gail frances Fishing Report 2024

~~Oct. 13-14
 Nothing to report on Oct. 13.  More of the same.  Though it was our last day so the cocktail hour was to a minimum.  We arrived to our destination around 1:30 in the am Tuesday morning.  We did a tour for flying fish (to use as bait) but we only caught a few.  We kicked the anchor over and most of us got a couple more hours of sleep.  Everyone got up at 0400 hours and got to work.  Some faster than others.  When I woke up George was the only one in the water so I thought I'd give him a hand.  I threw a sinker on a rig and dropped down a sardine and 5 minutes later we had our first tuna aboard.  About an 80 pounder.  It was our sashimi fish.  After that there was a whole lot of good shark and small tuna fishing going down so again during a time when no one was in the water (due to having to retie because of shark teeth), I dropped another bait down, this time on the rod Mark likes to call the OJ (no one knows why), and about 20-30 minutes later we had a 196 pounder aboard.  While that was going on George got hooked up and brought a 218 pounder over the rail.  It wasn't even light out yet.  After that the sharks fully took over.  It was pretty much unfishable so we didn't give it much time, we pulled anchor and got to trolling and for the next 8 hours or so it was steady striking on the wahoos.  Damn.  We caught about 5 per angler so I'd call that good for sure.  For the last few hours we got steady strikes on one of this groups favorite fishing methods, trolling the yummy fliers.  We caught a lot of tuna today on those and on the marauders and some on bait.  They were all mostly in the 120 pound range.

 The weather today sure was interesting.  The wind never had much strength but it couldn't pick a direction.  One minute it was coming out of the northeast, and the next it was coming out of the west.  It did that all day so for that and the sharkies giving us grief we never tried another anchor job today and we're spending the night adrift.  It also rained a whole lot this evening.  I'd say it was raining cats and dogs when I went to bed but it's cleared up now at 0100 hour as I write this on my watch.  One more hour and I'm going back to bed until 5 when we'll all be going back into battle.  Hopefully tomorrow these dang sharks leave us alone.

 

Sunday, July 22nd, 2012

Hi friends. Our morning on the Polaris Supreme started off pretty well for us. We didn't have to wake up and immediately head towards the bow and pull the sea anchor at 0530 hours. We awoke to biting Bluefin while sitting on the "sack" and picked away for an hour or so. When that dried up, we pulled the sea anchor and began our search for some more. We were successful in finding some schools but they didn't want to bite all that well for us but we did manage to capture a few more before we had to call it a trip and head towards home. Our weather has been very pleasant today as the wind has backed off and it made for a smooth ride in for our journey back to San Diego. All in all, we had a fine trip and managed to put together a nice score on the Bluefin. We're thankful the weather wasn't too bad and we're looking forward to good nights rest to gear up for our turnaround tomorrow.

So that is all. Tomorrow, we will be taking Paul Hess and friends out for five days of fun in the sun. Our ETA is around 0600 hours tomorrow. Thanks for checking in.

 

July 14 and 15 all in one.
    We fished the 14th offshore in some haven't been fished in waters for a while and we found plenty of tuna but they were all small.  For the most part it's what the grade of yellowfin is this year so we opted to put tags on them.  It bit well on one stop.  After a while we wound in the jigs due to constant jig strikes, we couldn't short stop anymore without it costing us time in the local grounds where the better grade was biting.  Mark and I played a game we call suicide trolling.  We each put out a troll rod and the first one to get a tuna on deck wins.  The boat doesn't stop.  We both got bit instantly but mine fell off.  I kept getting bit but they wouldn't hook.  After 30 seconds I realized I didn't have a hook on my jig and by the time I got a different jig out we were past the fish and Mark took his time and wound his in for the victory.  

    We can't complain about today.  The weather was as good as it gets.  No wind and no sea.  It was beautiful.  We also caught 54 30-35 pound tuna and for what was around today, it was a good score.  We're headed in and we're going to be the first boat in tomorrow at 0530 hours.  We'll be heading back out tomorrow on another 5 day trip.  See you then.

 

Friday Apr.4th---3 spots just opened. Or Sunday Apr. 6th---lots of spots open. Call Sea landing @ (805) 963-3564.

The San Diego checked in tonight with an update from Seaforth Sportfishing in Mission Bay. Today we had 26 anglers catch 130 Yellowtail (limits). The Yellowtail were kelp grade. We did see the big Bluefin today but we were unable to hook any!

The San Diego checked in with us today. We finished with 10 Yellowfin, 23 Dorado, 12 Yellowtail  and 13 Skipjack. Choppy seas made things tough but we managed to scratch a day out. Hopeful for tomorrow.

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.

Captain Ryan Bostian checked in this evening with an update from “The San Diego” out of Seaforth Sportfishing in Mission Bay! Today we had 34 passengers catch 7 Bluefin Tuna (20 to 55 pounds) and 12 Yellowtail. We had several heartbreaks on 75 to 120 pounders. Please bring a 25 to 30 pound rod as well as a 50 pound rod. A Talica 16 is perfect for the larger grade fish. The San Diego is online everyday at 5:30 AM. Call (619) 224-3383 or BOOK ONLINE at www.thesandiego.com.