MARLIN CAUGHT OFF CALI!

Jimmy ran a bucket to the bow with two mackerel. Anthony and Jimmy each set out a nice cast. Anthony's bait had a heart attack or something and died. Jimmy got bit. He set the fish up and just as it's head and shoulders came out, the fish came off. What a bummer. It was the big one — I would have said around 200 pounds. We looked around for about two more hours then headed for the island.

I couldn't believe how many boats were at the island fishing for bass, sea bass and whatever else. Every rock on the front side had a boat or two sitting on it. Many had dive boats. Wow! Culture shock. I finally found a cove with almost no condition but at least the current was moving in the right direction. On the first cast Ron caught a halibut of about 18 pounds, and that was about it. I tried to force myself into a couple of other spots without any luck. Then our windlass started acting up (I fixed that this week), the wind came up and I had had about enough of the crowd. Off to Clemente.

We looked all the way across but saw nothing. When we got to the island, the south swell had the conditions all goofed up. We caught a handful of bass before the sun went down. We woke up to a tank full of dead bait and took off for Catalina looking for kelps. I found loads of mini-macks on the kelps but nothing that was big enough to cast at a marlin or a sword, but man these baits were perfect for calicos. If we had anything big enough to cast, I would have stayed right there in the lee of the Island. It looked epic!

When we got over to Catalina I found a bunch of perfect-sized macks for casting at marlin and swords. Anthony said he would prefer to spend the time looking for bigger species all day. We saw one striped marlin feeder and something underwater that may have been a sword. That was our trip. It was actually a good shakedown for Betsy and we did have the first marlin of the season on for a bit. Bummer that we only got the hook back. That almost never happens with a circle and a perfect-sized bait. Oh well, that's fishing.

Since then Trinidad, Club Ted, and Mirage have all released marlin. Trinidad and Chaser both lost swords as well. I remember 1991 started out just like this and turned into a pretty good season. Cross your fingers boys, here we go!

CAPT. STEVE LASSLEY

Capt. Steve Lassley grew up fishing swordfish, rock cod and albacore commercially. He bought his first fishing boat at age 17 and has made a living fishing ever since. He has more than 20 first-place tournament wins to his credit, and is approaching $7 million in winnings.

"Most of us guys spent our whole lives trying to be as undercover as we could about where we were and what we were catching," he says. "It's time people heard about not just what I did but what some of the best fishermen did, captains whose work ethic and accomplishments I respect — people that most guys have never even heard of." 

He's logged thousands and thousands of days fishing California and Mexico waters, and is now fishing Hawaii as well. He was one of the first captains operating out of Mag Bay, exploring this fertile area for months at a time. In his “As I See It” column, a BD Outdoors exclusive, he shares many of the things he has learned over the years. Steve heads up Team Bad Company, one of the West Coast's top tournament crews.