matthews Fishing Report 2023

220 yellowfin 4 bluefin. Truly amazing November fishing.

~~Nov. 16
 I told myself yesterday that if we caught 30 wahoo today it would be worth the move.  We caught 31.  Scoooore!
 
 It was good in the morning.  By 10:00 we were moving right along on pace to have one heck of a day.  Then things went slow.  We were able to scratch just enough, and with the expectancy of an evening hit, we still were feeling good.  That hit never happened.  One here and two there was the rest of our day.  But like I said, I'm very pleased with what we caught.  It was definitely worth the ride.  It helps that every wahoo we caught this trip is a toad.  40-50+ pounds baby.

 We're headed up now.  We'll have to be making headway toward home for the rest of the trip.  We only have a couple of days left.  We're going to give it a shot and finding a dorado kelp in the morning.  The 3 boats that tried it prior to us struck out so we'll have a back up plan.  Our plan B is to fish yellows at an island tomorrow afternoon.  See you tomorrow.
                                  

~~Aug 25
 Once again, today we had a good day.  We started our day off fishing bait.  Wide darn open on the small greenies.  I was singing the Who song "rain on me" because it was raining bait.  It didn't take long to get what we needed for the day and we headed off to the bluefin grounds which is right there.  We had one OK stop but right before lunch was our good one.  I remember because I ordered my lunch when we didn't have anything going and when I walked outside we had 4 going.  I can power down a meal pretty fast though and that's what I did.  We were able to drift with that school for hours before it stopped biting.  We had a couple per round of those 30-40 pounders.  I call those the perfect grade.  They are manageable, meaning they're fairly easy to bring to the boat while at the same time when you do you always end with a smile because they're big.  The perfect grade.  After they stopped biting say around 5:00, we looked for another school unsuccessfully for an hour so we ran back to the bait grounds and had a little start on our re-bait.  We'll finish in the morning.  Having this perfect bait right next to the fishing grounds is the most special thing about this area.  It's more special than the beautiful bluefin we're catching.  Sometimes where you caught your bait is more important than where you caught your fish.  No bait, no luck.
         
 

Captain Matt and the boys have come out of the gates firing. 70+ yellowtail out of their first stop. Stay tuned.

Ryan Bostian checked in to tell us what the San Diego is doing. "The kids are back in school and if you have been waiting for an opportunity to get on the boat, with a light load, this is definitely the time for you. The Coronado Island have had very good Yellowtail signs. It has been inconsistent. We see them one day, we don't see them the next. The bite one day, they don't bite the next.

"Rockfish make up most of the counts, they last couple of days. But we always keep our eye out for Yellowtail. I don't think this season is over by any means. The water is still very warm. There is plenty of 70 degree water around. Reports have Yellowfin tuna moving up the line and there are plenty of Bluefin around. The problem with the Bluefin is finding fish that want to bite. It is just like the Dorado. There are plenty of Dorado, they just are hesitant to bite.

"It seems like the ocean is in a transition. I expect to see some good counts in a week or so. Our reservations are very light. If you've been waiting to get on the boat, with 40 or 50 of your closest friends; this is definitely the time to come on down. Make your reservations at 619-224-3383. The boat is still running everyday and the weather has been outstanding.

Captain Ryan Bostian called in with an update from The San Diego. We had 144 Yellowfin Tuna and 70 Dorado! The fish were not full speed. It was a pick all day. Light line and small hooks was the ticket. Bring some fluorocarbon. Be sure to call Seaforth Landing at (619) 224-3383 to get in on the action or book online at www.thesandiego.com.

Captain Ryan Bostian called in tonight with an update from the San Diego. Today Captain Cameron ran the boat. We had 32 anglers catch 97 Yellowtail. We also had some Barracuda and Bonito. We have are having great weather today and in the near future.

~~Sep. 7 "Feeling Better"
 I can't say I had the highest of hopes for this morning.  It seems like up and down this whole coast in the mornings has no current.  As you know, no current = no fish.  So we bailed on our yellowtail spot after 8:00 am and went kelping.  I believe we found our first winner ohhh around 10:00 or so.  It was good for 20 dorado.  Another 1/2 hour later we found another that was good for another 20.  Another 1/2 hour later... and so on and so on.  We had a good day of kelping.  Most of our passengers on board have never been in a dorado bite before today.  It was jaw dropping for them.  Lots of fun.  We're feeling better. 

 Now we're going to catch our yellows.  We're going to head into the coast for tomorrow and try and get a bunch of those.  See?  I write short reports on good days.  Hopefully I keep them short.