margaret river Fishing Report 2025

I have three more fishing opportunities on the Apollo. Berkley will sponsoring three overnight Channel Island trips. These will be sea bass and rock fish type adventures. There will be give aways and raffles on board compliments of Berkley and Pure Fishing. Everyone will receive goodies for fishing. The dates will be: Friday April 3rd, Friday May 1st, and Sunday May 17th. To book a spot please contact Sea Landing (Truth Aquatics) at (805) 568-0460.

A five-day Dan Heil Annual Charter aboard Polaris Supreme with Skipper Drew Henderson, arrived August 21 at Fisherman's Landing. "It's been 20 years now, since '87," said chartermaster Ron Heil, "that I've been doing this trip. My father Dan, who passed away this last season, had been doing it since Tommy (Rothery) bought the boat back in '80 or '81." Dan Heil had been chartering with Rothery since the early eighties on the Polaris Deluxe, now the Breezers. He sailed with Rothery on the Polaris Supreme since '85. Rothery bought the boat from Bill Poole in 1987. "It was a little choppy on that first day," said Skipper Henderson. "But we had great albacore fishing. Cedros was great, we spent a half-day kelp fishing with little action, so we finished up at Benitos, and it was all the fish you could get." "We had a good trip and great timing," continued Heil, who hails from Portland, OR. "Drew did a great job, right out of the chute the first day, we were on a great albacore bite. It was a well rounded trip."
Mike Hunting of Riverside landed a 48.4-pound yellowtail at Benitos Islands, good for first place in the jackpot. Mike fished a sardine on a 5/0 Owner hook, 40-pound P-Line, an Avet HX 2-speed reel, and a Calstar rod. "We were in a shallow spot on the ridge" said Hunting, "and there were guys losing fish in the kelp. So when I got bit, I decided he wasn't gonna get to the kelp, so I buttoned down, past strike, and started cranking." Bill Byler of Covina was second for a 37.6-pound albacore and Gary De Void of Encinitas was third for a 36.4-pound albie.

Well I hope these pictures aren't too boring for most of you. I am just trying to show case how hard the BOYS work in the off season to make sure your fishing experience with the Polaris Supreme Family is The Best. Of course we will get to the Fishing Very Shortly.

Today our 30 anglers were treated to a 6 hour drift which resulted in 33 bluefin tuna from 60 to 100 pounds and 1 twenty pound yellowfin. We managed to keep 1-8 fish hooked at all times. Our bites were coming on 40&50 lb flyline sardines and 130-160 gram Shimano Flatfalls as well as 100 gram Shimano Colt snipers. TIP FROM THE CREW: In order to keep the deck clean and safe. We rinse with a saltwater hose constantly. Wearing rubber boots or waterproof shoes is recommended.

One sweep of the sonar may change your life just like it did for our group today. 85 yellowfin tuna, 15 bluefin tuna, 30 skipjack tuna, 65 yellowtail (not tuna).

Polaris Supreme arrived June 10 after a five-day trip. Owner-skipper Tom Rothery docked the boat at Fisherman's Landing and weighed the best of the catch. "We fished open water and found a new albacore area," he said at the scales. "We fished our first night out, and got a few. The albacore bit good, and we also got some nice yellowtail off kelps. On our first half-day of fishing we had an excellent bite on albies of 30 to 40 pounds." Chartermaster Paul Hess of Napa won first place for his 42.4-pound albacore, which set a new high mark for the species this season. He said he bagged it with a sardine on a 3/0 Eagle Claw hook tied to 30-pound Yo-Zuri line on a Trinidad 16 reel and a Calstar 800 M rod. Brian Schwartz of Napa won second place for a 40.8-pounder, and Casey Weaver of Woodland took third for a 40.6-pound albacore. "He came in after 15 minutes," said Hess. "It was a standard albacore deal."

We had a nice afternoon hooking fish landing was okay lot of tackle failures
and losses to the sharks! But we still managed to put a nice afternoon
together. It's absolutely a beautiful grade of fish! Most of the anglers
hooked for five of these fish! We are having to fish the 30 and 40 lb. test
to get a bite here. Not ideal for getting the larger Tuna away from the
sharks. Hopefully they bite heaver line tomorrow!
 

126 yellowtail 21 bonito. Come prepared with a yo yo rod and a bait rod. A few 6x jrs and a few 1 oz egg sinkers. Surface iron also produced for the seasoned Angler.