tauranga Fishing Report 2025

We arrived today with a fantastic catch of Albacore, Blue fin and Yellowtail. Jackpot was a 42.4 lb. albacore with second and third both at 40 lbs. It was a great group and we look forward to having you all back again next year. Drew will be departing today on a 3-day. Prospects look good. Thanks, Tommy and crew

~~Sep. 14
 Well, we got our tail on today.  We started up there and caught a few, then we went there and had a couple of real nice drifts.  Good tailing on medium sized yellows.  We'll call them 12-14 pounders with a few smaller and a some in the 16 pound range.  We were completely OK with them. I spent my whole time there in the pit with my butt in the air stapling tags on the customers fish while the rest of the crew were gaffing.  After a couple good drifts, and I mean good ones, the fish stopped biting.  No one knows why, they just quit biting so we had to make a move again.  Now if I had remembered there was a Charger game on at that moment it would've been a great time to listen to it being we were making a 3 hour move.  But I forgot all about it.  I was too busy thinking of our next move and the future moves of this trip.  It was a good game too.  If you weren't paying attention we beat the 2014 super bowl champs.  !0 point under dogs.  Beat them up.  That's right Seattle.  Look out nation.

 We didn't catch much when we arrived to our new hot zone.  A couple of handfuls of nice yellowtails and then it got dark so now we sit on anchor.  We can safely fish one more day here before the storm pushes us out of here.  Which direction we'll go?  I'm not sure yet.
          

Aug 11

I'm not sure how i feel about today. I know at 3:30 I felt real bad. Extremely frustrated to say the least. 2 of the boats we were fishing with found schools early in the morning and drifted with it most of the day scratching away at the bluefin the whole time while we drove around seeing nothing. The other 2 boats we were with connected around 1:00 in the afternoon and were gettin um, so I was feeling sad and mad. I told Mark to switch gens and broke out the volt meter to see if we had a short somewhere. I figured there had to be a reason we were the only boat not drifting. We were looking in the same water with the same machines trolling the same jigs but just not seeing it. The truth of the matter is there was nothing wrong with the boat, her captain or the crew. Sometimes your just that guy. Sometimes your front row and sometimes your nose bleed.

OK, enough wining. The day turned out just fine. At 3:30 we found a boomer school and drifted on the 25-45 pound bluefin almost till dark. Everyone caught at least one with top dog Phil boating 6 of those beauts. The weather was great in the morning but increased wind velocity throughout the day and it was pretty choppy at dark. So with the weather coming up and our bait situation worsening, we're heading down to fish for yellows and try for some macks.

~~July 28
  I just woke up and thought I'd better write this before I forget about it.  Last night after our late hit we made a 5 mile move tighter to the Island in this little bay, if you would.  Man o man was it good sleeping.  The boat just gently rocked us to sleep.  Gently.  The AC was pumping and we were all beat from our day and kind of sick of the wind, so we came over here, out of the wind and fell asleep with our thumbs in our mouths.  Now it's getting about time to fish.  I'll let everyone sleep another hour and then it's wake up time.  See you tonight.

  Midday report:  We left The Island around noon.  It wasn't as good today as it was yesterday.  It was still good, we were just hoping for a little more in a shorter time.  It might be because of all the bait that's around here.  I can't imagine they haven't been just stuffing there face all night and morning.  i've been fishing that Island for 15 years and I haven't seen anything like it.  Even the Godfather himself called it an "unbelievable" amount of bait there.  And then at noon when we were looking for one more stop, all the life vanished  Just like that.  Poof.  I didn't give it any time after that looking.  We left right away.  So it took us a couple hours longer then I was expecting and we were just a stop shy of what I wanted but we're still looking good on yellowtail.  We saved a little room for tomorrow. 

  So we took off in search of tuna/dorado this afternoon, and we were unsuccessful.  The ride up so far has been fine.  The weather forecast looks good for tomorrow.  It should be good to start and only get better throughout the day.  We deserve it.  The reports above in tomorrows tuna zone for us were good today.  There were some productive kelps up there today.  We want some.
          

  Happy Anniversary, Renee, thanks for letting me go fishing, I love you!!!! D

Capt Mike Pritchard called in from the Tribute on Day 2 of a Friends of Rollo/Wicked Tuna Trip, today we found a nice grade of Yellowtail, we caught 24 from 12 to 25 pounds and we got some nice grade Bluefin Tuna this morning. We do have another trip leaving tonight with some room, if you are interested in going give Seaforth Landing a call at 619-224-3383 to sign up.

Thursday, September 8th, 2011

Hi friends. We arrived in this morning from our annual Blue-White 5-day and said goodbye to Robin Gledhill and the gang. We can't say enough about the boys, they are one cool group of guys and they just flat out get it. Having a good time on the boat is a given, provide some good entertainment, a family atmosphere, and some of the best wine you can find on the west coast. Mix that with the added bonus of stellar fishing and you have the 2011 Blue-White trip. Phenomenal fishing for the guys and they went home stoked. We say thanks to the gang and we'll see you again next year.

We'll be at the docks for a few hours and then we'll be departing for a 1.5 day trip. Fishing is getting good in the old area so we'll be racing down there this evening. Wish us luck and we'll chat with you tomorrow.

-Team Supreme-

Wednesday, September 7th, 2011

Hi friends. Plain and simple, the dynamics of the water conditions where we've been having great days on this tuna for the past couple of weeks has changed. The schools that were so abundant not twenty-four hours ago were nowhere to be found and we drove around all day for not a whole lot. Amazing how things can change so quickly around here and it's going to be interesting where these fish pop up next. Anyhow, with our limited time frame to try and locate something, we looked at a couple areas that looked good as far as water temperature but we never saw any life and struck out today. At 1030 hours, we made the call to break down the gear, serve lunch, and prepare for the journey home.

So that is all. The 2011 Blue-White trip is in the books and what a great trip it turned out to be. We thank Mr. Robin Gledhill for putting together quite the cast of characters and just creating a fun-loving atmosphere that is truly one-of-a-kind. An excellent charter for us to have on-board the Polaris Supreme and we look forward to seeing everyone next year. With that, our weather is great and we'll be arriving to the docks sometime around 0730 tomorrow morning. We'll be departing the same evening for a 1.5 day trip so look for reports to resume on Friday. Take care.

-Team Supreme-

Tuesday, September 6th, 2011

Hello everybody. Top to bottom, a fine day of Yellowtail fishing for us on the Supreme today. Our hunt for some premium grade 'tails in the very early morning was unsuccessful but we managed to get a few once the sun was above the horizon. There was a good amount of fish but not enough action to keep us there so made a quick tour around to a different area and in the afternoon time, the Yellows got with the program and bit very well for us. Sonar schools and meter marks were what we located and once the bait/jigs hit the water, it was game on for 18-25 lbers. Just an awesome grade of fish to pull on. Surface iron fishing was hot today as the "Big Banana" was tossed around and handed off to many individuals who were willing to take their chances at wrestling a Yellowtail on a 9'3" Ulua. The weather? Excellent bronzing conditions, just how we like it.

So with all the fun in the sun we were having, we had to bail from the Yellowtail grounds at 1700 hours to make it back up to the tuna grounds. We'll be there at first light tomorrow morning and our traveling weather is calm and clear. We're hoping to finish off with some tuna for the couple of hours of fishing we have tomorrow. Wish us luck and we'll chat with you tomorrow.

-Team Supreme-

Monday, September 5th, 2011

Hi friends. Another fine day of offshore fishing today for Yellowfin tuna with a sprinkling of Bluefin and Dorado for a little added color to the wells. We never had a long stop where we plunked away for hours but the fish charged the boat with reckless abandon when we did get a school located and we enjoyed ourselves a very nice day of fishing. They weren't quite eating the trolling rigs on the corner but they were biting the Sardines just fine. What made today a little bit better was the wind that has been hammering the fleet for the better part of a week started to subside and it was a pretty enjoyable day on the weather front as well. Needless to say, we have plenty of tuna for two days of fishing and in-turn, we have plenty for the galley to make all the sashimi goodies that they so expertly prepare. To say the Blue-White group, along with the crew, are stoked is an understatement. Hopefully, we can keep the good times rollin'.

At around 1500 hours, we pointed the Supreme on a southerly course to go try our hand at some Yellowtail fishing. The area we'll be trying will be exclusively for "bigguns" and we'll be there in the dark of the morning to drop some dropper loops on them. The gang is downstairs enjoying wine, cocktails, and most importantly, fillet mignon and lobster tails. We'll chat with you tomorrow and have a fine evening.

-Team Supreme-

Sunday, September 4th, 2011

Hi friends. First day of the 2011 Blue-White 5-day trip was a great success. Our morning was a couple of blind jig strikes for a handful of Yellowfin and for the most part, it was a slow morning. Then, just before lunch, we got on a nice school that bit nails to start out and slowly backed off to one every now and then. When the dust had settled and ordered was restored from the chaos that had ensued, the fish settled into us and we started "plunking" away at a steady pace until Chef Schooler kicked out the carne asada tacos and we went dry for awhile. After lunch, for whatever reason, we hooked one. Then two. Then three. Then four and so on. This is how fishing would be for another few hours on the drift, we would keep one or two hooked and then we would keep four to five going for a bit and back to ones and twos. Just classic plunker fishing for Yellowfin, Bluefin, and Dorado.

The stop was the perfect pace for the gang and by the time we left our glory school and went to go find something fresh, we had a lack of rail participation as the group was either napping, showering, or enjoying cocktails in the galley. These guys know what good times are all about. Catch some fish - relax, enjoy the company of one another and enjoy a key lime margarita. Although we were bummed that we couldn't locate another school, the gang couldn't have cared less. They had a great time today and along with the ibuprofen, the wine was a flowing for the prime rib feast. Sniff-sniff. Sip-sip as they say.

So that's it. We're on the "sack" and we'll be giving the area a try tomorrow for a bit before we bail out to do some Yellowtail fishing. Our weather is still a bit windy but is forecasted to come down. We'll see. Wish us luck, have a happy Labor Day, and we'll report back to you tomorrow.

-Team Supreme-

Saturday, September 3rd, 2011

Good evening everyone. The galley has been cleaned up, the Sinatra has been turned off, and the wine glasses have been washed and put away until tomorrow night. The Blue/White gang are tucked away in bed in anticipation to do battle with some Bluefin and Yellowfin tomorrow for our first day of fishing. Things are looking good as reports sound encouraging so Robin and company are itching to get after it and kick off the 2011 Blue and White 5-day trip. Before all of the festivities began today, we said good-bye to Mr. Garry Roberts and the gang from our 9-day trip.

We arrived this morning at 0700 and unloaded our colorful catch of various species. Big fish winners go as followed: Dave "Knucklehead" Rouse - 47.4 lb. Wahoo, Steve "Curls" Pistone - 43.4 lb. 'hoo, Mike Grella - 43.2 lb. 'hoo. Congrats gang. Special mention goes to Garry Roberts' Gold Spotted Sand Bass, which apparently weighed in .2 lbs. of tying the world record, word on the dock says. Good going, Garry. It truly was eye-opening seeing all the carts of fish wheeled up to the top of the docks. What variety of fish we had and that's what this 9-day is all about. Our target is big tuna and wahoo but there are plenty of other species that we target and catch on this trip as well. Our species list this year included Yellowfin tuna, Bluefin tuna, Wahoo, Dorado, Pargo, Yellowtail, Gold Spotted Sand Bass, Sheephead, Grouper, Amberjack, and we even released a Black Sea Bass. All types of species to catch and what table fare they will be for the gang. We say thank you to Garry and the entire group for being a pleasure to spend nine days on a ninety foot boat with, quite the mix of people to share the rail with. So once again, thank you and we'll see everyone next year.

So that is all. Our bait is looking good, the weather rolling down is fine, and we're hoping to get on some tuna schools tomorrow. Wish us luck and have a happy Labor Day weekend. Stay alive, don't drink and drive.

-Team Supreme-

Today we went out with 15 anglers. We started our trip this morning by searching the area where we caught our yellowtail yesterday. After a couple hours of looking without success, we decided to put the sinkers on and go rock fishing. Our rock fishing efforts were rewarded with 30 reds and 58 miscellaneous rockcod. With only a few hours left in our trip we decided to go looking for yellowtail again. At approximately 1:30 p.m. we located a very nice school of yellowtail along the bottom. This school responded very well to our chum, every sardine that hit the water was desperately swimming for his life creating a very impressive show of boiling yellowtail. After a chaotic 15 minute drift we had two 25 lb. yellowtail.

88 yellowfin 138 yellowtail 12 skipjack 1 dorado. Fun fall fishing.