I've been hearing from anglers about how good the fishing near San Diego is for the past several days. Galen Williams of Tucson reported on a great trip aboard the Pacific Queen August 30. He said his trip did well on bluefin up to 50 pounds, in the middle of the fleet, And when the tuna backed off the group went out looking for paddies. They found two that were very productive, said Galen, and took near-limits of yellowtail and dorado.

The fishing was good all week, with dandy catches being made on all species, with tuna near 50 pounds taking most jackpots. An overnight boat has almost as good a chance to limit out as a day and a half trip right now, as some of the fish are close. Day and a half is a better bet, though, if you can get away. Those last five or six hours of light offer an opportunity for something special to happen, and afterward you can get a night's sleep on the way home.

But whatever trip you can get on, this sure looks like peak time. On Saturday September 1, Prowler called Fisherman's Landing to say the boat had over 50 mixed fish aboard and was prowling for more.

Over at Pt. Loma Sportfishing, Dominator was working on a second day's limits. New Lo-An had a remarkable overnight catch of nine yellowtail, five dorado, 28 bluefin, and six, count 'em, that's six, albacore! Grande's day and a half trip had 32 bluefin, 95 yellowtail and 64 dorado.

A two-day trip on the First String at H&M Landing produced 90 bluefin tuna, 180 yellowtail and 23 dorado. Even the half-day boats are hot, catching yellowtail, tuna, dorado and even some white seabass up to the 50-pound mark.