“Today started out like many of the days before,” said the report from Intrepid December 14, “with good sign of fish early on and some of them on the larger side. Another 22 quality yellowfin joined us throughout the day, several pushing the magical 200-pound mark and all of them over a hundred. Of course with big fish come big heartbreaks and this one will stand out in our minds for a long time: Angler Mike Pihl hooked in to a fish early this morning and was locked in an epic battle Man VS Fish. The fish quickly took the upper hand, dumping Mike’s International in a matter of seconds, getting down dangerously close to the spool several times before making a final run requiring the backup rod. The backup went out and the fish continued pulling, at times there was close to 700 yards of line out between the two reels and the fish continued to battle.

“We were able to get Mike’s rod and reel within feet of the Intrepid several times, the $1,000 rod and reel combo being at our finger tips and the fish still pulling. The fish made one more go at it, dumping another hundred yards of line off the backup reel and then it was gone. The fish found freedom. With so much line out, and other vessels fishing in the area our best guess is that it finally chafed against another line or running gear. With almost half a mile of line out there is not much that could be done about it, the spectra parted and the fish swam free. It's a part of Long Range Fishing and Mike had a great attitude, saying, "That fished earned every bit of its freedom.” It truly was a giant. A Tecate and a short break is all it took, Mike walked back to the rail and proceeded to kick the snot out of a 200-pounder. All in all we finished our trip with 181 Yellowfin, a couple of Dorado and a handful of Wahoo. North we go. Our Anglers will have a few days of storytelling followed with our famous buffet and of course our Fillet Mignon and Lobster dinner. Life is good.”



About Done

This posting is from American Angler, through their office December 14: “This morning had slower fishing on big tuna, so made a move and had fun fishing school size tuna mixed with 60 to 80 pounders. It was a great way to end the trip. On our way home; check back for Sunday morning's ETA. It won't be super early.”



White (Seabass) Christmas

Excel Report from the Melton Tackle Trip while at Cedros, December 14, 2011: "Today we ended up fishing the south end of Cedros Island, it wasn't full speed by any means but we were able to stay busy all day long." Skipper Mike Ramirez added, "We got good grade Yellowtail, we were also able to score two big White Seabass. We left there about 4:00 o'clock and we are sliding down to the Ridge. We'll be there tomorrow morning, and let you know how we did."



Making Bait

“Yesterday was a frustrating day,” wrote Andy Cates aboard the Red Rooster III, “with sign of fish but no bites. Literally, no bites. We left that area and started offshore. We found an area that offered 30 to 80-pound tuna. Pretty good action with 47 decent-sized fish for the day. We headed up early in need of bait and will be in the bay tonight trying for mackerel. It could be a long night; we need bait. Hopefully it bites and we can get back on that tuna first thing in the morning.”



Building Character

“Frustrating, challenging, perhaps the best way to describe today's fishing was "character building,” opined the report from Royal Polaris December 14. “The day started off with a bang when Fred Falls got on the kite early and scored a taped 205-pounder. Several hours later, Fred's fish was the only one on board. Nevertheless with determined and persistent anglers, we made a day of it. Fred eventually got another 190 on bait and there were several other 180s and 190s caught with Neil Campbell landing an estimated 195 just about 45 seconds ago. It was the kind of a day that you could shoot out bait after fresh bait into the zone and never get smelled while the guy next to you just hooked up on his third fish for the day. Trust me, I speak from personal experience here! The kite was the surest way to retirement today as after an hour or so if you hadn't hooked one you were rotated. We went through quite a few guys and almost no one rotated due to actually catching a fish. All in all you can never complain when fish of this quality are around so we'll keep plugging at them and hope that tomorrow every one scores. Weather in a word, is magnificent!”