Cows On Star

Skippers Tim Ekstrom and Randy Toussaint took their Royal Star on a 15-day (12-day fly back) trip to Hurricane Bank that returned January 22 with 16 tuna over 200 pounds.

“I don’t see how it could get much better,” said Toussaint at Fisherman’s Landing, after docking the rig.

“We started cutting them off after two days of fishing. We had some ripper afternoon bites, with 10 or 12 bigger fish going at the same time. The best of it was in the afternoon, after three p.m. Sardines were best, but chunks were good bait, too, and squid on the kite was good.

“The fish were all over the bank,” continued Toussaint, “and we anchored in 80 fathoms to keep unwanted species in the shallows off our baits.”

Jack West won first and third jackpots, and he caught three fish over 200 pounds. Jack lives on the East Coast and so wasn’t available for photos. His fish weighed 255, 230 and 201 pounds.

Greg Fox was also unavailable. He won second place for a 234-pounder, but he also had tuna of 210 and 201 pounds.

There was a three-way tie for fourth place, between Floyd Abbot of Hobbs, NM, Rob McAdams of San Francisco and Dave Okamoto of Long Beach. All had tuna of 227 pounds. Abbott and Okamoto posed with their fish. McAdams was at home.

Jason Hammond of Santa Cruz bagged a triple; 216, 215 and 205 pounds. He fished chunks on 11/0 Mustad hooks, with 130pound clear Izorline and 130-pound Spectra backing on a Penn 50 SW reel and a Calstar 760H rod.

Gary Sato of Santa Monica needed only a half-hour to best a 205-pounder. He said he fished squid on the kite, with a 12/0 Mustad 7691 hook 130-pound clear Izorline and 130-pound Spectra backing on a Penn 70 reel and a Calstar 760H rod.

Len Cunningham of Alpine found a 205-pound tuna. He fished squid on the kite with a 10/0 Mustad 7691 hook, with 130-pound Izorline, 130-pound Spectra backing, a Penn 80W reel and a 760H rod. He said the fight went 30 minutes.

Tommy Nishi of LA got a 205-pounder, and Bruce Campbell of Calabasas took a fish of 201 pounds.

John Santaella of Santa Maria said he caught a 150-pounder on a PL 68 jig in glow paint. Another angler said he’d taken a 180-pound tuna with the same jig. Some 60 wahoo were also in the big catch of yellowfin tuna.

Not outdone by the tuna, Jan Burns and Floyd Abbot of Hobbs, NM announced their upcoming wedding, to be held June 20. They met ten years ago while fishing on the Excel, said Jan. She was sporting a remarkable diamond ring with tuna facing the stone, created by well-known southland custom jeweler Jon Pettey of Orange.

Shogun Gets Coat

Shogun owner-operator Norm Kagawa has been doing some winter work, and the boat shines because of it.

“We painted the hull and the tanks,” said Norm, “and we put in titanium chillers in the fish holds.”

Shogun is scheduled to begin running again February 18.

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Mackerel Finds Cow

“I was fishing about 150 yards out,” said Ichiro Shintsubo of Irvine at Fisherman’s Landing January 20, “and I got short bit. I took a couple of cranks and the fish bit again; the only fish of the day.

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“I fought him for about 45 minutes. He hung around the anchor line quite a bit, so the crew helped a lot. They brought him on with three gaffs.”

Ichiro’s Jaimie Bank tuna won first place on the Royal Polaris 18-day trip, which also visited Puerto Vallarta and Clipperton Atoll. Anglers said the most of the fish came from Clipperton, found on bird schools.

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Shintsubo said he fished his mackerel on a 5/0 Super Mutu hook, with 100-pound blue Izorline and 130-pound Spectra backing on a Penn 50 SW reel and a 6460 XH rod built by chartermaster Taka Tanaka.

Ron Watanabe of Carson found a 218.5-pounder at Clipperton, good for second place.

“I fished a PL 68 glow jig,” he said, “and he kicked my butt for an hour. I had a short topshot, and every time I got him within 50 feet he took off again, like he wasn’t even hooked.

“But at first, I thought he was a small fish, for about five minutes. Then he grew up. It was the hardest fish I ever fought in my life. The other anglers were really helpful; they got their lines up and out of the water for me.”

Chartermaster Taka Tanaka of Anaheim won third place for a 177.3-pounder. Frank LoPreste skippered the trip.

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Hollow Spectra distributor Jerry Brown of Gold Hill, OR was waiting on the dock to head out on the next Royal Polaris expedition. He offered some information about line breakage with Spectra and with mono.

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“Most breakage with mono,” said Brown, who also sells a device called a hitching post, “is due to crack propagation. Spectra doesn’t break that way. Spectra breaks right about its rated strength, but most mono breaks higher than the strength number on the product.”

Hot Streak Payoff

James Hasselberg of San Marcos is on some kind of hot streak. January 19 he won his third jackpot in a row. The only difference between this one and his other wins is the latest tuna he won with on the American Angler weighed 355 pounds, just a tad larger than the others.

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Skipper Sam Patella did the weighing honors. “We fished the lower southern banks,” said Sam, “and then went down to Cleofas and came back up. When we got back up to the Jaimie 95% of the bites were really big fish.”

Hasselberg’s giant tuna came on the first fishing day of the14-day trip, along with a couple of 200-pounders.

“He bit about 250 yards out,” said James, “and he bit deep. Then he ran out and dove. He made about 30 big circles. He fought 45 minutes.

“Brian and Sam walked with me and advised me,” continued Hasselberg. “My best tuna before was about 120 pounds. I’ve been fishing on the American Angler since 1997. This was my first fly-back trip.”

A printer who does the brochures for Point Loma Sportfishing, Hasselberg said he fished his chunk on an 11/0 Super Mutu hook, with 130-pound Izorline leader on 100-pound Izorline mainline and 130-pound Jerry Brown Spectra backing, with a Penn 50 VSW reel and a Calstar 755 XH rod.

Gerald Scholl of LA, a contractor and former Royal Polaris deckhand, won second place, for a 266-pounder. Gerald said he fished a squid on an 11/0 Hayabusa circle hook, with 130-pound Jin Kai line and 130-pound Spectra backing on a 50 VSW reel and a 765H rod. The fish, his best, came in 15 minutes.

Phil Williams of Sunland was third, for a 249-pound tuna. He fished a sardine on a 6/0 Super Mutu hook, with 100-pound blue Izorline and 130-pound Jerry Brown Spectra backing on a Cal Sheets-treated Penn 50S reel and a Calstar 6465 XH rod.

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“My best fish ever,” said Williams, “in 30 minutes. He looked like a prehistoric monster in the boat’s lights.”

Brian Gunnarson of Tustin found a 245.6-pounder with a chunk of mackerel on a 9/0 Super Mutu hook, 130-pound Izorline and 130-pound Spectra backing. He fished a 50 VSW reel and a 6465 XXH rod to take his best fish ever in a half-hour.

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Karl Kristkeitz of Santa Monica bagged a brace of tuna at 241 and 231 pounds. He fished mackerel on 10/0 Eagle Claw hooks with 100-pound Izorline, 130-pound Jerry Brown Spectra and an Accurate 50 reel on a 6465 XH rod.

Rooster Riding High

Andy Cates brought Red Rooster III home with a good catch of big tuna from the Hurricane Bank, including a dozen 200-pounders, bringing his anglers’ total for the season to 66 cows.

“We left the bank a little early, almost jugged,” said Cates at the dock January 9. “they bit from the first. We did about 30 to 45 fish a day, with half of them biting at night. They bit the Spanish mackerel best, on sinkers of eight to 10 ounces. They also bit on skipjack and big Tady 15 jigs. Then we went inside to the Jaimie Bank and we saw big fish on top there.”

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Chartermaster Wayne Martin of Catchy Tackle said, “We got about 60 wahoo on this 15-day trip, mostly on Sea Strike 33 jigs, with blue and gold backs on chrome. We had great weather, also on the ride back up.”

Don Drummey of Canton, CT won first place, for a 247-pound cow he bagged with a skipjack on a 10/0 Mustad 7691 hook, tied to 130-pound line and 130-pound Spectra backing, with a Penn 80 reel and a Baja Boomer rod. He said the fish bit at 300 feet, after he sent his skippie down with an eight-ounce sinker. It fought 25 minutes.

“This is the best trip I’ve had in 15 years,” he said, “one big fish after another. They said us East Coast boys couldn’t fish.”

Fred Knilans of Tustin was second for a 232.9-pounder.

“We all saw it happen,” said Fred. “It came out of the water and swallowed the squid whole; and it pulled hard.”

Knilans said he fished squid on a balloon, with a 10/0 Mustad 7691 hook, 100-pound Izorline and 130-pound Spectra backing on a Penn 70 reel and a custom rod by K&S. He also had a 225-pounder.

Tackle-maker-Rep Rick Ozaki of Gardena won third place for a 228.8-pounder, and also got a 206-pound tuna.

“I got it on one of my custom light jigs,” said Rick, “in glow white color.”

He fished with 100-pound Yo-Zuri line and 130-pound Spectra backing on an Avet topless 50 reel and a Calstar 7465 H rod. The big fish was a night-time Kamikaze that bit about one a.m. and came aboard in two and a half minutes.

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Ken Davis, formerly of Chino Hills and now from sub-zero Amery, WI got a 228.5-pound tuna he snatched with a skipjack on a 10/0 Mustad hook on 125-pound Big Game line and 130-pound Spectra backing on a Penn 50 SW reel and a Gary Kimura custom Calstar 755 XXH rod.

“It fought for 45 minutes,” he said. “This was a phenomenal trip and vacation. Everyone was pleasant. I’m going home with a tan. I’ll do this every year.”

Allen Smith of Santee caught a 221-pound tuna with a skipjack on an 11/0 Hayabusa Super Magnum hook, with 130-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon leader, 100-pound Yo_Zuri line and 130-pound Spectra backing on an Avet TRX 50W reel and an old Sabre 6465 XH rod. His fish fought for 40 minutes.

Mark Kazmac of Great Neck, NY bagged a brace at 219.5 and 216 pounds. He fished sardines on 8/0 Mustad circle hooks, on 130-pound Izorline, 130-pound Spectra backing on a Penn 50 VSW reel and a 660 XXH rod.

“It took about an hour and a half,” said Mark. “My best before was a 128-pounder.”

Wayne Honda of Oceanside nabbed a 208-pounder with squid under the kite. He said he used a 90 Mustad 7691 hook, 130-pound Izorline and 130-pound Spectra backing on a Tiagra 80 reel and a 7460 H rod during the hour and a half fight.

Chris Kugel of San Diego used a skipjack to fetch a 203-pounder. “He pinned his big bait on a 12/0 Mustad 7691 hook, tied to 100-pound P-Line and 130-pound Spectra backing on a Tiagra 50 reel and a Baja Boomer rod.

“I’m a rookie,” he said. “I didn’t expect this, all these huge fish.”

Hector Lopez of San Diego won the trolling jackpot for a 43.9-pound wahoo.

(Paul Sweeney assisted with quotations and photos for this story.)

Six for Nine

Tommy Rothery took nine anglers on an annual 20-day trip aboard Polaris Supreme to the Hurricane Bank, and six fishermen came home with a cow, a tuna over 200 pounds. There were limits of wahoo for all.

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Fishing for cows was slow at first, but improved as the trip went on.

“Our last two days were best,” said Rothery at the dock January 15, “and on the last day they bit at night as well. We cut off over 70 tuna from 110 to 180 pounds.

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“The tuna bit on skipjack, squid, flying fish, balloons and the kite. At the end, there was some good fishing with glow jigs. We only got a few fish on sardines.

“We trolled wahoo on the first day, but we were limited out in a short time.”

With the small group, it was decided early that only the top fish could win the jackpot, and long-time Supreme angler Charlie Middleton of San Pablo found that tuna, a 243-pounder.

“This is my third win in a row,” said Charlie. “I got him on a dead squid, with the kite. He stayed on the surface, and I got him in about 20 minutes.

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Middleton said he fished his dead squid on a 7/0 Mustad 7691 hook, with 100-pound P-Line, 130-pound Spectra backing, a Tiagra 50W reel and a 670H rod by Melton’s.

Al Tokanagu of North Hollywood had the next-largest fish, a 231.8-pounder he bagged with a chunk on a 7691 hook, 130-pound Soft Steel Ultra line, 130-pound Spectra backing, a Penn 80S reel and a 765H rod, after a 30-minute fight.

Scott Brown of Costa Mesa caught a 225-pounder, and stood in with Tokanagu and Middleton in a lineup photo. Brown fished a sardine on a balloon , with a 6/0 ringed Super Mutu hook, 100-pound Ande line, 130-pound Spectra backing, a Tiagra 50W reel and a Calstar 655 TSS rod.

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“It took about 45 minutes, said Brown. “It was near dark when he crashed on the bait.”

Craig Johnston of Costa Mesa bagged a 224-pounder with squid on the kite. He fished a 9/0 Mustad 7691 hook on 130-pound Momoi line and 130-pound Spectra backing on a Penn 80P reel and a Calstar 760H rod.

Chartermaster George Davis of San Dimas took a 205.8-pound tuna with a weighted flying fish at night. He used a 7/0 Mustad 7691 hook, 100-pound Momoi line, 130-pound Spectra backing on a Penn 70 reel and a Calstar 655 XXH rod.

“He was a Kamikaze fish,” said Davis. “I got him in five minutes. It was a great trip; my second-best trip ever.”

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Bob Garber of Orange decked a 202.8-pounder after 40 minutes. He fished with squid under the kite, on a 10/) Mustad 7691 hook, 130-pound P-Line and 130-pound Spectra, a Penn 80 W reel and a 760 H Calstar rod.

“He fought real crazy,” said Bob. “He circled twice around the boat, up high, and then came in, done.”

Hurricane Bite Resurges

The Supreme’s return proved the bite was back on at the Hurricane Bank, despite conditions variously described by anglers as roily or windy. Red Rooster III was fishing there when Polaris Supreme left, and made a catch that will land at Lee Palm Sportfishers and H&M Landing January 19.

Jan. 12th
“A very good day for our anglers,” wrote Rooster skipper Andy Cates January 12, “with 3 or 4 over 200 today.   Lots of 180 -190 lbs fish.  We are just about full and have maybe some room for just one or two cows.   We have been keeping about a dozen to dozen and a half wahoo per day. For the trip it looks like we have 15 fish over 200 pounds, and the largest one is 249 pounds.”

Star Tech Tips

“We're pluggin’ away at 'em here,” said the report from Royal Star January 15, “ putting the premium quality fish in the hatch and releasing the smaller, one hundred pound models. ?
“The development of the short topshot used with spectra line evolved a few years back following the introduction of spectra backing. The topshots began in the one hundred to two hundred yard range but were significantly shortened by a handful of anglers using sardines to both improve casting distance and better transmit signals from the baitfish at the end of the line to the angler.

“In theory the short top shots are great but as always with any thing new there is a downside. The downside, especially when using a short topshot of straight fluorocarbon, is that there is virtually no stretch in the line, no give, to compensate for any head shaking by the fish and swell motion from weather conditions affecting the boat. This lack of stretch, particularly when targeting big fish such as trophy yellowfin, leads to a disproportionate number of break offs and hooks pulling.

“This observation is not new and has been demonstrated in remarkable detail during this voyage. It may be that all the anglers using the short topshots over the years just have bad luck, but the odds are pretty hard to deny when considering that the number of hook pulls and break offs for anglers using the short top shots are 3:1 over the anglers using longer wind on leaders. Keep in mind that I am specifically referencing big fish results, not any scenario where the fish are smaller that say fifty pounds and the conditions are not extreme.

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“Also, by short top shot I am talking about leaders of twenty feet or less used with spectra. All of you out there do what you believe is best but if I was targeting trophy tuna with spectra backing, I would use a mono filament leader of a least ten to twenty yards.” ?? Angler Scores 300-Pounder

The first 300-pound tuna of the new season has apparently been landed aboard the American Angler, in a repeat of last season’s accomplishment, when Dave Fusco, a finish carpenter from San Pedro, found a 302-pounder in November of 2003.??Today was our first day of fishing for the trip,” read the boat’s report from January 8, “and it was not what I would call a lot of action but the few fish we did catch were the fish we had been looking for. We landed 3 fish for the afternoon - two of them over the 200 lb mark and one over the 300 lb mark, landed by James Hasselberg. The weather is just beautiful and we are just getting started.”

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American Angler will dock at Point Loma Sportfishing January 19.

Yellowfin Get Tough

“We got some big yellowfin for the day,” wrote Excel skipper Shawn Steward December 30, “but they were few and far between. We had a total of eight fish from 110 to 156 pounds. There was a drift where we hooked four fish and landed one, a 140-pounder and we pulled the hook on one, the line broke on the other one and that looked to be a high 100, low 200-pound yellowfin, and the other fish we had in the skiff on heavy tackle we pulled on for well over an hour and a half we lost when the rod broke when the fish was 20 feet down and it looked like a 220 to 230-pound yellowfin. There were a few opportunities for us, but as we all know these fish are not big for no reason; they are very tough, and getting a good count on them is hard to do.”

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At the dock January 5, Steward weighed the best fish in his ten-day catch. “There were small tuna at Thetis,” he said, “and fair wahoo fishing on The Ridge on the way down. We had the one day on the big fish, and good yellowtail fishing at Cedros Island. We didn’t see any seiners.”

Tony Gibson of Lake Forest won first place for a 170.2-pound tuna. He said he got it with a mackerel on a 9/0 Eagle Claw hook, tied to Soft Steel Ultra 80-pound line and 130-pound Jerry Brown Spectra backing. He fished with a Tiagra 30 reel and a 655 XXH rod.

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Craig Collins of Rio Rico was a close second for a 163-pounder, also a mackerel-caught fish, on a Cal Sheets-modified Tiagra 16 reel and a Seeker 6460 H rod. Van Zollweg of San Clemente was third, for a 134-pound yellowfin tuna.

Tuna On Ponies

Skipper Brett Rouintree took the Royal Star south below Mag Bay on a ten-day trip. Down there, he fished tuna on porpoise and got a decent score on 30 to 40-pounders. His anglers also found good yellowtail fishing north at Cedros Island, and a few wahoo between the two areas.

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Tim Chen of Huntington Beach got his best fish ever, a 121.6-pound tuna on his third ten-day trip. He said the first-place winner bit on a sardine and as 4/0 Super Mutu hook, with 50-pound Izorline and 65-pound Spectra backing on a Tiburon SST 8HT reel and a Calstar 665H rod. It fought for 20 minutes, he said.

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“Coach” Cliff Clark of Union City was second, for a 44-pound tuna, and Cody Wright of Arcadia was third, for a 43-pounder. Heather Farid, 17, of Bellflower, fishing with her dad and sister, caught and posed with a nice little wahoo. She goes to Calgary Chapel in Downey.

Andy Cates skippered the Red Rooster III on an eight-day trip that forayed south as far as the Morgan Bank, returning to H&M Landing and Lee Palm Sport Fishers on January 3, 2005; the first return of the new year.

“We had some rough weather at Alijos Rocks,” said Andy, “but there was good sign and that’s where we got our best yellowfin. Later we had a bingo stop for wahoo and put 14 skinnies on the deck out of that stop, all on bombs.

“We got small yellowfin and yellowtail on the 13 Spot, and we had a nice morning for 53 tuna on the Morgan Bank.”

Regular Rooster angler Ed Scheenstra of Ontario won first place, for a 103.5-pound tuna. He said he bagged it with a sardine on a 2/0 Super Mutu hook, 40-pound Ande line on a Trinidad 40 reel and a six-foot Fenwick rod. The fish scrapped with him for 45 minutes, he said.

“He fought like a son of a gun,” remarked Scheenstra, “but I finally cranked her down. I couldn’t wait any longer; ‘You’re coming in,’ I said.”

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John Stanaland of Laguna Beach was second, for a 79.9-pound tuna, and he also caught a 64-pound wahoo.

Dave Malmberg of Leucadia was third, for a 59.2-pound tuna, and he won the troplling jackpot for a 36.5-pound wahoo.