Anglers enjoy big run on San Diego Marlin Fishing

[Reporter]

By Ed Zieralski
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
September 4, 2005

Marlin fishing exploded this week off San Diego with a number of boats getting into some of the best local billfish action of the season.

Most of the frenzy happened Wednesday when more than a dozen marlin were hooked around the 182, a spot some 23 miles west of Mission Bay. The top boat appeared to be the Ken-Dan, with owner Marty Morris, his son Ken and Geoff Halpern aboard. By day's end, Morris reported 12 strikes, seven hook-ups, four releases and one keeper (a 99.5-pounder) that came up bleeding and left the anglers no choice.

There were at least 12 or more fish taken in the area," Morris said.

Morris reported that Bob Woodard's Christina Lynn had three marlin releases. At one point the Christina Lynn had a triple jig strike and another hooked on a drop-back bait. Woodard's wife, Pat, salvaged (and released) one of the hooked fish through the maze of crossed lines and lost lures.

Harry Okuda's Alfresco III also hooked a marlin, with Okuda's wife, Lan, catching and releasing the fish.

The El Gato Dos, with Captain Keith Hilton and deckhand Bryan Zulka, put their six anglers on an estimated 125-pound marlin. The anglers took turns fighting it as it jumped more than 20 times, according to Zulka. The tussle nearly ended when the line tangled on the boat's rudder, but Zulka went for a swim and freed the line to preserve the catch and release. Hilton said the anglers also caught three yellowfin tuna, all this approximately five miles north of the 390 Bank.

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