Bill Roecker’s new 2012 Sportfishing Calendar has been printed and is curing this weekend. On Monday September 26, the process of drilling, folding and binding will begin, and copies should be available to stores and online customers beginning Wednesday or Thursday.

Bruce Smith returned Shogun to her berth at Fisherman’s Landing September 25 after the seven-day Redondo/accurate trip with 24 anglers and Accurate chartermaster Gary Lacroix, who is also a Seaguar pro-staffer. The trip visited Guadalupe Island among other spots.

Lacroix, who hails from Torrance, turned out to be the jackpot first-place winner. He got a 96-pound yellowfin on a sardine and a 4/0 ringed Owner Gorilla hook tied to 50-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon and 80-pound Line One spectra on an Accurate BX-2 6090 reel and a Super Seeker 6465 H rod.

“I got him to the boat in 15 minutes,” said Lacroix. “There were no sharks around right then.”

Frank Grace of Mission Viejo won second place for a 94.2-pounder, and Bob Tankersley of Geyserville won third place for an 88.8-pound Guadalupe Island yellowfin tuna.



Bluefin On The Ridge

Drew Henderson docked Polaris Supreme at Fisherman’s Landing September 25 after a good eight-day trip with 24 anglers, who found a good catch of yellowtail, tuna and dorado.

“We also had 24 bluefin from The Ridge,” commented Henderson to dock report Bill Roecker.

“I never heard of that before,” said Roecker.

“Me, either,” said skipper Drew, “except for early in the spring, when the water’s still cold. It was 75 degrees there when we got ‘em.”

“We started local,” said Drew, “and fished at Benitos next. Then we tried Alijos Rocks for not much, and headed up The Ridge for a couple of days. At the end we went in to Hipolito and got four white seabass there, not very big ones.”

Paul Briscoe of Tustin won first place for a 34.6-pound yellowtail. He said he got it with a sardine on a 2/0 ringed Super Mutu hook on 40-pound Seaguar Premier fluorocarbon, 40-pound Izorline and 80-pound Izor spectra on a Talica 16 reel and a Calstar 700 M rod.

Henry Proo of El Centro won second place for a 27.2-pound yellowtail, and Dave Miera of Woodland Hills won third place for a 27-pound yellowfin tuna.



Finished Off

“A great way to end the trip,” noted the report from Independence September 23. “We had two stops on yellowfin tuna that very good with fish in the corner, biting nails, The grade was 15 to 25 pounds with a 35-pound bluefin mixed in. The weather is flat and we are headed home feeling fantastic.”



“Just Outstanding”

"That's how to describe this morning’s bite," the Intrepid reported September 24. "The Yellows started to bite at around 0500 for the few early risers, with the Dorado not far behind. The Dorado bit as well as we have ever seen, with hundreds jumping out of the water and fighting over the baits that hit the surface. We picked through the feisty Flats for a couple of hours. They would not leave. It's definitely a different day and age of sport fishing with our anglers thinking of our future and keeping the "SPORT" in sport fishing by keeping what they need and releasing the rest. Dorado are not the easiest fish to un-hook and release, but with a pair of gloves and a steady hand we have great success. Many of our anglers just sat back and watched a couple of talented jig slingers up in the bow put on a great show with hookless jigs, at times having as many as 30 fish trying to eat them. After the Dorado slowed down, dropping to the bottom with a live bait turned in to an instant 20 to 30 pound Yellowtail. It's hard to find an average as nice as what we saw today, anywhere. It was just outstanding.”



Guadalupe Island Trophies

As he hoped, Red Rooster III skipper Andy Cates provided his anglers with an opportunity for catching a large yellowfin tuna at Guadalupe. When the boat docked at H&M Landing September 24, after the six-day trip with chartermaster Rob Penell, those big fish swept the jackpots. The group fished offshore and at Cedros and Benitos Islands as well as Guadalupe, for a mixed catch of bluefin and yellowfin tuna.

Steve Robertson of Lolo, MT won first place for his 87.2-pounder, Sean Markeline of Ventura won second place for an 84.4-pounder, and Paul Martinez of Las Vegas, NV won third place for a 79.8-pound Guadalupe Island yellowfin tuna.