key west offshore Fishing Report 2024

"It was really good fishing wahoo at the bank," said Rothery at the sales. "We stayed there two days and then went in to the southern banks where the big fish were." All the big fish (there were 13 tuna over 200 pounds weighed on the certified scales at Fisherman's) came from the southern banks. There were just as many from 100 to 200 pounds as there were cows, and those were found in both spots. "The Baja tuna were real steady biters," said Rothery. "There were lots of ‚Дтem around, we could see ‚Дтem at the surface and on the meter most of the time." Research biologist Chugey Sepulveda got the big one, related his pal and fellow biologist Scott ("Scootch") Aalbers of San Diego. Chugey wasn't able to be at the weigh-in. The fish weighed 306.2 pounds. Chugey had two more cows, at 220 and 201 pounds. "Scootch" said Chugey got the big one and the others on one of the boat's heavy rigs and the kite. He used two sardines on 6/0 Mustad 7691 hooks, tied to 130-pound P-Line and 130-pound Izorline Spectra, on a Tiagra 50 W reel and a Calstar 655 XXH rod. "He got it on the next to the last day," said Scootch, "about four p.m. He fought it for an hour and 15 minutes, and it wrapped him around the anchor line about 15 times. The crew helped out a lot with the fork." Tom Bass of Newport Beach won second place for a 274.8-pound tuna. He also had a 232 and a 206-pound yellowfin. Tom said he got his fish on a sardine and an 8/0 Eagle Claw hook, pm 100-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon leader of 15 feet, tied to 130-pound Izor Spectra on a Tiagra 50 reel and a Calstar 6460 XXH rod. Hack Bernstein of Valencia bagged a 269.6-pounder. He fished a sardine on an 8/0 Eagle Claw hook tied to 130-pound P-Line and 130-pound Izor Spectra on a boat rig: Tiagra 50 reel and a Calstar 655 XXH rod. Pat Jaeger of Bishop posed with his daughter Maggie, three, and the 268-pound tuna he got with a double sardine rig on the kite. He said he used 100-pound P-Line and 130-pound Izor Spectra on a Penn 50 W reel and a Baja Boomer rod. Ryan Gillette of Orange was another who used a double trouble sardine rig on the boat's rod and reel to take a 246-pounder. Robert Kalatschan found a brace of cows, at 226 and 213 pounds. There were two more cows that appeared at the scales without tags, said Susan Rothery. One weighed 214 pounds and the other went 202.

Aug 26

We had a pretty good day of yellowtail fishing today. It wasn't wide open and it wasn't slow either. Just some steady picking through out most of the day. It didn't rain so that was cool. I'm really drawing a blank on what to write here so I think I'll keep it short. There's nothing significant to tell you all about. Mark didn't wear the dunce helmet today and nobody fell in the water or told a good joke. Just some steady picking of the yellows. We're heading back to the bluefin grounds to give it another try at those beauts. The weather rolling up is just fantastic and we're expecting more of it tomorrow. Oh yeah! The seared bluefin we had for dinner tonight was very very good. It was paired with edaname, these super tasty green beans and some just delicious tasting mashed potatoes so there you have it. Sweet dreams all.

This weather is to nice to stay on land. Tomorrows trip (March 12) is a go for sure. Call Seaforth Sportfishing at 619-224-3383 for reservations.

Sep. 10

Well, today was just swell. We caught bluefin. Yup, lots of them. We found a school a little while after breakfast and stayed drifting till a little while after lunch. I've just now been staring at this screen for a few minutes drawing a blank on what to write. Mark just woke me up for my watch and I guess I'm not a midnight writer so I'll keep it simple. It was a lot of fun. The fish were in the 30-40 pound range with our spring scale calling the biggest at 49 pounds. After that school wouldn't bite anymore we went on search for another and found just a dandy of a school but it would have nothing to do with us so we search, search, search. About an hour maybe longer before dark we found what we were looking for and stopped the boat on a school of biting fish and had another nice shot at them before and into and after dark.

I'm going to have to give Tommy the credit for todays fishing. For a while today I thought maybe it was all about my lucky 7-11 cap I've been wearing but I think Tommy just did a good job of finding those schools today. Hat or no hat, we just nailed them today. The weather was good today and we're still drifting and my legs aren't very spread apart so you know it's good drifting and good sleeping. We're going to give it a little while tomorrow before having to call it a trip and head for home.

Drew

We had an absolutely wonderful day fishing today. We had the most flat calm weather and the tuna fishing was as good as it gets. It was all offshore on sonar schools and meter marks. The fish were all 20-32 lbs. and few bigger. It was a good day to be on the water.

Thanks for checking in.

We arrived at noon and had a good hit on the 80-100 lb tuna, but we didn't see anything bigger. Weather is sloppy again, but got nice in the afternoon when we went looking around. So we will keep looking for the big ones and check back with you tomorrow.Thanks,Tommy and crew

Limits of WSB on the Apollo this morning!! Along with limits of lingcod!! And good reds!! We will be running open party trips next Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday targeting WSB!! Contact Sea Landing at 805-963-3564 for reservations. Or contact me at 858-220-1593. Hope to see you out!!!

Tom Rothery docked his Polaris Supreme September 28 following the 10th annual Jeffery Hall charter. He tied up at Fisherman's Landing and weighed the top fish from the five-day trip with 22 anglers. Dick Langlois of Rancho Cucamonga won first place for a 69-pound tuna from Guadalupe Island. He said the fish bit on a sardine and a 4/0 Mustad hook. He used 50-pound Ande line, a TLD 20 reel and a Calstar 765 L rod. "I got him in 15 minutes," said Dick setting up for the punch line. "It was 90 percent skill." Dick's son Tom Langlois of Rancho Cucamonga was second, for a 57-pound tuna, and Kalob Hall of Victorville won third place, for a 45-pound yellowfin tuna.