We are starting to see a few more species being caught this month. Seems like bluefin are showing down around the butterfly, 60 mile bank and are heading towards San Clementi Island. The more consistent bite has been at night time.
Yellowtail have made their presence around the Coronados. This bite has been on and off again . All dependent on water temperature. There have been some yellowtail found further south on kelp patties, but not a lot of biters. Big Bonito have been trolled up around the Coronado Canyon and in front of the 302. There has been a lot of red tide from La Jolla to Point Loma. When water is clean, calico fishing has been good.
June 22nd we will be holding our Tuna Seminar at the Dockside Deli at Marina Village. John White will be giving us all the latest intel on fishing the bluefin. As always there will be a very generous raffle held. The seminar starts at 1:00 pm and food will be served till 3:00. Burgers and sandwiches with a drink will be available for $10.00. Hope to see everybody there. Please spread the word among your friends and fellow dock neighbors.
Mark your Calendars for the MBMC Marlin Tournament. This year it has been scheduled September 27-29. More information to follow next Oops line.
We want to welcome all new members for the month of May. Thank you for all your support. We are always looking for new members interested in helping out the board.
On a sad note we want to acknowledge the passing of past member Don Ware. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Don’s family from the MBMC family.
Fish of the Month for May went to Paul Himmelberger for his nice 6 pound red caught on the Encounter. The boat was captained by Ken Yasuda.
No qualifying fish were submitted by any of the Entries for the May Halibut/White Seabass Tournament. Maybe the fishing will pick up soon.
Our Month-Long Yellowtail Tournament is on all this month (June). Get your entries in!Click for Entry Form and Rules. Yellowtail are showing up down the line, at La Jolla, and the Islands should start biting once the water conditions get better there!
Remember, please send photos of your fish of the month entries or any other great on the water pictures so we can get them on our website.
Hope great fishing is in for everybody this summer.
Fishing is becoming more interesting everyday. Nice grade yellowtail have been showing up under the birds anywhere from the NW corner of La Jolla to Del Mar. Calico fishing is also heating up. Bait and plastics are working when the sun comes up in the afternoon. A nice volume of bluefin are being seen down around the double 220, 295 area. This has been a night time bite. The fish have triple digits. Hopefully they continue to move up the line to our local banks.
The month-long Halibut-White Seabass Tournament is under way. This is the time of year to catch your personal best and put a very delicious fish on the table. Entry Form and Rules
We want to welcome new members Jacob Martinez James Snodgrass Welcome aboard. The board looks forward to meeting you at seminars and fishing tournaments.
Don’t forget to get out there and get a fish weighed in for FOM! Winner gets a new Daiwa Saltist reel.
A big shout out to Randell Norris for winning the Early Bird membership reel and graciously donating it to the “Friends of Rollo.”
Results of the Bay Bass Tournament: Once again the Hargraves on Team Radar sweep the standings. Brent Jr. beat out all of the adults for largest fish with a nice 15 ¼ inch spotted sand bass. Congratulations!
Tim and Heidi Mc Bride wished to share the data report on the two Blue Marlin they tagged in the Hawaii International Billfish Tournament (HIBT). One tag failed to initialize, but the second provided some impressive data. The marlin was tracked 2615 nautical miles to near Pitcairn Island.
Keep an eye out on our website for future seminars and tournaments
Hopefully, El Nino lives up to all the hype and we have a phenomenal fishing season.
Please remember if you have a great photo of a catch or even a beautiful day on the water please send it to us so we can get it on the website
Be safe on the water. Hope to see everybody at our next event.
Weather has still been an issue with lots of wind and swell. Fishing has been primarily bottom fishing. Though a nice White seabass was landed in February . See FOM below for more info on this beautiful sea bass. There has been some life down around the rockpile but as you know this changes day to day. Yellowtail spots have been popping up on the Coast. A spot even popped up off Pukey Point this last week.
Last day of lobster season is March 20th.
White seabass limit goes from 3 to 1 fish on March 15th
Local Rock Cod season reopens April 1st.
Save the dates-
April 13th will be the Annual Membership Meeting and a Bay Bass seminar. John White from Dana Tackle Shop will present all the latest and hottest technique for fishing the Mission Bay Bass Tournament. As always Ray Fear will put an incredible raffle together. Mission Bay Marlin Club T-shirts will also be available to purchase. The meeting and seminar will be on the spacious back patio at Bay Park Fish Company restaurant. Cost will be 20.00. A taco bar is planned for dinner. The event starts at 12:00 noon. Please RSVP by April 9th – Details in emailed flyer.
April 13th Membership Meeting. This is the time for any members that would like to serve on the board. We are always looking for help and new ideas for the Club. The board meets once a month. A short questionnaire will also be available where you check in for the Seminar. Please take time to fill it out. We can’t improve the club experience if we don’t know what members’ wants and expectations are.
April 20-21 will be the Mission Bay Bass Tournament. This is always a low key fun time. Let’s get the word out and fill the bay with MBMC anglers. Entry Form and Rules
Membership is at 58 MEMBERS. Please renew membership if you have not done so; and tell your fellow anglers about our great club.
WEIGHMASTER REPORT
FOM for February goes to Chris Bailey for an incredible 71.6 lb white seabass! Great job captain Pat Holmes and the crew on the Hawk.
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Remember to submit your FOM weight slip from Dana Landing within 3 days of the catch. Please also submit a photo for our MBMC instagram page. This year’s FOM prize is a Daiwa Saltist Reel
NEW!! – Rules for FOM Marlin release – Marlin tag/release will be eligible for FOM Recognition. All entries must follow all the rules for release published under MBMC Fishing Rules and Regulations – Tag & Release. This includes notification within 3 days and the MBMC Tag/Release Form within 10 days. For FOM, 130 points (pounds) will be awarded for each release that is properly documented. Tie breaker will be awarded to the first Marlin released for the month.
We look forward to seeing everybody in April to begin our seminar and tournament season.
This last month fishing has been hampered by weather, cold, and dirty water. It seems that the only thing going on is rock fish in Mexico. Note: If going to Mexico make sure that you have all required documentation.
Although fishing was way off, the club held the Annual Oscar Awards Banquet on January 27, 2024. It was a great event despite the small number of Oscars won. A summary of the activities is presented below.
Our next meeting is going to be held on April 13 at the Bay Park Fish Co. This will be a combination annual meeting and seminar. The seminar topic will be on catching bass in Mission Bay in preparation for our first tournament of the year. Our Mission Bay Bass Tournament will be held on April 20th and 21st. Stay tuned for a flyer about the meeting and the tournament. After the seminar, Ray Fear will present a mega raffle. A good opportunity to score fishing gear, gift certificates, clothing, and more. We also have a new order of the legacy t-shirts that will be available for purchase.
As of 1 February, we have received 54 membership renewals. This is a great start for 2024. If you haven’t renewed, please do so!
Awards Banquet
On January 27th we held the annual awards banquet for our club. The event was held in a private room at Tom Ham’s Lighthouse restaurant on Shelter Island. The food served was absolutely magnificent and the view extraordinary. Fortunately, there was exceptionally clear air and every light seen over the bay to downtown and the Coronado bridge was crystal clear over the mirror like bay. Photos below courtesy of Dennis and Mako Ogden.
Our top awards are the Marlin Oscars. This year only two Oscar qualifying marlin were caught (and released). The Oscars were awarded to:
Herman Sumpena for the first marlinof the year caught aboard the Encounter skippered by Ken Yasuda.
Kevin Yamamoto for the first marlin on 50 lb tackle aboard the Encounter skippered by Ken Yasuda.
Ken Yasuda took home the Oscar for top Marlin Boat, with two releases.
A third marlin was caught by Mark Mealiff aboard the Joint Venture skippered by Dave Eisman.
A fourth marlin was caught and released by Pat Holmes. It was not eligible for an award because released marlin must be documented according to our angling rules. Pat was solo when the fish was caught and was unable to get the pictures. A solo marlin is a great feat in itself.
Other awards were as follows:
Jim Kelley took the 1st flag honors for the first tuna caught by a club member,
Randall Norris was the winner of a Fathom Reel awarded by a drawing in which all the early bird renewals were entered.
Rob Lackrone won a gift certificate for being drawn as the winner from the largest species entrants.
There were only two successful Tournaments this past year. One was the Bay Bass Tournament. The Men’s division was won by Bob Hargraves on Radar with Ken Yasuda coming in second while fishing on a plastic sled. Donna Hargraves took the Women’s category and Brent Hargraves Jr. took the Junior Division.
The MBMC Marlin Tournament was a good outing with 8 Teams and 24 Anglers. No marlin were caught/released in the tournament this year. The Tuna Pot was won by Tom Patton on the SeaBGB captained by Hugh Kollar with a 47.6 lb Bluefin. . . on his first cast! Dan Karstans also had a 39 lb Bluefin and Dave Gregg scored a 31.4 lb Yellowfin.
Other memorable catches that were recognized:
Dave Eisman on Joint Venture caught a 88 lb Swordfish… Great Job.
Heidi McBride released a 300 lb blue Marlin while representing MBMC in the HIBT. This put them in third place overall. The fish was tagged and the tag recovered 152 days later after a journey of 2,615 miles southwest of Hawaii toward Pitcairn Island.
FOM (fish of the month) Winners for 2023 was as follows:
April Jim Kelley 28 lb Bluefin
May Lou Hayden 30.2 lb Halibut
June Rob Lackrone 61.4 lb Bluefin
August Jim Kelley 42.6 lb Yellowtail
October Kevin Yamamoto 15.4 lb Lingcod
December Chris Bailey 42.8 lb Yellowtail
As you can see many FOM months went unclaimed but this year will be different.
January 2024 FOM – Coming into the end of January Scott Paul was in the lead with a 5.9 lb Vermillion rock fish. Encounter and crew went out on January 30th. The competition on board was fierce! Kevin Yamamoto and Ken Yasuda kept trading top place all day. Me, I just fished for the meat, Reds! At the end of the day Kevin weighed in a 7 lb salmon grouper to claim January FOM. This type of camaraderie is just, well, FUN! If asked I will tell you about the time my wife beat out Ken with a 14 lb ling that the Encounter tried hard to top. Special for this year…FOM winner receives a Daiwa Saltist Reel! Congratulations Kevin!
Wishing everybody a healthy and happy New Year for 2024. With a strong El Nino predicted for this year, will Bluefin show in March, will Wahoo be found on our local banks?. Time will tell. The 2023 Rock cod tournament which was canceled will not be rescheduled. Look forward to seeing everybody at this year’s event. We will kick off our 2024 season with The Mission Bay Bass Tournament scheduled for April 20-21st. Let’s get the word out and have a great showing. It is a low key tournament with lots of fun.
We will have our annual membership meeting event on April 13th. This event we will have a bay bass seminar by one of the local experts. Again these are always informative and guarantee to learn something new. The membership event will be held at the Bay Park Fish Company Restaurant. The event will provide complimentary food and non alcoholic drinks. There will be a very generous raffle. Board member Ray Fear really puts together a nice array of great prizes at these raffles. We will also have MBMC T-shirts for sale. Grab them fast. They don’t last long.
REMEMBER EARLY BIRD SIGN UP for MBMC MEMBERSHIP ENDS JANUARY 20TH. THE EARLY BIRD SIGN UP GETS YOU A CHANCE FOR A PENN FATHOM REEL . Go to Membership Page to renew on-line or by mail.
Remember to enter the Fish of the Month (FOM) Contest when you renew your membership. A single entry fee of $25 gives you the opportunity to vie for the FOM prize each month. Starting January 2024 will see the winner walk away with a Daiwa Saltist 35 star-drag reel. If this doesn’t get you fired up nothing will.FOM does require a weight slip, and it would be nice to also submit a photo for our website. Also this year, Marlin releases will be eligible for FOM. 130 points will be awarded for a release. Actual weight will be used for captures. The rules for a release follow all of the Rules and Regulations outlined for the Marlin Tournaments.
Congratulations to December FOM winner Chris Bailey with a 42.80 pound yellowtail aboard the HAWK captained by Pat Holmes.
Time to get signed up for the 2023 MISSION BAY MARLIN CLUB AWARDS BANQUET. The banquet will be held at Tom Hams Lighthouse. It will be the evening of January 27th at 5:00 pm. This is always a great event in a beautiful setting. Let’s get out and share an evening with friends, family and members. I am sure there are a lot of fish stories for 2023 that haven’t been shared. Please see email flyer for details.
Look forward to a great year of fellowship with members.
