busselton Fishing Report 2023

We arrived at the dock this morning at 7:30 and would like to thank Ron Heil again for putting such a great group together. We look forward to seeing you all again next year. We are off again with the Let's Talk Hook-up charter. Pete was unable to come but we have Ryan, who is also from the show, as our charter head. Needless to say he was happy to step in for Pete. Wish us luck and check in again tomorrow.

It's been windy off southern Baja for a week or so, and it also blew a couple of days out at the Hurricane Bank. When Polaris Supreme skipper Drew Henderson looked out his wheelhouse window one day, he said it looked like Christmas, he could see so much white out there. At Fisherman's Landing December 4, Henderson weighed the catch for his ten-day anglers. There were tuna, wahoo, and dorado in good numbers. Bert Carlson of Long beach won first place for an 84.9-pound yellowfin, after the fish made a mistake with his sardine on a 5/0 Owner Offshore hook. He said he used 50-pound fluorocarbon leader and 65-pound hollow Jerry Brown Spectra on a Penn 20 T reel and a six and a half-foot Kencor rod. Chris Mohs of Ventura was second, for an 80-pound tuna, and Todd Cameron of Long Beach took third place for a 78.8-pound tuna. He also caught a tuna with an archival tag in it, which will bring him a $500 fee for the tag's return.

Thursday, August 16th, 2012

Hi friends. We dropped off Eric Rogger and friends to a dock full of curious bystanders and passengers ready to depart on various trips on other boats and the Ron Heil group looked on as well, ready to load the boat and get underway. Why wouldn't they? With the catch we unloaded, you'd have to be a fool not to go fishing right now. A fool, I say. Anyways, we completed all of our turnaround chores, loaded groceries, loaded passengers, and bid the docks farewell. Our bait loading was about as much fun as trying to hit a nail on the head but instead hitting your finger. Our bait looks okay for now but we're closely monitoring the situation. Nothing anybody can do about it. From the guys on the bait boat busting their butt to get bait to all the boats that demand, the guys on the bait receivers, or us, it is what it is.

Anyhow, Chef Shawn kicked out the prime rib, artichoke, and baked potatoes to the peeps and everyone is hitting the rack for tomorrow's wake-up call. We'll be gettin' nasty with it at 0545 hours. Real nasty. Wish us luck.

-The Supreme Team

GREAT 1.5 TRIP WITH CAPT. J.J.!!!! APOLLO fished Colonet with 25 anglers for 5 Yellowtail, 30 Lings & 215 Rockfish. Checkout their next available trip. Book now before it's too late. Call Fisherman's Landing @ (619)221-8500 to get your reservation.

138 Yellowfin, 39 Yellowtail and 44 Skipjack. Beautiful weather and biting fish.

The San Diego checked in on March 16, with 25 yellowtail, 6 bonito and  100 rockfish catches.  Yo yo jigs have been the top producer so far but every school has boiled on our chum.Encouraging sign of fish for 1/2 the day today. Couple decent shots on all the popular presentations. We will try again tomorrow.

Monday, August 15th, 2011

Hi friends. Cherry on top of the Sundae action today. Pretty much a repeat of Friday with steady action on 12-20 lb. Bluefin tuna with a little bit more of that 12-25 lb. Yellowfin tuna to go along with it. Integrated schools for the most part and our score was a 75/25 mix of Blues to Yellows and when we left the area around 1330 hours, the boats still in the area had some steady stops on a little bite more of the Yellowfin with a sprinkling of Bluefin as well. Multiple spots of breaking fish, jig strikes, and machine fish were plentiful and we really didn't have a long break in the action today, we stayed pretty steady. The true cherry on the sundae today was our weather - flat calm and sunny. With our Bluefin limit topped off, we called it a trip and with two scoops of bait to spare in case something cool comes up in our travels to home. We'll see.

So that is all. We put a bow the Ron Heil five day trip and we're motoring up the line in fantastic seas with a little bit of sunshine and the ice cream is being passed about the vessel. Can't say much more about this trip other than it was simply awesome and Ryan and the gang from Let's Talk Hook-Up have some big shoes to fill as we'll be turning around for a four day trip tomorrow. We'll be arriving to Fisherman's Landing tomorrow morning at 0530 as there will be three other long-range boats from the landing getting in and we're in the early slot. We'll report with you tomorrow and take care.

-Team Supreme-

P.S. Ana, the little monster is coming home safe and sound.

Sunday, August 14th, 2011

Hi friends. Our early morning bite was brief but we managed a handful of dropper-looped Yellowtail and a 30 lb. Halibut before we pulled the pick and began looking around for trophies. The hunt was short-lived as we saw very little sign of fish and with that, a new game-plan was drawn up and we started looking around different areas for sign of fish. It didn't take us long before we pulled up on a sonar school of Yellows that bit fast and furious. The fish were the school-sized grade but we welcomed them with open arms and open hatches. The bite was short and sweet and after a couple hours of action, we found ourselves back in search mode with little success. Not much going on in the different areas we looked at and before we knew it, the deadline was up and we had to make our way up the line to be in position tomorrow morning to finish out our trip with a half-day of tuna fishing. The reports sound pretty solid and we're hoping that we can find us a morning school and top off on tuna and put a lid on the 2011 Ron Heil five day adventure.

The Yellowtail zone was productive enough for us to call our stay here a success so we're traveling up the line in OK weather to wrap this trip up with some of those better grade Bluefins. It sounds like there are some hits to be had and we'll be there to find out for ourselves. Wish us luck and we'll chat with you tomorrow. And yes, Ana, the fish-catching machine formerly known as Brendan is locked up with Dad and will be released for the morning bite. Take care.

-Team Supreme-

Saturday, August 13th, 2011

Hi folks. A much deserved sleep-in for the boys was a fitting reward for yesterday's performance and we switched from tuna mode to Yellowtail mode. We arrived at our destination a little bit later than we would've liked and we found out why we would've liked to be there earlier. The bite was over with everywhere we looked but we still managed to put together a score on 15-22 lb. Yellows with a couple handfuls of those 30-40 lb. cows. We saw a really nice spot of those cows come up in the late afternoon and we're excited about the potential for tomorrow.

So that is what we'll be up to tomorrow, start off fishing for cows in the morning time and from that point forward, it'll be a toss up whether we stay coastal or we head back up to do some offshore prospecting and finish off on some offshore tuna/kelp paddy 'tails and mahi-mahi. The ideal scenario would be us loaded up with some cows and bail offshore but we'll see. Things could change at the snap of a finger, this water could roll over, and we'll have to re-evaluate things. We'll see. Wish us luck and have a good weekend.

-Team Supreme-

P.S. Ana, the little monster is safe and sound once again. He started off this morning by doing some push-ups to get physically ready to do battle with the mighty Yellowtail and it paid off. He had a very good day. We'll be releasing the beast here in an hour or so (0530 hours). The boys miss you and say HI.

Friday, August 12th, 2011

Hi friends. Stellar day on the Bluefin grounds today. In actuality, I should say we had a stellar morning and a stellar evening on the Bluefins. We found our desired water conditions first thing this morning and after a few jig strikes for a handful of fish, we had a single jig fish that turned into the real deal school. Every bait that was tossed in the water was eaten, every angler hooked up, on-the-corner style Bluefin tuna fishing and once one stop dried up, we motored around for a short while until another single jig fish started the melee all over again. It was truly awesome fishing. The afternoon was a whole different story as all we could muster up was a few Yellowfin jig strikes and not very consistently at that. Happy with our morning hits, we decided to steer the Supreme in a southerly direction to arrive to the Yellowtail grounds first thing tomorrow morning. That was until a hunch that an evening float was mere minutes from beginning steered us back one-hundred and eighty degrees back up to the tuna grounds. After going hours without much action, like a light-switch the ocean came alive and we ended the day with sheer pandemonium stops on the school-sized Bluefin and we also had a whack on some 30-50 lb. Bluefins as well. This fishing was as good as it gets for Bluefin tuna and we continued hooking fish all the way until the darkness set upon us and at that time we actually did leave to go to some Yellowtail fishing.

The ocean is a funny place. After "character building" type days where boats would catch absolutely nothing for weeks and weeks, Mother Ocean has decided that we've paid our dues and she is giving up a bounty that is truly gold in our book. Today was a day for the personal log book and the gang enjoyed every second of it. How could you not? It was one of those days that everyone has been waiting for and it just goes to show you that you can't sit around at home and go with the mindset that "I'll book a trip when they start biting". If one was to go through our log books for the past five years, you would see that every year has been different with different time-frames of the best fishing. We are at the mercy of the ocean both fishing and weather-wise (which by the way, was flat calm and gorgeous today). These fish have been M.I.A. for the better part of the 2011 season and all of a sudden, they bite. If we could've predicted that today was going to be a banner day, I assure you, we'd all be living in houses on the hill and driving Ferrari's. What I'm getting at is book a trip to go fishing, not to go catching. Enjoy fishing for what it is, getting away from the stress that land-life might bring, enjoy good food, good people, and just go out to have a good time and experience for yourselves what the ocean is all about. Don't sit around and wait for it to start biting because as is the case with this fish, it might not be here tomorrow. Any trip that you book on a boat, you have the chance to have banner days like today or you have might have a slow trip; that is fishing and it has been since the beginning of time. A lot of people have paid their dues with slow trips and days like today is the most rewarding feeling to those who have had those slow days. Today was a classic reminder that every year is different and when you book a trip, expect the unexpected. Come out to take a fishing vacation and enjoy the ocean for what is, a mystery.

All words aside, we had a terrific day. We're going to enjoy some ice cream and hit the racks. We'll be on the hunt for 'tails and seabass tomorrow. Wish us luck.

-Team Supreme-

P.S. Ana - We kept the little monster locked up safe and sound last night and when we unleashed the beast this morning, he had an awesome time and captured his daily limit (5) of Bluefin tuna. Brendan and Scott are having a fantastic time, they say hello, they love you, and it's all good.

Thursday, August 11th, 2011

Good evening friends. Standard operating procedures for a turn-around day on the Polaris Supreme. We offloaded Mr. Eric Rogger and company along with their gear and fish, said farewell, and began the many task that we must complete before loading an entirely new group for another trip. Big fish honors go as follows: Mary Lukas, 46.4 lb. Yellowtail. Chad Snyder, 42.2 Yellowtail. John Warner, 40.8 lb. Yellowtail. Congratulations to the winners and we'll see everyone next year. A big thanks goes out to Eric for consistently putting together a fine group of people to enjoy the rail with and thanks to Eric for being one of those charter-masters who just plain gets it. He knows how a group of people should co-exist both at the rail and as people living on a boat. With that, bring on Mr. Ron Heil and his friends for another five day adventure.

A standard travel day was expected today as we loaded bait, ate lunch, did some light rigging, and some heavy napping. But as they say, expect the unexpected. Right around the time we were getting setup for our tackle seminar, we spotted a bird school with some breaking Bluefin below. We hit the school numerous times and only Bob Hagan could coax one into eating a bait. On a side note, if there's one thing that you should know about the crew on-board the Polaris Supreme it's one thing - we love ice cream. Nestle Company's number one driver, Bob, outfitted us with the goods from Haugen-Daas. All natural fruit bars, vanilla-chocolate almond ice cream bars (bomb), caramel cone (double bomb), strawberry ice cream, coffee ice cream, and Dulce De leche. Bob brought on the goods: the sugar, the calories, and the saturated fat, and for that, the fish god's thanked him by giving him a Bluefin tuna to start things off. The area where we caught Bob's fish was loaded with life and it was very close to home, so we'll see if something materializes in that zone. To the overnight fleet and private boaters alike, go get 'em. Tomorrow, we'll a bit further from home to do some Bluefin tuna fishing. Boats in the area had scores from good to excellent and we want some of that, so we'll be arriving there first thing tomorrow morning.

In closing, the weather is double A+ and we'll be fishing first thing in the morning. Wish us luck and we'll chat with you tomorrow evening. Take care.

-Team Supreme-

One last thing. We have one spot available on our Andersen/Lund 8-day trip that just opened up departing October 1st. If you'd like to come out and join the dynamic duo of Dan and Howard or join any trip for that matter, give Susan a call at (619) 390-7890.

Great boat, great crew, great food, great passengers, good weather, slow fishing. That's just the way it went down on this day and a half. We were in tuna mode trying for nice quality albacore.

We scratched 26 and some yellows and let go lots of flats. Descent amount of fish seen at times throughout the day, but they didn't climb on our hooks. Hopefully soon coming and more consistent. Next trip is a 5 day, so stay tuned.