lake o the pines Fishing Report 2025

July 8
    We started this morning off with a bang.  We were up at 0400 hours and loaded up on mackerel, then we went and found a nice school of 20-25 pound fish that bit for us for a little while.  They were biting the surface iron great and I decided this morning that my favorite kind of fishing is surface iron for big yellows.  Big tuna and wahoo are really cool too but man o man is it fun.  My passenger and bud Dennis wasn't hooking any.  He usually does but he had a straight rod the whole drift.  When it slowed down he noticed that his jig had no hook on it.  Through all the excitement he ever noticed until it was done.  I thought that was kind of funny.  Bummer though.  The bite was rather short lived as was expected and after that we did some scouting.  We found a nice school of those 20-25 pounders but it was tough to get them to bite.   Throughout the rest of the day we did some scouting and caught fish and did some scouting and didn't.  We ended up with about a hundred and we're satisfied.

    We're going to stay the night and try this again in the morning.  I'm thinking about fishing offshore for tuna in the afternoon.  We'll see how tomorrow goes.
                                    

 

Sept. 28

Another beautiful day on the Polaris Supreme. Nothing to report really other then great weather, great food and great company. Today we did our wahoo seminar, some light rigging of tackle, and a lot of good old fashioned relaxation. There were some naps, some reading, and a cocktail hour or two and I smelled and partook in some cigar smoking. Mmm, mmm, mmm. We did a little bit of trolling for not much. A couple small tuna not worth keeping and Brian caught Jody a nice dorado. After dinner we made a few drifts for giant squid for not much. We caught some but we want more so we'll try again tomorrow night. Until then we will do more of the same that you read above while we travel down.

The Polaris Supreme Crew.

The tenth annual George Davis trip aboard the Polaris Supreme arrived at Fisherman's Landing December 5, after spending ten days in southern waters with a super ultra-light load of seven anglers, including chartermaster Davis. There were five tuna over 200 pounds in the catch. One fish was well over 300 pounds. The big fish came in at 347.8 pounds, caught by Kevin Stokes, who is studying video making and cinematography, working on his B. A. in digital video at Mt. Sierra College in Monrovia. The giant yellowfin bit a sardine on a 6/0 Mustad 7691 hook tied to 100-pound P-Line and 130-pound Spectra on one of the boat's rigs: a Tiagra 50 reel and a Calstar 6460 XXH rod. It fought for 35 minutes. "He didn't fight too hard," said Stokes. He just laid there like a big cow. I almost lost him at the end, because his circles went all the way across the stern. They got him with four gaffs and lifted him over the rail. "My best tuna before this one was 180 pounds. It fought harder. I may have this one mounted. Next, I've got to go back to work and to school." Stokes said he does freelance work in video. Eleven-year-old Gunnar Johnston outscored the men by taking two cows; two yellowfin over 200 pounds. One of his fish weighed 217.8 pounds and won second place. The other went 209 pounds. Gunnar goes to Marinotha Christian Academy, and races motocross. His dad Craig Johnston is a construction manager in Orange County and was close by when Gunnar hooked his big cow. "I was up the rail," said Craig, "and I saw him get bent, and I shouted, ‚Дтdon't let go of that rig,' and I saw him pull back harder." Gunnar got the fish to gaff in 45 minutes, after it bit a sardine on a 6/0 Super Mutu hook on 130-pound Izorline fluorocarbon leader tied to 100-pound Momoi line and 130-pound Line One Spectra. He used an Avet 50 reel and a Calstar 6455 XXH rod. "It's my first long range trip," said Gunnar. "It's fun, hooking up and catching these big fish. Craig Johnston said his son had been on one and two-day trips before, but this was his first long range venture. "My best fish before was a 30-pound albacore or a dorado," said Gunnar. "I want to do it again." His dad felt the same way. "He was bit hard at first," said Craig, "but he did his work in the corner." Charlie Middleton of San Pablo took a 213-pounder and won third place. He said it bit a sardine on an 8/0 Gamakatsu hook tied to 100-pound Soft Steel Ultra line and 130-pound Power Pro Spectra on a Penn 80 SW reel and a five and a half-foot Ugly Stick rod. The fight lasted 20 minutes. "The best fishing was during the squalls," said Charlie. "That's when I hooked this one. He took me around the boat twice. There was a lot of 18-inch squid around."
Jim Jacobs of Murietta had never been fishing before. "I didn't know how to hold the pole," he said. Jacobs got a 202.6-pound tuna after a 40-minute scrap. It bit a sardine on an 8/0 Mustad 7691 hook, also on one of the boat's rigs. "My first trip," said Jacobs, "and my first fish."