Outdoor Notes / Pete Thomas : Yellowfin Tuna Are the Targets as San Diego Boats Start Heading South

With the hurricane season nearing an end, San Diego’s long-range fishing boats have begun their medium-range trips, and so far the results have been encouraging.

The Qualifier 105 returned Monday from an 8-day trip, during which 30 anglers caught 305 yellowfin tuna, 346 skipjack tuna, 97 dorado, 69 yellowtail, 9 grouper, 1 wahoo and 1 mako shark. The largest fish was a 119 1/2-pound yellowfin caught by Francis Fitzpatrick of Hermosa Beach.

The Polaris Supreme, with 19 anglers aboard, returned from 10 days at sea late last week with 237 yellowfin tuna, 74 bigeye tuna (the biggest a 146-pounder), 100 skipjack, 217 dorado, 138 yellowtail, 2 black sea bass and 1 mako shark.

These boats were fishing mainly at the Elijos Rocks and Thetis Bank, about 600 miles south of San Diego.

During the 16-day trips, which normally begin in December, anglers fishing 1,200 miles south at the Revillagigedo Islands will be looking primarily to catch world-class yellowfin tuna--in the 300-pound range--and large numbers of wahoo.

There’s still time to get in on the albacore bite, if you don’t mind traveling to Oregon or Washington.

Anglers aboard sportfishing boats fishing 30 to 50 miles west of the Columbia River have been averaging 2 to 20 albacore apiece, which, according to Michael Laurs of the National Marine Fisheries Service, have been mostly in the 18- to 30-pound range.

Elsewhere, albacore fishing has been spotty at best. There have been no reported catches south of Point Conception by commercial or sportfishing vessels recently, and off the coast of Morro Bay, anglers fishing 60 to 80 miles west of Point Sur have been averaging 1/2 to 2 fish apiece, generally on 2-day trips.

However, according to a spokesman at Virg’s Landing in Morro Bay, 18 fishermen aboard the Princess boated 81 albacore in the 15- to 25-pound range during a 2-day trip that ended Monday.

Good news for mountain bicycle enthusiasts: California’s state parks are trying to develop a uniform policy for mountain bike use within their boundaries.

It’s a controversial issue with hardly any middle ground. Other land-use agencies have been unable to handle it to the mutual satisfaction of cyclists and other trail and back-road users, but the State Department of Parks and Recreation hopes to produce a policy that could be a model for the country.

Ross Henry, chief of planning and local assistance for the department in Sacramento, said that whatever happens, “there will be more opportunities than there presently are.”

Henry also is executive secretary of the California Recreational Trails Committee. A preliminary step was a public hearing conducted in Long Beach last week to hear all sides. About 50 people attended.

Despite the potential for emotional outbursts, Henry said, “It was a very articulate group that presented comments pro and con in a rational and reasonable manner.”

He was especially impressed with the bike advocates, who, he said, “had a mature approach (and) were talking about self-policing and working with the local managers.”

Currently, policy is left to the discretion of district supervisors, Henry said.

“It’s led to some inconsistencies in the state park system. We felt it was important to establish some basic policy.”

The local officials still will have the final word, but the state will provide guidelines for them to use.

Another hearing is scheduled for Oct. 3 at the State Building in San Francisco.

California has acquired more than 3,700 acres of wetlands in Northern California’s Butte County, creating a major new wildlife refuge in the Central Valley.

The land was made available when the Trust for Public Land--a private land conservation organization based in San Francisco--acquired 6,700 acres of the Schohr Ranch and gave the refuge portion to the state. The Wildlife Conservation Board, an agency of the Department of Fish and Game, intends to establish a wildlife refuge that will include a waterfowl sanctuary, a hunting area and areas for outdoor education.

Meanwhile, the House of Representatives Monday passed legislation authorizing the addition of 21,000 acres to the 23,000-acre San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

The bill, sent to the Senate on a voice vote, would authorize $60 million through 1992 to acquire land the Interior Department determines is valuable as fish and wildlife habitat or necessary to buffer the impact of development on the existing refuge.