When sport anglers find opah (most are caught commercially, on longlines), they're often in association with albacore and bluefin, the southland's cool water tuna. The time of day when most opah are caught is early in the morning or near sunset. They bite on bait and on jigs, but opah are usually hooked well below the surface.

This year at least six have come to fish cutter Mario Ghio at Sportsmen's Seafoods, so we're seeing more than usual. The latest is an 87.6-pounder caught by first-time angler and oral surgeon Mike Marshall of Huntington Beach. Mike got his with a blue and white Salas 6X Jr. jig while fishing aboard the Excel. That makes at least three opah on jigs (a pair came on Tady jigs aboard Shogun) this summer, so if you'd like to target this rare species, yo-yoing might be the best way to go, with blue and white or blue and chrome iron.

Speaking of albacore, this season has been exasperating. The good news is that the catch (21,907) is well over triple that of last year's (6,714). Thanks to manager Paul Morris at Fisherman's Landing for these figures.

The bad news is that the albies off southern California are common. They're thick, easy to find and present in big numbers; but they're not biting.

Sam Patella took his American Angler up toward Pt. Conception lately to see if they'd bite up there. He said he found plenty of fish but few biters. That's the way things have been down here, too. Right now the full moon is the best hope to promote a change. Keep your fingers crossed.