“Well gang,” reported American Angler skipper Sam Patella on Super Bowl Sunday, February 7, “we have been doing some looking on this trip, but you know how we roll, don't stop until you find fish. We have had good scratch fishing on 80 to 100-pound-plus fish with a few bigger, which will at least settle the jackpots for the time being.

“We still have a few more days to fish and all the gang is doing well, everybody is healthy and for the most part we have had good weather.

“I'll try to keep y'all up to date so you can call Lori and book your trip of a lifetime.”



On Her Way Down

“We departed at 08:30 hours on the Accurate reels charter with 22 anglers and Jack Nielsen as our charter master,” noted the Royal Polaris report for February 7. "We have a beautiful load of bait and are presently headed south. Our weather consists of 15 to 18 knots of breeze out of the west.

“Our excellent group of passengers pretty much took it easy today, with most taking naps and then getting up to watch the Super Bowl. Our galley crew prepared lots of goodies for our group to pick from, followed by an excellent dinner after the game. We will keep reporting daily throughout the trip.”



Isla Ildefonso Yellowtail

WON saltwater editor Brandon Hayward is just back from a trip to Loreto. He hit it just right, and wasn’t bugged by the north wind that can make fishing in the Cortez tough during winter months.

“The yellows were an honest 38 to 30 pounds for the most part,” he told Bill Roecker. “I had a good yellowtail eaten by a mako. That’s a lot less common down here than it is up north.


“We fished at Isla Ildefonso, about 40 miles north of Loreto and about three miles off the beach. The water was 66 degrees and a green yellowtail color. We got most of the fish on Salas 6X Jr. jigs in scrambled eggs finish.”

For more details about Brandon’s Baja trip, make sure to check out his blog at Western Outdoor News.

Skipper Roy Rose tied up Frank LoPreste’s Royal Polaris at Fisherman’s Landing on a rainy Saturday morning February 6. Chartermaster Jerry Brown of Line One and 16 other anglers were aboard for the annual 18-day trip, as were a brace of cows, tuna over 200 pounds.

Weather and sharks made fishing difficult at times, said Brown, making for an unusual trip.

Skipper Rose weighed the best fish on the dock, on Fisherman’s certified scales. Steve George of Ventura won first place, for a 238.6-pound yellowfin he caught on the kite. He said the fish was eligible because everyone had a full turn on the kite.

George said he used the “double trouble” sardine rig, with 7/0 ringed Super Mutu hooks on 130-pound Momoi line and 130-pound Line One fluorocarbon. He fished with a Penn 80 N reel modified by Baker and Sheets, and a Calstar BTG 6460 XXH rod.

“I got him in 45 minutes,” noted George. “He came up on the bow.”

Royal Polaris regular Joe Amagrande of Monrovia won second place for a 189.6-pound tuna. Art Yoshida of Las Vegas was right behind Joe with his third-place 189-pounder.



Conditions “Still Beautiful Down There”

Excel was next to dock at Fisherman’s Landing February 6. Justin Fleck brought the boat home with ten cows, caught by 23 anglers on the 15-day trip.

Asked about the conditions on the lower banks, Fleck observed, “It’s still beautiful down there. The water’s holding up at 74 degrees. The guys who put their time in at the rail did well.

“On the way home,” Fleck continued, “we had good yellowtail fishing on The Ridge. They were biting on yoyo jigs and the dropper loop with mackerel.

“One more thing that’s kind of new,” added Justin, “is that we had some good chunking down there on the banks.”

Vince Otani of Port Hueneme won first place with a sardine-caught tuna, and also got a 222-pound cow on a chunk.

Otani’s big fish weighed 243.4 pounds. He said it bit a sardine on an 8/0 Eagle Claw hook tied to 130-pound Yo-Zuri fluorocarbon, 100-pound Big Game line and 130-pound Line One Spectra on a Penn 50 reel and a Calstar 6460 XXH rod.

The fish behaved oddly, noted Vince. “He stayed on top the whole time. He never sounded. He came up in the starboard corner after an hour.”

“Big Al” Scow of Rancho Palos Verdes won second place for a 212.8-pound tuna. Al said it came on the kite, on a double sardine rig.

“He pulled hard for an hour and 20 minutes,” remarked Al. “He was a daytime fish.”

Al used 130-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon, a Basil wind-on leader, and 130-pound Line One Spectra on a Penn 70 VSW reel and a Baja Boomer rod.

Bill Sands of Valley Center won third place for a 208-pound tuna, and also got a 203-pounder. He said he got his winner with a sardine on a ringed Super Mutu hook tied to 100-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon and 130-pound Line One Spectra. He fished with a Penn 50 W reel modified by Ken’s Custom Reels in Oceanside, and a Calstar Baby Boomer rod.

Bob “Bubbles” Maugh of Apple Valley took an hour and a half to land a feisty 232-pound tuna. It was non-eligible because he thought it was a shark and passed it off. He said he fished with a sardine on an 8/0 Eagle Claw hook. He used 100-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon on 130-poundSpectra, an Avet 50 reel and a Calstar GG 6455 XXH rod.

Curt Wiesenhutter of Cour d’ Alene, ID caught a 200.5-pounder. Curt remains the IGFA world record holder for yellowfin tuna, for his 388-pound giant caught back in 1977 at San Benedicto Island aboard Royal Polaris.

Wiesenhutter said he got this one on a sardine and an 8/0 Eagle Claw hook. He used 100-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon and 130-pound Line One Spectra on a Sheets-treated Penn 50 reel and a Calstar 655 XXH rod.

Al Merrick got a 205-pound yellowfin tuna. Augie Roberts had a 201-pounder.



Couple Scores Big: She’s “Torqued”

Randy Toussaint docked his Royal Star at Fisherman’s Landing February 6, after the 15-day Braid trip with chartermaster Dennis Braid of Braid Products. Skipper Toussaint noted that Braid handed off some good fish, including one to young angler Brandon Zimmerman. That fish weighed in at 222 pounds on the deck. There were 15 cows aboard.

A pair of 251-pound yellowfin won first and second places for Floyd and Jan Abbott of Hobbs, NM, a couple who are regulars on the boat.


“I finally tied her!” said Floyd to dock reporter Bill Roecker.

“We got identical fish,” remarked his wife Jan.

Floyd said his tuna bit on a sardine and a 9/0 Eagle Claw circle hook. He used 100-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon and 130-pound Spectra on a Penn 50 SW reel and a Calstar 760 H rod.

“It took 45 minutes,” added Floyd. “At first, he acted dead. But he was plenty tough, and he took me around the boat twice, before he came up on the port stern.”

Jan Abbott said she fished a sardine on a 9/0 Eagle Claw hook tied to 100-pound Izorline monofilament and 130-pound Izor Spectra. She used an Avet 50 reel modified by Cal Sheets and a Calstar 760 H rod.

“He was a very quirky fish,” remembered Jan. “I was torqued to a pretzel in the corner.”

She also had a 205-pounder.

Marius Coetzee of Klerksdorp, South Africa won third place for a 232-pounder. He said he fishes Braid products at home and this was his first cow.

“I got him in 45 minutes,” he remarked. “My best fish before was a 190-pounder.”

Marius fished a sardine on an 8/0 Eagle Claw hook tied to 120-pound Ande fluorocarbon and 130-pound Power Pro Spectra. He said he used a Penn 70 VS reel and a Calstar 6455 XXXH rod.

Bruce Lozekar of Homer, AK got an ineligible 295-pounder and a 216-pound yellowfin. He got the big one on a sardine and a 9/0 Eagle Claw hook. He said he used 100-popund Izorline and 100-pound Power Pro Spectra on a Penn 50 S reel and a Calstar 7460 H rod.

“It took an hour,” said Bruce. “He came up tail wrapped in the starboard corner. These are my two best fish; my previous best was a 156-pounder, also on the Royal Star.”

Jerry Nguyen of Glendale had a brace that weighed 228 and 217 pounds. The big one came on a sardine, he said, on an 8/0 Eagle Claw hook. He fished with 130-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon and 130-pound Izor Spectra on a Sheets-treated Accurate 30 reel and a Calstar 7460 H rod wrapped by Bob Sands Tackle.

Brandon Zimmerman of Scotts Valley is 17, but he got two cows on the trip. One was a 222-pound tuna handed him by Dennis Braid. The other was a 212-pounder he bagged with a sardine on a 9/0 Eagle Claw hook, 100-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon and 130-pound Power Pro Spectra. He used a Penn 50 reel and a Calstar 655 XXH rod.

“This is my first long trip,” he told Roecker on the dock. “I’ve been on a couple of five-days before, but my best fish was a 35-pound bluefin.”

Brandon goes to Costanoa High.

Chartermaster Dennis Braid of Palmdale brought in a 203-pound yellowfin on his own four and a half-foot tuna stick, after a 20-minute tussle. It bit a sardine on an 8/0 Eagle Claw hook, and Dennis said he used 130-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon and 130-pound Spectra on a Penn 50 VSX reel.

Greg Fox caught a 216-pound tuna. Jack West had three cows. They weighed 226, 207 and 205 pounds.

February 6 will be a big day at Fisherman’s Landing. Excel, Royal Star and Royal Polaris will be arriving after longer winter trips to the southern banks and the Hurricane Bank. All appear to be carrying catches of large yellowfin tuna.

If you plan on visiting the dock to see the fish, you might want to bring an umbrella. The weather prediction made February 5 calls for scattered thunderstorms, with a high of 60 F. Winds are predicted to be south at 9 mph. Friday’s predicted rain may not be quite finished.

Royal Polaris will be first in tomorrow. She has posted an ETA of 5:30 AM.

Today, Sam Patella has the American Angler down south, fishing. He should be posting a report soon.

Homecoming For Big X

“We spent the day traveling up the coast in flat calm weather,” observed Excel skipper Justin Fleck February 4. “There were a few short stops along the way where guys were able to goof around with their light gear. Not much action on the yellows today, but plenty of bass to be caught. Tomorrow we will make a quick stop before calling it a trip and heading for home. Our ETA to San Diego is 0700 on Saturday morning.”



Moving Off Mediums

“For the third day in a row we had a blast catching Tuna in the 70 to 140-pound range,” said the report from Intrepid February 4.

“The sign of big fish still has not shown up here, although we did see a few spots that looked to be the bigger ones, but they had no desire in coming up. This is a light load of 16 passengers and they have put the wood these mid-range tuna, landing 121 of them in three days. With our fill on these fish we are making a move tonight to take a look in a different area. We have lots of time on our side and the weather is getting better, so we feel that the Cows will come up and play during the next week.”



Toussaint’s Trip Summary

“We finished up the trip with a decent scratch that produced 16 fish from 90-130 pounds by day's end,” wrote Royal Star skipper Randy Toussaint February 3.

“We did hook two better fish today that were unintentionally released, but overall I saw very little sign of big fish. It is not uncommon for this big fish to not show for days or even weeks. We've written this area off many times in the past and been proven wrong when it popped right back up and produced better fishing than we had previously seen that year.

“We are presently enjoying a nice ride up the line, feeling content with 15 over 200 and another 20 from 150-198 in the hatch. It was a tough scratch at times, but the decision to hang tough on the beach definitely afforded us the best opportunity at quality tuna.

“Many thanks to Dennis Braid for sponsoring this trip. He gave away tons of product and jump-started a few anglers with a timely hook and hand. Dennis has been one of the innovators during the evolution of cow angling and has been involved from the ground floor. I remember Dennis experimenting with circle hooks and wind-on leaders back when I was on the Excel in 1993; at the time, both were unheard of.

“Skipper Tim Ekstrom departs on our first Revillagigedos tagging trip of the season on Sunday, so look for his reports to start on the 8th.”



Last Day On Banks

“Today was pretty much a repeat of yesterday,” read the report from Royal Polaris February 3.

“We had 19 tuna from 80 to 150 pounds. We started for home in good weather, and will be home early Saturday morning.”



Saw The Site

“Hey Bill,
 I finally got around to checking out your website and I’m sure glad I did.  It got me away from work for a while but now I’m fired up for summer a little too early.  Great website!  Those video samples are intense.
 Regards,”
Mark M. (by email February 4, 2010)

“We decided to fish our way up the line starting with yellowtail on the ridge,” wrote Excel skipper Justin Fleck February 3.

“The wind was blowing in the morning making it difficult to find fish. Things calmed down in the afternoon and we were able to put together a nice day. Tomorrow we will continue up the Baja coast looking for more action on yellows and grouper.”



Persnickety

“It is proving to be a lot easier to find these fish than it is to catch them,” said the report from Royal Polaris February 1. 

“We were rewarded with 17 fish from 80 to 150 pounds, with the majority in the 100-pound class.  The weather is still as good as it gets, and with that said, we’ll have a go at it again tomorrow.”



Almost There

American Angler office manager Lori Patella said February 4 that the boat is nearing its fishing destination and should be on the grounds fishing tomorrow.



Some Better Fish

“We had a change in the weather today,” said the report from Royal Polaris February 2, “with some rain and SE winds.  We managed to boat 19 tuna from 80-150 pounds for our efforts.  Tomorrow will be our last day here and we have high hopes for a strong finish.”



10,000-Mile Message in a Bottle

Dennis Plog posting on Bloodydecks.com, February 3, 2010:

“We tossed this bottle off the stern of the Excel North of Cedros on a 5-day in 2007. Bob and I were the only ones in our group that went on the super long range trips. Looks like he went on the super duper long range trip.”


Our archive photo of Bob Dubcich is from the following trip, some years ago:

Winner Was Lucky

“We spent our first fishing day of the five-day trip catching albacore,” said Red Rooster III skipper Andy Cates after docking the rig August 19, 2004. “Then we went to Guadalupe for a day, down to Benitos for a day, and back to Guadalupe to finish up.”

Bob Dubcich of Los Gatos won first place for a 75.7-pound yellowfin.

“I was lucky,” he said. “There were sharks around, but the fish stayed away from the boat.”

Bob said he fished a sardine on a 2/0 Mustad hook, with 30-pound Seaguar leader and 30-pound Big Game line on a Trinidad 20 reel and a Calstar 700 ML rod. The fight lasted 30 minutes.

(Press Release)

AFTCO Bluewater, the official licensee and manufacturer of Guy Harvey Sportswear, today announced the launch of a new online store for Guy Harvey fishing t shirts, fishing clothing and accessories at guyharveysportswear.com.

Guy Harvey, known as the world’s premier marine wildlife artist, a renown marine biologist and conservationist, teamed up with AFTCO Bluewater in 2004 to design and sell a line of “wearable fish art”; clothing featuring Guy Harvey’s lifelike, highly-detailed paintings of marine animals like marlin, sailfish, dolphin fish, tuna, sharks and more. Guy Harvey’s unique fish art is now worn by ocean and fishing enthusiasts everywhere and his fishing t shirts now rank as the most popular fishing shirts in the world.

GuyHarveySportswear.com will display a full line of high quality Guy Harvey Men’s fishing t shirts featuring his extraordinary paintings, in addition to other men’s fishing clothing like tech and performance shirts, fishing shorts, fishing hats, belts, shoes, and sandals. An example of the quality of Guy Harvey clothing is evident in their popular men’s print shirts featuring perfect alignment of the design pattern across button lines or pocket stitching.

There is also a complete selection of Women’s clothing including dresses, skirts, shorts, knits, tanks, and tops, in addition to a popular new Junior’s and Young Men’s t shirt line featuring more youthful designs and a slimmer cut. The Youth department includes fishing shirts, t shirts, and hats.

Guy Harvey fishing shirts and clothing have been traditionally sold through retailers across the US, and through a few approved online vendors. “It is not our intention to compete with our retail distribution partners,” said Bill Shedd, President of AFTCO, “but there was really no single store where our customers could go to view or purchase all of the entire inventory of 7,000 sizes and styles of Guy Harvey clothing. This is what influenced our decision to launch the official online store and we’re excited about giving Guy Harvey fans everywhere easier access to a great line of fishing shirts and marine art clothing.” A retail store locator link is prominently displayed on the home page and throughout the site.

The Guy Harvey Sportswear site also includes a fishing blog that will feature big names from the fishing and ocean conservation industries. Look for articles from Guy Harvey plus posts from Dr. Mahmood Shivji, director of the Guy Harvey Research Institute, Bill Shedd, President of AFTCO Bluewater and well-known fishing and conservation advocate, Peter B Wright, big game fishing expert and record setting fishing boat captain.

Guy Harvey Sportswear is not just a hit with fishermen. His fishing t shirts, clothing and sandals are being worn in ever increasing numbers by students on college campuses, especially throughout the Southeast and in coastal areas. The Guy Harvey Facebook page has over 100,000 fans, including a large majority of students, and Guy Harvey Facebook groups on college campuses continue to proliferate.

A portion of all sales of GuyHarveySportswear goes to the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation, an organization of philanthropists, conservationists, scientists and educators focused on ocean conservation. Last year, Guy Harvey Sportswear’s licensee AFTCO Bluewater donated over $100,000 to the organization.

About Guy Harvey
Guy Harvey is an artist, scientist, diver, angler, conservationist and explorer, fiercely devoted to his family and his love of the sea. He graduated with honors in Marine Biology from Aberdeen University in Scotland in 1977, and earned his Ph.D. from the University of the West Indies in 1984. Though he gave up a budding career as a marine biologist for that of a highly acclaimed artist, Guy has continued his relentless pursuit to unravel the mysteries of the sea, traveling the world to better understand the habits and habitats of the marine wildlife he paints. Guy has been a member of the IGFA Board of Trustees since 1993. Most recently, he has helped establish the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation to fund scientific research and innovative marine conservation educational programs.

About AFTCO Bluewater
AFTCO stands for the American Fishing Tackle Company and was established in 1958 in Newport Beach, California. A family-owned company that ranks among the world's most highly regarded saltwater fishing tackle manufacturers, AFTCO’s roller guides, fighting belts, harnesses, fishing gloves and more are found on top sportfishing boats world wide. It is that reputation for quality and complete customer satisfaction, along with AFTCO Bluewater's expertise in designing and manufacturing quality clothing and the Shedd family's longtime commitment to marine stewardship, that led Guy Harvey to partner with AFTCO Bluewater as his clothing licensee.

The first report from Intrepid came February 2.

“We started the day off right with Tuna on the corner for the first hour and then kept a pick bite going all day long. The fish were all in the 40 to 65-pound range.

“We did hook into one good one that chewed through the line after an hour fight in the evening. The weather today was very, very wet. The rain came down in sheets and squalls that were simply amazing.”



Up To A Buck And A Half

“Our beautiful weather continues as we sat on the anchor all day,” wrote Royal Star skipper Randy Toussaint February 1, “for a slow scratch on 80 to 150-pound tuna. No complaints after such a slow day yesterday, but we're hoping for a few cows in the mix tomorrow.”

“Today's shot shows Royal Star regular Jack West with one of his three cows boated this trip.”



Persnickety

“It is proving to be a lot easier to find these fish than it is to catch them,” said the report from Royal Polaris February 1. 

“We were rewarded with 17 fish from 80 to 150 pounds, with the majority in the 100-pound class.  The weather is still as good as it gets, and with that said, we’ll have a go at it again tomorrow.”