kootenay lake Fishing Report 2025

Polaris Supreme Trip Report 07-17-2016 #2 I meant to send this picture of the fathom meter this morning but I forgot about it. This is a screenshot of our fathom meter last night when we hooked the 115 pounder that Jack caught. You can see these Bluefin like to hang between 26 to 40 fathoms. That's pretty darn deep. If you look up towards the upper part of the screen, you will see two flat straight lines. One of them is in the middle of the screen at about 4 fathoms and the other is on the left side at about 11 fathoms. That is somebody under the boat using a live bait sinker rig. Also in the center of the screen you'll see a forward slash. It is light in color and broken up starting at about 4 fathoms going down to 12 fathoms. That is somebody winding a jig up. If you look between 7 to 13 fathoms you'll see a jig someone is dropping down. The point I want to make is that these fish are typically deep and you need to be able to get your bait or jig down into the deeper water columns where these fish are at. Knowing this you should be using those big heavy jigs or heavy torpedo sinker to increase your chances of hooking one of these trophy fish. The tuna did not show up. A couple of us saw schools that did not cooperate at all. We picked up a few yellowtail on kelp patties and a handful yellowfin tuna for the day. We are heading home to regroup. We would like to thank Archie Steele and the gang for joining us we had a great time with the crew and some fantastic fishing the first part of the trip. We will be into the dock early tomorrow morning to pick up Paul Hess and the gang! Thanks for reading, Polaris Supreme

8 DAY ULTRA LIGHT LOAD TRIP!!! APOLLO still have 5 spots open on a 8 day trip. Ultra light load limit to 12 anglers. THE ULTIMATE TRIP. Boat leaves 11/13 Monday at 9am & returns 11/21 Tuesday at 9am. Cost is $2400(all meals & Mexican permits included). Fuel surcharges will be extra. For more info & reservations call Fisherman's Landing @ (619)221-8500

36 pass. 18 yellowfin tuna 2 yellowtail. Spent most of the day trying to get the lay of the land and we like what we see. Please bring a 20lb bait rod and a 40lb bait rod. A colt sniper or popper rod is always a fun tool but certainly not necessary. Size 2 and size 2/0 live bait hooks. A short piece of flouro always helps. No passports required for offshore trips. Call Seaforth at 619-224-3383 for info and resos.

We departed today on Bob Vance's annual five day. After we picked up a cruddy load of bait we dined on a delicious pork tenderloin for lunch and headed for the albacore grounds. This is a great group of anglers. Many have been on this trip with Bob for years. We are really looking forward to some good fishing. Weather is still good. Wish us luck.

Sunday, July 7th, 2013

Hello friends and a very happy Sunday to all of you back on the beach. We departed Fisherman's Landing around 14:00 hours today on the Joe Beck/Mal Wagstaff 6-day adventure with plenty of familiar faces and a few new ones to spice things up. Our stop at the bait receiver went a little bit better today and although it's not the best bait we've ever seen, it's a lot better than what we loaded up on Tuesday. At this point, we'll take it and we'll be keeping a close eye on their well-being throughout the night.

Other than that, we've been enjoying a nice ride out to the Bluefin grounds and our activities have been pretty standard for a departure day. Rigging tackle, napping, eating, seminars, and catching up with old friends and new ones alike. Chefs Schooler and Shawn just finished up the dinner serving of prime rib, baked potatoes, peas, and sorbet for dessert.With that being said, we're going to cash in for the evening and get ready for tomorrows fishing adventure to begin.

We'll be in the upper end of the Bluefin zone around mid-morning and the scores for the boats in the area were decent. It sounds like that 50-70 lb. BFT was biting a little bit and a few schools of 25-40 lb. fish were around too, so we'll see if we can't get ourselves some of that.

Not too much to report today but hopefully tomorrow is a different story. We'll be at it tomorrow morning and we'll report back to you tomorrow evening. Take care everyone and wish us lots of luck.

~~
July 11
 The morning started off so promisingly. We had plans to haul butt down to the lower grounds where there had been some good kelping but we got stopped short. The setup was epic. We had a 1-2 degree water temp break, and we were instantly catching fish. They were mostly small yellowfin. There was a sprinkling of 15-20+ pound tuna in there but most were throwbacks. But it felt like the school of straight bigs was right off the bow. We found a nice kelp and caught a dozen nice yellows and some more of that small tuna with a sprinkle, and again, we felt like it was soon coming. It never came. We stayed very busy but unfortunately it was mostly that throwback yellowfin. Eventually we gave up on what we thought was our honey hole and we never found much else the rest of the day. The lower zone produced enough for the couple boats that were down there so we're going to start down there tomorrow.

 

 

 

The weather was great most of the day. It got a bit breezy late but hopefully that comes down tomorrow.
 

The Pacifica checked in this afternoon with an audio update from offshore.   We have limits of Yellowfin Tuna and 4 Bluefin Tuna.

We have plenty of room on our 1.5 day trip leaving Monday night and other 1.5 and overnight trips throughout the week.  We also have a full day trip Sunday at 5:30 AM.  

Bring your 20# and 15# sticks with fluorocarbon and small flat falls.

Guadalupe Update

7/27/2011

Passports

 

Dear Polaris Supreme Anglers,

 

I hope this letter finds all of you well.  As summer fast approaches we have gotten final Guadalupe questions answered.  And below I have done my best to try to convey them all to you.

Not all trips will go to Guadalupe.  Last year there was already excellent fishing at Guadalupe mid July.  In a normal water temperature year like we have now, we start to see Guadalupe produce good yellowfin by mid August.  So mid July, mid August is the time slot we may start fishing Guadalupe.  Your guess is probably as good as mine.  But we do know if the yellowfin do show, they will be there in full force by September and October. Either way we want to be to be prepared for any scenario.

Passports, Visas, Mexican Permits, and Guadalupe Permits (one bracelet for each day of fishing at Guadalupe) will be required by all passengers on all trips four days and longer from July 18^th on that may go to Guadalupe.  This is a Homeland Security US and Mexico Customs and Immigration requirement to go to Guadalupe Island.

I realize the logistics seem very complex, but all you, as a passenger will need to acquire, will be a passport.  We will acquire all other documents.

The decision to go to Guadalupe will be made four to five days prior to departure.  This will give us time to prepare our forms, and notify our customs brokers, (Us and Mexican), Department of Homeland Security, Customs, Immigration, Agriculture, and Coast Guard.

We need your passport information now!

Our decision to go to Guadalupe will be made on the basis of whether there is good fishing or not at the Island, weather, input from charter heads and passengers as to their desire to go.  The Captain and owner will make the final decision based on the above-mentioned and any other issues that may come up.

 

A typical route on a five-day trip would be as follows:

     Day 0 – Board 9:00am * Depart Landing11:00am * Depart Bait Receivers 1:00 pm

                   It is 60 miles from San Diego to Ensenada * Arrive Ensenada 7:00 pm *

                   Two hours to clear * Depart Ensenada 9:00 pm

 

     Day 1 – Fish day light until dark off shore for albacore, bluefin, and yellowtail on

                  kelps.  It is 182 miles from Ensenada to the North end of Guadalupe and 196

                  miles to the south end.  217 miles from San Diego to north end of Guadalupe.

                  237 miles to south end.                                   

 

     Day 2 – Fish Guadalupe daylight and on into the night for yellowtail and tuna.

 

    Day 3 – Fish Guadalupe until dark.  You could also go back off shore at the end of the

                   Previous day to fish albacore, bluefin, and yellowtail on kelps this day.

 

     Day 4 – Fish off shore for albacore, bluefin, and yellowtail on kelps.  We must be within

                  60 miles of Ensenada by 4 pm to be into Ensenada by 10 pm to clear out of

                  Mexico.  Depart Ensenada midnight.

    

     Day 5 – Arrive San Diego customs 6:00 am.  One hour to clear.  Arrive back to the

                  dock 7:30 am.

 

The typical scenario for a four-day trip would be one day less at Guadalupe.  If indeed the Island was the main destination.  The time involved to target Guadalupe on four and five day trips will not allow us to have time to fish Cedros or Benitos.  Six or seven day trips will.

This is the longest expected clearing times.  We are hoping to keep Ensenada down to one hour and San Diego down to a half hour.  There is no scheduled check in into Guadalupe, but we expect to be inspected by Conapesca and/or the Mexican Navy.

Only on trips going to Guadalupe requiring clearance there will be a clearance fee of approximately  $3260.00  divided up amongst the passengers on board.  This will cover the cost we will be required to pay in and out of San Diego and Ensenada for customs, Immigration and Agriculture.  Other cost will include the following

 

Cost 5-Day:  (carrying 24 people)

                      Mexican Fishing Permit $ 87.00 (cost incurred on all trips to Mexico)

                      Mexican Visa  $25.00

                       Daily Guadalupe Bracelet  $ 5.00   (per day) times 3= $15

                       Clearance Fee  $135.00

 

                       Approximate total $257.00       

 

Our bait dying in Ensenada Harbor has been a question brought up and will not be an issue.  Ensenada Harbor is very clean, if not cleaner than San Diego Bay in the summer when there is no runoff.  It is also cooler than San Diego Bay and chance of red tide is slim in both bays this year with no El Nino. 

 

Thank you all for your patronage.  If you have any questions or concerns please call me or Susan at the Polaris Supreme office.  619-390-7890

 

 

Thanks,

Tommy