“We have had very good fishing here for the past two days,” reported Excel skipper Justin Fleck January 1, “on this good grade yellowfin. The fish have been showing up in the early morning and seem to want to bite all the way into the dark. Most of the fish have been just over the 100-pound mark but there are quite a few around 150. There was even a little window in the middle of the day where some wahoo showed up and we were able to pick up 22 skin.“Unfortunately we are out of time in this lower zone so we will spend the next couple of days working up the line on our way home. Here are some pictures from the last two days. Happy New Year to you guys.”
First Tuna Of 2011?
“First of all happy New Year to everyone, and secondly I am pretty sure we captured the first tuna of 2011,” reported skipper Jeff DeBuys January 1. “The fish hit the deck about 0500 hrs, estimated weight 160 pounds, caught by Ivan Fujinaka. Very shortly after that four others hit the deck from 160 to 175 pounds, and we were off and running. When we departed at 1400 hrs to head for home we had 56 tuna for the day, all good grade fish. What a great trip we had for the holiday special. The weather is up a bit, and breezy.”
A Few Big Ones“Good Evening Anglers,” said the report from Intrepid January 1. “After yesterdays epic fishing we tried to concentrate on bigger fish and were rewarded with a few handfuls of 130 to 170-pounders. Some were caught on the kite, some on flylined mackerel and some on the sardine. Our weather has changed a bit, with windy conditions to finish off our day. We are now northbound, with a healthy catch of yellowfin and 22 happy anglers.”
Royal Star report January 1, 2011: “We started out the new year with a nice grey light bite on the salamis that produced 12 fish from 110 to 180 pounds and the first deuce of 2011, a 205 landed by Jason Copenhagen. After the morning hit we settled into a slow scratch the rest of the day on 60 to 130-pounders with one more cow that went 241. The odds caught up with us this afternoon when two big heavies we had hooked simultaneously broke off. Needless to say we're ecstatic after three great days and are looking forward to at least one more, living the dream. Today's first shot shows Jason Copenhagen with the first 200-pounder of 2011 while Liz Franzino earns another shot at fame as she poses with her 315 as it comes through the gate."
In The Mailbag
“Hi Bill, I was re-watching "The Hot Zone" today. At one point an angler wanted to release a fish and the mate Oscar asked him if he had a 'release tag.' I know that you tag the fish you keep, but what's the deal with release tags?" Felix C. (by email January 2, 2011)
Bill’s Reply
Happy New Year, Felix! We were using release tags on that trip only. Jan Howard of Braid Products oversaw a contest to see who could release the most gamefish. Each released fish was verified by a deckhand, and a tag for it was placed in collection jar. At the end of the trip Tim Turner of Northridge was named release king for 30 fish set free. Yours truly came second with 29. It was a lot of fun, and Excel skipper Shawn Steward said there were 156 releases. The story is included with many others in my new book, At The Rail. I’d like to see more trips emphasize releasing smaller tuna, yellowtail and dorado. Thanks for noticing and asking, Felix; and thanks for watching our videos!
