In a change of events, Shogun skipper Norm Kagawa told dock reporter Bill Roecker that the fish he caught on his last trip were biting in a more normal fashion, and that he’d had stops for 30 to 60 fish on the day he caught longfin. He also reported a stop of 50 bluefin.

The trip was sponsored by Blackwater, and lasted five days with 28 anglers. The first 40-pound albacore seen by Roecker this season headlined the catch, winning first place for Chris Edmondson of Mission Viejo.

Chris bagged his beauty on a Tady 9 iron in white and glow. “I dropped it down about 5:30 AM,” he said, “and got the fish in about ten minutes. I was using 40-pound Momoi line and 65-pound Izor Spectra on an Accurate 270 two-speed reel and a Seeker 870 rod.”

Mark Davidson of Murrieta won second place for a 39-pound albacore, and James Raven of Newport Beach took third for a 38.8-pound longfin.



Seven-Day Adventure

Brian Evans docked Spirit of Adventure at H&M Landing June 30 after an Avet Reels/Seeker Rods trip that visited Alijos Rocks, where biting yellowfin up to 80 pounds were encountered by his 20 anglers. Avet/Seeker rep Ben Frazier was the chartermaster.

Evans commented that his weather was pretty good, and so was the fishing.

Don Gallacher of San Diego won the jackpot for his 79.8-pound Alijos yellowfin. He said he got it with a sardine on a 2/0 Mustad hook tied to 40-pound Izorline fluorocarbon, 40-pound Izorline XXX and 80-pound Line One Spectra. He used an Avet JX Raptor reel and a Super Seeker 800 H rod.

Mel Durard of La Mesa won second place for a 55-pound yellowfin, and Peter Iosifidis of San Diego tied with Lary Schimel of LA for third place, as both me had 54.1-pound tuna.



Beautiful Moonfish

“We have the pleasure of taking out one of our regular charter groups from the Curtis Rosenthal group,” said the American Angler report for June 28, “led by their charter head Bob Hara. When we left the dock, the local day and a half zone was pretty scratchy. Our goal was an honest one fish per rod and that would make us happy. The signs were in our favor when we awoke to the best weather that we have had in three weeks. Our first stop right out of the gate was almost too good - it wasn't completely light and the fish were biting which made it hard to follow our lines.

“We had a couple of decent stops in the morning which set the standard for the rest of the day. There were some slow periods throughout the day, but we had steady action. We ended up the day with 78 albacore and one opah.”

“Bernie Caughlin was the only one to hook up on one stop. (The fish bit a sardine on a sinker, said Lori Patella.) When we shut down on a meter mark, right away we knew it was a better fish and after a few times around the boat, we finally saw the orange glow and boated Bernie's 115-pound opah. The photo is courtesy of Bob Hara.”



Shortfin For Intrepid

“We woke up this morning to bluefin under the boat,” said the report for June 29, “and started our day with a nice grey bite. After that it was slow for the most part until we located a large breezer of the bluefin in the early afternoon. It was game on! Everyone was bendo and we managed to land almost everything that we hooked. It was good times for all. The bite slowed down and the balloon was the hot ticket in enticing a bite.

“This was almost straight bluefin with the exception of two albacore and six yellowfin in the mix. We are now headed for a different area and will be there in the morning for more fun fishing action.”



Rooster Crows From The Rocks

“Today we fished Alijos Rocks and had a good day,” said Joe D’Aquisto’s report from Red Rooster III June 28. “We had Yellowfin from thirty to sixty pounds with some better. We also had good yellowtail fishing the yellows where fifteen to eighteen pounds with and handful over thirty pounds. The weather is good. There is just enough wind to get the kites. We will be here for tomorrow in hopes to have more chances at more trophies.”



RP On Kid’s Trip

“Our weather gets as good as it gets,” said the Royal Polaris report for June 29. “We had excellent weather, with flat seas, clear skies, sunny and warm. The weather was not the only thing that was good, we had limit style yellowtail fishing today.


“The yellowtail were in the 18 to 22-pound range, with the larger ones going over 30 pounds. We don't know what tomorrow will bring, but the way this trip is turning out, it might be big.”



“Fishing From The Racks”

Last night at nine PM, KPBS channel 11 in San Diego played a wonderful documentary about tuna fishing our of Tuna Town in the old days. The story was an hour long, without commercials, sponsored by Chicken of the Sea, Bumblebee, Starkist and the American Tuna Boat Association.

Here’s what the station published: “From the mid 50's to the early 70's Tuna was the third largest industry in San Diego behind the Navy and Aerospace, employing over 45,000 people here. During that time tuna was still caught by the ton with a pole and hook, from a metal platform that hung off the side of the boat called the ‘rack.’ Hear stories from the men who spent months at sea, chasing this giant fish and the everyday challenges and dangers they faced while they were ‘Fishing from the Rack.’”

In the program, half a dozen or more old-timers were interviewed extensively on the same subjects: how the squids, the lures, were made; how the fishing took place, and where; how they handled the sharks, etc. The interviews were cut into short pieces and fitted into scenes depicting the events and methods discussed. I saw several names I recognized, including Louie Ghio and William Madruga. It was great, and every tuna angler would love to see it. It is scheduled to play again at three AM Thursday July 1. It may be aired again after that. We’ll inform our viewers.

The tuna are still down south, but they’re being caught closer to home (the Independence reported a catch from less than 100 miles on a day and a half trip) and the major albacore zone has moved. Drew Henderson docked Polaris Supreme at Fisherman’s Landing June 29 following a five-day trip engineered in part by retired LA motorcycle patrolman Joe Beck of San Pedro and Mal Wagstaff of Douglas, WY.

The trip had 21 anglers aboard and fished in the albacore zone over 200 miles south of San Diego. Skipper Henderson remarked the zone had moved to the west and was not as productive yesterday.

“We had good fishing and a great catch of albacore,” said Drew, “and we saw a large school of bluefin that wouldn’t bite.”

Kub Ito of Harbor City won first place for a bluefin that did bite, a 39.6-pounder he bagged with a sardine on a 3/0 Flyliner hook on 30-pound Izorline fluorocarbon leader and 60-pound Line One Spectra. He said he used an Avet JX reel and a Calstar 800 L rod.

Joe Beck won second for a 38.8-pound albacore that took a sardine on a 2/0 Mustad hook tied to 30-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon and 30-pound Izorline on a Trinidad 20 reel and a Calstar 670 rod.
Harry Harms of Brookings, OR won third place for a 38.6-pound albacore.



Fine First-Day Frenzy

“Our first day offshore was filled with good fishing on bluefin and albacore,” wrote Excel skipper Justin Fleck of his day June 28. The boat is on a Braid trip with Dennis Braid and his rep Jan Howard aboard.

“The first stop of the day was on a breezer of bluefin that bit every bait that hit the water. Unfortunately we were caught off guard and we lost way too many fish right out of the gate. When things settled down, we were able to go to work and boat just over 100 bluefin with some longfin mixed in.


“The rest of the day was a slow scratch with everything vanishing around dark. All things said we had a very nice day. Tomorrow we will be offshore and try to do it all over again. The weather is flat calm for now which helps us locate these fish.”



“A Fun Day”

“We had a fun day of albacore and bluefin tuna fishing,” noted the report from Intrepid June 28. “For the most part it was a run and gun style of fishing as we would get on spots of breaking fish, catch a few, then run to get on the next ones. We did have jig strikes throughout the day that turned into drift style and some sonar schools to work with also.

“The weather and the fishing is very nice, so we will be offshore again tomorrow and hope to get a big hit on these beautiful grade of albacore.”



Stickin' With The Tuna Grounds

"I am sitting in the wheelhouse with John K," reported guest writer Dave Smith aboard Qualifier 105, "and I have been picking his brain regarding his thoughts about tomorrow and the trip to date. We’re south of Guadalupe Island and have had a good number of tuna stops so far but none that have produced really big numbers of fish. JK calls it a pick and scratch. With this seven-day trip JK believes that time spent fishing here will be more productive than time running to fish Alijos with three other boats. We are hoping for a little help from lady luck to provide a more productive day tomorrow, we’ll stay here and hope for better counts. There are definitely plenty of fish here, we just need to hit a school that wants to bite. Keep your fingers crossed for us.

"The story of the day is all about eight year old TJ Ponder. He landed his personal best albacore, a 27 pounder, with no more help than a seasoned long ranger would have needed. His Dad is so proud and with good reason, TJ is a good young man and the gang, crew and anglers alike are all stoked they are aboard.

"Turkey soup, char-grilled pork chops with a mango chutney sauce, wild rice & mixed vegetables for dinner with a crunchy upside down pineapple cake for desert. Oh I forgot the fresh baked cranberry bread. Just roughing it on the Q.

"Tomorrow, JK says that if the weather is still good that I am going to ride the mast. He wants me to give anglers perspective of what it is like to be the 'Eyes in the Sky,' See you tomorrow."



Joe’s Report

“Today we fished the morning in the albacore area for forty mixed fish,” reported Red Rooster III skipper Joe D’Aquisto June 27. “Most were albacore and a couple yellowfin. The albacore are from twelve to twenty five pounds. We have left the albacore area and are heading down to Alijos to try for some trophies. We are off to a great start and wish to continue the pattern at the rocks.”



Kid’s Trip Fishing Report

“We had excellent weather, “ said the report from Royal Polaris June 28, “with flat seas, overcast skies, but a bit chilly. The chill in the air didn't stop the kids from having a great day on the water. We had an excellent day of Bluefin and Albacore fishing. Most of the fish were in the 18 to 25-pound grade, with a few going over 30+ pounds.

“It was a fun full day of fishing, but that's not all that went on. We had card games, twink eating, joke telling, and kids just having a ball. Anthony and Billy are just great with the kids, but Big "D" keeps them laughing all day long. We are going to try for Yellowtail tomorrow. Lucky angler today was Kevin Wyman. Kevin was fishing just like everyone else, and he caught a Yellowtail, but not only did he catch one, but three. Kevin caught the only three Yellowtail on the boat today.”



Long Range Memoirs

“Bill:  Good article pertaining to your recent Excel trip.  Timing is everything with fishing. We got in the day you left. Longest five-day trip ever, bitter cold wind and rough water. Even the islands weren’t pleasant. Real tough on the old guys.  I’m going out again on July 18.”

Later that day, Dan added this:

“Actually fishing was good for those that didn’t mind the weather, and the sea lions.  I hope you got a chance to read the book that I wrote pertaining to my experiences with Bill Poole in the 1950s.  I wrote this for Ingrid, but also made a copy for the Excel (last I saw it was in the wheelhouse).  Bill was a special friend of mine for nearly six decades, and I sure miss him.  If there is any material in the book that you would like to use, please feel free.” Dan Felger (by email June 21, 2010)

Offshore anglers know there are days when the fish are up and biting, and days when they’re down, unobtainable, incognito, vanished. A trip aboard the Excel with cameraman Leif Backe of Santa Fe gave us both types of fishing, twice, in the same week. We had a couple of tough days, and we experienced a couple of the best days of fishing I can recall in over four decades on salt water.

We passed the Coronados Islands June 20 after loading bait for our seven-day trip aboard the Excel, and we saw Royal Star heading for the harbor. Skipper Tim Ekstrom gave our captain Mike Ramirez a radio call as the two long range boats went by one another.

“I just came off The Rockpile,” said Tim, “the first time I ever dropped anchor in the Coronados. We got 120 yellows; it was just unbelievable!”

There was quite a fleet parked on The Rockpile, we noticed a few miles down. But we had bigger fish to fry, and skipper Ramirez kept the big Excel’s bow pointed south. The reports we got over the next two days were discouraging, both on the albacore grounds at 250 miles and at The Rocks, where we headed. Cameraman Leif Backe and I handed out goodie bags to all passengers, with Salas jigs, Mustad hooks, baitmakers and hats, FishingVideos.com calendars and DVDs and various other items donated by our generous sponsors.

We also had a drawing for a new Accurate BX 500 reel, won by Mike Reader of Torrance, who’d brought his daughter Sarah fishing. Ralph Bunquist of Tallahassee, another fortunate angler, won a new AFTCO Alijos fighting belt, and everyone also won a prize bag including more good fishing stuff like $50 fish cleaning certificates from Five Star and Sportmen’s Seafoods, some more Salas, Catchy and Tady jigs, Seaguar fluorocarbon samples, 10 percent off on fish cleaning, etc.

It didn’t help that the weather was up, but motoring downhill on the big boat, the northwest wind and swell didn’t bother us much. There were three ladies among our 23 anglers. We ate like kings and no one felt sick. Chef Jim Guyot prepared meals that kept us looking forward to the next call to the salon. We enjoyed meals of breaded pork chops and green beans with bleu cheese butter the first night and chicken breast with zuchinni and Chocolate Overload cake for desert on the second evening. Eggs Benedict was served the morning we got to The Rocks.

Only one boat was still fishing there when we arrived, and it left soon. We scratched hard for a few tuna and yellowtail. At least one very large yellow came up, along with a couple of 40-pound tuna. I got a small tuna, one of the dozen or so we managed for several hours of hard fishing. Later, Ramirez made what was proved to be a very smart decision; he left and headed east. Fishing was down everywhere, according to radio reports, so Mike reasoned it was worth trying The Ridge, where no one had fished for months.

The Indy was right behind us, and had been since we left San Diego. The two skippers conversed, and Jeff DeBuys went to Thetis Bank while Ramirez took us toward the 23 Spot. We drove all night, after a wonderful yellowtail dinner. Guyot cooked the fish grilled with a Wasabi mayo sauce, and put rice and sugar snap peas on the side.

We were just backing down on our first anchoring when the yellowtail showed behind the boat, chasing sardines. The ‘tails came up and slashed at the surface, nice big ones. It wasn’t but a few seconds later that the first one was hooked, and then another, and another. Within moments the afterdeck became a very busy place, with everyone hooked up and the deckhands straining to gaff fish, untangle clients, keep bait in the wells and try to keep hooks in the water.

The yellowtail at the 23 Spot were fat and sleek, probably because of the carpet of small pelagic red crab floating past. The animals very only the size of a thumbnail but they were so thick they literally covered the surface. The 15-knot breeze didn’t deter them from floating. Flylined sardines that swam hard proved to be just the ticket for the yellows. Maybe they were tired of all those little crunchies.

I fished yellows with 25 and 30-pound Izorline XXX on 25 and 30-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon and 3/0 Mustad ringed 94140BLN hooks, with an Accurate two-speed 197 and a two-speed 870 N reel. The rods were Super Seekers, a 660 XF and a 6460. I caught two on each rig and then handed off a couple more. I also used a 6465 Super Seeker with 30-pound and an 870 two-speed reel.

Then I tried moving up to a 40-pound rig with XXX and Seaguar in that flavor, on 4/0 Mustad hooks, and the fish weren’t deterred in the least. I used a new Accurate BX-2 500 reel on a Super Seeker 6470 rod. The yellowtail bit on the heavier gear just fine, and I noticed some anglers like Carl Dorton fishing with 50-pound tackle and doing well.

It was one-stop shopping for yellowtail of 15 to over 40 pounds. After an hour or two of pulling on husky yellows, many anglers began to catch them on yoyo jigs and surface iron. I got one on a 7X “wounded soldier” on the first cast, and I’m not a particularly good fisherman with the surface iron. It was a kick to see the fish come up and smack the jig. Then I tried a blue and white 6X heavy jig and found the same sort of instant success. I released several yellows up to 25 pounds and handed off a couple.

That yellowtail bite was pure mayhem. It was one of the two or three best bites of its kind I’ve ever seen. Mark and Carl Dorton and Brad Merritt, Excel regulars who also charter the boat, purely agreed with me on that later. Mark hooked a marlin, the season’s first, as far as I know, and got a good series of jumps out of the beaker before it executed its freedom-finding whack with its bill. What fun!


We had a nice lunch with chicken tortilla soup. Skipper Ramirez said we should start to work our way north, so we moved up to the 13 Spot. Things were pretty quiet there, but we caught a couple of fish in a wind that was picking up. Soon we went in to dinner, and made our way up toward the Rosa Bank. The dinner was delicious, stuffed pork loin. The stuffing was spinach, basil, green onion, feta and Parmesan cheese, fresh garlic and salt and pepper. The sides were grilled carrots with butter and brown sugar, and boiled potatoes with butter, parsley and chives.

The next day was the roughest yet, with up to 20 knots of miserable northwest breeze. In the morning we found a kelp and plucked one yellowfin and 20 yellowtail from it. We looked hard for tuna all day with no success, though we were in sight of the Indy when she found of school of bluefin and picked up 20 or so. But that was it for a tough day.

We arrived at the albacore grounds, crossing the break into 65-degree clean water, next morning about 8:30. We’d heard reports from the Royal Polaris and the American Angler that the fishing had resumed there, and we were anxious to give it a try, 250 miles from port.

The reports were right on, and the weather backed down. At 8:49 we found a school that came to the boat and bit, minutes after we crossed that break into clean warm water. The school stuck with us for a long time, long enough to drift south three miles. The longfin were 15 to 35-pounders, they were sleek and silver, and they were willing. As Prowler skipper Buzz Brizendine used to say, “They were biting nails!”

I started out fishing the 25-pound rig, thinking I’d get more bites. I got bites, all right, on at least every other bait. It was like the yellowtail bite all over again. I was badly in need of my two-speed Accurates. Without them I’d have spent hours pinned to the rail. But with a two-speed reel you can really put the crank on those cranky tuna that take you straight down. Nose-hooking and belly-hooking sardines worked very well.

There were occasional bluefin and yellowfin tuna of like size mixed in with the albacore. Soon the intensity of the bite had me going up to the 30-pound tackle again. Then I went to 40-pound gear, and I got an albacore on it, but the fish definitely seemed to prefer the lighter gear, and a 3/0 over a 4/0 hook. I had new BX-2 reels with me in the 500 and 600 series, loaded with 50 and 60-pound line, but I knew they’d have to wait for bigger tuna.

At last we drifted right out of the 65-degree pocket where the tuna were located, and we had to go looking again. The sun burned off the clouds that afternoon and the breeze dropped to 10 or 12 knots. We spent the rest of our day trolling, with stops every ten or 15 minutes. Most of the stops produced two to half a dozen fish, so we had to keep moving. Yes, we had some short bites, and there were times when we went 20 minutes without a bite, but it was an interesting day for those who were quick to get a bait into the water after a jig strike.

A few were too quick, dropping back on the slide, and after trollers got cut off a couple of times the skipper asked anglers to wait until he gave the word to cast baits. When a troller gets cut off, it doesn’t help the boat’s chances to bring the school close. Fishing tuna demands group cooperation.

One other advice item: when the boat stops, don’t dither and dwaddle at the bait well. Select a good bait, sure, but don’t chase it around the well, making other anglers wait. Get a good healthy bait and step away from the tank while you hook it. Keep your rod cradled under your arm so no one is endangered by the rod tip, and keep the bait-getting process moving. One selfish angler can delay several others from getting a fair chance at the fish, especially early in the season when tuna aren’t staying with the boat more than a moment or two. That’s common courtesy.

Back to the chase: Our albacore fishing day lasted until sunset. As the afternoon came to a close on one of the year’s longest days, we got more stops for a few fish. I checked the trollers to see what the fish were biting on those many stops. Mostly the hot jigs were Mexican Flag and Zuchinni Zucker’s, a Catchy Spinnerhead in Mean Joe green, and other jetheads and Tuna Clones in bright colors.

Right at sunset we had our second-best bite of the day, for at least a dozen albacore. I got one of the last when it bit way up swell. I was pleased to fight it midship and from the bow without fear of tangles. That last longfin made me so happy I didn’t care if the dang fish bled all over me while Leif took my picture. I was satisfied, and very tired.

Next day was our last to fish, and only for a short while, as we were scheduled to dock at 5:30 AM during a bicycle triathlon. We tried an area to the north where Randy Toussaint had caught some better-sized bluefin a few days ago, in 61-degree green water. We looked for over an hour before Ramirez and his crew found a foamer.

We pulled up on the boiling tuna, and we could see jumpers of at least two sizes up to 60 pounds or so, pursuing some sort of small bait. Deckhand Derek Waldman was on the ball enough to get a few shots with his Nikon, and one showed a bluefin out of the water. No bluefin bit the trolled jigs as we slid in on the school, which submerged immediately. We did hook two fish, though, and both were decked. I took photos of Mark Dorton and Mike Rangel with their bluefin.

We were done for the trip a short while later, and skipper Mike Ramirez pointed the bow of the Excel toward San Diego and home. He served us our last meal at sea that evening, the traditional dinner of prime rib, nicely cooked by Guyot and presented to us with all the fixin’s. An appreciative group gave the skipper a good hand right after dinner, in recognition of his efforts and fish-finding abilities.


One of the giveaway 4/0 ringed Mustad hooks produced first place for Jessica Diaz of San Bernadino. She tied it straight to her 60-pound rental outfit on a dropper loop with a sardine and caught a 46.4-pound yellowtail with it. The rest of the gear included a TLD 30 reel, Big Game line and a Seeker 6470 H rod. She said the big jack gave her a half-hour tussle.

Bill Rinkes of 29 Palms won second place for a 44.2-pound yellowfin, and reel-winner Mike Reader of Torrance won third place for a 42-pound Alijos yellowfin tuna.

Thanks to Ingrid Poole and her assistants Betty and Kathy for our invitation to take this exceptional trip, and to the crew of the Excel for making it work out the way it did: Mike Ramirez, Derek Waldman, Brandon Wilke, Jeff Bunde, Scott Shurko and Jake Phillips. For the great eats, thanks to Jim Guyot and Rene Sanchez.

“The boat returned from a very productive 5 day trip,” noted American Angler’s website June 27, “with plenty of albacore for everyone's barbeque and a beautiful catch of yellowtail.

“If anyone has an albacore recipe they'd be willing to share - email it to the office to be posted. People are always looking for new and delicious ways to prepare this fish other than the old stand by: teriyaki wrapped in bacon (which adorned a few bbques tonight and is a good tradition - but trying something different is fun).

“A huge thanks to webmaster and chartermaster, Barry Gambarana, for hosting and organizing another successful Shaker Tour, to Steve Patterson for wrapping one of his eye-catching rods for the raffle, to Paul Pangburn for bringing a pork shoulder to share and to all the passengers on board for coming fishing on this trip. The topper for this trip was having 4 lovely ladies on board - thank you for bringing a softer side to this past 5 days! Hope to see you all next year. Jackpot winners: Skip Stenbro won first place for a 70-pound bluefin. Jesse Imai won second for a 36.4-pound albacore and Gerald was third for a 36.2-pound albacore.”



In The Zone

“We made it down into the Tuna zone around 1:00 this afternoon,” said the Intrepid report June 27.

“It didn't take to long to find some spots of breaking fish, but they didn't want to bite very well. We slid on several spots and picked up a couple of handfuls of Bluefin and some big Albacore. There just wasn't many fish that wanted to bite, plenty of sign, great conditions, just not biting very well. Late in the evening the Albacore came up and we were able to have a couple of good stops on the longfin. We will be on the sea anchor tonight and will fish this area again tomorrow.”



Supreme’s Tuna Fishing

“Very good albacore fishing today! “ reported Drew Henderson for the Polaris Supreme June 26. “Yup. We even threw in a catch of blue fin too. Weather was not pleasing to wake up to but we worked with it and scratched out a good half day into lunch. The fishing slowed so we made a little move and it was game on the rest of the day. Oh yeah, the weather turned great to go along with it. We're all beat and are going to enjoy baby back rib night brought to you by team galley then hit the rack. We're headed to an Island to try our luck at some yellow tail catching.”



Salty Dawg Eight-Day Returns

CAPTAIN: ANDY CATES     
DATE OF TRIP: THURSDAY, JUNE 17TH – FRIDAY, JUNE 25TH, 2010
LENGTH OF TRIP:    8 DAYS
AREAS FISHED:   ALIJOS ROCKS CEDROS
TRIP/CHARTER MASTERS: SALTY DAWG RODS
FISH COUNT:     115 YELLOWFIN TUNA   235 YELLOWTAIL 8 ALBACORE 1 BLUEFIN
1st PLACE JACKPOT      100.1 LBS YELLOWFIN TUNA CAUGHT BY JEFFERY TEDMORI OF NEWPORT BEACH, CA
2ND PLACE JACKPOT       57.5 LBS YELLOWFIN TUNA CAUGHT BY BILL HAVENS OF SAN DIEGO, CA
3RD PLACE JACKPOT        47.8 LBS YELLOWFIN TUNA CAUGHT BY JOHN BALL OF RENO, NV  
REMARKS:  TROLLING JACKPOT 22.5LBS BLUEFIN TUNA CAUGHT BY JACK GERSTEIN



Bluefin Fishing

“We lucked out this afternoon,” said the report from Royal Star June 25, “and bumped into a nice area of scattered bluefin that broke up the ride home and made for a nice end to the trip. We had a handful of stops on small boilers that were reluctant to bite but we managed to boat eight fish from 30-80lbs. Unfortunately we didn't have more time in this area as I'm sure we could have put together a nice day. We are traveling up tonight and will depart tomorrow on our annual Barking Spiders 8-day which the crew and I always look forward to.

“Today's shot shows Braydon Duby getting a hand from his pops to show off his 50-pound bluefin tuna.”



On Her Way Down

“We departed from Fisherman's Landing at 10:30 hours,” said the report from Royal Polaris June 26, “on our 2010 Family trip. We have a great load of bait, and the crew and passengers are looking forward to a great trip. We have kids ranging from 7 to 18 years old. We are hoping our weather will change for the better, but as of now we have overcast skies, and a slight breeze out of the northwest at 12 knots.”



Shogun Plunks Shortfin

“I would like to report BLUEFIN MAYHEM,” recalled Shogun second skipper Bruce Smith June 27, “but alas it was more like bluefin plunker bite twice during the day. We ended up with over 100 bluefin along with another 42 albacore and some more yellowfin to round out the numbers. The bluefin range in size from 20 to 40 pounds, albacore are a beautiful 25 to 35 pound average and the yellowfin are 15-pounders. Weather has been good with the wind blowing out of the northwest at about 12 knots."

Captain Bruce Smith docked Shogun at Fisherman’s Landing June 23 following a Big Fish Happen five-day trip. Unfavorable offshore weather and picky tuna sent them to the inside, where they had exceptional yellowtail fishing.

The boat’s best fish, a 48.2-pound yellowtail caught on a kelp paddy, was not eligible for the jackpot.


“I haven’t seen a yellowtail on a kelp like that in 15 years!” Smith said. “We’d sure like to see more of those.”

Glenn Chen of Homer, Alaska, caught the big yellowtail on a 3/0 Owner hook, 30-pound Izorline, a Daiwa 50 SH reel and a custom-wrapped eight-foot rod.

“That’s the first time in 30 years that I didn’t enter the jackpot,” Chen said.

Duane Sawyer of Lemon Grove won first place with a 32.3-pound yellowtail. Duane used a 1/0 ringed Owner hook, 50-pound line, an Avet Raptor reel and a six-foot rod. “Direct Tackle set up my gear for this trip,” he said.

Jeff Hauser of Corona and Chris Dunn of Phoenix, AZ tied for second and third with 31.6-pound yellowtail.

“We had our best fishing at Benitos,” Dunn said. “Rather than fight the weather offshore, Bruce decided to fish Geronimo Island and Sac Reef. We loaded up on rockfish and big lingcod.

“The water was really cold along the beach,” he added.



Short Lived

"We traveled down today in good weather knowing that we would have to find good water before we caught fish," American Angler reported June 23. "It took the better part of the day to find the right water temp, but once we did we saw fish instantly. We hooked and landed 4 albacore out of our first stop and spent the next half hour seeing fish on a regular basis. We were very excited, feeling that a good stop was right around the corner. Unfortunately, it never materialized as once again the mysteries of the ocean took over and the sign of fish disappeared, but we succeeded in making the vast ocean a little smaller by figuring out where some good water lays for some possible future good fishing."



50-pound Alijos Yellowtail

“Today we arrived at Alijos rocks with choppy weather,” reported Excel skipper Mike Ramirez June 23. “We managed to scratch away at yellowtail up to fifty pounds. We also had a handfull of tuna from 25- 40 pounds. Overall we had a slow day and we are going to leave the rocks in search of greener pastures.”



Indy Heads to the Ridge

The Independence checks in June 23: “Let's get caught up on fishing for the last 2 days: We ran down non-stop to Alijos due to the fantastic fishing that we and the other boats have had over the last month, we arrived early AM to find things had changed and the yellowfin tuna not on the bite, we caught two tuna for the entire day. We did however make a nice catch of yellowtail for the day, just not what we had hoped for. We took off at dark for the ridge to try something different, we arrived at 9AM and got busy on 18 to 25 pound yellowtail and had a great day on those, they bit the surface iron and yoyo jigs as well as the dine's. The plan for tomorrow is to head north and look offshore for bluefin and albacore for the next few days. The weather is on the breezy side but not bad.”



In Search for Tuna

“It sure was nice to spend the day in the sunshine and calm seas around the Islands,” Kevin Osborne reported June 23 aboard Intrepid. “We put together a day of fishing both inshore for calico bass and outside for some very nice grade yellowtail. We are now on our way to the offshore tuna grounds in hopes of getting some albacore and bluefin action for tomorrows fishing. The weather is coming down a bit, so with a little luck we will find them.”



Barn Door for RP

“Our weather continues to be a bit breezy and frigid,” Royal Polaris reported June 23. “Fishing however was a lot of fun, we had limits of 20 to 25 pound yellowtail. All fish were caught on the yo-yo or on the surface iron. There was also a nice halibut caught by Paul Hatcher on the iron.

“We are now headed west to the albacore and bluefin area. We will arrive there just before daybreak. It has been tough fishing in that area, but each day there appears to better sign of fish. Wish us luck and hopefully we will have a good report for you tomorrow.”



June 27-29 is a GO!

“Let's get back on the tuna!” Searcher stated June 23. “There are only 16 anglers on this trip, so let me know if you want a spot reserved for you.”

"We arrived at Benitos Island at 12:15 hours to find several schools of yellowtail breaking the surface," read the June 22 report aboard Royal Polaris. "Unfortunately most of these schools of yellows wanted nothing to do with our anglers. We fished hard all afternoon to catch 52 yellowtail. Naturally the tax collectors (seals) were around to get their share of the fish we hooked.

"We will start here tomorrow morning and hope that the early bite is better than the afternoon. Our weather continues to be quite chilly however the wind is down to 10 knots."



Star Starts Offshore

"We started our five day today taking a swing at the offshore grounds," Royal Star reported June 22. "The good news was we had good looking weather and got into an interesting area this afternoon where we looked at numerous small spots of 20-50 pound bluefin, the bad was the lack of biting fish.We ended up coaxing three bluefin and one albacore out of quite a few stops. Hopefully it was just an off day and our code boats can get them to bite tomorrow.

"We are running into an island tonight where we plan on fishing yellows tomorrow. Today's shot shows veteran angler Steve Carson who got things started today with this beautiful 52-pound bluefin taken on a jig."

The 2010 Yellowtail Shootout is this week!!!

Late registration fees have been waived!!

The local yellowtail bite has been getting stronger for weeks now.

Don't miss out on the first big CASH tournament of the 2010 season.

The 4th Annual Bloodydecks.com Yellowtail Shootout will be held at Sheraton Harbor Island on San Diego Bay, California, USA. This event will kick off with the mandatory Captain's Meeting on June 25th at 6 PM. Fishing begins on June 26th and culminates with the "After Party" Awards Banquet on June 27th at 11:00 AM.



The Entry fee will be $325 per team (3 anglers), which includes your tournament entry, "After Party" entry and Angler Bag. There will also be Winner Take All Jackpots of $100, $300, and $500 per team.

There will be a cash and prize payouts for the overall biggest fish for winners:



Total Purse is based upon 100 teams participating.

There will also be a very unique $1500 "Dash for Cash Prize" for the first Yellowtail brought to the Dana Landing scale by water. First Yellowtail to the dock wins, period. The lucky winner will received $1500 in gift cards for the Dana Landing store.

The "After Party" Awards Banquet will be held the day after fishing and is where the winners will be announced. There will also be a catered lunch, huge raffle and Vendor Village showcasing the sponsor's products. Public will be welcome in to the Vendor Village. All Anglers will receive an Angler Bag (valued at $100+) that includes an Event T-shirt, Fish Works Visor, and tons of other goodies.

The tournament will be open to all anglers fishing from private boats. There is no cap on amount of Teams/Anglers. Registration will open soon.

"We are really excited to bring this event to SoCal fisherman. We look forward to a fun filled tournament with big payouts and tons of prizes. We think that this format combined with our great sponsors will create a fun and exciting tourney for everyone" said Ali Hussainy, Tournament Director.

For more information on the event see Bloodydecks.com or email tourneys@bloodydecks.com.

By Paul Sweeney

American Angler docked at Pt. Loma Sportfishing June 22 following a Zuckers trip to Alijos Rocks and Cedros Island with skipper Brian Kiyohara.

“We had good scratch fishing at Alijos,” remarked Kioyhara, “and great yellowtail fishing at Cedros.


Long Range veterans Steve Kneip of Bishop and Jim Hall of Poway enjoyed their seven-day trip with chartermaster Dan Kadota.

“Even a novice fisherman could hook the yellowtail at Cedros,” Kneip said. “Not too many anglers were fishing bait, we were all throwing iron.”

Tony Valenzuela of Los Angeles won first place for a 113.5-pound yellowfin tuna. He got the fish on a 2/0 Mustad hook, 50-pound Seaguar topshot with 50-pound Izorline braid, an Avet JX reel and a eight-foot Seeker rod.

“His initial run was great,” Tony said. “He stayed up on top, and took me around the boat. It was an hour and a half fight.”

Joe Park of Rancho Cucamonga won second for a 110-pound tuna, and first-time angler Brian Clemente of Lumberton, New Jersey won third for a 88-pound tuna.
“He broke me down,” Brian said.

Rick Kramer of Oxnard stood in with an honorable mention 65-pound Alijos yellowtail he caught on a blue & white Salas 7x Jr.

“The next day,” Rick remembered, “I used that same lure to land a 91-pound yellowfin. I had a lot of help from Brian Kiyohara though, so it wasn’t jackpot eligible.”



Q Arrives At Rocks

"We started our day about forty miles above the rocks," the Qualifier 105 June 21 report read, "heading down with anticipation of tuna and yellowtail boiling and jumping around the boat. As we got closer we hear on the radio that it sounded like they were not too happy with the conditions they were dealing with. Well as we all know, things can change in a hurry sometimes out here so we were not too concerned about it too much. Our last trip down here the current didn't start running till an hour or two after sunup. Well when we arrived, we took a good look around and got the anchor down and started fishing. Conditions were real tough, the wind was blowing pretty well and there was no current so we were swinging quite a bit. We were able to put some very nice yellowtail on the boat and everybody had at least a couple opportunities. The wind started to subside towards dark so we are keeping our fingers crossed that we will wake up to nice weather and fish jumping around the boat."



Intrepid Heading Up Line

“We spent the day much like yesterday,” Intrepid’s Kevin Osborne reported June 21, “with a morning bite that was mostly yellows with a few tuna mixed in. Around lunchtime the scratch bite fell off completely and we only caught a few more yellows for the afternoon. We have chosen to head up the line in search of albacore and bluefin. We will get lots of time in the zone and hope to connect with some fish.”



Catching Yellowtail

“We spent the day fishing for yellowtail,” Shogun captain Bruce Smith reported June 21, “or maybe I should say we spent the day catching yellowtail. The island was good to us today, the average size of yellowtail being 18 pounds with a few caught early this morning that will go over 30 pounds. Tomorrow is an offshore day for us, wish us luck we are going to need it.

“Pictured is myself and my Uncle Gerry. He is one of the primary responsible parties that started me out at a tender age,,, fishing. He did well today, to say the least.”



RP Heading Offshore

“Our weather at Alijos Rocks today continued to be windy and overcast,” reported the Royal Polaris June 21. “We had 15 to 20 knots of breeze throughout the day. Thank goodness for a big comfortable boat as fishing on the anchor was comfortable.

“Tuna fishing was almost non-existent today. We caught 12 yellowfin tuna and 81 yellowtail for the day. We departed Alijos Rocks at 14:30 hours. We are headed north for some quality yellowtail fishing and then hopefully finishing off with some bluefin and albacore.”

"We made it to the Rocks at 0830 this morning," reported Intrepid's Kevin Osborne June 20, "and looked around a bit to locate some life to set down on. It wasn't long before we found a few tuna, so we set up and began fishing around 0900. Things looked pretty good at first as we caught a few nice grade yellowfin in the 70-100-pound class and a jumbo yellowtail before noon. After lunch things were very slow and we only had a fish here and there for the rest of the day. We ended up scratching away for 31 mixed fish. We will move inside a little tonight and try for some night bite yellows."



Glenn's Tackle Aboard Q

"Well today, we traveled for the most part," read the report from Qualifier 105 June 20. "We didn't put the trolling lures in until afternoon because we just were not seeing the right conditions as well as temp and color of the water. We saw a little bit of bluefin swimming right next to the boat so we spun around and gave it a try but as bluefin sometimes can be, they were not interested. The weather has not been all that good so it might have something to do with the fact that the fish are just down right now. We will be arriving at the rocks in the morning, and all on board will be up early doing their final preparations for what we hope will be a day full of action."



RP Arrives At Rocks

"Our weather consisted of 18 to 22 knots of wind, with clear skies, and a bit cool for most of the day," the Royal Polaris report read June 20. "We arrived to Alijos Rocks at 08:45 hours, and did some looking around.

"Once we were in position, we scratched the day with a steady pick of yellowfin tuna in the 25 to 50 pound range, and yellowtail in the 15 to 20 pound catogory. We are hoping that the weather will settle down tomorrow.

"Lucky angler today was Shealyn Hall, with a 30-pound yellowtail. We will give this a try again tomorrow, so wish us luck and Happy Father's Day from the R/p crew."



Yellows For 'Gun

"While most of the day was spent traveling we finally arrived at the yellowtail grounds in the afternoon," Bruce Smith reported aboard Shogun June 20. "We found immediate sign of good grade fish, 16 to 22 pounds on average. They bit in a variety different ways, surface iron, sardine with a slider, fly line, but the most popular was the Yo-Yo jig.
While the weather seems to be coming down, it is the main reason we decided to go fishing for the yellows instead of pounding around the offshore scene."

Tusker tuna from Alijos Rocks arrived at Pt. Loma Sportfishing June 19 when Joe Crisci docked Qualifier 105 after the AHI 20th annual charter. There were 24 anglers aboard, including chartermasters Dallas Lamb and “Cowboy” Gary VanDerLyke and several 100-pound-class tuna.

“We had a pick bite on bluefin and albacore on the way down,” said Lamb to dock reporter Bill Roecker. “We spent two days at Alijos Rocks for a good bunch of 30 to 60-pound yellowfin with a few 100-pounders thrown in. We fished the shallow there for yellowtail, too.


“Then we went back up into the middle of the fleet on the bluefin grounds. We saw tonnage there but it shut off. So we tried the outside for albacore and got a few more.”

Skipper Crisci said, “At The Rocks we saw a football field-size school of yellowfin come through, finning and eating little red crab. We got a half-dozen of them and then they were gone.”

Gary Thomas of Miami, FL won first place for a 118.2-pound tuna he bagged with a sardine on a 3/0 Super Mutu hook. He said he used 50-poundsrem fluorocarbon leader, 50-pound Big Game line and 50-pound Power Pro Spectra on a Talica reel and a Kencor four-foot, 10-inch rod.

“He fought great,” said Thomas. “He made four long surface runs and came up on the port stern corner after a 40-minute fight.”

Tom Marquez of Wilmington tied with Chris Perez of Westchester for second and third places with identical 108.4-pound yellowfin.

Chris Cattell of Reno, NV won the Sportsmanship Award for hooking and handing 30 fish.

Former South Coast sportfishing regular contributor Roger Holmes, now of Durango, CO had a most unusual experience, catching a calico bass, a sheephead, a yellowtail and a yellowfin tuna on the same stop, all on a blue and white Salas 6X Jr. jig.



Island Biters

“We arrived at the island at 0530,” wrote Excel skipper Justin Fleck June 17, “and the yellowtail were waiting. There were several nice schools running around that bit pretty good when you got on them. Unfortunately, about 0830 the yellows evaporated on us.

“In the afternoon though, things perked up and the yellows went nuts! There were spots up crashing around and chasing baits and they stayed up until dark. What a fun day. Tomorrow we will start here in the morning and try for one more shot at the forktails before we head offshore for the afternoon to try and locate some tuna fish.”



Searchin’ For Shortfin

“We started the day by seeing plenty of fish,” reported Searcher skipper Art Taylor June 19, “and were encouraged by that. We managed to land 17 bluefin tuna by 1:00 pm. Then the wind came up and the fish went down for the most part. It seems that the fish might be weather-sensitive.

“We did see a few fish this afternoon and some of the other boats in the area had some success. We are staying the night and hoping the wind backs off a little to make it easier to work. The forecast calls for the wind to diminish tomorrow and for the next few days Larry Grey and his grandson Alex each landed a bluefin and their trip is made!”



Local Fishing Picking Up

The prospect of nicer weather and the presence of the right fish make prospects for local anglers look much better. Manager Don Deering of Pt. Loma Sportfishing reported that yellowtail and barracuda are biting for ¾ day boats at the Coronados Islands and that calico bass fishing on the half-day boats is starting to get pretty good, with over 100 bass caught on at least one recent trip.

Intrepid returned to Pt. Loma Sportfishing June 18 after a five-day trip with 26 passengers. Kevin Osborne was the skipper.

“We had a very good early morning bite on yellowtail at the South End of Cedros Island,” he said.

There were also some albacore and rockfish in the catch. Pat graham of La Palma won first place for a 30-pound albie. He said he got it with a sardine on a 3/0 Mutu hook tied to 30-poundSeaguar fluorocarbon leader and 55-pound Spectra on an Avet JX reel and a Calstar 765 L rod.

Diamond Tann of Santa Ana won second place for a 24.8-pound albacore, and William Theriault of Murietta won third place for a 23.4-pound longfin.



Late Biters

Norm Kagawa brought his 29 anglers home from a five-day trip June 18. He docked at Pt. Loma Sportfishing to off load his fish and weigh the best of catch.

“It was good fishin’ and a good trip,” he said to dock reporter Bill Roecker. “The first day was very slow until we hit a breezer at the end of the day for 121 bluefin. Late afternoon was the best bite for us, with some in the early morning. But they bite good in the evening. We spent a day at Cedros for yellowtail including a few premium models.”

The premium yellowtail swept the Shogun jackpots. Mark Mayberry of Luling, TX won first place for his 37.6-pound yellow. He got it with a Tady 45 jig in scrambled eggs pattern. He said he used 40-pound blue Izorline on a Newell 533 reel and a Seeker 6470 Black Steel rod.

James Meteer of Highland won second place for a 33.6-pounder, and Roy Habelitz of Long Beach got third place for a 32.4-pound yellowtail.



Back To The Stones

American Angler posted this report June 17: “We bypassed the offshore thing yesterday and ran down to the stones in hopes that the fishing was still as good as our last trip and for the guys that were here in the interim. It took a while for the fish to get on us, but after a few more grey hairs they found us and stayed throughout the day. It was steady one to four hooked at a time and we ended up with 85 nice grade fish.


“Our standouts were Joe Park with his 110-pound fish and Brian Clemente with a 90-pound fish displayed with the help of Ray.”



Yellowtail Fishing

“We arrived to the offshore area in the early afternoon,” reported Excel skipper Justin Fleck June 16, “but it took us a while to locate the water we were looking for. After finding the area we were able to get a couple short stops on some bluefin and some of those nice fat albacore.

“The weather is a little on the choppy side so we're going to use this time to fish the lee of the Island. Hopefully the yellowtail will be waiting for us.”

Art Taylor docked his Searcher at Fisherman’s Landing June 17 after the five-day Qualia Reels trip. There were 22 anglers aboard along with chartermaster Kent Cremolini of Walnut Creek. Albacore in the large and small sizes were encountered, and the boat fished yellowtail for a day at Cedros Island.

“The reels performed very well,” said Cremolini. “I left nine on the boat with Art three seasons ago. This trip I brought eight with rods for loaners, and we raffled off two.

“Fishing was a scratch,” continued Kent, but most of or stops produced a few fish. I used Jerry King’s old hexhead with red and white feathers and did very well with it. (King was a former liftpole tunaman who fished long range for many years.)

“We caught and released some small bluefin and albacore, and at Cedros we hit one pocket of fish for about 40 yellowtail.”

Tony Marasco of San Antonio, TX won the jackpot for his 36.4-pound albacore. He said he bagged it with a sardine on a 1/0 Flyliner tied to 30-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon and 25-pound Izorline. He used an Avet 6-4 reel and a Calstar 870 rod.

Tex Gough of San Diego won second place for a 34-pounder, and Mike Thorne of Moorpark and Bruce Saurer of Whitter tied for third place with a brace of 33-pound longfin.



Farewell To The Rocks

“Wow!” said Independence skipper Jeff deBuys June 16, “just a fantastic day of fishing on the Independence again. Today was very much like yesterday, yellowfin tuna and yellowtail was on the menu all day long. The fish are still that nice grade we have been landing and once again we caught six standout tuna that were 85 to 115 pounds. We took off at five PM and are now headed up the line to see if the bluefin and albacore want to show themselves. Everyone onboard is tired and those who want can sleep in tomorrow, as we will be on the northern grounds after lunch. The weather has been good, not perfect, but plenty good enough on this big ol’ steel boat. Boy what a trip so far, wish us continued good fortune.”



Scratchacore

“We spent the day covering lots of water again," the Intrepid reported June 16, "and managed to get into an area holding nice grade Albacore. It was scratch fishing at best for the longfin. The weather is blowing a bit and the fish were definitely down today. We will be making a long run to the north tonight and doing some coastal fishing tomorrow before calling it a trip."



Day Four: AHI 20th Anniversary

"Another day on the Q105, music playing strong, fish hitting the deck on a consistent basis, sun breaking through,” wrote Tim Walker. "It’s what I have come to expect to be the norm for the A.H.I. Today was not a disappointment as I am inputting this, the 100th tuna of the day is being tugged on. They are quality fish, many in the 80 to 100-pound class. When you look at the sonar, the amount of fish is amazing. This trip, the 20th A.H.I. will go down in the books even if the fish stopped biting, as a classic!

"Today, for lunch we had some wonderful blue fin tuna steaks (we caught it the 1st day out); one of the finest meals I have had in years. The cooks on this boat have done nothing but get better each year.”



Poole Monument, Royal Polaris Nearly Ready

The pad for the new Bill Poole Memorial sculpture and fountain is progressing nicely and seemed to be mostly completed June 17. Builder Bill Hankins (the same contractor who rebuilt the three landings over the past winter) was on the site, overseeing the work.


Nearby, Royal Polaris, clean and shiny but still a bit cluttered with last-minute work on her decks, was being prepared for her first voyage of the new surface fishing season. She’ll be departing Friday, June 18 on an eight-day trip under the hand of owner-skipper Frank LoPreste and is scheduled to return to Fisherman’s Landing June 26.

(Press Release)

Welcome to our new website! View new inventory available online now and email us your inquiry about capturing your boat or company on quality printed tees or embroidered hats. Enjoy the Fathers Day Holiday. We're taking orders through the holiday....SHOP ONLINE! Authorize.net secure payments and lots of fresh newly printed inventory!


Our clothing line is blowin' up like new spots of Bluefin Tuna close to Southern Cali'.

Bring on that 'Thang of the West Coast Big Game'!

Enjoy the salt water season!

Dom Castagnola
Owner/Artist
Casta Design
(619) 884-4764

The 2009-2010 big tuna season count is 604 tuna over 200 pounds, including 42 fish of supercow ranking, tuna over 300 pounds. The total number is far from the biggest year ever (there were 2,243 in 2005-06), but the season was a very good one, and the supercow count looks to be the second best on record. That was 49, in 2008-09.

Dan Kadota, who once played high school football with Norman Kagawa at Torrance, was waiting to board the American Angler June 15, as one of the chartermasters for trip sponsor Zucker’s. Dan, who reps for several companies, had a wad of new graphite rods in wraps with him. They were long, very light rods.

"I’m the designer,” he told Bill Roecker, “and we call these Old School Guys Fishin’ Stiks.”

Dan said the new rods are built for 20 to 80-pound line, and seven to nine feet in length.

“The lighter rods are all graphite,” he remarked, “and the heavier ones are graphite-composite. They all have AFTCO roller guides and Alps reel seats, with long foregrips so you can put ‘em on the rail.

“These rods are meant to be fished on the rail,” said Dan, “or under your arm. They’re not meant to be high-sticked. Don’t take ‘em up over 45 degrees, straight out, because you can’t put enough pressure on the fish that way. They work best if they’re fished down at about 60 degrees. We measured those forces.”

We’ll hear more about the rods and how they work after Kadota comes back, perhaps.

Indy At The Stones

Not to sound like a broken record,” said the report from Independence June 15, “but the fishing was again very good! Both the yellowfin tuna and yellowtail bit well, the tuna are in that 30 to 55-pound range and we also caught six fish that were 90 to 120 pounds, as well as losing a few good ones. The yellowtail fell in the 20 to 40-pound range with a few pushing 60 pounds. The weather today was very nice also. We will be here again tomorrow and see how it goes.”



Searcher Tries Cedros

“We started at the south end of Cedros Island today,” wrote skipper Art Taylor June 15, “with high hopes for good action on yellowtail. We started out doing OK, with a sign of fish right away. As the morning progressed, we saw fewer and fewer fish. We tried several areas that have produced in the past without much success. We then decided to go toward the north end in the lee where we have been successful before. Unfortunately we were just at Cedros on the wrong day! We ended up landing 40 yellowtail in the 15 to 18-pound range. We are headed offshore outside San Martin to start tomorrow morning with hopes of locating some more biting bluefin tuna.”



Biscuit For Vag

Mike Lackey left the open water and took his anglers in to Cedros Island June 15.

“Beautiful day at Cedros,” he reported, “with a fair bite this morning and a slow afternoon except for a few trophies. Jeff Squires pulled in a 34-pound White Sea Bass. Boat doesn't have file transfer hooked up yet this season so no pictures until we get back to the dock. Working on that problem. Having a great day.”



New Black Steel Guides

Word is coming from Seeker’s Joe Pfister about the new ring lock guides now being installed on the Black Steel series of Seeker rods. The guides come with Duralite and Nanolite rings, in single and double-foot versions, in four varieties. Pictures are expected shortly.

The eight-day Catchy Tackle trip aboard American Angler with skipper Brian Kiyohara produced a very good catch of mixed yellowfin, bluefin yellowtail and albacore for 26 anglers. Co-chartermasters John and Drew Grindley and Wayne martin hung right in there with the anglers to round things off.

“We persevered through the sloppy weather and got a good scratch at Alijos Rocks and offshore,” noted the skipper at Pt. Loma Sportfishing. “We also got a good hit on yellowtail off the beach.”


As usual, the Catchy Tackle boys handed out plenty of jigs, and the tuna at The Rocks were eating them on the sink and on the grind. Luis Velazquez of Sacramento won a six- pack of Catchy 33s and proceeded to beat up the tuna with them on his rookie trip. He also got a 50-pound yellowtail on a blue and white 33, and was asked to bring that one into the jackpot lineup for a photo.

The big fish was an ineligible 112-pound yellowfin caught by Dave Zeman of Simi Valley on Double Trouble sardines under the kite with the boat’s kite rig. Zeman said his best-ever tuna came out of the water and down on the baits out in the zone on a quick take. He brought it to the port corner in 20 minutes.

Joe Rubio won first place for a 104-pound yellowfin he got with a sardine at The Rocks. Dave O’Halloran of Encinitas and former hang glider competition pilot Gary Sullivan of Spring Valley tied with 62-pound yellowfin for second and third places.



J&T Tackle Trip Takes Tuna

A seven-day adventure with 25 anglers guided by Excel skipper Justin Fleck returned to Pt. Loma Sportfishing to unload an excellent catch of mixed fish June 15. The chartermasters were Ken of J&T Tackle in Simi Valley and Bob Buckland from the same town.

“It was a good trip,” said Buckland to dock reporter Bill Roecker, “and we got lots of yellowfin at Alijos Rocks. Up in the offshore zone we had good fishing for albacore and bluefin in the late afternoons.”


Mark Mooschekian of Capistrano Beach won first place for an 85-pound Alijos yellowfin. He said he bagged that boy with a sardine on the boat’s kite rig: 7/0 Eagle Claw hooks, 100-pound Big Game line and 130-pound Power Pro Spectra on a Penn 50 reel and a Calstar 6465 XXH rod.

The morning’s second tie for second and third places went to two Pauls: Paul Wolf of Simi Valley and Paul Briscoe of Tustin, for 56.6-pound tuna.

A third Paul, Paul Carlisle of Colorado Spring, CO caught his best tuna ever, a 54.8-pounder. Paul is 13, and plays football at Sabin Middle School.



Indy Eight-Day Report

“We are now on the Big Fish Tackle eight-day trip,” said the report from Independence June 14. “After taking on a good load of sardines, we took off south in search of an area to start the trip in. On our first day of fishing Sunday we had a fair day on the mixed albacore/Bluefin. We boated 76 mixed tuna before taking off for the rocks. We arrived at the stones around noon and proceeded to go to work on beautiful grade yellowfin tuna and yellowtail in decent weather. The fish are still in that 25 to 60-pound range for the most part and ended the day with 152 mixed fish for the day; pretty darn good fishing, I might add. We plan to give this at least a couple more days of anchor type fishing before looking at other options. The long range fishing areas look great for the upcoming season, with tuna being caught in several different zones. We still have a few spots on trip #9 a seven-day trip, if anyone wants to jump on last minute.”



Day Three Report

“We had a great day here,” said the report from Qualifier 105. “We started fishing about 1 pm when we arrived at the rocks. It was not long before the tuna got on us and wanted to bite. Otaway Thomas was the first to land a nice tuna. He is on this trip with his brother Gary from Florida. They both had a great day, landing several tuna each. O.T. started the day with the first fish and Gary landed the last of the day just before dinner. We had a couple of better fish to around 65 pounds on the kite and they bit the double trouble setup pretty well. Ed Kerst had a nice fish around 65 and Cowboy landed a handful of fish today. We had a couple farmer awards at dinner and Dallas will do our next report and drop some names.

“We are staying here tonight to get a morning shot at some more tuna. We also landed a handful of yellows today and hope to see a few more of the big ones tomorrow. The heartbreak today: Chris Perez had a fish on light line that he tugged on for around two hours before pulling the hook. We think the fish was tail wrapped or side hooked, he did land a few and was not upset about losing the fish since he was on the light line and knows you are taking a risk at hooking a better fish when fishing the light stuff.”



Room On Rooster

Red Rooster III is leaving on the first of several eight-day trips Thursday, June 17. Owner Linda Palm said there is room on this trip and the next couple, during a peak period for bluefin fishing. Call the office for reservations and information.



Searcher’s On The Fish

“We're having a great morning,” wrote skipper Art Taylor June 14, “with 80 total fish aboard: 75 bluefin tuna and 5 albacore. We have seen lots of fish today as well. They aren't biting all that well but we are staying busy and everyone has had a great chance at landing a bluefin tuna. The majority of the fish are in the 25-pound class and live bait is the preferred method. Hoping to keep this up the rest of the day.”



Shogun’s Story

“We trolled and looked and trolled and looked all day,” said Bruce Smith. “This morning was taken up by the seminar, but the rest of the day was troll, troll, glass, glass, glass…Did I mention we looked all day? Then we caught a lone yellowtail on the troll, wheehdoo, and I thought it was going to be slow!

“At 18:00, after trolling and looking all day, we saw it. The sonar lit up, Norman got on the mike and told everyone to get ready. From then until dark it was wide-open on 20 to 30 pound bluefin tuna. YES! Final tally was over 120 out of this one stop. Yeah I think we will be here tomorrow..."

“Nice afternoon of albies and bluefin,” wrote Vagabond skipper Mike Lackey June 14 on Facebook. “Don Dongallo caught a nice 100-plus-pound bluefin tuna. Working on a grey light tuna bite this morning.”



Rocks Explode For Excel

“Our third morning here at the "Rocks " started out with a bang!” wrote skipper Justin Fleck June 12. “The home guard yellows started biting full speed in the early a.m. on everything that went to the bottom. Most of the fish were in the 18 to 25-pound range with a few bigger.

“After the yellows backed off, the tuna took over and we stayed busy for the rest of our stay. We decided to pull the anchor around 1500 and start heading up the line to put ourselves in position to catch a few albacore and bluefin to finish our trip off.”



Up The Line

“Today we moved up the line,” wrote American Angler skipper Brian Kiyohara June 12, “to put us in position to take a look at the offshore grounds tomorrow. We stopped and looked for yellowtail to break up the ride. It took us a little bit to figure out conditions, but once we did... it was game on. We had school grade 12 to 18-pounders free-swimming next to the boat biting flylined baits and every kind of jig that was thrown in the water. We did this for a little while and in order to only take what we need, we took off to put us in position for some offshore fishing.

“For myself and the rest of the crew, this kind of fishing never gets old. We all still like to go fishing locally and throw the surface plug and no matter how many times we see good yellowtail fishing, it still gets the juices flowing.”



Two Days On Searcher

“Our first day of fishing turned out OK,” wrote skipper art Taylor June 12. “We ended up with 47 albacore (in the 20 to 30-pound class) and five bluefin tuna in the same range. Those are nice sizes. All methods worked today. There were troll fish, mega bait fish and of course baitfish.

“There were good signs of fish around and on some of the stops we saw good amounts of fish, but it didn't bite. Other boats in the area had better fishing for bluefin tuna so we are electing to stay the night and try again tomorrow for this good-size albacore and bluefin tuna. Our new sonar performed as expected and so we know it works, and well! Looking forward to tomorrow with a full day here instead of just an afternoon.”

The next day, June 14, Art wrote: “We haven't moved yet this morning. The bluefin tuna are biting a little, starting first thing this morning. We have 30 bluefin tuna aboard and we still have a few hooked. Fish around us and under us...a great way to start the day.”

Sign on to fish the Excel with Bill Roecker for an exciting seven-day trip, leaving Fisherman’s Landing June 20 and returning June 27. All anglers aboard will get a free copy of the DVD Bill will make, and fishing is great! There’s a good chance at albacore, bluefin, yellowfin and yellowtail, grand slam fishing! A few spots remain on the open-party trip, featuring the last of the lower spring prices.

Bill‘s sponsors and FishingVideos.com will give anglers numerous free items and prizes, including a brand new Accurate reel to the grand prizewinner and calendars, videos, Seaguar fluorocarbon, and Mustad hooks for everyone. Hats, jigs and other prizes will also be awarded.

This trip has time to visit Alijos Rocks, fish the biting bluefin and albacore and visit the famous Yellowtail Triangle at Cedros/Benitos. The skipper will make those destination decisions, of course; but possibilities are varied and fishing has started with a bang!

You can reach the boat at ExcelSportfishing.com or by phone at (619) 224-7493. Tell Betty or Kathy that Bill sent you!

Things have seldom looked so good for the sportfishing industry, as fish are biting from 100 to 1,000 miles south of San Diego. When Randy Toussaint docked his Royal Star Sunday morning he told Bill Roecker he’s seen bluefin from 100 to 300 miles south, coming and going on his eight-day trip. Even better, he said albacore popped up again yesterday.

Norm Kagawa brought Shogun home from another eight –day trip, and he also commented on the good scratch fishing he’d found. He said Cedros yellowtail were taking the surface iron well. His anglers looked to be nearly limited out.

Andy Cates brought the Red Rooster III in from the final big tuna trip of 2009-2010 (the Accurate “June Heat” expedition) with a totally unexpected load of cows, including three supercows. His reports were so played down he may have earned himself a new moniker, “Sandbagger.” It took a couple of hours just to weigh the cows.

The Holiday has a new owner. The Holiday was a boat many long rangers cut their big teeth on, and it was a Bill Poole boat, first known as the Polaris III. Tim Voaklander, the new owner-operator many remember as the former owner-operator of the Dolphin, known to most regular fishermen in the area as a purpose-built half-day boat also made by the late Bill Poole. Tim said he’d be running one and two-day trips. With Voaklander, clients can expect things to be shipshape and orderly.

Finally, fishing close to San Diego is picking up fast. Day and a half anglers are catching bluefin, and the fish are coming closer fast. Look for albies to show up with the shortfin soon. Yesterday, said New Lo-An owner-operator Markus Medak, he ended up with 54 bluefin of 18 to 25 pounds for 16 anglers; pretty sweet for the first day on the fish. He said they were swimming in 63-degree water.

Alijos Payoff

Randy Toussaint docked Royal Star and unloaded at Pt. Loma Sportfishing June 13 after an eight-day trip to Alijos and other points south. He had 25 anglers aboard.

“What’s good,” said Toussaint, “is that the open-water fish are in cooler water. That translates to a nice long season like we haven’t seen for many years. The albacore showed up down there yesterday.

“Alijos Rocks was great,” said Toussaint, “with lots of 40 to 50-pound tuna, and some bigger ones around, too.”

Mike Nagao of Whittier found a big one and it won him first place. Mike’s yellowfin weighed 97 pounds on the boat. He said he got it with a sardine on a 5/0 ringed Super Mutu hook tied to 50-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon and 65-pound Izorline Spectra on a Penn 12 T reel modified by Cal Sheets and a Calstar 765 L rod.

“I got him after a long soak,” commented Mike, who posed with a shiny albacore.

Bob Hiyane of Lancaster won second place for a 59-pound yellowfin. Tad Ladowicz of Palos Verdes won third place for a for a 58-pound tuna he bagged with a sardine on a 3/0 Mustad 9145 hook, 40-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon and 60-pound Line One Spectra on a new Accurate BX-2 500 reel and a Super Seeker 6470 rod.

John Stuemke of Ocean Beach had the trip’s best yellowtail. The 50-pounder ate a sardine on 40-pound line. The Star will be doing a couple of short trips next.



‘Gun Hits Three

Norm Kagawa took his 28 anglers on an eight-day trip to the offshore bluefin grounds, Alijos Rocks and Cedros Island. All three spots paid off for his anglers.

“It was good scratch fishing,” Kagawa remarked to dock reporter Bill Roecker.

John Dornellas of Templeton won first place for a 108.4-pound yellowfin tuna. He said it took a big mackerel on a 7/0 ringed Mutu hook. He tied the hook to 50-pound pink Yo-Zuri fluorocarbon and 80-pound Izorline Spectra on an Accurate BX-2 600 reel and a Calstar 700 XH rod.

“It was the last day,” said Dornellas, “so I tried a big greenback mackerel, and got bit after a long soak.”

Rusty DeChaine of Las Vegas won second place for an 84.4-pound tuna. He also won the Rollo Jackpot for a 47-pound yellowtail, his best ever. Elijah Johnson won third place for a 56.8-pound yellowfin tuna.



Big Bang End

The 2009-2010 big tuna season came to a close when Red Rooster III skipper Andy Cates slammed the door shut June 13 at H&M Landing. After an incredible 15-day Accurate June Heat trip with 23 anglers, Cates weighed in 42 yellowfin tuna over 200 pounds. Three of the fish were over 300 pounds. One other fish that taped well over 200 pounds was reported to gave been cut up for food during the trip.

Ken Barton of Sylmar had the biggest tuna, at 318 pounds.

“We had a battle of inertia,” remarked Ken, “a half-turn on the reel at a time.”

After some time, Ken passed the fish off, making it ineligible for the jackpot. He got it with a double sardine rig under the kite (kite fish were eligible), on 5/0 Super Mutu hooks on 130-pound Izorline and 130-pound Izor Spectra on a Penn 70 VS reel and a Calstar 6460 XXXH rod. The battle went an hour and 15 minutes.

Thad Peach of Stanley, NC won first place for a 305-pounder, a toad he decked in just a half-hour after it took a sardine on a 7/0- ringed Super Mutu hook tied to 130-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon. He said he used 130-pound Line One Spectra on an Avet 50 reel and a Super Seeker 6463 XXXH rod. He also had tuna of 2656 and 239.5 pounds.

Bill Walsh of Chino Hills won second place for his 302-pound tuna, and also won a new Accurate 50 H reel for the first 300-pounder of the trip caught on an Accurate. Walsh said he fished a sardine on a new Mustad 4X-rated perfect Circle 9/0 hook, tied to 130-pound Suffix and 130-pound Line One Spectra. He fished with an Accurate 80 reel and a Calstar 760 XXH rod, and also got tuna of 241, 223 and 219 pounds.

“The big one made two good runs and then went up to the bow and stayed there,” said Bill. “In an hour and a half, that’s where he came up.”

Sam Olson of Frederickson, TX won third place for a 298-pound yellowfin. He also got tuna of 250 and 202 pounds.

Brian Hayes of Palmdale got close to supercow status with a 296-pound tuna. He also got tuna of 279, 253, 251, 241 and 220 pounds, not bad for a guy on his first trip.

“I told him not to expect that again on his next trip,” said skipper Cates.

Hayes baited sardines on ringed Super Mutu hooks. He fished with 130-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon, 130-pound Line One Spectra, an Accurate 50 reel and a Calstar 770 XXH rod.

Joe Arimitsu of Simi Valley had three nice ones that weighed 266, 262 and 250.6 pounds.

Bud Mauerhan of Paradise bagged a dandy brace of yellowfin that weighed 263 and 258 pounds.

Robert Baker of Ft. Worth TX got one at 288.8 and one at 226 pounds. He fished double Trouble sardines on the kite on 10/0 Perfect Circle Mustad hooks tied to 130-pound Izorline and 130-pound Spectra on a Penn 80 reel and a Calstar 760 H rod.

His brother Jesse Baker of Culver City got a 275-pound fish in 45 minutes. He also got a 245.6 and a 225-pounder, on sardines and 6/0 Fuji hooks. He said he used 130-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon, 130-pound Line One Spectra, an Accurate 50 reel and a Calstar 770 XXH rod.

Richard Goka of Pinedale bagged a 271.5-pound yellowfin tuna.

Leo Reihsen of Graeagle found a 252-pounder with a sardine on a 6/0 ringed Mutu hook. He tied it to 130-pound pink Yo-Zuri fluorocarbon and 130-pound Izorline, backed with 130-pound Izorline Spectra on an Accurate 50 reel and a Calstar TSS rod. The fight went an hour and 20 minutes, said Leo.

Mike Butler of Sonoma took an hour to bag a 250-pound tuna, and then took one at 245 pounds. He fished a mackerel on a 10/0 Super Mutu ringed hook, tied to 130-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon and 130-pound Line One Spectra. He used an Avet 50 reel and a Seeker 6463 XXH rod.

Scotty Pomeroy of Montclair bagged a 240-pound tuna on a sardine and a 6/0 Gamakatsu hook. He said he used 130-pound Izorline and 130-pound Line One Spectra on a Penn 50 W reel and a Seeker 6463 XXXH rod.

Bob Michener of Oxnard took tuna of 227, 225 and 203 pounds.

“That gives me 42 cows on the Red Rooster,” said Bob, and one, my first one, on the Qualifier.”

Bob said he baited double sardines under the kite on the new Mustad Perfect Circle hooks in 8/0 size. He used pink Yo-Zuri fluorocarbon, 130-pound Izorline Spectra, an Accurate 80 W reel and a Seeker Black Steel 6463 XXXH rod.

Al Jackson of Buena Park took a 232 in a half-hour, and a 216-pounder. He got ‘em with mackerel on a Mustad Perfect Circle 9/0 hook on 130-pound Izorline and 130-pound Izor Spectra on as Penn 50 W reel and a Calstar 755 XXH rod.

Paul Oster of Mammoth Lakes took a 220-pound tuna.

Bob Cherry of Santa Monica had tuna of 214 and 210 pounds.

Bob Rubalcaba of San Diego caught a 213-pounder on a sardine and an 8/0 Eagle Claw hook. He fished with 130-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon and 130-pound Line One Spectra on an Avet reel modified by Ken’s Custom Reels and a Calstar 760 XXH rod. The fight went 45 minutes, he said.

Bluefin Biting For Day & ½ Boats

Early Saturday evening landings were reporting numerous boats with good catches of bluefin at 110 miles. Many were still fishing, several are due to dock Sunday morning.

Islander, out of Fisherman’s Landing, reported over 50 bluefin aboard this afternoon; so did Seaforth’s Legend and the Pt. Loma’s New Lo-An. H&M Landing said the Top Gun 80 was in the area also fishing on a day and a half. No albacore were reported.

Mark Pisano brought his Independence home to Pt. Loma Sportfishing June 12 after a six-day trip with chartermaster Rick Ozaki of West Coast Marketing and 30 other passengers. The trip went to open waters and Cedros Island.

Ozaki made the trip a rich one, with cash and merchandise prizes for nearly half the anglers aboard. There were rod and reel prizes for the top two albacore, bluefin and yellowtail, and a cash prize for the biggest yellowtail.

That award was complicated when two anglers shared it with a brace of yellows that weighed 37.2 pounds apiece, and then ended up in the regular jackpot as well.

“Fishing was very good,” said co-captain-owner Paul Strasser to dock reporter Bill Roecker. “Big yellows bit well on green swirl 7X and Tady 45 surface jigs.”

The trip’s best fish was a 42.8-pound bluefin caught by Stephen Paccione of Torrance. He said he got it with a sardine on a 1/0 ringed Mutu hook tied to 30-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon and 30-pound Izorline. He fished with an Avet MXL reel and a Super Seeker 6480 eight-foot rod, and brought the fish to gaff in 20 minutes.

Paccione also was involved with the yellowtail tie, as he caught a 37.2-pound yellowtail. The other 37.2-pound yellowtail was taken by Brian Atkinson of Hawthorne, and the men posed with their prize-winning fish.



Skiff Trip Tames Tuna

Qualifier 105, skippered by Joe Crisci on Barry Brightenburg’s annual Fish Trap expedition, returned from a week at sea with 22 anglers and a mixed load of inshore and offshore fish.

“It was my first time on a skiff trip,” said John Christianson, one of the owners of Pt. Loma Seafood and regular fisherman. “I had a blast! We were supposed to be bass fishing.


“We fished on day at Sacramento Reef in flat calm weather, and caught calico bass up to seven pounds. I did well with a new Shimano jig called a Wax Wing, on bass tackle with 65-pound Spectra, in eight to 10 feet of water. It was spectacular!

Then we went tuna fishing, after the skipper heard they were banging the fish outside. We found the bluefin and got about a hundred of them, and then got into a real ripper of an albacore bite, the kind where they’ll bite sardines on a gaff.

Then we went back in to Cedros Island for some good yellowtail fishing. That’s where Cappy got his big grouper.”

There was no jackpot on the trip. Morgan Promnitz and a few other Hobie Kayakers came on the trip and scored well from the big boat and from their Hobies inshore. Morgan posed with a good yellow and a bluefin in the 50-pound class. He had two of those.

The trip’s big fish was a broomtail grouper caught by the 105’s chef, Michael “Cappy” Capucetti. It was at first thought to be a world record. On the certified scales it came in at 101.4 pounds, short of the world mark of 114 pounds; a fish caught in 2007 by Mark C. Yang, aboard the Shogun. He was fishing for yellowtail at Cedros with 30-pound fluorocarbon. Chef Cappy got this one the same way, but with 50-pound line.

Capucetti got his broomtail on a sardine and a 3.0 ringed Mutu hook, on straight 50-pound Big Game line. He used an old Penn 113 H reel and a Calstar 760 rod.

“I was fishing for halibut,” said Michael, “when he bit, around 3:30 PM. I was on him for a half-hour and we had to chase him to the hole he got stuck in. Am I going to eat him? Hell yeah!”

Broomtail grouper used to be caught in San Diego, but it has been many years since the last one was reported. Grouper in general should be released by long range anglers, since the Mexican government has requested those and other big bottomfish be left for indigenous fishermen.

"After last night's bumpy ride," Shogun's Bruce Smith reported June 10, "we arrived at isla Cedros about 11:30 this morning. We made some drifts and caught plenty of school sized yellowtail, then in the afternoon Norman found some 'premium' grade yellows and the fun began! We lost at least as many as we hooked, they boiled up behind the boat and showed well at which point they annihilated the surface iron. These 'premiums' were all in the 30 to over 40 pound range!"



Star At The Big Island

“We arrived here at Cedros this afternoon,” said skipper Randy Toussaint aboard his Royal Star June 10, “after a bumpy ride up from the Rocks. Fishing yellows here in this beautiful lee is always a good time but we're especially thankful for it now with the poor weather offshore. We had one very good showing on the premium grade yellows with sheets of 30-pound-plus fish going through the corner looking like seals when they boiled.

“In spite of the show it was tough to get a bite, but we managed to put 12 aboard before they continued on their way. With more rugged weather in the forecast we're opting to spend the night here and concentrate on the yellows tomorrow. I was hoping to finish the trip in the offshore grounds fishing bluefin and albacore but the lack of coverage combined with the weather made it an easy decision to stay here at the island. A group shot today, showing off the nice grade of yellows we typically catch here at Cedros."



Fishing’s Good And Tough

“Today we woke up from a sleepless night,” wrote American Angler skipper Brian Kiyohara June 10, “to find ripping west current and 18 to 28 knots of NW wind. If anyone doesn't understand these conditions, believe me when I say that they are not good. We made the most of the situation because the fish were cooperating.

“We ended up with over 50 good sized tuna, topped off by Joe Rubio's 104-pound beauty (pictured). There were also some bonus yellowtail and some filler grade smaller tuna that went into the mix. The yellowtail department was led by Louis Velazquez who put his Catchy Tackle yoyo jig to work with several nice tuna and yellows, including a 50-pound trophy shown with Bobby Kiso, who did the gaffing honors.”



Homecoming Sunday

“We had a nice ride last night,” wrote Andy Cates aboard the Red Rooster III June 10. “And so far today it's not too bad. Actually, it's pretty nice out. We got things cleaned up this morning and ready to go. We will be in on Sunday and have some big fish to weigh up at the scale. Should be an exciting time for some of the anglers.  Weather outlook is fair with a great 72-hour forecast. We will report again tomorrow.”



Tuna Charters In PV

The Accurate Pro-Staff headed to Puerto Vallarta,” wrote Jack Nilsen June 10, “with hopes of connecting with yellowfin tuna. Jack Nilsen and Dave Fender fished with the Danny and Scotty Osuna aboard Dave Fender’s 47 ft. Great White. The Great White is a beautiful 47-foot Cabo owned by Dave, who is an Accurate Pro-Staffer.



“The Osuna Brothers are a real pleasure to fish with and I would recommend their “Marla Sportfishing” fleet of boats to any one who wishes to fish out of the Puerto Vallarta area.”

“We arrived down to the Stones in the early afternoon,” wrote Brian Kiyohara, skippering American Angler, on June 9.

“We saw pretty good sign of fish but it took us several anchor jobs to find the cooperative ones. Thankfully there was still some time left in the day to enjoy some steady scratch fishing. We caught a lot of fish in the 40 to 55-pound class as well as smaller fish 18 to 30 pounds. The standout tuna of the afternoon was caught by our own “Uncle Bill” Kuehl and with the help of Jordan they were able to pose with the beautiful 98-pound yellowfin tuna.

“We had the breeze come up today and with the current going straight up into it we are really starting to roll around but we are happily making the best of it.”



Afternoon Delight

“The morning bite never materialized again here at the rocks today,” noted Royal Star skipper Randy Toussaint June 9, “but our patience was finally rewarded this afternoon when this nice grade tuna got on us and started hitting.

“We put 60 fish in the hatch from 30 to 60 pounds by 1800 and decided to bid the rocks a fond farewell and start working back up the line. Our weather is deteriorating so we're looking forward to a couple days fishing yellows at Cedros in a flat calm lee. Today's shot shows Capt Brian Sims with an average Alijos yellowfin tuna gaffed for Bill Goodwin.”



“Started On The Bank”

“It’s been a good trip so far,” said the report from Shogun June 8, “and today was no exception.

“We started on the bank and made a couple of long drifts picking at 40 pound yellowfin tuna, 30 to 40 pound yellowtail and a few nice deep water grouper. Once that dried up it was back to the rocks proper where we continued, as yesterday, to keep one to four fish going the whole afternoon on good grade tuna. The wind is perking up a little bit, but it is still good fishing weather.”

“Up until yesterday there have been decent shots of albacore,” said Brian Kiyohara aboard the American Angler June 8, “as reports of good schools were the norm. Today was a different story as our two counterparts that were on scene at daylight saw very little sign of fish. Lucky for us the fish popped in the afternoon, which coincided with our arrival.

“There were small spots of bluefin boilers up showing and we were able to pick a few off most of the spots. We were fortunate enough to use our limited time on the grounds to put 65 bluefin on the boat. Shown in today's picture is David O'halloran with the trip's toughest fish to catch (the first one). Between the three of us there were only three albacore caught as everyone's imagination was tested about the whereabouts of our longfin quarry.”



Offshore Start

“Here is an update for the last few days of fishing,” remarked Mark Pisano aboard his Independence June 8, “we started the trip offshore and had good fishing for bluefin tuna and albacore. The fish only bit late in the afternoon both days. We are now headed to fish yellowtail for a couple of days, as the winds are forecast to pick up offshore. We will check back in a couple of days with our yellowtail report.”



Kayakers Aboard For Tuna

“Wow, what a great day we have had!” said the report from Qualifier 105 June 7. “It was a couple of hours after sunrise when we found our first school of the day, straight bluefin tuna. We stopped the Q105 on a sonar mark, immediately hooking the boat with bluefin.  We were extremely busy, full speed, fun fishing. 

“Our first stop was good sign, a nice school of fish, but as the day went on we saw huge spots of fish and biting fish to boot.  It wasn't long before we had to fire up a well for frozen fish; our fresh well was filling fast.  The guys have had an excellent day of tuna fishing. Albacore were mixed in good numbers and we had bluefin in the 50-pound range on a couple of stops. Today’s picture is a few of the guys with some of those fish. For all the anglers catching tuna on a skiff trip was a big bonus!

“Most of the day was spent angling. Only for short periods would we be looking around before another school was located.  Wide open on the corner a couple times and we were able to fish heavy gear; John Christianson of Point Loma Seafoods landed five or six fish in a matter of minutes. The guys all helped each other catch fish. One of the great things about long-range fishing is anglers helping other anglers. Tomorrow we will be back at Cedros Island for a shot at those big yellows.”



Rooster Winds It Up

“Good evening folks,” wrote Red Rooster III skipper Andy Cates June 8. “We had another good day today with some big fish to show for our efforts. With the end of the trip now the focus is on the weather up above. We have had flat calm weather the entire trip and worried we will pay for it on the way home.”

The Rooster’s last trip of the 2009-2010 big tuna season will dock at H&M Landing Sunday, June 13. Her usual docking time is nine AM.



Guadalupe Resolution May Be Close

“Pertaining to Guadalupe, and the present status of the 2010 season, I know this,” wrote Royal Star skipper Tim Ekstrom June 9. “We (the SAC fleet) have permits to fish the big island in hand for 2010. But, we are still working to resolve an issue with the immigration department in Ensenada. This issue has been long standing, has been the root of our difficulties gaining uninterrupted access to Guadalupe, and is the result of a multitude of financial and political factors.

“I can tell everyone that I feel more confidence in the process than ever before as our SAC director Ken Franke has made quantum leaps in developing positive relationships south of the border. This is not an easy issue to resolve, and has festered for several years, much to the chagrin of those of us who have been denied access to the amazing outside island in the past. I believe now that we are on the right track heading for a long-term solution to the benefit of all user groups at Guadalupe. On a percentage basis, I hesitate to stick my neck out. Based on recent conversations with the director however, I would offer that we are in position to get this thing resolved soon. The most important component of the equation - permission to fish at the island, is in hand.”



Likes “Hurricane ‘Hoos”

“Hey Paul, that is some pretty good wahoo fishing and catching on bait and stuff. Keep those DVDs coming!” Kenny T.  (by email June 8, 2010)

"We had good fishing here at Alijos Rocks," read the Shogun report June 7. "The yellowfin ranged in size from 20 to 50 pounds, while some of the yellowtail hit the 35-pound mark. Most of the tuna came on the fly lined sardine with a 3/0 Mutu Owner circle hook attached to 40-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon. The yellowtail were more associated with the bottom or mid-layer depths and the most productive techniques were a dropper loop, yo-yo jig (Salas 6X) or a two-ounce slider above your hook on 40 to 60-pound mono."



Bassers Head To Open Water

“It was a 'basstastic' day on the Q 105,” said the report from Qualifier 105 June 7. “We started our skiff fishing today at Sac Reef. The weather was about as nice as you could ask for, light wind and overcast to keep us from overheating in the sun. It was not wide-open bassing but it was steady, nothing under three pounds was the norm. A lot of fish in the five to seven-pound range and few over eight. Skiff driver Tim had one at 8.5 in the kelp, and we have a couple kayak guys with us, Jared Lane, Morgan Promnitz and cameraman Jeff Fortuna are here making a video for Hobie. These guys are great fisherman and they had a blast. They were able to get up next to the reef and had 3 fish over 8 pounds!

"Barry Brightenburg spent the day in the skiff and we all used his swim baits today. The fish were very hungry for the swim baits, any color seemed to be working as the fish are up in kelp and react when they see one going by. Barry also is representing Shimano and has some demo gear that a few of the guys are using to fish for the bass. Tomorrow, a bonus for the skiff trip; we are going to spend a day off shore looking for Albacore and Blue fin tuna. The gang wants to go out and spend a day."



Skipper Finds A Bluefin

Tim Ekstrom doesn’t get much chance to fish, since he stays busy finding the critters most of the time. When he has found ‘em he usually has to spend his time assisting anglers, gaffing fish and seeing to the proper operation of the boat and its equipment.

But when Tim skippered his latest Royal Star trip he took a moment to grab a sardine and take it up to the bow during a bluefin bite.

“I made one cast off the bow,” he said to dock reporter Bill Roecker, “with one bait, and I got bit!”

Ekstrom was fishing with a borrowed rig, an Accurate 870 two-speed reel and a matching Accurate seven-foot rod. He got the fish and weighed it in on the ship’s scales a 67.5 pounds. If he’d been eligible to compete for the jackpot the fish would have won second place on the trip, since it was beaten only by a 110-pound Alijos Rocks yellowfin, caught a lot farther south than the bluefin.

Asked what he thought of the gear, Tim said, “The reel was blanking awesome! It was flawless, the cranking power and torque in the reel were incredible. When I took the fish back to the stern all the guys were expressing their amazement about my fishing skill by catching a big one right in the middle of all the 20 to 25-pounders they were catching. But you and I know it was just luck, right?”

Sam Patella brought his American Angler home to Pt. Loma Sportfishing June 7 after a fine eight-day trip to Alijos and offshore points south. The trip was a Sport Chalet charter with 25 anglers and chartermaster Brad LeMoine.

The big fish was a 106.5-pound yellowfin from Alijos, caught by Joe Ferris of Carlsbad. The catch also included plenty of bluefin and albacore.

“I knew he was heavy right away,” said Ferris to dock reporter Bill Roecker, “when he took off around the corner and went straight down. Mostly we were up and down the starboard side. He took me over the anchor line five or six times and he came up midship.”

Ferris hooked his winner on a sardine and a 2/0 Owner J hook tied to 40-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon and 40-pound Izorline with 65-pound Line One backing on his Avet LX 6-3 reel and a seven-foot Graftech rod.

Dave Klein of San Ramone won second place for a 63-pound yellowfin. He caugfht that fish onb a blue and white Salas 6X, he said, and two other tuna as well.

“I’ve never had tuna eat the jig so well before,” he remarked. Larry Knupp of Whittier got third place for a 60-pound Alijos yellowfin tuna he brought in on 30-pound line.



The Last School Bit

Intrepid returned from a three-day trip June 7 under skipper Kevin Osborne’s hand. She tied up at Pt. Loma Sportfishing and the best of the catch was weighed on the certified scales there. Marcus Chua chartermastered the Bloodydecks.com expedition.

“We made a long run for seven hours of fishing,” commented Osborne. “We got on three schools, and the last one bit. It was a very large school and we got a great catch of mixed bluefin and albacore. The weather was beautiful and the fishing was mostly with sardines on 30 and 40-pound line. Jig fishing was good, too, on blue and chrome iron.”

Chartermaster Chua said, “The skipper stuck his neck out. He found ‘em and we put the wood to ‘em. Most of the charter were members; I’ve been with Bloodydecks.com since 2005.”

Albacore took the top two spots in the jackpot, barely putting out some of the better bluefin. Mike Doshard of La Canada won first place for a 34-pound longfin, He said it bit a sardine on a 3/0 Gamakatsu hook tied to 25-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon and 60-pound Blackwater Spectra. He fished with a Trinidad 16 reel and a custom six and a half-foot Calstar rod.

Ray Arnett of Alpine won second place for a 33.6-pound albie, and Brian Dolster of Monrovia took third place with a 32.8-pound bluefin tuna.



Star’s Off And Running

"We got our latest eight-day voyage off to a great start this afternoon,” wrote Royal Star skipper Randy Toussaint June 6, “with a full rack bite on beautiful 20 to 30-pound albacore and a handful of 25-pound bluefin. After catching our daily limit on the albies and seeing a lack of bluefin, we left them biting and continued our southern trek to Alijos where we'll arrive tomorrow around 1300. Hopefully we can pick up where Tim left off and spend a few days down here catching quality tuna and yellows before working back up the line.”

“We had excellent fishing for all species,” remarked Vagabond owner-operator Mike Lackey at the Pt. Loma Sportfishing scales June 6. He was just back from an eight-day trip to Alijos Rocks and offshore waters some 300 miles south, with 18 anglers.

“Our first albacore stop was for 46 fish,” continued Lackey, and we caught a yellowfin mixed in with the albacore.”

Tony Winicki of Oceanside won first place for a 58.8-pound bluefin tuna. He said he got it with a sardine on a 4/0 Mustad 94150 hook tied to 40-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon, 30-pound Izorline and 50-pound Power Pro Spectra. He fished with a Penn 535 reel and a Calstar 858 XH rod, and brought the tuna to the boast in 15 minutes.

Tim Ramsden of Arlington, WA won second place for a 57.6-pound Alijos yellowfin. Charles Eng of Montebello won third place for a 55.8-pound yellowfin.



“Incredible Fish down There”

Excel returned to Fisherman’s Landing June 6 under Justin Fleck’s hand, after a five-day trip with 17 mostly new anglers that found good weather and good fishing to match.

“There’s incredible fish down there,” Fleck said to dock reporter Bill Roecker. “It really looks good for the oncoming season. We found lots of bluefin and albacore in little pockets of warm water from 180 miles on down. We found good fishing and good weather everywhere.

“We saw plenty of albacore in large and small sizes. The little ones were eight to 14 pounds, but we didn’t keep them. Everything’s moving up this way, maybe in a week or two they’ll be in range for day boats or day and a half boats.”

T.M. Hardie of Fredricksburg, TX won first place for a 63-pound bluefin. He said he bagged his biggie on a sardine and a 3/0 Musatd hook tied to 40-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon, 40-pound Izorline and 65-pound Power Pro Spectra on a Trinidad 40 reel and an unknown rod.

Corky Elliott of Costa Mesa won second place for a 48.9-pound bluefin, and Mike Mason of Redondo Beach won third place for a 39.8-pound albacore, best so far for the new season.



“Time To Go Fishing”

Jeff DeBuys docked Independence at Pt. Loma Sportfishing June 6 after a great seven-day trip with 29 anglers.

“It was good in many places,” he said, smiling. “It’s time to go fishing! We got all we needed in 64-degree water. We saw some small bait, and we got a yellowfin in with the bluefin.”

Thor VanHorn of Tustin won first place for a 55.8-pound bluefin. He took the shortfin with a sardine on a new 4/0 Owner Offshore hook tied to 40-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon, 40-pound Izorline and 80-pound Line One Spectra on an Avet HX reel and a Seeker 6465 XH rod.

Marty Brutlag of Quincy won second place for a 55.6-pound yellowfin, and Joe Schilling of Panama got third place for his 55.2-pound bluefin tuna.

“This is the fourth straight trip I’ve finished in the money,” remarked Dave Hensley of Ontario at Fisherman’s Landing as dock reporter Bill Roecker took his photo again.

“This fish took me an hour and a half to bring in,” he continued. “He was busy.”

Hensley took first place for his 110-pound yellowfin on the eight-day trip skippered by Royal Star’s Tim Ekstrom, who filed numerous reports on the venture over the past week.

Dave said he baited a sardine on a 4/0 ringed Super Mutu hook for his big tuna, and he fished with 50-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon leader and 50-pound Izorline tied to 65-pound Line One Spectra on an Avet LX reel and a Turner’s seven-foot rod.

Fishing was very good at Alijos and offshore, where Ekstrom’s 23 anglers got all the yellowfin, bluefin, albacore and yellowtail they needed. Nice weather was a bonus.

Kemper Shaw of Hermosa Beach was second for a 65-pound yellowfin. John Pasmakian of Glendale won third place for a 60.5-pound bluefin tuna. That fish wasn’t available for a dock shot, so he posed with a bluefin just a bit smaller.

There was a tie between Chris Furman of Rifle, CO and Jim Babbitt of Boise, ID, with both men bringing in 59-pound yellowfin. The Star left again on another eight-day trip the same afternoon, with Randy Toussaint at the helm.



Eight-Day Kayak Extravaganza

The annual Big Hammer trip returned to Pt. Loma Sportfishing June 5 after visiting Cedros and Benitos islands. Skippered by Joe Crisci and chartermastered by Brian Kettler of Santa Barbara, the Q-105 carried six kayaks and three skiffs for the bassing expedition.

Bass fishing was epic, said Tyler Barnes of Long Beach, who thought he’d caught and released some 250 bass on the trip. Like many of the small boat anglers, he also caught some bigger fish. In Barnes’ case several yellowtail and a nice white seabass graced his take-home catch.

“I got the white on a red flake Robo,” he said, “on 40-pound Seaguar. Both fish came in after about ten minutes, and both of ‘em were in the kelp.

“My braid (Spectra) did a good job of cutting the stringers, especially with the yellowtail. I got the yellow on a white Robo with a red head.”



New Tackle Store’s Doing Well

Doug Kern has been managing the Fisherman’s Landing Tackle store for the last 20 years or so. Now he has a brand new, bigger place of business at the head of the dock. Bill Roecker asked Kern what’s been moving during these first few weeks of being open.

“Iron jigs move well here in the spring and summer,” noted Doug, “that’s a San Diego tradition. That’s also the time we sell a lot of jig sticks, particularly the nine and 10-footers. We also do a lot of reel repair and fill-ups.

“Summer season is usually best for sales of new rods and reels, especially for nearshore and offshore fishing and the shorter trips we make then, up to eight days or so.”

Rolling From The Stones

“We rolled up from the Stones after a great day of fishing,” said American Angler skipper Sam Patella June 4, “and we were just hoping to get a feel for the water and scratch at a few fish. When we arrived up in the 300-mile zone, we zigged and zagged a few miles and started to see a little bit of sign here and there.

“Late in the day things started to come together with a few Bluefin and a few Albacore. Around 5:00 PM the ocean floated with those Fatso Albacore and we were in em. There really isn't much more to say. The weather is flat calm and the fishing was Epic. We are heading in to Cedros to play around and enjoy the Island before we head home.”



Big X finds Big BFT

“We had another fantastic day offshore in grease calm weather! The albacore and bluefin were on the bite, eating everything that we threw at them. The weapons of choice ranged from fly lined sardines, yoyo iron, surface irons, and even poppers.

“There were signs of bigger bluefin up to 75 pounds. Since we’ve got all the tuna fish that we can handle, we are now heading south to fish the Islands to give it a try for fork tails.”



Good News & Great News

“Captain Jeff Debuys called in with a fantastic report from the offshore grounds,” noted Independence owner Mark Pisano for partner Paul Strasser and manager Judy Collins June 4. “First, the good news: the weather is very, very nice. Secondly, the fish made a good Jump to the north toward San Diego and are now within easy three-day range of the Point, inside the 200 mile mark!

“Now the great news, and I quote: ‘fishing does not get any better in any ocean, this fishing is very reminiscent of the mid 90's.’ The guys had an excellent day on both the albacore and bluefin tuna most of which are in the 20 to 30-pound range. They did land eight standout bluefin that were 50 to 65 pounds as well. By day’s end it was catch and release fishing, and off to the coast to finish the trip.

“This would be a good time to call your favorite boat and schedule a trip, fishing looks epic as the season continues. Our next trip with openings is a seven-day trip on July 9th, this is a great group to fish with. The price includes Mexican permits. Many long range boats have openings on select trips as well. I am really excited to be on the next trip with Rick Ozaki and the gang from Westcoast marketing departing this Sunday on the annual yellowtail/offshore shoot-out. For those of you going, plan on doing some offshore albacore/bluefin fishing as well as the yellowtail fishing we normally do on this trip.”

While May had only one or two boats out fishing, they found a good bite in rough weather. June is a whole different animal. At least eight boats are on the water now, and seven will be arriving at the San Diego long range landings Saturday through Monday. Fishing at Alijos and in the offshore zone about as far as 300 miles south has very good, and at least some of the boats have all the yellowfin, bluefin, albacore and yellowtail they need. Expectations are high for the Cedros/Benitos area as well, and bass fishing has been outstanding there, as it usually is. If you’ve been waiting for the bite to begin, it has! Better jump on a boat while there are still spots, because it’s on.

The Good Life

Skipper Sam Patella says his American Angler passengers are living the good life, in good weather. Here’s his report for June 3:

“I would have to say it didn't look right at daylight and yesterday's Hot spot was cold as Ice. Well, it wouldn't be right if we didn't have to work for it, now would it? After having to do some of that Skipper stuff with a whole different day and current conditions, we hit it Big. By 8:30 in the a.m. it was five to eight going on yellowfin and yellows for a few hours and we made Hay while the Sun was shining.

“The photo of the day is Dave with one many fish today; nice yellows, they’ve been getting em on the 6x Salas. We are going to run back up and fish the Offshore scene tomorrow and take it from there.”



Biting Tuna

“Our morning started out a little on the slow side,” reported Excel skipper Justin Fleck June 2, “with just a few bluefin for our efforts. However, the afternoon was as good as I’ve seen it in a long time. Both albacore and bluefin showed up to the party and we stayed busy all the way into the dark.

“One of the cool things about this trip is that there are a lot of new guys on here that have never been on a long range trip. To see the smiles on their faces and the appreciation that they have for the job that our crew does during a great tuna bite is one of the reasons I love my job.”



Indy’s Rockin’ It

“Another good day of fishing with about a 50/50 mix of yellowfin tuna and yellowtail. The fish are the same grade that has been around lately 40 to 50 pounds on the tuna and 20 to 40 pounds on the yellowtail. The weather again was very good all day. We are headed north and plan to fish offshore for our last full day of fishing. It looks like the guys did well there today. The signs of fish in several areas are very good for this and the upcoming trips. It's time to go fishing and we have two spots on our seven-day trip later in the month and seven spots on the tuna turner charter. It's the chance to get in this incredible action. Call Judy at 619-226-6006.”



Bigger Fish For Rooster

“Good evening folks,” wrote Red Rooster III skipper Andy Cates June 3. “Another tough day with only 15 tuna for the day. Only thing was they were a little better size: 80 to 120 pounds with a 140 and a 180 mixed in. So maybe tomorrow. The weather is great and we are enjoying that. These are long days with this slow fishing.”



Picking Out The Produce

“Our final full day was akin to going to the fishing super market,” wrote Royal Star skipper Tim Ekstrom June 3. “Drive up, get out of the car, head inside, grab a cart, and commence walking the aisles loading up as you go. Even with pacing ourselves, we were done on bluefin by about 1600 then spent the remainder of the day doing our best to avoid them exclusively targeting albacore. It was a difficult task. Almost every time we stopped the boat on albacore, the bluefin showed up again. They were very prolific, and very eager. The vast majority were 20 to 25 pounds, with a few 30s and 40s, and a few handfuls of real standouts in the 50 to 65-pound class. Flat calm weather didn't hurt either. Suffice to say that every angler on board is presently on cloud nine. They certainly earned it.

“Our final day will be spent in search mode then we will call it and head up the line in preparation for a 0600 arrival at Fisherman's Landing on Saturday. If any of you have every wondered about how a beautiful load of RSW fish appears, Saturday is a fantastic opportunity to find out. Photo today features long range veteran Keith Bridges and crewman Greg Tanji with Keith's 50 pound dandy.”

New FishingVideos.com DVD Finished

Fishing for Wahoo & Big Tuna On Q-105 At Hurricane Bank

Hot rail action on the Hurricane Bank in this prequel to the very popular “300-Pound Tuna!” This video is stuffed with info to help anglers catch bigger tuna and wahoo. Technical angler Gary Teraoaka shows how to straighten a wire wahoo leader and how to thread a big tuna leader to Spectra for smooth as silk casting and the extreme strength required to take giant yellowfin.

Accurate Jack Nilsen gives the lowdown on how to fish the kite, and shows how to finish a big tuna. Here’s plenty of wild action on skinnies and tuna, and host Bill Roecker has tips for baitfishing both. You’ll see the anticipation of the bite, leaping wahoo, the tension of bringing big fish to gaff, and the latest deep jigging techniques with knife jigs. Catch the electric action and the excitement of fishing on the Hurricane Bank, one of the most remote and productive long range fishing spots in the world!

“Yesterday when we arrived, it was for the most part an afternoon-type of a day,” wrote Sam Patella aboard American Angler June 2, “and so today, guess what happened. Yep you got it - Morning time. We all thought and planned on the big push that never came late in the day. Go figure.

"Anyway, we had a good day on Yellowfin and Yellowtail regardless of what time during the day we caught them.

"The photos of the day are anglers Joe with the Jackpot of the trip so far and a beautiful yellow. We are going to hang tuff for another day and see what surprise we get in the morning.”



Bluefin & Albies

“The guys had another good day on the bluefin and albacore,” said the report from Independence June 1. “The weather has been flat calm for the last two days which has been key to the good offshore fishing. With an excellent start to the trip they are headed south and will be at the stones (Alijos Rocks) tomorrow to mix things up a bit with hopefully some of that good grade yellowfin and yellowtail.”

Skipper Jeff DeBuys talked with WON's Brandon Hayward by telephone from 250 miles. “We logged 100 fish on the bluefin the first day to go with 50 albacore that were those nice, big jumbos,” said DeBuys.



Day-5 Big Hammer Swimbaits Eight-day

“Another great day here on the Q. We were able to fish the weather side of Cedros today. It was a nice change, the weather was fantastic and the fishing was as well. First thing, the bass were all over anything thrown at them. They had probable never seen a boat or any kind of artificial baits so they were easy to catch. Lots of big fish also, a five-pound bass was common today. No yellows today but the bait in the water would indicate some yellows around soon.


“We will be over at Benitos tomorrow and that can be an awesome place. There is a small fishing village on the island and we are spending the night in calm water there. We had some rib eye steaks for dinner with twice baked potatoes that were about as good as it gets!

“Our pictures today are the kayak gang, Scott Mckay, Dave Klein, Bob Falkenberg, Kenny Andorfer, and Mike Sapp after the afternoon run waiting to be picked up. Scott and Bob said ‘the funniest fishing ever out in the kayak’s’ and both these guys have done a ton of kayak fishing so that will tell you something. Also a picture of Joshua Gerson with a five-pound bass, one of many he landed today. As far as the fish go, all the bass are released unharmed to be hooked another day.”



Rooster’s First Report

“We started off a little on the down side today,” wrote Andy Cates from Red Rooster III June 2. He is on the annual June Heat trip, the last long trip of the big tuna season. “We had 25 tuna from 50 to 90 pounds. Not too bad on the sharks but really not all that great all around. Although we have had worse, that's for sure. The weather is great and we are hoping for some bigger fish tomorrow.”

“We arrived here just before lunch and things were a little on the slow side,” said Sam Patella’s report from American Angler June 1, “so we made the full tour down here and by mid afternoon things began to wake up and we had some fair scratch fishing before the sun went over the horizon.

“The photos of the day are Richard and Bill with some of the fish their fish of the day. We are just getting this trip started so we hope things get going early in the morning.”



Big Hammer Day four

“Sorry about no report yesterday,” wrote Tim Walker for Qualifier 105. “I was busy catching bass with a couple of the guys last night. They were biting in 120 feet of water until about 1 AM. We started at the south end of Cedros with good weather and birds flying around up in the bay we were in. It didn't take long for the first fish to be hooked. We hooked yellows up to 47 pounds in the skiffs. The guys on the kayaks whacked the bass. The yellows were in shallow, chasing small bait fish and were willing to play for about 3 hours.


“Fighting these things in the skiffs is about as fun as it gets, one fish going one way and another on someone else’s line going the other. Sometimes the skiffs just spins in circles around with a fish pulling you. In the afternoon, we moved to the lee to avoid the wind that had picked up. We found some yellows around there as well, all big ones. As far as standouts, Our own Allan Faye was with Rick Lyse and Tyler Barnes for the afternoon and they had limits of yellows in the skiffs!

“For Monday we moved to the north end for some kelp calico fishing. That worked out nice as the bass up in the kelp can also be pretty fun. I think most of the guys had around 10 to 25 big bass for the morning run. The late morning guys did about the same. The kayaks did well also. They were even catching them on jerk baits. A nice bonus for today was Allan and Tyler catching white seabass up to almost 30 pounds. They were nice enough to donate them for dinner and chef Chris made it happen for all. Thanks guys.

“We are around on the 'weather side' tonight in flat calm water and are hoping to skiff fish in some kelp tomorrow that is in an area that as far as we all know has never had any fishing done from the skiffs. A couple pics for today, one is Mike Golden with a nice 5.5-pound bass, and one of the boat as we pulled in for lunch.”

Star’s Working North

“So the pace changes tomorrow,” wrote Tim Ekstrom aboard his Royal Star June 1,”as we focus one day on the coast before continuing the northerly trek to resume fishing offshore. I mentioned above that there are some very exciting developments, and incredibly rapid changes occurring all over this ocean consistent with this time of year.

“Both bluefin tuna and albacore appear to be expanding by the minute as this now four-day stretch of flat calm weather has opened the door for the flood to begin. And begin it has. Best said get ready. From what I know right now I would not be surprised to see a good showing of 15 to 25-pound bluefin and a sprinkling of albacore within the range of the local fleet in the next couple of weeks; perhaps even sooner.

“We are ready, and will join the effort for our final two days in an attempt to end this voyage on the perfect note. There is nothing like topping off an already fine catch of yellowfin tuna and yellowtail with albacore and bluefin tuna on the way up the line. It is a picture perfect example of what these late spring/early summer eight-day voyages are about.

“Photo for the day features angler Joe Cavallaro, with Capt. Brian Sims, in a magazine style image with his trophy Alijos yellowtail.”

“We left yesterday on our annual Sport Chalet eight-day,” noted the report from the Angler May 31, “and so today we spent most of the day traveling down the line, but did manage and make some stops and catch a few bluefin and a couple handfuls of early season albacore to break up the ride. Tomorrow we will arrive at the Stones and get the party started. The weather is forecast to be nice in the near future and we hope the fishing is as well.”



Indy Scores Heading South

May 31 report: "Jeff called in on the first day to report, and went on to say that everyone onboard really enjoyed an afternoon of non-stop action for both albacore and bluefin. The fish are in the 20 to 30 pound range with a few stand outs up to 40. The weather is very nice and they plan on spending the night and try it again tomorrow. Thanks for checking in on us and wish us lots of luck, The Indy gang."

“We departed on the first seven-day trip of the year with Rick Wipple's group,” said the report from Independence May 30, “after taking on a great bunch of sardines the boat is back on the road headed south in good weather. The Vagabond had over 100 albacore for the day on Sunday, the plan is to be there Monday afternoon and give that (albacore fishing) a look on the way down. Things are starting to look good for a great season of offshore fishing, stay tuned for more on the trip.”



Big Hammer Eight-Day

“It's Saturday (May 28) and we are just about to Sacramento reef,” reported Tim Walker aboard the Qualifier 105. “We are hoping to get the skiffs in the water for a couple of runs this morning. We departed San Diego about 1 pm yesterday with our skiffs and a few kayaks also. The gang is ready for some big calico bass and hopefully a few yellows also. These trips are about as fun as it gets. The bass can be fast and furious. Fishing from the skiffs, we are always keeping an eye open for any birds or fish we see and will b-line it to get to them before they go down. Last year on this trip we had some Yellowtail fishing that was about as good as it gets.

“We have a few guys on board that were reading our reports last year and that is why they are here. For the guys that were here last year but could not make it I'm sure they are bummed. One of the guys was Rob Belloni who has a web site, Calfishing.com. It's a great site for all your California fishing info. Also our sponsor for this trip Big Hammer Swim Baits owner Pete Wolfe could not make it, he has made this trip for many years and is busy with work. Thanks for sending your guy Brian Kettler to hook all our anglers up with your great swim baits. All the gang got goodie bags and spent the day yesterday rigging them up.”



On The Way Down

“We made a couple of stops and caught a handful of albacore,” said Andy Cates, Red Rooster III skipper May 30. “We caught enough for dinner tomorrow night and continued on down. The potential of the area looked pretty good. We never used any bait so it was hard to gauge what could have been. Nonetheless, sign of Longfin. Another long Range boat in the area had stops as well and will hopefully end up with a nice day. We are anxious to see how he ends up. The weather is nice and we are still looking for hopefully more sign of fish as we head down.”



Fishathon’s On

“An all day fishathon would best describe the setting,” observed Royal Star skipper Tim Ekstrom May 31, “as we enjoyed flat calm weather and good catching on 35 to 60-pound yellowfin with a sprinkling of yellowtail in the mix. The standout feature by far was the surface showing around the boat, as the tuna were in a feeding pattern ideal for topwater presentations. The poppers, stick baits, chuggers, and of course standard surface irons all produced consistently with epic blowouts the norm for the guys employing these methods.

"With the present pace we are on, it is likely that one more day will fulfill our objective at Alijos. Though it is always difficult to leave good potential behind, we can rest assured that we received our share of the action. The old days of behaving like the proverbial weasel in the hen house are past. We are rapidly approaching the moment of practicing what we endorse by moving on and leaving it to the next guys on their way down.

"We still have some catching to do before we blast off in search of the next species. Regardless of what we put on board here tomorrow we are in good shape. This has been very good fishing. Based on all indications, it promises to be good fishing for plenty more trips to come.

“The question, ‘is it always like this?’ has been made. My answer: ‘I wish it was.’ This is good fishing.”



Wantin' Wahoo Action

“Greetings Bill, Anxiously awaiting Hurricane Hoos. So much footage of tuna out there. Evidently no one takes the time to video wahoo action. (Who in their right mind would pass up the fishin')? Can you give me a heads up when video is ready. Mrs. Roecker told me, "any day now". P.S. My fishing buddies back here on the Niagara River can't believe I was talking to Bill Roecker. Tight lines to you!” Tom B. (by email, June 1, 2010)