Buzz Brizendine, Captain and Owner of the "Prowler" out of San Diego, Ca. gives some tips to employ while fishing for yellowtail during the spring season.

Spring Fishing For Yellowtail In the past couple of years we have experienced some fantastic spring time Yellowtail fishing. We will usually be fishing the Coronado Islands and points south to locate the fish. These types of trips are offered by most of the overnight fleet of boats out of San Diego and are great values for the anglers. These trips usually start the beginning of April and run through May or June. However, if there’s any sign of Bluefin or Albacore the entire fleet will start making the run off shore to go after the pelagics.

We will fish these trips with either Sardines or Anchovies for live bait and will also catch a significant number of fish on the yo-yo iron fishing. We’ll discuss this method in a little while, but let me start by going over some of the rod and reel combos that I recommend. The lightest of these rigs is a Penn 525 conventional reel on an 870 bait stick, anywhere from seven to eight feet. This is a good ‘chovie or small Sardine outfit and you would spool it up with 12 to 15 pound test. The second combo is similar and features a seven foot 870 bait stick with a Penn 535 reel. The reel is strung with 20 to 30 pound string and is great for heavier Sardines and fishing flylined for the Yellowtail. You will probably get the most use out of this type of a set-up. If the Yellowtail are chewing the iron on the yo-yo I like to use a Penn 4/0 reel strung with 30 to 40 pound line on a 665 medium heavy stick. If you have these three rigs with you on the boat you should feel very secure that you can handle any spring time situation that may arise.

Terminal tackle for these types of trips ranges from a #2 to #4 live bait hook for Anchovies and think about small rubber core sinkers or heavy split shots to make the smaller baits a little easier to cast. For Sardines anything from a 2/0 to 4/0 live bait hook will be sufficient and no additional weight is needed unless you want to get the bait down in the water column. As far as jigs go you should look to the Salas 6X Jr., Iron Man or Taddy type of jigs. They should be anywhere from four to six ounces in weight and in a blue and white, blue and chrome, scrambled egg or red and white color patterns. We also find that sometimes the swim baits will be effective for the Yellowtail in the Sardine or Anchovie patterns.

We all have a fairly good idea on how to fish the flylined or egg sinker Sardine and Anchovies but sometimes there is not a clear understanding of catching Yellows on the yo-yo. What is the yo-yo? There are two types of this kind of fishing. One which is done in connection with White Sea Bass or Rock Cod where you drop the jig to the bottom, reel up three winds and just bounce it up and down like an oil derrick. The other is what we typically do here in San Diego and that is you let the jig sink to the bottom, depending on the depth you’re fishing, and then you wind it in as fast as you can. You can either cast the jig out or drop it over the side it really is up to your personal preference. Just be aware of the current so it doesn’t take you directly under the boat on the sink. You also need to be concentrating because Yellowtail will hit the iron on the sink. If your jig stops or hits something different it could be a strike so be ready at all times.

Setting the hook and proper drag settings on your reel while fishing the yo-yo can be the difference between being a hero or a goat. Set your drags a little tighter when yo-yoing. You have anywhere from 30 to 50 pound string so you can be tougher with it. You also want to turn the fish so he can’t rock you on the bottom. When you drop to the bottom and put the reel in gear, wind as fast as you can. If all of a sudden your line becomes tight a Yellowtail has stopped you but don’t stop reeling! Keep grinding and don’t take a big swing. Once the fish feels the hook he’s going to start his run, and it’s usually a good one, where the bigger fish try to take you right back to the rocks. Once the run starts hold on and raise your rod tip that should be a sufficient hook set. Also, before you start make sure that all your hooks are sharp that will go miles to ensuring you get a solid hook set. Yellowtail on the yo-yo is great fun and you should give it a try.

On these spring trips you may also have a shot at some Sand Bass, Halibut and various rock fish. It can provide some interesting variety and is always a good tune up for the upcoming offshore season.