Cow catching has commenced. Much of the long range fleet has now arrived on the big tuna grounds south of Magdalena Bay. Excel has not posted again since the initial report indicating 200-pound tuna were biting, but several other boats did. Here’s what they’re saying.

Polaris Supreme Report, Tuesday 11-13:

“Jackpot! Wow, what a great day. We had very, very good fishing on nice grade tuna. With the light load we have on this trip the anglers had lots of action. Our scores are as follows: Lon 274 lb., Greg 144, 110, and 152-pounders, Matt a 136 lb., John a 200-pounder, Mike 90, 125, and a 70-pounder, Tim 195 lbs., Chris 70 lbs., and Bill 70, 160, and a 304-pounder! Our weather is good. Lunch was a great seafood pasta and for dinner we went down home with some bar-b-que ribs, beans and corn on the cob. We were all so excited to have this nice big hit on the big fish. Thanks for checking in. (Tommy Rothery and Polaris Supreme crew)

Royal Polaris Report November 13:

“Weather was sunny again with 7 to 12 knots of breeze. Fishing today was sensational once again with action all day long. There was steady action on the kite and good steady fishing on the sardines. Most fish today were from 100 to 245 pounds with approximately six over 200 pounds. Thirteen-year-old Zachary Schenk got a fish that was estimated around 175 pounds, almost twice his weight.

“For a few folks one of the highlights of the day was a good bite on large Dorado. Our catch today consisted of 72 Yellowfin tuna, 37 Dorado, and 3 Wahoo. We are planning to fish till 11:30 hours tomorrow and then head for home.

“There are two spots open on our 10-day November 28th trip and four spots on the 15-day trip leaving December 8. Call our office and speak to Scotty or Andrea'.” (Frank LoPreste & Royal Polaris crew)

Red Rooster III Report, November 13:

“We spent our first day down on the lower banks and were very excited to see the sign and the amount of quality that is available. With the action on school size fish and the big fish that have now moved in the next couple of months could be the best yet. Finishing the day with 30 school size fish and 3 fish over 200 pound and another 8 fish from 110 to 190 the chance for a big fish is here. The weather outlook is good and a recipe for success for this type of fishing. The sign of fish looks better than last year and when they really start to bite, look out its going to be good.
We will report again tomorrow. (Skipper Andy Cates)

American Angler Report November 13, 2007:

“Today we got a taste of the "first day jitters" on the tuna grounds - not really knowing what to expect at times makes it hard to choose the right gear. Small reels with hundred-pound mono and smaller hooks proved to be overmatched. After several long battles with a heartbreaking end, today was one of the few days where the saying, "that was a big one too" was not wrong (have you ever heard someone say they lost a small one?)

“The fleet had a conservative count of 10 fish over 200 pounds and one fish over 300 pounds for the day, so we knew that a few of the ones lost were Grande. We ended up the day with 5 fish over a hundred pounds, with Don Garcia leading the way with his 207-pounder. We also had a bunch of school-sized fish.

“Tomorrow we are hoping for a few more shots at these trophies and plan to be armed with bigger bait and bigger gear.” (Skipper Brian Kiyohara)