“We had another great day of fishing down here on the lower banks,” reported Excel skipper Justin Fleck January 16. “The action started at 0430 and carried on all day. The day was topped off with a pair of 300-plus pounders. Eric Griggs of Florida started it off with a 348-pounder caught on the kite. Later in the day Wes Neally followed with a 303 caught on a fly lined sardine. There were 20 other big ones boated throughout the day. The weather is flat calm now and we will enjoy another day here tomorrow.

“Our good luck continued today,” Justin wrote January 17, “when the big tuna started biting again in the early a.m.

“By the end of the day our fish holds were completely jugged with fish so we decided to go home a day early. Big fish honors go to the Team Hoo guys with Dean Jefferis with his personal best at 286 pounds, Mark Dorton with a 266, and Al Shakespeare with a 245-pound yellowfin tuna. Our new ETA to San Diego is 0700 on Wednesday morning.”

In The Action

“Here is an update for the last few days,” said the report from Independence January 15, “it’s been good fishing on more of the same grade of tuna from 90 to 120 pounds, a mixture of some in the 190-pound range. Wahoo fishing has been best at times. The weather is good and we are headed towards the beach and will report on Monday with more updates. Thanks for checking in.”



Back To Fishin’

“After yesterday’s adventure to Mag Bay to escape the bad weather and to do some repair work, make some bait and have dinner in the calm, we made it back out to the cow grounds around 4 am,” noted Intrepid skipper Kevin Osborne January 16.


“The weather went down to five knots and the seas mellowed out so the fish came up. At first we didn't have much sign so we made a move and got re-positioned in the hot zone! We had up to five cows hanging at a time today. We kept at least one going all day long and ended up with some real Jumbos! Big fish honors today go to Jack Gibson for his monster of a fish Super Cow at 352 pounds, next to John Bakos for his 284-pound Tuna and Fishybuzz (David Tang) for his new personal best 246-pound Tuna. Father and daughter team of Jack Gibson and Tina Alafa teamed up for their two cows at 352 and 225 lbs.”

“From before daylight until we pulled the anchor at dark,” wrote David Choate January 17, “you could literally hook a good sized Tuna at any time during the day. We had seven going first thing in the morning and got them all through good crew work and the anglers working together very well. If my count is right, I think we caught seven over 200 just today. We caught a lot of that "Teenage" sized fish, 140 to 190 pounds that will fool even the best of us thinking we have a much larger fish hooked. Chef Javier and I both feel this was an excellent trip, probably the best we have both ever been on.”

Norm Kagawa pulled his Shogun into her berth at Fisherman’s Landing January 18 after a 15-day open party trip that visited most of the southern cow pastures. Second skipper Bruce Smith said the trip left the Hurricane Bank and went into Clarion Island after a few days. In the Buffer zone they found very good biting tuna from 100 to 140 pounds.

“Then we went into the southern banks,” said skipper Kagawa, “and on our first day there we had good fishing on bigger fish, with one cow. The next day wasn’t good, and we made a beeline for home.”

The trip produced four cows, and four trolled 18-pound albacore, the first of the year, on the way down. The longfin were encountered about 200 miles south, roughly in the area when the fleet usually finds them in the spring. Skipper Smith said the water on the southern banks was holding up well for the season at 74 degrees.

Bob Dosek of Chino got the big fish, a 240.8-pound tusker and his best fish to date.

“I got him in a hour,” said Bob, on a mini-mackerel. “There was a 15-foot swell running, and he took me to the bow for the whole fight. I was very tired afterward.”

Dosek used an 8/0 Super Mutu hook on 130-pound Seaguar Premier fluorocarbon tied to 130-pound Line One Spectra. He fished with a Tiagra 50 reel and a Shimano TC4 rod.

Dave Stoltz of Ventura won second place for a 211-pound tuna that ate a smaller yellowfin on a 10/0 Mustad 7691 hook.

“He bit out there over 300 yards away from the boat,” said Stoltz to dock reporter Bill Roecker, “and then he ran in at me and made me wonder if it was a shark or something. The he left again and went out and down. He came up 50 minutes later on the side of the bow. My best fish before was 196 pounds.”

Stoltz used 130-pound Izorline and 130-pound Line One Spectra on a Penn 70 VSW reel and a Seeker 655 XXXH rod.

“Dorado” Dave VanVoorhis bagged a 206.6-pounder with a flying fish flylined on a 9/0 Mustad 7691 hook he tied to 130-pound Momoi and 130-pound Line One Spectra. He used a Penn 50 SW reel and a Super Seeker 6463 XXXH rod.