kankakee river Fishing Report 2025

~~July 31
 Good evening folks and welcome to the last July 31 of 2015 ever aboard the Polaris Supreme.  The water we fished today just didn't have that right feel to it if you know what I mean.  The whole set up changed since we were there 2 days ago.  It was 2 degrees cooler for one thing.  Maybe we weren't in the right zone , but I don't think so.  I think things were off as far as the tuna and Dorado goes.  We were finding bull kelp areas instead of nice bushy kelps and catching only dinker tuna.  I only saw one tuna over 10 pounds today and 10 pounds was a lunker.  Needless to say we let every single one of them go.  So at 7:00 pm, it was looking like we were going to chalk this one up as a travel day.  I was just about ready to shower.  I mean I literally had all my clothes on the floor with the shower water running when I heard the call.  "We have a real nice kelp up ahead".  I thought about it and decided I better suit up again just in case and it was the right move.  Easily the best kelp of the year.  Until well after sunset things were busy and exciting aboard the Polaris Supreme.  The whole boat was bit.  Every single person.  Wide open 14-25 pound yellowtails.  It was good.  4 fish per rod that stop.  Uh huh.  Dinner was much more satisfying than it was flling like it was going to be.

 Another reason dinner was so lovely would be a fella, my friend Herb Yamanaka.  Very possibly the nicest man in the world.  At least tied for the nicest man in the world.  Every year he spends I don't even know how much time behind the lathe machine, making everyone on board an original wooden bowl or things like it, and they're wonderful.  He works for the Oregon Ducks origination so go Ducks!!!

 Tomorrow we'll be arriving to Cedros at about 7 in the am.  We're going to plan on wind, and we're going to plan on some good tailing to go along with a good time.
      

~~AUG. 6
 We fished hard today.  It felt like a kind of slow day but when you look at our tally it shows we had a good day.  We just never got steady more than a couple of drifts.  We'd stop and get a handful and then have to go again.  Other than a few hour long drifts that is.  But at the end of the day, when only half the people were fishing and I had a yellowtail to give away because the angler who caught it had his limit already and nobody handed me over a tag, I knew it was a good day. 

 Things didn't start off so hot though  Nope.  I knew our bait was dying but I thought we were good for another day of fishing before it would croak.  I was wrong.  "Red Boy".  The sardines were red.  Most were either floating belly up or lying at the bottom of the tank.  We made it through though.  We worked hard and had a good day.  The yellows were nice ones too.  20-25 pounds in the morning and 14-25 pounds in the afternoon.

 The weather through here was great today.  I'm not sure we've had one day at this Island this year where the wind wasn't ripping through the south end where we've been fishing.  Now we have one and it looks like it will remain true tomorrow as well.  We saved one tank of bait from last trip.  I knew the first morning we may not have any survivors for our last day if we didn't save our one tank of good bait.  Hopefully we find something to use it on.  I know we'll be making horrific speed coming up so we won't have any time to "work" an area.  We just have to pick a course and hope for the best.  See ya.
       

Captain Ryan Bostian checked in this evening with an update from the San Diego out of Seaforth Sportfishing in Mission Bay, CA. Today we had 23 passengers catch 27 California Yellowtail, 55 Barracuda and 1 bonito. Very good mixed bag fishing. This is a good opportunity to fish on an uncrowded boat and also enjoy good fishing.

A DRIFT WE Will NEVER FORGET ! Today we went out with 6 passengers who ignored yesterday’s fish count and understand that fishing is more about spending time in nature than harvesting meat. After our 3 hour drift everyone onboard had either landed or fought and released a fish of a lifetime. Final tally was 7 bluefin, 6@ 110-150 and 1@65 lbs. please come prepared with a 25 lb rod a a 40 lb rod and a 50-80 lb rod. Today’s best setup was a 4oz. torpedo sinker rubber banded above a 2/0 circle hook on 50-80 lb.

Arrived at our fishing destination today at 9:30am. As soon as we put the anchor down we were going full speed on a very nice grade of yellowtail. The small ones were 16 lbs. and then went up to over 30 lbs. The weather again is beautiful.. We headed up the line and got to where we were going before dark to fish a couple hours for rock cod and then we headed west into the offshore mode. Scallops and fresh yellowtail for dinner. Very tasty. Thanks for checking in.

Hello Everyone, We are still marching up the line here making good speed. Our ETA to the dock is 6 am tomorrow morning. Another great Billy Stephens Charter in the books. A well rounded trip with a great variety of fish and enjoyable anglers. Cant wait for next years charter Billy! Will report again tomorrow, Team Supreme

I had such a great time fishing with Captain Ryan Bostian and his crew aboard the San Diego that I couldn't resist jumping aboard again for another shot at some of those big Coronado Island yellows. There are big schools of yellowtail roaming the Coronado Islands and recent fish counts have been ranging anywhere from just a few fish to 70-80 fish per trip. No sense trying to figure it out. Pick a day and go !!! Captain Bostian and the San Diego fish the Coronado Islands everyday, so nobody knows them better or fishes them harder than the Captain and his crew. We looked for and caught a few barracuda along the coast as we made our way down to the Coronados. We worked several areas of both islands looking for a school of yellows that wanted to stay with the boat. We saw plenty of action around the boat and would hook one or two yellows at each spot, but we could never get them to bite aggresively. We landed 10-11 nice yellows highlighted by Aiyana Schwartz's huge jackpot yellow that she hooked on a dropper looped sardine. All in all a great day on the water with an excellent chance at catching a trophy fish. The Coronado Islands are about to break wide open and Captain Bostian and the crew aboard the San Diego will be there. Call Seaforth Landing at 1-619-224-3383 to make a reservation and make sure they are not chartered. The San Diego leaves everyday at 5:30 am. Till next time. Thats' the word on the water. Don. [email protected] for pics.

Nov. 6

Well today wasn't at all what we expected. Last week it had been great yellowtail fishing in the zone we were in but for whatever reason most that fish wasn't around today. Famous words of Steve Loomis, "only one things for sure and that's that things will change". So true in life but especially true in fishing. Things will always change whether it be for better or for worse. Unfortunately today it was for worse. That's why you can't base your booking a trip on last year or even 2 weeks ago. Oh well. We caught a few nice yellows today and lots of other species we saved for meals later on in the trip because they'll be tasty. We're now heading south. We're going to start fishing first thing tomorrow fishing for D, all of the above.

Passenger Mike Payne brought a whole bunch of crab with him. I'm not sure exactly what kind of crab they were. They weren't king crab but the next best thing. Basically it was all you can eat because when I had all I could take down there was a lot of it still available. Delicious. Talk to you tomorrow.

Drew