“We decided to fish our way up the line starting with yellowtail on the ridge,” wrote Excel skipper Justin Fleck February 3.

“The wind was blowing in the morning making it difficult to find fish. Things calmed down in the afternoon and we were able to put together a nice day. Tomorrow we will continue up the Baja coast looking for more action on yellows and grouper.”



Persnickety

“It is proving to be a lot easier to find these fish than it is to catch them,” said the report from Royal Polaris February 1. 

“We were rewarded with 17 fish from 80 to 150 pounds, with the majority in the 100-pound class.  The weather is still as good as it gets, and with that said, we’ll have a go at it again tomorrow.”



Almost There

American Angler office manager Lori Patella said February 4 that the boat is nearing its fishing destination and should be on the grounds fishing tomorrow.



Some Better Fish

“We had a change in the weather today,” said the report from Royal Polaris February 2, “with some rain and SE winds.  We managed to boat 19 tuna from 80-150 pounds for our efforts.  Tomorrow will be our last day here and we have high hopes for a strong finish.”



10,000-Mile Message in a Bottle

Dennis Plog posting on Bloodydecks.com, February 3, 2010:

“We tossed this bottle off the stern of the Excel North of Cedros on a 5-day in 2007. Bob and I were the only ones in our group that went on the super long range trips. Looks like he went on the super duper long range trip.”


Our archive photo of Bob Dubcich is from the following trip, some years ago:

Winner Was Lucky

“We spent our first fishing day of the five-day trip catching albacore,” said Red Rooster III skipper Andy Cates after docking the rig August 19, 2004. “Then we went to Guadalupe for a day, down to Benitos for a day, and back to Guadalupe to finish up.”

Bob Dubcich of Los Gatos won first place for a 75.7-pound yellowfin.

“I was lucky,” he said. “There were sharks around, but the fish stayed away from the boat.”

Bob said he fished a sardine on a 2/0 Mustad hook, with 30-pound Seaguar leader and 30-pound Big Game line on a Trinidad 20 reel and a Calstar 700 ML rod. The fight lasted 30 minutes.