El Niño Brings CRAZY FISHING to the BAY AREA 

We were smoking those benito's off the beach in the eighties when the big el nino came in. We were catching them from surf boards too

In the seventies, I would "catch" (snag) bonito every weekend at Redondo Beach from the shore in SoCal. Bleed it well, dispose of any red meat, season heavily and grill or stew with tomato sauce. Good fighters.

The smile on your face catching that tuna. Priceless

I am a trout fly fisherman but Bonita to me is one of the most beautiful fish I ever seen, not to mention one of the primary fish to play in the salt with a fly. 🥰

I miss those . Even in socal , we don't see them very often anymore . I used to catch 3 to 6 pounders all day at the bubble hole in Redondo Beach in the 80s from the jetty .

It’s a natural cycle. In ‘97/‘98 we had unusually heavy rains in California. This 22/23 winter we had a repeat and local flooding after 3 years of drought.

If you were to ask me if I wanted to go on a bluefin trip or a big Bonito trip, I'd take the big Bonito trip all the way👍 big Bonito are hands down the funnest fighting fish especially on light line. I've come to find that the krocodile at a fast retrieve is deadly on bonito and the lucky craft 110 for trolling..Bonito love small anchovies.ive never had luck with mackerel..I think a small shiny surface lure at a fast retrieve would work.

Hit on Bonito in Santa Cruz, pretty good recently.

that bonito looks amazing with the stripes

I think I might’ve hooked one off of the wharf a couple weeks ago just live lining an anchovy on a circle hook. I was targeting big mackerel, but whatever this was dumped my reel before fraying through the line. I was only using 10 pound test.

For its size the Bonito is a line screamer, and that one is exceptional 👍

lol my buddy caught one in santa cruz, and we misideniftied it as a big spanish mack and composted it.

The fisheries have evolved, changed , relocated etc… for many many years over time , and will continue . we’ve both seen it already, maybe we just don’t think on it too much . imagine in 50 more years , but also think back 50 years, sooo much has changed

use poppers bonita love them i fish for them in so cal

The only place i’ve caught a tuna was blackfin in florida and man.. we’re from washington. We didnt know what the hell we were doing. But it was hoochies on the surface! Thats how we got em

Nice catch! Congrates Adam

Adam that's 1 big ass bonito. How big is that Mexican tuna? We would go down to Redondo Beach pier & catch the "cattle boats" (80's?) During the El Nino we'd catch squirrel-ly 8#+ bonitos, 25# yellowtails. ½ & ¾day boats, fly-lining anchovies. Tossing fresh strip bait(bonito) for the forktails. Barracudas, calicos, sandbass were also common. "Hook up!" "Follow ur fish!" & "Color!" were the best yells of the day. Hated when the deck hand said "Lines up"😅 HOOYA!

Ever tried out riggers for stability. I love mine. I feel I can move around more and worry less in a good fight. Especially when reachin out ta grab your catch or holding it up for a picture.

Just jumping in to correct some of the bad info re El Ninos -- they happen approx every 7 years, you've definitely lived through more than 2, and while an El Nino does tend to bring warmer than average water temps, that tends to be the summer AFTER El Nino peaks. This developing El Nino should peak this winter around the new year, and NEXT summer may have warmer than average water temps. The sea surface temps off the bay area right now are not anomalously warm at all. The current bay area SST anomalies show a mix of below average and slightly above average temps, but the overall average for the region is +/- 0

Can you do a video on how you prepare and cook? Thank you

In San Diego I use that for bait. It's nasty just like Mackerel

enjoyed your video fishing

Bonito is easy to catch if they are around. Shiny lures like Kastmasters work well. I used to catch them off the pier using a (water filled) bubble and feathers behind it. Live bait is by far the easiest way. Edit: I forgot to mention my favorite spoon, the Krocodile.

Incredible day Adam! Nice Bonito! Congrats!

We’ve been waiting for the bonito bite down here in Southern California south of LA. I have hope seeing them cruise by up there that they may show up soon, I’ve been building tackle for it all summer. Congrats on the big one man! I also think Bonito is good eating when bled/iced promptly. It’s close to tuna to me personally, don’t understand the general dislike for them

“Luckily I have it on video” 😂😎

Down south we use the "bubble and fly rig" Lots of splashing and surface action to attract and catch the bones.

It's that time of year down here outside Dana Point, too - I love when the Bonito come in. Great fighters, fun to catch from the Kayak - and I also enjoy eating them. That you got into them in the SF Bay Area? Unreal!

CONGRATULATIONS, Adam!

Yeah, my buddy and I went out fishing of moss Landing and Dinnel Santa Cruz County about 5 miles out may be here further out and I was fixing my line because I had too much slack on the new line so I just let it I put a Laura Corson throw it out there and let it go out while boat was moving and I had about 300 yards out and then I started railing in reeling in and I had no idea I had a fish on till I was about 50 feet away from the boat he was swimming with me the whole time

Looks like Pacifica.

That Bonita is as big as ours here in SD. Best tasting sashimi if bled and iced. Much better than most fish.

A very nice surprise catch!!

Atun i knew is was from your rod tip beating when it took drag. classicó. Strange things happen almost everyday on the water. Thanks for what you do.

Cast or troll anything shiny or with feathers ‼️🍻 Great improvising on the fly and you got em 💪🏽‼️🍻 In a taste comparison between Ahi and Bonnies, people cannot tell the difference if you bleed and ice bathe it immediately… And seared ✨🔥💯

Awesome, thank you for sharing.

I just read an article about the Washington State record for Mahi Mahi being caught.

All right this one looks like a Banger!

I remember catching these when I was a kid in SoCal. Great fighters

Hey Adam, another entertaining great video. I have a silver blue Krocadile with most of the blue chewed off by Bonito. When they are boiling they seem to really go after silver flashy lures. Super fun to cast and retrieve to feel the strike. Great fighters. Many bite from the side. Be prepared for an aggressive hook set. Catching 40 or 50 is not beyond reason when they are boiling. Ferocious feeders. My experience with them is between San Diego and Ensenada. Many hook ups to you.

Busting insane is a crazy comment 🤣🤣

In the 80s during an El nino people were catching mahi-mahi underneath the Golden gate bridge it was crazy and a Marlin was caught outside of Santa Cruz harbor. This one doesn't seem as extreme as that past one but will be interesting to see what people will be catching

Hey Die Hard awesome catch man. We get em here in the east coast new england area around this time of year off the rocks. They usually travel with other of palegics (Bonito,False Albacore, Spanish Mackrel) I use a 8ft spinning rod with 15lb test line casting metal jigs. So fun on a light setup.

Good goin! Cool catch up north. They eat kastmasters every time🤣

Nice!!! In the NE we catch the Bonito and false albacore on small metals, epoxy jigs, 1oz or less and fly’s. Have fun!!!

When they are busting on the surface like that using metals are usually the ticket as you saw when you were trolling the metal. Haven't had much luck using the live bait as much as metals. If you have small metal lures you can throw them into the boil and reel as fast as you can.

Sick!! Im down here in SoCal and we didn't even get almost any bonito this year close to shore like we did last yea.

I’m imagining baking it whole with some savory dipping sauce.

Last ElNino people were catching Humboldt Squid off the Farralons.. 3-4 feet long.

That is a good size one. I have seen that size in So Cal offshore at Catalina, San Clemente or the banks. Nice Catch!

It's always fun when Bonitos show up to the party 😊🎉

Whoa, great surprise catch. That's inshore bonito, here oneday, gone the next.

Im wondering if its possible to havea insta360 camera installed on the kayak to get a great overall perspective of the kayak so we can see the fish left or right side of the boat

You the man Francis!

Nice! Do you have any videos of your kayak setup?

Are the Dorado (mahi-mahi) moving in next? Was crazy good on them down here in south OC last year! Nice sized bonito there...great fighters too!

Im up in the North Bay and got an electric a couple years ago after watching your channel. Got the kayak but never found a kayak crew to roll with. Let me know if you'd be down to link up.

I am very happy to see you practicing good conservation . But I do like you catch and cook the species you catch although I don’t believe you have done one with a black drum . One with a flounder stuff would go well for you . Any keep fishing . Oh those in my area like big bait like Mirror lure . ie topwater are suspended baits like 14:18 shad raps ,mirrodines 27MR,9MR we do well those types of baits for big trout in LA. Stay safe and enjoy this wonderful sport !!

Awesome man, well done!

The bonito you catch can literally eat the bonito we catch here on the east coast

That was one big chungus of a bonito. Gonna make some sweet sashimi. Congrats

Great video Adam. Unusual fish, and the unexpected are always fun. Enjoy your poke!

Dang! That is freaking awesome Dude!

Beautiful bonito. If bleed and ice it right, very good eating. Eventually we do not need to go to San Diego at all. Warm water will be here to stay.

Good times!

Nice! Love the video. Enjoy Panama.

Great job of explaining what you do and enjoy your confidence on the kayak. You can fish with me anytime on my whaler. be safe and god bless.

Hey Adam. Wait till you get to Los Bozos. You will hook it up on your live rig and use it for bait. Its EPIC!!

I agree Bonito gets a bad rap, I love them, 2 or 3 of those would be......NICE.

So I'm watching this video and I wanted to discuss what we have going on San Diego vs recent years past.i surf and have for 35 years.i moved back to California in 99. I don't think I've experienced a real El nino .not sure.vut I know the last big one was like 97' I think? I wanted to mention in recent years like last two In particular we all think it's been freezing....we guage it on how thick our winter suits are.ive never had to wear a 4/3 in the winter in 23 years.all that being said we did have an insanely warm water summer where Dorado were in lajolla and I think wahoo were too.nstlun for sure we're offshore ( Cortez?) But anyway THAT was a extremely warm water year( 18?) Anyway it's wild we had that without El nino..So up to current affairs I dove last nite in a hooded 4/3 and got cramps in my calves from how chilly it was.la Jolla cove says 62 currently but I'm claiming it's colder.so you were saying it's warmer up there right now? Interesting....I got a 14"" sculpin on the yak the other day and recently only small halibut.hooe it levels off and is a true El nino year because typically the surf is larger and more consistent.....fish on.

Dude! That is awesome.

"Are Bonito fish big??" 😂

Nice catch! Too bad you lost the second one! That’s crazy they’re up here 🤙🏼

Use a 40-60g colt sniper or mega bait, they usually go for the green color or a glow in the dark jig too. Let your jig sink for about 10-15 seconds and do a fast retrieve. That's how I've caught hundreds of these things. 2021 was a crazy year for the adult sized bonito. 10-15lbs

Hey Adam it's Drew. We met at Bodega Bay, I was the guy you met that was using your rod sleeves. Just wondering if this fish was caught at Half Moon Bay. I'm heading there this weekend to try for halibut. Keep the videos coming.

10:10 Slow troll with a Rapala mackerel color use a 10ft diver

Nice Bonito.. the fight hard

Yeah Adam, that's a legit Bonita! Even while fishing miles from shore I've only caught one that big once.😅

How many batteries in that thing?

No idea what the retention rules are down there, but Thresher and Mako are both what you want if you want to eat shark. Super yummy.

When you flyline a mackerel you don't use a hook in the tail like you do on the bottom for halibut?

Nice!

I am astonished that you feel the El Nino since months, it was classified as a El Nino only a few weeks ago.

Adam, large cast masters or crocodile lures work great for them also and their inexpensive

Grew up fishing out of monterey as a kid. My neighbor caught two mahi off pacific grove once in the late 80s early 90s... Complete fluke... Nobody believed him..

Nice catch!😁🐡

Time to upgrade for a boat buddy

That’s a pretty fish

looks like a wahoo mixed with a tuna lol

Looks like P-Town

That should be your new nickname. Mr. El Niño

Nice fish brother

You’ve got that fishery dialed and your videos are so informative! Curious, how did you eat that bonito?

Crazy how most people don’t bother to eat Bonito it’s one of my favorite fish to grill

Smoked bonito is tasty

Slammed it. Nice work!

You wound know a thresher you wouldn’t be on that kayak tho 😂😂

Your gonna have to get a bigger setup. Now your getting the pelagic. Looks like fun if I were in a BOAT. Maybe you'll get a chance to catch a white tip.

big boneheads are so much fun, awesome to see that you’re getting some in the bay area! You gotta make a trip to Vegas and fish the river for some big striper. fall is a good time for some bigger models

Lol they are busting hard