merced river Fishing Report 2025

Aug. 6
    I'm back.  After taking the last trip off and spending some quality time with the fam I showed up this morning to meet the boat at 7:00 and was greeted by an impressive catch by the Chapparo group.  We did the turn around thing, got some bait and we were in the fishing grounds by 3:00 this afternoon.  It sounded like we missed most of the action while we were dockside.  It was mostly a morning bite.  We had a few stops this afternoon for over a fish per angler so we can't complain about fishing on a departure day.  We're currently drifting in nice weather and we'll be starting off here in the morning.  
                            

February 15, 2025 merced river Fishing Report

2202

Friday, July 1st, 2011

Good evening and happy July to everyone. After not capturing a seabass last night, we shot offshore to try our hand at the tuna game. Nothing to write home about other than a beautiful 20 lb. Yellowtail that we pulled off a kelp. All we can do is remain confident that in time, things will take shape and we'll be ready for those tunas' when they quit being pansies and show themselves. After more driving around we made a move to the inside to do some bonding at the Banda Bank and we managed to entice some tasty critters to latch on to our hooks. It wasn't too great of a bite but we tagged some excellent table fare for the gang to take home.

As the sun began to set, we gave the seabass game another try, this time more southerly than last nights spot and just like last night, we were unsuccessful in the game. We had plenty of squid and had enough around us that we thought we could hook a couple croakers, but it never happened. All in all, it was a slow trip at times but we made the best out of the situation and put our passengers on some action. The group Garth brought out from Optima Networks and other various outlets were a pleasure to have on-board and we look forward to seeing them back in the future.

On a side note, we here at the Polaris Supreme would like to welcome back Chef Barry Benson to the team. Barry was diagnosed with throat cancer last year and with many treatments during the winter, Barry is back with us and better than ever. I've personally known Barry since 2000, when I was a chubby little 14 year old working together on the Holiday. He's a good friend of mine and I along with the rest of the crew are all thrilled that he's back and even more thrilled that he's recovered from his battle with cancer. He's missed being on the water and he's looking forward to many more adventures on the Polaris Supreme with all the fine people that we've come to share the rail with over the years.

That is all. We'll arrive at Fisherman's Landing tomorrow morning at 0600 in the morning and we'll be back out on Thursday for back to back three day trips. We'll report to you then, enjoy your weekends.

-Richie and the A Team.

 

Thursday, June 30th, 2011

Hi friends. We departed Fisherman's Landing Thursday evening on our inaugural Optima 1 1/2 charter. We topped off on sardines and made a hard right turn coming out of the bay to go try our hand at some local White Seabass action. We gave it a shot and even with some live squid we were unsuccessful in hooking one. Since the distance to the local tuna grounds is close to home we decided to play around in the evening hours do some seabass fishing before we left for the tuna grounds.

That's what's going on. No seabass and we'll be trying our hand on the local grounds for some Bluefin tuna. Our weather is fine and the boys are very excited to do some tuna fishing. Wish us luck.

-Team Supreme-

February 14, 2025 merced river Fishing Report

1903

Thursday, April 11th, 2013

Hi friends. We're still traveling down in decent weather, with plenty of sunshine to make for an enjoyable trek. Although, the travel days can be very monotonous, we always find something out of the ordinary to do to break up the boredom. Today was a unique day, even by our standards; and even after all of the sea time that passengers and crew members alike have accumulated over the decades, we still found ourselves in activities, scenery, and fishing that we don't experience everyday.

Now, I'm not trying to make roses out of you-know-what; we caught Yellowtail today. That's all. We didn't run into the first wave of Albacore or run up on a breezer of giant Bluefin tuna. Nope, we simply caught beautiful 18-22 lb. Yellowtail. Before I go any further - I am not bashing the Yellowtail fishery in any way shape or form. We had a great time doing it today and in all honesty, typing out words to explain the amount of fun we had for an hour would bore everyone half to death. What garners this report is simply the hour-long spectacle that was associated with our Yellowtail fishing. Having wide open fishing and not really trying to compete with other boats or boost our own egos is fun enough, trust me. Just good old fashioned yankin' and crankin' is what we did today but add in the sight of breaching Humpback Whales (two adults and one cute little calf, literally within casting distance) with the backdrop of one of the most beautiful destinations that we fish in one of the most isolated places in the Eastern Pacific was something I'll never forget. Like I said, it was Yellowtail fishing; but add in the group of gentlemen that we shared this experience with, it was hard not to just stop for a moment and take everything in. All in all, it was a super fun day.

I'm sorry for the lengthy report. I'm reading three books at the moment and one of them is 83 Neurobic exercises to increase mental fitness and it encourages you to do some off-the-wall stuff - things that you normally wouldn't do to keep your brain healthy. It's a fascinating read and I'm applying a lot of the little things that the book says to do. I'm sure that I'm driving the crew crazy with how stoked I am to do these things; from switching my watch to my other hand, to navigating my way around the wheelhouse with my eyes closed and let my senses other than sight guide me around (don't worry, I'm not driving), to putting different types of tape on the keyboard (don't ask) - it's all really interesting to me and it's keeping the travel days fresh and exciting. So, I apologize for this whacky report but I'm helping to keep my brain stimulated and hopefully yours too.

Anyhow, With this particular trip -- or any 17-day trip, for that matter -- there is always something new to do to keep us on our toes. From rigging up "Bruce" our new anchor (insert circus music here) to finding a good book to read to learning a new way to rig tackle or just enjoying the ride with some good friends, the entire experience of traveling down to our destination can be looked at in multiple ways - today was one of those good travel days and I felt like sharing it with everyone because we're pumped. Other than good weather and good food, I'll leave y'all with a few more clues as to what in the heck we're doing with our time. It involves: five grown men, a food processor, Yellowtail Milt, a deck brush, and a bait scoop. Stimulate your brains. We'll chat with you manana.

P.S. Devon, Alayna, and Lyall - I caught y'all a delicious Calico Bass today. I wanted to release it but mortality was imminent. I am deeply sorry. Scootch didn't even try to save it either so it's half his fault. Sorry.

February 13, 2025 merced river Fishing Report

425

Polaris Supreme Trip Update 11-24-2019 We arrived early afternoon to the fishing grounds. We had a good afternoon of fishing on tuna from 12 to 35 pounds. Most of the fish were down toward the lower end of the spectrum. We didn't see much sign of anything else but the tuna throughout the afternoon but were still going to stay another day here to get fixed up on them. Late in the day we decided to pull the anchor and go troll around about 40 minutes before dark but picked up a old seiner anchor that weighed about 500 pounds. That ended those plans! It took us about three hours to get rid of it and fix everything it broke! Quite the tussle. Good weather still a little squally and rainy at times but good seas! See you tomorrow. The Polaris supreme crew!

Weekly Fishing Reports

Fishing reports for merced river are updated each week, usually by Thursday morning. The reports are compiled by an outside contractor who receives the information from bait shops, marinas and fishing guides.