Known for their remarkable speed, these tuna can be tricky to hook

VENTURA, Calif. — Albacore fishing is like a football team making a last-gasp effort to win a game in the final seconds with a no-huddle offense and no quarterback.

It's frantic. Nerve-wracking. Exciting. Everyone is going every which way.

When a deckhand yells, "Hook up," it's like a director screaming "Action" on a "Braveheart" war scene. Chaos takes over.

All fishermen on board the boat quickly shuffle to the bait tank to pin anchovies on their hooks. "Get your lines in the water! Now!" the deckhands instruct. The anglers don't wait to be told.

Albacore are extremely fast fish, and on a whim can move away from the boat at what seems like Mach I speed. You have to catch them when they're there. They could be long gone the next minute.

When three or more anglers hook fish, frayed lines and fractured nerves are definite possibilities. Adrenalin is flowing so freely that even old salts who should know better catch the fever.

Nerves get so jangled their hands shake when trying to hook an anchovy through the nose. It's tough to concentrate when anglers are battling fish only feet away.

"Bite's on"

When the "bite's on," it's not uncommon to have two, three or more anglers hooked up with fish. Action can get so hot and heavy, the captain and deckhands don't have time to tag all the fish. Some anglers must keep track of their own.

Besides being one of the best-eating fish in the ocean, albacore have deservedly earned the reputation for being one of the hardest fighters, pound for pound. They can humble even the best of anglers.

"There is nothing quite like it," said John Pagett, 71, a man who loves fishing so much he is out at least once a week, more likely two or three times. "It's exciting."

He landed two one day recently, and lost one big albacore to a sea lion. Pagett pulled up nothing but the head of a fish that would have weighed about 30 pounds before the sea lion attack.

Shocking speed

The speed of an albacore can be shocking. It's like hooking the fender of a car going 30 mph. Line is stripped off the reel with blinding speed.

That's the reason you will hear the veterans, deckhands and captain all preaching the No. 1 rule of albacore fishing — "Follow your line."

That's the reason you'll see anglers hustling like crazy to stay with their runaway fish, weaving their way over and under other anglers on the boat. It's one of the most exciting forms of fishing you'll find.

The frantic action often stops suddenly when the group of albacore decide to move away from the boat. It's like turning off a water facet. Anglers then settle in for long periods of quiet as the boat begins trolling feather jigs in hopes of locating another school ready to bite.

This scene is being played daily by anglers going out on the overnight trips to fish for albacore about 65 to 70 miles off the California coast.

Although the albacore migrate north every year off the Channel Islands, the distance from shore in the end determines if local skippers will chase the highly prized game fish.

When the fish are within 70 miles, boats can go out on single-day trips. If farther out, there is simply not enough time for boats to travel out, fish and travel back in a single day.

Skippers such as Fuqua, Bob Valney (Seabiscuit) and Joe Villareal (Mirage) are taking advantage and are going out almost daily unless chartered by a group which prefers not to albacore fish.

The attraction to albacore fishing is widespread

Albacore attract thousands of fishermen to Southern California landings every summer. Morro Bay, about a 2½-hour drive north of Ventura County, is also a hot albacore fishing area.

The fish currently being caught are averaging in the 15-25-poundrange, with a few smaller and a few larger. The larger fish historically come through later in the summer and early fall.

Albacore are fast. Very fast. Albacore lack a swim bladder and have lost many structures need to pump water over their gills to obtain oxygen. That means must always be on the move to breathe.

They breathe with their mouth open, which forces oxygen-rich water over their gills.

Albacore also possess highly specialized physiological functions that allow for rapid movement and sustained endurance, according to the Southwest Fisheries Science Center.

That's why they're called longfins

The pectoral fins of albacore are exceptionally long, extending to nearly half the length of their body. The tail fin is forked, which helps generate the tremendous thrust to maintain high speeds.

The speed of a sailfish is believed to be 55-68 mph. Generally, tunas such as albacore are said to be capable of bursts of 40 to 50 mph.

There are claims by some fishermen that tuna have been clocked up to 70 mph. With favorable currents, it's probably possible. The top speed for largemouth bass is about 12 mph.

Although albacore swim in schools, they do not swim in tight schools such as sardines, mackerel or squid. They swim in loose schools, relatively far from each other.

For that reason, encirclement gear such as purse seine nets do not work. Fishermen — commercial and recreational — must catch them one-by-one on pole-and-line gear.

Long-distance swimmers

According to tagging studies, albacore can migrate over 5,000 miles, from coastal California to Japan, in well under a year. The migration pattern of the albacore is dependent on ocean temperature, currents and abundance of prey.

Boats fishing for albacore typically troll feature jigs or plugs from 4 to 6 spots on the stern of the boat. Lines at the corner of the stern will be the longest with the amount of line let out from the three inside spots varying so they won't cross when the boat zigzags through an area in search of albacore.

The anglers on the boat form teams to take turns trolling. For example, 25 anglers on a boat might form 5 five-main teams to man the trolling stations every half hour or so. When one or more albacore hit the jig, the guys fishing the jigs are responsible with reeling their lines in immediately.

The angler with the jig hookup on a trolling reel with line of60-pound test and larger, is in actuality catching a fish "for the team."

When the boat slides to a stop as the jig fish is being fought is a crucial time for the other anglers on the boat. It's important to get your bait in the water as quickly as possible before the fish feeding on or near the surface decide to sound, or leave. Sometimes, only the anglers who get their bait in the water in the first seconds hook onto fish.

There can be hundreds and hundreds of albacore moving as a school group. If they stick around the boat long enough gulping down chum bait thrown out by the deckhands, fishing can quickly go from good to epic. It's possible to land dozens and dozens of fish on one stop.

That possibility keeps anglers coming back and coming back for more.

They have albacore fever.

Mike Blackwell writes for the Ventura County Star in California.