Karen Schantz of Valencia won first place on the Catchy Tackle eight-day trip aboard the American Angler. Brian Kiyohara docked the boat at Pt. Loma Sportfishing June 12, and his passengers got off with a good mixed catch of bluefin tuna and yellowtail, spiced with an albacore. John and Drew Grindley of Catchy Tackle were aboard.

“Our two new jig colors got named on the boat,” said John Grindley. The blue, white and yellow jig is the Charger, and the green and yellow one they called the Guacamole.


“It was a bit rough,” continued Grindley, “and the best fishing was on yellowtail at the Rocks and on 25 to 40-pound bluefin up the line. We got some yellows at Cedros, too, but the seals were pretty bad there on the South End.”

Skipper Kiyohara was optimistic about the upcoming fishing.

“With the full moon,” he told dock reporter Bill Roecker, “and flat calm weather, there’ll be more bluefin and albacore coming in.”

Karen Schantz got a 43.7-pound bluefin for first place. She said she got it with a sardine on a 4/0 Mustad 91450 hook on 30-pound Seaguar Premier, 30-pound Izorline and 65-pound Power Pro spectra. She used an Avet MXJ reel and an Avet seven-foot rod.

John Grindley of Catchy Tackle won second place for a 42.4-pound bluefin, and Bill Patton of La Jolla won third place for a 42.2-pounder. Alex Owyoung of Sacramento took a handoff from his dad Andrew and reeled in an ineligible 55.6-pound bluefin, biggest of the trip. For that, he was invited to pose in the lineup shot.



“Anchored Up”

“Today found us anchored up on the ridge,” wrote skipper Mike Ramirez of the Excel June 11, “with steady action on a good grade of yellowtail. The yo-yo iron and fly-lined sardine were the hot tickets. The action remained steady well into the afternoon. Spirits are high and the weather is turning in our favor.”



Call In Show

The June 12 report for the Independence came from the boat’s office.

“Jeff called in late tonight,” it said, “to say that the first day of fishing went well for the bigfish tackle gang. By day's end (94) bluefin tuna in the 25 to 35-pound range went into the hold. The weather has improved as well with 12 to 15 knots most of the day and the forecast looks to be good for the next few days. Check out our schedule as we have some openings on both five-day trips coming up at the end of the month and July 4th with Pete Gray from Let's Talk Hook-up. Call now as we only have limited space on both trips.”