ray long Fishing Report 2024

Aug. 17
    Today almost went as planned except for the lack of yellowfin.  We were supposed to scratch pretty good at the yellowfin in the morning, like 40 or so and then get on that big bluefin, and then scratch out another 30 or so yellowfin in the evening.  Well we did the middle part but the numbers were lower on the sides.  We saw plenty of that yellowfin, it just didn't bite well.  On with the cool part.  We found a mega school of that 70-100+ pound bluefin mid morning.  It's been a long time since I've seen a mega school and every time I do I forget about the time before and I think it's the biggest school I've ever seen and that's how today was.  Of course it didn't bite, but for me up in the wheel house where I can see it well it was incredible.  Just the area of fish was monstrous, and when you add in all the shiners and thousands of black backs swimming through, it's amazing.  We fished it for 4 hours on different attempts.  On the first, the youngster Brendan hooked up and landed about an 80 pounder.  On the second, his dad Scott hooked up and lost it and we hooked and lost another one.  On the third, Scott hooked up again but this time he landed his 107 pounder. So far it's looking like we'll have a father- son jack pot.  On the next few tries we got no reaction so we let it regroup for a while and a couple hours later we found it again and we hooked two more and lost them both and we missed a bite on the kite.  We tried it one more time after that for no reaction before we left it for good.  We're going to fish again tomorrow.  We'll make a small move and relocate but as things are right now, we don't need much more yellowfin so we'll concentrate on the other kind of tuna.
                                    

Getting a school of Yellowtail to this point is the last stage of some serious skipper sh**t. Today Capt. Matt Bralla and the guys put 149 Yellowtail on the boat.

Polaris Supreme Update 8-5-11

Hello everyone. So here we are again as we wrap up Dr. Jim Prigmore's 4 day fishing trip. I must say, the fishing gods made us work this week and weren't quite as rewarding as we would have liked. Our first day out there was nothing short of perfect conditions, water temp, color and choice bait to choose from. We weren't graced with the counts that we were after, but the fish holds did get some company from the 3 pelagic species that wre being hunted. The anglers got a taste of what it was like to get blind jig strikes from yellowfin tuna and tuned up on offshore kelp patty fishing for dorado and yellowtail. Anytime the deck hatches are being opened and fish are sliding in, that's a good thing. Making sure to beat feet south in time to wake up to a cow yellowtail bite is exactly what we did. A few lunkers were already in the box well before the sun rose and continued into the post dawn hours. Things were looking up for the day, but as the morning progressed our conditions did not prevail. The current was not with us and we all know, you need current to catch fish. All of the grounds were covered, sometimes 2 and 3 times over until we did drop in on a couple spots that were holding some quality halibut. I believe one that was around 30 lbs hit the deck that day with a couple more just shy of that were soon to follow. As the day came to a close and the grounds were more than covered, Captain Tommy had to point the Polaris Supreme north to get us up the line for our final day of fishing. By daylight were sending bait to the bottom only to be bringing up a nice score of lingcod, vermillion reds and some miscellaneousottom dwellers. We only had til about lunch time to keep the lines wet before the trip was called from the bridge. Time to head for home.

Team Galley, as usual came through day after day with one superb meal after the next. From breakfast anyway you wanted it, to the sushi/sashimi spreads and the dinners that would rival any 5 star gourmet resteraunt. Chef's David Schooler and Barry Benson never let us down. Look for the Polaris Supreme tomorrow at Fisherman's Landing about 7 am to depart with Eric Rogger and his fine group that he brings year after year. Be sure to check back in with us as Captain Richie takes over the keyboard with has always entertaining fishing reports. Thanks for checking in and talk to you tomorrow!

Jed and crew

Jackpot winners were as follows:

1st Place: Sean Arbunich 37.2 lb Yellowtail

2nd Place: Dave Smith 35.8 lb Yellowtail

3rd Place: Steve Larsen 33 lb Yellowtail

Congratulations Winners!!

Polaris Supreme Update 8-4-11

Good afternoon and thanks for stopping by faithful Polaris Supreme followers. This morning we once again woke up to beautiful weather at the seriola lalandi grounds (yellowtail for those of you that aren't up to speed on scientific names). At o'dark thirty we already had two premiums in the box. 30 pounders. As Mr. Sun showed his face, we continued to plunk away at a few more in the upper 30 pound class. Knot too long after breakfast was done, the bending of the rods came to a hault and it was time pull the pick and go looking. South bound we headed to locate the school grade yellows. About 45 minutes into the journey, we found the right conditions and started chasing down the breezing forktails. The anglers picked away, a few here, a few there, but then the fish decided to get a nice case of lock jaw and eventually were nowhere to be found. That led us on an hour and a half tour to drag some sardines along the sandy ocean floor.Some success was had as we hauled 3 halibut over the rail, one being about 30 pounds! Congratulations Tom! After about another 2 hours of searching, it was time to switch gears and get back into travel mode. Have to make sure we cover plenty of ground the rest of the afternoon to get us into position for a few hours of wet lines tomorrow as we get ready to wrap things up and call it a trip.

This evening Team Galley is going to be serving up a delicious grande veal chop with risotto and mixed veggies. Certainly one of my favorites. Well folks, until tomorrow with my final trip undate and I turn the reigns back over to our trip reporter extraordinaire Captain Richie Elias, I say good night and check back tomorrow.

Jed and Crew

P.S. Richie, only one CB order

Polaris Supreme Update 08-03-2011

Good evening friends. So to start our offshore adventure today, the morning was surprisingly warm. We all rolled out of bed just as the sun cracked and right into shorts and t-shirts. The seas weren't quite so friendly, but very workable. Our coarseline prevailed for most of the day and gave the crew some descent looking conditions for spotting those kelps and any other activity on the water that might lead us to find a score. The kelp patties were fairly plentiful for a good portion of the day, but we just couldn't find that right boomer to shut down on. However, we were able to gather up a couple handfuls of dorado and just when we thought there might be a lull in the day, the beautiful sound of 4 clickers screaming at once got us right back in the ball game. Although nothing of size came, we did get the guys on some yellowfin tuna in the 12-15 lb range, with a couple anglers landing their first ever! As the sun closed the distance between itself and the horizon, we got on a string of smaller kelps that produced plenty of just below keeper size yellows. Those stops gave the anglers a real idea on working together at the rail in some fast paced action here on the Polaris Supreme. We got the blood flowing and gave'em a small taste of what's to come.

Tomorrow is a brand new day as we head south to the yellowtail grounds to target big numbers on 18-25 lb forktails and go in search of those mighty 30-50 lb cow yellows! The weather forecast looks great and we are excited. Just as I'm typing up the evening report, I smell the aroma of Chef David's famous seafood alfredo pasta seeping it's way into the wheelhouse. With shrimp, giant scallops and an A alfredo clam sauce, it's always a gormet delight! If there's one cure to a rough day of fishing, it's to sit down to an amazing meal prepared by none other than the Polaris Supreme's "Team Galley". So on that note, I'm going to head downstairs to enjoy a tasty dish myself. Until this time tomorrow my friends, I bid you a good night.

Jed and the one and only Team Supreme

Polaris Supreme Update 08-02-2011

Good afternoon sports fans! Reporting to you live from the bridge of the Polaris Supreme, we departed today on Dr. Jim Prigmore's 4 day fishing extravaganza. We have an ample load of beautiful sardine on board with us and are anxious to get them over the rail and let the feeding begin. Where we end up isn't set in stone yet, but where ever we do end up, we are going to show this eager group of anglers how we do it Baja California style. The weather is gorgeous rolling down the line and let's hope that holds up for us over the next 4 days.

We were lucky enough to have our lunch plates graced with Chef David Schooler's Polaris Supreme style cheese burgers that had to weigh at least a half-pound sided with some awesome maccaroni salad. As always on our departure days, the group will be putting down a more than healthy portion of the always delicious prime rib. So our hopes are high and our fingers are crossed to go get the job done Supreme style. Well, it's about time to head downstairs for the fishing seminar to get the guys all tuned up on fishing for the days to come. Make sure to check back with us tomorrow after dinner for our day 1 report. Talk to you tomorrow!

Tight lines and bent rods,

Jed and Team Supreme

P.S. We would like to send out one last thank you to Mr. Tom Chapparo and his fine anglers with and extra special thanks to Mr. Herb Yamanaka and his beautiful gifts that he so graciously brings us every year. A big congratulations goes out to our jackpot winners: 1st Place goes to Joe Gigliotti with a 39.6 lb yellowtail, 2nd place was Charter Master Tom Chapparo with a 38.8 lb yellowtail and not very far out of 2nd place was Dr. Steven Gammer with a very nice 38.2 lb yellowtail.

Wednesday, August 10th, 2011

Hi friends. We arrived to the tuna grounds this morning a little after breakfast and with boats already broadcasting catches of Bluefin for the morning, we made our way out to the deck with heightened sense of excitement. Immediately upon entering the area, we had a couple of hits on the smaller grade Bluefins before a lull set in for most of the late morning all the way up until after lunch when we managed to find a few schools and had some action for the remainder of our day before we had to call it a trip around 1600. Throughout the day, Yellowfin tuna jig-strikes kept us awake and we also caught a few mixed in with the Bluefin schools. We ended our day with a respectable score but a few lucky boats managed to find a lucky school and ended up having a good day on the smaller short-fins. The potential is here for future ventures down this way and we also saw one spot of the bigger models so this area has us our full attention and we're looking forward to getting back down here as boats who remained in the area are reporting catching fish all the way up until dark.

With that, we put a bow on Eric Rogger's five day trip and are currently traveling up the line in beautiful, flat calm seas. Our ETA is 0700 hours tomorrow morning and we'll be returning back out for Ron Heil's five day trip. We'll report with you tomorrow. Take care.

-Team Supreme-

Tuesday, August 9th, 2011

Hi friends. We slid into our destination first thing this morning and immediately sent the bait-catchers down to snag some Mackerel and snag some Mackerel we did. The Mackerel proved very useful today as we had a very good morning on the premium-sized Yellowtail. We also hooked a decent amount the stock grade fish in the 15-22 lb. range but all in all we had nice mix of the 25-35 pounders to go along with the stock grade fish. After a couple Halibut drifts, we made our way back to the Yellowtail area and finished up our day with a nice bite and with that, we ride off into the sunset.

As for our next destination, we're busting a move to an area of fish up the line and this particular place is called "what we've been waiting for". Numerous boats are reporting very good afternoon scores on Bluefin with a handful of Yellowfin tuna to add some color. The Bluefin are a mixed up grade and it sounds like the range of those fish are small all the way up to 60+ pounders with some Yellowfin in the 15-25 lb. class. It was hard to get a true report from the guys as most of them were in long drifts with multiple fish hooked up and the captains had to remain on deck to deal with the melee. The cliff-note reports were all we needed to hear and we left the Yellowtail biting to get up there and have a chance at the tuna we've been desperately seeking all season. The setup is prime, we feel it's our time, and we're screaming up the line. We're out. We'll report with you tomorrow afternoon. Wish us luck.

-Team Supreme-

Monday, August 8th, 2011

Good evening Polaris Supreme subscribers. Our expedition for kelp paddies was a great success today. I don't throw the term "super duper" around lightly, but we had ourselves a super duper day. It wasn't find-a-glory-kelp-and-be-done-with-your-day type fishing but more of find-a-bunch-of-kelps-and-piece-together-a-solid-day type fishing. Our only tuna situation found us looking at a breezer of Skipjack and we only tagged a handful of Dorado but our Yellowtail count was mess of numbers on the fish count board when all was said and done. The size of the 'tails ranged from 1-8 lb. "shakers", which were all released, and a healthy 14-18 lb. grade with a handful of 20 lbers in the mix. It was never wide open but we stayed busy throughout the day all they way into dusk. What was more impressive to me was the abundance of kelps and the size of the kelps. There were some real beauties out there and the beautiful sunny, light swell/wind conditions made for prime glassing and we never went more than twenty minutes or so without finding a kelp. All in all, awesome day. We're stoked and we'll be making a move throughout the night to hunt exclusively for trophy-sized Yellowtail, White Seabass, and maybe a Halibut drift or two will be on the agenda.

So that is all. Good times with good people and wish us luck tomorrow on our hunt for some cow Yellowtail. Have a great night.

-Team Supreme-

Sunday, August 7th, 2011

Hi friends. Picking up from the previous report's update, we slid into the Yellowtail Island in the late afternoon and did some scouting around before we located the 'tails and with a flurry, they hit us hard and like a light-switch, they shut off. What gives? The grade of fish was beautiful with most of the fish being in the 16-22 lb. range. We did some more poking around the Island and around sunset time, we found another spot that bit all the way into dark and we finished up our day with bent rods. To sum up the day, it was fantastic. A couple hour drift on our Yellowtail/Dorado kelp in the morning was a great warm-up and when the Island bite was complete, we made the decision to go check out a new area for tomorrow. The new area is a kelp-paddy zone where Yellowtail, Dorado, and Yellowfin tuna have been caught and the weather forecast looks good for tomorrow. We'll be motoring hard throughout the night and we'll be there when the sun comes up.

In closing, our weather conditions were prime all day and along with the fishing we enjoyed today, we're hoping for a repeat on Monday. Eric Rogger's crew is sound asleep and anticipating a full day of fun tomorrow. Let's hope that the fish/weather don't disappoint. Wish us luck.

Before we sign off, I'd like to let you know that we have a couple of trips that warrant mentioning. Garry Roberts 9-day trip departing Aug. 25th and returning Sept. 3rd has a couple of openings available. In years past, this trip has been notorious for stellar fishing at Alijos Rocks/The Ridge and it's also one of the first trips to make a good score on the Wahoo. Garry is one cool cat and if you'd like to join him, give Susan a call at (619) 390-7890. Also, Joe Gigliotti's Accurate sponsored 8-day trip leaving Oct. 15th returning Oct. 23rd also has space available. Prime time Fall fishing with a limited load of 20 anglers. Can't get much better than that. Do yourself a favor and give Susan a jingle ASAP.

-Team Supreme-

12:45 August 7th Morning update

We were late on getting the report out this morning and before I send this out, I just wanted to inform y'all that this morning, we stumbled upon a glory kelp on our journey. We picked up a few boxes full of 12-20 lb. Yellowtail and 8-12 lb. Dorado. It was darn good fishing for a couple of hours for a 50/50 mix of flats to jacks,and once it dried up, we continued to make way towards Yellowtail Paradise. We'll be there in the early evening time, that is if we don't find another glory kelp. More to report this evening. See ya.

-Team Supreme-

Saturday, August 6th, 2011

Good evening everyone. Today we disembarked on Eric Rogger's five-day fishing adventure along with Eric's closest friends. After topping off our sardine supply, we began our southerly trek down to the fishing grounds while Chef Barry served up some king-sized cheeseburgers with all the fixin's. The rest of the day was spent rigging, napping, and with the completion of our tackle seminar, our day was complete and we're hitting the racks to rest up for tomorrow's activities.

Our game-plan for tomorrow is to do some scouting around as we keep on-course to our next destination, which if all goes according to plan, won't happen because we found some offshore species to stall our progress towards the Yellowtail grounds. The Yellowtail grounds kicked out some pretty good scores in a different area today and we'll be giving it a check tomorrow. Like I said, hopefully we arrive there late because we stumbled upon a loaded kelp, loaded porpoise, or any other types of offshore-pelagic species. Our weather is great and we'll report with you tomorrow.

-Team Supreme-

Monday, August 1st, 2011

Hi friends and happy August to all of you. Our ride last night was a little bit sloppy and we made horrible speed but we checked out a couple of coastal spots anyways. They were dry but we gave it a look and the call was made to break down the gear for the final clean-up. Throughout the day, our ride progressively changed for the better but as of 1900 hours this evening, we're bouncing around a little bit. Nonetheless, the gang are downstairs enjoying their final meal aboard the 2011 Tom Chaparro/Stern Hogs five day trip. We're still making less than normal speed and we'll hopefully make up some speed up the line so that we arrive to Fisherman's Landing on-time tomorrow morning at 0700 hours.

For this evening's report, we'd like to shine the spotlight on Tom Chaparro. As I said last night, this year was his fourteenth year chartering the Polaris Supreme and for the last five years that I've been involved with the Supreme, I feel that I can sum up Tom pretty well and it's pretty simple - Tom Chaparro is the man. Not only being an outstanding fisherman, Tom makes sure that everyone on-board his trip has a great time and does it the right way, the Polaris Supreme way and nobody knows that way better than Tom. It's just Tom's vibe that makes his trip special. Yes, he wants to catch fish more than anybody on the vessel but he still wants people to do things the right way and have an outstanding time. Tom makes you feel like you've been riding his charter since day one, he gives you the respect that he wants back in return and in this day, that is hard to find in some people. Most of Tom's charters are familiar faces year in and year out, and that is a tell-tale sign of Tom's desire for fishing and his desire to make sure that everyone on-board is happy. I could go on for paragraphs about Tom but all I can say is come find out for yourself. His sister Mary is one of the sweetest people you could meet and we were sorry that Tom's son, Thomas, couldn't make it this year. Get well man and we'll see you next year.

So that's all. It's dinner time and like I said, we're trying for a 0700 ETA. Tomorrow, the gang will be departing on the Prigmore four day adventure so look for Tommy's reports to continue tomorrow evening. Take care.

-Team Supreme-

Sunday, July 31st, 2011

Hi friends. We completed our tour of Yellowtail Land this evening the same way that we started this morning by landing a couple of lunkers in the 30 lb. range. Our time in the middle of our day was spent chasing breezers and color spots of Yellowtail with decent success and the size of these fish wasn't bad either with most being in the 15-18 lb. class. We would occasionally hook them on the surface jig's and yo-yo iron's but it was mostly a bait fishery. Fly-lined sardines on 30 lb. test was working with great success and our two days down here at the Yellowtail Grounds was a fine stay once again. Our weather today was awesome with the exception of a little afternoon breeze and the weather we're currently in now as I type this report. We're rockin' and rollin' up the line and depending on our speed, we'll see if we can get a couple hours of coastal fishing time in tomorrow. We'll see.

After Chef Schooler kicked out a Yellowtail dinner with his Polaris Supreme famous lemon-butter-caper sauce, charter-master Tom Chaparro extended his gratitude for 14 years of quality service by teaming up with Herb Yamanaka and presenting the crew with some of Herb's handmade exotic mahogany bowls/pepper grinders and University of Oregon merchandise. We say thank you to Tom and also a big thanks goes out to Herb. Herb normally fishes on Lon Mikkelsen's Ocean Tackle Research ten day trip in the fall but decided to hop on with Mr. Chaparro and his exceptional group. Herb took countless hours of footage on last year's ten day and made an awesome video from last year's OTR trip that is currently on our website and Herb is flat-out one of the nicest guys you will ever meet and we issue many thanks to him. He also tells Donna that he loves you and go Ducks.

Also, Joe Gigliotti, who has been riding with Tom since the beginning of his charter, has an Accurate sponsored 8-day trip leaving October 15th returning October 23rd, limited to 20 anglers, and he's informed me that there are some openings on it. This time slot is prime time Alijos Rocks and Ridge fishing for tuna and wahoo and Joe will have plenty of goodies to hand out as well. Joe is a super cool cat and if you'd like to come join up with him and Accurate, give Susan a call at 619-390-7890 and let's get in on some limited load, early Fall action at it's finest.

So that is all. As I've said before, our weather isn't ideal but we're doing just fine and not rollin' around too much. We'll hopefully get in some fishing time tomorrow and we'll check in with you tomorrow as well. Wish us luck and have a great start to the work week.

-Team Supreme-

Saturday, July 30th, 2011

Hey folks. Yellowtail fishing was limits today on The Polaris Supreme. We a steller start in the morning a lull to allow everyone a chance to get rested Then back at it in the afternoon. There wasn't a whole lot of times during the day that we weren't pulling on 'tails. Our grade of fish is still very nice with a few 40 pounders to round out our day in style. We caught them using all of the methods that we employ while fishing for Yellowtail and we're hoping for a repeat tomorrow, at the least. We're hanging out in the "premium zone" where we'll hope for a some big ones in the morning. That is our plan for now, Chappy and the gang are having a simply splendid time, and Garth Kubeldis is currently in the lead for the Lizard-fish jackpot (woo-hoo). We're enjoying the goregous weather and we'll be giving it a go bright and early tomorrow morning. Wish us luck and we'll chat with y'all tomorrow.

-Team Supreme-

Friday, July 29th, 2011

Hi friends. Windy offshore conditions made for a tough day but we managed to piece together a couple stops for Bluefin, Yellowfin, Yellowtail, and a couple handful's of Dorado as well. With the kelp paddy scene starting to take shape, we're excited about future ventures down this way. Throughout the day, we continued our southerly trek down to the Yellowtail grounds and we'll be fishing before the sun even rises. As a matter of fact, as of 0458 this morning, Chappy has already boated two 'tails on the dropper loop. We're off to a good start. Wish us luck and happy Friday.

-Team Supreme-

P.S. To Donna - Herb says he loves and misses you and I say - Hello Donna. The Oak floors are going to look marvelous, keep up the good work! Take care.

Thursday, July 28th, 2011

Good evening friends. We arrived at 0700 this morning to unload the Costello group and their catch of beautiful Yellowtail, Bluefin, Yellowfin, Calico Bass, Vermilion Rockfish, Lingcod, and the token White Seabass. Once our turn-around chores were completed, we brought aboard Tom and Mary Chaparro for their annual Stern Hogs five day limited load charter. They've brought along quite a few familiar faces with them, except they forgot "Little Chappy", but we're looking forward to catching up with the crew on-board and catching fish. Our bait is looking OK and we'll be monitoring the situation overnight to ensure that we have healthy bait. When all of the loading, eating, rigging, napping, and seminars were complete, the gang feasted on Prime Rib and hit the racks to prepare for the activities we have planned for them tomorrow.

For tomorrow, we'll be giving the offshore scene a try with the hopes of locating some Yellowfin and Bluefin. If a kelp paddy happens to pop up, we'll try those too as there has been some kelps kicking out some nice Yellowtail. So that is our plan, the weather is quite nice, and we'll get things rolling tomorrow morning. Wish us luck.

-Team Supreme-