Only scattered albacore were taken, 50 to 80 miles off Forrester Island and Cape 

 Bartolome on August 24 and 26, respectively. Surface temperatures in the Gtilf 

 of Alaska ranged from 51,2° to 55° F., and stormy weather added to the difficul- 

 ties of judging fishing effectiveness. Similar conditions were found on the 1949 

 survey of Alaskan waters. 



On returning south the Cobb again caught albacore off the Queen Char- 

 lotte Islands from September 7 to 10, but this was near the end of the fishery in 

 these waters. During the last two weeks of September, the area from Cape Blanco 

 to Cape Flattery was fished running both suuth and north, but no albacore were 

 found off the entire Oregon and Washington coasts. Water temperatures appeared 

 favorable (58° to 62° F.) and feed was noticed, but the trolling gear failed to 

 catch a fish. During this time, and later, excellent fishing was being experi- 

 enced by a large fleet of vessels off northern California. The puzzling absence 

 of albacore from the Washington and Oregon coasts during the last of August and 

 September greatly reduced the year's landings, which had started out so well 

 early in the season. 



Catches by Gear with Certain Related Hydrographic Aspects 



Troll catches 



The Cobb trolled an extensive area of offshore water off the Oregon 

 coast from June 13 to July 2, in which only scattered albacore were caught. Fish- 

 ing rssults were generally poor with 11 fish being the largest number caught on 

 any one day. All fish taken trolling in these offshore areas in June were caught 

 in what appeared to be edges or fingers of warm water, with surface temperature 

 ranging from 57° - 59° F. Fish usually hit the troll jigs singly or in pairs. 

 Stomachs examined from these fish were relatively empty, suggesting also that feed 

 was widely scattered. Returning again to an offshore area approximately three 

 hundred miles off the Columbia River in late July and early August, conditions were 

 notably changed. Surface water temperatures were more stable, and from examina- 

 tion of albacore stomachs, there was considerable feed available. The results 

 seemed to indicate that more suitable conditions were present later in the season. 



Off the southern Oregon coast, from 80 to 120 miles offshore, on July 7 

 and 8, the first schooling tendency of the sLLbacore was noted and catches increased 

 while fishing to the northward. The troll catch results of the Cobb for certain 

 fishing areas are shown in Table 1, which also indicates the northward movement of 

 the fishery. As noted in column 6 of the table (No. albacore/line/hour) , the 

 catches in many cases were small; however, it should be pointed out that the Cobb 

 did not limit fishing effort to the areas of tuna concentrations, but rather spent 

 most of the time exploring the surrounding waters, where results were spotty. 



During the 1950 investigations, it was not uncommon to hear the ccaiimercial 

 fishermen discussing the "morning bite" and "evening bite" over the radio. Some 

 even went so far as to say that there was little use fishing during midday. The 

 Cobb also found that on certain days cilbacore would bite for several hours in the 

 morning and then slack off until the evening. This was not eilways the case, how- 

 ever; and the best troll catch of the survey was made in midaftemoon. The number 

 of recorded strikes by 2-hour periods are presented in Table 2, 



In Table 2, it is noted that morning and evening peaks occur. Actually, 

 both the "morning bite" and "evening bite" for the fishing results in 1950 are 

 weighted by 2 days of good fishing on August 18 and 19, when the best catches occurred 

 around midday. If these 2 days were omitted, the peak of the "morning bite" would 

 probably occiir earlier, while the peak of the "evening bite" would be later. 



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