Pete Thomas Outdoors

Angler lands 430-pound yellowfin tuna off Loreto; can't claim world record

By Pete Thomas

An angler fishing off the Baja California city of Loreto has landed a 430-pound yellowfin tuna that might have become a world record if he had followed proper procedure.

Robert Ross caught the massive fish on a trip out of the remote Pisces Collection Lodge, on the Sea of Cortez near Loreto. The lodge is not yet open and does not have a certified scale, or cold storage.

Ross told Pisces Sportfishing general manager Tracy Ehrenberg that he had little choice but to fillet the tuna after weighing it on a butcher's scale at a nearby ranch.

“Once they told me the weight I told them, 'You just cut up your world record,' ” Ehrenberg, whose business is in Cabo San Lucas, said via email.

The International Game Fish Assn. lists as the all-tackle world record a 427-pound yellowfin tuna caught off Cabo San Lucas in 2012.

Ehrenberg said Ross told her, “I kind of thought that it might be a record. It’s the biggest tuna I’ve caught, but what were we going to do with it? It’s important but not the most important for me to get a record. Next time I will call you before cutting it up.”

According to the Pisces Facebook page, the tuna was hooked on a chunk bait and landed standup-style, from a Boston Whaler, after a 2-hour fight on 60-pound test line.

–Photos of 430-pound yellowfin tuna landed by Robert Ross (pictured at right) are courtesy of Pisces Sportfishing

–Editor's note: This catch was originally reported to have occurred off Cabo San Lucas

Alien-like shark caught off Cabo San Lucas identified

By Pete Thomas

A tourist in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, on Tuesday reeled from the depths a mysterious alien-like fish that looks somewhat like an albino shark.

The peculiar specimen – pinkish-white, with a distended stomach – was caught a mile offshore by a Chicago angler fishing with Capt. Jaime Rendon of the panga, Dr. Pescado. The shark was photographed, then released.

The photos appeared Tuesday night on the Pisces Sportfishing Fleet’s Facebook page, under the heading, “ALIEN FISH IN CABO?”

Tracy Ehrenberg, Pisces general manager, sent the images to biologists in Mexico, hoping for an identification.

We emailed the images to the California’s Monterey Bay Aquarium, and were told that it’s an albino or leucistic swell shark, given its lack of pigmentation.

David A. Ebert, director of the Pacific Shark Research Center Moss Landing Marine Laboratories in Central California, confirmed that it's a swell shark and added that there's only one type of swell shark known to the Eastern Pacific (Cephaloscyllium ventriosum).

"This is clearly a swell shark, no doubt about that, and I am pretty certain it's the species I mentioned," Ebert said.

La Paz-based shark expert Felipe Galván-Magaña ultimately agreed via email that the shark Rendon caught was, in fact, Cephaloscyllium ventriosum.

But it was an odd specimen, with only three gill slits on either side of its head (compared to the 5 to 7 gill slits normally found on sharks), and three rows of very small, nub-like teeth.

Swell sharks, according to the Monterey Bay Aquarium website, expand with water or air when the sharks feel threatened. They're found from southern Mexico to California, and are timid around humans unless provoked.

The catch is somewhat reminiscent of the Sea of Cortez catch, in 2011, of what was widely described as the one-eyed “Cyclops” shark.

That catch was initially thought to be a hoax, but the shark turned out to be a deformed fetus pulled from either a bull or dusky shark hauled up by commercial fishermen near La Paz.

–Photos are courtesy of Pisces Sportfishing

Mysterious, alien-like shark caught off Cabo San Lucas

Photos by Jaime Rendon, via Pisces Sportfishing

**Update (2:30 p.m.): The mystery fish appears to have been identified

By Pete Thomas

A Cabo San Lucas sportfishing captain on Tuesday reeled from the depths a mysterious alien-like fish that somewhat resembles an albino shark, or shark fetus.

But the bizarre-looking fish, with a distended stomach, was said to be alive when it was caught (and eventually released) by Capt. Jaime Rendon.

The photos appeared Tuesday night on the Pisces Sportfishing Fleet’s Facebook page, under the heading, “ALIEN FISH IN CABO?”

(Tracy Ehrenberg, Pisces general manager, has sent the photos to biologists in Mexico, and we’ve sent out inquiries as well, hoping to obtain an identification.)

The shark – or shark-like fish – is somewhat reminiscent of the Sea of Cortez catch, in 2011, of the infamous one-eyed “Cyclops” shark.

That was initially thought to be a hoax, given the shark's bizarre appearance, but the deformed shark turned out to be a fetus pulled from either a bull shark or dusky shark, hauled up by commercial fishermen near La Paz.

Cabo San Lucas and La Paz are popular angling destinations in Baja Californa Sur, Mexico.

Thousands of cobia escape Ecuador pens – will they reach California?

By Pete Thomas

It sounds like science fiction: tens of thousands of voracious, fast-growing fish escape from ocean pens in a foreign environment and begin migrating up the coast, wreaking havoc on native fisheries.

But this is really happening, as thousands of cobia, which are found in the Atlantic but unknown to the Eastern Pacific, were accidentally released from an Ecuadorian aquaculture facility during late summer.

They've since been detected off Colombia and Panama, and at least one scientist believes the "rogue" fish are headed to California, with potentially "horrifying" consequences.

The cobia have been migrating north at a rate of about 200 miles per month, according to UC Santa Barbara research biologist, Milton Love.

Love stated recently that there's a 50-50 chance that the cobia will reproduce along the way, and he added that water conditions will be prime for their arrival in Southern California this summer.

"The idea is intellectually interesting and vaguely horrifying at the same time," Love said. "This is the first time that Southern California waters potentially could have a large and voracious non-native species invade

"What effect that will have on the native fishes, no one knows. It might not have any observable effects or it might have considerable ones. A possible scenario is for these fish to become well-established and start chomping down on native fishes."

Cobia, which can measure 6 feet and weigh about 100 pounds, prey on crabs, fish and squid. They're also known to follow sharks and other large predators to scavenge on what they kill.

Cobia don't travel in schools except during spring to early fall spawning seasons, and prefer offshore (pelagic) waters. Their flesh is white and firm, making the fish ideal aquaculture specimens.

The cobia being reared off Ecuador were in netted pens that somehow broke open. Those fish are now considered invasive, and their potential impact remains unknown.

Ross Robertson, a Smithsonian scientist, noted that the lionfish, an Indo-Pacific species now abundant as an invasive and harmful species in the Caribbean, “provides a compelling lesson about the strong adverse effects that alien marine fish can have on native ecosystems.”

Robertson added, "As cobia is the only species in its family, which is most closely related to remoras or shark-suckers, it too represents an unusual type of predator for the tropical East Pacific, which only increases both the degree of uncertainty about its effects and the potential for major disruption of the area's ecosystems."

Love, author of Certainly More Than You Wanted to Know About the Fishes of the Pacific Coast, noted that California's crab fishery might be impacted, since crabs are a chief prey item for cobia.

The researcher said anglers might be the first to encounter cobia, which are an important angling species in the Atlantic and Caribbean (they're sometimes referred to as black salmon).

"You might expect to see cobia as summer migrants like yellowtail," Love said. "They seem to be able to compete well with other fish in the vicinity and are generalists as far as what they feed on. Here, they would be in competition with yellowtail, bonito or even with reef fishes like kelp bass."

To be sure, Southern California anglers will be delighted to catch cobia. But from a fisheries standpoint, their arrival will signal cause for concern.

–Note: This story was published on GrindTv.com earlier this month; images are via Wikipedia

Giant Delaware largemouth bass is a new state record

Sometimes when you’re fishing, that last extra cast really pays off.

A.J. Klein, of New Castle, Delaware, can attest to this after landing an 11-pound northern-strain largemouth bass to establish a new state record.

The lunker was caught over the weekend at Wagamons Pond near Milton. It breaks the previous record, a 10-pound, 10-ounce largemouth also caught at Wagamons, in 2012.

Fishing had been slow for Klein, 36, and his friend, Joe Lattis, They had spent four hours on Lattis’ boat and teamed to catch only one small bass and a yellow perch, before giving up.

But Klein made one last cast, to the center of the pond, and began to bounce his jig during the retrieve.

The angler explained to Wired2Fish: "I was slow rolling a Bleeding Shad Strike King Premier Plus spinnerbait, letting it drop and bounce along on the bottom. On one of the drops the fish hit. It was a subtle hit, and I set the hook and thought I was snagged. Two seconds later my line dropped, and I had a crazy fight on my hands. It lasted for 2 minutes.”

The fish, kept alive in a live-well on the boat,  was weighed at a local tackle shop and certified as a record by a Delaware Fish and Wildlife  representative. It was then set free.

Said Klein: "The health of that beautiful beast was Joe and I's primary concern through the whole process Joe has taught me almost everything I know about bass fishing. He is my mentor and my good luck fishing buddy!"

For the sake of comparison, the International Game Fish Association lists as the all-tackle world record two 22-pound, 4-ounce largemouth bass caught in Geporgia in 1932, and in Japan in 2009. But they were Florida-strain bass, which reach much larger sizes than northern-strain bass.

Kayak angler's giant white seabass could set a world record

A massive white seabass caught recently by a kayak angler off La Jolla, Calif., might break a line-class world record that has stood for nearly 50 years.

Brian Fagan, 56, hooked the 74.2-pound seabass near the kelp beds at sunrise. The Poway angler was towed for 30 minutes before the weary fish appeared within range of his gaff.

Fagan told the San Diego Union-Tribune that he expected the white seabass, which he enticed with a live mackerel and delivered to shore on his lap, would weigh at least 50 pounds – but it tipped the Dana Landing scale at 74.2 pounds.

Fagan this week informed the International Game Fish Association that he'll submit catch details for world-record consideration in the 80-pound line class. The current record in that category is a 74-pound white seabass caught at Santa Catalina Island in 1968.

For the sake of comparison, the IGFA lists as the all-tackle world record (the biggest fish regardless of line strength) as an 83-pound, 12-ounce white seabass caught off San Felipe, Mexico, in 1953.

Jack Vitek, IGFA World Records Coordinator, said Thursday that he received a “head’s up” from Fagan that the record submission for his catch is forthcoming.

–Photo: Brian Fagan displays 74.2-pound white seabass. Credit: Brian Fagan, via the IGFA

Massive hammerhead shark, tiger shark caught from the beach

By Pete Thomas

Two Western Australian anglers gained notoriety this week after landing an enormous hammerhead shark and tiger shark from the beach.

Jethro Bonnitcha and Joshua Butterworth, of the Esperance area, released both sharks after posing for photos.

The hammerhead measured 13 feet 6 inches. The tiger shark was not measured but was at least 12 feet long, Butterworth said.

Bonnitcha was handling the rod during both marathon battles, and nearly collapsed from fatigue during the 2.5-hour fight with the hammerhead. Butterworth assisted with the precarious beach landings, and releases.

“You can’t catch sharks like that alone,” he said, via email.

The location was somewhere in “on the mid-west coast” and the lines were baited with large fish and delivered to reef channels.

Photos of both sharks first appeared Tuesday on the Rogue Offshore Facebook page, and were widely shared and publicized.

Butterworth addressed Internet criticism from those who do not appreciate sharks being posed for photos.

"We only bring them out long enough for a photo, and water is still going over their gills,” he said. “Then it's a bit dodgy, but you have to try and lift their pectoral fins and head up and drag them back into the water with a surge of a wave.”

Butterworth later added: “We swim them back out to deeper water and spend as much time as needed to get them swimming off strong, not just swimming off. We don’t have them on the sand for long.”

The Rogue Offshore post was shared more than 2,500 times.

–Photos: Joshua Butterworth (left) and Jethro Bonnitcha with the giant hammerhead; Bonnitcha with the tiger shark; Bonnitcha with the hammerhead; both anglers releasing the tiger shark. Photos courtesy of Joshua Butterworth

Dorado tagged off Cabo San Lucas swims 500 miles in 19 days

 

By Pete Thomas

A dorado tagged and released on December 13 off Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, was recaptured 19 days later 500 miles south off the mainland state of Jalisco.

In that time the year-old dorado, a.k.a mahimahi and dolphinfish, grew three inches and gained 8 ounces to weigh 6.5 pounds.

The distance the small fish traveled in that time, while impressive, was not as surprising as the tag being recovered by Gray Fishtag Research, which reported its findings this week.

“The recovery rate for tags in smaller fish like this is small to begin with, but the commercial fisherman who caught this fish was from a tiny Mexican fishing village that I had to look on a map to find,” Gray Fishtag scientist Travis Moore said.

“He was all excited because he saw on that tag that we offer a reward for recovered tags.”

The dorado was named Walter when it was caught off Cabo San Lucas by Kerri Persons aboard El Nuevo, a charter boat operated by RedRum Sportfishing.

Walter was recaptured by Hernan Ramos, a net fisherman out of San Patricio. Gray Fishtag, a budding research company that provides tags to charter fleets around the world in an attempt to learn more about the movements of  game fish, sent Ramos clothing and sunglasses.

Dorado are an extremely popular game fish, known for their brilliant colors and their acrobatics on the hook.

 They’re also highly prized as table fare and sought by commercial fishermen in Mexico, despite regulations that list them as a sportfishing-only species. Sportfishing and conservation groups have been trying for years to halt what they say is an uncontrolled black market for dorado, and to persuade Mexico to enforce the commercial fishing ban.

They’re hoping that any new research about the species will help their cause.

Moore said he has heard of dorado covering 100 miles in a day, but said they’re more likely to swim about 25 miles per day if the need to travel in search of bait fish exists.

As for Walter, it’s safe to assume that he became dinner the day he was recaptured, despite the commercial fishing ban.

–Dorado image is courtesy of RedRum Sportfishing

Related articles

Cabo San Lucas angler's 102-pound dorado would shatter world record, but there's a catch

Dorado breaks line, but can't escape as SoCal fishing heats up

Photo by ©Slater Thomas Moore

By Pete Thomas

The epic tuna bite continues off Southern California, thanks to a second consecutive summer featuring abnormally warm water.

But besides all the tuna and marlin breezing around offshore, dorado (mahimahi) are filtering in and adding to the region’s tropical flavor, with sporadic catches being made off Orange and San Diego counties.

The top image, captured by Slater Thomas Moore, shows a leaping mahimahi that was hooked off Newport Beach aboard the Thunderbird.

Bull dorado caught off Dana Point aboard the Clemente; photo by Capt. Chad Steffen

The photographer, who landed a 34-pound bluefin tuna while on the daylong trip, said the angler’s line had somehow been cut, but was grabbed by Jeffrey Markland.

As Markland pulled the fish ran, and when the line cut through the water and began to tighten, Moore anticipated the leap “and I snapped the photo of it jumping out of the water trying to spit the hook!”

The second image shows a much larger bull dorado (50 pounds), caught this past week aboard the Clemente out of Dana Wharf Sportfishing.

Water temperatures offshore are as high as 75 degrees in some areas.  A developing "Godzilla El Niño," and remnants of last year’s “warm blob” phenomenon are reasons for the exotic visitors.

Hammerhead shark bites motor, splashes captain during Oceanside tuna bite

Hammerhead shark sightings are up for the second summer in a row off Southern California, thanks to unusually warm water that's luring semi-tropical species north of their typical range.

Perhaps the most dramatic encounter of 2015 occurred late last week off Oceanside, where Capt. Ryan Gillette and friends were fishing for yellowfin tuna aboard Gillette's private boat.

 
The accompanying footage shows the 7-foot shark speeding around the boat, obviously excited by the scent of chum and the hooked tuna, with some fun commentary by Gillette.

Later in the footage, the shark bites the prop and uses its tail to splash the captain with water.

The shark eventually left and Gillette and friends continued to catch yellowfin, another species that shows off Southern California only during warm-water summers.

–Note: Gillette's footage was edited by Phil Friedman Outdoors.