monterey bay Fishing Report 2024

During these later trips the Tuna definitely got bigger. In addition the sharks have been non existent! Love those conditions!

Tommy Rothery docked his Polaris Supreme after the annual George Davis Expedition, with only eight anglers aboard. Rothery tied up at his space on the inner wing at Fisherman's Landing, ending his long range season on a positive note with a visit to Baja's southern banks and the Cleofas Bank, where all the fish that were kept were caught. Four cows were among the fish offloaded January 13. "All the big fish were from Cleofas," said Tommy. We released about half the fish we caught there, and nearly everything, including 15 big tuna, we caught up above. "So many people put so much emphasis on their pile of fish at the dock," remarked Rothery. "It disgusts me." Rothery and his anglers consistently release many fish of all sizes. Charlie Middleton of San Pablo got two cows; one with a sardine and the biggest one on a chunk. His tuna weighed 201.4 and 245.6 pounds. He said he fished with 8/0 Gamakatsu hooks, 130-poudn Maxima line and 130-pound Spectra backing on a Penn 80 SW reel and a new Ugly Stick 130-pound class rod. "That rod works good," said Charlie, who got his smaller fish in only 15 minutes. Al Tokunaga of North Hollywood took a 232.4-pounder after a 30-minute tussle. He said the fish bit on a sardine pinned to a 9/0 Eagle Claw hook. He fished with 130-pound Momoi line and 130-pound Spectra, with a Cal Sheet-s prepped Penn 50 S reel and a Calstar 6455 XH rod. "I used an eight-ounce torpedo sinker attached with a rubber band," noted Al. "He bit right after daylight. They were down there about that time every day." Roger Brown of Riverside bagged a 210.9-pounder with a mackerel on a 6/0 ringed Super Mutu hook. He said he fished with 100-pound Jin Kai line and 130-pound Jerry Brown Line One Spectra on a Tiagra 50 W reel and a Calstar 6455 XH rod. Brown's fish was notable in that it fought for 35 minutes, and then pulled skipper Drew Henderson over the side when he single-gaffed it. They were both brought aboard without further incident. Rothery noted that he will be doing boat work from now until May 31, when he will begin his summer season of three to five-day trips.

Good Evening everyone, Today we woke up anchored in the yellowtail grounds. Things started off slow with a couple fish being brought in on the dropper loop and yo yo iron. Most of the fish caught in the morning were nice sized yellowtail in the 20-30lb range with a couple of really nice sheep head and assorted rock fish in the mix. As the morning went on, the yellows moved up in the water column and started to bite the fly lined sardine and the surface iron. The fish were coming around in flurries with a handful of anglers hooking up at a time. We picked at the yellows for a couple of hours before making a short move. We started off catching some smaller grade yellows before the big ones moved in. Before long the fish started boiling around the boat, and started to bite. We continued to put fish on the boat all afternoon into the evening before the bite slowed down. Most of the guys had success on fly lined sardines with 30 or 40 lb test and a 1/0 or 2/0 hook. When the bite had stopped we sat on the anchor for the night and enjoyed a nice dinner courtesy of chef Mike. We will be fishing the same area tomorrow, and will be hoping for a similar outcome as today before trying our luck for the yellowfin once again. Will report tomorrow, Team Supreme

Jody called in with this fishing wrap-up, "We were able to fish San Miguel all three days. These 1 Day Trips produced excellent Rockfish & Lingcod fishing. If you are looking to go out on an Open Party Trip you and schedule a trip by going either to the Apollo website or give Sea Landing in Santa Barbara a call 805-963-3564.

July 12

Like i said before, we were going to start our morning off tailing. Yellows that is and that's exactly what we did. The fish bit OK for an hour or so. They were mixed grade from 10 all the way up to 20+ pounds. Mid morning we headed offshore and had some pretty steady yellowfin striking. We even got them biting bait for a couple stops. On one we had 22 and the other 13! Those are our best yellowfin stops of the year. We kept heading south throughout the day striking them up but the further south we went the smaller the fish got and the windier the weather got. Around 6:30 we stopped on a jig strike and took a good roller and things went flying so with the small grade of fish we were catching and the unsafe drifting conditions, we called it a day. We're headed to Cedros to do some fishing on those big fat yellowtails we've been catching there and to get out of this weather.

Wow what a great day! We had an awesome morning bite on the Dorado. Big bulls and cows. We took a break at lunch and Pedro prepared a Southwestern 10 oz. burger that was delicious. He really nails the menu with his creative spices and herbs. Back out on the deck we had excellent fishing on the wahoo throughout the whole day. And then to finish up the day we caught some yellowfin tuna. Just a great, fun day. Dinner tonight was a spicy ginger shrimp curry. Another great dish. Our weather all day has been beautiful. I hear it's been crappy up above and hope it lies down before we start up the line.

Fishing was absolutely phenomenal! If the last two day were great, today was even better. We had a good morning bite and then topped off the trip with an afternoon bite that went well into the dark. The tuna were biting the kite and anything else we put in the water. All fish ranged between 175 and 260 pounds. All anglers had a shot at them and a couple landed two. We did however stop to replenish our energy with some of Pedro's great food. For lunch we had tuna with a red sauce and ravioli on a bed of spinach with a cream sauce. Sounds like a weird combo, but boy did it taste good together. And dinner was a great roasted Cornish game hen with all the veggies and potato on the side. In addition to Pedro, I have to say our crew has done a fantastic job. They really work well together. And of course Lon and his group were a delight to have on board. And by the conversation in the galley, they are all planning on returning to this trip next year. Lon is going to open it up so if you are interested call Susan in the office. There will be a couple of spots. And on that note we are heading for home in excellent weather. We will be at the dock Sunday morning. Come down and see this great catch. Meet Lon from OTR. And see Susan about booking a trip.

Jodie Morgan called in with this report from the Apollo. "We are starting off with limits of Seabass this morning & 1 beautiful Halibut. You should know that there is beautiful weather as well.

"If you are interested in fishing the Apollo we will be in Santa Barbara until late June before we go back to San Diego. Give me a call at 858-220-1593 & we'll get you on the boat."