where have the mackerel and bonita gone???

[carpinator]

The 70's ? During the 80 's I was still catching good size Bonita of Venice pier with Diamond Jigs and using clear a bubble with bonita feather trailer of Hermosa pier. It was a frenzy when the bones would come through. Back when I had to still stand on the rails just to get a good cast, almost got thrown over a few times by the crazed bonita fisherman. Those were the days, and what about the Barracuda? Log fishing ain't what it used to be either.

[GillyGreen]

I talked with a spotter plane captain that spots for the Bluefin fleet about the Bonita not being around. There are a couple different fleets down there. The biggest being the Bluefin fleet where all the money is made. The other is the Yellowfin/skipjack fleet that sells it for feed. In the cooler water years like we have experienced for the last number of years there has been little yellowfin and skipjack around for them to wrap. I'm not talking "the sportboats are killing them volume" I'm talking if it isn't 20-30 ton spots everywhere they could care less, so they take it out on the Bonita. ON a side note, I was out at the Cortez on a 2 day and it was nice to see good volume of Bonita out there in the 5-15lb class, but not when you are trying to catch Bluefin... When we get another El Nino I think we will see the good old days of Bonita fishing again along the beach...

[DockRat]

I talked with a spotter plane captain that spots for the Bluefin fleet about the Bonita not being around. There are a couple different fleets down there. The biggest being the Bluefin fleet where all the money is made. The other is the Yellowfin/skipjack fleet that sells it for feed. In the cooler water years like we have experienced for the last number of years there has been little yellowfin and skipjack around for them to wrap. I'm not talking "the sportboats are killing them volume" I'm talking if it isn't 20-30 ton spots everywhere they could care less, so they take it out on the Bonita. ON a side note, I was out at the Cortez on a 2 day and it was nice to see good volume of Bonita out there in the 5-15lb class, but not when you are trying to catch Bluefin... When we get another El Nino I think we will see the good old days of Bonita fishing again along the beach...

Thanks for the info. I know some ex comm guys. One dude told me his best day was him, his brother and dad (dads boat) and they got 60 ton between Cat and Clemente back in the 80's.