Tom Rothery docked his Polaris Supreme at Fisherman’s Landing August 16 following a five-day trip, the 26th for the Heil group, that produced some good bluefin tuna and larger yellowtail.

Nine-year-old Brendan Overg of El Centro, fishing with his dad Scott, bagged a 38-pound yellowtail. He posed for a photo with his fish, and told dock reporter Bill Roecker he will be in 4th grade this fall at Imagine Elementary school in El Centro. This was his first five-day trip. Brendan said he likes to play soccer and to go fishing.

Joe DeMarco of San Gabriel won first place for his dandy 45.4-pound yellowtail. Joe, a former partner in the Accurate Company, said he got his toady boy on a sardine and a 3/0 Mustad hook tied to 40-pound Big Game line on an Accurate 870 reel and a Seeker 6470 rod.

Jim Chivas of Norwalk won second place for a 41.4-pound bluefin. Chase Clark, 16, won third place for a 40.2-pound bluefin tuna. Chase plays in the outfield at Bonanza High in Las Vegas, NV.



Near-Limits: Tuna & Yellowtail

Norman Kagawa brought his Shogun home to Fisherman’s landing August 16 after a seven-day Seeker Rods trip to Guadalupe, Cedros-Benitos and the bluefin area. Pat Doyle was chartermaster.

“We saw a white shark eat a sea lion at Guadalupe,” said skipper Norm. “We fished bluefin on the first and last days. We got some better fish on the second day. That bluefin bite is now a mid-day thing. Benitos was good until the seals got on us. The best yellowtail fishing at the big island was in the morning, for big ones up to 45 pounds.”

Mike Bevan of Santa Monica won first place for an 86.6-pound bluefin he bagged on a sardine and a 4/0 Mustad 91450 hook tied to 50-pound P-Line and 65-pound Power Pro spectra. He fished with an Avet LX reel and a Seeker 65 H rod.

Fred Barnes of Escondido won second place for an 81.4-pound tuna. Ed Furu won third place, but his 67-pound bluefin wasn’t available for a picture. Seeker chartermaster Pat Doyle of San Diego stood in with the winners, with his Rollo Jackpot-winning 42.5-pound yellowtail, a slug he picked up on a Salas PL 68 jig in a sort of squid multi-color pattern.



Uranga Memorial Gets Rare Albacore

The first memorial trip for recently deceased Dick Uranga, who was also known to his many friends as “Captain Potatohead,” was aboard the Searcher, a three-day trip that arrived at Fisherman’s Landing August 16 with 28 passengers. It was skippered by owner-operator Art Taylor.


Three albacore were caught at one stop, noted second skipper Aaron Remy. Two of the fish came on bait and one on a trolled Zucker jig in Mexican Flag pattern. One of the baitfish was handed off to Anthony Yumori of Culver City, by Loren Rowton of Durango, CO. Later Rowton traded a bluefin to Yumori for the longfin. They posed with the albie, a rarity this season, on the dock.

Derek Taguchi of Orange won first place for a 44-pound bluefin tuna. He said he took it with a sardine on a 2/0 Owner Flyliner hook on 30-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon. He fished with 65-pound Power Pro spectra on a Talica 10 reel and a Seeker Hercules 70 M rod.

Bob Bayus of Azusa won second place for a 42.2-pound tuna, and Jim Arens of Bayfield, CO won third place for a 42-pound bluefin tuna.



Good Stuff

“I can’t say enough about this nice weather,” remarked Excel skipper Justin Fleck, who also reported around 3:30 PM, "We ended up with 85 Bluefin, and 55 Yellowfin on a hard drift. We drifted with the same school all day. The guys had a good day, we decided to throw in the towel for today and start sliding down towards the Islands.”



Boy Bags Big Bluefin

Islander docked at Fisherman’s Landing August 16 after a two and a half-day trip with a catch of bluefin tuna that included a 39.5-pounder caught by Evan Gibson of Santa Ana, who is eight years old.

Evan posed with his big tuna, and told Bill Roecker he’d be in 3rd grade this fall at Oceaa Elementary School, where he likes to play soccer.