chattahoochee Fishing Report 2025

Polaris Supreme Trip Update 11-19-2019 Well fishing was pretty darn good today! Just not for us. Our passengers are pretty well fixed up on yellowfin tuna, some people just kept Five or six and Released the rest and some people kept 14 over the last four days. So we decided to go look for Dorado and Wahoo on kelp patties. And let me tell you it didn't work out! As close as we got was one dead turtle with one single Dorado swimming around it. The boat we left behind, where we were fishing tuna in the morning ended up having a phenomenal day before we got back there late in the afternoon. That's how I know it was good fishing! We had good weather today looking but it didn't help a whole lot. Tomorrow we going to go spend about four hours looking for yellowtail to wind up the trip. Our efforts on the Dorado was just in the wrong direction. One boat found an excellent school 40 miles to the northwest of us on a dead seal. Another boat had beautiful bull Dorado fishing 60 miles to the southeast of us today. It just wasn't meant to be for us! So off we go! we will report from the yellowtail grounds tomorrow. We are dragging our feet behind the storm here we don't want to drive up into it. Our weather has been good to excellent the whole trip. The Polaris Supreme Crew!

~~Sep. 11
 Hello all and welcome back.  Or welcome me back or... you know what I mean.  I'm back.  5 days off and I'm back on the water and reporting to you.  I met the boat at the dock at 6:30 in the morning and was pleased to see the stern deck loaded up with tuna.  A good catch they had.  Well we off loaded everything and everyone, went and changed oil and put enough fuel on board to last us a while and left on our Bogart construction 2 day charter.  We got a good enough jump to fish a few hours before dark in the latest hot tuna zone but hot it was not.  The fishing there in the morning was good but it took a dump late morning and on.  We wound up catching 3 tuna before dark.  Obviously we're hoping for a good morning tomorrow and we're also hoping the bite stays on for longer then it did today.
       
 

Today we tried our hand at Wahoo fishing once again. It was not the red hot bite like yesterday but it was still good numbers and unmatched quality of fish. Many 40-60 lb fish. We have to start heading up now. We may have some time to fish Yellowtail tomorrow on our way up. Here we have some victorious anglers after another great hit on Wahoo! Also Andrew with an absolute monster!

Polaris Supreme Trip Report 09-26-2019 Good afternoon everyone I hope you guys had a great day like we did! Our weather was absolutely slick flat calm all day. I am afraid we're going to have to pay for this later on though. The usual rigging eating sleeping went on throughout the whole day here. Getting geared up for tomorrow when we arrive in our fishing destination. The Polaris Supreme Crew

Friday, July 22nd, 2011

Good evening. With all of the life around the boat last night, we never managed to hook a fish this morning so we made a move and relocated the good sign of fish from yesterday. All in all, it was a very slow day up until the afternoon time when we got on a big breezer of smaller fish and had a nice little flurry on that smaller grade of fish. They really responded well, boiling within ten feet of the transom but for whatever reason we only managed to hook and land a handful. That was pretty much our hot action of the day. We saw a couple good spots of fish today but the Bluefin were Bluefin and it was a struggle to get a bite. There's potential for some decent hits in this area but for now, it's only for a couple of lucky boats and today, we were not a lucky boat. Sometimes, that's just how the cards fall.

With a beautiful load of Yellowtail in the fish holds and an annoying load of kelp flies everywhere else, we put a bow on the 2011 Paul Hess five day trip. Our utmost gratitude goes out to Paul for once again putting together a stellar group of folks and continuing to bring them back year after year. No matter what type of economic situation or what type of fish we catch, this group has a great attitude and they come out here to have a good time. Also, thank you to Sandra and Dave Lafferty for bringing some delicious food, especially the Cherry cobbler. We'll see y'all next year. Go Giants...not.

So there you have it. We're enjoying a fine ride as we motor back to port and we're shooting for a 0730 ETA tomorrow morning. We'll be coming back out with the Costello gang for five days of fun with Captain Drew Henderson at the helm. We'll check back with you tomorrow and have a good weekend.

-Team Supreme-

Thursday, July 21st, 2011

Hi friends. We finally made it to the hot Bluefin grounds in the afternoon and as soon as we arrived, the bite shut off. We saw good life and a few schools but we never saw the whites of their eyes. There is potential to scratch out a day here as the few boats that were in the area all day had a few fish to show for their efforts. Based on that, we rigged up and tossed out the sea anchor and will be drifting offshore all night. There is a ton of life around us right now with squid, sauries, and birds all around so hopefully with all of this life, we'll wake up and pick away at some shortfin's. Wish us luck.

-Richie and Team Supreme-

Wednesday, July 20th, 2011

Good evening friends. Yellowtail fishing aboard the Polaris Supreme was outstanding today. From right after breakfast until the late afternoon, we were pulling on 'tails in the 14-20 lb. class. Massive breezers, meter marks, and color spots were repeatedly located and we enjoyed steady catching all day long in beautiful weather. We had a very entertaining day and the evening time found us on the hunt for "premiums" which we managed to boat one right around 35 lbs. Hot rigs today was 30 lb. test, fly-lining a sardine with a J-hook tied on. No fluorocarbon, no designer circle hooks. A Yellowtail's mouth is like sandpaper, so there is no reason to waste the money on more abrasion resistant/expensive line and a hook that is designed to be set in the corner of the mouth so you don't get chewed off by a fish with teeth. With the exception of cow tuna fishing, we see more fish lost on circle hooks than landed. Granted every type of tackle worked today but time after time, we see just a simple 30 lb. rig filled with mono and tied up with a J-hook catching more fish than a rig with fluorocarbon and designer circle hooks. For Yellowtail fishing, it's an unnecessary expense when a so called "cheap rig" will get the job done just as good. Hey, when you step foot on the Supreme, you can fish with whatever type of tackle you wish. But take it from the people who are out here everyday, when it comes to Yellowtail fishing, keep it simple. Outfit yourself with mono and a J-hook and save that money that you would've spent on the fluoro/designer hooks because you're going to need to put it towards your fish processing bill. Get what I'm saying?

So that is all. The gang has had their fill on Yellowtail so the decision was made to venture offshore to focus on tuna fishing for the remainder of the trip. A couple of our community boats had an OK day on the Bluefin grounds so we're looking forward to seeing if we can't track down a few schools and add to our beautiful catch of Yellowtail before trips end. Our weather is a little bumpy but everyone is too tired to notice, they're out and so are we. Wish us luck and we'll chat with you tomorrow.

Happy Hump Day,

-Team Supreme-

Tuesday, July 19th, 2011

Hello friends. We began the hunt for Bluefin tuna early this morning by shutting down in the gray light on a school of tuna and just as soon as everyone woke up to begin fishing, they vanished. So we followed suit and the hunt for greener pastures commenced. It took us a little while to get a school located but when we got it located, it was a good one. We immediately saw fish boiling up good all around the boat and we hooked a few right off the bat. We landed a handful and we lost a handful but what we did land were a beautiful grade of Bluefin in the 25-35 lb. range. With the massive surface show 360 degrees around the boat we decided to get the kite out. Multiple fish attacked the baits but missed the hooks and after that, all we could do was watch them boil within ten feet of the baits and turn their nose away from our double sardine rigs. We watched the show for a couple of hours before they bailed and it was a slow day from that point on. We did pull a couple of nice Yellowtail from a kelp paddy and we even trolled up a smaller grade Bluefin tuna later in the day. Not too shabby considering a lot of boats in the prior weeks have been calling in zero's for fish counts, so we're very happy with what we caught and we'll be back on the tuna grounds after we do some Yellowtail fishing. A couple of boats in our long range community had a pretty steady day on smaller grade Bluefin in another area so we'll keep our ears open to that developing situation. Like I said, we're going to go do some Yellowtail fishing as the bite has been hot and we're looking forward to finding out for ourselves just how hot the bite is.

So that's it. Our weather is fair and we're in excellent company with Paul Hess and his good friends. We'll be in the zone first thing tomorrow morning and we'll report back to you tomorrow. Take care now.

-Richie and Team Supreme-

P.S. Te amo, Anna. From: Mark.

Monday, July 18th, 2011

Hello friends. We're back in business as we departed on our annual Paul Hess five day trip this morning. Paul has been putting together a great group of anglers for the better part of a decade on the Supreme and we're happy to see all the familiar faces that he's brought aboard this year. Our bait loading went smoothly and we've been traveling in calm weather ever since leaving the harbor around lunch time. With boats spread out in different areas along the coast and offshore, we're taking our time in deciding what our game plan is. Part one of our journey will be on the hunt for Bluefin tuna tomorrow morning as one of our companions in the long range fleet saw good sign and had an OK day on the shortfins today. We'll begin looking around in the morning and we'll see if we can't boat a couple of tuna fish tomorrow before we worry about part two. Wish us luck and we'll report back to you tomorrow.

Happy Monday,

-Richie and Team Supreme-

 October 15th, 2012

Hi, friends. We woke up this morning to lovely weather and a lovely Mediterranean omelet for breakfast. Drew didn’t care for the egg dish, at all, but what Drew does care for is his new book that he recently completed in a whopping day-and-a-half, The Hunger Games. That’s right, Drew Henderson is in the club. With no military background or training, I carried out a stealth reconnaissance mission—complete with a summersault—and snapped a super stealthy photo of Drew getting in a couple chapters in the salon before we began our trolling/mast rotations (you'll see the photo on Sunday). Those books are captivating! I’ve completed the trilogy, Chef Shawn is midway through the second book, and Drew is just starting the second so within a matter of a few days, our book club meetings will be just dandy, complete with T-shirts that read "I Heart Katniss".

Anyhow, on to the fishing. Our morning saw us snag a few nice flatheads on the troll and we also managed a few on the bait/jig rigs. A little bit after lunch; we had a few wahoo strikes with our best stop producing four beautiful skins. Dale Goss to looks to be in the lead for jackpot thus far as he landed what looks to be about a fifty pounder on bait. Although the wahoo action was short-lived, the mahi-mahi action was just enough to keep us busy today and who doesn’t love the mahi-mahi action? For the most part, this area was unproductive but we had to give it a shot, as it will be our only shot fishing south of the 28 latitude this trip.

Speaking of one shot, it was a good thing I got my bronze on these last two days as it might be a little windy the remainder of the trip and I’m going to Oregon when this trip gets back in. Bottom line, I need to glow and not embarrass the reputation of a San Diego boy whom works on a long-range sport fishing vessel that charters the waters deep into Baja California Sur. I've heard that some people in the northwestern states get really depressed because they don't see the sun for months at a time. Fear not, friends of OR/WA, I'm coming up there to spread the joy of sunlight and give hope to those who desperately seek this natural wonder of the universe. It's okay, my cloudy companions, we here on the Polaris Supreme have plenty of UV rays to share and I shall deliver the gift to all of you from all of us. You're welcome.

Okay, back to the topic at hand. At around 1600 hours, we bid farewell to the wahoo zone and began to make our way up the line to not only put us in position to do some yellowtail fishing tomorrow but to also keep ahead of Hurricane Paul. Our weather currently is very nice where we are but in a matter of hours, it won’t be and we’re bailing out to make sure that we don’t stick around to prove the weatherman correct. Hurricane Paul has thrown us a slight curveball but we’re more than happy to fish for some cow yellas, mahi-mahi’s, twenty-five to fifty pound yellowfin, and twenty-five to one hundred and twenty-five pound bluefin tuna closer to home and further from a hurricane. It might be a blessing-in-disguise. We’ll see.

So that’s all. We’ll be doing some yellowtail fishing tomorrow before we decide on our next move. We’re taking things as the come and we’ll keep you informed on our whereabouts. Everything is just fine here on the boat and we’re all safe and sound. We’re just hoping that Hurricane Paul is a Chargers fan and fails after giving his all for half of his cycle. I would be very concerned if this hurricane was named Hurricane Peyton. Very concerned.

In closing, I had some time to type up the on-goings of life here on the Polaris Supreme so I took advantage of it. I’m sorry for the novel but to get a better perspective on how we roll here on the Supreme, one must get a perspective on how we live life here on the Supreme. Sometimes, it’s not all about fishing but I promise to give you a glorious fishing report tomorrow. With that, I leave you with a few shout-outs. Take care.

- Joe says hello to his lovely wife, Andy. Hi Andy. You’re the star that shines brightest in Joe’s life.

- Riddler says, and I quote, "no ‘hoo for Chaparro." Sorry Chappy.

- Dan Anderson says hello to his stunning wife, Beverly. Hi Beverly, Dan also says, "Daddy caught you a wahoo. Still working on that grouper."

- I would like to say hi to Layni and also to Herb Yamanaka. That bowl you made was sweet. I forgot who won it but they were pumped. I'm sorry I'll miss you in Oregon. Go Ducks.

-The Supreme Team

Polaris Supreme Update Nov.5

 

We weighed jack pot yesterday. Big fish went like this. Bernie 218, Charlie 208 I think, Jeremi 206. So once again myself and the crew thank George and his guests for another fun trip. J.C. thank you for the sun glasses. We'll see you guys on the golf course if we ever get it going. If not we'll see you in Big Sky. Can't wait!

I'll leave this trip with a story about a few of the crew and my friend," big fish" Charlie Middleton. At the beginning of the trip Mark the crow member Clark thought it would be a good idea for the crew to have a personal jackpot for the tuna they catch during they're watch. The rules were simple. To qualify your fish had to be caught between 8 at night and 5 in the morning. They allowed passenger Charlie Middleton to join them too. Immediately I'm out. I know better then to go up against that man but the rest of the crew did not. Unfortunately the fish didn't bite this time during those hours but Charlie managed to get one the second to last morning at 4 30 in the am. On the way home the crew finally paid him. I come to find out the morning we got in Charlie gave the crew they're money back and they excepted it. I am very disappointed in Jed, Gunny and Mark. They excepted it! Can you believe it? If it were me I would have burned the money before taking it back from Charlie. I know that's illegal but come on. I think that was in Charlie's plans the whole time. To just demoralize these crew members.

Now we've left on Lon Mikkelsen and this years co charter master John Esler's 10 day adventure. We have an awesome load of bait on board. Best of the year. We're going to have breakfast in the morning, have our seminar and then we're going to spend tomorrow pulling on nice yellowtails. It makes more since to Tommy to fish this species early in the trip as apposed to later on in the trip due to where the rest of the fishing will take place later on in the trip. So that's the game plan to start. Check back tomorrow for more details. As I was typing this I thought of a Hedburgh joke. If I lost 9 fingers I would still type just as fast. So true for me.

See yah. Drew

Polaris Supreme Trip Report 08-21-2016 Hello Readers, Today was another beautiful day on the water. Fishing was tough but we made a day out of it. It was definitely quality over quantity today. We are all very optimistic about what tomorrow has in stock for us! Thanks for reading, Team Supreme