West Coast Angler - Long Range Fishing Reports

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

Net Update

November 11, 2007

Rod Rack Open

Dan Nichols, Intrepid skipper, wrote the following on November 6: “We all know that on Long Range trips Marlin are not the usually targeted game fish. With that said, what do you do when they are so thick you can walk on them? Well, you catch and release them unharmed for a phenomenal day of Marlin fishing. By adding in Bull Dorado and a round or two of Wahoo, our patrons are happy and tired after a great day of fishing. The weather has turned kind of ugly.”

Dan docked the rig at Fisherman’s Landing November 11 and offloaded his 16 anglers before he weighed the best of the catch from the 10-day trip.

Ken Bush of El Cajon won first place for a 38.8-pound yellowfin tuna. He said he got it with a sardine on a 3/0 Super Mutu hook and 50-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon leader tied to 80-pound Line One Spectra. He used an Accurate 665 two-speed reel and a Calstar 700 XH rod.

Glenn Nakazono of El Sobrante was second for a 34.8-pound tuna, and Tony Prestella of Castro Valley took third place for a 34-pound dorado.

“About Timing Now”

Qualifier 105 arrived at Pt. Loma Sportfishing November 11 after the ten-day Boss Hoag/Ahi open charter with chartermasters Hoag and Gary VanDerLyke. Skipper Joe Crisci docked the rig and weighed the fish.

“Fishing is about timing right now,” said Crisci. “Get to the right place and you can catch some.”

Dennis Murphy of Camarillo won first place. He caught a 54.8-pound wahoo on a sardine and a 5/0 Mustad hook on 40-pound Big Game line and 65-pound Spectra, with an Avet JX reel and a Calstar six-foot rod.

Dominic Cardoza of Lakeside won second place for a 46.4-pound ‘hoo, and Steve Brooks of Camarillo was third, for a 44-pound dorado.

Young’s Tackle Open

“Good evening,” wrote skipper Mark Pisano November 7, “today we looked on The Ridge and had a rather slow day. We did catch some wahoo and yellowtail. We are planning to give a try for yellowtail tonight and wahoo one more shot in the morning. Weather is about the same as we’ve had the entire trip about 12 to 15 knots of wind and not much sea to go with it. I would like to make mention of the fuel situation we are in at the moment. Fuel is at an all time high, we have been holding on and not adding a surcharge for most of the season but we may find it necessary to charge one at some point on the remaining trips. Sorry about the bad news but please don’t shoot the messenger.”

Pisano docked the rig at Fisherman’s Landing (Pt. Loma was very busy, with four long range boats arriving in two hours) November 11, and hung the big ones on the scales.

Mike Rennie of Kent, WA won first and second places, for a 58.2-pound wahoo and a 41-pound dorado. He said he got the ‘ski n on a gold Raider jig tied to 40-pound Izorline. He fished with n Avet JX reel and a Rain Shadow seven-foot rod.

Eric Traut of Westminster won third place for a 35.6-pound dorado.

Anglers aboard noted that many large dorado were swimming with marlin down south, but they were picky, and the marlin usually beat them to the baits. Robin Joo was the chartermaster, for Young’s Tackle.

He Called It

The long range fleet’s 10-day tuna catch for the week was likely beaten soundly by Gordon Lackey’s five-day catch at Guadalupe Island. Vagabond anglers scored 53 tuna the first day there and 32 on the second. Some good-sized yellowtail were mixed into the catch, and a morning g of rock fishing produced plenty of reds, boccacio and ling cod.

Lackey put his 21 anglers on the dock at Pt. Loma Sportfishing November 11, after the GRUSA and Maxima-sponsored lark. He remarked that the water was 656.8 degrees at Outer Rock.

“I called it,” said jackpot winner John Jordan at the scales. “The birds were coming and I said some body was going to get bit. It was me, and he was the only one that bit.”

“He” was the 78.6-pound yellowfin Jordan bagged with a 5/0 ringed Super Mutu hook and 30-pound Big Game line. Jordan said he used an Avet 6-3 reel and a Calstar 800 H rod.

Dave Nguyen of San Diego was second, for a 66.6-pound tuna, and Dave Lupo of San Diego got third place for a 60.6-pound Guadalupe yellowfin tuna.

“It was a great trip,” said skipper Gordon. “The fish gods smiled on us, and the people on the boat were great.”

November 10, 2007

Skins Are Winners

Wahoo swept the jackpot for the American Angler’s ten-day trip for Angler’s Choice Tackle in San Diego. Sam Patella docked the rig at Pt. Loma Sportfishing November 10 and weighed the best of the catch. He remarked that fishing was good for all species but yellowfin.

While he was still fishing Sam wrote the following on November 6: “A Few More Skins For The Barby…

“We did some trolling today and managed to pick up a few more of these nice quality Wahoo - the weather is very nice and we will spend one more day down here before running up and switching gears to Yellowtail mode.”

Dennis Saylors of Long Beach won first place for a 57.4-pound wahoo. He said it bit a chrome Raider jig on 60-pound Izorline. He used a Trinidad 40 reel and a Calstar 660 rod.

“He ran like hell,” said Saylors. “I played him for about five minutes.”

Dr. John Metcalf of Danville was second, for a 43.8-pound wahoo, and Ed Kaminaka of Oceanside took third place for a 35-pound skinny. Dick Stokes of Caldwell, ID got the best wahoo trolling; a 55..8-pounder that ate his black and purple Marauder.

Fred Fukunaga Open

Tim Ekstrom docked Royal Star November 10 at Fisherman’s Landing after a ten-day open charter with 22 passengers.

Like most recent trips, fishing was good for everything except tuna. On November 8, Tim wrote, “If there is anything such in fishing, we had a typical day of angling along the beach region today, putting together a fair catch of yellowtail from various spots. Ultimately, the scenery was beautiful, the weather was calm, and the day was relaxing as we worked up the line pleased to be doing a little catching in the process.

“With a little extra time at day’s end, we will likely make a few quick drifts tomorrow for some lunch fish before throwing in the towel and heading for home. With the present gap between vessels fishing down below, things should have time to settle into a new pattern before the next round of voyages begin. Let’s hope so anyway as some kind of dramatic change is definitely in order. On that note, Captain ” Old Lucky” Toussaint himself will be gracing the helm next voyage.”

Jackpot winners:

Red Rooster IIII arrived under Julio Ochoa’s hand November 10 after a ten-day trip with 18 anglers. It was a Charkbait charter with owner Mark Smith along as chartermaster. He wanted to thank Smitty Belts, Gary Sato, Yo-Zuri, Blackwater and his other sponsors for many prizes handed out to the anglers aboard.

Ochoa’s report on November 5 was like other recent experiences: “We did not start at the rocks like we thought we were instead we started at the Rosa bank. First thing that morning we got on a very big kelp loaded with small fish, it was all four to eight pound on the yellowfin and small yellowtail. We ended up releasing everything we hooked.

“When we got on the Rosa Bank it was cooler water and we decided to work down to the southeast where there was a good temperature break. There was no shortage of kelps, but none had any life on them like the one we saw in the morning. We kept working to the southeast all day long for very little.

“The next day we started out at the “big fish grounds” with the Excel. Early in the morning we both got on common dolphin, which had forty to sixty-pound tuna that would not bite or boil on anything we threw over. We kept getting on them, hoping to get some but we ended up with the same results. We worked down towards the Lusitania Bank. On the way down we got on some black porpoise with no fish on them. We ended up coming back up the line a little after lunch.

“Late in the afternoon we managed to get some action on wahoo, dorado, and striped marlin. The grade on the dorado was twenty-five to thirty-five pounds on average, and the wahoo was on average twenty-five to fifty pounds. The striped marlin were mixed with the wahoo and dorado. Every time we got a jig strike we’d hook at least fifteen to twenty marlin; the action on the striped marlin was incredible. Today we started offshore again trying for more of the same. We ended up with good action on more wahoo, dorado and marlin.”

Mike Mattusch of Mahopac, NY won first place for his 45.3-pound yellowtail, a Cedros Island mossback that took a sardine on an unknown hook. He used 50-pound Izorline on a Penn 12 T reel and a seven-foot Seeker rod.

Todd Wickstrom of Boise, ID took a 44.3-pound yellowtail for second place, and his dad Jon Wickstrom of Claremont won third place for a 36-pound Cedros mossback.

Chartermaster Mark Smith won the trolling jackpot for a 45.7-pound wahoo. He said it bit a black Marauder.