Frank LoPreste brought his Royal Polaris home to Fisherman’s Landing July 9 after a wonderful eight-day trip to The Ridge and other spots. He found an area of biting yellowfin tuna that produced a super catch of 25 to 80-pound fish, and added a mixed bag of other species for his 32 anglers on the RingedHooks.com outing.

Chartermaster Guy MacDonald won first place for his 84.3-pound yellowfin. He posed for a photo with his son Brandon, 11, and daughter Aubree, 10.

“I hooked the big one soon after our first troll stop,” Guy told dock reporter Bill Roecker. “If I hadn’t, we might have moved on, since there was no sign of fish, just that blind strike. But that fish held the boat, and we had great fishing for two days, drifting. The fish shut off at night but there were right there the next day. Most of the guys did OK with 30 and 40-pound line.”

MacDonald got his winner on a sardine and a 3/0 swiveled Mutu hook from Owner. He used 30-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon, 30-pound Jin Kai line and 60-pound Line One spectra on an Avet JX Raptor reel and a Calstar 800 H rod. The fish fought hard for 45 minutes.

Steven Reed of Menifee won second place for a 79-pounder, and Jim Howard of Idleyld, OR won third place for a 73.8-pound yellowfin. Steve Aranpatzis of Napa won the Rollo Jackpot for a 35-pound yellowtail.



Off The Charts

Pete Gray’s Let’s Talk Hookup five-day trip aboard Independence returned to Pt. Loma Sportfishing July 9 with a mixed catch of bluefin, yellowtail and other species. Jeff DeBuys skippered the trip, and he called it, “Off the charts coastal fishing.”

Pete Gray said, “It was the best yellowtail bite I ever saw.”

Valerie Otero of Boulder, CO won first place for her 34.6-pound bluefin tuna. She said it bit on a sardine and a 2/0 ringed Mustad Hoodlum hook on 30-pound Seaguar Premier fluorocarbon and 50-pound Izorline spectra on an Okuma Andros reel and a six-foot Super Seeker rod.

Darrell Hansen won second place for a 33-pound bluefin and Greg Kuno tied him with an identical fish.



Stout-Eppler Annual

Justin Fleck brought Excel back after the annual three-day Stout-Eppler charter with plenty of yellowtail and bottom fish like red rockfish. There were 25 anglers aboard, who enjoyed the good fishing at San Martin Island.

Yosef Dangor of LA won first place for his 28-pound yellowtail. He bagged it with a sardine on a 3/0 hook, 30-pound Blackwater Fluoro, 50-pound spectra, a Shimano reel and a six-foot rod (he didn’t know any of the names for his gear).

Kent Todd of Chino won second place for a 27-pound yellow, and Calvin Olexa of Cypress tied with Mason Vincent of Diamond Bar for third place. Both had 26-pound yellowtail.



Biggest Bluefin Bites Dart

"Today we went looking for some biting fish,” wrote Shogun skipper Bruce Smith July 8.  “We covered a lot of water.  We found some good size yellowtail under kelp paddy at 85 miles. We really hope to see more this action, but due to the weather and wind conditions today it was tough to keep at it.  We continued up the line until we came across boiling and jumping bluefin.  The first spot responded and we put on four quick fish, all about 20 pounds.  Our next stop only yielded one fish, but that one fish looks to be the first 100-plus-pound bluefin tuna of the year.  As I have stated in previous posts and articles in the past year, the hot technique was a Megabait (4 oz.) cast into the boiling bluefin school as the boat slowly pulled with in casting range.  This big fish wolfed the diminutive jig as we had to dig the hook out of the back of its throat.  Congratulations to Eric Thomas for a fish worthy of any 1.5-day trip Jack Pot!”

Eric’s tuna was weighed by Smith at Fisherman’s Landing July 9, and came in at 105.7 pounds, making it the best of the year so far. He told dock reporter Bill Roecker the jig was a four-ounce Megabait in red and yellow, on 40-pound Stren, 65-pound Power Pro spectra, a Trinidad 20 reel and a Calstar 800M rod. The tuna fought for 20 minutes.



Tim Green Special

Brian Evans docked Mike Keating’s Spirit of Adventure at H&M Landing July 9 after the 21st annual Tim Green seven-day trip with 19 anglers.

Ray Miles of Escondido won first place for a 42.5-pound yellowtail that bit on a Salas 6X Jr. jig in blue and white. He said he fished with 40-pound Ande line, 60-pound Izorline spectra backing on an Avet JX reel and a Calstar 700 H rod.

Mitch Pellegrin of San Diego won second place for a 38-pounder, and Richard Ballew of Henderson, NV won third place for a 37-pound yellowtail.



He Got It All

Sam Patella docked American Angler at Pt. Loma Sportfishing after a two and a half-day Salas Lures trip to San Martin Island with chartermaster Matt Salas.

“We had good yellowtail fishing,” said Matt, “and fair bottom fishing. We got a little bit of everything. I fished the yoyo jigs in blue and white, scrambled eggs and sardine swirl. All those colors worked well; it didn’t make a big difference.”

A huge sheephead was caught by Dan Arden of Terra Bella, on a blue and white 6X Jr. The big goat weighed 19.4 pounds.

The jackpot on this trip was winner-take-all. Bob Murakami of Monterey Park won it for his 28-pound yellowtail. He got the fish with a squid on a 5/0 Mustad J hook, 30-pound P-Line, an Avet JX reel and a Calstar GFX 800 M rod.