits with abandon, switch to forty to fifty pound test and a heavy rod, if they are finicky drop down to a light outfit with twenty five pound test, a fluorocarbon leader of about four feet will get you many more bites when the fishing is tough.

Be on the lookout for floating kelp paddy's as the tuna and tails tend to hang around these "offshore structures," when a paddy is spotted try to make a couple of trolling passes near it, throwing several live baits close to it as you pass, if there are no hits try trolling in a large circle around it throwing a bait at the rate of four or five a minute, if no hits and no splashes are seen
as game fish grab a chum bait from the surface, continue on in the same general direction as the swell. As far as trolling lures go, use three to four inch lures early in the season when bait fish are small, and five or six inch lures later in the year when the bait is bigger.

As far as lure colors, most fishermen have a rainbow of colors with them, "Tuna are colorblind!"
they see only shades of grey, so have white feathers when it is sunny and black when it is overcast. I have caught many tuna trolling in the dark with a black feather. Yellowtail are not colorblind, if fishing for them, I usually troll a CD 18 mackerel colored Rapala deep diver. If both yellows and tuna are in an area I will troll green and white feathers, four to five inches long about one boat length behind the boat. If fishing is slow I will troll the CD 18 back 100 to 150 feet behind the boat off an outrigger and troll three feathers from the Stern, don't make the mistake most anglers make and stop the boat as soon as you get a hookup, keep trolling and you
will probably hook a couple more.

As soon as you land a yellow or tuna be sure to bleed them before putting them on ice, this will greatly enhance the flavor, and they will keep longer in the freezer. After you get a hookup on a trolling lure keep the boat moving and start chumming one bait every 8 to 10 seconds, do not stop! You can get a fish on every feather if you keep moving, as you reel in the fish keep the chum going to entice the school to come to the boat. Wind the trolling fish in quickly. Then have your people cast live bait into the boiling fish at the stern. Throw enough chum to keep the fish near but not so much that you fill them up and they leave. This is where experience comes in, if the fish are crashing chum bait as soon as it hits the water, slow it down some and if the fish seem reluctant to come to the boat, throw more chum to get them into a feeding frenzy.

When five minutes go by with no new fish, its time to leave and start trolling again. Do not just troll away from the area, troll the area thoroughly for at least twenty minutes. Troll in circles, then troll x's across the circles. My first circles are fifty to sixty across, then add twenty five yds. to the size of the circle on each pass, when your circle is appx. one hundred and fifty yds. across make the next two passes your x across the circles. All the time I am throwing baits at the rate of four to five a minute, have everyone watching for tuna crashing baits inside the circle.

If they are eating chum baits but not your lures, they may be spooked by the boat, then move the boat upwind of the fish, cut the motors and drift down on them. If they still refuse to eat, start your trolling again, always keeping a lookout for kelp paddys or birds feeding on the surface.

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Yellowtail on Fin Bait

We have already discussed the effectiveness of live squid for yellowtail. But what do you do when there are no live squid available? Fin bait is the next best bait, mackerel, sardines and to a lesser degree, anchovies. I will use anchovies for chum, then throw iron jigs for the yellows.

Choveys are small and weak and don't last long when pulling the large size lines usually used for yellows. Large sardines and small mackerel are the bait of choice when yellows are your target. But first before we can catch yellows we must find them.

Yellowtail are members of the jack family and they can be found in many different environments, offshore islands, rocky points, kelp areas, rocky reefs in depths of twenty to two hundred feet, offshore open ocean and just about any other type of near shore area you can think of. I have caught yellows in all of them. Yellows are found away from structure by looking for them crashing bait on the surface and the hordes of birds diving into the schools of bait fish the yellows have chased to the surface.

Tackle for yellows depends on the area being fished and the size of the fish in the area. At the famous Farnsworth Bank at Catalina Island where the reef comes within fifty feet of the surface and forty to fifty pound mossbacks ( very large home guard yellows ) are always a possibility, the prudent angler uses fifty to eighty pound mono on heavy tackle. You may not get as many bites, but, you have an excellent chance of landing the ones you hook. I have had a boatload of anglers go "0 for 40" on Farnsworth yellows because no one had anything heavier than forty pound test on their reels that day, the fish were very large and biting deep that day and even with forty pound test and buttoned down drags, the yellows just pulled you right into the rocks and sawed you off, end of discussion!!

When fishing open water yellows, these fish could have been landed on fifteen or twenty pound test because the bottom is a thousand feet down and there is nothing except the boat bottom to

cut your line on. This can be done on private boats, on party boats I recomend thirty to forty pound outfits to help control your fish and keep clear of other anglers lines. Nothing makes you a target of other anglers scorn and anger faster than fishing with tackle to light for the conditions and having your fish tangle other peoples fish and causing them to lose a fish they have fought for a long time.

If you see fish crashing bait on the surface, a bait cast near the crashing fish will usually get a quick hookup. For sardines I use a 2/0 to 4/0 short shank premium hook. For mackerel I use a 4/0 to 6/0 depending on the size of the bait. Always match your hook size to the size of your bait, a hook that is too large will quickly kill the bait, one that is too small will cause you to

miss many hookups. When you get bit give the fish a chance to get the bait into his mouth before you set the hook. With sardines three to five seconds will work most of the time, with macks I usually let the fish have the bait for six to ten seconds, put the reel in gear, let the line come tight and "pop 'em a good one!"

When the fish starts running just hold on, don't wind the reel, wait until the fish stops then put as much pressure on the fish as you can, but when the fish gets near the boat he will make another run straight down. When the fish is running I change hands holding the rod to rest the rod hand. Yellows make several long runs and several shorter ones and you need to rest your

arms as much as possible during the fight.

Offshore yellows can be found around floating kelp paddys, sometimes as small as a trash can lid, but usually larger ones are best. When I am searching for offshore yellows I troll two CD 18 mackerel pattern Rapalas about 100 ft behind the boat, when I see a kelp paddy my first pass is made about fifty ft from the paddy. As I pass I have someone throw a handfull of sardines next

to the paddy, if no fish are seen boiling on the bait.

Come back for the conclusion to this exciting way to catch yellows!

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Live Bait Fishing for Yellowtail

Once you hook your first yellowtail You will be hooked as well! This fish is a very special fish for Southern California and Baja, Mexico anglers. It is a very powerful, hard fighting and great eating member of the Jack family. It is one of the most prized inshore fish in the Southern
California/Northern Mexico area. In California they are mostly a early summer to late fall fish, as they prefer water above sixty five degrees, though some may be caught all year at the local islands ( Catalina and San Clemente ).

Fishing is best when the squid come into shallow water to spawn. You can usually buy some from the local live bait operations, buy some from squid boats at Catalina Island, or you can catch your own at the Island. I prefer to buy them from a bait boat at Catalina as these have
not made two trips across the channel and are not all beat up. Yellowtail may be found at many locations at Catalina, the East end, the Vees, Farnsworth bank ( use sixty pound test here ) and the West Cove area are a few of my favorites, though the best fishing spots usually have a large number of party boats and private sport fishers anchored in the best areas, not hard to find.

When anchoring in a large fleet of boats try to stay at least forty to fifty yards from other anchored boats, yellowtail make long powerful runs and you don't want to get tangled with other fishermen's lines/anchor lines. Anyway yellows travel in schools and the boats on the outside of the fleet are usually the first to get hooked up. Just in case live squid are not available at the Island, I usually bring about ten pounds of frozen fresh dead from the super market ( don't get frozen squid from the tackle store or bait dock, these are low quality with no color, super market squid are eating quality and have all their color, they work twice as well ) .

If I get live ones I use the frozen to chum with. After you are anchored safely have one person start chumming. Cut the squid into three pieces for small ones and four or five pieces for larger ones. Now start your chum slick by throwing one piece of cut squid about one every ten seconds and once every two minutes throw a live one out.

You don't want to feed the fish, just encourage them to come into your area. I have several
rods rigged and ready to go should I need them. ( 14 ) I start out with two rods rigged with twenty pound mono on either casting or Shimano Baitrunner spinning reels on six and a half foot med-hvy rods. If the water is clear I will put a four foot fluorocarbon leader on the end of the line, this makes a big difference where the fish are heavily pressured. I always use premium hooks, Owner is my favorite, but any premium super sharp hook will work. For live squid I use a 4/0 short shank, and depending on the current I will put a 1/4 to 1/2 oz. egg sinker on the line before I tie on the hook.

This gets the bait deep enough to keep it away from the birds. Now put the reel in freespool and slowly let the squid drift out with the current. I let one go about twenty five yards and the other about thirty five yards from the boat. The next two rods have thirty pound test and have conventional reels, and six foot heavy rods, they are rigged the same way except they have
one to two ounce egg sinkers depending on the current. They should be straight down about half way to the bottom, put them in rod holders in free spool with clickers on. The squid should be hooked once through the pointed end.

The last two rods are heavy forty pound outfits with a four to six ounce heavy white iron jig, these have one or two squid pinned on the treble hooks, and are dropped to the bottom then reeled up about two feet from the bottom. Now put them in rod holders and let the rocking of the boat bounce them seductively right off the bottom. These rigs will catch yellows, white sea bass, calico bass, halibut and many other island bottom feeders. When a fish hits the Iron jig, the hook should be set as fast as possible. When a fish eats the squid rig, you should let him pull about fifteen feet of line off the reel before you set the hook. Put the reel in gear, point the rod tip at the fish, and when the line comes tight, set the hook hard. The drags should be set as tight as possible just short of the lines breaking point.

Yellowtail will make a series of hard runs, while they are pulling line from the reel, just hold on, don't wind the reel. When the fish stops running immediately start pumping the fish as hard as your tackle will allow. After landing any gamefish I quickly bleed it and put it on ice, this insures great quality steaks for the grill. These tactics work well anywhere yellowtail are found.
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Saltwater Fishing part 6

No birds no problem! If you can't find any birds you can still find bonito, there are a few simple steps to finding fish most days, even if you do not see any birdpiles. First find out where the bones were the last few days, check the fish counts of your local partyboats, check with friends to see where they have been catching bones, or go to areas where you have caught them in the past.

If bonito have been caught recently in an area, I may start out trolling a small tuna feather about 4 inches long, I usually troll about 6 to 8 mph when I'm searching for fish, and run my lures 30 to 40 feet behind the boat. Trolling in a slow "S" pattern is better than trolling in a straight line. I always have someone on the binos looking out at distance.

If I see a kelp paddy, I troll by it from several directions, if there are lots of paddys I usually only make one pass. If there are only a few I make three or four passes and throw some live chum on them as I go past. Keep an eye out for boils on the chum as that may indicate bones are present.

I keep the fly rods sitting in the corner of the rail so they will be handy when we get a trolling hookup. When a fish hits the feather, immediately throw a handful of chum and cast your fly out behind the boat and strip it in fast. If fish start boiling in the chum, keep throwing chum a few at a time to keep them around the boat.

If no fish are located trolling, I usually look for a partyboat and anchor about 200 feet behind him ( don't get too close, always give anchored fishing boats space to fish in ) Party boats usually throw lots of chum and it will come down current towards you, this can get bones in a chewing mood if they are in the area. If no bonito are to be found, all is not lost, there are plenty of other fish species that will hit the flys, calico and sand bass, mackerel, halibut ( sinking line in shallow water ) yellowtail, white sea bass, and many others. I have caught all these and more on the fly here in Southern California.

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