sanibel bait box Fishing Report 2023

One stop made our day on the Imperial Sprinkler Private charter. 45 yellowfin 14 yellowtail.

A nice one!

Skipper JJ Gerritsen returned with his Apollo to Fisherman's Landing November 21, after an eight-day, ultra-limited trip. The boat's ten passengers fished Guadalupe Island before taking off for Magdalena Bay to fish big tuna on their final day. "All of our long range trips are ultra-limited," said JJ. "It takes away competition factors, we won't do more than ten passengers. We got limits of yellowfin, Guadalupe's been great our last six trips, but we did something different this time; we headed out for a shot at these big ones. All of our fish are kept in refrigerated saltwater, so they still look great." Matt Bowland of Encinitas took home the best tuna; a 224-pound yellowfin that fought "long and hard." Matt used a 6/0 Owner ringed Super Mutu hook, on an 80-pound P-Line topshot, 100-pound Spectra, a Tiagra 30 reel and a Calstar Grafighter 765 H rod. "I butt-hooked the sardine," said Matt. "The fight lasted two and a half hours." Drew Card of San Diego was second with a 196-pound tuna, and Craig Biddick of Rancho Santa Fe was third for a 164-pounder.

53 pass. 167 yellowtail 25 bonito. Small yo-yo jigs surface iron and live bait were all working. Bring your passports and fish the technique your most comfortable with.

Mike Pritchard called in with this update for the Tribute. "The great fishing we had this morning, did continue on. We've had very good fishing. We've caught limits of Yellowtail, limits of Yellowfin tuna and we had a nice Dorado lunch. The weather has been nice, but there is a light breeze. The Yellowfin really loved the surface lures.

"We'll be back out tomorrow night on another 1.5 Day trip. See you on the water."

Tommy Rothery returned Polaris Supreme to Fisherman's Landing November 18 after a ten-day Ocean Tackle Research charter. The boat had 13 anglers aboard. Chartermaster Lon Mikkelsen of Hood River, OR saw his father, Bill Mikkelsen of Olympia, WA land the season's first super cow; a tuna over 300 pounds. "It was full-speed fishing," said Chartermaster Lon Mikkelsen.

Bill Mikkelsen's big fish won first place after it weighed in at 308.8-pounds, caught on a fly-lined sardine. Bill used the boat's gear, including a 6/0 Mustad 7691 hook, 100-pound P-Line, and a Shimano rod and reel. "Tommy said it was tail-wrapped from the beginning," said the elder Mikkelsen. "And he was, but he got lose and went on another run. He took me around the boat twice."

Well the weather has kicked up a little and it's a little bumpy. We will be at the dock at 6:00 am tomorrow. Come down and say hi if you can. We will be in until Thursday Nov. 8 when we depart on Lon Mikkleson's OTR charter. There are still spots available if you want to come with us.