by Tony Peña
This cluster of rocky islands south of San Diego
has probably spawned more fishing memories and epic tales for veteran Southland
anglers than any other easy-to-reach fishing spot.
Daybreak yellowtail bites have been recorded in epic proportions here.
Hordes of husky yellows chasing jigs to the boat only to get sidetracked
by fly-lined anchovies meant bent rods all around the railings.
Yellows thumped their tails on the grainy decks because the deckhands
were so busy gaffing fish they didn’t have time to stuff the “gunny” sacks
of anglers. All manner of lures
caught fish. The late Joe Zarolla, a
waterfront character of renown, revealed a pet lure in the sixties called a
“vivif” which was a funny french version of today’s plastic tails with a
broad paddle similar to a porpoise. After
the laughter settled down Zarolla proceeded to catch a limit of yellows to 29
pounds on a June 28, 1968, half-day run on a party boat that operated from the
Imperial Beach pier. Zarolla helped
pad the boats catch of 123 yellows that morning because he led infuriated, hard
charging yellows bent on killing his gyrating surface lure within reach of
baited hooks.
Squid pile-ups were common on the flats
near South Island which led to some impressive fishing action.
Nighttime squid-catching under bright lights was like viewing an aquarium
display. White seabass, bat rays,
blue shark, giant “black” sea bass, halibut and a variety of marine
organisms cruised near the spawning biomass.
Live squid in the tank was like a guarantee on a limit of yellowtail.
On one particular trip on July 7, 1974, I got a late start which meant we
were too late to catch squid. As we
approached the middle grounds we spotted the usual cluster of sportboats before
I was distracted by a brief color change we passed by.
Circling back, the dark spot rose upward and a huge ball of squid broke
the surface as they were being harassed by predators from below.
We quickly scooped up a tankload of squirters in a rare daylight
opportunity and soon had rods bending on big yellowtail without moving from the
spot. As the bite wore on more boats
were drawn to the action until we became the center of the fleet that was once
anchored more than a mile away.
Stories never seem to end regarding these
islands. Archival photos of
turn-of-the-century anglers displaying an array of huge “black” sea bass
caught with “knuckle-buster” reels, poachers raiding the flats hauling in
white seabass using simple “mouse traps” consisting of a single white jig
tied to a line and float (on calm-water days you could see them gunning their
skiffs so that the wakes would help activate the yo-yo lure) and tales of
striped marlin being caught inside of North Island are but a few examples
of a colorful past. But what about
today? What can anglers expect to
find at a legendary fishery that was so productive in the past?
Captain Buzz Brizendine has been running the
“Prowler”, a full day, limited load open party boat to the Coronado Islands
since 1979 and has a good viewpoint of what’s happening there.
“The fish stocks are in pretty good shape overall,” says Brizendine.
“Yellowtail still show pretty good beginning about April and there are
lots of trips with fast action on white seabass, barracuda, bonito, kelp bass,
halibut and the exotics like yellowfin tuna and dorado that come in close along
the Coronado Canyon,” he adds.
The key to good fishing is getting favorable sea
conditions. “Yellowtail at the
islands can be pretty sensitive. They
usually want warm, clean water at about 60º or more for them to work up an
appetite. The direction of current
is very important. It should be
running from west to east or at least northwest to southeast before the bite
gets going. The water should be
clean green to blue and tide is not as important as current.
Sometimes there will be surface debri like pieces of kelp, scumline or
trash which makes some people think the water is dirty which often is not true.
If the overall conditions look okay then drop anchor and fish through
it”, advises Brizendine. Conditions
can change quickly and that’s why you will see sportboat skippers checking on
their favorite spots throughout the day to monitor the current and other factors
that may get a bite started.
The Coronados’ are famous for turning on and off
like a light bulb. The adage,
“There’s nothing as cold as yesterdays hot spot”, could have originated
here. A real turn-off is an
upwelling that brings cold, dirty water to the surface.
Hardly anything will feed on an upwelling which will scatter the fleet as
well. Fishing pressure is greater
today and a flotilla of anchored, trolling and drifting boats not only creates
more competition but can put breezing fish down.
“Sea lions have also become a tremendous problem up and down the
coast”, says Brizendine. “It’s
not what they eat but what they scare away.
We’d gladly give them what they want to eat if we could but what they
do is set up a picket line around the chum circle and the fish won’t come
through them to get to the chum and baited hooks”, he explains.
That’s one reason why the party boats have joined the private boat
technique of chasing breezing yellowtail without the need to anchor.
By the time sea lions show up the boat is underway looking for more signs
of surface fish or metering deep schools that you can drop a yo-yo jig or bait
on.
Water temperature is a good barometer of fishing
activity at the islands - ranging from the cold winter doldrums to a summer
peak. Except when massive squid
spawns develop that may attract hold-over schools of yellowtail as well as other
prized gamefish such as white seabass, the November to March period focuses on
the rockfish found at the North Island pinnacles, kelp bass, halibut, sculpin
and roving schools of semi-migratory yellows.
A mild winter may keep some of the yellows from heading further south and
these will usually hang out in deeper water near North Island.
“Recently (February 2002) we’ve had good yellowtail fishing chasing
breezers with iron jigs and sardines because the sea temp is holding up “,
observes Brizendine. The white
seabass are a different story unlike their relatives in the Catalina region
where there is a reliable winter and spring bite.
“There is a pretty good population of whites at the Coronados’ but
they are very opportunistic feeders and don’t take hook baits very well.
They want live squid. A boat
can catch 50 of these guys one day and zero the next day”, says Brizendine.
A mild winter and plentiful bait supply usually
makes for a good spring bite. By
early April there is usually an influx of yellows coming up from Baja to join
the holdovers. Their build-up in
numbers are reported first by the long range fleet until they turn at Cabo
Colnett and eventually make their way to Punta Salsipuedes, Descanso Bay and the
Rockpile seven miles below South Coronado Island where the entire sportboat
fleet may camp for a few weeks until they spread to the Coronados’.
Spring yellowtail fishing usually means chasing fast-roving schools or
“breezers” that feed on fragmented schools of sardines and mackerel.
Diving birds give away their position and skipper’s lean on their
throttles to get on the spot first. Unfortunately,
many schools are driven down by reckless boat handling when a more careful and
cooperative approach may be more productive.
Larger sportboats tend to rely more on metering fish and they will park
their vessels over a deep reading and rely on deep jigging or live baiting to
get results. Yellowtail settle down
by May or June and offer peak action.
Spring also means the arrival of barracuda usually
in the three-to seven-pound range. At
times they will leap clear of the water and are easy to spot while feeding.
They often congregate in the Middle Grounds and South Kelp.
Big halibut move in to spawn at the lee of South Island and along the
South Kelp ridge. Several I.G.F.A.
Line Class World Record halibut have been caught at these venerable South Island
grounds.
By summer the yellowtail may have spread outside
to kelp paddies and to coastal areas to the north but good quality fishing can
still develop at the islands. Barracuda
are found just about everywhere during summer and they are joined by aggressive
bonito. Some jumbo bonito exceeding
then pounds are often encountered at the Middle Grounds, the lee of South Island
and the South Kelp Ridge. School
size bluefin tuna will drive anglers crazy as they raid the chumlines but avoid
their hooks. Use light line, small
hooks and a lively bait drifted far astern to have a chance with these eight to
15-pound torpedoes. Good kelp means
good kelp bass fishing and there is a healthy kelp forest now off the south tip
of South Island. Kelp cover has also
improved at the Middle Grounds and the Ribbon Kelp on the lee of South Island.
During warm water years the exotics like dorado,
yellowfin tuna, bigeye tuna and oceanic skipjack may pass very close to the
islands along the deep-water canyons to the west and south.
In any year it’s not unusual to hook striped marlin within a few
hundred yards from the weather (west) side of North Island.
According to Brizendine, both dorado and marlin occasionally venture to
the inside of the island surprising more than one angler fishing the relatively
shallow water.
Some of the largest yellowtail are caught during
the fall months as the crowds have departed after Labor Day and fish that have
fed heavily throughout the summer pass the Islands on their way south.
“Indian summer conditions may hold tuna until the sea temperature drop
below 65º by early November. Barracuda
are also notorious for staging a late fall bite.
If the glamour fish aren’t cooperating, anglers always have a chance
with resident species such as halibut, sheephead, rockfish, whitefish, kelp and
sand bass, sculpin, lingcod and jumbo mackerel.
Casting lures and live bait tight to the weather
side of these islands is an extreme side-sport replete with rewarding catches of
big kelp bass while risking life and limb in often challenging sea conditions.
This sport is not for everyone. Even
successful practitioners have been known to take a wave over the side
occasionally or even worse- a sinking. “I’ve
been doing this for years”, says Barry Brightenburg, owner of Fish Trap Lures,
“and it’s exciting fishing but you can’t relax for a second or a swell
might get you. This is a very
safety-conscious style of fishing”, emphasizes Brightenburg.
The reason for all the concern is that the anglers
are usually working from small, maneuverable boats within a short cast of rocky
slopes covered in breaking swells and whitewater.
The weather side of all the islands and rocky outcroppings are good
targets with the middle section of South Island the best producer of kelp bass
overall. “My best fish here was an
eight and one-half pounder so it’s a quality fishery”, says Brightenburg.
Turbulent water is best when using plastic tail
leadheads because you don’t want bass to get a good look at the lure.
“This is a reaction bite which means the fish may not be actively
feeding or searching for food but will instinctively strike at a surprise bait
without observing it first and possibly rejecting it.
Clean, calm water gives bass a longer time to watch the lure, that’s
why some turbulence is needed with plastics.
Live bait does better in clear water”, advises Brightenburg.
This is a year-round fishery and the best
conditions are overcast sky, moderate current, light swell, no wind and
off-color green water for plastics or clear blue water for live bait such as
sardines or mackerel. This is
strictly a small boat or skiff style of fishing where one person casts and one
person runs the boat and watches for a rogue wave or otherwise keeps the skiff
in a safe position . Small boaters
can “hunt and peck “ to find quality fish while party boats must anchor far
from the rocks and chum heavily to get results.
It can take years to find productive spots.
“There’s a lot of trial and error involved.
I like a high sun just to check out the crags and outcroppings to
remember for later reference”, says Brightenburg.
“This habitat is real rough so when you cast a lure to the steep
shelves you can’t bounce the lure down the rocks or you’ll get hung up.
It’s better to give a steady, slow retrieve just in front of the rocks
but close enough for a reaction strike”, advises Brightenburg.
“If the waves are too big its better to stay further back and make
longer casts with surface jigs such as Ironman, Tady 45 or Salas 7X in order to
reach the strike zone more safely. Even
so, always keep your anchor ready and trolling motor in position to help out if
the main engine goes down”, says Brightenburg.
If you’re not frightened by breaking swells or not safety conscious
come back when you’re more experienced or have had a few accidents under your
belt so that you’re not relaxed around an unforgiving sea.
Kelp bass can also be caught from the calm lee of
the islands. The water is usually
cleaner and the bass more wary. “The
lee side bass move to deeper water as the sun gets higher and you’re usually
bouncing bottom jigs in 40- to 90-feet of water or more”, says Brightenburg.
Since the kelp forests are getting thick again they offer a good
opportunity at SKR (South Kelp Ridge), Ribbon Kelp, south tip of South Island
and the Middle Grounds. Fishing the
kelp is more current-dependent with a west to east flow favored.
On a good current the kelp will “lay down” and point away from the
water flow which will indicate current direction.
A good technique is to drift along the edge and cast plastics or surface
iron between the stringers.
Whatever style of fishing you prefer, the famed
Coronado Islands usually have something to offer today’s angler even after all
these generations of productive fishing and wild tales.
On September 27, 1542, an expedition commanded by
Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo making its way up the Baja coastline, found an
uninhabited group of barren islands and found a good anchorage in the lee of the
largest island. With little food and
no fresh water to be found anywhere, Cabrillo called these islands Las Islas
Desiertas (Desert Islands) before making a better landfall several miles north
at San Diego Bay. On November 10,
1602, Sebastian Vizcaino, on another survey ordered by the Viceroy of New Spain,
sighted the same islands and called them Islas de San Martin which he noted on
his chart. However, the expeditions
log was kept by father Antonio de la Ascencion who apparently preferred calling
them Los Cuatro Coronados which has prevailed.
Other names that have been used include Dead Men’s Islands, Sarcophagi
and Cortez. A particularly
appropriate name for North Island was Corpus Christi because it resembles a body
draped in a shroud even today.
Although pirates allegedly ambushed merchant
vessels from these islands, there isn’t much excitement or cultural background
to be found here. The harsh
environment is home to wild flowers, sea birds, sea lions, seals and
occasionally sea elephants. Sea
otters were common during the early 1800’s.
North Coronado Island attracts most of the nesting birds and it has no
rattlesnakes. South Coronado Island,
which is larger, hosts fewer birds and has a healthy population of rattlesnakes.
There is a small “lobster shack” on the lee side of North Island that
can provide short term shelter to local Mexican fishermen.
The only activity on South Island is at Puerto Cuevo or Smuggler’s Cove
on its lee (northeastern) side. The
Mexican lighthouse keeper and a small army contingent are garrisoned here, along
with some chickens, goats and donkeys. In
the early 1930’s, a gambling casino in the guise of a resort hotel known as
Los Coronados Yacht Club, was constructed above this picturesque cove.
It was closed by Mexican law enforcement and now serves as barracks for
the local inhabitants. Although the
cove and nearby shorelines are interesting to view, it requires special
permission to access the islands.
Los Islas de Coronados (Coronado Islands) include
a group of four high, rocky islets about five miles inside the territorial
waters of Mexico. They are situated
about seven miles offshore at their nearest point and ten miles southwestward of
the International Boundary Monument near the Tijuana Bullring.
The islands extend about five miles in a northwest to southeast
orientation. North Island is about
one mile long and rises to a height of 467 feet.
Its sheer drop-off on the westerly side is famous for producing a “roll
back” wave effect and a sloppy sea surface.
This spot is informally referred to as “Pukey Point” for good reason.
The Middle Grounds are two central islets rising to 101 and 251 feet in
height about one-half mile westward of South Island,
The Middle Grounds are known for subterranean caves, sheer cliffs and
heavy kelp growth. South Island is
nearly two miles in length and reaches a peak at 672 feet.
On a clear day the islands are visible from San Diego vantage points.
The most convenient and closest departure point to
the Coronado Islands is San Diego Bay. The
charter and open party sportfishing landings are located in the America’s Cup
Basin near Shelter Island. Point
Loma Sportfishing (619-223-1627), Fishermans Landing (619-221-8500) and H&M
Landing (619-222-1144) all fish the Islands on a daily basis.
Private boaters depart from marinas or by launching at several public
ramps. Shelter Island Launch Ramp is
closest to the open ocean while Coronado, National city and Chula Vista also
provide good launching facilities at no cost.
Everingham Bros. Bait Co. (619-696-6673) maintains live bait receivers
immediately north of Ballast Point close to Point Loma, as well as Mission Bay.
Just follow the procession of boats to it or ask for directions at the
ramp. Upon clearing the mouth of the
harbor, North Island is 12.6 nautical miles on a magnetic heading of 184º.
South Island is 16.1 nautical miles and 168º (refer to appropriate
navigational aids).
All Mexican boat permits and individual fishing
permits for everyone onboard must be obtained before entering Mexico.
In San Diego, Hook, Line and Sinker (619-224-1336) and Fisherman’s
Tackle (619-221-8506) can provide the necessary permits for purchase.
Their cordial and experienced staffs can also give you the latest “hot
bite” information.
PHONE 619-462-7875
FAX 619-435-6009
E-MAIL: tonypena@rovingagnler.com
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