ALBACKORE Sportfishing Gear
“Tuna n ‘Tails”Saltwater Symposium

“BONGOS” Captain Joe Bairian addresses crowd at the Tuna ‘n Tails Symposium. “Bongo Joe” talked about summertime offshore fishing for Albacore, Yellowfin Tuna, Yellowtail and Dorado.

A sellout crowd showed up for the ALBACKORE Sportfishing Gear “Tuna n ‘Tails” Saltwater Symposium July 2, 2007, at Newport Rib Company in Costa Mesa, CA. This symposium was a huge success raising close to $1,500.00 for the new Louis C. Kovach Marine Biology Scholarship Fund.

The evening got underway promptly at 6:00 P.M. with a delicious barbeque dinner provided by the Newport Rib Company. Symposium anchor and angler educator, Ronnie Kovach, was first up and conducted his seminar on “Demystifying the Doink.” Ronnie has perfected this fun method of fishing using the Crippled Herring and Deep Stinger lures. It can be much more productive than the standard “YoYo” fishing for Albacore, Yellowfin and Bluefin Tuna.

Guest speakers included Captain Joe Bairian, owner and operator of the world famous “Bongos” sportfishing operation based out of Newport Beach, California. “Bongo Joe” spoke about summertime offshore fishing in southern California waters including tips on fishing kelp paddies, Albacore tactics and trolling for Tuna. He also provided some very good tips on how to bait local Swordfish.

Next up was Marc Higashi, owner of Performance Tackle in Los Alamitos. Marc is arguably one the most knowledgeable authorities on “Fishing The Iron” in southern California waters as well as Baja. Marc went over many good tips on lure selection, yo-yoing the jig at different depths and angles, surface iron as well as fishing with balanced equipment.

Captain Norris Tapp, skipper of the 80 foot FREELANCE out of Davey’s Locker in Newport Beach, then talked to the crowd about offshore island fishing as well giving his take on tips and tactics for local fishing for Sand Bass, Barracuda and Yellowtail.

Then it was time for Captain Jack Lester, owner and operator of the CALIBER, out of Davey’s Locker Sportfishing.  Captain Jack, assisted by Sonny Jones, spoke about Shark fishing in southern California waters. Jack went over tackle tips as well as techniques for hooking and landing huge Mako and Thresher Sharks. He also talked about how to handle and release sharks with safety in mind. Jack is a leading authority on Shark fishing and runs a weekly Shark trip every Saturday night from Davey’s Locker.

The symposium was topped off with a huge raffle with more than $8,000.00 in prizes donated by our generous sponsors.

A very informative lecture on “Fishing the Iron” was given by Marc Higashi, owner of Performance Tackle, 4221 Katella Avenue, Los Alamitos, CA.

Another sell out crowd at the Albackore Sportfishing Gear “Tuna ‘n ‘Tails” Symposium. It was a very successful fund raiser for the Louis C. Kovach Marine Biology Scholarship Fund.

The Newport Rib Company in Costa Mesa always puts on a great spread for the Albackore Sportfishing Gear Symposiums.

Angler educator, Ronnie Kovach, teaches the finer points of fishing the “Doink” to the attentive sell out crowd at this year’s “Tuna ‘n ‘Tails” Saltwater Symposium.

Captain Norris Tapp, skipper of the 80 foot sportfiisher, FREELANCE, out of Davey’s Locker in Newport Beach, provides great info on offshore island fishing and local info on Barracuda, Sand Bass, and Yellowtail.

Captain Jack Lester (right), owner and operator of the 62 foot sportfisher, CALIBER. is assisted by Sonny Jones. The subject is Shark fishing in southern California waters. The CALIBER has regular shark fishing trips every Saturday night from Davey’s Locker in Newport Beach.

Albackore Sportfishing Gear CEO,Jeff Jost, assists with the giant raffle topping off the Saltwater Symposium, July 2. More than $8,000.00 in prizes were raffled off thanks to our generous sponsors.