NEAR LIMITS OF ALBACORE CAUGHT IN FISHING
OFF ENSENADA BY THE BOAT PESCADOR

July 24, 2004, John Gaebel, Pescador, Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico Offshore Fishing:

Boat: Pescador (31' Black Watch). Anglers: John and Jeff Gaebel; Bill and Matt Douglas, Randy Brecher.

We fished the Ensenada area (295 bank) on Friday for near limits of albacore to 40 pounds and one 57-pound bluefin tuna caught by my son, Jeff, on 20-pound tackle.

Most of the fish came off meter marks with a few trolling stops that turned into long slow bites. Most of the SD fleet was within a 5 mile radius and all appeared to be stopped the majority of the time. Water temperature 69.3 degrees. There was a modest temp brake at around 45 miles (70 degrees).

While we returned early (12 am) the radio chatter indicated that the bite was becoming more active.

Snotty weather would have made the day challenging in a small boat running from SD; in any case the 75-mile run to SD would have been miserable at best.

When we refueled at the Coral, we talked to two Mexican skippers that got fish on the 238 and 450. The 450 spot seemed to have good volume and the skipper reported catching 14 dorado in the same location along with limits of the longfin.