Roy Rose brought Royal Polaris home to Fisherman’s Landing July 31 after the annual five-day trip with Taka Tanaka’s group. They visited Cedros Island for very good yellowtail fishing and found a few tuna along the way.


Dean Martin of Buena Park won first place for a 35.8-pound yellowtail. He told dock reporter Bill Roecker he caught that one on a sardine and 4/0 Eagle Claw hook tied to 30-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon, 30-pound Izorline and 30-pound Izor Spectra. He used a Talica 20 reel and a Phenix 807 rod tied by Luis at Taka’s Tackle.

Tom Gruschus of Yorba Linda won second in the jackpot for a 34-pound yellowtail and Rody Yoshinaka of Irvine was third for a 31.6-pounder. Taka won the Rollo jackpot for a 24-pound albacore and posed with Rody and Dean for a lineup shot.

Luc Ofield’s Anglers Choice charter aboard the Intrepid returned to Pt. Loma Sportfishing July 30 after a five-day trip to Cedros Island and inshore waters near Sacramento Reef. The boat fished offshore on the way back and forth, said skipper Kevin Osborne, but for just a couple of trolled albacore.

Chartermaster Ofield won first place for a chunky 44-pound yellowtail that bit on a new, locally made jig in mackerel finish. Luc said he couldn’t remember the name of the hard bait, but he liked the way it swam and caught several other fish with it.

Ofield said he used 30-opound Izorline on a Trinidad DC-20 reel and a Calstar 800 M rod, and that he fought the ‘tail for about 15 minutes on the long stick.

“I saw a bait ball,” he told dock reporter Bill Roecker, “and I threw on it. He bit it real quick.”

Rod wrapper Jim Kastorff of San Diego won second place for a 36.8- pound yellow. Jeff Branch of San Bernadino won third place for a 28-pound yellowtail.



Offshore Fishing Difficult

Albacore remain hard to come by in the offshore waters. The 24 anglers aboard the Qualifier 105 can testify to that, as they worked hard on their five-day trip for three dozen longfin. The story is the same lately no matter if the fishing is close to San Diego or at considerable distance: bluefin are thick and albacore can be found, but neither species seems to want to go on the bite. The scenario seems likely to change, and anglers will be grateful when it does.


Joe Crisci ran the trip sponsored by Malibu Bait & Tackle, with long-time angler Wayne Caywood as chartermaster. Wayne won first place for a 31-pound albie. He said he used a sardine on a 3/0 Mustad hook tied to 20-pound Izorline XXX on a Shimano Speedmaster reel and a seven-foot Loomis rod.

Eric Rogger of LA won second place for a 28-pounder, and Shelly Fried of San Fernando Valley won third place for a 27.2-pound longfin.

Blake Rosen of Oak Park showed off a nice albie. He’s 12, and goes to Medea Creek Middle School where he plays Lacrosse.



Cedros Island Remains Hot

The yellowtail at Cedros Island are still chewing bait, jigs and just about anything else that falls into the water. Art Taylor took his Searcher anglers there on a five-day trip, and they loaded up on ‘tails before heading up the beach to try some rockfishing. A couple of nice white seabass bit in the wee hours at the island, and one of them made it into the jackpot.

Mike Lee of San Francisco won first place for a 27-pound yellowtail. He said he bagged it at two AM on the dropper loop, about the same time the white seabass came through. He baited a sardine on a 6/0 Eagle Claw hook on 60-pound Izorline. He used a TLD 30 reel and a Seeker 655 Black Steel rod.

Raul Alarcon of Garden Grove won second place for the larger fish of his pair of whites, a 24-pounder. The other one went 22.6 pounds. Both came on the dropper loop. Tom Kang of Huntington Beach won third place for a 23-pound yellowtail.



Offshore, Cedros & Inshore

Andy Cates tried everything on his four-day trip with the Red Rooster III, and came up with a great catch of yellowtail and rockfish. His 25 anglers even found three dorado on the way south.

“They were on a kelp,” said Cates. “We thought we were in for some great fishing, but we couldn’t find another kelp. The water was only 64 degrees. No problem with the yellows, though.”

David Mankin of San Diego won first place for a 38-pound yellowtail he got with a sardine on a 5/0 hook. He said he used 30-pound Izorline on a Penn 4/0 reel and a six-foot Pacifica rod.

“It was a good fight, it lasted about a half-hour,” he said. “It was really fun. He bit and ran.”

Dave Snyder of Bangkok, Thailand won second place for a 28-pound yellow, and Rick Wen of Danville won third place for a 22-pounder. There were no trollfish on the trip, so the trolling jacket went to the fourth-place fish, caught by Lori Anderson of Long Beach, and 18-pound yellowtail.

Richard Hightower loves to fish wahoo. He’s sponsored a ten-day fall trip on the Red Rooster III to go after the skinnies for many years. We’ve fished with him and can tell you it’s a darn good time and a prime time of the year to go fishing. You might even find yourself pulling on a cow, a 200-pound tuna!

This year’s Wahoo Special is sweeter than usual, as the rates for the trip have been reduced to $2595, and the first 16 anglers pay their fees will receive brand new Newell 533 high-speed 5.5 reels, the same model favored by many of the fleet’s skippers for slinging iron to the skins.

HT sent us the following announcement, noting the trip this year is sponsored by Newell Reels, Catchy Tackle, Hayabusa hooks, Seaguar fluorocarbon and Yo-Zuri:


Receive a "FREE" Newell S533-5.5 reel, to the first 16 anglers that are paid in full. 

The reels will be given away at check-in, on October 6, 2010, prior to departure. 

There will be loaner rods & Newell reels available, the reels are filled with Yo-Zuri Hybrid Line.

 All anglers will receive the following listed below:



1. Catchy Tackle: Trolling Lure or a Sea Strike 33 casting lure.


2. Hayabusa:  Hayabusa hooks (4packs) & a Sabiki bait Rig.


3. Newell: Newell T-Shirt.


4. Seaguar: 25 yard spool Seaguar Fluorocarbon & Seaguar Hat.

5. Oceanic Productions/FishingVideos.com: A new 2011 Sportfishing Calendar.

For reservations or information, call the office and talk to Christina or Linda, or click on the site!

Tommy Rothery docked his Polaris Supreme at Fisherman’s Landing July 29 after a five-day trip that fished hard offshore and at Cedros Island. His 20 anglers, led by chartermaster Dr. Alan Hermer, found great yellowtail fishing and a few albacore. A couple of bluefin made it into the jackpot.


Hank Fohring of Signal Hill won first place for a 34.2-pound yellowtail. He bagged it with a sardine on a 2/0 Flyliner hook and a dropper loop with 50-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon, 65-pound Power Pro Spectra on a Trinidad 16 and a Calstar 700 H rod.

Joe DeMarco of San Gabriel, formerly partnered with Jack Nilsen at Accurate, won second place for a 31-pound bluefin. Joe said he got his fish with a sardine on a 2/0 Mustad hook on 30-pound Big Game line on an Accurate 870 reel and a custom Accurate seven-foot rod.

Dave Woody of Huntington Beach won third place for a 29.4-pound bluefin tuna.



Baja Paddy Hoppers

Independence arrived at Pt. Loma Sportfishing July 29 under Jeff DeBuys’ hand. Jeff took his 30-passenger charter group on a six-day flyer to Alijos Rocks and also visited Cedros Island.

“We spent two days at Alijos,” Jeff told dock reporter Bill Roecker. “Fishing was excellent, they were biting. When they came around to us each day it was very good all day. You needed to get a morning position. There was a good show of fish at the surface, but we only got two wahoo. The water’s still cool at 70 degrees.”

All three of the biggest tuna came on the kite. They were eligible for the jackpot spots because there was a full rotation.

Mike Takaki of Torrance won first place for a 110-pound yellowfin he took with a sardine on 7/0 Hayabusa hook and the boat’s kite rig.

David Foreman of Studio City won second place for a 109-pounder, and John Carmadella of San Dimas got third place for a 101-pound Alijos yellowfin tuna.



“Stingy”

“The offshore grounds continue to be very tough,” reported Brian Kiyohara for the American Angler July 28. “Water conditions are very streaky but the killer is when we find good conditions there is no fish and or when we do finally find some they don't bite. We found a few kelps that had some good grade yellows and a token dorado. On the bright side there was an area of scattered albacore meter marks which was very encouraging except for the fact that it gave up only a few fatsos.

“In that same area we saw a couple of mystery marks that we have come to associate with the not so commonly caught opah. Last trip we had the very same style of mark and Chris hooked a fish on a jig only to have the hook straighten out on what we all assumed was an opah. Today we spun around and stopped on the same kind of mark and Tony Contreras hooked a mystery fish right away. After about a half an hour the unmistakable pink sides came into view. Tony ended up landing an incredible 125-pound opah on thirty pound line as this seemingly once in a lifetime catch seems to now become more common.”



Intrepid Fishes The Beach

"We had a slow day on the catching side of things as we made our way up the beach," Intrepid reported July 28. "We stopped in many different areas and tried our hand at some halibut drifts for nothing. We did catch a yellowtail along some kelp and had some success fishing for cod this afternoon. Highlight of the day was a nice cow cod coming on board. A few bass and the assortment of bottom dwellers such as ling cod made up our catch today. We will spend the final day of this voyage on the offshore grounds hoping to catch an albacore or two."



Young Man Goes West

“We got an early jump leaving the dock today on our Stout/ Eppler 3 day,” reported Excel skipper Justin Fleck July 28. “We decided to make a pass through the local offshore grounds. Although we can see incredible signs of fish, we only managed a couple short stops on albacore for our afternoon. Tomorrow, we will be doing some exploring out to the west to see if we can locate some biting fish. The weather forecast looks favorable for the next couple of days.”



Beefcake Waterman

“We got the trip off to a nice start here at the rocks with a nice steady pick on 50 to 110-pound tuna that bit until just before dark,” noted Royal Star skipper Randy Toussaint July 27. “Very good show most of the afternoon but they didn't let their guard down, most of the bites were on 40-pound and even 30-pound line. The conditions are good for wahoo but aside from a few bite-offs they were absent from the mix. We are going to spend the night and hope for another good day tomorrow.

“Today's shots show Erik Masuda with a 115-pounder while Kelley Hall gets a hand from Blake 'Beefcake' Wasano with her 75-pounder."



“Early Report”

“We had great fishing this morning,” reported owner-operator Art Taylor of the Search July 28. “Everything is the same as yesterday; same conditions, methods, and great fishing for yellowtail! Also we caught two 30-pound white seabass last night at anchor.”



Yellowtail With Thanks

“We arrived to the yellowtail area around 06:00 hours," read the Royal Polaris report July 28,"and it didn't take long before we were bendo. We had a stiff breeze for about two hours, then it was beautiful. Then in the late afternoon, we had a stiff breeze again, but that didn't stop the yellows from biting. We had limit-style fishing on 14 to 20-pound yellowtail.

“After we had our fill of yellowtail, Roy made a few drifts for calico bass. We didn't catch many, but we did release three black sea bass. We will give this another try tomorrow morning, then Roy will make a decision on what he will do.

“We would like to thank a few people for their donation for the trip, Richard Hightower, Calstar fishing rods, Lead Masters, Izorline, Bill Roecker, and Katy Tanaka for the ride down.”



Rocks Are Kicking

“Today (yesterday) the 'Rocks' kicked out some fair tuna fishing,” said the report from Norm Kagawa’s Shogun July 28, “for The Flash Sport fishing gang, but the yellowtail played a little hide and seek from us. After lunch we pulled the pick and pointed the Shogun for another hot spot. We should be there in the early morning hours of the 29th.

“Shogun fans, we have a few open spots on some future trips here on the Shogun: one spot on the Aug 1 Willfish Tackle five-day and five spots on the Aug 18 Seeker Rods seven-day. Give Andrea a call at the office and book your spot for a fishing trip of a lifetime on the Shogun.”

There were 32 anglers aboard Excel for the annual Sogioka/Stires charter, a five-day trip that returned July 28 with limits for all who wanted to fish hard. Justin Fleck skippered the trip, and Don Sogioka was chartermaster.

The trip fished for albacore, but the longfin proved hard to get. An albie still made it into the jackpot, however.

Aaron Wenzel of Redlands won first place for a 37-pound yellowtail. He’s 16, and goes to Redlands East Valley High. He said he got his big yellow, his best ever, on a sardine on the dropper loop, with a ten-ounce sinker on 40-pound Izorline, an Avet LX reel and a Calstar 700 H rod.

“I hooked him on the stern of the Excel,” said Aaron, “and he pulled me over really quick. He took me around the boat once in the dark and then came up on the starboard side.”

Aaron’s fraternal twin brother Sean was also aboard as was father Steve. The two boys posed for a picture with some of the yellowtail from Cedros. Both are in the band at school.


Giovanni Braida of San Dimas won second place for a 34.6-pound yellowtail. Norm Sogioka won third place for a 28.4-pound albacore.

One angler who fished hard was 90-year-old Beans Sogioka, patriarch of the clan. He got a limit of yellowtail at Cedros Island, and told dock reporter Bill Roecker he didn’t think he’d be going fishing any more.

Beans has been saying that ever since he came back from a big tuna trip with six cows several years ago. He would definitely be missed at the docks if he quit. Other anglers said he moved about the boat with agility once he was aboard.

Beans has been a farmer all his life, he told Roecker. His father came from Japan around 1910, and Beans was born on the farm in Baldwin Park in 1919. Beans will be 91 in September. He served in the US Army as a medic during WW II, at Madigan General Hospital in Seattle. After the war he got a farm in Chino, and he’s still there. Don Sogioka is his son; Bruce and Norm are nephews. The family has been fishing together for decades.

The Ken's Custom Reels five-day charter returned July 27 when skipper Brian Kiyohara docked the American Angler at Point Loma Sportfishing. The trip saw scratch tuna fishing bring a few albacore, good yellowtail action at the islands, and a flurry of marlin pull some line at another offshore stop.

"We had good yellowtail fishing at the islands," Kiyohara said, "and there was pretty good sign of those bigger bluefin too, but they just wouldn't bite."


Long range veteran Jay Love of Carlsbad was the "Hot Stick", taking first place with an 82-pound bluefin. Jay fished a sardine on a 3/0 Owner circle hook, a short top shot of 50-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon with 50-pound Izorline Spectra backing, an Accurate BX-2 500 2-speed reel and a 700 H Calstar rod. Jay also got a 25-pound dorado on the boat's first stop.

"The guys up in the crow's nest saw big bluefin breaking," Jay said, "and Brian told us it looked like 50 to 175-pound fish. So I grabbed my 50-pound outfit, and was the first guy in the water. I was lucky because I had the right gear. The fight only lasted 20 minutes."

Zeke Harloff, of Ken's Custom Reels in Oceanside, took second place with a 26.6-pound albacore. Leeann Sisson, of Carlsbad, won third place with a 25.4-pound yellowtail.



A Kicked-Back Day

“Today was exactly what we hoped for,” wrote Excel skipper Justin Fleck July 25, “a nice relaxing day at the island. We had good yellowtail fishing that started just after sunrise and got better as the day went on.


“Most of the yellows were in the 14 to 18-pound class with a few bigger ones. We left the island at dark to head up the line and try to finish off our trip with a few albacore. Here are some pictures from our day.”



Indy At The Rocks

“We had a good day down here at the rocks,” wrote Independence skipper Jeff DeBuys July 25. “It all started around 0900, and we finished up at dark. There was a lull from 4 till 6 in the afternoon, but we got a shot right before dark. The tuna were 40 to 60-pounders with some up to 100 pounds. We did manage to get a couple of wahoo as well. I will say conditions were not perfect; maybe tomorrow it will be better for us. The weather is great.

“Same as yesterday,” he wrote July 26. “That pretty much sums up our day today, except we did not land a wahoo, although we hooked a few. Conditions were tough, as there was not much current today. The guys really put in a good effort, and we ended up having a good day on the 40 to 60-pound fish with a handful of 80 to 100-pounders for a select few lucky anglers. The weather was typical for this place, windy. We are currently headed up to try for some yellowtail for tomorrow.”



Rooster gets Some Offshore Action

“Yesterday went better than the day before,” said the report from Red Rooster III July 26, “and we had one stop where they went wide open for a brief time. Enough time to get two go-around's but with all the mayhem only 23 fish were landed. No more schools for us after that. It looked like we might get on a roll and then back to one to three at a time. A tough day but everyone had chances and it left us with 48 albacore for the day. Long dry spells did not help and short stops made for a slow process.”



Shogun Sees Building Fish

“We arrived at the Rocks right after lunch,” recalled the Shogun’s report for July 26, “and trolled around for wahoo. Once Norm found the spot the hook was dropped and the guys went for it.

“The fishing started off slow but the yellowfin and yellowtail started to build under the boat fast! We ended up doing pretty good for just a half day of fishing.”