Clarion's Cows

Can you handle spending two weeks at sea more than a thousand miles from port in search of mammoth 300-pound yellowfin? If so, then long-range tuna fishing is for you!

Discovered by commercial fishermen half a century ago, Hurricane Bank lies 1,125 miles south of San Diego. From November through June, this Mecca is a prime destination for long-range tuna fishing trips departing from California’s finest landings.

Can you handle spending two weeks at sea more than a thousand miles from port in search of mammoth 300-pound yellowfin? If so, then long-range tuna fishing is for you!

Discovered by commercial fishermen half a century ago, Hurricane Bank lies 1,125 miles south of San Diego. From November through June, this Mecca is a prime destination for long-range tuna fishing trips departing from California’s finest landings. However, Hurricane is just a warm up to the ultimate of all monster tuna destinations, Clarion Island. Now while you may think that 14 or more days at sea is a long time to spend on a boat of any size, short of a Royal Caribbean ultra-luxurious ocean-liner, when monstrous yellowfin tuna and wickedly fast wahoo are definite possibilities, you’ll end up wishing you had more time.

experienced long-ranger, my most recent adventure aboard Qualifier 105 is one that I will not soon forget. Qualifier 105 is a specialized vessel designed for comfort and extended days at sea. Typical of many extended long-range trips, Qualifier 105’s skipper punched in a course for Hurricane Bank some 400 miles southwest of Cabo San Lucas, and thanks to a northwest swell quartering off her 30-foot beam, she took three and a half days to make the journey, including a brief pit stop in Cabo San Lucas to pick up the group of anglers who chose to fly in. “The Bank” is the most offshore destination ordinarily fished by the San Diego long-range fleet. On most charts it’s called the Shimada Seamount, a magnet for vicious game fish of unimaginable proportions.

Decking tuna to 190 pounds and plenty of huge ‘hoos, we departed Hurricane Bank at dark on our third fishing day and arrived the following morning at our primary destination, Clarion Island, where we donned our permit bracelets and checked in with Naval authorities. We anchored in a little bay called “The Camp,” just off the only beach on the rocky, volcanic outcropping, one of very few places where sea turtles can lay their eggs unmolested by man. Frigates, boobies, shearwaters and terns also live on Clarion without human predation and were kind enough to reveal where the tuna were surfacing to feed out past the boundary limit.

The yellowfin off Clarion were the right stuff. Fast, husky and long-sickled, these fish were a serious force to be reckoned with. They ran from 60 to over 300 pounds, and sometimes as many as half of our anglers got bit on a stop.

Just before noon on our second day at Clarion, I hooked a monster on my 80-pound outfit, the lightest stand-up gear the captain permitted. This tuna was easily the largest I’d ever hooked, so it was reassuring having second skipper Cal Link and deckhand Brook Landavazo advising me through the tight spots. As another gourmet lunch was served (long-range vessels are famous for providing passengers with fantastic meals and an endless array of snacks and beverages), all the anglers made their way into the galley, everyone but me that is. I remained on deck, staggering and sweating under the strain of an untamable gargantuan of the deep.

Any angler who has ever had the privilege of connecting to a massive yellowfin knows that the excitement is highlighted by drag-screaming dashes across the stern, and my fish, like all mature yellowfin, was no different. The fish circled and reversed direction more times than I care to remember. Then, as if someone ignited its jet engine, the huge tuna blasted off, breaking the surface off the stern port corner with its two-foot-long sickle glistening in shimmering hues of blue and gold.

Another hour of grunts and groans later and there it was, only a few feet away. On the outside of dozens of circles, the mega-fish was finally close enough to the surface to stick but just too far off, making implanting the long calcutta gaffs simply impossible. By now, I was completely out of gas. “I’ve had it,” I said to the deckhand. “Let’s just get the damn fish on the boat. You finish him off,” I muttered as I handed the rod off.

I turned to put a bottle of water to my mouth when at that very moment; I heard the dreaded four-letter expletive. Later the deckhand explained, “I took half a turn and he just came unbuttoned.”

It was disappointing, but no surprise. The end of the 80-pound leader was well chewed. That evening, skipper Sims instructed us in a the galley, “No more light line. Fish nothing less than 100 lb. test!”

The Bite Continues

Later that tropical afternoon, Alvin Lim, owner of Angler’s Outfitter (a Singapore tackle shop), hooked a whopper. Alvin was comfortable with his heavy gear and used it to snap up big tuna. Lim prevailed and the fish was boated to shouts of glee. It weighed over 280 pounds!

The next day was just as spectacular. We landed eight sizeable cows, four of which exceeding the 200-pound mark. My first of the day bit during late morning, the second just as the sun was setting. This fish started out by racing at the boat, then diving into the near abyssal depths. Again, I battled the hefty tuna while everyone else enjoyed another refreshing meal, lobster or prime rib I am sure.

Forty-five minutes later, hungry and exhausted, I found myself in another stymie in the stern corner. “Want me to finish this one for you?” asked Jack Nilsen, owner of Accurate Fishing Tackle. “I haven’t decked a good tuna yet.”

“That’s a great idea. I’m so sore I can barely raise my arm.”

Jack’s an expert. He kept the heavy rod bent and took a few inches whenever the rod tip rose. In 10 minutes the fish lay quivering on the deck.

The next day was our last to fish as we had a 36-hour run ahead of us to get back to Cabo San Lucas where the fly-in passengers needed to be dropped off. We fished hard for little action all morning, but the afternoon brought a couple of good stops. We got a handful of big fish going on sardines and while all of them fought spectacularly, two were remarkable.

One of them bit for Ted Crane of Costa Mesa, and proceeded to dump his reel on its first blistering run. Just before the last line wraps peeled off the spool, the crew tied on a second outfit with a float attached to its butt just in case it, too, was smoked. Then to our astonishment, the crew threw the first rod, the one the fish was connected to, into the azure Pacific. Not long after, the backup outfit, which had a lighter drag setting to prevent line breakage, was also dumped and tossed over the side with a third backup rig attached.

While the drama unfolded, Chak Chow of Singapore also struggled with a huge tuna. It took him around the boat and across the bow with most of Chak’s heavy Spectra pointing toward its location. While Chak dealt with his problems, the third rig on Ted’s uncontrollable cow ran out of line and went into the water with its own attached float connected to the first two rod and reel outfits. With the tuna still barreling away from Qualifier, the skipper couldn’t chase it while Chak’s big fish was still hanging straight down. Ted now had four heavy tuna outfits in use, three soaking in the depths and one tightly in his grasp.

Over an hour passed since Chak hooked his fish and he was clearly spent, so he handed off the rod to deckhand Travis. Muscular, young and fresh, Travis set about putting a hurting on the big yellowfin tuna fighting for its life 400 yards below. Many minutes later, it was Travis who was sweating, wondering what it would take to win this battle. Soaked, veins popping and as determined as his adversary, little by little he coaxed the fish up to where we could see color over 60 feet down. A dozen more slow circles under the bow, and at last the fish was close enough to stick. Everyone on board whooped with joy and relief as the cow slid through the passenger gate. Someone shouted, “Look out for that tail! Wow, that fish must weigh 300 pounds!”

With the world-class fish now aboard, the skipper was free to chase after the one that relieved Ted Crane and the Qualifier crew of three expensive outfits. All that line had to be reeled back one crank at a time. The battle finally came to an end near the gate where the fish was ultimately boated. Next to Ted, a tall, 77-year-old surfer didn’t think it seemed large enough to cause all that trouble. Later we learned it was well over 200 pounds as the proud angler posed with his trophy and all four rod and reels.

That was the end of our fishing time. Clarion offered us a goodbye as we departed for Cabo at sunset, a glory of long rays breaking through low cloud cover near the island as boobies headed for their roosts and the day’s breeze settled into a still calm. With many trophy fish boated and just as many lost, this was the epitome of long-range tuna fishing. This was spectacular.

Bill Roecker was four when he caught his first sunfish in 1946, and has been hooked ever since. Reading Twain and Hemingway led Bill to go on to teach creative writing at The University of Arizona. Roecker has since published books and produced Standup Fishing with Bill Roecker on The Outdoor Channel. His long-range news, DVDs and Sportfishing Calendar can be found at www.fishingvideos.com.

Rail Time

Huge tuna aren’t the only reason to fish long-range. Yellowfin to 100 pounds are the staple for fall fishing. Wahoo are a prime attraction for many anglers as well. In autumn, wahoo go nuts at Alijos Rocks, The Ridge and The Southern Banks. Dorado are sometimes as common as sunny days south of Punta Eugenia, and yellowtail may be thick until you get below Magdalena Bay. Striped marlin can be pesky on The Ridge in the fall, and often wahoo form wolf packs around the edges of feeding groups of billfish. If the bait (often sardines) is concentrated, a variety of other game fish will congregate as well. Below Mag Bay you might even encounter a big black or blue marlin of 600 pounds or more.

These are open-party adventures, meaning anyone can purchase a ticket. With incredible boats, mouth-watering meals, first-rate service and the superb quality of fishing experienced off Baja, most of the fares book six months to a year in advance. Some of the fishing and bait-making goes on at night in brisk offshore breezes, and much of it is in tropical waters with a hard daytime sun, so you need to come prepared.

San Diego’s long-range fleet is made up of long and wide fishing platforms carrying thousands of gallons of fuel and hundreds of scoops of live bait. Anglers rest in comfortable two-passenger cabins. There’s a lot of exotic scenery out there, a lot of fish, and a solid possibility to catch a personal best of any species. If you’ve never tried long-ranging, words alone can’t describe the experience. These vessels offer unusual comfort, safety, stateroom privacy, and the best guides in the fishing business; the captains and crews of these big, brawny boats.

Qualifier 105 Homecoming

Qualifier 105 arrived at Point Loma Sportfishing where boat riders and airline passengers met at the dock to unload all the gear anglers take on 16-day big tuna trips. The afternoon was breezy in a bright sun, much cooler than the tropics some 76 hours past. Skipper Sims weighed nine fish over 200 pounds with Chak Chow’s giant yellowfin stretching the certified scale to 310.8 pounds!

Alvin Lim, Singapore pro shop owner, took second with a 282.4-pound yellowfin. Hot stick Peter Corselli of Whittier fished hard and well, bagging numerous wahoo and plenty of small fish at Hurricane. At Clarion Island he mustered two cows at 202.6 and 243.4 pounds. He won third place for the latter.

Ted Crane of Costa Mesa weighed his first cow, a sleek 225.8-pounder, the fish that required four outfits to bring to bay. “It took two hours and ten minutes,” Ted said. “We had two miles of line out.”

Allen Lemberg of San Diego had two cows and a remarkable four-wahoo-on-mono day.

Virtually every angler had several shots at hooking a cow on the trip. Only one angler didn’t get one over 100 pounds and he refused any hand-offs. Most of us had an opportunity to experience what it feels like to hook and fight a giant, and how it feels to hang on as the muscular fish departs for greener pastures. None of us will ever forget that.

Where To Toss The Bags

Most major carriers fly into San Diego International Airport. With the major landings just minutes away from the airport, a five-dollar cab ride is the best way to go. Before arriving, guests should contact their charter service for information on local hotels, restaurants and tourist attractions. While in sunny San Diego, taking a day to explore “America’s Finest City” before embarking on the fishing trip of a lifetime is sure to make the experience all the more memorable.

Choose Your Vessel

The Point Loma Sportfishing fleet, H&M Landing and Fisherman’s Landing are located near the most productive tuna grounds in the world, and are all home to the finest long-range boats on the globe.