nanaimo lakes Fishing Report 2025

Polaris Supreme update 08-15-2012

              Our day started off today in flat calm weather and high hopes that we were going to score big.  We worked our water break way out to the north west away from where we have been catching most of our fish.  About 20 miles away I thought "What the heck am I doing?  What if they start getting them?"  We made a sweeping turn out to the west and immediately found our first small paddy of the day.  We were immediately rewarded with a frenzied bite of mixed yellowfin, bluefin, dorado and small yellowtail which were released.  When the dust had cleared we had about 35 mixed fish.  And back up to the wheelhouse and mast we all went to find another one.  After about a half hour of searching and lunch time approaching , we hadn't found another one.  And then of course, my worst nightmare occurred.  Signs of the fish starting to bite 20 miles back where I left from.  This is one of those times you wish you had a button you could push just once a trip to put you somewhere instantly.  
Of course you'd probably want to push it again and go back where you
just were once you got there.   That's probably why they don't make such
a devise.  That and the lack of technology to do so.  Anyway, off we went two hours south.  Back to where we started our morning.  As we arrived it turns out that only one boat had really caught much of anything and he was definitely one of those lucky guys.  He had had a phenomenal day on that small grade yellowfin and bluefin.  As the passengers began to break down their gear and we headed north, our day went from slow to the insane.  We spent the rest of the hours until heading for home late, in a wide open bite for small yellowfin and bluefin.  With the odd big yellowtail, 18 pounds or more and dorado, 15 pounds thrown in.  Talk about carrying around a horseshoe and waiting until the last minute to use it.  It was a fantastic topper to Eric Rogger's 28th ? or 30th long range charter with me.  And also a befitting ending to Alex Crandall's last hurrah before he heads off to Afghanistan.  Alex it was awesome to have you and your dad on board to spend time together. Thanks for sharing that time with us on board the
Polaris Supreme.  Thanks Paula for letting them go.    We will be
heading up the line and into San Diego a couple hours late tomorrow.  
Somewhere around 8:00 am or so.  We will report tomorrow on the jackpot fish and give you a trip wrap up.
Thanks for tuning in,
Tommy and the awesome crew of the Polaris Supreme

Oct. 15

We had excellent yellowfin tuna fishing today. It wasn't a one stop shop or anything like that, but rather a short stopping thing for six or eight or more per stop but we did this every hundred yards or so and we did this all day. Normaly we would be 100% stoked with this fishing but unfortunately the grade was not great. We were looking for the 25-35 pound fish and would never think twice about keeping an 18-25 pound fish but the fish we were catching were as small as 8 pounds and not very many exceeded 12 pounds. We had good action though. We were kept busy all day long. Nobody had time for a nap. We were kept on our toes. Anyone who wanted to keep some yellowfin tuna had that opportunity today and many did though we released about as much as we kept but like I said it was still fun none the less. The weather wasn't ideal. The wind was blowing some and the current was going straight into the wind which calls for rolly conditions but the sun was out and it was ok. Everything seemed to smooth out after dark.

We're going to go do some yellowtail fishing tomorrow. .

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-

Keep Cool when it gets HOT and HEAVY! We had fantastic Yellowfin Tuna fishing today. They bit very well and grade was excellent. 15-25 lbs average with 35-40lbers mixed in. The only thing hotter than the fishing was the Baja sun. Pictured here is chef Mike bring water to crewmen Ben and the rest of the passengers during a hot bite. Thanks Mike for keeping us cool when it gets HOT and HEAVY!

GREAT 1.5 TRIP WITH CAPT. J.J.!!!! APOLLO fished Colonet with 25 anglers for 5 Yellowtail, 30 Lings & 215 Rockfish. Checkout their next available trip. Book now before it's too late. Call Fisherman's Landing @ (619)221-8500 to get your reservation.

We are still catching tuna steady here at Guadalupe Island. Mainly in the 60-80 LB range! Beautiful grade! 

Some recent pics of the action we have been experiencing lately. Room on trips throughout the rest of the week and fishing has been great!

216 Yellowfin and 56 Bluefin for this weekends 2 day trip and lots of the fish are straight up quality. 619 224-3383

We departed today on Lon Mikkleson's annual, limited load 10-day charter. We loaded up some great looking bait while Pedro prepared a delicious pork tenderloin for lunch. The weather is slick, flat calm and the our anglers and crew both are excited about the upcoming prospects. The passengers are preparing their gear and for dinner Pedro put out a yummy lobster and rack of lamb dinner. We will keep you posted.