koocanusa Fishing Report 2025

Guadalupe is kicking out some real trophies like this 150 LB yellowfin tuna caught by Randy “king” Walker. Right on Randy!

Hello again anglers. We have a trip coming up that has a few openings. This one is July 2 and 3. Cost is $500.00. Limited to 20 passengers. Cost includes food and permits. Please contact Patrick at 702-375-0010. Should be a great time. Hope to see you there.

Thursday, April 11th, 2013

Hi friends. We're still traveling down in decent weather, with plenty of sunshine to make for an enjoyable trek. Although, the travel days can be very monotonous, we always find something out of the ordinary to do to break up the boredom. Today was a unique day, even by our standards; and even after all of the sea time that passengers and crew members alike have accumulated over the decades, we still found ourselves in activities, scenery, and fishing that we don't experience everyday.

Now, I'm not trying to make roses out of you-know-what; we caught Yellowtail today. That's all. We didn't run into the first wave of Albacore or run up on a breezer of giant Bluefin tuna. Nope, we simply caught beautiful 18-22 lb. Yellowtail. Before I go any further - I am not bashing the Yellowtail fishery in any way shape or form. We had a great time doing it today and in all honesty, typing out words to explain the amount of fun we had for an hour would bore everyone half to death. What garners this report is simply the hour-long spectacle that was associated with our Yellowtail fishing. Having wide open fishing and not really trying to compete with other boats or boost our own egos is fun enough, trust me. Just good old fashioned yankin' and crankin' is what we did today but add in the sight of breaching Humpback Whales (two adults and one cute little calf, literally within casting distance) with the backdrop of one of the most beautiful destinations that we fish in one of the most isolated places in the Eastern Pacific was something I'll never forget. Like I said, it was Yellowtail fishing; but add in the group of gentlemen that we shared this experience with, it was hard not to just stop for a moment and take everything in. All in all, it was a super fun day.

I'm sorry for the lengthy report. I'm reading three books at the moment and one of them is 83 Neurobic exercises to increase mental fitness and it encourages you to do some off-the-wall stuff - things that you normally wouldn't do to keep your brain healthy. It's a fascinating read and I'm applying a lot of the little things that the book says to do. I'm sure that I'm driving the crew crazy with how stoked I am to do these things; from switching my watch to my other hand, to navigating my way around the wheelhouse with my eyes closed and let my senses other than sight guide me around (don't worry, I'm not driving), to putting different types of tape on the keyboard (don't ask) - it's all really interesting to me and it's keeping the travel days fresh and exciting. So, I apologize for this whacky report but I'm helping to keep my brain stimulated and hopefully yours too.

Anyhow, With this particular trip -- or any 17-day trip, for that matter -- there is always something new to do to keep us on our toes. From rigging up "Bruce" our new anchor (insert circus music here) to finding a good book to read to learning a new way to rig tackle or just enjoying the ride with some good friends, the entire experience of traveling down to our destination can be looked at in multiple ways - today was one of those good travel days and I felt like sharing it with everyone because we're pumped. Other than good weather and good food, I'll leave y'all with a few more clues as to what in the heck we're doing with our time. It involves: five grown men, a food processor, Yellowtail Milt, a deck brush, and a bait scoop. Stimulate your brains. We'll chat with you manana.

P.S. Devon, Alayna, and Lyall - I caught y'all a delicious Calico Bass today. I wanted to release it but mortality was imminent. I am deeply sorry. Scootch didn't even try to save it either so it's half his fault. Sorry.

Out with a light load last night so, Captain Shane decided to go fish for Big Bluefin. As of 5 pm, they had 12 Bluefin on board, most 80-140 pounds, 2 at 180 and a 315! Pictured below is regular Shane wrightson with a limit of Bluefin, one at 180 pounds and one at 315. Captain Shane can catch fish, but may need to work on his picture taking

22 yellowfin 5 bluefin. Saw some good schools today but they weren’t very eager. Hoping for an attitude adjustment tomorrow.

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!

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.

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.