salmon lake Fishing Report 2025

Mike Pritchard called in with this report for the Tribute. "The fishing has started off well this morning. So far we have 20 Bluefin and a handful of Skipjack. Weather conditions are good, hopefully the good fishing will continue. We'll keep you posted."

Pictured Above: This is a photo of yesterday's catch.

~~Sep. 18
 "Fixed up" is a good expression to describe our day today.  We had very good yellowfin tuna fishing.  We arrived to our destination shortly after breakfast and after about 1/2 an hour of searching we found what we were looking for.  A school of 25-30 pound yellowfin.  It bit for a little while before we had to relocate the school, which we did a few times.  After that we found a different school of a more mixed grade of 10-30 pounders that we hit a couple times.  Then we found a school of mostly 16-22 pounders that we did well off of.  I think you get the point.  We had a good day.  Along with all the tuna we caught, we also managed 7 wahoo and 4 dorado.  I'll say it again, we had a good day.  We're feeling satisfied.  Worth the days travel to get where we've been the last couple days, that's for sure.

 The weather today was fantastic.  Fan tastic.  We'll be traveling tonight and sleeping in tomorrow.  We're shooting to be fishing tomorrow afternoon.  We'd like to top off on some yellers.
        

A five-day Dan Heil Annual Charter aboard Polaris Supreme with Skipper Drew Henderson, arrived August 21 at Fisherman's Landing. "It's been 20 years now, since '87," said chartermaster Ron Heil, "that I've been doing this trip. My father Dan, who passed away this last season, had been doing it since Tommy (Rothery) bought the boat back in '80 or '81." Dan Heil had been chartering with Rothery since the early eighties on the Polaris Deluxe, now the Breezers. He sailed with Rothery on the Polaris Supreme since '85. Rothery bought the boat from Bill Poole in 1987. "It was a little choppy on that first day," said Skipper Henderson. "But we had great albacore fishing. Cedros was great, we spent a half-day kelp fishing with little action, so we finished up at Benitos, and it was all the fish you could get." "We had a good trip and great timing," continued Heil, who hails from Portland, OR. "Drew did a great job, right out of the chute the first day, we were on a great albacore bite. It was a well rounded trip."
Mike Hunting of Riverside landed a 48.4-pound yellowtail at Benitos Islands, good for first place in the jackpot. Mike fished a sardine on a 5/0 Owner hook, 40-pound P-Line, an Avet HX 2-speed reel, and a Calstar rod. "We were in a shallow spot on the ridge" said Hunting, "and there were guys losing fish in the kelp. So when I got bit, I decided he wasn't gonna get to the kelp, so I buttoned down, past strike, and started cranking." Bill Byler of Covina was second for a 37.6-pound albacore and Gary De Void of Encinitas was third for a 36.4-pound albie.

Tommy Rothery docked his Polaris Supreme after the annual George Davis Expedition, with only eight anglers aboard. Rothery tied up at his space on the inner wing at Fisherman's Landing, ending his long range season on a positive note with a visit to Baja's southern banks and the Cleofas Bank, where all the fish that were kept were caught. Four cows were among the fish offloaded January 13. "All the big fish were from Cleofas," said Tommy. We released about half the fish we caught there, and nearly everything, including 15 big tuna, we caught up above. "So many people put so much emphasis on their pile of fish at the dock," remarked Rothery. "It disgusts me." Rothery and his anglers consistently release many fish of all sizes. Charlie Middleton of San Pablo got two cows; one with a sardine and the biggest one on a chunk. His tuna weighed 201.4 and 245.6 pounds. He said he fished with 8/0 Gamakatsu hooks, 130-poudn Maxima line and 130-pound Spectra backing on a Penn 80 SW reel and a new Ugly Stick 130-pound class rod. "That rod works good," said Charlie, who got his smaller fish in only 15 minutes. Al Tokunaga of North Hollywood took a 232.4-pounder after a 30-minute tussle. He said the fish bit on a sardine pinned to a 9/0 Eagle Claw hook. He fished with 130-pound Momoi line and 130-pound Spectra, with a Cal Sheet-s prepped Penn 50 S reel and a Calstar 6455 XH rod. "I used an eight-ounce torpedo sinker attached with a rubber band," noted Al. "He bit right after daylight. They were down there about that time every day." Roger Brown of Riverside bagged a 210.9-pounder with a mackerel on a 6/0 ringed Super Mutu hook. He said he fished with 100-pound Jin Kai line and 130-pound Jerry Brown Line One Spectra on a Tiagra 50 W reel and a Calstar 6455 XH rod. Brown's fish was notable in that it fought for 35 minutes, and then pulled skipper Drew Henderson over the side when he single-gaffed it. They were both brought aboard without further incident. Rothery noted that he will be doing boat work from now until May 31, when he will begin his summer season of three to five-day trips.

Hello there Polaris Supreme fans,

                                              Today was another travel day for us, this morning we had or seminar on fishing for giant YFT.  The crew went over fly lining, big bait , jig fishing, sinker rig, and kite fishing. We also handed out all the loaner gear and the guys started rigging up. Around 1600 we made a drive by the Rocks and found two 25 lb YFT willing to bite the jigs now we have fresh tuna for tomorrow nights dinner! Speaking of dinner its about time for me to go get ready for dinner so until tomorrow tight lines!!

 

Gunny and the Crew.

Captain Andrew Viola called in late last night at 11:15 PM.  We just wrapped up an overnight charter.  It was a tough morning the fish slept in.  The fish showed up later in the day and we managed 3 Bluefin Tuna (up to 120 pounds).  It was a very encouraging sign of fish once we got on them.  

We had a 2 day Izorline trip tonight and we have a SOLD OUT trip departing Friday night.

Upcoming Trips
Sunday Night 1.5 Day Trip - has spots
Tuesday Night 1.5 Day Trip - has spots

Aug 16
    We started our morning off again in the local bluefin zone.  Things felt a little better.  There were only about half the boats that were there the day before.  It had a much less claustrophobic feel to it.  Unfortunately the bluefin didn't seem to care.  It was on the slow side.  In 4 hours we managed 9 of them with 20 yellowfin to go along with them.  We left for the day and looked around for schools.  We scratched here and there throughout the day.  We had some reports of spots of 100+ pounders up so we made it there for the evening hit but never found a school of those.  We did catch some nice grade yellowfin though so with those and the sign of the 100 + pounders we know where we're starting tomorrow.  But first things first, we're going to run into the beach and try for bait tonight and as I write this we just finished up and we're headed back out with a couple tanks of mackerel and a couple tanks of sardine that we still have for ammo.
                            

 

~~Sep. 21
 Well, as promised we left on another trip today.  This one being an LA Rod and Reel Club long range 2 day trip.  We got a nice jump on things.  We were done getting bait and leaving the harbor by 11:00 this morning which allowed us to get to the tuna grounds by 5:00 this evening which allowed us to find a school of yellowfin before dark which allowed for most of the anglers on board to catch at least one which allowed me to feel satisfied about our day today.  Catching fish on a departure day.  Those fish were free.  Tomorrows the true day.  That's when we get real nasty.  So right now we're anchored up in the cove of an island and I couldn't be happier about it.  For the last week at night this boat has been running.  We've always been traveling somewhere so it feels real nice to be on anchor with the engines off.  It's even better that we're in a protected cove.  It's like being in the bay.  I can't speak for everyone on board but I'm pretty sure I'll be sleeping with my thumb in my mouth tonight.  Until tomorrow....