Jeff DeBuys docked Independence August 31 after a five-day Tuna Trackers trip with 22 anglers and chartermaster Al Frink of Newport Beach aboard.

“We found good yellowtail fishing,” said Jeff. “September will be resurrection month for offshore fishing. The tuna scene is looking good, with the right kind of water structure. We ended up with about ¾ limits of yellows and about four around on the 18-pound class bluefin. We also had 16 yellowfin and a couple of albacore.”


“The skipper maximized what we had,” said chartermaster Frink. “He made our trip successful, and I’m speaking from the heart.”

There was no jackpot. Mike Bonderson of Simi Valley had one of the two albacore, a nice, fat 32.3-pounder.

“I got him on a sardine,” said Mike. “I hooked him up on the bow and fought him for about 10 minutes, and he came up there, too..”

Bonderson said he used a 3/0 Eagle Claw J hook on 20-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon leader tied to 50-pound Line One Spectra on an Avet SX reel and a Calstar 800 ML rod.

“I got some real nice yellowtail on surface jigs,” added Bonderson. “I fished those with a Super Seeker Ulua and a Newell 533 narrowed to 522, mostly on 7X jig in sardine swirl. You could pretty much get all you wanted, throwing to boils and birds.”



“Fish On The Brain”

“Having enjoyed a beautiful night out of the wind,” said the report from American Angler August 30, “we woke up this morning with fish on the brain. With tough conditions and trying to be patient, we were able to focus, set the anchor down and get to work. A nice steady pace on yoyo jigs and fly line baits kept us busy ‘til lunch giving us a nice start to our day on 16-25lb yellowtail. Making a short southerly afternoon scenery change, we were able to pick up some premium yellows to complete our day.

“Getting some of the sweat off, we are going to spend another night in the lee and hope to finish the job tomorrow.”



Unwelcome Change

“Things didn't quite work out like we had hoped for today,” read the report from Polaris Supreme August 29. “With the decent sign of fish we saw yesterday we never in our wildest dreams would've thought today would've ended up like it did. But, if there is one guarantee in fishing it's that things are guaranteed to change...and they did. We awoke this morning to find that the weather also did a complete 180 from yesterday with a stiff breeze and a following swell to go along with it. We saw sign right from the get-go when we began fishing and first thing this morning we boated a couple nice tuna in the 50-pound class.

“Then all of a sudden, it died. No sign whatsoever. Where they went, we don't know. They're probably just down with the weather up, that's our best guess. We did scratch up a couple handfuls of wahoo this morning and a couple of anglers landed their first ever skin (congrats) but all in all, it wasn't enough to keep us around to finish out the day.

“Right around lunchtime we decided to point the bow towards greener pastures (hopefully) and give this place a day or so to regroup not only fish-wise but weather-wise as well. On our travels today, we came across a few kelp patties that were either holding "fly-swatter" dorado or nothing at all. Our weather is a tad bit rolly but it's definitely manageable.”



Ideal Day

"We had very good morning action on 18 to 25-pound yellowtail,” said the Royal Star report for August 29, “followed by a perfect afternoon scratch on "primos." A more ideal day of yellowtail angling, complimented by the flat calm conditions we have become so accustomed to around the islands, could not be found. We are ecstatic. Not only about our day of angling either; reports from the offshore grounds indicate big happenings relative to the past four weeks. A revival perhaps? The beginning of a September to remember? We'll see. For now at least we are heading in the right direction. Quality, 30 to 50-pound yellowfin, decent grade bluefin, and a smattering of 'fatso', 25 to 35-pound albacore are on our bow. At least, they were today.


“With sufficient yellowtail in the hatch we are heading out regardless. Regardless of the fish, regardless of the weather. Oh well. There are those inevitable times when the tab comes due. We are paying right now. Pocket change though. This is not bad at all. Plenty of bumpin' and jumpin' as we work up with visions of tuna dominant in our mind, nothing to arrest forward progress.

“A couple of great photos to share from today's fishing. The first features Royal Star veteran Martin Rudolph with his 39.8-pound yellowtail and a clear message for his friend Anthony who could not make the trip. Though the print may be small in the photo, the shirt says it all. Hope to see you next year, Anthony. Also long-time Royal Star veteran Dave Bookin, who was absolutely on fire the entire day, is featured with Captain Gregg Tanji and another fine, 35-pound class premium yellowtail. Have a great day!”



Shogun At Cedros

“After traveling until lunchtime we arrived at Cedros, “ noted the report from Shogun August 30.

“As soon as we got the anchor down the yellows came up and everyone had one on for the first couple of go-rounds. Then after that it was one to four going for the remainder of the day. Towards evening we made a move into shallow water where John Collis landed a big broomtail grouper. It was a good day fishing in excellent weather.”

The eight-day Pat Gallagher charter aboard Excel returned August 30 after visiting Alijos Rocks, The Ridge and offshore tuna grounds. Justin Fleck guided 31 anglers to a fine variety of species that included wahoo, yellowfin tuna and yellowtail. Chartermaster Pat was stoked.

“This has become something of a prankster’s trip, with a lot of fun and practical jokes being played. There were 31 of us but it seemed like only 24 because everyone got along so well. Once they packed my room with balloons.

“We had a lot of giveaways,” continued Pat, “with a couple of Avet reels and lots of Tady jigs and squid jigs and fluorocarbon. The joke players got one on themselves when they found all their underwear was soaked and then frozen!”

Andre Harnack, 13, fished with his dad Brian. The Culver City pair had a good trip, and Andre realized his goal of catching a wahoo after several visits to Mexico without one. He got three sins, and one weighed 50 pounds. He also caught a limit of yellowtail, a half-dozen yellowfin and two dorado. Andre goes to Culver Middle School. He’s in eighth grade and plays soccer.

Sam Romaro of Santa Ana won first place for a 69-popund tuna. He said he bagged it with a sardine on a 4/0 Eagle Claw hook tied to 40-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon leader and 40-pound Ande line, with 60-pound Izorline Spectra backing on an Avet LX reel and a Sabre seven-foot rod.


Sam said the fight lasted 30 minutes.

“I’m 76,” he noted. “He wore me out with that limber rod.”

Mike “Red” Heflin of Chino won second place, tying Jaimie Massion of Calabassas with a 68-pound yellowfin tuna.

Ralph “The Long Ranger” of Norwalk was also on the trip, and got some nice wahoo along with his tuna. Ralph holds the current record of six career 300-pound tuna.



Searcher Tests nearby Yellowfin

The big schools of yellowfin tuna that began arriving last Friday drew Art Taylor and his 16 Searcher three-day anglers to try fishing in a tongue of warm water below Ensenada.

“It was clean and 67.5 degrees,” said Art, “and we had jig strikes over a 45-mile stretch on mixed grade tuna and skipjack. We also got some fish on kelps and bird schools on the first day when it was calm. The good fishing extended from about 95 to 130 miles south.”


The trip was sponsored by Accurate, who sent Gary Gillingham along as chartermaster, with 12 sets of loaner rods and reels from the factory.

“They were BX-2 400 and 500 models,” he said. “We also gave away a BX-2 400.”

Gary Cotter of Santa Barbara won first place for a 22.6-pound tuna. He said he got it with a sardine on a 2/0 ringed Owner Super Mutu hook on 20-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon and 20-poundIzorline. He used a Trinidad 16 reel and a Calstar 700 ML rod.

Pate Machlachlan of Port Townsend, WA tied with Willy Lewis of Mission Hills for second place, as both men had 22.4-pound yellowfin.

By Bruce Smith August, 2010

(See Bruce's Seeker Hercules Rod Review HERE)

During the last three weeks Shogun has completed a five-day trip (mostly for yellowtail at the islands), a seven-day down to Alijos Rocks and the remainder of the time in search of bluefin/yellowfin tuna for Monterey Bay Aquarium and TRCC (Tuna Research Conservation Center). I was able to fish with some new tackle, some not so new tackle, try different connections, and do a bunch of tinkering. In this article (my apologies because it bounces around on different subjects) I will be discussing some of my observations, some good, and let just say, some critical. Well, not too critical, I love this sport and want to help out the tackle shops and lure companies as much as the anglers.

Accurate Reels & Handles

Accurate's Jack Nilsen is one of the most generous men in sportfishing today. He contributed his Accurate reels along with a couple of Accurate reels borrowed from Bill Roecker of Fishingvideos.com to my cause of product research and review. Someone has to be the guinea pig! This gave me four primary outfits to use, all Seeker rods and Accurate reels. It was the bee's knee's, or at least I thought it was.

The primary four:

Hercules SHS 70M/Accurate 870 narrow; 65lb. solid spectra; four feet of 40-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon attached via FG knot
Hercules SHS 60H/Accurate 500; 80lb. spectra; twenty feet of 50-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon
Hercules SHS 60XH/Accurate 600 narrow; 80lb. spectra; twenty feet of 60-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon
Super Seeker CJBF 60H/Accurate 600; 130lb. spectra; twenty feet of 80-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon

I really can't say enough good things about this tackle. It's light, strong, good-looking and gives you a huge confidence boost. One thing I experienced with the Accurate reels is that I got to try three different handle/knob configurations. The 870 narrow came with the infamous basket knob, an Accurate exclusive. It’s attractive to say the least, but in my opinion was the least comfortable of the three. I’m not saying it didn't work; it did great, landing those bluefin tuna of the summer. This knob spins the easiest. In fact, the new ones will go for up to a minute until they stop after an easy finger push.

Next was the rubber knob. Most reel companies have some version of this handle in the lineup. It’s very comfortable and my favorite to use. It fit my hands nicely, isn’t too heavy and spins fairly easy.

I had my doubts about the Accurate T-handle when I first started to use it last year. This is the one in anodized blue with Extreme engraved down the side. I was worried I wouldn't be able to wind fast enough or that the big handle would be unwieldy or unfriendly. Once I started to use it, all of these doubts were pushed aside and I actually began look forward to winding in fish with one of these bigger handles. They spin very freely, and of course fit nicely into your hand, ergonomically speaking.

One thing I really enjoy about the Accurate is the length of the handle, Jack and sons don't mess around here; it’s a beefy crank. You get a lot of leverage and torque when you turn this handle; fish come to the boat. This is a testament to how well the gears inside the reels mesh and how strong they’re made. With all this leverage you are putting to the handle, it’s the gears that are taking the abuse. Believe me, we learned this the hard way back when TLDs were all the rage and we started in with the aftermarket aluminum frames and bigger drag disks. What happened was we tore apart the guts. Accurates have guts and you won't be tearing them out, even with the big handles.

Megabaits

(Ed. Note: These are often generically termed “dart” jigs. As Bruce points out, Megabaits are no longer manufactured. However, Fisherman’s Landing still sells the Lazer Minnow, the Braid jigs and the original Point Wilson darts.)


During this year of tough offshore fishing, one technique that has been effective is casting small shiny jigs, in slang terms known as "Megabaits", into the froth of boiling tuna and albacore. Not all "Megabaits" are created equal. In fact, there is no such lure as Megabait being produced at the present.

The closest jig resembling the former lure is made by P-line and is called a Lazer Minnow. Unfortunately the Lazer Minnow is not living up to the Megabaits of the past, it's construction has left a lot to be desired, for some reason they have decreased the gauge of the through wire running from the eyelet to the tail end and I have seen several now literally pull apart. Lazer Minnows come rigged with a treble hook; granted there are split rings that enable you to remove and replace the treble hook with a good stout single, such as the Mustad 94140 BLN size 7/0. You still have to do this yourself. My answer to all of this is to buy the Braid D-B jig instead. It comes in all those exciting colors everyone likes, already has a stout single hook and, get this, welded rings instead of split rings. Kudos to Braid for this one.

As for casting these small lures we did better while using lighter line, such as a short top shot of 30-pound connected to 65-pound solid braid and a light jig rod seven or eight feet in length. This isn't the bomber kind of surface iron yellowtail fishing. Most casts are kept within 150 feet. Many times we could pull the boat right up next to boiling, jumping tuna, but if you wanted to get a bite you had to get the jig into the melee before the boat got close. Let the jigs sink into the froth, don't just wind them back fast. The bluefin and albacore like to pick off the dead or injured baitfish and these jigs do a great job of imitating just that.

Mustad Sea Demon Hooks (Demon Offset Ringed, 3x strong, R39942BLN)

These hooks were new to me. Not the Mustad name, obviously, but in past years circle hooks have been all about Owner Mutus here aboard Shogun. The Sea Demon circle has a wide, offset gap that makes it easy to pin on sardines, comes with an extremely sharp point, and you can get them with welded rings. We didn't have any problems with the hook straightening out, even in the small 2/0 size. They get a thumbs-up from me. It was nice to use a different, good quality hook and I look forward to more time on the water with them in the future.

Braid Connections, Solid To Monofilament

The spinning, jigging and popping guys are on the cutting edge right now, they are pushing the limits of their tackle, line, knots and lures. What can we (west coast long range fishermen) learn from some east coast guy catching 200 pound bluefin or that Japanese kid with a smile from ear to ear straining under the weight of his 150 pound dog tooth tuna? For one thing, solid braid and knots are in. It's the hip, happening thing, don't be afraid to spool up with solid braid, at least for your lighter outfits. What you do have to learn though are the connection knots. Muy importante! Mono to solid braid knots are extremely tough, hard to break and here is a strange fact, are stronger than braid-to-braid connection knots.

I am talking about solid, not hollow braid. Hollow is totally different and a different article altogether. One thing that I have found is that some of these connections are hard to tie, with lots of effort for just a little more breaking strength, the FG (Sebile) and GT knot come to mind as two examples of hard to tie connections. If you are into knots like I am, go for it, there are some good tutorials on YouTube. More appropriate for the average LR angler are one of the knots discussed in the list below. Gone are the days of the Bimini to 20 turn Albright; now, that is cave man stuff!

FG (Sebile)

Strongest of all the knots due to the fact it's not a knot, but a trap. Difficult to tie, but it shoots through the guides during the cast, never have I had this knot hang up in a guide or on the spool. Truthfully, it's awesome.

Improved Bristol (Worm) Knot

Very strong knot, but tied with the two legs of a Bimini. The problem is the Bimini. Unlike monofilament, Bimini knots are not 100% strong in the super braids. Strange but true, this is something I found and was trying to get across to passengers ten years ago and has since been proven on line testing machines.

Bob Sands Knot (Pena Knot)

Go through the stopper knot and it’s ten wraps up, ten down, back through the bottom, pull on the main line and you are good to go. It shoots through the guides and is strong, what more could you want? I see this as becoming the go-to knot for the west coast fisherman.

9 to 5 (Uni-to-Uni Knot)

Great knot, some passengers prefer it over the Bob Sands. This was the original mono-to-braid connection as showed to me the first time by Russ Izor during a three-day trip back in my Royal Star days.

Cheap To Expensive Braids

I live by end-to-end splices. Love 'em. Hollow braid rocks. What doesn't rock is the price. It hurts to fill a reel with the premium stuff, but at the same time, have you ever tried to splice loosely woven super braids? To say it's difficult is an understatement, and I basically do it for a living. To solve these dilemmas I throw on most of a spool of a cheaper (in price) hollow braid, then for the last couple hundred feet I end-to-end splice in the good stuff, 12X or even better 16X. Wha-la! Now your reel is filled with hollow braid, but is still easy to splice in your top shots at a fraction of the cost.

I may get into trouble for reveling such secrets, but hey, you got to give 'em something to talk about!

Wax Wing/Sebile Magic Swimmer

Have you seen these swim? They are incredible. In fact they may swim too good. One of the reasons a Salas 7X light is such a fish-catcher is because it doesn't swim perfectly. It kicks out, and that kick acts as a trigger. The new line of magic swimming baits literally swim perfectly. They are awesome to watch, and they do catch fish, not just anglers. What I am looking forward to is throwing these pups at wahoo later in the year. I don't know how many will come back in one piece, but it will sure be fun to watch!

One more thing, don't forget to pick up the hottest 7x to come along in a while: the “Python.” I know that they are being stocked at Fisherman's Landing tackle shop and here aboard the Shogun.

Big Fish Happen,
Bruce A. Smith

Frank LoPreste docked his Royal Polaris at Fisherman’s Landing August 29 after a five-day trip with 30 anglers that visited the Baja coast, Cedros and Benitos Islands and offshore waters south of Ensenada. The first spots produced big yellowtail and a first-place white seabass. Offshore waters popped out over a hundred yellowfin tuna on Saturday for the boat.


The trip was a chef’s special, with four chefs teaching interested anglers how to prepare special dishes, which drew raves from many of the anglers. Sushi On A Roll president Jeff Roberto, whose reservations-only place is on National Avenue near Petco Park, was a featured chef, as was Steve Black, executive chef and the Sheraton San Diego. (Steve caught a personal best yellowtail of 32 pounds.) RP regular chefs Brett and James joined the guest chefs.

“We had limit-style yellowtail fishing,” said first-place winner Kathy Rounds to dock reporter Bill Roecker, “and we got some nice rockfish and we chased a lot of small yellowfin on porpoise. They wouldn’t stick with the boat, but everyone got a few.”

Kathy had a 40-pound white seabass that she caught with a sardine on a 4/0 Owner Super Mutu Gorilla hook tied to 40-pound blue Izorline with 65-pound Izor Spectra backing on an Accurate BX-2 500 reel and a Calstar 700 M rod.

“I was winding my bait in,” said Kathy, “when the fish rushed up and bit it right at boatside. I saw him take it. He ran off with about half my line, toward the weeds and rocks, but he didn’t get in there. He fought about 20 minutes and came up in the starboard corner.”

Gerald Brown of Lynwood won second place for a 39-pound yellowtail. He said it bit a sardine on a 3/0 Owner Gorilla hook and 30-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon backed with 30-pound Izorline on a Newell 338 reel and a Calstar 530 rod.

Barry Morita of Gardena won third place for a 37.4-pound yellowtail.

By Bruce Smith August 22, 2010

(See Bruce's Full Tackle Review HERE)

Seeker Rod is again on the leading edge, with the production of the new Hercules series composite saltwater rods. To borrow Seeker’s phrase, the best just keeps getting better.

Originally designed as an east coast jigging rod, the Hercules is finding crossover applications here in the west coast’s live bait fishery. In fact, to this writer/captain, the Hercules is a major advancement, maybe one of the biggest jumps in saltwater rod technology since the introduction of the Super Seeker series of S-glass/composite rods.

Three weeks ago, Joe Pfister of Seeker graciously donated four of the more popular actions of the Hercules for Shogun passengers and crew to try out. Yellowtail, Bluefin and finally larger Yellowfin tuna all succumbed to the diminutive Hercules rods. Most who used these mini-titans were surprised at the weight of the outfit. When paired with a small Accurate or Avet two speed reel, this rod/reel combo weighs in at only 2/3 of a "standard" west coast live bait outfit.

Standing at the rail at Alijos, Guadalupe Island or during a plunker bluefin bite has never been easier on your arms and lower back. The ease of casting is another surprise.

Most thought the inherent parabolic action of a jig rod wouldn't cast a live bait well. What we found is that if you slow your casting stroke down and let the rod work for you, it easily delivers a live sardine or anchovy distances at the same distance its fast action cousins reach.


Finally, how does it pull? Does it have enough butt strength? The expression of surprise showed on the faces of hooked-up anglers as they found more unexpected surprises. The recoil of the graphite/S-glass combo is almost too fast to keep up with in low gear, and many of us just kept the two-speed in high, to keep the rods loaded and pulling hard.

The Hercules is constructed from the finest components available. The first thing you notice is that these aren't your black or blond rods from yesteryear. Seeker has painted the blanks with high gloss epoxy in what I would like to call "West Coast" red, but if you look hard enough at the local tackle shops, there are also green, blue and clear finishes available, but for the most part these colors are an east coast exclusive.

A graphite core from butt to tip is surrounded by Seeker's superior S-glass, bonded together with the EH04 resin system. This makes for an incredibly small diameter, lightweight blank. American tackle "Virtus" ring lock guides with solid titanium frame and nanolite rings seem to have solved the old problem of the silicon carbide rings popping out. Also, they look good!

We have only seen a trickle amount of Hercules rods on the water with our passengers so far, but I am sure next season there will be more young and old anglers riding the new wave of small rods, small reels, spectra and short top-shots. With this first step towards gearing the rods to accommodate the power of the small reels, Seeker rods are again proving that the company is leading the pack and pushing boundaries for west coast fishermen.

Bruce A. Smith

Captain M/V Shogun



Coming next from Captain Bruce: His recent experiences with reels, jigs, hooks and braided line. You’ll see it posted here.

Sam Patella docked his American Angler at Pt. Loma Sportfishing August 28 after the five-day annual Cops Chasin’ Tuna trip with 19 anglers.

“We looked offshore, tried an inshore spot for white seabass, and fished the island,” said Sam.

“We chased ‘em,” said chartermaster Mike Goldsmith of Valley Center,” and we had a good time at the island. It was sunny, and the fishing was good.”

Mark Malone of Valley Center won first place for a 40.6-pound yellowtail. He bagged his winner with a sardine sunk with a half-ounce slip sinker on 30-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon and 40-popundP-Line backed with 65-pound Specta on a Talica 2 reel and a Calstar 700 MH rod.

Jerry Levan of Phoenix won second place for a 38.8-pounder. Ray Guerrero of Norwalk was pushing him from behind with a 38.6-pound yellowtail.



“He Ran Me Hard”

Terry Draper of Huntington Beach won first place aboard the Spirit of Adventure for a 37-pound yellowtail he didn’t even think would qualify, so he didn’t bring it up to weigh until the end of the session August 28.

“He ran me hard,” remembered Terry, “ he took me around the boat twice in 20 minutes and then came up midship.”

Terry said he baited a sardine on a 4/0 Mustad hook and tied it to 40-pound P-Line and 65-pound Power Pro Spectra on a Penn 975 reel and a custom seven-foot rod of unknown make.

Brian Evans skippered the trip of four days, which docked at H&M Landing August 28. There were 24 anglers aboard, and they visited Cedros Island.

Michael Wade of Torrance won second place for a 36-pounder, and Bruce Davis of Newbury Park won third place for 34.5-pound yellowtail.



Market Squid Find Bass

Intrepid docked at Pt. Loma Sportfishing August 28 under skipper Kevin Osborne’s hand following a five-day trip.

“We went exploring,” said Kevin, on the San Bernadino Sherriff’s charter,” and we ended up with limits of yellowtail.

“We found market squid. The fish liked those! And when the tide was right, we put some time in fishing for bass. We had the best calico bass fishing I’ve ever seen.”

Carey Stockton of San Bernadino won first place for a 34.6-pound yellow. He said it bit a sardine on a 2/0 ringed Mustad Demon hook on 30-pound Izorline. He used an Avet LX reel and a Super Seeker 670 rod he borrowed from the boat.

John Tanner of Oxnard, just graduated from high school, won second place for a 33.8-pounder. Asked what we would do now he’d finished high school, Josh said, “I’m thinking about it.”

Augie Pelayes of Victorville won third place for a 33-pound yellowtail.

Tuna fishing took an upswing Friday morning. El Capitan out of Pt. Loma Sportfishing (619-222-1144) reported five bluefin and a yellowfin at 8:30 this morning. Skipper Alan Fay was fishing at 65 miles from San Diego.

Producer, fishing out of H&M Landing (619-222-1144), had 55 yellowfin aboard at 10 AM. Bright & Morning Star, from H&M and fishing at 90 miles, reported 38 yellowfin aboard at 11 AM.

Fisherman’s Landing (619-221-8500) didn’t have a boat out today but all three landings will be running boats tonight.

(Press Release)

August 26, 2010 -- AFTCO Bluewater, the official licensee and manufacturer of Guy Harvey fishing clothing, fishing t-shirts, and coastal lifestyle apparel, and Guy Harvey, known as the world’s premier marine wildlife artist and renown marine biologist and conservationist, today announced that in just one month they sold out of 50,000 special edition Guy Harvey “Save Our Gulf” fishing T-shirts. $10 of each shirt sold was donated to the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation (GHOF), for a total of $500,000 that will be used to support needed marine life research in the Gulf of Mexico. AFTCO Bluewater has ceased production and is no longer selling the t-shirts at their official online store, GuyHarveySportswear.com, but limited quantities are still available at retail outlets for the next few weeks.

Even though oil is no longer flowing into the Gulf from the BP spill, and it is reported that over 70% of the spilled oil is now gone due primarily to evaporation and bacteria consumption, there is no doubt that marine life in the Gulf has been impacted. The $500,000 will be used to increase our understanding of how it has been impacted and what possible solutions exist both for now and in the case of future mishaps. The money raised from the sale of the special Guy Harvey T-shirts will be set aside in a separate fund within the GHOF and will be granted to research projects that Guy Harvey and the GHOF Board believe will bring the most future benefit to marine life of the Gulf.

Many questions need to be answered such as what impact the spill has had on planktonic animals, fish eggs, larvae and juvenile fish. Also, if it is found that there has been a significant impact on an important sport fish species such as bluefin tuna, grouper, cobia, red snapper, redfish, seatrout, or flounder, the research will look at how that impact affects future stocks.

“Our thanks go out to all who added to the $10 contribution which included Guy Harvey, AFTCO Bluewater, our reps, our suppliers and our retail partners,” said Bill Shedd, President of AFTCO Bluewater. “We also thank the consumers who made this possible with their strong support of these specific shirts and the Guy Harvey brand. Our original goal was to sell 10,000 T-shirts and raise $100,000. For us to raise $500,000 in just a month is quite a unique and significant accomplishment. Meaningful support of the marine resource is part of the culture and DNA with both Guy Harvey and AFTCO Bluewater. This Save Our Gulf T-shirt effort was both fun and rewarding for all of us.”

In 2009 AFTCO Bluewater contributed over $200,000 from Guy Harvey Sportswear sales to the GHOF for their use to help protect, conserve, enhance and better understand the marine resource. This contribution is exclusive of any contributions AFTCO Bluewater will make this year from the sale of all Guy Harvey Sportswear items.

“The response to our two “Save our Gulf” t-shirts has been quite remarkable in a very short period of time,” said Guy Harvey. “I truly appreciate all of our retail partners and fans who supported the initiative. There is much research work still to be done to determine the short and long term effect of the oil spill on our fishery resources. The funds raised from the sale of my two Gulf of Mexico designs will go to fund some important fishery research by some of the top Gulf Coast marine researchers.”

A five-day limited load trip with only ten passengers aboard the Searcher arrived at Fisherman’s Landing August 27. The trip was skippered by Aaron Remy and visited Cedros Island for some extra-large yellowtail.

“It was good fishin’,” said Remy at the dock. “The weather was hot and sunny, the way it’s supposed to be.”

Jennifer Funk of San Pedro fished with jigs, and yoyoed up a toady 43.6-pound mossback on a Salas 6X Jr. in blue and white for first place. She said she fished a 50-pound Izorline and 65-pound Power Pro Spectra and an Avet HX reel and a Calstar 760 M rod. The fight lasted ten minutes.

Jack Rauch of San Rafael got a 39.8-pound yellow for second place. Dave Easton of Pt. Loma took a 38.8-pound yellowtail for third place.



Mitch Otera Charter

Brian Sims docked Royal Star at Fisherman’s Landing August 27 after a six-day charter with 24 anglers that went to Alijos Rocks and Cedros Island.

“It was a great trip,” said chartermaster Mitch Otera of Lomita. “Sims did a good job, and hit the right spots. The weather was flat and the fish bit.”

Ed Nowacki of Rancho Palos Verdes Estates won first place for a 73.5-pound yellowfin tuna. He said he got it in 15 minutes, with the boat’s kite rod on a double sardine rig, with 8/0 J hooks.

Scott Shiroishi of Monterey Park tied with chartermaster Mitch Otera for second and third places. Both men had tuna of 71.5 pounds.



Letting The Dog Out

“Today was our day to target the premium size fish,” said the report from American Angler August 26, “and that's just what we did. We have been really blessed to have such a great fishery while we wait for something to change in the near future.

“We are having a nice dinner right now and we’ll be heading home soon.”

American Angler is due at Pt. Loma Sportfishing August 28.



Outstanding Fishing

“The fishing is still outstanding here at the Rocks,” reported Justin Fleck for the Excel August 26, “with good action on both wahoo and tuna. For the last two days the wahoo have shown up first just after breakfast with the tuna not too far behind. Most of the wahoo are great big ones averaging around 40 pounds or bigger. The tuna are mixed with the bigger ones showing in the afternoon.

“We decided after three days here, we were ready to move on and check out other areas. One thing that caught my attention was the warm water pushing up on the Ridge. So tomorrow we will start at the bottom and troll our way up the high spots looking for wahoo and dorado. The weather is very nice for our ride across.”



RP’s Special Trip

“The Chef’s special trip is turning out to be wonderful trip,” noted the Royal Polaris report for August 26.  “Folks enjoyed learning how to make sushi and the intricacies involved in making sushi.  Chef Jeff Robert from Sushi on a Roll shared some of his secrets and then put out an excellent spread. 

“Jeff has also made Hors’d’oeuvres twice. Chef Steve Black from the Sheraton San Diego has put on two outstanding meals including Short Ribs which our passengers raved over. The other was yellowtail with a mango sauce served over mashed yams with two different sauces.

“Fishing was fun with 35 Yellowtail in the 25 to 32-pound range.  We had excellent calico bass in the eight-pound range.  We also had a 40-pound white seabass caught by Kathy Rounds.”

“We had a blast,” said Vagabond skipper Mike Lackey August 26. “On our last day at Cedros we saw lots of big giant foamers. I haven’t seen yellowtail jump like that in a long time. One of the foamers engulfed the whole boat. They were on small sardines.”

Lackey was just back from his five-day West Chem trip with Ken Wells as chartermaster. All 25 of the anglers aboard were talking about what they’d seen near the North End.

Jan Ishii of Rancho Palos Verdes won first place for a 38.4-pound yellowtail, a slug that engulfed his sardine on a 5/0 ringed Owner gorilla hook. He tied the hook to 60-pound Seaguar Premier fluorocarbon leader and 60-pound Soft Steel line with 80-pound Power Pro backing on a Penn 30 and a Calstar 655 XH rod.

Jason Corp posed with Ishii and his 37-pound yellowtail. John Stuempke got third place for a 36-pounder but gave his fish to the processor before the photo was shot.



One Big Biscuit

A stop on the Baja coast as the Polaris Supreme was heading for the barn produced some yellowtail and a single white seabass for Greg DeWitt of Mission Viejo. When he got the dawn biter close, a sea lion slipped up and took a bite of belly, so the fish was ineligible for a win on the Bob Vance/Joe Beck charter. DeWitt said he got it with a ‘dine on a slip-sinkered 40-pound rig.

That left the field open to the yellowtail and chartermaster Joe Beck (retired LA motorcycle patrolman) jumped in with his 39.2-pound mossback take first place. Joe Duped his ‘tail with a sardine on a 3/0 Eagle Claw 118 Mag hook on 30-pound pink Yo-Zuri fluorocarbon and 30-pound Izorline wrapped on a Torium 20 reel and a Calstar 870 rod. Beck said the affair took about 15 minutes.

Tom Christensen of Las Vegas won second place for a 38.2-pounder, and Bill Rustin of Huntington Beach bagged a 37.2-pound yellowtail to take third place when Rothery weighed the catch at Fisherman’s Landing.



Indy Takes Alijos Yellowfin

A brace of big tuna from The Rocks were the top fish aboard Independence when owner-operators Mark Pisano and Paul Strasser tied the big boat up at Pt. Loma Sportfishing August 26 after a six-day flyer.


Tuna fishing was good, they said, and some large wahoo and yellowtail were also caught. The best fish was a 121.4-pounder caught by Jonathan Swain of Dubuque, IA.

Chartermaster Grant Stevens, a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon, weighed in a 120.8-pound yellowfin he took with a sardine on a 2/0 ringed Owner Flyliner hook on 40-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon and 60-poundSpectra on an Avet LX reel and a Calstar 77 Special rod.

Brent Stevens of Manhattan Beach bagged a big 51.4-pound yellowtail. Cat Stevens of Santa Monica (Grant’s daughter) got a personal best 35.4-pound yellowtail. She’s 21 and a student at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA.



Skipper Aaron’s Report

“Today we targeted some different species and they didn’t bite,” reported skipper Aaron Remy August 25, “but we managed to catch some more yellows along the way as we worked up the line to get us in position to try for some tuna, Those things gotta bite sometime soon so we're hoping tomorrow is the day!

“The weather is great going up had sun all day long and it's great traveling up so cross your fingers for us tomorrow and we will let you know how it pans out.”

In an unusual turn of events for Alijos Rocks, big tuna didn’t come the usual way for the Shogun. The boat docked at Fisherman’s Landing August 25 under owner-skipper Norm Kagawa’s hand. Joe Pfister of Seeker and several Seeker pro-staffers were aboard.


“No kite fishing,” said Norm to dock reporter Bill Roecker. “The kite was dead as a doornail."

“We got lots of yellowtail at the 13 Spot,” he continued, “and 86 big yellowtail at Cedros. The Alijos tuna bit from lunch to about 4 PM.”

Few of the tuna were big ones. The best one was a 115-pounder caught by Nanette Smith of Huntington Beach. She bagged her big boy on a sardine and a 3/0 Gamakatsu J hook. She fished with 40-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon leader, 40-pound Big Game line and 80-pound Line One Spectra on an Avet LX reel and a GRUSA Monster Mag 85 rod.

“He fought for about a half-hour,” she said. “He bit after a long soak and stayed on the port side. About halfway through the fight he got tailwrapped. He came up midship.”

Brian Davis of Hayden Lake, ID won second place and the Seeker Trophy for the best fish on a Seeker rod.

Noah Nabors, 13 and Davis’ grandson, won third place for a 69.6-pound yellowfin. He also got a couple of wahoo (one on mono) and ten yellowtail on jigs, he said. Noah goes to Talbert Middle School, where he plays basketball.

Jam Bair of Huntington Beach won the Rollo jackpot for qa 35,2-pound yellowtail, a fish he caught on a five-inch Big Hammer plastic swimbait in Channel Island ‘Chovy color.



Qualified Yellowtail

Joe Crisci brought his 33 four-day anglers home from Cedros Island aboard the Qualifier 105. Docking at Pt. Loma Sportfishing August 25. He commented on the great weather they found, along with some good fishing.

Terry Jakubs of Edmond, OK won first place for a 39.4-pound yellowtail. He said he got it with a sardine on a 3/0 Owner J hook of unknown model. He fished with 30-pound fluorocarbon and 60-pound Spectra and said he didn’t know what kind those were, either, along with an Avet JX reel and a Seeker Black Steel 6470 rod.

Dean Hall of Encinitas won second place for a 32.6-poudner, and Tom Crewse of Oceanside won third place for a 32.4-pound yellowtail.



Rooster Whacks Whites

Joe D'Acquisto returned Red Rooster III to H&M Landing August 25 after a three-day trip to San Benito. Ken Phillips of Barstow won first place for a 36.4-pound white seabass. Dana Ellison of Agua Dulce, CA won second for a 35.7-pound yellowtail, and Richard Noss of Elk Grove won third for a 31.8-pound white seabass.

Skipper D'Acquisto August 24 report read: “Today we had another good day of fish for yellowtail. The yellowtail were sixteen to eighteen pounds with some better ones mixed in. We also had twenty two white seabass that were for the most part 25 pounds; maybe one or two better ones mixed in. What a way to end a great trip. We fished a little later because the sea bass were biting so we will be at the dock between ten and eleven. Good weather and great fishing what else could you ask for. The boat will be in for nine days then out on our labor day four day."



“Fast & Furious”

“We made it down to the Island this afternoon,” said the report from Intrepid August 24, “and got on some nice yellows right away. It was fast and furious to start and then settled down to a steady pick.

“We are hopeful that a full day here tomorrow will yield what we need in the way of yellowtail.”



Star At Alijos

“Today our good weather and good fishing continued,” reported Royal Star August 24. “An early troll produced a few wahoo, then we got the anchor down and proceeded to enjoy a steady pick on tuna. The tuna were the same grade as yesterday, but we had a much higher percentage of the larger grade.

“The flyline sardine was the hot rig and the fish uncharacteristically spread themselves out amongst our anglers. In the late afternoon, the bite slowed and we took off. We will be up on the coast looking for yellows tomorrow. Our first picture today shows a happy Mitch Otera with a 70-pound yellowfin. Mitch puts a lot of work into his charter to ensure a good time is had by all.”

"We arrived to the Rocks around 0830 and were immediately greeted by some frisky wahoo. The guys managed to boat a dozen out of the first drift and many, many more got away with our hooks and lures. We went from drift to drift for most of the A.M. scratching at skin and when we finally put the anchor down for the afternoon, the tuna kept us busy up until dark. Most of the tunas were school size today but we did see good sign of the big boys. Maybe tomorrow. We will spend the night on the anchor and do it all again tomorrow.


"Just as a side note, the outlook on the fall fishery looks great. The Rocks have been consistent for us and with the water warming up every day, there are more and more wahoo moving in. Also, the ridge is shaping up nicely with good sign of just about all the major species, tuna, wahoo, yellowtail, dorado, and grouper. I've also heard whispers of cows already showing on the lower banks. I talked to the office today and the informed me that there are still spots available on many fall trips. Our next trip down here will be on the seven day trip from September 9th-16th with a great group aboard. The trip will be in honor of Bill Poole and there are still spots available. Hope to see you out here..."

Water conditions have made offshore tuna angling very difficult much of the summer, with a few notable exceptions. Yesterday, August 23, Markus Medak, New Lo-An owner-operator, picked up 12 bluefin tuna, mostly on bait, and an albacore on the troll. He said he found 68-degree blue off-color water and picked at the fish throughout the day on his day and a half trip with 16 anglers.

Two three-day boats took the inside route to find some decent fishing. They found all species biting on the bottom and the surface near Canoas, where the water was clean and 69 degrees.

Fishing on The Ridge and Alijos Rocks has been pretty darn good, with some tuna being located northwest of The Ridge. That offers hope for a decent fall season, especially if a hurricane should push some warm water up this way.

Family Fun

Roy Rose took his Royal Polaris three-day anglers inshore near Canoas for some fun fishing. Anglers caught red rockfish, yellowtail, bonito, kelp bass and sand bass, barracuda and several other species, on bait and iron.


The boat docked at Fisherman’s Landing August 24. Charlie Bullan of Fairfield won first place for a 34-pound yellowtail. He said he got it with a sardine on a 6/0 Mustad hook, 30-pound Izorline on a Talica 12 reel and a Calstar 800 H rod.

Joe Weimer of Pleasant Hill found a 22-pound yellowtail, good for second place. Hal J. Borg won third place for a 21.2-pound yellow and posed with his son Hal L. Borg and grandson Tanner, for a family yellowtail lineup.



Nice Inshore Yellows

Brian Evans docked Spirit of Adventure after a three-day trip with 21 anglers to Canoas and below for some good fishing on forkies.

It was an Avet Reels trip, and rep Ben Frazier was aboard. Ben got the third-place fish.


“We went in on the beach,” he said, “and we had some really good fishing for bass and bonito and some yellowtail. We looked around a bit and found a nice big school of yellowtail and got about 70 in an hour and a half. They bit on bait and the yoyo and surface jigs.”

Vin Ridgeway of Ventura caught a 34-pound yellowtail and won first place. He said he got his prizewinner with a sardine on a 2/0 Mustad hook and 30-pound blue Izorline. He used a Penn 545 reel and a Calstar 800 M rod, and got the fish to gaff after a ten-minute scrap.

Mitch Aronson of Las Vegas won second place for a 28.2-pounder, and Ben Frazier of Oxnard took the third-place 26.7-pounder.



Searcher Reports In

Nearly 300 miles south of San Diego, Searcher skipper Aaron Remy reported August 23:

“On our first day at San Benitos for the afternoon we had a great time and we're all stoked! We had some steady action from the time we got here at about 4 p.m. until dark.

"Most of our fish are 15 to 18 pounds, with a couple of nicer-sized ones in the mix. So we're headed to Cedros to target some premiums. All the techniques worked today: yoyo jigs, sardines, and surface lures.”

It isn’t often angler wins a jackpot for his or her first fish ever, but it happened for Jeanne Hankerson of Scottsdale, AZ on a five-day trip aboard Intrepid. The fish was a Cedros mossback of 37.8 pounds.

“I fought it for a half-hour,” she told dock reporter Bill Roecker at Pt. Loma Sportfishing August 23. “It was really heavy! Oh my god, I thought, I’m gonna die!”

But she lived to collect first place when skipper Kevin Osborne gave out the rewards at the scales. She used hubby Dennis’ gear to bait her sardine on a 3/0 ringed Super Mutu hook: a one-ounce egg sinker on 30-pound Izorline, a Penn 16S reel and a Fenwick six-foot rod.

Scott Jones of La Crescenta won second place for a 37-pound yellowtail, and Malcolm Lamb got one that weighed 35.6 pounds.



Seven Is Enough

A week aboard American Angler with skipper Sam Patella loaded up the anglers on the Yusugi/Kimura charter with Alijos yellowfin tuna and yellowtail, along with some miscellaneous species. Chartermasters George and Russ said the weather was great, matching the fishing. They spent two days at The Rocks, a half-day on the bank (where they found both yellowtail and sharks), and a day on The Ridge.


Paul Oster of Mammoth Lakes had the biggest tuna, and non-eligible (kite-caught) yellowfin of 108 pounds that bit on a double sardine rig. He posed with the winners in a lineup shot, on the left end.

Jimmie Lew of LA won first place for a 101-pounder. He had another big tuna, and Patella showed that one off with him. The winning fish came on a sardine and a 2/0 Mutu hook on 40-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon and 60-pound Blackwater Spectra on a Penn Baker/Sheets-modified International 4 reel and a Calstar 700 H rod.

Terry Kimura of Cypress won second place for a 100-pound tuna, and Wayne Nakaoka of woodland Hills got third place for a 76.5-pound yellowfin tuna.



Skins Are Slurping

“Hello to all,” said the report from Independence August 22, “first, our weather was absolutely beautiful today with five to eight knots of wind and a very mild sea state, air 83 degrees and sea temp 72.5. We ended the day with 21 wahoo of 40 to 60 pounds, 47 yellowfin tuna up to 90 pounds, and one yellowtail and one Dorado for 19 people. This is a very limited load charter with the Stevens brothers friends and family trip. We are staying the night in hope of a repeat.”



Gunning At The Rocks

“We made down to the 'Rocks' around 10:30,” noted the Shogun’s report dated August 20. After trolling around and picking up a few wahoo we got the anchor down and proceeded to pick at the yellowfin tuna, wahoo, yellowtail and occasional amberjack.


“The tuna are good grade with most coming in between 50 and 70 pounds. Roy Casey did a number on the fish using a Seeker Hercules (SHS 70H) an Avet SX with a short top shot of 40-pound. Hopefully in the coming days we will be able to put these new exciting rods to the test. So far, so good.”



Howard Hangs Halibut

The following account is from Jan Howard, Braid rep and well-known angler (her moniker is Saltwater Woman), who recently took this 180-pound Alaskan halibut:


“Basil Pappas, Al Scow, Dan Felger and I fished with Outbound Alaskan Charters out of Sitka this week.  Our first two days produced limits of King Salmon and plenty of silvers as well. On day three we caught limits of halibut including an 80-pounder, and a 160-pound halibut to go with my 180-pound fish.  

“We fished TLD 30 II reels filled with 130-pound spectra and a 300-pound mono leader with a 13/0 Mustad circle hook. On days four and five we filled out the catch with more Kings (taking our annual 3 fish limit), silvers, small halibut, yelloweye rockfish, lingcod and Basil's 45-pound king salmon.  Only the rugged fish Alaska; we had rough seas, rain and 55 degree temps with a two-plus hour boat ride to the good fishing grounds in a 30- foot aluminum skiff.  However, the rewards are great.”

Art Taylor brought his Searcher home from a five-day trip with 22 anglers that produced the best yellowtail catch of the season so far: limits of mossbacks that one angler weighed out at an average of 36 pounds. At least a dozen fish were 40 pounds or more, and a huge halibut graced the bag of forkies.

“It was Cedros Island at its best,” said Art. “Each angler had a personal best. It was world-class fishing. They were fish of a lifetime!”

George Guardiano of San Diego fished up a 42-pound halibut out of the congregation of toad yellows. He said he got it with a green mackerel baited on a 4/0 Gamakatsu hook tied to 40-pound P-Line. He used a TLD 30 reel and a Calstar 6460 H rod and brought the big flattie up to gaff in about ten minutes.

“He swallowed it, and I didn’t know he was there until I set the hook,” said George.

Rob Geiger of Simi Valley got a 43-pound yellowtail for first place. He said he took it with a mackerel flylined on a 7/0 Mustad hook and 40-pound Izorline. He used 65-pound Power Pro backing on an Avet JX reel and a Calstar 700 H rod.

Jim Hartwick of Harbor City won second place for a 42.6-pound yellowtail, and he also tied for third with a 41.6-pounder. Mart Pierpoint got one that weighed 41.6 pounds to get the other half of the tie.

The yellowtail catch may have been the best for Captain Taylor since 1988, when Bill Roecker went to Cedros with him, where they found 40-pounders thick as flies in a barnyard. That story is in Roecker’s forthcoming long range book, due from the printer right after Thanksgiving.



Good Three-Day

Red Rooster III docked August 22 under Joe D’Acquisto’s hand after three days of fishing at points south. Joe found his anglers a good catch of yellowtail and rockfish.

Eileen Chechini of Riverside won the jackpot for a 25.9-pound yellowtail. Hilo Depeda of Valley Canter won second place for a 25-pounder, and Thomas Ihee of Malibu got third place for a 22.7-pound yellowtail.

No photos were available from the trip, so the picture here is from the boat’s previous trip. It features Lee Palm’s daughter Cheryl Palm, with a big yellowtail.



Bent Rods Charter

Brad Merritt’s charter group of 29 anglers arrived at Fisherman’s Landing aboard Excel August 22. Justin Fleck was the skipper, and he took the group to Alijos Rocks and other points south on the six-day expedition, where they found near-limits of yellowfin tuna and limits of yellowtail.

“We had excellent tuna fishing,” commented Fleck, “and we got three dozen small dorado along with some other fish, including a couple of bluefin and five halibut.”

Doug Walker of Moreno Valley won first place for a 63.4-pound yellowfin that fought for a half-hour. He said he got it with a sardine on a 4/0 Mustad hook and 50-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon. He tied his Fluoro to 65-pound Power Pro Spectra and used an Avet JX reel and a Seeker 6470 rod.

Eric Johnson of Benicia won second place for a 61.8-pound tuna. Putting just a couple of click up on Allen Layne of Santa Ana, who won third place for a 61.6-pounder.

Excel left the same afternoon on the eight-day Pat Gallagher charter.



Lunkers Take A Licking

“Today we had a morning that anybody who has ever been Long Range fishing will remember for a long time. The fish started to bite around 0700 and didn't let up ‘til well after lunchtime. Just to give you an idea of the action, we kept 5 to as many as 13 bent rods going for hours and keep in mind this grade of fish takes a while to wind in on 40-pound test. When all the smoke cleared and the day was done, our final tally on the tracking board was 101 yellowfin tuna. The fish weighed 50 to 60 pounds. Three were over 100 pounds.

The photos of the day are Terry with his 100-pound tuna, Russ & Andrew, Jimmy Lew & Nate and a shot of the Gang with what was today a busy bow for most of the day.

We are on our way home with time to make a couple of stops here and there to break up the ride.”



Weed Whittler

Fisherman’s Landing tackle manager Doug Kern showed Bill Roecker a new product with likely application for inshore anglers. A new thin type of Spectra called “Diamond Braid,” the stuff is being marketed as Kelp-Cutter Spectra, and is said to slice through weeds like butter. The color of the line is very close to that of the kelp, Kern said, and the line has a higher abrasion resistance than other brands of Spectra.

The new line is from maker Momoi, said Doug, and comes in strengths of 30, 50, 65 and 80-pound test. The 50-pound version is advertised to have the diameter of eight-pound test monofilament line. Kern thinks it will be just the ticket for kelp bass, yellowtail and white seabass seekers, and rockfish anglers, too.

Tom Rothery’s Polaris Supreme docked at Fisherman’s Landing August 21 after a four-day trip with Robin Gledhill as chartermaster. The group of 19 had a good catch of yellowtail.

Three of the anglers posed with fish for a lineup shot. They were Danny Astrada of Orange County, Steve Laband of Orange County and Rob Gledhill (Robin’s son) of Huntington Beach.

“We had excellent fishing,” said Rothery. “It went off right after we pulled in there.”



Lady Wins On Nakamura Open

Royal Star returned to Fisherman’s landing August 21 after the six-day Nakamura open trip with owner-operators Randy Toussaint and Time Ekstrom sharing helm duties. They found a good school of yellowfin at the southern end of their journey, mostly-25-pounders, but one weighed 61.5 pounds and won first place for Anastasia Schmoll, a regular on the boat.

Schmoll said she got her winner with a sardine on a 2/0 ringed Mutu hook tied to 25-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon leader. 25-pound Big Game line and 60-pound Line One Spectra. She used a Trinidad 16 reel and a seven-foot G. Loomis rod.

“We found the tuna in open water on spinner dolphin,” she said.

Anastasia posed with Tom Lawrence of Burbank, who won second and third places for yellowtail of 40 and 37 pounds.



17th Annual Family Charter

The extended Barnett family charter returned to Pt. Loma Sportfishing August 21. Joe Crisci skippered the trip on Qualifier 105,with 32 anglers. About a half-dozen were kids.

“We had great fishing,” said chartermaster Chuck Barnett. “We spent two days at Alijos Rocks and a day on The Ridge, where we found tuna on common dolphin. We got limits of yellowtail and yellowfin and about 20 wahoo. The key was Joe made the call to go to The Ridge.”

Dick Barnett of Ojai nabbed a whopper yellowtail with a blue and white Salas 6X Jr. jig, a 51.8-pounder he brought in on 40-pound Izorline and a Penn Yellowtail Special reel on a seven-foot Harnell 173 rod.

Rudy Vantine of Santa Barbara won first place for a 95-pound yellowfin. He said he bagged it with a sardine on a 3/0 ringed Mutu hook on 50-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon and 40-pound Power Pro Ace Spectra. He used an Accurate BX-2 400 reel and a Super Seeker 6475 rod custom built by Fisherman’s Landing.

Zack Plott of Ojai won second place for a 78.6-pound tuna. He’s 15, and goes to Nordhoff High, where he wrestles and plays volleyball.

Michael Wallace of Monterey won third place for a 73.8-pound Alijos Rocks yellowfin tuna.



Unusual Rockfish

Brian Evans brought Mike Keating’s Spirit of Adventure home to H&M Landing August 21 after a five-day trip, the 25th annual Golden State Anglers adventure. The group had limits of big yellowtail and some limits of rockfish, but did not do a jackpot.

Rich Robinson of Crest caught an unusual rockfish, a Bronze-Spotted Rockfish, and he posed with it for Bill Roecker’s camera.



Big Tuna On RP

Roy Rose docked Frank LoPreste’s Royal Polaris at Fisherman’s Landing August 21 after the seven-day Fujimoto charter with 32 anglers. He had some large yellowfin and a first for the boat aboard.

“This is our 18th annual trip,” said chartermaster Keith Fujimoto. “We did very well, with limits of yellowtail and some good quality yellowfin tuna. We fished on The Ridge and at Alijos. It was almost like a ten-day trip. We had a lot of repeat clients aboard.”


One of the trip’s memorable catches was a huge 57-pound yellowtail, caught by Danny Dinh of El Monte, on a blue and white 6X jig. Danny used 50-pound pink Ande line on a Calstar 900 H rod.

“I hooked him up by the bow,” said Danny, and he took me back to the stern.”

Robert Smith of West Covina won first place for a 127.4-pound tuna he got with a sardine on a 3/0 ringed Mutu hook tied to 50-pound Izorline and 80-pound Power Pro Spectra. He used an Avet LX reel and a Calstar 700 glass rod.

“His first run nearly spooled me,” said Robert, “and the second one didn’t get so much.”

James Oshiro of Honolulu, HI won second place for a 97.8-pound tuna, and Barry Pape of Redondo Beach won third place for an 85-pound tuna. Tony Lam of Rosemead got a non-eligible 125-pound yellowfin.

Rose hung the trip’s most unusual trophy, brought up by Clark Mills of Riverside. It weighed 18 pounds on the certified scales.

”It may weigh 18 pounds, but it pulled like 50!” exclaimed Mills.

“This is a first for the boat,” cracked Rose.

The catch was a 14-inch Cooper 205-70 radial, holed for use as a lobster pot anchor.



Light Tackle Fishing

“We decided to head up to the islands,” said Excel’s report for August 21, “where the gang enjoyed an afternoon of shallow water rock fishing and bass fishing along the kelp. There was a ton of bass around and they were hitting the plastics and the surface iron pretty good.”

“For our last day of fishing, we are making a couple of quick drifts along the beach for a few halibut before we call it a trip. Our ETA to the landing is 0730 tomorrow.”

The Rusty Hook charter aboard Independence returned August 20 with chartermaster Alex Masumoto and 29 other anglers, who enjoyed a visit to Alijos Rocks, the 13 Spot and Cedros Island on their seven-day trip. Jeff DeBuys skippered the expedition with assistance from owner-operator Mark Pisano.

“When we got to The Rocks there was no current and no fish,” said DeBuys to dock reporter Bill Roecker. “But the next day conditions improved, and we picked up 55 good tuna and a dozen big wahoo. The tuna ran 55 to 130 pounds.

“Then we went up to where the porpoise tuna had been found and we found the porpoise but no tuna with them. We got lots of yellows on the 13 Spot, some on the surface iron. Then we went up to Cedros for 30 premium yellowtail and filled our limits, late in the day.”


Phil Frank of Indian Springs, NV found the best tuna with a sardine on a 2/0 hook. He said he used 50-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon, 50-pound Izorline and 80-pound Line One Spectra on an Avet HX reel and a Seeker 6470 rod.

“He fought me for a good 50 minutes,” said Frank. “He stayed the whole time on the port side and came up there midship. He’s my best tuna ever.”

Ed Rudolph of Lakewood won second place for a 116-pound yellowfin. Keith Shindledecker took third place for a 100.2-pound Alijos Rocks yellowfin tuna.



Rocks Producing Variety

"Our run out to the Rocks payed off for us with outstanding fishing on tuna, dorado, yellowtail, and wahoo!" Justin Fleck reported August 20 aboard Excel. "The tuna started biting just after daylight and stuck with the boat all day. Most of the fish were in the 40-70 pound class for the morning with a couple of bigger ones mixed in. Mid day, a rogue school of dorado found us and made everyone participate in the 'Mahi Shuffle'. After a while, they backed off and it was back to tuna. Just before dark, I don't know where they came from, a spot of mixed fish from 20-60 pounds hit us and hit us hard! It was biting as fast as you could get a bait in the water for the last hour of our day. What a great way to end it.

"We left Alijos and are now heading up the line in good weather. Now that everyone has lots of fish to take home, we are trying to figure out what to do for the last two days of our trip. I'm sure we will think of something, wish us luck..."



Decent Day

“We arrived at 0700 and started looking around,” said the report from American Angler August 19. “By 0800 we got the ground tackle down and in short order began to see sign of what we were looking for. The first couple of fish caught were wahoo and then the tuna started biting for a steady pick throughout the morning that tapered off by the mid afternoon.

“The photos of the day are Long Range expert (the one and only) Jimmy Lew and Dennis with his fishing buddy Tammie. We are going to give it another day here and start running up tomorrow night.”



On The Spot

“Arriving to the spot right at 12:30 this afternoon,” said the Polaris Supreme report August 18, “we found the conditions were not the most prime we've seen so it was going to take some time to get things dialed in. We hit numerous breezers of yellows but they weren't all that cooperative so we kept on rolling to where we felt we would have the best shot at some trophies. We picked and scratched at the stock grade fish all afternoon but once the early evening time graced us, it was the big boys who came out to play. We finished our day with a nice flurry on that nicer grade of fish and we felt we put together a fine score for a half-day’s fishing. When it was all said and done, we had about a 50/50 mix of 14 to 18-pounders and 22 to 35-pounders. Not a bad way to start things off. To make our day just that much better, the weather was once again A-plus.”



In The Shallows

“We started out on the shallows this morning,” said the report from Royal Star August 18, “with a very good bite on 15 to 25-pound yellows that put on a good show and bit increasingly better as the day progressed. By late morning we had all we wanted and took off for the offshore grounds where we had sign yesterday.
“It wasn't until late when we got on a nice school that produced 65 yellowfin from 18 to 30 pounds with one standout 60-pounder. Overall, we had a great day of angling in balmy flat calm seas. We are traveling up tonight and will be at an island tomorrow targeting premium grade yellows tomorrow.”



Biologist Barbara Block’s Report

The Tuna Research and Conservation Center team from Stanford University and Monterey Bay Aquarium has just finished an eight-day trip aboard the Shogun. Aboard we had Staff from the Tuna Center (TRCC) and Tag-A- Giant Foundation, Ph.D students and undergraduate interns, and a post-doctoral fellow from Stanford University. I have fished with the superb Shogun Crew since 1994 and I don't recall the weather ever being so challenging on a single trip as it was this past week. For almost six straight days we had 15 to 25-knot winds and this resulted in choppy seas and a rougher trip than we’re used to at this time of year.

Captains Norm Kagawa and Bruce Smith worked hard searching for the bluefin we sought- despite utilizing all the tools of modern science: satellite imagery and even a spotter pilot. In the rough weather we were unable to locate a large school of bluefin tuna we were seeking for collection and tagging. We collect the fish live and transport the fish back to the TRCC for a variety of studies that includes understanding the energetics of bluefin tuna and specific studies focused on how the bluefin can tolerate the cooler waters.

These sophisticated studies involve studying the cardiac dynamics (heart rate and beat to beat contraction) of the bluefin’s heart- the Lance Armstrong of the sea. In addition, we’re hoping to start some work on the Gulf Oil spill, where we plan to study how the bluefin tuna is affected by oil and dispersant mixtures. To this end we did collect some Pacific mackerels that will help to also examine some Gulf of Mexico Deep Water Horizon questions.

We searched a wide area for the tunas and encountered a wide variety of sea conditions colder at times (59 to 64F) than most seasons due to the ocean condition called La Nina- this is when a stronger than normal current south leads to upwelling. Finally as a new week dawned the weather settled out- and we moved closer to traditional bluefin grounds we fish at this time of year offshore of Ensenada and within eight hours of San Diego and sure enough we found a huge school of the small fish we were seeking.

The good news is we did get some bites and finally put some fish in the wells. The fish were just the size we were looking for and we succeeded at sampling, collection and tagging. To help fill up wells for the collection trip we stopped off on our way home at Baja Aquafarms, now one of the largest bluefin farms in the world. On a glorious sunny day, made even better by the week of bad weather, the owner and director helped the TRCC reach our scientific goals by allowing us to collect two to three-year-old fish to help complete a full load aboard the Shogun.

We tagged some larger fish at the pens with archival tags, which was rather exciting as the fish were without question a bit frisky. This will allow studying the feeding cycles of the bluefin within the pen. The weather was gorgeous, and our day at the Coronados and the farm included some south of the island fishing making it a terrific day all around. We’re headed in to offload the fish and get back to TRCC where we’ll begin a new year training fish for our flume and studying the inner workings of Pacific bluefin. Thanks again to the Shogun team.

--Dr. Barbara A. Block

"We had another excellent day of fishing here on the 'Big X'," skipper Justin Fleck reported August 19. "There was very good sign of good grade yellowtail all the way down the beach. We spent the day going from high spot to high spot from San Roque to Hipolito. To go along with the yellows, there were a few exotics to be had too. We picked up a half dozen grouper, two bluefin tunas, and some dorado.

"Since we are all finished up on yellowtail, we decided to make the run down to Alijos to try for a trophy tuna or wahoo. We have a good group of anglers on here and I know they would appreciate a shot at a big one."

State Farm agent Bob Peterson chartermastered the five-day trip aboard Red Rooster III that arrived at H&M Landing August 19. Andy Cates skippered the trip, which was also sponsored by Lakeside Bait & Tackle, Five Star Fish Processing, VMC, Hobie and FishingVideos.com. There were 31 anglers aboard, and they all caught big yellowtail at Cedros Island.

“They bit good,” said Cates. “We made some nice greenback mackerel and they liked those as well as the sardines. On the way home we went outside and looked for tuna, and picked up three school yellowfin. One of them won the coveted trolling jacket.”

The jacket winner was rookie Robert Hernandez of Carson City, NV.

“I came across your videos on YouTube,” said Robert to dock reporter Bill Roecker. “I bought a couple of them and then I bought a ticket on the boat.”

“Did the trip meet your expectations?” asked Roecker.

“More than that! Look at the size of these fish,” exclaimed Hernandez.

Kevin Smith of Pt. Loma won first place for a 40-pound yellowtail. The homeguard bit his sardine, he said, on a 4/0 Hayabusa circle hook, 30-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon leader, 40-pound Izorline and 60-pound Izorline Spectra. He said he used an Avet SJX reel and a Loomis seven-foot rod.

“It was a very soft bite,” noted Smith, "after a medium-length soak. I could hardly feel him take the bait. The he fought good for about 15 minutes, and he took me around the boat twice.”

Smith noted that many of the bigger ‘tails came early in the morning, before dawn, on dropper loop rigs with mackerel. His came on the flyline, however.

Jerry Lahr of San Diego won second place for a 39.5-pound yellowtail, and Dan O’Leary of San Diego got third place for a 38.6-pound ‘tail.



Go West, Young Men

“We made the long run down to the Ridge,” reported American Angler August 18, “to start our seven-day trip and arrived this morning in hopes of getting the group settled in to working together and maybe catching some fish in the process. After a few hours of Yanking and a Cranking, it was fun for all.

"The weather the last couple of days has been, may I say, Just Like Summer, flat calm and very warm out. The yellows we caught were good grade ranging from 16 to 25 pounds, as shown by Andrew and Tammie with some of the bigger models that came aboard. We are heading outside for the next couple of days to try for trophies."



Y & C On YT

“We arrived to the Islands just after lunch,” noted Excel skipper Just Fleck August 17, “and were welcomed by a good school of biting yellowtail. Most of the fish were 15 to 20 pounds, with a few bigger models mixed in.

"Everybody had a chance to yank and crank. We were able to put together a nice afternoon. We're going to try and do it all again tomorrow.”



Weather’s Great, So’s The Fishing

“Today was spent in beautiful sunny flat calm weather,” said the Independence report for August 19. “Our target species was good grade yellowtail and we landed some really nice fish with many in the 30 to 40-pound range. We are currently headed north in very nice weather and plan to make a stop for a few hours before calling it a trip. We will arrive at Point Loma Sportfishing at approximately 6am on Friday 8/20. Have a good day, the Indy Boys.”



“Pouring Over The Rail”

“Our good fortunes continued today,” said the report from Royal Polaris August 18, “with spectacular weather and fantastic yellowtail fishing. Quality yellows came pouring over the rail all afternoon.

“Most of the fish ranged anywhere from 15 to 22 pounds, with a few nicer fish mixed in and one trophy in the 50-pound class. We now have limits of yellowtail and our plan is to head up the coast tonight and spend tomorrow trying for white seabass and halibut.”



Make Custom Boards? New Accurate Planer

Check out the New Accurate Planer for the Surf Board shapers. Douglas, Ben and I have been working on this project for over a year in conjunction with Jed Noll. Douglas and I (David Nilsen) designed this planer to feel and cut just like the 1950 Skil 100 planer. The entire planer is made from solid billet 6061 Aluminum.

Just back from a four-day trip with 17 anglers that visited Cedros Island for some large yellowtail, Intrepid skipper Kevin Osborne told dock reporter Bill Roecker that he spent a day fishing offshore for tuna he could see on his meters that wouldn’t bite.

“We saw ‘em but didn’t hook any,” he said. “But I think I’ll go offshore again next time out, because it looks like things could change, like the weather has.

“After we hit Cedros we fished for some nice rockfish on the way home. We released a black sea bass and got a halibut along with a good bunch of reds.”

Scott Moll of Corona won first place for a 38.4-pound yellowtail. He said he got it at midnight on a dropper loop with a 16-punce sinker. He bagged his best yellowtail with a sardine on 40-pound line and 50-poundSpectra. He used an Accurate 870 reel and a Seeker 660 rod.

Darrell Bolden of San Bernadino won second place for a 37.4-pounder, and Patrick Casa of Highland took third place with a 35.4-pound yellowtail.



Different Pace

“Today we chose a different pace of fishing,” said the report from Independence August 17. “and had very good yellowtail fishing with most fish in the 14 to 22-pound range with some up to 30 pounds. We also took a look offshore for yellowfin tuna but came up empty for the effort. The weather today was hot and sunny and the ocean was like butter. We are headed north and plan on fishing in the afternoon closer to home.”



A Good Day

“We had another super morning on big yellows," Andy Cates reported August 17. "The action started at 4:30 in the morning and at 8:00 we had what we needed: 30 to 40-pound yellows. Green back mackerel was the bait of choice and also the surface iron. We left at 8:30 and went offshore for not much. We looked at some new water and that was about it. Tomorrow we are going to try our hand at offshore again, maybe in the old area or further to the west.”



Schoolies Biting

“No big hits,” reported Royal Star August 17, “but we managed to put together a decent day here in the lower offshore zone. Our tally was 35 yellowfin from 12 to 25 pounds and limits of dorado off a kelp that was loaded. We are going to try for yellows tomorrow morning and look at this offshore zone again in the afternoon.”



Got Yellowtail? How About Ceviche?

Ceviche by Lambchop (Steve Lamb, Searcher Chef)

Ingredients:
-1 large container fresh refrigerated salsa, garlic-flavored is my favorite
-Fish, chopped into 3/4-inch pieces
(Enough to fill a second container, about the same size as the salsa container.)
Almost any kind of fish will work, though I prefer yellowtail, wahoo, dorado, or white sea bass. I do not suggest using tuna.
-1 quart lemon juice
-3/4 red onion, chopped
-3 jalapenos, chopped
-3 medium tomatoes, semi-firm, diced
-1 bunch cilantro, chopped, reserve 1/4 of this for garnish

Add lemon juice to the container with fish. Seal tightly and refrigerate for 24 hours.

The next day, empty the salsa into a larger bowl. Add onion, jalapenos, tomatoes and cilantro (except for garnish) on top of salsa. Mix gently.

Drain the lemon juice out of the fish container very lightly. Do not press the fish to squeeze out all the lemon juice. The remaining juice will bring out the taste.
Add fish to the bowl of salsa and chopped veggies. Stir gently to mix.

Put in a serving container and sprinkle 1/4 of chopped cilantro on top.



Scratchin’ At The Rocks

“We scratched together a nice day of tuna fishing today on beautiful grade 50 to 70-pound yellowfin. We also had a few nice sized wahoo to go with it.
“Our weather today was very enjoyable with partly cloudy skies and a refreshing breeze. We will stay anchored tonight and try again in the morning.”

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!

by Paul Sweeney

Owner skipper Tommy Rothery returned Polaris Supreme to Fisherman's Landing August 17 after a five-day trip. The 28th (wow!) annual Ron Heil charter found good quality yellowtail at Cedros Island.

"It was never wide-open," second skipper Drew Henderson said, "but real steady for the two and a half days we were there. It's always beautiful on the lee side of the island. The weather came down yesterday, so maybe we'll run into something this next trip."


Three generations of Hagan's were aboard the trip, two of which found their way into the jackpot. 84-year old Bill Hagan has been on 15 years while his 24-year old grandson Scott Hagan was also aboard.

"This is my third year on the trip," Scott said.

Bob Hagan, of San Diego, took first with a 37.8-pound yellowtail. He fished a sardine on a 1/0 Owner gorilla hook, 30-pound Berkley Big Game line, a Shimano TLD 15 reel and a Seeker 6470 rod.

Mark Miller of El Cajon won second place for a 36.4-pound yellowtail, and Mike Hagan of San Diego took third with a 35.6-pound yellow.



Tuna On Porpoise

"We started out fishing down on the ridge for this trip," read the Qualifier 105 report August 16. "Boy did it work out, big time. We have 32 anglers on the boat and ALL have a limit or at least very close to it. Even the crew had a chance to catch one or two. Our group is about having fun and today we all had a blast. The yellowtail bit about as good as we have EVER seen. It was full speed for about three hours. We have all we need, and are on our way out to the rocks for tomorrow. As always, the kids kicked some butt today with Zack Plott leading the way again. His brother Tanner also did very well, as did Tim and Joe Lesuer. Conner O'Malley is on the Q for the first time, and he has a load of fish already. As for the 'old guys', they also had some fun.

"We will be out to the rocks early and have a 'tip' that it was good today. As I was writing this, around 5:30 pm, we saw a spot of porpoise and ran on it. Our first stop was outstanding, we ended up with around 50 tuna, yellowfin, next stop, 40 fish, most of them around 25 or so pounds. As I write this, we are running back on the porpoise and I will let you know what happens in a few...

"I'm back and we had a total, for 4 stops of around 200 tuna!!! We are now headed west and will be at the rocks around 8 am."



Bags Bonus ‘But

"Today was a tough day here at Cedros fishing wise," read the Intrepid's August 16 report, "but the great weather sure makes up for the slow fishing. The fish are here, but they did not want to bite very well. There were some moments when things pick up, and it looked as if we were going to get busy, then they would back-off again.

"We did put together a nice day catching yellows from 18-35 pounds and a bonus halibut. There were also some nice calico bass caught this evening. We are now on our way up the coast to try for some reds and lings tomorrow."



After The Big Bang

"We started off the afternoon with a bang!" Andy Cates reported aboard Red Rooster III August 15. "We had a great afternoon with good action on 15 to 30 pound yellows. The fish are still biting a little and it is almost dark.

"We are going to sit here and see if any bait show up and maybe a seabass or two. Tomorrow we'll focus on some of the trophies around the Island."

Sam Patella and Brian Kiyohara double-teamed the island yellowtail on a five-day trip with their American Angler group of 26, and came up with near-limits of good fish.

“We started at our Hot Spot,” said the report for August 14, “and everything seemed to be right on schedule, with the first fish being hooked at 0545 am. We picked up eight Yellowtail out of that rally and it just didn't seem the same as yesterday. Throughout the day we picked and scratched at those Premiums, stopping along the way to catch a few of the stock grade.

“The photos are some of the gang showing their bigger fish of the day. In a nutshell, this was our best big yellowtail trip of the season, hands down. We are going to be running straight home with no time to play around tomorrow, so we are calling it a trip.”

Man and wife team John and Rose O’Brien of Lakewood bagged a brace of biggies to take first and second place for the trip. John’s big yellow weighed 42.6 pounds and Rose got a 40.2-pounder.

John said he took his ‘tail with a sardine on a 2/0 Mustad hook tied to 40-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon leader, 40-pound Izorline and 50-pound Izorline Spectra on an Avet JX reel and a Calstar 765 rod.

Carlton George of San Diego won third place for a 39.6-pound yellowtail. The sun was coming up as the lineup photo was shot, making for a nice background.



Chartermaster Knows How To Fish

Haj Shimada’s annual five-day charter aboard the Excel returned to Fisherman’s Landing August 16 with limits of yellowtail for 21 anglers.


“It was a cordial group,” said Haj to dock reporter Bill Roecker, “and fishing was pretty good at the islands. We did have a little Benitos Bounce on the way up.

“The yellowtail bit yoyo jigs good. They liked the blue and white, Mexican Flag and scrambled eggs the best. They bit some on the light iron, too.”

Haj won first place for a 38.8-pound yellowtail. He said he bagged it with a sardine on a 3/0 Mutu hook on 40-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon leader, 40-pound Big Game line and 60-pound Spectra. He used a Trinidad 16 reel and a custom Calstar 700 H rod.

Greg Augusta of Valencia won second place for a 37-pound yellowtail, and Brandon Wallace of San Diego too third place for his 36.8-pound yellow.



Captain’s Log: Stardate 2010

"It's 3:30 in the A.M. on Sunday the 15th,” wrote Drew Henderson aboard Polaris Supreme, “but for writing purposes we'll just pretend that it's 9:30 PM yesterday. We never did catch any white seabass or yellows last night, lots and lots of calicos until we made a move back to the calm waters around 1:30 A.M. Tommy put the boat on a hot spot pretty early in the morning, before dark anyway and shortly after day break we started to hook fish. We remained like that for quite some time. A comfortable pace one to three going at a time with an occasional flurry for six or seven going at a time, most of these being in the 28 to 35-pound range.

“We tried a couple more spots, one producing 14 to 16-pounders and the other a few of those premiums. We took a run to the cove and found the fish there eager to climb on and in an hour or so we had another 40 to 50 yellows before that stopped biting. We then made a move back eventually making it to where we started in the morning and threw another 10 of those toads on before dark. No bites other then calicos until just now chartermaster Ron Heil came up to the bridge where I'm typing, and said he lost the biggest toad of his life. Hopefully that means another great day to come.”



Royal Star Report

“Zero to report on the fishing front today,” wrote skipper Tim Ekstrom August 14, “as we rocked and rolled, bumped and jumped, and clawed our way northwest against a screaming downhill current that has thus far been the signature condition of the 2010 season; that and complete unpredictability of course. In fact, I cannot recall anything I have experienced being even remotely close. From what initially appeared to be a stellar alignment of fish sign and conditions, to the polar opposite in mid August is something to see. Mind you it is a tough chain of events to swallow, and even smacks of injustice, but no surprises. Mother Nature is well known for her indifference.

“Taking all this into account, we are ecstatic to be departing on our next six day voyage tomorrow with Capt. Toussaint at the helm. The annual Mako Nakamura six day will depart with a favorable weather pattern to work with and plenty of prospects down below. Combined with a wealth of time to work at whatever they find, all signs point to a fine fishing set up.

“Gene Osher is featured with crewman Steve Gregonis and Gene's trophy yellowtail wrestled from the kelp during an epic, 20-minute battle.”



Captain Potatohead Strikes

"We are on the first day of our annual Capt Potatohead charter,” said the Searcher’s report August 15, “with Dick Uranga and company. What a morning we have had! Excellent yellowtail fishing here at Isla San Martin. The fish are in the 12 to 30-pound class and the primary method has been flyline a live sardine. There have been a few fish landed on yo-yo iron as well. We're having lots of fun as usual with this group, and Dick is on the receiving end of most of it. We couldn't ask for any better fishing and so we hope this continues the rest of the day. Not sure what we can do for an encore, but I'm sure we can come up with something.”

Jesus Companioni docked Intrepid at Pt. Loma Sportfishing August 14 after the annual five-day NorCal Tuna Chasers trip with 26 anglers and chartermaster Doug Inouye of Santa Clara.

“It’s tough offshore, all right,” he said. “We saw lots of albacore, bluefin and bait, but the tuna, hanging around at 10 or 12 fathoms, wouldn’t bite. We got to Benitos and scratched some yellowtail in the breeze. Cedros was better at the South End. We got some good yellowtail of 25 to 32 pounds at one spot, along with a good halibut.”

Ray Mosier of Santa Cruz won first place for a 39.2-pound yellowtail, his best so far this year. He said it bit on a sardine and a 3/0 Gorilla hook tied to 40-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon and 50-pound Power Pro Spectra on an Avet LX reel and an Ugly Stick seven-foot rod.

Chartermaster Inouye won second place for a 37.7-pounder, and Roy Kanazawa of San Jose won third place for a 37-pound yellowtail.



Good Blackwater Trip To Alijos

Blackwater owner Don Kuroye chartermastered a seven-day trip to Alijos Rocks and Cedros Island aboard Royal Polaris that returned to Fisherman’s Landing August 14 with owner-skipper Frank LoPreste at the wheel.

The trip produced a nice catch of yellowfin tuna and wahoo. The best tuna was an ineligible kite fish, a 103-pounder caught by matt Bingham of Livermore.

Matt posed with his pal Ben Sleeter of El Granada, who won first place for a 98.4-pound tuna. He got that one with a sardine on a 2/0 Mutu hook on 35-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon and 60-pound Line One Spectra wrapped on an Accurate BX-2 500 reel under a Calstar 700 H rod.

Ben also won third place for an 80-pound tuna, and he told dock reporter Bill Roecker he also caught a 42-pound wahoo on a Sea Strike 22 jig in scrambled eggs tiger stripe color.

Colin Rochester of Sacrament won second place for an 83-pound tuna, but that fish went into a slush bin to the processor, so there was no photo available. Colin is 15 and goes to Pleasant Grove High, where he plays LaCrosse.

Paul Carhen of Erie, PA won the Rollo Jackpot for a 47-pound wahoo.



Melton’s Qualifier Trip

Eric Weldele skippered the Melton’s International five-day trip with 19 anglers that returned to Pt. Loma Sportfishing August 14. He took his anglers to The Ridge, where they found a bluefin tuna, some yellowfin and very good yellowtail fishing. None of the tuna were large, but between the 23 Spot, the 13 and Cedros Island, the anglers had no problem taking limits of good-sized yellowtail, said the skipper.

Michael Williams of Northridge got a 38.8-pound yellowtail for first place. He said it came on a sardine and a 3/0 Flyliner hook after a ten-minute fight. He used 40-pound Seaguar Red Label fluorocarbon and 65-pound Line One Spectra on an Accurate 870 reel and a Calstar 800 H rod.

Charlie Saraspe, 13 and the son of Five Star fish Processing owners Andy and Sarah Saraspe, won second place for his best yellowtail, a 38.2-pounder. Charlie goes to Stanley Middle School. Grandfather Lauro Saraspe was at the scales, too.



Searcher Tries Benitos

Searcher returned from a four-day trip to the San Benitos Islands with skipper Aaron Remy and 21 anglers aboard.

Dave Bell of San Diego won first place for a 28-pound yellowtail and posed with it on the dock at Fisherman’s Landing. He said he got it with a blue and white Salas 6X Jr. jig on 40-pound P-Line XXX, and Avet LX reel and a GRUSA six-foot rod.



Newell Open Returns

Richard Hightower’s five-day trip aboard the Red Rooster III, sponsored by Newell, Seaguar, Catchy Tackle, Yo-Zuri and his other products returned August 14 to H&M Landing. Andy Cates skippered the trip, which focused on island yellowtail. The catch was good and many of the ‘tails were large fish.

Steve Kim of Torrance won first place for a 39.9-pound yellowtail that took a sardine on a 4/0 Hayabusa hook. Steve made a dropper loop with his 50-pound blue Izorline and used a Penn 4/0 Yellowtail Special reel and a Calstar 50 Special rod.

Bob “Scrappy” Michener of Oxnard won second place for a 39.2-pound yellowtail. Richard Halack of Thousand Oaks got third place for a 38.9-pounder, and Hightower, of La Mirada, won the coveted trolling jacket for the fourth-place yellowtail, a 37.9-pounder, since there were no troll fish caught.

“I got mine with a Sea Strike 33 in scrambled eggs,” said Hightower. “On a Newell 533 with a 5.5 gear ratio.”

Richard is well-known in the southland and an angler an a long-time factory representative. Hightower’s H&H Outdoor Marketing in La Mirada will be the new distributor for Bill Roecker’s company Oceanic Productions and FishingVideos.com.



Crashing Yellowtail

“After making good speed on our way South,” wrote Excel skipper Mike Ramirez about August 12, “we arrived at the islands with plenty of time to take a good look around. We immediately started seeing crashing yellowtail under the bird schools. It didn't take long to figure out that the hot ticket was a flylined sardine on 30 to 40-pound test with a flourocarbon leader, although the yoyo iron and surface iron did their fair share of catching as well.

“We had steady action until dark. By the time the sun set, we had 100 yellowtail for our 20 anglers. We are planning on spending the night here and hoping to get on 'em tomorrow.”

(by Paul Sweeney)

Jeff DeBuys returned Independence to Point Loma Sportfishing August 13 after a five-day Tahoe Tuna Club charter. With poor offshore conditions, the trip found good yellowtail fishing and a few exotics at the islands instead.

Jeff Keyser of South Lake Tahoe, CA, won first place with a 49.6-pound grouper. He fished a sardine on a 6/0 Owner circle hook, 50-pound Blue Izorline, a Penn Senator reel on a Blackfin rod.

"I knew I had something big," he said, "but I didn't know it was a grouper. We had a bunch of moments on the trip where it was wide-open. The Indy crew is awesome. Jeff knows how to hunt 'em down."

Ernie Antonini, of Santa Ana, placed second with a 38.4-pound yellowtail, and first-time long ranger Peter Shapiro of Woodland Hills took third with a 35.4-pound Benitos yellowtail.

"This was my second fish ever!" Peter said. "The boat was gonna leave and I hooked him on the retrieve."

The Indy heads back out on a seven-day Rusty Hook charter today.



Early Morning Yellows

"Good evening folks," Red Rooster III skipper Andy Cates reported August 12. "We had a nice day here today starting with early morning good grade yellows and finishing the trip off with a hit on 30 to 45 pound yellows. We had good action mid morning on 15 to 18 pound fish as well. The conditions have turned for the better and we were fortunate to get in on the change. Tomorrow We will probably be fishing up on the beach."



Benitos Is Biting

Skipper Mike Ramirez told Bill Roecker by telephone he’d found good biting yellowtail at the San Benitos Islands August 12.

“We pulled in there around three PM yesterday afternoon,” he said on 13th, “and we had a good bite on yellowtail of 18 to 25 pounds. The water was clean, blue and 65 degrees, and with four boats fishing there, we didn’t have much problem with seals.

“Today we’re over at Cedros Island,” continued Ramirez, “and early this morning we’ve got a dozen fish aboard. They’re running about the same size so far, and we’re seeing good sign of yellowtail.”



A Good ‘But

"We spent the night at our seabass spot,” said the report from Intrepid August 12, “but only caught large yellowtail. We ended up with 51 magnum yellows for our efforts and one nice 25-pound halibut caught on a yoyo jig. Tomorrow we try for more yellowtail."



Heading Up The Beach

“We had a nice day here today,” said Andy Cates aboard the Red Rooster III, “starting with early morning good grade yellows and finishing the trip off with a hit on 30 to 45-pound yellows. We had good action mid morning on 15 to 18-pound fish as well. The conditions have turned for the better and we were fortunate to get in on the change. Tomorrow We will probably be fishing up on the beach.”



“Fish For Color”

Today was another great day fishing for yellowtails and once again we're stoked,” said the report from Searcher August 12. “We had steady angling all day and everyone is happy. The fish were once again--all good-grade fish up to 30 pounds.

“So we're headed up the line to give ourselves some time to fish for color--we're gonna try for some bottom grabbers for a couple of hours in the morning and call it a great trip.

“Tip of the day when yoyo fishing: You can’t wind fast enough. The faster, the better. Good angling and hope to see you on the water soon!”



‘Tails & ‘Buts

“We arrived at Cedros Island at 10:45 hours,” noted the Royal Polaris report for August 12.

“Weather was breezy and a bit overcast. We had a wonderful day of fishing catching limits of yellowtail from 15 to 35 pounds. We also managed one nice halibut and a few calico bass. We fished the afternoon in calm sunny weather on the lee side of the island. Enjoy the photos.”

By Paul Sweeney

Owner skipper Tommy Rothery returned Polaris Supreme August 12 to Fisherman's Landing after a five-day trip.

"Everybody got along great," Rodger Rorge of Long Beach said. "The crew on this boat is just great. I've been fishing with Tommy since '81, and I think this is the best group of guys he's ever had. They just blend in so well."


Rodger took first place with a 38.2-pound yellowtail. He used a blue, white, and green Salas 7X jig on 40-pound P-Line, a Trinidad reel on a Saber 870 jigstick rod.

"My jackpot fish was one of the last fish of the trip!" he said. "Everyone was catching dinks when I hooked up, but he just took off! I kept the pressure steady, but he took me into the spectra."

Alex Rogger of Steamboat Springs, CO, was second for a 37.2-pound yellowtail, and George Meigs of Seal Beach was third for a 36.4-pound yellowtail.
Honorable mention Richard Wong of San Fernando Valley had a 46.2-pound yellowtail that a crewman helped reel in.

"I hooked it," Richard said, "but everyone was hooking 'em, so I handed it off to a crewman just to let him have some fun too. I'm not upset that I didn't get in the jackpot, I would have gave all the winnings to the crew anyways. It was worth seeing his eyes light up when he pulled on that fish."

Longtime chartermaster Eric Rogger of Los Angeles also had good things to say about the trip and crew.

"We had a day and a half of very good yellowtail fishing off Cedros. Tommy's crew and the food are amazing as always."



“Nothing Is Easy”

“We were again at the lower islands,” said the report from Independence August 11, “trying for yellows and anything else that we might encounter. As far as exotics go, we caught a halibut, and a grouper, as well as good fishing for yellowtail. Everyone had a great day in the warm sunshine yanking and cranking. As the offshore thing is very poor right now, we are going to end the trip up on the coast somewhere.”



Charlie’s Big One

“Wow, what a day we had. We arrived at a high spot that can have Yellowtail, tuna and sometimes wahoo. We found that there were no tuna but the yellows were there and biting like crazy. We spent the day on the anchor and had some great fishing. The fish were not huge but a nice size, 22 to 15 pounds. We hooked them on jigs, and bait, both were working well.

“A couple of the guys are on their first trip and had great time today, Charlie Saraspe is with us, his parents are the owners of 5 Star Fish Processing. He is on his first long trip and is a great fisherman. He was hooked up most of the time and ended up with a limit of Yellowtail in one day! Also on his first trip and pulling on a lot of fish is Shane Bitler, Shane is from Admire Kansas, along way from the beach. He is with Nick Hartline from Manhattan Kansas. All aboard had a great time and tagged a lot of fish.

“Our pictures today are of Brandon with some of the giveaway stuff and Charlie and Aliyar with one of Charlie's many Yellowtail. Tomorrow we are looking for some tuna and will let you know what happens.”



Biting Fish And Sunshine

“Capt Aaron called in to report great yellowtail fishing at San Benitos so far,” said the report from Searcher August 11. “They arrived an hour ago and already have 22 nice sized 18 to 20-pound fish. He says the conditions are great with bird life, water conditions, and fish. Oh yeah, it's sunny too!”



Rocks Were Good

“Our weather has definitely changed,” noted the report from Royal Polaris August 11. “Overcast all morning and 18 knots of breeze with a pretty good swell.

“Luckily we had a good morning of fishing. We fished until 13:30 and caught 60 Yellowfin tuna, 3 Wahoo, and 3 Yellowtail. The tuna were pretty much 50 to 100 pounds with a few 40's.

“We are now headed to Cedros Island where we hope to get some decent Yellowtail fishing. We will arrive there around 10:30 hours tomorrow.”



Yellows for Intrepid

"With a tough day offshore yesterday we tried for yellowtail today," read the Intrepid's report August 11. "It was a fun day of fishing for our NorCal group as we boated 65 of these gems up to 35 pounds. Here are a couple of pics of our spoils, mostly on the yoyo jigs. We will be doing the same tommorrow in search for more yellows and white sea bass."

Cedros Island has put out another round of yellowtail for the long range fleet. With offshore fishing about as tough as it gets, the big island has been the consistent bright spot for anglers. Lately the quality of the yellowtail took a decided improvement, with lots of fish in the 30-pound bracket showing up in the catches.

A few halibut and white seabass are in the mix, and Excel skipper Mike Ramirez remarked to dock reporter Bill Roecker that some nice bonito are also hanging around the island. Just returned from a trip with Ramirez, former SAC prexy Bob Fletcher noted that the few tuna showing up have been eating small bait, some of it deepwater species. Bob said Excel metered plenty of that bait while he was up in the wheelhouse.

Good Eats

“While I know the majority of long range anglers (want) to catch albacore and tuna, yellowtail are far from second-class citizens,” wrote Royal Star Skipper Tim Ekstrom august 9.

“As a game fish they are impossible to criticize, and with the advent of RSW, they are extraordinary table fare. After today's results on the water, and the prior two day's lack of, I am shamelessly supplicating at the yellowtail altar. They saved our bacon big time, again.”

Ekstrom docked his Royal Star at Fisherman’s Landing August 11. Yellowtail swept the top spots.

Tom Walker of Huntington Beach won first place for a 38-pound ‘tail.

“He got in the weeds,” said Tom, “but I got him out after about 20 minutes.”

He said he baited a sardine on a 4/0 Mustad hook tied to 40-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon and 40-pound Izorline. He used an Avet LX reel and a Calstar 465 rod.

Tom Harris of Garden Grove won second place for a 33.5-pound yellowtail. Teacher-coach Dave Patterson of Santa Ana (he was skipper Randy Toussaint’s teacher when Randy attended Warren High in Downey) won third place for a 32-pounder. He posed with his fish, as the other two were in the slush bins to go to processing.



Angler Back With Angler’s Choice

Sam Patella docked his American Angler at Pt. Loma Sportfishing August 11 after a five-day Angler’s Choice trip with 25 fishermen including chartermaster Frank Blunt.

Eric Newby of San Carlos won first place for a 36.4-pound yellow he bagged after a 15-minute tussle. He said it bit a sardine on a 2/0 Flyliner hook on 40-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon leader and 65-pound Power Pro Spectra. He fished with an accurate BX-2 500 reel and a Loomis seven-foot rod.

Bill Patton of La Jolla won second place for a 28.2-pounder, and Bob Axel won third place for a 25.2-pound yellowtail. Bill Kuehl of Escondido got the trip’s sole dorado.



Tuna Wars 20: A Tie

Mike Ramirez brought Excel home to Fisherman’s Landing august 11 after the 20th annual Tuna Wars charter with 32 anglers overseen by chartermaster Carl Fanucchi of Bakersfield.

“We went to Cedros Island for yellowtail,” said Carl. “We had real good weather, and we saw spots of tuna in green water but they wouldn’t bite. The yellows bit good, though.”

Larry Fachin of Bakersfield won first place for a 40.2-pound mossback. He said it bit a sardine on a 4/0 Mustad hook. He used 30-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon leader, 30-pound Big Game line, a Torium 16 reel and a Fenwick seven-foot rod.

“He was the first fish on the boat,” said Larry, “and my first and still my best yellowtail.”

Frank Griskus of Stockton won second place for a 38.4-pound yellowtail, and he was tied with Mike Wattenbarger of Bakersfield with another yellow of the same weight, so the pair split second and third places.



Tie For Third

Mike Keating docked his spirit of Adventure at H&M Landing August 11 after a five-day trip with 22 anglers, the Paul’s Guys trip.

Long-time long ranger Alfredo Salgado won first place for a 35.8-pound yellowtail. Eric Piper of Petaluma was right behind him with a 35.5-pounder. Allen Packard and Paul Sabesky of Tehachapi tied for third place with twin 34.5-pound yellowtail.



A Stellar Day

“We awoke the morning of the 8th,” sad the report from Polaris Supreme August 9, “and decided to take a less traveled path to further points south. Now we see why more people haven't taken the path. To be brief, we didn't see a whole lot. So we arrived to the secret Yellowtail spot around 6 pm, got the anchor down, and began trying for some bruiser Yellowtail. We hooked a few and landed a few and that was our night.

“The morning of the 9th, we were all rested up for the big day ahead of us. We rubbed the sleep out of our eyes, enjoyed a fresh cup of coffee, and immediately got lines in the water. It didn't take long for the yellows' to wake up either. The youngsters (15 to 18 pounds) were up and around so we welcomed them with open arms. Soon afterwards, the daddies woke up; 20 to 35-pound yellowtail were out and about as well. We put the 30-pund rigs back in the racks and tossed out the 40-pound setups necessary to land these 'cow' yellowtail's. We caught these behemoths mostly on yo-yo jigs and surface irons to start out our day, but just before lunch that action had kind of run its course.

“Anchored up on one particular spot in the shallows, we saw yellows boiling all around the boat but we weren't having much success hooking them. Light bulb. They were boiling on sardines and we happened to have plenty of sardines ourselves. Why not just use fly-lined sardines? Brilliant. The first three fly-lined baits to hit the water resulted in instant hook-ups and once all anglers made the switch, it was on.

“Don't get me wrong, we still hooked up plenty on jigs but we stayed a little more busy into the evening time with about a 50/50 mix of baits and jigs. Catching this premium grade of yellowtail is probably one of our favorite types of fishing especially on the surface irons. Standout of the day was Mr. Richard Wong with a 40-pound brute he caught on a yo-yo jig. It was weighed on a hand scale so we'll have to wait until dock scales to tell the true weight.”

“Today was just what we needed,” wrote Excel skipper Mike Ramirez August 9. “We had steady action on quality yellowtail most of the day. We even had a few halibut and a white seabass in the mix. To top it off we had beautiful weather. So overall we had an awesome day on the yellowtail and we were able to get plenty of fish to go around. We are going to start working our way up the line. We will have our eyes open all the time.”



A Good Start

“We started off with excellent bait, and even better weather,” said the report for August 10 from Independence. “Monday we stopped the boat for some yellowtail action, and were not disappointed in our efforts, as we had great action on yellows up to 40 lbs. we are off to another area for tomorrow in hopes of more of the same, maybe a few exotics.”



In The Triangle

“We had just about the perfect day in the triangle,” wrote Royal Star skipper Tim Ekstrom August 9, “beginning with a steady pick on 18 to 25-pound fish that lasted through about 10:30 when conditions changed dramatically. Actually, conditions changed dramatically before we began fishing. We awoke to 62-degree green water that had a feeling more akin to Morro Bay or Santa Cruz than where we were…We took a page from the old play book however and went about our business as if the temperature didn't matter. As it turned out, it didn't.

“After our steady morning scratch on the anchor we relocated to a different area that was a result of information gathered through our network. We put it to good use. One decent shot at school size yellows got us started. The second shot got it done; a boomer drift that developed into a school determined to catch a ride to San Diego come hell or high water. We left them eager and biting with enough to satisfy all goals of production on that size class of fish.

“We had a little extra time to spend targeting trophy or "premium" yellowtail as we call them before heading up the line. As we poked our way along we came upon as picturesque a spot as imaginable with birds up and doing their thing and big yellows plowing around underneath. We snaked our way through the kelp stringers to a perfect little opening, kicked over the anchor, and spent the final two hours scratching up 22 yellowtail of 28 to 35 pounds.”



Report From The Rocks

“Weather at Alijos Rocks today was quite calm throughout the day,” noted the posting from Royal Polaris August 9, “with a bit of chilly breeze in the late afternoon and evening.


“Fishing was mediocre. There were fish around the boat the entire day. We caught 42 Wahoo and 35 Yellowfin tuna up to 85 pounds. We lost at least 20 good fish to the sharks and you had to work hard to get a bite. It was what I would call scratch fishing.

“The Wahoo were beautiful grade with all between 40 to 55 pounds. Enjoy the photos. We are going to give this place another day.”



From Jack Nilsen’s Fishing Diary

The Nilsen family is enjoying an extended vacation in Hawaii. Accurate's Jack Nilsen sent FishingVideos.com this photo of his grandson Conner and son David Nilsen with an Uku, a gray snapper. The fish is said to be very good eating.

Intrepid returned to Pt. Loma Sportfishing August 9 after a five-day Rod Rack trip with boat owner Ken Price aboard. Kevin Osborne was skipper for the 26 anglers.

“We fished for two days at Cedros Island for yellowtail and white seabass,” said Osborne, “and the fishing for big yellowtail on iron was excellent. We went rockfishing a bit on the way home and that night we had fresh halibut for dinner.


Several white seabass were caught, including a 33.2-pounder for Jason Rucker of LA. The whites came on dropper loops.

Len Layman of Scottsdale, AZ won first place for his 41-pound white seabass. He said he bagged it with a sardine on the dropper loop with a six-ounce sinker, on a 3/0 Mustad hook, 40-pound Ande line on an Avet LX reel and a Super Seeker 6470 rod.

Joe Green of San Pedro won second place for a 40-pound yellowtail he fooled with a Tady 45 in scrambled eggs color.

Glenn Nakazono of El Sobrante tied Thomas De Jager of Yucaipa for third place. Both men caught 36.4-pound yellows. Glenn’s fish bit on a Salas 7X in sardine swirl pattern.



Cook’s Best Yellow

Andy Cates skippered Red Rooster III on a five-day trip to Cedros that retuned to H&M Landing August 9.

Steve Cook of Winchester won first place for a 47-pound yellowtail, his personal best. He said it bit a sardine on the dropper loop, held down with a 10-ounce sinker. He fished with 40-pound Big Game line on an Avet JX reel and a Calstar 700 H rod. He snaked that big forkie up in the dark, in just three minutes.

Hank Beckman of Ontario won second place for a 41.3-pound yellowtail, and jack Fisher of Corona took third for a 36.6-pounder. The coveted trolling jacket was won by Cam Taylor for a 35.8-pound albacore.



In Position

Tim Ekstrom posted a report August 8 that indicated a tough couple of days offshore on his latest five-day expedition. He followed that with this:

“Tomorrow is a new day. A critical day admittedly, but we are all in. And, we are now in position in the triangle. A beautiful night of flat calm, stationary and angling, will be the preface to what we hope will be a day of fishing, and catching. One white sea bass has already come over the rail at the time of this report so we will see how the night unfolds. Regardless of the catching, this spot is heavenly.

“Photo of the day features lucky long time Royal Star veteran Vance Husbands who got right down to business landing this twenty five pound class white sea bass in short order after we anchored our "secret" honey hole. Actually Vance wasn't lucky, he was fishing. Regardless, he set the bar and incited a near stampede from the galley when he landed his prize.”



Ready To Rumble

The Royal Polaris posted a report on her way south August 8:

“Absolutely beautiful weather today. Flat seas and sunshine throughout the day. Forecast for tomorrow calls for more of the same weather. We should arrive at our destination slightly before 07:00 hours. Hopefully we will have great pictures for you tomorrow evening. Wish us luck, please.”



Young Marine Gets ‘Em On Spirit

Jim Masterson fished with his father Thomas recently on Mike Keating’s Spirit of Adventure. Jim is just out of boot camp and now is in combat traing. Soon he’ll be sent to Virginia to go to school in electronics. Here’s his dad’s account of the trip is up at the Spirit's new website.

Independence, skippered by Kyle Karcher, docked at Pt. Loma Sportfishing August8 after the five-day Kimura’s Tackle trip with chartermaster Gary Kimura aboard, along with a good of catch of Cedros Island yellowtail.

”We spent two days at the island and two days fishing offshore,” said Kyle to dock reporter Bill Roecker. “We had good yellowtail fishing and got some big ones. There’s still very good sign of tuna offshore, and more bait than I’ve ever seen. We saw spot after spot of small sardines and Spanish mackerel.

“There hasn’t been a good water (satellite) picture for weeks,” he added.

Richard Levy of Whittier and the LAPD wasn’t entered in the jackpot, but he got the best ‘tail, a 44-pounder. He said it bit on a 2/0 ringed Gorilla hook and 25-pound Izorline. He posed at the scales and with the winners as honorable mention.


“He fought for 30 minutes,” remarked Levy. “I couldn’t get him off the rail.”

Randy Britton of Lawton, OK won first place for a 38.2-pound yellowtail. He said he bagged his fish with a Salas 6X jig in scrambled eggs color, on 50-pound Izorline. He used a Trinidad 30 reel and a Calstar 765 L rod.

Gordon De Jager of Crestline won second place for a 37.8-pound yellow, and Will Horst of San Carlos won third place for a 37.4-pound ‘tail.



“Thought It Was A Seal”

Eric Weldele skippered the Qualifier 105 on a five-day trip that returned August 8. He docked at Pt. Loma Sportfishing and offloaded the Fred Bowden charter with 26 anglers and another good catch of island yellowtail.

Mike Small of Lakeside won first place for his 37.8-pound yellowtail.

“I thought it was a seal until he turned,” said Small, who said he baited a sardine on a 2/0 Gamakatsu hook on 30-pound Izorline. He fished with a Daiwa Sealine 40 reel and a Super Seeker 6460 rod.

Ed Reno of El Cajon won second place for a 35.6-pounder, and Randy Hupp of Spring Valley got third place for his 34-pound yellow.



Run & Gun

“We had another fantastic day catching mossback yellows and large calico bass,” said the report from Intrepid August 7.

“The hot ticket today was the surface iron in an assortment of colors. Run and gun style, chasing down breezers and breaking fish made for an exciting day. We even got in a couple of bonus halibut that Chef Hector Quintanar prepared for dinner tonight! We will be working North tonight to finish up our trip tomorrow.”

Royal Polaris owner-skipper Frank LoPreste brought his 37 Queen of Hearts anglers home from their annual seven-day charter August 7. Among them were his son Tony and granddaughter Francesca, and chartermasters Bob and Sherry Ingles, owners of Half Moon Bay Sportfishing & Tackle in Pillar Point Harbor. They fished at Alijos, The Ridge, Cedros Island and offshore.


Several women were aboard and made personal best catches. Alecia “Reel Sister” Cornelius of Sherman Oaks had her best yellowtail, a 49.6-pounder. She said she fought it for 20 minutes after it bit her sardine on a two-ounce sliding sinker rig with 40-pound Maxima line. She got at least one other large yellowtail and also trolled up a chunky wahoo.

Sherry Ingles got a good tuna, yellowtail, dorado, halibut and her first wahoo for a dandy variety catch. Her 67-pound tuna won second place.

Kathy Rounds, an Accurate/Izorline pro staffer from San Diego, got a couple of big halibut, including her best-ever 37-pound California halibut on a 30-pound dropper loop rig with an Accurate 870 reel and blue Izorline.


Owen Wilkerson of Hayward won first place for an 81-pound tuna. He told dock reporter Bill Roecker it took a sardine on a 4/0 Mustad hook tied to 50-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon leader, 50-pound Izorline and 80-pound Izor Spectra on an Avet HX reel and a Calstar 765 L rod, a custom stick by Pete.

“He fought for 20 minutes,” said Wilkerson, “and he took me all the way around the boat. It’s my best tuna.”

Lance Rigg of El Segundo won third place for a 65.8-pound tuna. He said he used 45-pound Seaguar Premiere Fluoro to trick that fish.

Mike Nolan of Crescent City showed off a wahoo he got with a gold Raider jig.

Seven years old (going on eight), Francesca LoPreste fished with her dad Tony. Both are students. She goes to Ocean View Elementary School in Berkeley, where Tony is studying at prestigious Boalt Hall, the University of California School of Law. Francesca got her best yellowtail, a 23-pounder.



Second Baseman Scores

Drew Henderson docked Tommy Rothery’s Polaris Supreme at Fisherman’s Landing August 7 following a four-day trip with 20 anglers that produced yellowtail and some tuna. Like many skippers lately, he looked at quite a few tuna on the offshore scene that wouldn’t cooperate.

Henry Maine of San Diego won first place for a 32-pound albacore. Carlos Williams of Summerland caught a 30.6-pound longfin, and Stan Kanow of neport Beach won third place for a 27.6-pound yellowtail.

Chase Clark of Las Vegas is 15, and plays second base at Bonanza High there. He fished with his dad Mark, and posed with a yellowfin tuna.

“It was really fun,” he said of his trip. “I had a great time!”



A Good Day For Sure

“Today was a good day that’s for sure,” reported skipper Kyle Karcher aboard the Independence August 6. “”We had some wide-open action on premium grade yellow tail 25lb to 45-pound fish. It was some fun action on the surface iron, and yoyo jigs.

“The guys are sore from pulling on the homeguards. 12-year-old Kyle Cummings had a good day; he learned how to throw the iron and he pulled in his limit of these big yellows. He had a blast along with the rest of the gang. It has been a great trip so far and we hope to end it off with a bang on the offshore tuna grounds. So wish us luck we are going to need it things have been tough out there. Hopefully tomorrow is the day.”



Big Boys & Biscuits

“We had an excellent day of fishing here at the Island,” said the report from Intrepid August 6.

“The target was Yellowtail and White Seabass and that's what we caught all day long! We had big Yellows and Big Seabass today. All our Yellows today were the good ones between 25 to 40 pounds, along with some very large Seabass. The weather is great, the company on this Rod Rack trip is great and the fishing was great. We will set up tonight in hopes for more Big Whites!”



Q Tries The Island

“We fished at Cedros Island today for yellowtail. The fish were around but not in the numbers they were last time we were here. We put the anchor down around 8 AM and started to pick away. They weather was very windy today and we swung around on the pick but everyone worked together for a great day.

“Most of the fish were in the 22 to 30-pound range, a nice size fish to tag and take home. In the afternoon we went looking around but wound up right were we started the day. After it was all over we around 60 fish. For dinner we had prime rib with twice-baked potatoes and veggies. Jonny made us homemade strawberry shortcake and it was tasty. We are staying the night here for a better day tomorrow. Today we have a picture of our charter master Fred Bowden with Mike Small and a couple of the yellows we had. Also Bert Franco and Danny Lee with a couple of more.”

Big scores of halibut don’t happen very often for long range boats. Usually the boats are far at sea pursuing tuna, so they don’t encounter the flatties in the shallows. The catches that arrived August 6 aboard the Royal Star and the Excel featured halibut and white seabass, however. The fish were found at two different islands. Skipper Justin Fleck got 41 halibut for his 23 anglers. One flattie found its way into the lineup shot.


“We fished offshore and at Cedros for limits of yellowtail,” he told Bill Roecker at the scales at Fisherman’s Landing. “We’re seeing a great amount of big albacore, but we’re not getting that many. They got to bite someday.”

Jonathan Wilson of Shadow Hills won first place for a 36-pound albacore. He said he took it with a sardine on a 2/0 Flyliner hook and 25-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon leader. He tied that to 20-pound Big Game line and 50-pound Power Pro Spectra on his Avet SX reel and a Loomis eight-foot rod.

George Alfaro of Torrance won second place for a 35.8-pound albacore. Dellmer Wells of Redding won third place for a 35-pound albacore. Randy Ito of Mission Viejo won honorable mention for a 27-pound halibut.



Star Bags Big Biscuits

“After what felt to me like an eternity, when every fish we landed was the result of pure grit and drive, we finally hit it right,” said Royal Star skipper Tim Ekstrom August 3. “Following another arduous day of fruitless offshore effort, we arrived in the promised land. One anchor job got it done. Epic yellowtail action on 16 to 25-pound fish with a surface show and voracious hordes of fish that scrubbed our memory clean of the agonizing lack of morning and midday results.

“Then, fat and happy with money in the bank, we took a long shot in search of variety. Premium grade yellowtail and white sea bass were the quarry. And premium grade yellowtail and white sea bass were found, and cooperated. I cannot even begin to relate how refreshing, how cathartic this afternoon and evening have been. Two hours of wide-open yellowtail action, then a nice scratch on 25 to 35-pound yellowtail and white sea bass. The day ended with another beginning. The sea bass were still biting as this report was being drafted. Look for tomorrow's report with the final details. It is feeling right. We are going to get some.”

Tim’s feeling was right on. After checking around with his sonar gear, he found willing whites up to 55 pounds. The catch was weighed aboard the boat, as always, and at the dock, chartermaster Craig Heberer of Oceanside, chartermaster of the Humbolt Fishin’ Lumberjacks (on their ninth annual expedition) helped dock reporter Bill Rocker round up the father-son team of winners for some photos.

Chris Dewees of Davis posed with his son Morgan Dewees of Portland, OR. The pair had first and third places for white seabass of 55 and 38 pounds.

Chris said he got his big boy on a sardine and a 4/0 J hook on a 60-pound P-Line dropper loop with a 12-ounce weight. He used a boat rig because he hadn’t brought any 60-pound gear, he said.

Pete Mostert was second for a 46-pound white seabass. It was a night bite, said skipper Ekstrom, and by the time the fish were done, there were 78 aboard.



18-Year Bad Habit

Bobby Trask chartermastered his 18th annual trip aboard the Spirit of Adventure with 18 anglers. They returned with skipper Brian Evans to H&M Landing August 6 after the five-day trip.

“We started at the 170 and went down,” said Bobby. “We saw hundreds of tons of tuna but they wouldn’t bite. We spent a day a Cedros and got our yellowtail, then went back outside for a half-day and they still wouldn’t bite.”

Nick Accetura of Bellflower won first place for his 46.5 yellowfin tuna . He said he got it with a 3/0 Flyliner hook on 30-pound Izorline fluorocarbon and 60-pound Izor Spectra. He used an Avet SX reel and a Calstar 700 M rod.

Bobby Trask of Yucaipa won second place for a 31.8-pound yellowtail and David Walker of Mira Monte won third place for a 30.6-yellowtail.



“Little Finbait”

“There’s real good sign of albacore,” said American Angler skipper Sam Patella after his five-day open-party trip that arrived at Pt. Loma Sportfishing August 6. “And the island is real good for yellowtail fishing. I don’t know why the albacore won’t bite very good, but I saw that when they come up they’re spitting up little finbait.”

Joe Ornelas of Oceanside won first place on the trip for a 35.4-pound albacore. He got it with a sardine on a 1/0 Mustad hook tied to 30-poundSeaguar fluorocarbon and 65-pound Power Pro Spectra on a Pro Gear 545 reel and a Calstar 700 ML rod.

Dan Seigel of Santa Monica won second place for a 34.2-pound longfin and Ron Hatada of Diamond Bar won third place for a 33.8-pound albie.



Will Fish Tackle

“The surface jigging for yellowtail at the island is excellent,” remarked Izorline rep Howard Hada after stepping off the Shogun August 6. “I got ‘em with Tady 45s and Salas 7X light jigs. It didn’t seem to matter what color you used.”

Bruce Smith skippered the five-day trip, and like other skippers lately, found super yellowtail fishing at Cedros Island. Richard Yoshioka of LaPalma won first place for a 29.4-pound yellowtail, and second place for a 28.2-pound albacore. He said he got the ‘tail on a 2/0 Eagle Claw hook toed to 50-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon and 65-pound Power Pro Spectra on an Accurate 665 reel and a Sabre six-foot rod.

Greg Betteaux of Apple Valley posed with Richard with a yellowtail and a bluefin. As it turned out, Ken Yoshida won second place, for a 27.2-pound yellowtail.

Shogun turned around to head out with Smith, owner-skipper Norm Kagawa and Monterey Bay Aquarium curator Chuck Farwell, on a trip to collect live bluefin.



The Rabbit’s Foot

“Well, the rabbit’s feet rubbing and dancing we did last night didn't quite work out,” noted the report from Polaris Supreme August 4. “Today, it was the same ole' song and dance from the tuna zone. After seeing good tuna life early this morning, we decided to shut her down short of our targeted waypoint, drift, and see what would gather up under the boat before the sun rose. Nothing materialized, so off we went back to our intended destination. The morning was frustrating as we really didn't see a whole lot of anything. It took us a while to get them located but once we did we were reminded of how mysterious these specimens truly are…Our weather is decent and we're looking forward to a fun-filled day of Yellowtail action tomorrow. Wish us luck and we'll report back to you tomorrow evening.

“P.S. National Geographic moment of the day. We spotted a turtle with bait splashing all around it and when we rolled up on it we saw dozens of baits attempting to jump on its back for safety. One succeeded in doing so and just when you thought he was safe, an Albacore followed suit and ate the bait right off the turtles back, resembling a human eating from a plate. Pretty cool if you ask me. You never know what you're going to see out here.”



‘Buts Bite For Frank, Too

Frank LoPreste has his Royal Polaris out on the annual Queen of Hearts Trip. The boat will return to Fisherman’s Landing tomorrow morning, August 7. Here’s his report for August 5:

“Weather was quite nice the entire day. Fishing was quite fun with very good fishing on premium yellowtail. We caught two white sea bass, had good fishing on calico bass and picked up some beautiful halibut in the 30 to 40-pound range. Big Halibut honors go to Stephen Lee, Kathy Rounds, Chris Peterson, and Sherry Ingles.

“We are now on our way to the albacore grounds and should arrive there at daybreak.”



Boy Bags Big Blue

(From Accurate Fishing August 5, 2010)

“Conner Nilsen caught and released a 300-plus-pound Blue Marlin off Kona, Hawaii. The marlin took a long run with several jumps. Conner fought hard and finally got the blue to the boat in 20 minutes. Great first Blue Marlin Conner, congratulations!”

"The albacores were nowhere to be found in the morning so we decided to call an audible and head to the beach for the afternoon," Justin Fleck reported aboard Excel August 5. "We headed into the San Quintin area in hopes of large bird schools with seabass in them. Instead we found good fishing on good sized halibut. In just a couple of hours we drifted up 41 of the flat fish and lost plenty more. Needless to say the guys had a blast and it was a nice change of pace.

"We have one more day of fishing left so we decided to give the lower albacore zone one last chance to bite. The area is roughly 200 miles from home so we will fish until around noon before we call it a trip."

Jesus Companioni guided his 26 anglers aboard the Intrepid on a five-day trip to offshore and island waters, and returned them to the dock at Pt. Loma Sportfishing August 4.

“We fished offshore the first day for 24 nice albacore and three yellowfin tuna,” he told dock reporter Bill Roecker, “and then spent two days at Cedros Island for near-limits of yellowtail and three white seabass in 65-degree clean green water.

“We had great weather. We ran up on one big school of very large bluefin but they wouldn’t bite. Right now it looks like a lot of fish is moving a little south.”

John Lind of Yorba Linda won first place for a 37.8-pound albacore. He said he got it with a sardine on a size two Flyliner hook tied to 20-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon, 20-pound Izorline and 50-pound Izorline Spectra. He used a Saltiga 20 reel and a Calstar 700 XLH rod.

“Light line was the ticket,” said Lind. “That’s what was getting bit.”

Rick Stetler of Ventura won second place for a 37.6-pound white seabass. Glenn Gudaz of Ventura won third place for a 36.6-pound yellowtail.



Best Longfin So Far

Red Rooster III returned to H&M Landing under Joe D’Acquisto’s hand August 4, following the five-day Bluefin Jim trip with 29 anglers. They had an excellent catch of mixed fish.

“We started to get fish about 11AM,” said Joe on the dock, “and the best of it was that first day around one. We had one stop for 67 tuna. They were mostly 25 to 35-pound albacore. We also had eight bluefin and two yellowfin.

“On Sunday we scratched for 61 fish all day. Monday we went to Cedros and the sea lions annihilated us; it seemed like we were getting two for 12. We ended up with about two-thirds limits on yellows, though.”

Ken Briscoe of Carson city, NV won first place for the season’s biggest albacore so far, a 45-pounder. He told Bill Roecker he got it with a sardine on a 2/0 Flyliner hook tied to 40-poundSeaguar fluorocarbon and 80-pound Izor Spectra. He fished with an Avet LX reel and a Calstar 670 rod.

Joe Kottke of Santa Ana won second place for a 39.8-pound albie, and Roger Abercrombie of Yorba Linda won third place for a 38.8-pound albie. Kris Tjon (Cast Gold on BloodyDecks.com) of Irvine got the coveted trolling jacket for a 38.7-pound yellowfin tuna. He said it came on a green jethead.



Fun In The Shallows

“We arrived at our destination just after daylight,” reported the American Angler August 3, “and got right to work Yanking and a Cranking on Yellows. It was very good fishing for the morning and then they backed off for a few hours and again late in the day they wanted to get with it again - perfect end to a perfect day.

“I would like to say that even with the inconsistent offshore fishing we're experiencing, it's very nice to have an option on these 5 day trips. We are going back offshore for the next couple of days and we hope that it will be our day to shine! The photos of the day are Joe and who else, but the one and only Mr. Clark.”



Good Yellowtail Mix

“Once again the islands didn't disappoint us,” wrote Excel skipper Justin Fleck August 4, “and provided excellent yellowtail fishing. The forktails started biting just after daylight and kept on hitting throughout the day. Most of the yellows were in the 15 to 18-pound range with a few bigger ones mixed in. We had all we wanted just after lunch so we decided to head back offshore to see if we could wrap up our trip with some albacore.”



Light Breezes And Biting Fish

“Weather today was quite sunny with six to ten knots of breeze,” reported Royal Polaris skipper Frank LoPreste August 3.

“Our fishing was excellent with lots of action throughout the day. We caught seven grouper, released three marlin and caught limits of yellowtail in the 18 to 40-pound class, with one yellowtail caught by Alicia Cornelius that might be over 50 pounds.

“Tomorrow we will spend the day looking for yellowfin tuna and dorado that might be associated with large kelps. Wish us luck, and enjoy the photos.”

Joe Crisci brought the four-day Big Fish Tackle trip home to Pt. Loma Sportfishing August 3. Chartermaster Bobby Lienau, owner of the Seal Beach store, was aboard, and he told dock reporter Bill Roecker he’d been fishing on the Qualifier for 31 of his 40 years. Also aboard was his senor salesman Gary Buntinbaum of Westminister, who won first place.

“He pulled like hell,” said Gary about his 43.8-pound yellowtail. It bit a sardine on the dropper loop at Cedros Island. He said he used a 4/0 Kumho hook on 60-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon and 80-pound Power Pro Spectra, with a TLD 30 reel and a Seeker blue Extreme rod, a 6460 XH.

Mike Johnston of Douglas, AZ was second, for a 36.6-pound yellow, and Shawn Morgan of Lakewood won third place for a 35.6-pounder. Both of those big yellows also came on the dropper loop, in the wee hours of morn.



The Stern Hogs

Tom Rothery docked his Polaris Supreme at Fisherman’s Landing August 3 after the five-day Stern Hogs trip with chartermaster Tom Chaparro. There were 18 anglers, and they split their fishing time between island yellowtail and offshore angling for tuna.

“We had excellent fishing for yellows down below on yoyo jigs and the dropper,” said Chaparro. And we got about 50 mixed tuna.”

Chres Oki of Ogden UT won first place for a 38-pound yellowtail. He said he bagged it with a sardine on the dropper loop with an eight-ounce sinker and a 1/0 Mutu hook on 40-poundSeaguar fluorocarbon and 40-pound Big Game line. He used a Talica 30 reel and a seven-foot rod.

Garth Kubeldis of Chino Hills won apiece of second place for a 34.2-pound yellowtail. He was tied by Travis Donahue of Norco, who had a 34.2-pound albacore.



A Golden Charter

Jeff DeBuys brought Independence home to Pt. Loma Sportfishing August 3 after a five day Tom Golden charter with 31 anglers. Golden told Roecker he had made six such charters on the boat.

“We always have fun on the Indy,” he remarked, “and we had decent fishing, too.”

Chad Richardson of Queen Creek, AZ posed with two other fishermen displaying their catches. He had the best yellowtail, a 28.8-pounder.
Doug Stewart of Angel Fire, NM got a 38-popund albacore, and Bill Hawkins of Federal Way in Tacoma, WA found a 20.6-pound halibut.



Big ‘Dines, Dinky Hooks

Art Taylor brought his Searcher home August 3 after a four-day Izorline/Bass Pro Shops trip. Pro-staffer Wendy Tochihara was aboard, and she looked to have as many tuna on the boat as any man. Her best one was a 35.8-pound beauty. She said the albacore seemed to prefer big sardines and small hooks. She got hers with hooks in the 1/0 size.

There was a tie for first place. Larry Hicks of Corona and Chris Alcaraz of West Covina both had 39.2-pound albies, so they split first and second place rewards.

Hicks won the Izorline trophy for the best fish on that product. He got his with a sardine on a 3/0 Mustad hook tied to 30-pound Izorline on a Penn 4/0 reel and a Sabre six and a half-foot rod.


Mike Day of Phoenix won third place for a 38-pound longfin, and Howard Pukini of La Mirada had the trip’s best yellowfin tuna, a 37-pounder.



Big Wahoo

“We arrived at Alijos at 06:30 hours,” said the report from Frank LoPreste’s Royal Polaris August 2. “Our weather was sunny and beautiful all day. Unfortunately, fishing was not great. The yellowfin put on an excellent show for most of the day. We ended our day with 11 yellowfin tuna and 15 wahoo. Most of the yellowfin were in the 50 to 70-pound range, and the wahoo were all logs (40-plus pounds).

“There was no current the entire day. Because we are on a seven-day trip we have decided to move in to the ridge where we hope to have some good fishing. Enjoy the photos.”



Excel Reports Albacore

"We have spent our last couple of days offshore fishing for albacore," noted Excel skipper Justin Fleck August 2. "Once again we can see very good sign of these fish but they are still reluctant to bite. We managed to get about 75 fish for our efforts. Most of the fish are big ones, 25 to 35 pounds on average, so that's nice. Tomorrow we will be around the islands looking for yellowtail throughout the day."

“Today we had a great day of fishing the island,” said the report from Intrepid 
August 1.

“The weather was great, the food was great and the people are having a blast. We boated over 100 yellowtail up to 36 pounds and three very nice white seabass up to 40 pounds. Tomorrow we will be trying for more seabass and yellows.”



Heading South

“We departed today on our annual Phil's Propellers 6-day trip,” wrote Excel skipper Justin Fleck July 31. “Since we spent the past couple of days looking at big schools of albacore that just wouldn't bite out to the west, we decided to head south and look for a new area of fish. The weather is flat calm so if the fish are out here, we should be able to see them.”



Nibblin’ Longfin

“What a pleasant day we had today,” said Jeff DeBuys for the Independence August 1, “catching albacore under beautiful warm conditions. We saw very good signal on the albies, but not all wanted to bite our offerings. We hope they change their minds for tomorrow, as we will give it another try in the morning. Most of the fish are beautiful 25 to 35-pounders, and the total for today was 66 fish.”



Rooster Rips ‘Em

“Today we had an excellent day in the offshore grounds,” said the report from Red Rooster III July 31. “We had albacore, bluefin and yellowfin. The fish range from twenty five to fifty pounds. The albies are mostly thirty pounds or also know as 'Fatsos'. I have no idea where they came from but thank god there here. What a day. We will be spending the night in hopes of the same tomorrow.”



Seminar Day

“Weather is absolutely beautiful as we continue to track south,” wrote Frank LoPreste aboard his Royal Polaris August 1. “We have sun and clear skies. We will arrive at the rocks at 06:30 hours and are hoping to find good action.

“Today our group sponsored by Bob and Sherry Engles from the boat Queen of Hearts out of Half Moon bay. Everyone attended an in-depth seminar on fishing Alijos rocks. Later in the morning there was an excellent knot-tying seminar given by John Collins. Our group learned new knots and you saw many practicing them during the day.”



Looking Good

"We picked and scratched for four bluefin Saturday," said Vagabond skipper Mike Lackey by telephone August 2, "after we spent a day at Cedros Island. The we had several stops for a few mixed fish: albacore, bluefin and yellowfin. I was coming north with the Royal Star, about ten miles west, in better water. I called Randy.

"About two in the afternoon the albacore started to nibble a little. We had a half-dozen stops that produced, and the best one was for about 21 longfin. When I had to leave around four we had 80 albacore aboard. The water had changed a lot in the two days since I went down. It was about 65 degrees and going up. It was the nest-looking water I've seen since June."

There may finally be a crack in the dark cloud that’s been hanging over San Diego’s offshore fishing for several weeks. Albacore went on the bite during the afternoon of the last day of July, about 180 miles south of Point Loma. Royal Star skipper Randy Toussaint got ‘em going, and the Searcher jumped in to stay after the Star had to boogie for port.

There’ve been too many disappointments lately to make bold predictions, but this bite has great promise, and other boats in the code group should arrive on the scene today. Jeff DeBuys of the Independence was one who said he was on his way. Watch this for fast-moving developments.

The Royal Polaris and the Excel are also on their way to a bite, but that one’s at Alijos Rocks. Frank LoPreste reported breaking fish and whales at 200 miles, another indicator that the longfin/bluefin bite is going off. It may spread north; like wildfire, we hope.

Flash Charters

“Alijos Rocks was good for tuna from 40 to 100 pounds,” said Shogun skipper Norm Kagawa August 1 as he stood on the dock at Fisherman’s Landing. “We averaged 40 to 80 of those fish per day, and two of the days we fished there were half-days.


“When we went up to the 23 Spot we found some really excellent yellowtail fishing on fish of 18 to 40 pounds. Then we tried Cedros Island for some big ones, since we had most of the yellowtail we needed, but we didn’t find many of those.”

Norm’s trip had 29 anglers, including chartermaster Steve Talmadge of Flash Charters in the Bay Area. One of Steve’s pals won the jackpot.

Jeremy Kangas of Stickem Sportfishing, like Talmadge a sportboat skipper, won first place for his 116-pound yellowfin. He bagged that baby on a sardine and a 3/0 ringed Super Mutu hook tied to 50-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon and 65-pound Line One Spectra. He said he used a new Accurate BX-2 500 reel and a Calstar 700 H rod.

“I got him in 30 minutes,” said Kangas. “He got all but about 40 feet of my line and he got tail-wrapped. These new reels are powerful! I drug him in with low gear.”

Ryan Jamison of Concord was second, for a 100-pound tuna.

“My best fish,” he remarked.

Art Stittleburg of Fremont won third place for a 61.3-pound tuna, and George Thieme of Oakland won the Rollo Jackpot for a 43.8-pound yellowtail. He said he got the big ‘tail on a chunk with a dropper loop.



“Flat’s A Shamrock”

Randy Toussaint brought Royal Star home from a fine seven-day trip August 1 with a great catch of yellowfin from Alijos Rocks. To top off his trip, he fired up an albacore bite the day before, when his 25 anglers pulled in 80 longfin and a yellowfin on the way home.

“I’m encouraged by that bite,” he told dock reporter Bill Roecker at Fisherman’s Landing, “because they came up to bite about two in the afternoon, at midday. I called Art Taylor and he got ‘em, too.”

Searcher’s Facebook report said the boat “…captured 103 albies and 11 yellowfin today. Maybe try it again tomorrow?”

On his site report, Randy said, “We finished up the trip in fine style here in the offshore grounds with 80 albacore from 25-40lbs and a handful of bluefin tuna. After the slow offshore reports from the last week we were on a total search mission with nothing to run for so needless to say we're ecstatic to have had such a great day. We saw very good sign of albacore in this area and feel it has great potential for the upcoming trips.”

Fishing with his father and two brothers, Erik Masuda of Sacramento won first place for a 115-pound yellowfin tuna. He got it on the boat’s kite rig with sardines for bait.

“I saw the take,” he said. “It was a big boil. I got him to the boat in about ten minutes.”

Chartermaster Michael Doi of Campbell won second place for a 105-pound tuna. He was enthusiastic about the albacore bite.

“Flat’s a shamrock,” he commented. “He can make those things float.”

Steve Moss of San Juan Bautista won third place for a 103-pound tuna. He said it was his best fish ever, and that he bagged it on 30-pound line with a seven-foot rod, after a grueling hour.



Big Fat Moonfish

Brian Kiyohara’s 24 anglers on an open trip aboard American Angler were treated to a rare event when a moonfish, an opah was caught on a five-day trip for tuna and yellowtail.

Tony Contreras of Oxnard got the beast on 30-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon tied to a 3/0 ringed Mustad 94150 hook. He said he used 60-pound Spectra on an Avet JX reel and a Calstar 700 M rod.


“It fought me for an hour,” he remarked at the scales of Pt. Loma Sportfishing August 1. “I got hooked up after a long soak at a long distance from the boat. He spooled me twice.”

Tony said he was having a mount made by Lyons and O’Haver of his prize-winning catch.

Ben Kawata of West LA won second place for a 33.2-pound yellowtail, and Gordon Toguchi of Canoga Park won third place for a 29-pound “forkie.” The pair posed with Contreras, making quite a contrast.