Our weather seemed stuck in a funny pattern with windy weekend conditions keeping most anglers from hunting the offshore currents for albacore. Those who found time to get out during the week were rewarded with scores of 40 or more fish per boat. The coming weekend may be the exception to this pattern, with offshore conditions forecast to blow only five to fifteen knots in the 10-60 mile offshore region that holds the tuna.

Bayside Marine is tuna central again this year. Most private boats that venture out to the tuna grounds get their information from Bayside, and keep in touch while fishing via the powerful marine radio at the shop. According to owner Todd Fraser, the bite started to turn on Tuesday, with early morning reports indicating sport catches of four-13 albacore per boat. The afternoon numbers climbed to 26 tuna or more per boat. Most boats were in the Sur Canyon area, a 40-50 mile run southeast of Santa Cruz. Boats that returned to the area on Wednesday found "wide-open" tuna fishing, according to Fraser. "The weather stayed nice, with a slight south wind most of the day." Boaters reported 20-40 fish caught for the day, and Fraser received reports of swordfish sightings in those warm water offshore currents.

Besides being delicious table fare, albacore are perhaps the most enjoyable fish to pursue and catch in our area. They are a pelagic species whose migration sometimes takes them close enough to Santa Cruz for us to target. Working the seams between cold and warm-water currents, skippers will troll big plugs at a fairly fast speed. Once an albacore hits the lure, the trick is to entice the tuna school to the boat using whole or pieced baitfish thrown in the water as chum. Meanwhile, lighter rods and reels are broken out to fish live bait. When done correctly, a good (or lucky) skipper can keep the school at the boat for hours.

Albacore usually provide a series of blistering runs followed by a dogged deep-water resistance during their fights. Each tuna caught can represent an epic battle for an angler. When the numbers climb towards triple-digits on the bigger boats, the effort resembles controlled pandemonium on deck. The six-pack charter boats in Santa Cruz, notably Captain Jimmy Charters and Reel Sportfishing are signing up anglers for tuna trips right now. Stagnaro's Sportfishing took the larger Velocity out to the tuna grounds on their initial trip yesterday. Hopefully they did as well as the Kahuna out of Moss Landing did on Tuesday. Skippered by Donnie Davi, the Kahuna returned to Moss Landing with 78 Fresh-caught albacore aboard.

According to Northern California tuna expert Mike Baxter, the warm water patterns are classically entrenched offshore, and we could enjoy tuna fishing for the next couple months.

Bushnell can also be heard on The Let's Go Fishing Radio Show, Thursdays at 7pm on KSCO Radio 1080AM. Send your photos, comments or questions to scruzfishing@yahoo.com