West Coast Angler - Long Range Fishing Reports

Bill Roecker for FishingVideos.com & the San Diego Sportfishing Council

Net Update

February 24, 228

Hurricane ‘Hoo Hits Heavy Hook Hard

The Loftus & Martin charter aboard Red Rooster III with skipper Andy Cates returned to H&M Landing February 25 after a 15-day trip with 19 anglers. Eight tuna aver 200 pounds were in the catch, along with smaller tuna and several dozen wahoo.

One of the wahoo came to chartermaster Larry Martin after he lost his skipjack bait and was reeling in a bare 10/0 Mustad 7691 hook when a wahoo bit it and became captured on the heavy tuna gear Martin employed to fish the skippie.

“We got to the Hurricane Bank at the end of things,” said skipper Cates as he weighed tuna in the rain. “We made the move to Clarion and were surprised with a good catch the first day. The tuna ran from 50 pounds up to 230 pounds. It was explosive action, the kind we get off Mag Bay in the fall.

“The fish stuck with us,” Cates continued, “and on the last day we had three cows up to 280 pounds. The best rig was a 6/0 Super Mutu with 130-pound line and a two-ounce sinker. It doesn’t seem like much, but that weight was the key.”

At the scales, Mark Moffett of San Diego learned his tuna weighed 285.7 pounds and won first place.

In his own words, Mark “…was put into one of the skiffs with Captain Julio Ochoa, and the pair were towed away from the Rooster by the fish. After an hour, the fish was brought to color and gaffed with a flying gaff. The hook ripped out, straightened by the power of the fish.

“After another long battle the fish was brought to the surface a second time, and was successfully gaffed. The time total was about an hour and a half, and the fish was brought onboard the skiff by Julio and Mark.”

Mark said his sardine bait was pinned to a 5/0 ringed Super Mutu on 130-pound Maxima fluorocarbon leader, 130-pound Maxima line and 130-pound Line One Spectra. Mark fished with a Tiagra 50 wide reel and a Daiwa 6460 XXH rod.

Chartermaster John Loftus of Irvine won second place for a 245.4-pound tuna that took a sardine on a 5/0 Super Mutu on 100-pound Maxima fluorocarbon and 100-pound Maxima line, with 130-pound Line One Spectra. He used a Tiagra 50 reel and a Calstar 6460 XXH rod.

John Aviles of Tracy won third place for a 235.2-pounder that bit a sardine on a 6/0 ringed Super Mutu on 130-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon leader and 130-pound Line One Spectra. He fished with a Tiagra 50 reel and a Seeker 6463 XXXH rod, which he won on the boat. Aviles also had a 233.9-pound tuna.

“The big one took 45 minutes,” said John, “and these are my best two fish ever.”

Al Babashoff got a 234.4-pound tuna, but wasn’t available for comment.

There was a hat trick on the boat. Rich Rose of Manhattan Beach trounced a triple, a 204 and a 201.5-pounder. He said he fished with chunks on a ringed Super Mutu hook, with 130-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon leader and 130-pound Maxima line and 130-pound Line One Spectra. He used a Penn 50 W reel and a Calstar 760 H rod.

Bill Roecker for FishingVideos.com & the San Diego Sportfishing Council

Net Update

February 4, 2008

New Meaning For “Big Bruiser”

John Grabowski docked Red Rooster III at H&M Landing February 3 after a 15-day trip with 24 anglers sponsored by Mustad, Accurate and Bluewater Tackle. Catchy Tackle and several other sponsors also donated products. The trip produced no cows, but numerous tuna were close to the 200-pound mark.

“This trip we have seen some good fishing and some scratch fishing,” wrote Grabowski in summation the day before, “we had flat calm seas for the ride down to the fishing grounds and lots of wind while we where on the grounds and definitely unfavorable weather during our ride home. None of which we can control. We just work at putting the best trip together possible with what we are given to work with, all in all we put together a very nice catch of fish and dealt with the weather the best we could.

“The wind and seas are still very much a factor in our ride up the coast, not as bad as last night but we are still bucking into 18-22 knots of wind and 6-8 foot seas. Our ETA to San Diego as of right now is looking like 1100 hours at the dock, that could change for the worse if this wind and sea condition picks up throughout the night.

“I would like to thank Mustad and Son Hook Company for all the wonderful Mustad products they provided to all the guests on board this trip, we have some great Mustad success story’s from this trip. Also thanks to Bluewater Tackle and San Diego Fly Shops for their very generous donation of all the raffle prizes that everyone on board benefited from, it truly add a special touch to the trip. Last but certainly not least I would like to thank Jack Nilsen and Accurate Fishing Products for the Accurate Twin Drag 50 reels that he had on board for everyone to use, it’s always a pleasure to have such a fine product at our disposal while fishing the big Yellowfin.”

An odd incident occurred to Archie Irion of Escondido while he stood at the rail, fishing. A large wahoo jumped out of the water and hit Archie on the right thigh. The fish wasn’t hooked, nor did it appear to be chasing anything.

“It felt like a fastball, “ said Archie. “I looked down and there was no blood to speak of, just a couple of drops. He did cut through three layers of nylon shorts. He was a big bruiser.”

That wasn’t all that happened to Archie, though. He also caught a 175-pound tuna that was foul-hooked on his 80-pound fluorocarbon leader, with an Accurate 665 two-speed reel and a sardine. The fish was gaffed on the other side of the boat from Archie.

Wahoo were especially thick.

“Anyone who wanted a wahoo could have one,” said Rooster regular Glenn Kerr of Costa Mesa. “They bit everything. One was tagged.”

Glenn got a 196-pound tuna along with a nice collection of wahoo.

Chartermaster David Choate, an Accurate rep said, “It was the best wahoo fishing at the Hurricane Bank I’ve seen in some time. We had as many as six going at once while we were on the anchor.

“There were a lot of small tuna around in the 40 to 60-pound range, and those fish would come to the lights and night. You could have all you wanted. We made all the right moves,” he continued, “on the skipper’s intuition. Porpoise fishing offshore at Clarion was luck of the draw. We got 23 one day, and they were all those long, lean fish of 190 or 195 pounds.”

The jackpot fish weighed 196.4 pounds, and was caught by Dave Dudley of El Cajon. He hooked it with a mackerel, and he used 130-pound Izorline and Izor Spectra on a Penn 50 W reel and a Calstar rod of six and a half feet. A crewman said the fish fought hard for 45 minutes.

Dan Fitzgerald of Coronado won second place for a 194-pounder that bit on a mackerel and a 9/0 ringed Mustad circle hook. He used 130-pound Izorline and 130-pound Izor Spectra on a Penn 50 W reel and a six-foot Calstar rod built by P-Bod.

Carol Thompson of Kona was on her first long range trip with hubby Mike, and took third place for a 193-pound tuna. She fished a sardine on a 7/0 Mustad hook, with 130-pound Izorline and 130-pound Izor Spectra on an Accurate 50 W reel and a Seeker 655 XXH rod.

“He ran out with all my line into the Spectra,” said Carol. “Then he dived down. I went around the boat with him twice, and he came up on the bow.

He’s my biggest tuna, and this was my first long range trip,” added Carol. “More women should go for it. Their husbands would love it. I know I’m going again!”

Ben Travis of La Mesa was next, with a 192.2-pounder he got with a sardine on a 3/0 Mustad hook tied to 130-pound Izorline and 130-pound Izor Spectra. He used a Penn 30 W reel modified by Cal Sheets and a Seeker 6460 XXH rod.

“This was my first trip, too,” he said. “I was in the skiff at the Hurricane Bank with him for an hour and a half. He’s my best fish.”

Chef Jorge Nicifore, fighting his illness with protracted chemo treatments, came down to the dock for the Rooster’s arrival, attended by his physician daughter. There is an ongoing auction for Jorge, who has as many friends as anyone in the long range fleet, on Allcoast.com by Scott McFarland. Owner Linda Palm said here will be a raffle for Jorge at the Red Rooster booth in Long Beach during the fishing show, March 5 through 9.

Royal Star Report

February 4: “We finally got a little justice late in the form of a nice hit on yellowfin in the 150 to 170-pound class with one standout at 202. With a couple of handfuls of 50 to 90-pounders from our morning and mid day action, the day was a success but by no means an easy task. Stops were few and far between with sloppy weather making the pursuit of these incredibly stealthy dolphins a near monumental challenge. Every school found did not reliably produce. Such is fishing and such scenarios are expected in the pursuit of offshore game fish.”

“The good news is that we are catching and all indications point to a sufficient quantity of trophy yellowfin still around to keep all of us focused and plenty optimistic. With two full fishing days remaining, we have more than enough time to seek one or two glory stops on jumbos before we make the short, downhill run to the Cape. With a good deal of luck and plenty of effort we will see if the timeless fishing combination will result in our favor.”

Excel Report

February 2: “Once again we had nice weather all day and were able to scratch out 25 tuna with a handful of bigger ones from 180 to 235 pounds. Big fish honors go to Kirk Turner with a 160, John Blackman and Mike Wickes with a pair of 180’s, Randy Corbin with one right at 200, and Vince “Fathead” Otani with one taping at 235. We will spend our last day out here tomorrow to try and get on some more of these Big’uns.”

Bill Roecker for FishingVideos.com & the San Diego Sportfishing Council

Net Update

January 28, 2008

Cowboy Cuts Out Supercow

Tom Rothery took PIER founder Tom Pfleger and eight other anglers on a 17-day excursion that started on the inside, visited the outside and came back to the inside to finish off the trip with six cows; tuna over 200 pounds. (“Inside” means off the coast of southern Baja, and “Outside” means the Revillagigedos archipelago and the Hurricane Bank.)

“All our days were good,” said Rothery, “except for the time we spent off Clarion Island where there were a lot of krill balls and green water. The wahoo on the Hurricane were a little bigger than usual. The skin fishing was good on all methods.”

Tom “Cowboy” Fullam of Oceanside pulled off the coup of the adventure when he decked a tuna that taped out around 280 pounds. When Rothery hung it on the scales a shout went up from the gathered spectators, as the fish hit 303.4 pounds on the certified scales.

“He bit on the slide,” said Cowboy, “and he went down right away. He fought for an hour and a half, and then he came up on the bow. He’s my best fish.”

Tom said he dropped in a sardine on an 8/0 Eagle Claw hook. He used 130-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon and 130-pound Spectra on a Tiagra 50 W reel and a five and a half-foot Calstar rod.

Roger Foster of Orange won second place for a 261-pounder. Foster got his big cow (his best-ever fish, in only 20 minutes) and a 259-pounder with sardines. He said he used sardines on 8/0 hooks with 130-pound P-line and 130-pound Spectra on one of the boat’s rigs, featuring a Penn 50 SW reel and an unidentified rod.

Chugey Sepulveda, senior research scientist for Pfleger’s PIER Institute, caught a 228-pounder with sardine on an 8/0 Eagle Claw hook. He used 130-pound line and 130-pound Spectra on a Penn 30 W reel and a Penn five and a half-foot rod.

Pat Jaeger of Bishop, a mountain fishing guide, got a 215-pounder in 40 minutes, after it ate his sardine on a 6/0 Eagle Claw hook. He fished with 100-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon and 130-pound Spectra on a Penn 50 SW reel and a custom Calstar Baja Boomer rod.

Chartermaster Tom Pleger said two of the ongoing projects for PIER are a kelp study and a tagging program. The archival tagging study for white sea bass may provide some answers for questions long in the asking regionally, such as where the fish go and what they do when they’re not in local waters and available to anglers.

“We’ll offer rewards,” said Pfleger, “and we’ll put out about 100 archival tags.”

Polaris Supreme will be her berth in for boat work for the next few weeks.

Bill Roecker for FishingVideos.com & the San Diego Sportfishing Council

Net Update

January 22, 2008

Hurricane Bank Flip-Flop: Tuna to Wahoo

By Paul Sweeney

“We had a bonanza afternoon on the last day,” Skipper Jeff DeBuys said after returning Independence January 22. “And we had two very good days on tuna at Hurricane Bank, and then the conditions flip-flopped and all the tuna left. But that’s when the wahoo came in.”

The 16-day Avet-Ozaki charter returned with six cows, yellowfin tuna over 200 pounds.

“We had a good group of people,” charter master Rick Ozaki said, “and our last stop was great. We were on a long soak on a pretty good meter mark. Once the sun dropped, twelve anglers hooked up one by one, right on down the line.”

Ten minutes was all it took for Allen Smith of Santee to take home top spot in the jackpot with a 235-pound yellowfin. Allen used a 5/0 Hayabusa hook, 100-pound Seaguar Premier fluorocarbon, 100-pound Yo-Zuri Hybrid line, an Avet 50 Topless reel and a Calstar 7465 H rod.

“I got 13 wahoo at the Bank,” said Allen. “All on Raider jigs.”

San Diego Angler charter member Don Rolstad of Bonita placed second for a 226.4-pound tuna caught on the kite. Don used a live flying fish on the boat’s gear to haul it in.

“I’m 80 years old,” Don said, filling out his San Diego Angler Official Weight Receipt. “And I exercise regularly, but I didn’t exercise enough for this trip. He fought quite well.”

Dave Rocchi of Cypress placed third with a 206-pound yellowfin tuna. Dave hopped on the Indy a day after returning from his 10-day charter aboard the Royal Star January 5. Dave fished a sardine on a 7/0 Hayabusa hook, 100-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon, an Avet STS 50 reel and a Seeker 6460 XH rod.

“It’s been 26 days for me,” remarked Dave who reps Yo-Zuri, Hayabusa, Newell and Seaguar. “My wife is used to it, this isn’t our first rodeo.”

Tony Dekruif of Manhattan Beach saw his last bait out turn into a 206-pounder. Tony used a 6/0 Hayabusa hook, 100-pound Yo-Zuri line, an Avet 50 reel and a 6455 Calstar rod.

Frank Bartell of Buena Park was disappointed when his 200.8-pound tuna was weighed at Pt. Loma Sportfishing Certified Scales. “I only wanted a 100-pounder,” he exclaimed, “and I missed it by a hundred pounds!”

Frank fished a sardine on a 6/0 Hayabusa hook, 100-pound Yo-Zuri line, an Avet 30 reel that he won on the boat, and a Calstar rod. “This fish was frisky,” he noted.

First time long ranger Wayne Silger of Fresno caught a 170-pounder. Wayne was highly appreciative of Jeff and the Indy’s crew.

“I’ve already signed up for next year,” he said. “This was my first tuna trip of any kind. That boat was just awesome.”

The Indy also brought back an archival tag, passed on to Ed Everett of the IATCC for analysis. Ed said the tag would reveal the sex, diving depths, internal body temperatures, sea temperatures, time and date.

“It looks like it was tagged a couple months ago on the Royal Star,” remarked Ed. “They were down at the Lusitania where Jeff said this one was caught. We don’t see much movement from the fish at the Banks. Down by the Equator, we see a lot of distance traveled.”

Bill Roecker for FishingVideos.com & the San Diego Sportfishing Council

Net Update

January 20, 2008

Woman Scores Hurricane Cow

The Loftus & Martin open charter aboard the Qualifier 105 returned to Pt. Loma Sportfishing at dawn January 20. Joe Crisci was skipper on the 16-day excursion, which produced three cow tuna and numerous fish on the cusp of the 200-pound marker, as well as a good take of wahoo.

The best tuna was caught by Tom Kelleher of Corona del Mar, a 241.6-pound tusker that chowed on a double sardine kite rig and the boat’s loaner gear for the purpose.

“It took an hour and 15 minutes,” said Tom. “I saw it hit, then the balloon marker came off. He took me from the stern corner up to the bow on the other side. He’s my second-best fish ever. I could tell my gear was maxed.”

Second skipper Cal Link said Tom’s boat rig had two 9/0 Eagle Claw circle hooks on 100-pound Big Game line and 130-pound Big Game Spectra, an Accurate 50 reel and a Calstar 6465 XH rod.

Chris Green of Riverside won second place for a 215.2-pounder he got with a mackerel on a 9/0 Eagle Claw hook. He said he used 100-pound Maxima line and 100-pound Spectra on a Penn 50 reel and a Calstar 6465 XH rod.

“He kicked my behind,” said Chris. “He’s my biggest fish.”

Jackie Fitzpatrick of Pacific Grove won third place for her first cow, a 211.6-pound yellowfin she bagged with the double sardine rig on the same boat outfit used by Kelleher to get the jackpot winner. She also got a tuna that weighed 194 pounds, and the trip’s best wahoo, a 70-pounder that won an award.

“He jumped out of the water and onto the bait,” Jackie said of the bigger tuna. “Then he took off right away. I’m saving up to do this again next year.”

Qualifier 105 will be in port for her annual boat work over the next few weeks, said skipper Joe Crisci.