TIME FOR SOME FALL MAGIC
The conditions look ideal for one of those magic fall bites and I'm headed out on the New Lo-An tomorrow (Thursday) night. The name of that boat resonates strongly with the last couple generations of San Diego tuna fishermen and the unmuffled blare of her and the Prowler dominated that first row of slips closest to the boardwalk connecting the landings, while the lights and bustle down the way showed the Producer would be headed out, too.

The New Lo-An has made more than one skipper a lot of money, but Markus Medak, the current owner, has had to scramble in these last few seasons of fish out of one-day range. To tell the truth, the last time I fished with him, Markus was an up and coming second on the Royal Star. He's done a great job with the hand he was dealt.

I'm also seriously thinking about jumping on our sportfishingreport.com charter on the Pacific Queen , a two-day trip the first weekend of October out of Avila.

The tuna are here, there and everywhere and the weather is supposed to be flat for a good long time. I feel it. Of course, I thought this was going to be an exceptional season. It has, but not for the reasons I wanted it to be.

But I recall a fall much like this after a disappointing summer where yellowfin, bluefin and big albacore mixed. It was the last time I rode the Pacific Queen and Eddie McEwen, Jr. was at the helm instead of the old man. We drove all day for nothing in grease seas under a grey sky and then the call came from the Phantom. They were almost out of bait and the fish were still biting. We slid in and you didn't want to use anything less than 30 for the 40 to 60-pound bluefin and albacore and more if you could get away with it. Nobody got away with it when a batch of bigeye did a sunset fly by. It was the first time I saw a bent hook. I took a picture of legendary long ranger Ben Kita and my friend Matt that made the cover, Ben with the biggest albie, Matt with a great bluefin. It was an October trip I'll never forget and there have been many like it, but none the same.

Rich Holland's Roundup