algoma Fishing Report 2023

~~AUG. 6
 We fished hard today.  It felt like a kind of slow day but when you look at our tally it shows we had a good day.  We just never got steady more than a couple of drifts.  We'd stop and get a handful and then have to go again.  Other than a few hour long drifts that is.  But at the end of the day, when only half the people were fishing and I had a yellowtail to give away because the angler who caught it had his limit already and nobody handed me over a tag, I knew it was a good day. 

 Things didn't start off so hot though  Nope.  I knew our bait was dying but I thought we were good for another day of fishing before it would croak.  I was wrong.  "Red Boy".  The sardines were red.  Most were either floating belly up or lying at the bottom of the tank.  We made it through though.  We worked hard and had a good day.  The yellows were nice ones too.  20-25 pounds in the morning and 14-25 pounds in the afternoon.

 The weather through here was great today.  I'm not sure we've had one day at this Island this year where the wind wasn't ripping through the south end where we've been fishing.  Now we have one and it looks like it will remain true tomorrow as well.  We saved one tank of bait from last trip.  I knew the first morning we may not have any survivors for our last day if we didn't save our one tank of good bait.  Hopefully we find something to use it on.  I know we'll be making horrific speed coming up so we won't have any time to "work" an area.  We just have to pick a course and hope for the best.  See ya.
       

Sunday, June 17th.

Hello everybody. First off, we here on the Polaris Supreme would like to wish all the dad's out there a happy Father's day and we would like to assure all the mother's back home that the young men on-board are beat. Tired and happy as can be from an eventful first day of fishing. Worry not about them, they are sleeping soundly and are looking forward to doing it all again tomorrow morning.

We arrived to our destination on schedule due to our phenomenal weather and proceed to look around for a bit. To no avail, we made a move a little ways to some fresh country and upon arrival, spotted a breezer of Bluefin tuna. Most guys went out with their 30 lb. outfits as we hadn't yet seen a boil to get a size estimate. After a couple minutes of drifting, the ocean, which was peaceful and calm for the past twenty-four hours, was now full of big, beautiful Bluefin tuna erupting all around the boat and it was a classic scenario of hunting elephants with deer rifles. We hooked a few on the lighter gear and actually managed to land a couple and as for the rest, you all can guess what happened. Once we started fishing a little bit heavier gear, the bites diminished a bit but what we did hook, we landed and they were some real beauties. It was one of those classic Bluefin deals that warrants a stealthy, 50 lb. rig with the best bait you can find and although we had very little wind (which is a problem when trying to fly a kite) we did successfully hook a couple on the balloon rigs and what a show that presented. We drifted for four hours and came out with a couple handfuls of gorgeous 50-100 lb. shortfins but that wasn't without a few heartbreaks as well. Like I said, a short topshot of fluorocarbon with a 3/0 hook, two-speed reel and a strong, castable rod is the best bet for landing these trophies. It was truly a spectacular show that these fish put on for us as fish were blowing out all around the boat. Kind of gets frustrating at times seeing all those fish and not hooking them like you should but that's how Bluefin fishing is sometimes. We're just thankful that we had our shots and connected on a couple o trophies. Some of them are bigger than the kids that landed them. Pretty cool.

Anyhow, the rest of our day consisted of a spot of jumpers that produced some 25 lb. Bluefin, a couple Yellowfin tuna jig strikes and a kelp loaded with rat Yellowtail. Going from 100 lb. Bluefin to 3 lb. Yellowtail might disappoint some, but the kids sure weren't disappointed, they were pumped! We had a good ole time catching and releasing all of the juveniles to grow but like I said, it was the most fun the kids had all day. So with that, our day was complete and we've decided to make a move into some more coastal waters to not only elude the wind that is forcasted for tomorrow but to also try for some Yellowtail of greater size than the ones we caught today. Fun day, awesome weather, we're out. We'll chat with you tomorrow.

P.S. Mark would like to tell Ana, " ti amo". Happy Father's Day once again to all the daddy's out there. Chat with you tomorrow.

The tenth annual George Davis trip aboard the Polaris Supreme arrived at Fisherman's Landing December 5, after spending ten days in southern waters with a super ultra-light load of seven anglers, including chartermaster Davis. There were five tuna over 200 pounds in the catch. One fish was well over 300 pounds. The big fish came in at 347.8 pounds, caught by Kevin Stokes, who is studying video making and cinematography, working on his B. A. in digital video at Mt. Sierra College in Monrovia. The giant yellowfin bit a sardine on a 6/0 Mustad 7691 hook tied to 100-pound P-Line and 130-pound Spectra on one of the boat's rigs: a Tiagra 50 reel and a Calstar 6460 XXH rod. It fought for 35 minutes. "He didn't fight too hard," said Stokes. He just laid there like a big cow. I almost lost him at the end, because his circles went all the way across the stern. They got him with four gaffs and lifted him over the rail. "My best tuna before this one was 180 pounds. It fought harder. I may have this one mounted. Next, I've got to go back to work and to school." Stokes said he does freelance work in video. Eleven-year-old Gunnar Johnston outscored the men by taking two cows; two yellowfin over 200 pounds. One of his fish weighed 217.8 pounds and won second place. The other went 209 pounds. Gunnar goes to Marinotha Christian Academy, and races motocross. His dad Craig Johnston is a construction manager in Orange County and was close by when Gunnar hooked his big cow. "I was up the rail," said Craig, "and I saw him get bent, and I shouted, ‚Дтdon't let go of that rig,' and I saw him pull back harder." Gunnar got the fish to gaff in 45 minutes, after it bit a sardine on a 6/0 Super Mutu hook on 130-pound Izorline fluorocarbon leader tied to 100-pound Momoi line and 130-pound Line One Spectra. He used an Avet 50 reel and a Calstar 6455 XXH rod. "It's my first long range trip," said Gunnar. "It's fun, hooking up and catching these big fish. Craig Johnston said his son had been on one and two-day trips before, but this was his first long range venture. "My best fish before was a 30-pound albacore or a dorado," said Gunnar. "I want to do it again." His dad felt the same way. "He was bit hard at first," said Craig, "but he did his work in the corner." Charlie Middleton of San Pablo took a 213-pounder and won third place. He said it bit a sardine on an 8/0 Gamakatsu hook tied to 100-pound Soft Steel Ultra line and 130-pound Power Pro Spectra on a Penn 80 SW reel and a five and a half-foot Ugly Stick rod. The fight lasted 20 minutes. "The best fishing was during the squalls," said Charlie. "That's when I hooked this one. He took me around the boat twice. There was a lot of 18-inch squid around."
Jim Jacobs of Murietta had never been fishing before. "I didn't know how to hold the pole," he said. Jacobs got a 202.6-pound tuna after a 40-minute scrap. It bit a sardine on an 8/0 Mustad 7691 hook, also on one of the boat's rigs. "My first trip," said Jacobs, "and my first fish."

July 10

Slow day in the long range tuna grounds today. It didn't take long after day light to find what we were looking for as far as bird life and dolphin life goes and it was in the area that we fished on the way down and did well and where other boats had done well too in the past few days but this action had been in the afternoon and we were there first light. Things hadn't gotten with it yet. The fish weren't there. We couldn't wait for the afternoon due to us needing to be in San Diego tomorrow so we had to keep her rolling. We saw nothing else for 30 miles other then a few jig strikes for a bakers dozen. We bumped into some common dolphin around lunch time and we caught some tuna with them but it was short lived. The dolphin were being mean and not cooperating. We did nothing after that and called the trip at 3:00 in the afternoon.

The weather was choppy first thing, then smoothed out until around 2:00 and got choppy again. We're having your average rough ride home. It will be a good test for all the bolt holes from antennas that we took off and replaced. No water dripping in the wheel house yet. I think we're good.

We'll be getting in tomorrow at 7:30 in the morning and we'll be turning around for 5. See ya later.

Tommy Rothery tied up his Polaris Supreme after the Eric Rogger five-day charter. Rothery weighed the fish while Bill Roecker interviewed chartermaster Rogger near the scales. "Tommy burned a lot of fuel looking around," said Eric. "We got some real quality yellowtail." A sardine on the dropper loop enticed the first-place fish for Gil Suizo of Chatsworth, who reeled it in after a ten-minute scrap. "He fought hard," said Gil. "I sweat a bit bringing him in; there were lots of seals around." Gil said he used a ringed 4/0 super Mutu hook, 50-pound P-Line, an Avet SX-2 reel and a Calstar 660 rod. Dan Hendrickson of Chatsworth took second place for a 34-pounder, and Phillip Bruce of Ramona got a 32.2-pound yellowtail that was good for third place.

 

Hi friends. This morning's action on Yellowfin tuna was just the type of fishing we were looking for. Steady jig strikes and some bait fish to go along with the trollers. One problem; no size. All of the tuna we hooked this morning were successfully released and it was back on the prowl for bigger and better things. We once again found good water conditions but the lack of any sign of pelagic species was somewhat unsettling and we decided to do make the run to the "Numbers" around lunch-time. It took us a while to get the proper deal located and when we did, it was game on for Yellowtail in the 12-20 lb. range. To add some color to our Yellowtail catch, we also caught three Bluefin tuna, a couple of 30 lb. Yellowfin tuna, a handful of Dorado, and Garry Roberts caught a Gold Spotted Sand Bass. Pretty cool looking fish. Anyhow, this group took what they needed from the Yellowtail garden and began just having fun catching and releasing 'tails. I'd estimate that we released well over seventy-five quality Yellows, we even released a good majority of the 20 pounders. I have three highlights from this spot. One; On our way into the spot, two Killer Whales charged the boat and had Drew as excited as I've ever seen about whales. They checked us out for a minute and then were on their way again. Two; We had a Whale Shark get close enough to the boat that I'm sure if we tried, we could've successfully and safely boarded all passengers and crew on top the beast and then return back onto the boat. Simply amazing, humbling creatures. Three; "Big John" Korgy, Fisherman's Landing gate security person re-wrapped my 9'3" Ulua with an all yellow wrap, greenish guide wraps, and a Chiquita banana sticker. I call this gem "the Big Banana" and I brought it down for some of the passengers to test their skills. It was pretty fun watching the guys get their butts handed to them and Jed took some great photos of Mr. Roberts pulling on a Yellowtail with the long rod. I must say thank you to John as the rod is simply stunning. Just an awesome day. Once again the weather was A , with once again having premium bronzing conditions all day with sunshine and a light breeze.

 

To round out our day, a gigantic kelp paddy floated by and with just an hour of daylight left in our busy day, we managed to capture a box-full of beautiful Dorado as the sunset. Great half-day of fishing for us on the Supreme. Tomorrow, we'll be looking for tuna and wahoo and we'll decided our next plan of attack from there. Wish us luck and take care.

 

-Team Supreme-

Captain Tucker McCombs checked in this morning from the Endeavor out of Hook's Landing in Oxnard, CA. We got em again! Limits of White Seabass and a Halibut too! The Endeavor is online for White Seabass fishing again departing tonight.

Polaris Supreme Trip Update 07-30-2016 What we started out our first day fishing with great hopes of success catching yellowtail right off the bat on the anchor. Those dreams ended quickly with only a handful of fish off-color dirty water and really not that much life compared to what we had seen in this area before. Knowing we needed to make tracks heading towards what we hope will be tomorrow's hot tuna grounds we quickly departed for offshore kelp patty fishing the rest of the day. Although we were in excellent water and saw plenty of kelp's we had no success. Beautiful weather fun group of guys no fish. That pretty much sums up yesterday. Thanks for stopping by our website and remember those of you who just got off the boat you will be able to download high resolution images of pictures from the last trip on the Polaris supreme website. Also we have openings on our next four-day trip departing on August 8 Tuesday. Call Susan if you'd like to go fishing with us.