Skipper Drew Henderson posted for Polaris Supreme July 30:

“We had a great day. Of course the morning had us worried. We started in the hot spot from the day before and it was ice cold. I felt disgusted but what we do in those situations as a group of boats is find them and that's what happened so in the afternoon we had a couple very good drifts on yellowfin tuna. Our first drift was at 2:00 after lunch and it was a long plunker bite of one to three going at a time. After that we already had a good day and a good trip. We had the whipped cream and the nuts but I wanted the cherry so after an hour or so of hard looking we found our sundowner school. It was a little more fast-paced this time and it lasted almost until sunset on the yellowfin and well past dark for the three bluefin we hooked. They were 50 to 80 pounds, estimated. We'll find out at the scale tomorrow. They'll make jackpot go quickly because I'll only need to weigh three fish.

“The weather today was fantastic. We're headed in and we'll be dockside tomorrow at 7:00 in the AM. I'll be handing the keys over to Tommy and I'm finally going home for the first time this season. I'm looking forward to getting to know my baby again who will be turning four months this Saturday.”

Not Far From The Dock

The boat’s office posted July 29: “The Royal Polaris departed 10 A.M. this morning and by 4 P.M. the anglers were fishing for Yellowfin tuna. Many passengers caught their first-ever Yellowfin. By dark the boat had landed 46 tuna in the 12 to 25-pound range.”

Salmon, Anyone?

Phil Havlicek is a central California angler who likes to fish long range as well in near his home area. He says there’s a great salmon bite going on up his way right now, and sent along some photos and info, which I’ll share here.

“Hey Bill: Fish started to trickle in about two weeks ago which has coincided with flat calm conditions. Most of the commercial fleet was in Ft. Bragg where I heard of SF commies coming back with 600 to 700 fish and a lot of big ones! Sport angling up there is also very good and close in. Bodega Bay has exploded this week so maybe those FB fish are moving down. There is a lot of squid in Bodega, which kept the fish there last year and resulted in spotty fishing for us in 2013. That doesn't seem to be the case and maybe with so many large fish this year they just stayed out a year longer. The water is warmer than usual but Salmon are programmed to do their thing no matter what. A lot of big fish are being caught deep, right off the bottom, (colder?).

“Fishing is right off the beautiful Marin coast anywhere from Bolinas Pt/Duxberry Reef/middle grounds and the shipping lanes (where the pic of the pig is from yesterday). That's about six to seven miles offshore! Anyway, I’m having fun and thought you might be able to use a photo or something to put on the site. I always appreciate your work.”

Intrepid skipper Kevin Osborne posted July 29:

“After a couple of days fishing Tuna in U.S waters we headed south to mix it up elsewhere. The day was spent fishing offshore Kelps with a mixed bag result. The group caught Yellowfin Tuna, Yellowtails, and a few Dorado throughout the day. In the evening we slid into the coastline and caught some really nice Grade Yellows to round out the day. Tomorrow we will be fishing for Yellows. The weather is very nice along the coast and the Nor-Cal gang is having a Blast! Last nights dinner prepared by Chef Perry was fresh seared Ahi over sticky rice pilaf and fresh greens, just amazing!”

Yellowfin Biting South

Drew Henderson posted for Polaris Supreme July 29:

“We had a decent morning and a decent evening. It was the in between part that stunk for us. From about 9 till 5 we caught and saw nothing. But in the morning it was steady stopping and after 5 we drifted catching fish until after dark so all in all I'd call it a good day. The fish were yellowfin tuna and we're still pulling on one as I write this and that's all I have to say about that. We're going to run up into American waters tonight and try for the Bluefin and the yellowfin tomorrow for our last day of this trip.”

Bluefin Jim Winners

Andy Cates docked Red Rooster III at H&M Landing July 30 after a five-day Bluefin Jim trip that fished in US waters and off San Martin Island. Anglers aboard caught limits of yellowtail and 265 mixed tuna.

The boat’s office posted this report:

1st Place 82-pound Bluefin Tuna caught by Tom Holmgren of Ventura

2nd Place 81.2-pound Bluefin Tuna caught by Corey Harris of Orange

3rd Place 78.4-pound Bluefin Tuna caught by Bob Holmgren of Ventura

Trolling Jackpot 17.8-pound Yellowfin Tuna caught by Doug Edwards Of Hemet

Surface Bite

Royal Star operator-skipper Randy Toussaint wrote July 30:

“Good angling on quality yellows made for a nice change of pace here on the coast today. It was a surface bite on the mackerel and jigs, with most of the yellows ranging from 18 to 30 pounds.

“We are going to give this another day before venturing back offshore. Lohn Storms is in today's shot with a 28-pound yellowtail.”

No Time Wasted

The Searcher’s posting for July 29 said:

“Capt Aaron wasted no time getting over 90 tuna on the boat the same day the boat left! Today, his mid-day report is 84 mixed tuna aboard in US waters (70 yellowfin and 14 bluefin). The weather remains excellent. Wendy Tochihara (Izorline rep) and Kyle Lee (Bass Pro Shop rep) and their regulars must be enjoying their first few days at sea.”

Independence posted July 28:

“We have been enjoying absolutely beautiful weather the last two days, it's just been a little on the warm humid side. With hurricane Hernan coming up the coast we opted to stay inside and fish for yellowtail to start the trip, we have had good fishing on very nice grade yellows in the 18 to 28-pound range with a few bigger and a few smaller. The surface iron was good as well as flylined sardine for the yellows. With the tropical storm well to the west we are going to try something offshore now and see what happens. The weather is still very good so wish luck!”

Snooty Bluefin

Intrepid kipper Kevin Osborne wrote July 28:

“We found several schools of the bigger Grade BFT's in the 70 to 90-pound range this morning, but they would not bite at all. Sometimes these bigger tuna can be very frustrating and others they can be so eager to bite and a ton of fun to catch, but not today. We did catch a few dozen more of the smaller grade before we headed south and had a sundowner on Yellowfin Tuna to round out the day. We will be offshore again tomorrow.”

Fish Hanging Everywhere

Andy Cates reported for Red Rooster III July 28:

“A spectacular day of Yellowtail fishing. From 5:30 to 9:30 in the morning we had 15 to 18 fish hanging all the time for four hours. Nice grade 18 to 30 pounds and really biting. The best I have seen there! We spent the rest of the day offshore getting Jig strikes throughout the afternoon on small tuna We will be up fishing local tomorrow.”

On Day Five

Royal Polaris filed this update July 28:

Day 5: We arrived to the area around 02:00 hours, and drifted until daybreak. Once we started trolling, it didn’t take long before the Yellowfin tuna would pay us a visit. The Yellowfin started out in the 10 to 12-pound range, but as the day went on, the fish average increased to 15 to 22 pounds, with a few going over the 30-pound mark. At the end of the day, we landed 109 Yellowfin tuna, 13 Yellowtail, released one Dorado and 30 or so Yellowtail. At the end the trip the anglers were happy, the crew cleaned the boat, and we were headed for home to do it all over again with 36 more happy anglers.”

Coaxing ‘Em

Royal Star skipper Randy Toussaint posted July 29:

“Very good sign of tuna again today but we had to work at it to get them to bite. By day's end we had another respectable score and are presently traveling down to fish yellows tomorrow. Ryan Burdette is in today's shot with a 102-pound bluefin tuna taken yesterday in US waters.”

And The Winners Are…

Searcher posted these results July 28:

“Congratulations to the jackpot winners:

1. Huan Nguyen, Garden Grove, CA – 36.6-pound bluefin tuna

2. Bob Gerber, Torrance, CA – 36.1-pound bluefin tuna

3. Huan Nguyen, Garden Grove, CA – 32.6-pound bluefin tuna.”

“We returned this morning from our Anglers Choice six-day trip,” reported skipper Kevin Osborne July 26. Thanks Luc for a great trip. Jackpot winners: Luc Ofield with a 74.8-pound Bluefin Tuna and a 42-pound Yellowtail; Mike Armstrong with a 71-pound Bluefin Tuna and Darrell Pickford with a 65-pound Bluefin Tuna. Honorable mention goes to Barbara Sebastian for her 75-pound Bluefin Tuna."

The next day, he posted, “We departed yesterday with our annual Nor-Cal Tuna Club group and the fun began right away as CM Doug Inyo held a huge raffle of great items as we headed back out west to fish for Tuna. Got on a small school of mixed BFT & YFT to get things rolling. We shut down on a school in the dark last night, boating one. Woke up this morning and have been drifting all morning long with BFT's from school grade up to 35 pounds, a decent start to the trip.”

On July 28, Osborne posted, “We made a good start to the trip on the Bluefin out west with 66 of the nice Tuna and 10 Yellowfin mixed in as well. It was a bit of a challenge as we would locate some schools that would stick around and bite for a while and others that would not react at all. In the afternoon we found a school of the better grade Tuna from 40 to 70 pounds and only boated a few, but the guys lost just as many with the lighter gear you needed to entice a bite. The weather is very nice and the sign of fish around is keeping us here looking for a school of big ones! It sounds like there is good fishing going on in several areas right now, so get out here and get you some.”

Above The Line

Red Rooster III skipper Derek Waldman posted July 25: “With the closure of Bluefin tuna in Mexico we are starting our trip above the line in US waters. This is the first of a string of five-day trips starting with Bluefin Jim's annual trip.

“We found a kelp late that provided action on smaller grade yellowfin and bluefin . We were stoked to be drifting into sunset with 40 mixed tuna and a couple of Dorado. So far this morning just a few bluefin but nice weather.”

Skipper Andy Cates posted July 27: “Pretty tough day all in all but we did have one stop where we hooked four and picked off three of these nice 80 to 100-pound fish. Chris, Corey and Bob were the successful anglers with the jackpot contenders. We had a couple other drifts but really not much to mention. Tomorrow we will be fishing yellows in Mexican waters. We spent the day up above today and it looks like the rest of the trip will be in Mexico.”

Out Of The Gate

Royal Star captain Randy Toussaint wrote July 26:

“We started off our annual Floyd Abbott seven-day in US waters this afternoon with beautiful flat calm seas. The fish were a bit reluctant to bite but we managed a respectable score of 32 mixed grade bluefin tuna and eight yellowfin. We are spending the night here, hoping the bigger grade make a showing tomorrow.”

“The next day Toussaint wrote: We looked at plenty of schools of bluefin in flat calm weather today but getting them to bite was a struggle. Typical of bluefin, they usually don't bite with reckless abandon for long but we still managed to put together a good day.

“We are traveling down tonight and will fish offshore again tomorrow. Don Van Dyke is in today's shot with a nice bluefin taken on scratch gear.”

Found Awesome Fishing

Searcher skipper Aaron Remy wrote July 26: “The fishing was awesome today and the weather was very calm, almost no wind all day long and the forecast looks good, too. We had a very good mix of yellowfin tuna, bluefin tuna and some yellowtail, most of the day fishing in US waters. We’re going for fish tomorrow again, so wish us luck.

“Tip of the day: Using circle hooks, especially fishing for bluefin, are crucial. It took a little convincing for people to use them after they were getting bit off. Here’s a sample of some tuna caught by father and son Joe and Troy Jacques of Hemet.”

Surprising Little Bulls

Jonathan Roldan reported for the La Paz area last week:

“With the exception of another of those surprise “torito” (little bull) storms that popped up on Thursday, it was a pretty good week of fishing for the most part.

This time of year, waters are extremely warm, actually, warmer than usual, as a result of the “El Nino” situation. This has given rise to rapidly forming storms that are not shown on weather advisories in the morning. However, out of seemingly clear skies, huge thunderheads suddenly build and the skies grow dark within minutes...as the rains hit and everyone hunkers down, that’s pretty much all you can do. There’s a reason they call these “little bulls.” Within an hour or two, sometimes in the span of minutes, it’s over. The sun blazes back out. The winds turn off. The skies go clear and flat. Except for puddles of water, there’s no trace. And that’s what happened Thursday morning. But the rest of the week was pretty grand!

Las Arenas

“Fishing definitely improved over the week before. Again, dorado were center stage, but there were fewer punk five-pound dorado and more respectable 10 to 20 pounders and all willing to charge pretty much water was in the water. One of the big problems is that the baits we have tend to be large. Hence, it takes longer than normal for the fish to really chomp the bait and get a hook down in their mouths. Anxious anglers would often tell me they pulled the trigger too soon before the dorado could eat and they would lose the hook-set and half-a-bait would come flying back to the boat, sans dorado!”

La Paz

“Our La Paz boats rocked some really nice 20 to 40-pound fish this week as they have now since June. The fish extend right from La Paz Bay towards Espirito Santo Island then around the corner to about El Rosario/ Las Cruces where the larger bulls seem to have taken residence not too far from the beach. Co-incidentally, that’s where large schools of baitfish have been seen. We also got some roosterfish off the beaches.

“The bigger news is the increased incidence of hookups with billfish including larger-than-normal sailfish and even some blue marlin. I don’t remember seeing so many hookups on blue marlin as I have the past two or three weeks. Most of the sails and marlin are getting released, but one fish that couldn’t be released was a hefty 300-pound blue.

Everything Hot At East Cape

Rancho Leonero posted this report for last week's fishing:

“Water - The water temps are right around 87 degrees.

“Air – Just like our fishing ... very hot!



“The Environment: We are deep into a hot summer and, like every other Baja summer, the days can be really warm now. Fortunately, the afternoon breezes keep things a little more comfortable. Good bait is available thanks to our new bait guys who are doing a great job. Unfortunately, sardina still remain scarce, which mattered little until the tuna would eat nothing else. Some bait boats have sardinas in small numbers, but are tough to get.



“The Bottom Line: A solid 8.5 on the Rancho Leonero 1 to 10 scale.



“Billfish – The blue marlin bite continues to lead the billfish news. Rancho boats found good fish all week in most areas. Fish were caught outside as well as close to shore from Cerralvo to Los Frailes. Striped marlin are around in moderate numbers and sails are plentiful. Blues all were caught on lures while stripers and sails split between ballyhoo and caballitos. 



“Yellowfin Tuna - Good fish all week with the biggest weighing in at 70 pounds. The free-swimming school down at Los Frailes was producing fish of about 40-pounds all week. Chumming and soaking sardinas was the only successful way. Some boats chose to go outside and scout for porpoise, which proved very successful. Fish from 30 to 70-pounds were taken in good numbers; all on hoochies and cedar plugs.

“Dorado - The fish appeared to be slightly bigger this week, 10 to 20-pounders with a few whoppers out in the open water. Again, the fish are spread all over the East Cape with no specific hot spot. 



“Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch - Inshore fishing continued to provide a true bouillabaisse of pargo, amberjacks and roosterfish. Additionally, some boats also picked off wahoo, with the biggest right around 50 pounds.”

The boat’s office passed this word on July 25:

“Capt Justin called in from the Excel called in a report as they moved into the upper zone and searched for some tuna.”

“We are only 50 to 60 miles from Point Loma,” said the boat’s report, “as this is where you need to be if you wanted to catch tuna. We started slow this morning, but things really picked up the rest of the day we got a lot of fish in the 30 to 70-pound range with an average size of 40 pounds. It seems like every boat in the area is floating sideways and getting into this bite. We will be here again tomorrow and hope for a few more of the larger grade tuna. Team Hoo is doing fantastic and having a great time, we will check in again later.”

The boat reminded passengers to bring a California fishing license, for fishing north of the border.

Drifting Home

“What a day to end this great six-day adventure,” wrote Intrepid skipper Kevin Osborne July 25.

“Luc & Anglers Choice Tackle as always put together a very fun group to fish with. Today was the capper with good Tuna fishing all day long for us, beautiful weather, great friends, and good fishing, what more could we ask for. Our sponsors for this trip included Anglers Choice Tackle with a ton of great gear, Five Star Fish Processing who donated several big certificates, and JRI Jigs.”

Red Rooster III Winners

Captain Derek Waldman docked the boat at H&M Landing July 25 after a four-day Charkbait trip that fished offshore and near San Clemente Island. Anglers aboard caught 219 Bluefin Tuna, 26 Yellowfin Tuna,12 Yellowtail and two Dorado.

1st Place Jackpot: 108-pound Bluefin Tuna, Mark Andrada of Pleasanton

2nd Place Jackpot: 107.2-pound Opah, Gary London of Camarillo

3rd Place Jackpot: 101.8-pound Bluefin Tuna, Jack Stout of Riverside

Trolling Jackpot: Sal Tocco of San Diego

Guide's Seasonal Shift, To Editor

Brandon Hayward told Bill Roecker July 25 that he is wrapping up what he calls "season one" of his local guiding. "The best yet," is how he dubbed the local white seabass fishing this year, which kicked off May 7 for him. His clients caught over 200 white seabass, the biggest being a 66-pounder. He said it is not the seabass, but the halibut that has impressed him as of late. With days for as many as six flatties and 'butts from 28 to 46 pounds. With all the attention offshore, he reported no other boats, aside from a buddy or two.

Hayward's other job is that of editor/associate publisher of The Bight, the high-end saltwater journal he created with is partners at The Surfer's Journal. Response to the unique piece of print has been favorable, and the journal is going to be a quarterly in 2015, with its release to come at the Fred Hall Show, where anglers will be able to sign up for a subscription.

Getting a copy of The Bight is easy, but good luck getting a charter date--Hayward said 2015 is already 70 percent full from May to July. He will kick off "season two" in late September for white seabass, local tuna, and lobster. There are plenty of fall dates still up for grabs. Go here for more information:

www.onemancharters.com

The Excel posted July 24, and added this underwater photo:

“Today was pretty much a travel day here on the Big X as we make our way up the line. We will spend the last two days of our trip looking for tuna offshore. The weather looks great and everyone is now well-rested and ready to pull on some more fish. Wish us luck.”

Larger ‘Tails

Skipper DeBuys wrote for the Intrepid July 24:

“Today was excellent fishing for 25 to 30 lb. yellowtail. Full speed on jigs and bait till we got our fill sums it up. The wahoo pulled a no show, but the yellows put on a impressive show for all to enjoy. The weather is starting to freshen, so we will see what happens tomorrow. Thanks for checking in, Jeff and the Indy crew.”

Big Bluefin Keep Mum

Polaris Supreme posted July 24:

“Today was more of the same as the last couple days. Still seeing tons of fish. Still struggling to get bites. Same thing. See a school, stop and catch fish one at a time. The cool thing about it is we're stopped fishing a lot more then regular fishing days so we're staying occupied. The only thing different for us today was that we saw multiple schools of big bluefin. The 50 to 80-pound stuff but it's even harder to get one of those to bite. We ended up hooking a few and landing a couple of 70-pounders. We'll do it again for one more day, the last fishing day of this trip. Hopefully they'll want to bite better tomorrow. There is no way we would leave this zone with all the fish we are seeing.”

Bread & Butter

Tim Ekstrom posted for Royal Star July 24:

“Nice combo day of fishing and gaining altitude; abundant quality yellowtail again providing the majority of the catching action. Our affection for the bread and butter, spring, summer, and fall long range species can not be overstated. Their abundance, reliable biting disposition, and superb quality as table fare with the advent of RSW storage of our product has made them the cornerstone of many a successful long range catch.

“Heading out and up for our final day working offshore about the only species remaining on the variety list this voyage is Dorado. So off we go in search of a few handfuls of colorful leapers to round out what has become an exceptional catch of fish. The beauty of the summer seven day in living color: sufficient time to assemble an ideal long range voyage featuring the combination of variety, quantity, and quality fish. Throw in plenty of opportunity to unwind and relax amidst the fishing and there you have it. I love these voyages.

“Photo today features master angler Mike Krieger with a fine specimen landed today amongst the weeds; no jesting about the master title either. If there is an angler capable of getting more bites consistently than Mike I would be surprised, not just one day or one trip either. Ever since I have been fishing with Mike he has been the same, always catching the daylights out of whatever we are fishing for however we are fishing for them; a born natural.”

Bring License

Searcher’s report for July 23 said:

“Capt Art reported a decent catch (40 bluefin in the 30 to 40-pound range, five yellowfin and five yellowtail) for the day in challenging weather. All US-caught fish! Our friends Al Hernandez and Darrell Chapman are pictured with Capt Joe Soares and crewman Mike Derieux.

“Reminder: Bring your CA fishing license with you! It may be required on your upcoming trip.”

Chop Doesn’t Kill Bite

San Diego dayboats and multi-day boats fishing north of the US-Mexico border continue to make good catches of yellowtail, with a fair amount of tuna showing in those catches. The bluefin closure south of the border has prompted the boats to stay north in hopes of taking some of the big fish that are being seen. Two to three yellowtail per rod was averaged yesterday by the four landings, including up to two yellowfin per stick. Those school tuna are mostly small, but big enough to keep, like the one shown here. Bluefin up to 100 pounds and over are being caught, but that bite has yet to take off on any large scale. Local kelp fishing remains good as well, for calico bass, with some bonito also showing close.

Skipper Kevin Osborne posted for the Intrepid July 23:

“What a Great day we had here on the Intrepid. We got on a school of big yellows at 0600 and drifted with them until 1P.M. It was all you wanted on the 18 to 30-pound class Tails, just a beautiful grade of fish with an average of around 22 to 25 pounds. After that was done we got in out of the wind and did some Halibut fishing where we boated a few nice ones, lost a couple nice ones and released several more shorts to grow and fight again another day. While we were drifting Luc hooked into a Jumbo Yellow of 40 pounds on a explosive surface iron bite and landed him! A few more Big yellows were landed along with lots of large Calico Bass. It was just a great day to be here fishing with friends. We are going to head up the line tonight and fish along the beach tomorrow.”

The boat had no photos today, so the shot here shows a video frame grab of Bill Roecker working on a similar yellowtail aboard Intrepid in late June.

On The Deep Jig

Red Rooster III had a great catch on the jig, and the boat posted July 23:

“Hey guys and girls good morning. Our day has been pretty great aside of the weather being a little snotty. Here's a picture of a nice opah that Gary got this morning.”

The previous day, the boat posted:

“Good afternoon folks we left today on our annual Charkbait 4 day headed off shore with an excellent load of bait and good spirits. Although the weather is supposed to be a little choppy, every one is fired up!”

Behind The Island

Tim Ekstrom wrote about his Royal Star’s day July 23:

“We put together a solid morning on beautiful grade yellowtail in good conditions. Roughly three hours of steady action fulfilled the majority of yellowtail desires. Fish in the eighteen to thirty pound class were downright voracious for a couple of those three hours hammering everything from anyway presented live baits to the surface iron. That kind of production adds up quick; just how we like it. When came the afternoon breeze we were long gone enjoying the giant lee while prospecting for bait.

“We did find the bait, so much of it that stunning is an understatement in description, but the size and species for our gangions was wrong. Sardines, by the millions, provided an all you can eat buffet for myriads of birds and mammals in the region. The show was epic and the scenery incredibly entertaining; the objective of replenishing our supply of live bait fell way short.

“Regardless of the anti climatic end the day was a glowing success. Throwing together a catch of yellowtail down here is presently no slam dunk. We have our colleagues and network of information to thank for this one. What comes around goes around. The value of that philosophy in any fishery cannot be overstated.

“Today's image is another pulled from the first two days of the voyage when we targeted U.S. blues. Gary Kawaoka was one of the fortunate anglers, landing this 85-pound class beauty in the late afternoon.”

The boat’s office posted for July 22:

Capt. Justin called in from the Excel and reported that they “…had some really good fishing again today on the Yellowtail, fish were from 12 to 30 pounds. They were biting yoyo, surface, sluggo, just about anything you put out got bit, some of the best Yellowtail fishing we have had in a while. The winds are up so we are staying close to the beach to keep everyone comfortable and safe. Tomorrow we will get close to the island and try for some Halibut or Bass. Then we will head up north in search of tuna to round out the trip.”

The Answer

Tim Ekstrom posted for his Royal Star July 22:

“A long, slow, tranquil day of easy passage, chewing up nautical miles southbound. An interesting set of conditions has developed, not a good kind of interesting for one seeking game fish, but an explanation for why the main volume of offshore gamesters has settled to the north. We covered a lot of miles from sun up through sun down and did not see anything favorable in the way of water temperature or color along the way.

“Not that the conditions encountered suggest anything more than it was terrible today - change out here is as regular, as common, as the sun rising and falling daily, it just settled the present question of where to hang our hat for the next round of fishing; obviously not here.

“Among the beautiful advantages of long range fishing are time and mobility; an awful lot of successful fishing outcomes are accredited to these tenets. We put them to good use when necessary. This is one of those times. Better conditions are somewhere beyond today's pastures. It's just a matter of where, or if, we will find them.

“Thankfully one lone yellowtail prevented the black and white stripe rodent from tainting today's effort with malodorous charm. All in good humor; a bounty of pristine RSW product already in the hatch made light of the paltry fishing results. Photo today is again a draw from our first successful two southeast of San Clemente Island. Greg Emoto, no stranger to offshore bluefin success, is no less impressed with this beauty because of it. In fact those who have been there before have perhaps an even keener appreciation for just how special these opportunities are; certainly for how delicious these prime specimens, pithed, bled, dressed out (gilled and gutted), and held in 31-degree refrigerated seawater will be.”

Big ‘Tails Win

Spirit of Adventure posted this about their five-day trip that returned July 20:

Capt Justin Fleck checked in from the Excel July 21:

“As we were headed south on what we thought was a travel day, we stumbled on a kelp that was loaded. We got some nice grade Yellowtail and smaller grade Yellowfin. It was like aquarium fishing as we could watch all the tuna swimming around. They were hitting poppers and surface jigs; it was fun for everyone. We finally made it to The Ridge for some really good Yellowtail that were hitting the yoyo jigs Salas 6X in scrambled egg and blue/white best. We will look for more tuna on the way home, we will check in again tomorrow.”

Later, Fleck wrote: “Team Hoo had very good yellowtail fishing today on the Ridge. The overall quality was nice with most of the fish being 18 to 25 pounds.”

A Few Bingos

Skipper Jeff DeBuys posted from the Independence July 21:

“Today was a fun day on the Indy. The yellowtail bite was very good for 20 to 30-pound fish, half caught on Salas 6X yoyo jigs and the sardines and surface plugs. The wahoo showed in the afternoon and we had a few bingos on them, good grade fish as well. Capt Jimmy's bombs were the hot ticket and marauders. We also found some big kelps that were vacant, but might be loaded in a few weeks or so. Throw in a couple of marlin that we released and that was our day. Everyone got to pull and yank lots today with great weather for all.”

Chasing Bluefin West

Kevin Osborne wrote for the Intrepid July 21:

“We departed yesterday on our 6-day Anglers Choice Tackle trip with Luc and all the rest of the regular gang we have on this trip each year. Out west we headed to chase around the Bluefin out in U.S waters. Late in the evening we found a school, but they didn't want to play. Today on the other hand we were able to make a decent score of them any were from 30 to 80 pounds along with some Yellowfin. A couple of kelps that provided fun times for everyone and we made a fun day of it. With the weather forecast to blow for the next couple of days we are headed to an island for some Yellowtail fishing.”

US Blues

Tim Ekstrom wrote July 20:

“Another productive outing on U.S. Blues though the devils put us through the wringer as the day wore on. Vast quantities of bluefin in the 50 - 80 pound class tantalized our appetite for serious, long range style clobbering but their fickle disposition allowed none of it. We pieced it together, with most of our bluefin catch coming from one good, extended mid morning go around, while the 15 to 20-pound yellowfin filled in the gaps when the bluefin went into afternoon lockdown.

“Ample time and the right weather made for an easy decision to remain on the offshore grounds. The size average and potential for a real deal hit on these bluefin is too good to pass by. Viva El Nino: long range fishing within a stones throw from home. We'll take it with gratitude. Having seen this program more than once before we abide by fishless round trips south while our local brothers were piling them on have a convincing way of driving this point home.

“Photos today features angler Ron Ishisaka and a prime example of what we all like to fish for. These 75-pound class bluefin are the prize summer long range quarry. A few of these dressed and stored prime in the RSW tanks go a long way toward defining a successful fishing outcome.”

Glenn Bangs Tuna

Captain Derek Waldman docked Red Rooster III at H&M Landing July 21 after a four-day Glenn’s Alignment Service trip that fished areas offshore.

The group caught 250 tuna, 15 yellowtail, two dorado and three lingcod. Winners were posted by the boat’s office:

“1st place jackpot: 100-pound tuna caught by Javier Godinzad, Oxnard
2nd place jackpot: 69.2-pound tuna caught by Anthony San Juan
3rd place jackpot: 41-pound tuna caught by Larry Hartnett of Covina
Trolling jackpot: 30-pound tuna caught by Javier Godinzad.”

Kids’ Tournament

This came from Vic Gamboa, event coordinator, on July 21:

“The 12th Annual Young Anglers Fishing Tournament will be held on Saturday, August 9th on the Shelter Island Pier from 7:30 AM to 1:00 PM. Details may be found on our website at www.sportfishing.org a printable poster may also be obtained from http://www.sportfishing.org/IGFA%20Kids/SI_Poster_2014_85x11_opt.pdf.

Shogun Has News

This report was posted July 20:

“We are checking in on the first day of our three-day with excellent news. We departed San Diego at 11 A.M. with a beautiful load of sardines and high hopes. Our travel to the fishing grounds was very pleasant, with calm seas and just enough breeze to keep cool.
“We reached the fishing grounds around 5:30 and by 5:45 we were able to sonar up a school. It boiled up immediately and began to bite. We drifted with one to three fish hanging, with flashes of five to ten, for next couple hours. We ended up with fifty-two 25 to 40-pound tuna on the stop. It didn’t take long to locate another school, however it wasn’t as eager to bite. Just before sundown we located another school that bit into the dark. These fish were in the 50 to 90-pound class. We were able to land eight and unfortunately lost just as many. We are very eager to see what tomorrow will bring as today showed very promising sign for little daylight we had available to fish.”

Tim Ekstrom posted for Royal Star July 19:

“We had an inquiry in the office a few days prior, thankfully the only one of its kind so far, that asked the question: ‘How is the Mexican ban on catching bluefin tuna going to affect our upcoming voyage?’ My answer: ‘It's not.’ We make do, we make the most of whatever opportunities are available, and we have never had the success of any voyage predicated upon catching something specific before we leave the dock. This is fishing. It is the great unknown. And unexpected changes and events, man made and natural, are part of the incessant challenges that make this profession simultaneously fantastic and maddening.

“Today was an ideal example of this reality. Departing on the annual Michael Doi seven day, that is deficit Michael due to family obligations to all our sincerest regret, we took a tour out west seeking to begin this voyage with a little U.S. waters bluefin action before pushing south. A short steam out front, a mere three hours, and the search began.

“Working west toward the beautiful San Clemente island our fortune took a turn for the better - a dandy area of bluefin was spotted, tracked, run down, and enticed with epic sardines courtesy of Everingham Brothers.

“The result was sixty four bluefin and eight yellowfin for the late afternoon on the day of departure. Who would have guessed? In fishing anything is plausible. Everyone one of us should keep this in mind. A lot of these bluefin are already north of the U.S./Mexico border this year: a welcome gift from "El Nino" in the light of the impromptu closure of bluefin fishing by Mexico. Foremost is our desire for a reasonable resolution to the present closure in Mexico - there are still many bluefin to the south ready and willing to be caught - but there are viable alternatives; no reason to be canceling any trips just yet, or falling on our swords.

“Apart from just over a handful of fifteen to eighteen pounders the size average of today's bluefin was 30 to 39 pounds. The yellowfin were 12 to 20. The weather is exactly how everyone wants to see it - flat calm - and forecast to remain such for the next couple of days. Sounds like good conditions for offshore bluefin, and that is exactly our plan. The waters of the United States of America will host Royal Star again tomorrow. With our California fishing licenses current both Captain Randy Toussaint and I are optimistic about the conditions and potential in this zone. In addition to these school fish the big boys are also around. Tomorrow is a new day.

“Photos feature a familiar son on the deck of Royal Star. Steve Masuda and his son Erik (shown here) masterfully exploited these 35-pound class bluefin today enjoying the steady pace of the three hour, late afternoon plunker.”

Accurate Open

Searcher returned July 20 after a short trip with Gary Gillingham of Accurate as chartermaster. The boat posted:

“Congratulations to the jackpot winners:

1. Michael Townes, Lodi, CA – 85.3-pound bluefin tuna

2. Norma Slatton, San Diego, CA – 83-pound bluefin tuna

3. Gabe Slatton, San Diego, CA – 32-pound bluefin tuna.”

US Bluefin

Vagabond posted a picture and a brief July 19:

“Jackpot fish from a four-day trip on the Vagabond: Bluefin (US Caught) & Opah. Bluefin 92 pounds, Opah 63 pounds and a 35-pound Bluefin. All Bluefin caught in US waters.

“Jackpot winners: Randy Kanemaki, 92-pound Tuna, Arnie Robles 63-pound Opah, and Karl Bechtold 35-pound Tuna.”

La Paz Area Fishing

Jonathan Roldan filed this report July 20:

“The week (at Las Arenas) started OK. We got some roosters. There were small to medium dorado around. There were some billfish, pargo and cabrilla. Not spectacular fishing, but it was OK. We even had bait. But, as the week went on, we had some of the worst fishing we’ve seen all season with our Las Arenas fleet.

“Later in the week we had folks specifically going for home run fish. Those are fish that you either get ‘em or you don’t. Instead of going for action they went for the top-shelf bad boys. They are trophy fish for a reason. For instance, going for wahoo. You either get-em or you don’t. You can be the king of, if nothing is there, then you have a good shot of not coming back with any fish at all because you have to concentrate on the wahoo.

“Same for the roosterfish. First, you have to spend the time trying to catch the better live bait, mullet or ladyfish. That can take time. If the baits aren’t there or are hard to come by, that’s a whole lot of time spent. Then, actually chasing the roosters takes time as well. Again, there’s a lot of focus and energy on them. If they aren’t there or not biting, then you stand a good chance of getting goose-egged. That’s what happened quite often towards the end of the week.

“About the flyfishing…Frankly, it’s been tough. I’ve been singing that tune all season. No one in Baja seems to have bait for chum for the fly fishermen. This El Nino has not been good to the flyfishers. Normally, we have sardines to toss out and get the fish going. The sardines are non-existent. We have larger baits…caballito and mackerel, but you can’t chum with that.

“I feel for all the flyfishers I’ve seen here this year, lots of them fishing with our competitors. I meet a lot of them at our restaurant and hear the stories. That’s fishing this year. As I said at the beginning, it depends on where you fish and how you fish.

“La Paz, while not as good as last week, was still very productive. There were some slow spots, but everyone got fish every day. Some of our pangas would do really well one day and others not so good, but the next day the panga that did poorly would find fish and the other would have a slower day. But the dorado were very cooperative with fish in the 5-40 pound class and some huge 12 to 15-pound dynamite bonito that put some guys on light tackle on their knees! As well, we had several marlin and sailfish hooked up and either lost or released, even a few roosterfish, plus some nice pargo and cabrilla.

“The difference is that we had more live bait, caballitos and mackerel. Still a bit big too chum, but the baits brought the fish to the boat. You could even catch a bonito and then chop it up and use it for chum and then that would bring even more fish to the boat.

“The one drawback with the larger caballito and mackerel is that they are well, large! One big mistake is that anglers would think they had a hookup and swing to early. There’s a lot of smaller fish out there or larger fish that eat slowly! Swinging too early and the bait would literally get yanked out of the fish’s mouths or resulted in a lot of short bites too where the gamefish only bit off the back half of the big bait. We missed a lot of fish that way. Some of the more experienced anglers increased their hook-up to catch ratio by tying trailer/ trap hooks onto the main rig so that there would be a second hook dangling at the back-end of the baits. But, overall, the La Paz fishing took care of everyone and got fish in the boat!

“One of the nice thing about having our two fleets is that as Las Arenas fishing got slower or more frustrating, or the weather got more unpredictable, we could offer to have our folks fish with our La Paz fleet and get into the fish. That made all the difference between big smiles or frowns!

Hot Days, Excellent Fishing

Rancho Leonero had this report for the week ending July 20:

“Water - 85 degrees inside, 86 to 88 degrees outside. Clean, clear water.

“Air -Days have been hot.


“Environment: Bait availability has been excellent with all boats getting good caballito and ballyhoo. We have come to the end of a week of excellent fishing conditions. No more rain nor is it overcast. The fishing itself started picking up nicely at the beginning of the week.



“Bottom Line: Call it an 8.5 on the Rancho Leonero 1 to 10.



“Billfsh – The blue marlin returned this week with fish being caught every day close off Buena Vista to the Light House from 3 to 10 miles out. Striped marlin action slowed a bit. (Earlier in the year we got to expect multiple fish on every boat.) At the moment one can expect one fish per boat. Also sailfish are biting in the same numbers. 



“Yellowfin Tuna – Most of the action is south. There are still fish inshore near Vinorama, south of Frailes. Quite a mixture of sizes. Some boats worked that bite and then ventured out from there and found porpoise. Good fish, with 88 pounds being the biggest, most of them were in the 40-pound range. Rapalas worked well. Hootchies trolled close worked well also and of course a few were taken with kites.

“Dorado - Well, as usual we caught some good-sized fish before the tournament but not so many in the tournament! Just to say the word 'Tournament" to stop a good bite! I am not sure of the tournament stats yet but I am sure they will tell the story and should go out today on the media. One of our pangas boated a 48-pounder the day before the tournament. 



“Roosterfish - Fish continue to be of good size. The beach was a little tougher this week but the pangas continued to get fish over 50 pounds all week. 



“Meanwhile, Back At The Ranch - The weekend brought the 'Dorado Shootout,’ which essentially pushed 140 boats after dorado only, thereby skewing the stats a little. However, our boats, which were not in the tournament, did get some good tuna! Those that worked the bottom did well with barred pargo and amberjacks. Jigging Butterfly Jigs off the bottom produced the best results.”

American Angler posted July 18:

“This short trip had a variety of folks onboard and they caught a variety of species as well. There were friends, father-daughter, father-sons, uncle-nephew, grandfather – grandkids, husband-wife, teens and kids and women, regulars and first timers. What a great chance for all to spend time with each other.

“The highlight of the trip was Rose’s 103-pound Opah (seen here with skipper Brian Kiyohara).”

Short Trip Report

Excel filed a pair of briefs July 17 and 18:

We started on the beach this morning and we had very good Yellowtail fishing for daily limits and then headed offshore for tuna. We only went five miles out before we found some Yellowfin Tuna, as of right now we have about 80 on the boat and we are still fishing and don\'t go very far without a jig strike. Good fishing around in the 3 day range and the boats above us in the 1.5 to 2-day area are also doing really well.

“We had a great day yesterday here on the Stout/Eppler 3-day trip. After picking up daily limits of yellowtail in the morning, we found an area offshore where we also caught 100-plus tuna. Awesome action! The tuna are smaller grade but the yellows were beauties.”

Yellowfin Chew

Polaris Supreme reported July 17:

“Our morning started off hot. We had some very good tailing for about 1 1/2 hours on the 16 to 22-pound grade. We managed to get a few fish per rod in that amount of time frame before things went dead around 8:30. We stuck with the plan and looked for yellowfin after that and it wasn't long before we connected. We had two good stops and one great stop on the yellowfin tunas and scattered small stops the rest of the day. They were a bit on the small side but that's what's around here so we fished them. After that we drove out of the zone to put ourselves in position for tomorrow and didn't catch much the rest of the day. We'll be tailing it again tomorrow, looking for the big ‘uns down below, first thing in the morning. The weather this morning was great. It got a little windy in the afternoon but it was OK.”

Bight Gets Bit

Brandon Hayward’s The Bight Trip of four days returned with the Red Rooster III July 17. Anglers caught 250 tuna, 200 yellowtail a dorado, three lingcod and six halibut. Winners were posted as:

“First Place Jackpot: Kevin Pham, 47.8-pound Tuna, Phenix 700M rod, & Avet reel with 40-pound Izorline

Second place: Andrew Tyler, 36.6-pound tuna. Caught with Calstar rod & 665 Accurate 600 Boss, 40-pound test Izorline

Third place, Chris Wright, 35.8-pound tuna. Caught with Shimano Trivioli, Avet JX6 2 Speed, 40-pound Izorline

Trolling Jackpot goes to Tom Bolender, 21-pound Yellowtail. Caught with a Daiwa Rod, Daiwa LD 60 2 speed, 60-pound Izorline.”

Fished Inside

Royal Star skipper Brian Sims posted July 17:

We ventured into the coast today and found great action. The Yellowtail were all mixed up in size from 12 to 30 pounds, and more importantly, they wanted to bite. We caught them steady throughout the morning on both jigs and bait. When the conditions changed, we headed offshore and found some eager yellowfin tuna. The size was not all that large, but the action was fast and furious. We will be moving up tonight, looking for more tuna tomorrow. Today's shot is of Royal Star veteran Randy Sharon who had a very hot stick today.”

Accurate Trip Strong

Searcher reported July 17, as she was on a four-day Accurate trip with chartermaster Gary Gillingham:

“This afternoon was good, steady action on kelps with yellowtail and yellowfin tuna and a dorado. The weather is still super nice, so wish us luck tomorrow with more fish and good weather. Good angling and hope to see ya on the water soon, Capt Aaron.”

Bluefin Closure

The recent shutdown of bluefin fishing in Mexican waters, apparently based on the commercial fishing quota, has caused some consternation on this side of the border. Over the past four or five years anglers have witnessed a steady and notable increase in the numbers of that species approaching the border. I spoke with Rick Marin at H&M Landing July 18.

“The Mexican government is working on it already,” said Marin, “and I think they’ll get it squared away pretty quickly.”

“Outside of the bluefin closure, how’s the local fishing?” I asked.

“The size of the yellowfin tuna is 10 to 20 pounds, the bluefin are 12 to 100 pounds. The yellowtail are eight to 40 pounds. Bait in the receivers is sardines and anchovies. Everything’s very good; the anchovies are 3 to 5 inches long, and the sardine is 5 to 7 inches. The half-day boats are fishing the yellowtail outside the bay, near the Pt. Loma kelp. Those are up to 25 to 30 pounds, with mostly better fish. Bait and jigs are working about equally well.”

Independence reported July 16:

“The last two days have been very different for us, we traveled down the coast offshore yesterday and found very little in the way of fish we wanted to keep, we did release some small yellowtail and tuna. Today we found ourselves in a very good yellowtail bite, the fish were all 18 to 25 pounds. Jigs were the hot ticket, both the surface and yoyo iron. Fly lined bait also did the trick. Our weather continues to be nice, just a bit breezy this afternoon.”

Payoff

Skipper Kevin Osborne posted for the Intrepid July 16:

“Another day of Yellowtail Limits, nine nice sized Grouper, some Wahoo, Dorado, and a few Marlin made up the catch today. The galley is very festive tonight and we are about to throw down some LRC dice to liven things up even more. We are moving to another area for tomorrow’s hunting.”

Later, Osborne wrote:

“Our day was a hard-working one with very windy conditions making the offshore hunting a bit of a challenge. For most of the day it was slow going, but this afternoon everything changed and we ended with a bang! We are traveling up tonight and will get out of this wind tomorrow and enjoy some variety fishing around the island. Tonight's dinner is Fresh Wahoo!”

Hookless Jig

Polaris Supreme skipper Drew Henderson reported for both July 14 and 15:

“We fished the 14th offshore in some haven't been fished in waters for a while and we found plenty of tuna but they were all small. For the most part it's what the grade of yellowfin is this year so we opted to put tags on them. It bit well on one stop. After a while we wound in the jigs due to constant jig strikes, we couldn't short stop anymore without it costing us time in the local grounds where the better grade was biting. Mark and I played a game we call suicide trolling. We each put out a troll rod and the first one to get a tuna on deck wins. The boat doesn't stop. We both got bit instantly but mine fell off. I kept getting bit but they wouldn't hook. After 30 seconds I realized I didn't have a hook on my jig and by the time I got a different jig out we were past the fish and Mark took his time and wound his in for the victory.

“We can't complain about today. The weather was as good as it gets. No wind and no sea. It was beautiful. We also caught 54 30 to 35-pound tuna and for what was around today, it was a good score. We're headed in and we're going to be the first boat in tomorrow at 0530 hours. We'll be heading back out tomorrow on another five-day trip.”

The Local Scene

A very good bite has developed for local anglers, who have made good catches on yellowtail and yellowfin tuna over the past few days. Here are the landing reports from July 16.

Fisherman’s Landing: ½-day boat Dolphin, on afternoon run: 3 Yellowtail, 24 Yellowfin Tuna; 1 ½ day boat: 21 Yellowfin Tuna, 180 Yellowtail

Pt. Loma Sportfishing: ¾ day boat Mission Belle: 72 Yellowtail, 19 Yellowfin Tuna, 1 Dorado; 1 ½ day boat: 71 Yellowfin Tuna, 26 Yellowtail

H&M 1 ½ day boats: 92 Yellowfin Tuna, 206 Yellowtail; one-day boats: 60 Yellowfin Tuna, 190 Yellowtail, 1 Dorado

Seaforth Sportfishing: ¾ day boats: 61 yellowtail, 65 yellowfin tuna; dayboats: 265 yellowtail, 111 yellowfin tuna; 1 ½ day boat: 25 yellowtail, 25 yellowfin tuna.

Intrepid skipper Kevin Osborne posted this item for July 15:

“Another day of Yellowtail limits and nine nice-sized Grouper, some Wahoo, Dorado, and a few Marlin made up the catch today. The galley is very festive tonight and we are about to throw down some LRC dice to liven things up even more. We are moving to another area for tomorrow’s hunting. Here is Robert Vose with his first-ever Wahoo!”

Good Bait

Red Rooster III skipper Andy Cates posted July 13:

“Good afternoon folks today we left on our 1st annual Brandon Hayward's "The Bight" four-day trip. We cleared the point about 1:00 P.M. headed south with a great load of bait and hoping to find something this afternoon.”

The next day he wrote:

“We had a great day yesterday, filled with long drifts and great fishing on 12 to 15-pound yellowfin with full-speed, on the corner action for the afternoon.”

Shogun Winners

The Bob Dupont / Scott Harvey Five-day Trip returned July 16 and posted:

“Congrats to our jackpot winners:

1. Bryan Stablewski- 60.2-pound Bluefin

2. John Oakes – 34-pound Bluefin

3. Steve Triplett and William Steele – 33 pound Bluefin each.

It was an awesome trip!”

Spirit Winners

Mike Keating’s Spirit of Adventured returned to H&M Landing July 14, and posted,

“On our July 10-14 trip. The group caught about 40 Bluefin Tuna, and plenty of Yellowtail. Most of the fish was in the 25 to 35-pound range.”

Intrepid skipper Kevin Osborne posted July 14:

“We enjoyed a very fun first afternoon of fishing with daily limits of Yellows and a few Wahoo hitting the deck. The grade of fish is very nice with most fish in the 18 to 30-pound range. You do get some smaller ones mixed in, but everyone is very eager to release them to grow and fight another day which is very pleasing to me. We always encourage the release of small fish whether it be Yellowtail, Tuna, Dorado, or whatever the species. If everyone had this practice we would have plenty of fish for this sport for many decades to come. We are all set up and ready to put in a full day tomorrow.”

Tailing

“We had some good tailing today,” reported skipper Drew Henderson of the Polaris Supreme July 13. “We were a little slow out of the gate. We didn't get on them until a few hours after daylight but when we did it was good fishing on the 18 to 25-pound fish. We had one of those good old long drifts where we were getting ‘em. Of course after a while we had a lull so we went searching and found some mixed grade yellowtails eager to bite.

“They were mostly 10 to 14 pounds with a few 16 to 18-pounders in the mix but it was still fun and they were biting. We did that for a couple hours and left them biting to find the bigger grade of fish we were fishing in the morning and wouldn't you know it, we got an evening whack, a sunsetter. Now this fish seemed to be even bigger than the morning grade. I'm talking 22 to 28-pounders this time. Maybe a few bigger. At dark we decided we had enough yellowtail and we'd like to top off with some more yellowfin and try for some bluefin in a couple of days so we'll be running up tonight. The weather for us was good
 and the forecast for the future looks tasty. Five knots of wind makes my mouth water. Everyone on board here is fat and happy. What I mean by that is they're being fed well and are having a good time.”

Sweet Travel Day

Shogun reported July 14:

“We designated today as a travel day in order to put us in striking distance of the local tuna. Fortunately, the wind died completely and the seas laid down considerably. In fact by noon, it was windless and the ocean was grease calm.

“Kelp spotting was pretty easy and we located several productive paddies marked by albatross and other bird life. Controlled chaos ensued, and the kelps offered a variety of fish including sizable yellowtail, dorado, and small tuna. We even hooked a marlin that escaped after a brief chase.

“Simply put another great day today following our sensational yellowtail fishing. Today we made excellent speed up the beach, enjoyed flat calm seas, and caught plenty of fish. One more day of fishing tomorrow and then we have a couple of short trips for the remainder of July.”

Tuna fishing seemed to improve a good deal for many boats on Saturday, with a couple reporting bluefin that actually wanted to bite on the full moon. Then the breeze came up, which usually puts the bluefin down, and boats with the option headed south of the upper zone, looking for some island fishing or improved chances on The Ridge. The breeze came down on Sunday. Yellowtail fishing hasn’t been as steady as it gets, but it’s been good most of the time, and lately wahoo fishing picked up again, as have the numbers on slightly larger yellowfin.

Morning After

American Angler posted July 13:

“After a night of choppy weather we were relieved to see the weather come down. We were able to reach clean warm water and start working up to the local BFT zone for tomorrow and we saw scattered sign of small tuna. Most of what we saw was really small but we did boat some 15 to 22-pounders, which is a good sign for the future. Kevin Yoshimoto caught a couple of decent ones and Larry Martin managed a decent dorado.

“We are looking forward to the opportunity to catch a few bluefin tomorrow to top off our catch.”

X Makes Move

“We scratched a few,” wrote Excel skipper Justin Fleck July 12. “We decided to head for the ridge and arrived at 4 A.M. At 4:30 the Yellowtail started biting and we put together a decent score. We also got a couple seabass in the mix. We then trolled around for Wahoo. Good weather and good conditions, we will see what happens and hope to get better action the next couple days. We ended up having a very nice day topped off with this wahoo caught by Marc on a trolled Yo-Zuri Bonita 210.”

Big Puddlers

Owner-skipper Mark Pisano has the Independence out on a trip that left July 13. He posted the following:

“We got a great load of Sardine and anchovy at the bait receivers and headed out to points south, that's when the day became anything but normal, at about 4 PM we started to see tuna, the first spot was 50 to 60-pound fish up puddling on some sort of small bait. We stopped on them for no bite, then another good school for no response, then another school and the ocean erupted with 30 to 40-pound bluefin and they bit until dinner time, a great way to start the trip to say the least. The weather has become flat grease so we are going camp out and try this again tomorrow.”

To The Island

Drew Henderson reported for Polaris Supreme July 12:

“Like I said before, we were going to start our morning off tailing. Yellows that is and that's exactly what we did. The fish bit OK for an hour or so. They were mixed grade from 10 all the way up to 20-plus pounds. Mid morning we headed offshore and had some pretty steady yellowfin striking. We even got them biting bait for a couple stops. On one we had 22 and the other 13! Those are our best yellowfin stops of the year. We kept heading south throughout the day striking them up but the further south we went the smaller the fish got and the windier the weather got. Around 6:30 we stopped on a jig strike and took a good roller and things went flying so with the small grade of fish we were catching and the unsafe drifting conditions, we called it a day. We're headed to Cedros to do some fishing on those big fat yellowtails we've been catching there and to get out of this weather.”

Last Eight

Red Rooster III posted July 11:

“This eight-day trip we have fished from 100 mile from San Diego down to the 450-mile mark on The Ridge. We found action on small Yellowfin the first day and yellowtail, Dorado, Wahoo and even a couple of White Seabass in the following days on the Ridge. All and all, good action on Yellows and a chance at Dorado and Wahoo have made for a nice variety. We are finishing up the trip and will be at Cedros for our last day and then home. This concludes our run of great spring eight-day trips and now we will have reports for the coming four and five-day trips.”

The Rooster’s jackpot winners were posted next day:

“First place Jackpot goes to Jeff Bruner with a 58.8-pound White Seabass, caught with a 765 Calstar and Izorline 50-pound test.
“Second place goes to Mike Lee with a 47.8-pound White Seabass. Caught with a 610 Calstar, Penn 30 Torsa, with 50-pound.
“Third place goes to Kyle Lee with a 45.2-pound Wahoo. Caught with a Seeker, Avet reel, 50-pound test Seaguar.
“Trolling jackpot goes to Jeff Bruner with a 49.4-pound Wahoo, caught with a 760 Cal Star.”

Upper Run Best Now

Tim Ekstrom had some comments about the fishing south of San Diego over the past few days, in his report July 10, posted on the 11th:

“The final day drew a yawn, literally and figuratively. There were some serious logs being sawed as anglers reclined in the warm afternoon sun on the back deck and some serious longing on the bridge for any kind of action to awaken the fishing spirit. A few colorful ‘cactus’ began the day on a pleasing note, a little comedic variety and blessing for the larder. We then took advantage of the present run of school-size yellowfin coming up the beach.

“Not that it is much of a run, or even much to write about, but it is a little something to add to the equation; more fish at this time of year offshore is always good, a good sign for better things above later. But in the present set up ironically ‘above’ is where the best signs and catching are now, which is fantastic if one is lined up for a shorter venture. Of course these trends offshore are rarely to be counted upon but this just may be that rare one or two out of 20 years. The amount of school-size yellowfin in local waters already suggests this reality.

The next day, Ekstrom’s partner Randy Toussaint posted from the Royal Star:

“After jigging up some yellowfin tuna and seeing good sign of bluefin tuna last night we opted to start our trip on the short banks today. The move paid off big time this afternoon when we got on a school of 30 to 40-pound bluefin that responded and settled in, producing 87 fish out of a five-hour drift. This is the first sign of this bluefin acting right in quite some time so hopefully we've turned the corner and are in store for more of this caliber angling. We're going to fish yellows tomorrow and be back on the offshore grounds Monday when the weather settles down.”

On Sunday, Toussaint wrote, “Not much to report as we poked around on the beach for 25 nice yellows and an assortment of bottom fish this morning. We ventured back offshore after lunch in much improved weather and had a few short stops for 20 school grade yellowfin tuna and two dorado which I'm sure are the vanguard of a big run. We will finish up on the bluefin grounds tomorrow.”

Spirit Of Adventure Winners



Whacky Week

Jonathan Roldan reported on his week in the La Paz area:

“It was another one of crazy weeks. The fish were here but the weather was crazy funky. We had afternoon tropical storms that brought some heavy thunderstorms at times and flooding. The nutty thing was that it would rain for 10 minutes here, but not there, 30 minutes in one area and two blocks away, it would be totally dry. This is normally the kind of weather we get in the fall, but El Nino conditions seem to have changed the game a bit. Thankfully, no hurricanes and no serious damage from the flooding, but out-of-the-blue mid-week, we actually had some pretty intense water-spouts show up between El Sargento, Las Arenas and Cerralvo Island. They looked like water tornados, like the kind that would pick up your house and send you off to the Land of Oz! Incredible to watch.

“Here’s what we saw this week: Our Tailhunter fleet at Las Arenas again found lots of action on the smaller school-sized dorado in the 5-8 pound range. They are like little squirrels all over the place. The larger models were harder to find, but the few we got were trophy 30 to 40-pound slugs Dorado made up 80% of our Las Arenas catch.

“Other species included some marlin and sailfish and roosters along the beach. Live bait continues to be problematic, but we’re still getting fish. No wahoo this week, but that’s because no one was really fishing for them. However, divers say the skinnies are still out by the island.

“La Paz fishing has been our cooler-filler action. The dorado have been 10 to 40 pounds regularly with a number of fish in the great 15 to 20-pound category, lots of fun. Plenty strong without destroying anyone! I think the fact that we have move live bait in our La Paz area has made a difference. In addition to the dorado we are getting hookups with striped marlin and sails as well. We did note some schools of roosters along the beaches and some of our guys that went after pargo and cabrilla got schooled on some big fish that took them to the rocks!

Big Roosters

The weekly report from Rancho Leornero said:

“Water: 83-84 degrees inside, 86-88 degrees outside.

“Air: Pleasant and cooler this past week; very tropical, with some overcast rainy afternoons. Highs in the low 90s.



“The Environment: Clean, clear water. Afternoon winds from the East. Good news on the bait! Finally we are getting some nice sardina! This will definitely help the tuna fishing.



“The Bottom Line: With improving weather, the bite is turning back; call it a 7 on the Rancho Leonero 1 to 10 scale.



“Billfish: The billfishing was better this week; a consistent blue marlin bite is helping with one or two being released daily by the fleet. The fishing has improved this week for stripers and sails as well.



“Yellowfin Tuna: Mostly 10 to 20-pound fish this past week. There are two areas producing tuna, inside within two miles of the beach between Frailes and Vinorama and outside from 10 to 20 miles out under the porpoise.

“Dorado: The dorado were mostly schoolies. These smaller fish are harder to hook up with caballito and ballyhoo, but the sardina were the way to go. 



“Roosterfish: The gallo fishing is good with some big fish this week! Rincon Bay in about 50 feet of water has been producing the biggest fish. A couple released this week were very close to 100 pounds. 


“Meanwhile, back at the ranch: The roosters are huge and the yellowfin bite has improved as the week progressed.”

In the Mail: What Knot?

“Hay Bill, I have a question for you. What do you think of the John Collins Knot? I have never used it and the other day a tackle shop used it to put on my top shots, looked too easy to tie and doesn't look like it would hold up under a good size Yellow Tail or tuna, what is your option? We’re paying too much for these fishing trips anymore so I don't want to lose any fish due to a bad knot.
“Thank You,”
Robert A. (by email July 13, 2014)

Bill’s Reply

OK with me—there are a half-dozen different knots in use aboard the boats, and they have to pass muster to be accepted. I go with whatever the boat is pushing. It seems many of the “new” knots are related to the clinch or the Albright, but maybe not all of them.
Best,
Bill

American Angler’s office posted July 10:

“The guys returned from this five day yellowtail trip – once again nice grade - blues & greens.

“A big thanks to our friends Matt Salas and Al Tokunaga for their sponsorship – very nice giveaways and winning personalities!

“Congrats to jackpot winners below:

1st place: Jerry Vicario 26.4-pound yellowtail

2nd place: Matt Salas 25.8-pound yt

3rd place: Jesse Miramontez 25.8-pound yt”

Out Of The Gate

Independence skipper Jeff DeBuys wrote July 10:

“We returned from our five-day this morning and the jackpot winners are as follows:

1st place, Dirk Allen with a 29-pound yellowtail

2nd place, Ben Hyter 28-pound yellowtail

3rd place, Rick Millspaugh 26-pound yellowtail.

“Thanks to everyone who made the trip this year. Sea you all next year. We cleared the point at 1100 hours today on a three-day trip, and by sundown we caught 46 yellowfin tuna and 6 bluefin tuna for our first afternoon. What a great way to start the trip! Here is Carson with his dad Allen with a nice tuna he caught this afternoon.”

First Flattie

Aloha Spirit owner-0skipper Shawn Steward posted July 10 on Facebook:

“A great day on the Ultra yesterday. My son got his first Seabass and halibut.

“Together we ended up with 2 halibut, 2 yellowtail, a Seabass, limits of rockfish with some sheephead and whitefish.

“Captain Jacob, Doug Pitts, Alberto Gutierrez and Otis did a great job.”

American Angler’s KC Brotherton posted for the boat July 9:

“This morning we chose to do some fishing stopped style and not moving. We spent about three hours picking at some good Pan fish to break up the ride home, just didn’t have much time to work offshore today. We’ve got say a Thank You to all of the regulars and very few new guys for coming on the annual Salas Lures/Al TriArt trip this year. Also featured on today’s photo none other than Matt Salas just being Matt.”

Bite Croaked

Skipper Drew Henderson reported for Polaris Supreme July 9:

“We had another good morning today. We got on the fish around 6:30 in the morning and fished it until it went dead at 8:30. 20 to 25-pound yellowtail, uh huh. After that we scratched another dozen fish on a few stops and decided to take off around 10 in the morning. We looked around until dark in good-looking water but never found anything. A lifeless ocean outside the islands, unfortunately.

“So we have to head north tonight and we'll be looking for tuna tomorrow until we have to go home. The weather is starting to get choppy where we are now. My legs are spread outside my shoulders to help keep my balance. I think we should have some descent weather where we'll be tomorrow morning but it looks like the wind is on its way.”

Two Dozen Skin

Royal Polaris posted July 9:

“Weather today was just beautiful, with flat seas, clear skies, and all the sunshine you could ask for. Fishing today was limit style Yellowtail fishing, 24 Wahoo, and a handful of Grouper. All in all today was a very good day.

“We departed the area around 16:00 hours, making our way north. We will try to make a couple of tanks of bait at Cedros Island tomorrow, then move north looking for tuna.”

The Big Question

Tim Ekstrom wrote about his day aboard Royal Star July 9:

“We pieced together a day with what we had to work with. A little here and a little there added up to something, but the big numbers, steady action, and excellent quality of yesterday were tough to follow. No real rhyme or reason for the difference that we saw; good conditions, even better than yesterday from a fisherman's perspective, suggested the best. Which is why the ocean that we ply is still teaming with fish; the best technology at our disposal and over a half-century of combined experience and the majority of the time we are still in their wake. Such is the beauty of fishing.

“Perhaps the best news we take away from the islands is that there remains a bounty of quality yellowtail, in multiple locations, to be had. At present one simply has to be there on the right day, at the right time. Very good conditions that are likely to improve even further will keep the coast strong and productive.

“Offshore is a big question mark. Unstable and unsettled is probably the best description for an ocean presently in flux. The small and school size yellowfin are still available in the right zones, but bigger and better are tough to come by. What bluefin are around have a legendary case of lock jaw; but for a couple of days they have this whole season. All we can hope for that change for the better is still to come. And sooner than later as we are heading up and out in search of offshore anything tomorrow.

“Photo today features Royal Star angler Kevin Peek with big fish of the day honors. This 38-pound yellow couldn't resist Kevin's well-placed surface iron during a morning drift.”

Travel Tuna

Heading south, Shogun posted July 8:

“We had a productive day today. We made excellent speed down the beach with favorable weather and a tailwind. For the majority of the day we were in a nice vein of warm blue water.

“Kelps were spotted fairly regularly and all held yellowtail; most were small but we did catch two 30lb models. Around 1500, we ran down a nice spot of dolphin feeding aggressively with yellowfin tuna. The guys enjoyed good fishing—typically quadruple jig strikes and a handful of baitfish.

“Everyone had an opportunity to catch tuna and practice their flyline skills, and we capitalized by capturing over 60 tuna. All around a solid day—we made good progress south and honed our skills in anticipation of tomorrow’s good fishing.”

KC Brotherton posted for American Angler July 8:

“Today was more of the same for the gang, a little hit in the morning and picked at them till dark. This has been a very nice grade of fish down here and the weather window on the trip has been awesome. We’re going to do some fishing in the morning and by lunch it will be time to hit the road for home. The photo of the day is of some of the usual suspects.”

Bullseye

Intrepid skipper Jesus Companioni reported for Intrepid July 8:

As we travel south we are always looking for something fun to catch. These yellowtail hit the target."

Not In The Plan

Drew Henderson, Polaris Supreme skipper, wrote July 7:

“I had plans of having good fishing in the morning at Cedros then heading to Benitos and having decent fishing there. Well the water got funky on us due to the big south swell that was pushed up from the tropical storm that rode it's way up. It was a green, green, green and the yellows didn't like it. They were still there like they had been for the last week but they didn't bite well. After 4 1/2 hours we gave up on it and went with plan B. We arrived at Benitos after lunch and I will say we saw a good amount of fish all over the island. The problem was the sea lion population. Those things are out of control right now. It's weird how it works at that island. Sometimes they're tolerable and sometimes they're not. Today they were not. We're headed back to Cedros now and we'll give it another chance tomorrow. This south swell seemed to back off some late today, so hopefully there is some strong current through the night tonight to flush all that icky water out of there.

“I just reread what I wrote and it sounds worse than it was. We scratched out an ok day. We averaged over three fish per rod. Compared to the last week it was slow but back up further and we had a stellar day.”

Moving Along

Red Rooster III skipper Andy Cates posted July 7:

“We started off at Cedros and had a couple slow drifts on the morning. At 9:00 we decided to start heading down and made one more afternoon stop down the beach for 30 yellows. We continued down and will be on the ridge first thing in the morning.”

The previous day, Cates wrote, “Tough day today with scratch fishing on small grade Yellowfin Tuna. Short stopping, with mostly jig strikes and just a few baitfish on various stops. Tomorrow we are going to start out at Cedros and see how the morning goes and take it from there.”

Fireworks

Royal Polaris posted this July 8:

“Our morning started out very slow, with a handful of Yellowtail and Grouper for our morning. But the afternoon was like the 4th of July. We had excellent action on 18 to 22 pound Yellowtail for most of the afternoon. It wasn't wide open, but steady for most part. It not much I can say about a good day of fishing. We also landed two more Wahoo.

“We will give this a morning, then start making our way north. We will make a stop at Cedros Island for bait, then head for the tuna grounds. So wish us luck.”

Had It All

Tim Ekstrom reported for his Royal Star July 8:

“A very fine set up today that began with a bang, merged into a funk, then came on again strong in the right kind of way. Outstanding yellowtail action, consistent with all the tales of long range glory, was the theme. The scenery, weather, and visuals that included hundreds of 20 to 25-pound yellows up and crashing at any given time made for an exciting go of it. No complaints from this day of fishing.

“Taking all into account we could not find a reason to change the program for at least one more day. All the old sayings apply. ‘Bird in the hand’, ‘Make hay while the sun shines,’ ‘Don't leave fish to find fish.’ Take your pick. Everything about our current option is right.

“Photo today features first time Royal Star angler Ron Davis and crewman Steve Gregonis with a stock grade yellowtail landed in one of several afternoon flurries.”

Flash

Searcher reported July 8:

“Mid-day report from the boat: 31 YFT and 41 YT (for 13 anglers). Beautiful weather and good signs of tuna!”

“Today we had action from sun up to sun down on good grade yellowtail,” reported Independence skipper Jeff De Buys July 7.

“The yoyo guys did well with Salas 6X jigs and the rest were on mackerel with a few for the surface pluggers. Again everyone was yanking today and enjoying the great weather. We plan on enjoying Michele's man-cut pork chops tonight along with cherry pie a la mode. We are going to target these beauties again tomorrow.”

Three-Day Back, Gone

Intrepid skipper Jesus Companioni posted July 7:

“We returned from our 3 day trip with a great group of anglers. Jackpot winners are Dustin Tran with a 30.4-pound Yellowtail, Brett Ringler with a 20.4-pound Yellowtail and Stephanie Yonai with her 20.2-pound Yellowtail. We departed on the Baja Fish Gear five-day and will report later.”

Pushing On

“Today went as planned,” wrote Drew Henderson for Polaris Supreme July 6. “We did about what we thought we'd do. Scratched at yellowfin most of the day. Our best stop was for 7, then 6, we had a handful of 4s and the rest were 3s 2s and 1s. That's exactly how the tuna fishing has been on a good day for the last few weeks so we had a good day.

"The weather did what it was supposed to do. It was beautiful in the morning and got breezy in the afternoon. It looks like the wind backed off when it got dark. Hopefully it stays that way. We're heading down to Cedros Island now and we'll be there at daybreak.”

Rose Busts Move

Royal Polaris reported July 7:

“Hello everyone; We arrived to our destination at 08:30 hours. We started trolling around, and it didn't take long for the first Wahoo to rip line off the trolling reels. We landed a handful of Wahoo and then the bite went in the wrong direction. There was not much sign of Tuna, Wahoo, and Yellowtail. So after lunch Roy made the decision to move.

“We will arrive to our next destination tomorrow morning. We are hoping for a better day tomorrow, so wish us luck. Lucky angler today was Ron Kono, with three Wahoo.”

NG Special Day

Tim Ekstrom wrote for Royal Star July 7:

“Another day of fishing worthy of a National Geographic special with variety rorqual whales, including Bryde's, Sei, and Blue whales, putting on an Oscar-worthy performance. The Bryde's and Sei's lunge feeding through massive bait schools while eager, school-size yellowfin mopped up the stunned and/or missed spoils was the most dramatic of scenes.

“There is more to coming out on the ocean than just catching fish. But that is why we are here. Catching today came in the form of abbreviated stops and strikes on school size, 10 to 18-pound yellowfin tuna that proved maddeningly difficult to entice – yet another species this season thus far that has been overly reluctant to bite. What gives with the non-biting fish this year is anyone's guess. Rest assured though, that they will bite. And then we will settle the score.

“A slow morning of production led into steady afternoon catching. We didn't load up by any means, but we did stay busy enjoying a few hours of non-stop, run and gun style tuna fishing for one to a handful at a time. Sundown saw us sliding down the line with a little sea condition at our stern gently lulling one and all into a sweet slumber.”

The day before, Tim said, “Photo today features a long range classic deserving of his time, again, in the Royal Star limelight. A Royal Star veteran of at least eighteen years angler Mike Norenberg has done and seen just about everything one can imagine during his times on board. From giant yellowfin to today's image of a beefy kelp bass just prior to being released unharmed Mike has fished to the limit and back. And back for him now entails relaxation and enjoyment amongst fellow anglers catching a few fish along the way. More power to him; confidence bred in success manifesting in appreciation of the details. I like that approach.”

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Independence posted July 4:

“Well, folks our four-day trip jackpot winners go as follows: 1st place goes to Jonna Plante she caught a 28-pound yellowtail, 2nd place goes to Eric Edwards with a 27.8-pound yellowtail and 3rd place goes to Randy Narramore.

“Thanks again and I hope I will see everybody again in the near future.”

Intrepid Finds Kelps Holding

Skipper Jesus Companioni filed this report for July 5:

“It was our first whole day of fishing offshore, with beautiful weather and a great group of people. We worked our way south finding kelps with nice yellowtail and jigging up yellowfin tuna. We also saw some breezers, but they just didn't want to bite. We hope tomorrow will be the day they want to bite for us.”

Handsome Bait

Writing for Polaris Supreme, skipper Drew Henderson posted July 5:

“Good evening everyone. It's evening where I am right now anyway. It may not be when you read this. We left on a six-day this morning, stopped to get bait and yes, there is still a shortage of sardine. We got about 30 scoops of jumbo sardine mixed with all size mackerel. Then we took a couple scoops of beautiful looking anchovy. We skipped the sardine seminar and concentrated on an anchovy seminar. The lost art, using 20-pound test, size 2 hook. Finesse fishing, when you find out how good of a fisherman you really are. That's what the tuna are feeding on around here, so they'll hit the bait fine if it's presented right.

“We'll be hunting tuna tomorrow first thing and we'll take it from there. The weather now is stellar but they're forecasting some wind tomorrow afternoon. We hope they're wrong.”

Rooster III Winners

An eight-day trip to The Ridge and offshore waters produced a big catch of yellowtail, with wahoo and dorado included for the Mahoney/McVey charter July 5. The jackpots went to:

1st 47.8 -pound wahoo, Mike McVey, Montague
2nd 46.3-pound yellowtail, Lance Yakahama, Pasadena
3rd 45.2-pound wahoo, Charles Tanaka, San Francisco
Trolling Jackpot, 73-pound wahoo, Jim John Caranta

Resto Day

Skipper Tim Ekstrom wrote for his Royal Star July 5:

“Restored the faith here a bit today, not that we loaded up in any way, but we got on something we could settle into and get to work catching instead of just fishing. School size yellowfin were the quarry: 12 to 15-pounders with a few standouts above and a few heels below. Not big time, barn burner, ultra long range quality; more like bread and butter fish that can be expected in warm water cycles. And make no mistake about it – this season is definitely warm, above average.

“As such expectations of anglers on upcoming long range voyages should align with this reality. In no way do I believe that chances at bigger bluefin and yellowfin will not occur, this season has only begun and there is plenty of time and ground to cover out west, but one can expect to see a lot more of the school size yellowfin around than one hundred pound class bluefin in upcoming weeks/months. If your sights are set on bluefin glory or bust it is probably best to recognize that El Nino is now in charge. Still there will be plenty of good fishing, but it is likely to be very different than the good fishing encountered offshore during the past few years.

“A perfect example of the different I reference is the wahoo action encountered during this run. Definitely the exception, not the rule at this time of year, those skinnies landed this voyage will not be the last we see this summer season offshore. We end this voyage on a high note satisfied that we made the most of the fishing opportunities available and had a great time in the process. Epic weather made a big difference: it is impossible to make a bad day of the ocean when the weather is flat calm. But the biggest reason this voyage was successful is this veteran group of anglers that knows the score and makes the most of every setting this ocean serves.

“Now onto the next run departing tomorrow with Captain Randy Toussaint at the helm and yours truly handing the mechanical responsibilities below. Photo today features another long time Royal Star veteran and favorite John Hastey with a fat, 55-pound wahoo that became one of several he landed on this run.”

A Happy Holiday

“Another great day on the water!" posted Art Taylor’s Searcher July 4. “We had some fun today looking at quite a bit of yellowfin tuna spots. We had the same results with plenty of troll fish and a few bait and artificial lure fish. We didn’t manage to find a good kelp today and so we will concentrate on that tomorrow. We hope the tuna fishing is as good. The weather is awesome with very little wind.”

Gonna Go Back

Shogun’s posting for July 4:

“We woke up this morning to a grease calm ocean. Excellent sign of yellowfin and bluefin, and by 0900 we began to troll up small yellowfin. Although we saw nice volume of fish, the troll strikes were all short stops; two to three jig fish and a handful of baitfish.

“In the afternoon the action dwindled and we gambled to explore a finger of new water. Although we found 73-degree blue water, it was sterile and absolutely devoid of life. Fortunately we were able to pick off several kelps enroute to the new area and were summarily rewarded with yellowtail.

“While the afternoon was slow, we enjoyed calm seas, sunny skies and less than 5 knots of breeze. Our plan for tomorrow is to venture back to where we started and find more biting yellowfin. Our jackpot winner today (July 6) was a 97-pound opah.”

Soaking Cells

Jonathan Roldan reported July 6 for the previous week:

“Rain cells moving through the area and bringing a mix of some thundershowers, drizzle, wave surge and winds marred some of the fishing. Fortunately, it wasn’t a hurricane, but just some tropical storms. In most cases, the rain didn’t get anyone wet until the afternoons when the fishermen were already back and it really cooled things off, but it did rob sunshine from vacationers looking for more sunshine than we got this week.

“It was very tropical. It could rain for five minutes or two hours. It could rain on one spot but then 200 yards away, it would be bone dry. An hour later, it would change again. Or not rain at all until the next day. The most cooperative species were the dorado Both our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet and our Tailhunter La Paz fleet had some good results that differed from day-to-day and boat-to-boat.

“At Las Arenas, there was no shortage of little firecracker 3 to10-pound dorado, some days, all you wanted. There were some billfish hooked and we did get a few wahoo and pargo. The big roosterfish are still around, but most of the focus has been on the bluewater species.

“The week started OK, but then the skies would darken and each day, the winds and waters got a little rougher as we got the tail end of the storm and the periphery of the rain. At least, there wasn’t a lot of wind, but it still wasn’t real comfortable towards the end of the week. We actually, had most of our fishermen move over to fish with our La Paz fleet where the fish were at least a big larger.

“For our Tailhunter La Paz fleet, the dorado were a bit bigger and went normally 10-30 pounds and were in areas scattered around Espirito Santo Island and the western side of Cerralvo Island. After the storm clouds moved off, waters went back to calm and flat pretty quickly. We did get some dorado up to the 40-pound class and other large ones lost. Billfish were also in the area with most fish getting released. Decent live caballitos for bait.

“There’s a lot of sea life out. Turtles, manta rays, whale sharks and blue whales were all seen this week! Water’s 85 degrees, jump in! According to the forecast, we’re gonna get a little more rain at times at least through next week. But, every day the forecast changes. As of writing this, there’s not a cloud in the sky and it’s brilliant sunshine and now they are saying no rain! Just come fish!

Week At The Ranch

Rancho Leonero posted this report for the week ending July 5:

“Water: Temps down a few degrees to high 70s and low 80s with a few hot spots a degree or two warmer.

“Air: Highs in the 80s. Very little harsh direct sun.



“The Environment: A week of overcast, clouds and rain didn’t do much for the fishing, but it sure helped everything else down Baja way. By Sat. (7/5) the sun broke through and things were quickly swinging back to normal July weather. Bait remains excellent with our new Rancho crew really doing a good job. We’re getting good quality caballitos and ballyhoo. We are also beginning to get some sardina.



“The Bottom Line: Even with the inclement weather, call it a 6 on the Rancho Leonero 1 to 10 scale.



“Billfish: Although there were fewer fish, we still had blues, stripes and sails all week. The best areas were again close, from Cabo Pulmo to La Ribera, just 5 to 10 miles out. Sailfish were hitting the caballitos, the stripers mostly on the ballyhoo while the blues were taken on lures. 



“Yellowfin Tuna: The tuna were really hit and miss. There were schooled fish close inshore south of Los Frailes, but that’s quite a long boat ride. The fish were slow on the bite and mostly footballs to 20 pounds. The good news is that sardina are available down there.

“Dorado: The dorado were mostly schoolies. These smaller fish are harder to hookup with caballitos and ballyhoo, but the sardina were the way to go. 



“Wahoo: With better weather, these buzz saws began to pop on Sat. There were a number of ’hoo taken ... all on Rapalas. Best area was around Punta Colorado.



“Roosterfish: While rooster fishing was a little quieter on the boats, it was good from the beach with a number of anglers taking good fish on poppers and waxwings.



“Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch: Bottom fishing remained good to excellent with huachinango (the bright red snapper), barred pargo and amberjacks leading the way.”

In The Mail

“Hi Bill,

Receiving a personalized copy of At The Rail was a special treat. I am now working my way through the book page by page. It's fun and informative. Thank you so much.”

Sid S. (by email July 5, 2014)

American Angler’s office posted July 4:

“The guys switched things up and unloaded at Fisherman’s Landing this morning, with beautiful grade yellowtail (which still had their blues and green color and looked like they were just plucked out of the ocean) and the hard earned 40-something yellowfin tuna which were mostly caught on the troll with a few bait fish.

“A huge thanks to Glenn Kuromi and John Cameron of Calstar for their super nice giveaways, which included Calstar blanks & rods! We had a lot of commitment today for next year’s trip, which is great and makes next year a reunion of sorts.

“Congrats to jackpot winners:
1st place Ralph Moreno 36.2 YT
2nd place George Iwashita 29.8 YT
3rd place Anthony Hernandez 27.6 YT”

Last Day

Independence posted July 3:

“Wow, what a day we had it all started at 6:00 AM we went through four rotations before 6:30. The yellowfin were biting the feathers really good and we also mixed in a few large kelp paddies for good quantities of yellowtail throughout the day. The action on that tuna continued throughout the day to the end. Our last jig strike was a four-way, to end a beautiful day.”

Intrepid Winners

Skipper Kevin Osborne reported July 4:

“We returned today from our five-day open with a great catch. Here are the Jackpot winners: David Fox with a 35-pound Yellowtail, Erik Woodward with a 32.6-pound Yellowtail and John Dornellas with a 28-pound Yellowtail. We departed on a thee-day offshore adventure and will report soon.”

Happy I-Day

Polaris Supreme skipper Drew Henderson wrote:

“Happy July 4th, everyone. We started our morning off doing some bluefin watching. It's like whale watching but instead of whales you watch bluefin. In other words they didn't bite. We got on one spot and they were practically smacking the side of the boat they were so close but they wanted nothing to do with us. After a little bit of that and a kelp for some yellows and our first dorado of the year we started getting strikes on yellowfin. It was pretty steady for one and 1/2 hours then shut down for one and 1/2 hours, then started up again for one hour then went completely dead. We went west because west is best.

“After lunch things got interesting. We started to see big schools of yellowfin and it didn't stop until dark. As my grandma would say, ‘Holy Toledo!”’ Unfortunately they were not biting fish. We would get stops for 2,1,1,2,4,1,1,2,2,3,3,3,1,2, like that. But we stayed busy and worked hard at it and scratched out a nice catch. We had 40 tuna stops and averaged 2 per stop. Now, that’s scratching.

“The weather was incredible. As my grandma would say, ‘Holy Toledo!’ Variable winds all day. That means there wasn't enough wind to measure. I think that's what it means anyway. We're headed back in and will be docking at 7:15 in the A.M. and we will be turning around on a six-day. I'll be your captain.”

Quality Calicos

The posting from skipper Derek Waldman of the Red Rooster III for July 3 said,

"We had good steady fishing this morning on quality yellows here then they backed off around 10 so we tried for em for a few hours then went and made some bait up the lee and ran into a bird school that yielded some quality calicos and a few other surprises mixed in. A nice 35-pound yellow and a 50-pound white seabass for charter master McVey."

Slice Of Heaven

Time Ekstrom wrote for his Royal Star July 4:

“Following a night at anchor that can only be described as a slice of heaven we began the birthday of our country recharged, revitalized, and still enveloped by a stunning array of natural beauty. If it is possible it was even calmer than the previous day. Sheet glass seas and crystal clear blue water offered a window into the deeps revealing marvelous detail as various critters were hauled up and passed by. The smiles of the Pacific White Sided Dolphins were the one detail that really stood out to me. Whether a trick of refraction or real the painted on grin they wear appears magnified at least ten times when seen directly below. One cannot help but smile back as they glide through on their sides appearing to intentionally survey the object and faces above. It's more reflex than conscious; the happiness those things exude evokes instinctive rapture.

“We caught some fish too. Good morning yellowtail action began the effort on a high note. Not quite as steady as the previous day it was plenty good enough allowing one and all the perfect chance to stretch yesterday's soreness out of well-exercised muscles. By mid morning the yellowtail calling this voyage was answered. Fat and happy now with a bounty of the delicious jacks we struck out on a new offshore mission determined to check some new areas off the list good or bad.

“As for the results I can only report that again flat calm weather and abundant cetaceans stole the show. The afternoon kicked out a measly near handful of small yellowfin tuna amidst an ocean otherwise teaming with life. Beaked whales, blue whales, sperm whales, dolphins, pilot whales – you name it, they were there for the fourth of July fiesta. Sadly the fish were not. Perfect conditions provided the exact opportunity we hoped for. A thorough passage across eighty miles of ocean that beckons offshore fish from every direction. They will come. We were just early.

“Undeterred by what is becoming a bona fide ass kicking in the offshore fishing category we are having at it again tomorrow. For certain we will not catch any form of tuna searching anywhere else. The perfect conditions still call and signs above suggest an appropriate direction to focus. Tomorrow is now a make or break proposition in the tuna department. It is not a matter of seeking quantity now, we have plenty of fish, it is a matter of principal. The wily devils are out here. We just have to find them.

“Photo today features long time Royal Star veteran Tom Stevenson, who receives the nod with one of his dandy, 35-pound class wahoo.”

KC Brotherton wrote for the American Angler July 2:

“Right after daylight we went into our first drift and it was steadiness one to three going on flylined Spanish mackerel, Yoyo Jigs and surface plugs. By the time lunch rolled around it was time to take off up the line. The photo of the day is of Anthony with one of his many Yellowtail caught the last couple of days.

“Thinking Tuna tomorrow—we’ve got our fingers crossed. Good night, and it’s a nice ride.”

Heading North

Intrepid skipper Kevin Osborne posted July 2:

“We woke up on top of the fish and at daybreak we went right to work. They never let up for 5 ½ hours, until we were done and left them biting! It was just perfect as we set up on a large bait ball last night and it hung under us for the night and the Yellows just went nuts many times this morning giving everyone a great showing. We are now on our way up to the tuna grounds and hope to finish up the trip with some offshore action.”

Swell Conflict

Royal Polaris posted for July 2:

“Conditions at Alijos rocks were a bit unstable. We had a south swell along with a northwest swell and 15 knots of breeze out of the northwest.

“We caught 22 nice grade Yellowtail and 12 Wahoo. We did see one 40-pound Yellowfin but other than that, we saw very little sign of Yellowfin.

“We are now headed to Cedros hoping to have another good day of Yellowtail fishing.”

Something Sour

Owner-skipper Tim Ekstrom wrote for Royal Star July 2:

“It was one of those occasions when fishermen simply shake their heads in begrudging admiration for the ocean and her ability to put us square in our place. Even our night and early morning berth, where the action angling over the past couple of days was consistently productive, went stone cold as the sun rose. That was the first indication. Something under the surface went sour, and the only recourse was to head out looking, over the horizon, as the day moved on.

“Other than a brief morning shot at variety fish and a couple of handfuls of nice yellowtail the day was logged as a bust. Extraordinary weather – flat calm – took the sting out of it, and made for beautiful passage as we plied the waters in vain, but fishing production was pretty raw. So be it.

“Moving on when conditions or fishing goes bunk is an advantage than cannot be overstated. The beauty of time, information, mobility and experience is what distinguishes this fishery from many others.

“Tomorrow's tune will surely be different as we relocate to what may be greener pastures above. Photo today features Royal Star veteran Randall Yee who makes a good time of any and every opportunity that comes his way. A model individual to spend time at sea with Randall squared up on this 30-pound class wahoo with a trusty, old school casting lure.”

Bring Chrome

Searcher reported July 1 after a day and a half trip:

“We had a great day today with plenty of action–yellowtail on kelp paddies and sonar schools that didn’t bite but gave us hope. To finish the day, we had good fishing for yellowfin tuna associated with common dolphin. Most of the fish are 15 to 20 pounds with a few smaller and a few bigger. We had plenty of troll fish and the cedar plug was the hot lure. A few fish were caught on anchovies and some fish on artificial lures. If you are coming out in the near future make sure you have lures that are chrome and heavy. Megabait is the hot lure. Also a few fish were caught on plastics, so you might bring some. Don’t forget hooks and small sinkers for anchovies. The weather was great and the fishing is great as well.”

Going Out

Vagabond posted this July 2:

“Another great day filling the boat with quality YT up to 25 pounds and enjoying good weather. Heading out for tuna.”

American Angler posted July 1:

“Today our timing was spot on, not too long after daylight this place came alive. We saw several nice spots of Yellowtail that wanted to play and they were the premium size. We are enjoying a nice dinner in the Lee right now and were going to give it a go in the morning again. Fun day.”

Last Is Best

Skipper Paul Strasser wrote for Independence July 1:

“Good evening fellow anglers: “Well we started today picking at some yellowfin and a handful of yellowtail under kelp paddies and dolphin schools. It was slow but steady action throughout the whole day. The last paddie was of course the best. We will be making a move tonight for hopefully some more good steady fishing great bait great weather and best of all what a great group to fish with.”

The next day the boat posted:

“Trip 11, a six-day adventure in the prime of the season--book one full fare adult and bring a son or daughter ages 12 to 17 for half price, a savings of $1,175 dollars. Only two spots remain for this great value. We are always looking to get more kids out fishing and with the high cost of long range fishing this is the perfect chance to bring your child out for the trip of a lifetime. Please call Judy now for details, space is limited on this special. What a great Graduation Gift!”

Sun Fun

Skipper Kevin Osborne offered this posting July 1:

“It was a fun day here around the island. We caught nice grade yellows for the first half of the day, then topped off our bait supply with excellent bait, caught some Halibut, wide open bite on large Calico Bass to end the day. Tonight we are set up just right for the morning bite."

Tricky Biscuits

Skipper Drew Henderson posted July 1 for the Polaris Supreme:

"We tried our hand at the elusive White Sea Bass today and that's exactly what they were. Elusive. We didn't see the life we were expecting to see. We covered a lot of ground today looking for them but we never found them. We caught some trophy calico bass at one spot and we tried and checked a couple traditional yellowtail hot spots for nothing. One plus thing about today for me is we fished most the day where I have never fished before in my 13 full seasons on this boat. Now I know why. The day wasn't a total loss though. We found an area that had a huge bird school in it but it went down by the time we got there but we know the conditions were much improved from a week ago so maybe tomorrow they'll be hitting. We may have just got there too late. With about an hour left of daylight we hit a spot of those big yellows and we caught quite a few before our day ended. And last but not least we ended with a 20-pound seabass and a 20-pound halibut. We will stay the night and try it where we are in the morning. It's good sleeping weather where we are. I may be sleeping with my thumb in my mouth tonight.”

Decent ‘Tails

Red Rooster III posted July 1:

“Good evening anglers.This morning we had decent yellowtail fishing then decided to go offshore in search for some wahoo and dorado on kelps. Needless to say we found a couple of handfuls of wahoo but those dorado have been elusive to us, so maybe tomorrow…"

The previous day the report said, “We scored 21 hoo's and 1 nice yellow for our efforts. With beautiful weather in the future were going to go east and search for kelps tomorrow.”

Big Fat Skinny

Royal Polaris had this news July 1:

“Weather continues to be awesome with a little more sun today. Fishing was also quite good as we had limits of nice quality Yellowtail along with five White Seabass.

“This afternoon the Wahoo fishing was slow as we only boated 3 fish. Oliver Tan boated a very nice skinny that weighed 79.2 pounds.

“We will start bright and early tomorrow at Alijos Rocks. Hopefully we will have a great report along with some good photos.”

Real Deal

Tim Ekstrom reported for Royal Star July 1:

“Real long range fishing today – exactly what, how, and why avid anglers come for. These July eight-day anglers enjoyed today came in the form of steady wahoo action offshore. Not exactly a freak occurrence, but not the norm either, opportunities at wahoo this early in the season are encountered in maybe one out of seven or eight years. The warmer water cycles are usually the trigger.

“Consistent with conditions we put together a nice score on quality ‘skin’ with fairly steady action on the jigs and occasional instant pandemonium when a school was found. True to form when we did find the right zone the odds favored the wahoo by a wide margin. That said I have to give credit where due to this group of anglers: they definitely held it together in the face of extreme challenge in our best hit of the day.

“The relatively brief action was as good as one will ever find when it comes to wahoo offshore. Exciting is an understatement in attempting to describe the tenor of such fishing. Intense, extreme, astounding, then exhilarating fairly describe the sentiment sequence, but really can't make good on the sights and happenings that occur.

“I remember a scene from one of the original “Star Wars” movies when one of the characters fires a laser pistol or some such device inside an enclosed metal space and the burst of light bounces and ricochets off the walls around them almost faster that the eye can follow. The speed with which that beam of light bounces around provides excellent perspective into wahoo antics when hooked. Now consider that and multiply it times ten or fifteen fish on the lines simultaneously. One can somewhat appreciate the intensity. But as much as I attempt to describe it one still has to be there, to live the unimaginable, to believe it is possible.

“In the end perhaps the most unbelievable aspect of such fishing is that anything survives. With so many potential obstacles and disasters one could easily envision such wrecking ball style action making mincemeat of the best opportunities. Sometimes it does. But more often than not the boys on deck make sense of it, maintain composure in the face of pure chaos, and skew the odds in our favor; they consistently calculate around fifty percent, on a good day.

“Today was a good day, in relative terms. Between righteous conditions and real deal opportunities this one lands square in the success category. Wahoo are on the docket again tomorrow. Photo today features long time Royal Star veteran Eric Lovett enjoying the sweet flavor of wahoo victory.”

Doctors In The House

My eight-day trip aboard the Intrepid was made all the more pleasant by the reassuring presence of two young doctors from West Virginia, Dr. Collin John of Morgantown, and Dr. Alton Temple of Falling Waters. While they had some fishing experience on the East Coast, they were rookies on a long range trip. The pair were quick learners, though, and scored big-time on the yellowtail and dorado, along with the rest of the group. The shot here shows Dr. Alton with one of the yellowfin we scored going through the current “tuna grounds” between 100 and 200 miles south.

My trip aboard the Intrepid turned out to be just fine, even though the bluefin we all hoped for were a no-show. By going south as far as 500 miles from Pt. Loma we put a nice catch into the RS holds, and returned with dorado, yellowtail, halibut and a smattering of tuna and wahoo. I took so many pictures I feel a need to post a few more, just to offer the anglers and the audience a fuller look at the good action and generally nice weather we experienced.

I thanked the crew in yesterday’s posting, but it should be known that this group seemed to be the equal of any in the fleet, which is home to the most experienced and helpful bunch of crewmen anywhere. They were great in helping new anglers acclimate and learn the techniques of landing long range fish, and when the action on yellowtail and dorado really got hot and heavy, they kept their cool, untangling anglers in a jiffy and landing the fish quickly.

Then the deckhands got those fish down into the cold seawater holds within moments. That meant better fish quality at the trip’s end. Crewman Romo Ghio caught his first halibut, and celebrated with skipper Billy Santiago as we motored away from the spot around sunset.

We caught some bass while fishing for halibut at Cedros. This shot shows one that climbed onto a previously used Salas 7X jig. All calicos were released, of course. I got a couple of calicos on plastic swimbaits, while others were tricked by jigs and bait. We saw an osprey nearby, and pangas from the island’s cooperative and a skiff from one of the resorts on the island.

Kelp Paddy Wahoo

Royal Polaris reported June 30:

“Our weather today was even better than the day before. Flat calm seas with five knots of breeze and just enough sunshine to be comfortable in a t-shirt.

“We covered a whole lot of ocean today. We scratched 17 Wahoo, (nice big ones) and 15 Dorado.

“Tomorrow we will be back to fishing Yellowtail. Hopefully conditions will be better and we will have a great day.”

Action Day

Searcher reported for June 30, “We had a great day today with plenty of action, yellowtail on kelp paddies and sonar schools that didn’t bite but gave us hope. To finish the day, we had good fishing for yellowfin tuna associated with common dolphin. Most of the fish are 15 to 20 pounds with a few smaller and a few bigger. We had plenty of troll fish and cedar plug was the hot lure. A few fish were caught on anchovies and some fish on artificial lures. If you are coming out in the near future make sure you have lures that are chrome and heavy. Megabait is the hot lure. Also a few fish were caught on plastics, so you might bring some. Don’t forget hooks and small sinkers for anchovies. The weather was great and the fishing is great as well!”

In The Lee

Shogun reported June 28:

“Today started off with a bang: we slept well on the anchor in the lee of the island and sent the skiffs out by 0600. The current was flowing downhill and large bird schools of yellowtail were walking quickly up the island.

“The current had the bass biting in a frenzy and the surface iron, leadheads, and weedless swimbait were catching bass on every cast. Each skiff had a handful of yellowtail this morning. The bird schools revealed spots of yellowtail eating microbait and red crabs and it was controlled chaos running full tilt at areas of breaking fish.

“In the afternoon the current switched, and we had to work for our bass. Fishing on the big boat remained steady and a few more yellowtail were caught on sardines. At dark we loaded the skiffs and made the move back up the line to Geronimo where we hope the bass are still hungry.”