“Team Hoo Is On Fire!”“Our good luck continued today,” wrote Excel skipper Justin Fleck January 11, “with another excellent showing of quality tuna in the lower zone. We started off our day looking around when we got a five-way jig strike on wahoo that quickly turned into what looked like a fire drill. After picking up around 50 skins, we put the anchor back down and went to work on tuna for the afternoon. At the end of the day we collected 70-plus more tuna with three of those going over the 200-pound mark. Angler of the day was Steve Olson who picked off a pair of cows. Ted Prager Jr. caught his first cow. We are spending the night and will do it all again tomorrow."
On The Second Day
“Great day of fishing,” said the report from American Angler for January 11, “everyone had a few wahoo and at least one nice tuna. Ed Morrison and David Claverie were today's golden boys, catching fish over 200 pounds and we are hoping for more of the same tomorrow!”
“A Fun Day”“Good afternoon all,” said Intrepid skipper Kevin Osborne January 11. “With the Hurricane Bank crowded and no room for another boat and the island having very little sign, we made the move to Puerto Vallarta! We arrived last night and began our search this morning. Around lunchtime today we found em, and they are good ones. In the last couple of hours we have put 11 Yellowfin on deck ranging from 140 to 190-plus pounds. We have a couple of 190s, a couple in the 180-pound class, and the rest at the 140 to 170 class. We have a few fish hooked at the moment and are having a nice drift in beautiful weather.
“We ended up having a fun day over here,” he wrote later. “We got on a couple of spots of good fish and finished off our day with smaller grade 40-pounders that were hitting everything, including the Poppers. It was a popper fest, with several of the guys catching multiple Tuna on the poppers. During the early morning hours some of the gang caught some huge Pargo, including this one caught by David Rouse, a 22-pounder! We’re excited to see what tomorrow brings now that we have located these fish and have a better idea of what's up.”
Seven Years Full
“Unbelievable, that’s the word for today,” said the report from Royal Polaris January 11. “Sorry about the updates, but low signal, means no updates. By the time you read this, we will be on our way to fish for reds. We are full, that’s 7 years in a row. I don't know what to say, but that’s good fishing in anybody’s book. We had many anglers catch their first 200-pound Yellowfin, and many others catch their personnel best. We have a few old-timers on the trip, and J.T. Flannery (87years young) caught a 232-pound Yellowfin tuna. Now for the rest with 200 plus fish:
Sam Lewis 201, 203
Calvin Fujimoto 202
Walt Jeffrey 201, 202
Alan Otsuka 202
Ron Watanabe 220
Paul Boggs 220
Ron Watanabe 228
Jack Preston 206
“We had another 40 fish in the 180 to 198 pounds, just short of the 200-pound mark. Our last day of fishing we had an excellent day of Wahoo fishing, now that’s the way to finish a trip off. We are headed north for now, but we will keep you posted on our upcoming events.”
Star Likes The Action
“Steady action combined with beautiful weather got the trip off to a good start today,” said the report from Royal Star January 11. We ended up with 50 yellowfin in the RSW hold which ranged in size from 60 to 195 pounds, with the exception of one at 209. The sign was impressive here so hopefully we can continue to scratch while this bigger grade filters in. A favorite Royal Star regular, Len Cunningham of Alpine got a 195.”
Squishy Observation Brandon Hayward (WON saltwater editor) reports that local anglers may have reason to be pleased with their prospects for some good winter fishing on white seabass, yellowtail and calico and sand bass. Here’s what he said:
“A fresh influx of squid has moved in along the coast just about everywhere but La Jolla. Here's a pic from Monday night. The big decision is always whether to fish the bait grounds or structure when it comes to fishing seabass. The best fishing I've seen has been about a 75/25 split of bait grounds to structure. But it does seem like winter seabass like to get on structure.
"And yesterday afternoon they were snappin', too. Annoyingly wide-open, after all, the goal wasn't bass, but keeping a bait down in a lane between hard bottom and kelp that could have a seabass or two swimming around.
"Cory Leiser on the 3/4-day boat Clemente out of Dana Wharf came rolling by after calling it a day. He shot me a text on the way towards Dana: over 60 bass, 3 halibut to 25 pounds.”
