Norm Kagawa’s Shogun just made the move from the Hurricane in to Clarion Island, where she is fishing the Buffer Zone offshore from the island. Second skipper Bruce Smith made this report about January 11:

“It was a great day here at the island. We arrived at Clarion at first light not long after we came upon our first marks on the tuna fish. Pandemonium ensued for the rest of the morning. Towards lunch the tunas started to back off and it was more of long drift plunker bite scenario until dark.”



Fleck Finds Furious Fishing

“We had an incredible day of tuna fishing down here,” wrote skipper Justin Fleck for his Excel group January 11. “The fish were 80 to 150 pounds and they were hittin'. Our stop started on a bird school and ended as a six-hour drift, with three to ten fish hanging the whole time. Needless to say, these guys are loving it. We have just about hit our quota on this size fish so we have decided to spend the morning here and hope for a little more action before we head out on a hunt for jackpots. The weather remains flat calm for us.”



Independence Day Is Big

“We had another stellar day on beautiful grade yellowfin tuna,” noted Independence skipper Jeff DeBuys January 11, “most of which are 90 to 120 pounds with some bigger ones mixed in. We also had about 15 wahoo as a bonus. The weather has continued to be very nice and warm. Tomorrow we hope to get on some of the bigger fish that have been around. Everyone is tired, happy and just now getting a chance to sit down and have a great dinner.”



"Blowing Up All Around Us"

"We got on a spot right at dark and got the anchor down," said the evening report from the Intrepid January 11. "They stuck with us through the night and are biting a little today. So far we boated five cows, biggest at 234 pounds and three fish under the 200-pound mark. We have one hanging at the moment with lots of fish blowing up all around us."

Early evening report January 11: “Our first day down here on the lower banks was a tough one. We had fish under the boat for most of the day, but they were not interested in coming up and chewing in the least. In the afternoon we pulled the hook and went out on the hunt and were able to locate a school associated with some black porpoise. We got over them and drifted with them for a while, but again they would not bite. We caught only two Dorado and one Striped Marlin (released) for our day. We have lots of time left and see good sign, so we are sure our time will come in the next few days.”



Royal Star Reflections

“A few bright moments early set us in the right frame of mind,” said Royal Star skipper Tim Ekstrom January 11, “then the action quickly changed to all show and no go as the big fish again lurked, crashed, and dashed around the boat without so much as skinning a bait carrying a hook. It made for a long day.


“Not that there was any suffering going on, between the grease calm weather, fine company, and fine fixings from Chef Drew Rivera, we all made a good time of it. But no doubt it would have been better, much better, if even a small percentage of the fish that teased us with incredible skill had provided some action.

“The reality of it is that this pattern has been well established. One day on, two days off. Two days on, one day off. Three days off, one day on; and so forth. What it comes down to is time, effort, skill, timing, and of course that ever-important component that plays a pivotal role in every successful catch - luck; good luck that is.

“So we head into day four continuing to feel optimistic though I have to admit my confidence got hammered yesterday. Missing out on a big hit is never enjoyed, and something I will never become accustomed to. I do recognize the mathematical certainty of such occasions however and begrudgingly accept that they cannot be avoided altogether. Our present focus is still on trophies but we are not above boating any of those mid rangers if they happen along.

“Photo of the day belongs to long range veteran Clyde Smith who finally prevailed after a couple of missed chances at giants with this 210-pound yellowfin. Congratulations to Clyde on this catch and we hope there are many more to come.”



Searcher Finds Feeding Rare Orcas

This report isn’t fresh, but we thought it of interest to long rangers, who often see these magnificent creatures close to the boat, and wonder what they’re doing.

“On November 9, 2009, we were returning from a very successful shark-viewing and fishing trip with crew and Searcher family and friends aboard,” read a report from Searcher owners Art and Celia Taylor. “Offshore Ensenada, we found some orcas and stopped to check out the action.

“There appeared to be one mature male, one sub-adult male, four or five females or younger males, and two calves--one with a cut-off dorsal fin. We watched them chase and capture a dolphin, and they swam very close to the boat.

“We sent our photos (taken by Steve Lamb) to Alisa Schulman-Janiger who maintains a photo catalog of the orcas from California and Mexico. She matched a few of our photos to those from a little-known population of killer whales, called Eastern Tropical Pacific (ETP) orcas, a pelagic population not normally seen here. There were additional sightings of this group of orcas from whale watch boats in San Diego in December.

“Alisa shared our photos with other researchers familiar with ETP killer whales to add to the known individuals in that group. ETP whales tend to have darker saddles (the color patch behind the dorsal fin) and often have stalked barnacles (Xenobalanus sp) on their dorsal fins.

“Alisa tells us ‘This is an EXTREMELY important sighting of a very rarely seen type of killer whale; thanks so much for passing it on!’”