red drum tackle Fishing Report 2024

Capt Mike Pritchard checked in with this report from the Tribute. "Another great day of fishing here. We have limits of Yellowtail. Now we are in search of some Bluefin. We have caught one so far.

The Annual SFR charter aboard the Apollo with Captain J.J Gerritsen and crew was a big success !! The Apollo is running out of Sea Landing on beautiful Santa Barbara Harbor, the closest harbor to the outer Channel Islands. Great weather meant an ideal cruise over to San Miguel Island for some of the finest shallow water rockfishing you'll find anywhere. 300 feet down you say, maybe 200, how about 100 feet ? No way. The offshore terrain around San Miguel is so rugged and marked with underwater pinnacles, we spent most of the day fishing in 25 to 90 feet of water. Lighter rigs, jigs, leadheads and swimbaits were the order of the day, and the San Miguel rockfish were in a hungry mood. We started catching fish before daybreak and spent the rest on the trip hauling up huge reds, chuckles and lings, all sporting some of the most vibrant colors I've seen on any fish in a long time. Awesome day!! We limited out on huge rockfish, slammed about 50-60 grumpy whitefish, 5-6 huge goats and 16 or so pre-historic looking lings before calling it a trip. Epic day !!!! The jackpot was a nail biter as Shawn Suhr's huge lingcod and Art Moralez's giant goat battled to a near dead heat. Captain J.J needed to come down and settle the score, with the final vote went going to Shawn's 12-13 pound ling. Great job Shawn. Captain J.J and his crew did an awesome job as always and the Apollo is looking as spotless as ever. The Apollo will be in Santa Barbara till around mid May before moving down to Fisherman's Landing in San Diego. Call Sea Landing at 1-805-963-3564 or log onto www.apollocharters.com for their schedule. Great trip everyone !!!. email me at [email protected] for any photos. Thats the word on the water. Don

Spent most of our day in search mode after spending 2 days on the beach. Late in the day the group effort was rewarded. We ended with 55 yellowfin (15-35 lbs) and 75 small yellowtail for 36 anglers. Some nice schools of bluefin were also seen in the same area. A 20,30 and 40 lb rod will be perfect.

Hi all my fishing friends:

We are having a great season. The blue fin have been biting mixed with yellow fin and even a smattering of albacore. I have some great opportunities to get out on the Apollo with me and enjoy the great weather and great fishing that we've been having this season.

We have two two day charters that needs anglers. The first two day trip departs Thursday 9/13 at 9 p.m. fishing Friday 9/14 and Sat. 9/15. This trip is limited to 18 passengers. Cost is $650 per angler and includes food and permits. This is a great opportunity to fish on an ultra limited charter with a great group of people. Please contact Dan H. @ 310.704.1497

Another opportunity to fish aboard the Apollo with us has opened up. This is a 2 day trip that fishes September 27-28 (departing the night of the 26th). This outing is limited to 16 anglers.

The unusual part of this trip is half the anglers will be fly fishers. If you conventional fish, this means you get the stern to yourself as fly rodders like the sideways drift of the boat and stay on the windward side on the bow. Fly rodders are the first in on the slide but based on past averages, conventional will still out-fish us 5 to 1. The trip is 670.00 and includes fishing permit, bunk and food. Drinks, crew tip and fish cleaning is extra. If interested or you need more information, contact Michael Schweit at 818-601-9702 or [email protected].

We have a 5 day trip to Guadalupe that needs 2 people. Cost is $1850.00. This trip departs early morning on the October 1st. Fishing October 1 to 6. Only 11 passengers on this one. Contact, Steve Lee 949 683 7957.

I hope some of you will be able to join us on some of these great adventures.

Thanks,

JJ and the crew of the Apollo

Here we go again. We are off for another 5 days on Paul Hess's annual charter from Napa. We are anticipating good weather and great fishing. Wish us luck!

A DRIFT WE Will NEVER FORGET ! Today we went out with 6 passengers who ignored yesterday’s fish count and understand that fishing is more about spending time in nature than harvesting meat. After our 3 hour drift everyone onboard had either landed or fought and released a fish of a lifetime. Final tally was 7 bluefin, 6@ 110-150 and 1@65 lbs. please come prepared with a 25 lb rod a a 40 lb rod and a 50-80 lb rod. Today’s best setup was a 4oz. torpedo sinker rubber banded above a 2/0 circle hook on 50-80 lb.

Hello Everyone, Today we spent the day chasing Fin Whales and bird schools, there were very nice schools of Yellowfin associated with them. Tuna ranging from 8 lbers to 40lbs! there were defiantly some nice fish mixed in. In addition to that there were some Dorado around. Lots of life making for an exciting day. We will be chasing these fish again tomorrow, wish us luck. Will report back then, Team Supreme

87 yellowfin 4 skipjack. A couple lucky stops made our day. Highly recommend having a 20lb rod with size 2 hooks and matching flouro.