lake winnipeg Fishing Report 2025

Today we departed on a 5 day Guadalupe Island trip. We got a very early jump and are loaded up with a great load of bait. We are all excited to get fishing and are hoping we do not encounter too many of these Guadalupe Shoulder mounts, courtesy of the resident sharks.

"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.

Capt Mike Prichard from the Tribute called in the final talley from their overnight with 148 Yellowfin Tuna from 8 - 45 lbs, some really goos fishing. We also had good Yellowtail of which we kept about 40 of the from 6 - 12 lbs with a couple in the lower 20 lb range, we also released a lot. We a also seeing al lot of Dorado around the kelps, we were not able to get any to bite today. Fishing across the board has been very good, although the Bluefin have not been around. For information about future trips give the landing a call at 619-224-3383 and get your spots.

Capt Matt and the boys are engaged with a school of bluefin. They currently have 7 on deck and few more hanging. The fish they have landed so far are 25-35 lbs. I’m sure the big boys are watching and waiting for their opportunity to bite someone’s light line. Come prepared with a 25 lb setup a 40 lb setup and a setup capable of landing a fish over 100 lbs. the variety of available fish sizes creates a bit of a pickle but trust me when I tell you. You want to use heavier than needed equipment rather than the opposite.

Friday, October 19th, 2012

Hi friends. Happy Friday to all of you back home. How are you? Good, thanks for asking. Let's get down to business.

We awoke today just like any other day. Tommy woke us all up very peacefully but at the same time gave us way too much information and had our eyes crossed before we could even get the boogers out of them, or open them for that matter. I got out of the rack, put on my fishing shorts, came out to the bench in the wheelhouse, grabbed my boots, and proceeded to put on my socks. But these just weren't ordinary socks, oh no. I pulled these particular socks over my heels and up to my calves and when I pull my socks all the way up to my calves, you know what time it is - business time.

I pulled my socks all the way up so that when my boots are at full pop-dog--rather than semi pop-dog, the way I normally wear them with shorts--they don't rub me raw. I know what you're asking yourself right now, "Richie, why on earth have you spent an entire paragraph talking about your awesome business socks and boot length?" Well, the answer is simple - we got down to some major business on yellowfin tuna, flatheads, and wahoo and I don't like getting my legs all dirty and wet. That is why my boots were at full pop-dog today.

After looking around all morning at dry kelp paddies, we got on some ponies (common dolphins) and landed 14 of those beautiful 25-45 lb. yellowfin tunas. Unfortunately, that was our only go-around on those things and they vanished. It didn't take us long to locate a beautiful kelp paddy and it was on like Donkey Kong. The mahi's bull-rushed us and they were a really nice grade too. I'd say that the majority of the fish were in the 15-22 lb. range and they put on quite the show. Not quite a kelp paddy off of Mag Bay action but plenty close enough. No matter where they are, they're the hardest fish to gaff and they get us all wet. After finishing up our Mexican limit on those things, the tuna got in on the action and bit very well for us. For the most part, they're footballs, but a couple standouts were landed after the initial melee had passed. Joe Gigliotti got himself another beauty and Jeff Hauser got himself a dandy too. Good job guys, way to give a hundred and ten percent. The two luckiest anglers of all were Hart Brauer and Skip Hess II a.k.a. "Skipper Jenkins". Hart and Skip were our luckiest of the lucky lambs today and landed themselves one wahoo each. Fine work, boys.

So here we are. About to wrap up our second annual Gigliotti/Accurate 8-day adventure and we're going to bypass the bluefin zone. I know, I know. I'm as disappointed as anyone, but there's no reason to bomb up from where we are to the bluefin zone where the scores have been quite unflattering. The weather isn't very sweet right now either. What was a beautiful morning of bronzing quickly turned into jacket/slicker weather after lunch. As of now, we're traveling up the line to look at another area for a few hours to try and locate some more of those big ole yellowfins. Our ride is OK. We're not pounding or scooping the bow or anything but we're doing a little bouncing, like our car is on hydraulics in the ghetto. Hence, I'm listening to Backspin, channel 46 on SiriusXM radio - old school hip-hop. Bumpin'.

Wish us luck tomorrow and we'll give you a wrap-up report tomorrow. Peace out, homies.

P.S. The Hunger Games epidemic is spreading through the boat like a wildfire. Star galley assistant Patrick is a closet Hunger Games reader. I caught him hiding behind the cooking area, sitting on a milk crate just reading away. He told me that at first, he wasn't all that pumped on reading about the life of a sixteen year old girl but once you get into the world of Katniss, you can't escape it, and Patrick is like a fish in a barrel. You don't have to make excuses to me, Patrick, even old men like you can enjoy the Hunger Games without guilt. Add one to the book club meetings. You know where the coffee is, Patrick.

Oh yeah, before I forget. The other day, Mark Clark celebrated his birthday and I totally spaced on it. He turned 86 years old. Happy Birthday, Mark. See ya.

Mike Pritchard called in with this report from the Tribute. "We had a little bit of the choppy weather hear today. We have a little over 50 mixed fish. So far we have caught some Dorado with Bluefin mixed in. We still have plenty of daylight left and we're hoping to pull in some more Bluefin. We'll keep you posted as the day progresses.

We are still catching tuna steady here at Guadalupe Island. Mainly in the 60-80 LB range! Beautiful grade! 

This past winter the San Diego family lost one of its most beloved members. Mike Morrison known as “Iron Mike” was a dedicated regular who loved chasing bluefin and always kept positive outlook whether he caught one or not. Today his brother landed a 145 pounder and it had Mikes name written on the belly. This fish was one of 18 landed. The other 17 were 60-80 pounders.