FIRST ALBACORE OF THE SEASON!! reads the blaring headline on the American Angler web report Sun. May 29, 2011. "Just hung up from boat's sat phone with Capt. Sam Patella - the American Angler just caught the first couple albacore of the season. Two 15-18lbers came onboard approx. 239 miles from Point Loma - the weather's not so nice, but spirits are high. Check back for fish reports on this second 8 day trip of the season. Here we go...American Angler. "

Yes, the weather hasn't been so nice out there this spring, with Jeff DeBuys on the Independence turning in "limits of wind" along with limits of mossback yellowtail from the Alijos Bank/Rocks area.

The yellowfin tuna didn't show in the rough weather at the Rocks, with only a single fish indicating that the tuna are lurking not to far away.

I can't remember if it was Bill Poole or Frank LoPreste who once explained to me that the underwater topography that includes the Bank and the Rocks proper at Alijos makes it easy for fish schools to move in and out of the area, besides making for a highly fertile feeding ground.

Overall conditions this spring remind me of the late 80s when I first started at WON and the only long range boats that were running at this time of the year all had trips scheduled for the Rocks and the beach. Somewhere between Cedros and Alijos you can always find some yellowtail that want to bite, but you can also find plenty of water that looks like you stayed home.

My very first multi-day trip was only a six-day, a calico bass special on the American Angler when it was owned by Dan Sansome. The late Butch Chapman of Mojo Lures was the sponsor. We ran to Benitos and the weather side of Cedros and found only a few schools of barracuda and slow bass fishing in cold, dirty water before the weather turned ugly and we plowed through 65 mph winds and 15 foot seas up to Guadalupe Island. I'll never forget the sweet relief of reaching the calm weather in the lee about a mile out from the island. That strange fog that piles on the top ridge of the 'Lupe when its blowing lingered as we fished.

Things picked up from there, with some good surface iron action for calicos and even a school of yellowtail or two. Chapman caught one of the biggest bass of the trip, a 7 pounder, on one of his twin tails near the end of the trip at Pilot Rock.

There wouldn't be any albacore that summer and it would be a handful of years before they started to show up again -- right about the same time sardines became a steady sight in the bait trays.

How conditions shape up in the next couple weeks will make all the difference in the world. In the meantime, choosing a trip with plenty of time to look around will also make a difference.

PHOTO: A quality yellowtail caught last week on the Independence at Alijos Rocks.