satilla river Fishing Report 2024

Tommy Rothery docked his Polaris Supreme at Fisherman's Landing July 31 after an open-party trip of five days with 23 anglers. Rothery was enthusiastic about both the quality and the quantity of fish he encountered at the islands and on kelps. Several youngsters were aboard, and they enjoyed catching and releasing yellowtail and dorado, while keeping a few of the larger models to take home. Some of them posed with their catch at the scales. "We released an awful lot of fish," said Tommy. Matt Herrington of Huntington Beach won the jackpot for a 36.6-pound yellowtail that fell for his sardine on a Mustad 91450 hook in the 2/0 size. He said he fished with 40-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon leader, 40-pound P-Line, a Trinidad 40 reel and a Calstar six and a half-foot rod. Scott Oberg of El Centro won second place for a 32-pound yellowtail. Steve Algrim of Long Beach took third place for a 26.2-pound yellowtail, and the trip posed at the head of the dock.

~~Sep. 17
 We're going to go ahead and chalk this one up as a travel day.  That's pretty much what we did today.  Starting last night.  And it was a rough one.  As soon as we got a couple hours northeast of the stones things got a bit windy and the boat started to rock.  Not good sleeping weather.  We got through it though.  Even Chef Mike got breakfast out without too much whining this morning.  Things started to smooth out a couple of hours prior to arriving to our fishing hole.  Our fishing hole didn't prove to be very productive though.  So we traveled up.  That's something you have to do on these longer trips when you fish the Rocks or the Ridge.  It's a long way down there.  So we caught a few wahoo on our travel day.

 Unfortunately the weather picked back up this afternoon and we've been scooping waves over the house steady since 3:00 or so.  Right now I turned it down swell for dinner because we have a couple hours to kill.  We're going to head back up to our tuna/wahoo honey hole from the beginning of the trip and hope for good weather.  Just two days left to fish on this trip.
       

Ryan Bostian checked in with a report from the San Diego out of Seaforth Sportfishing in Mission Bay, CA. Today we had 15 anglers catch 9 Bluefin Tuna (60-80 lbs) 1 Yellowfin Tuna (25 lbs). Capt Cameron and the boys had a fine day.

Less flash, more RESULTS! Today we hit our stride. Pulling on fish hard to get them away from the sharks, in addition to that the conditions improved in our favor. We had less fish around us today but our landing ratio was much better. We were able to put together a nice day picking at quality Yellowfin. Ranging from 40-80 lbs with the occasional 100 lber. Great day overall.

We are putting the Tuna to sleep here aboard the Polaris Supreme! Great grade again 60-110 lb fish. Big fish paired nicely with great weather. We are loving it! 

Here we have Crewman Jake and Chef Roger rocking this Ahi to bed! About to sleep nicely in the 32 degree RSW fishhold.

Many of you know Captain Ray Montera who has been involved in sportfishing most of his life. In March, his 32 year old Chris son was severely injured in a C4 blast in Afghanistan. We are holding a fundraiser on October 8th at the Bali Hai on Shelter Island. He is one of our own and we are rallying to support him.

As an Army soldier, Chris Montera was often taken aback when people would thank him for doing the job he loved. On a fateful day in March, he came to face the sacrifice. He was on a dismounted mission and was hit with explosion of C4, which literally blasted and propelled him into a grape field. He suffered major issues with blast lung and severe burns over much of his body. For 9 days he was on ECMO (lung bypass) until he was stable enough to be transported to BAMC in San Antonio for the treatment of his shrapnel wounds and third degree burns. On April 2 a fungal infection set into the wounds on his lower extremities and Chris underwent bilateral AK amputation of his legs. He was further diagnosed with an incomplete spinal cord injury in the thoracic area of the spine at VA Polytrauma Center in Palo Alto.

Through all of this, Chris remains focused and committed to rehabilitation. It is estimated that he will remain in Palo Alto for 3-6 months while he works to regain his upper body strength, which will be necessary for the next stages of rehab in the C5 program at Balboa Naval Hospital in San Diego where he will be fitted with prosthetic legs and with determination will learn to walk again. There is no doubt in our minds that Chris will recover to live an independent life. The goal of this fundraiser is to be able to assist Chris with expenses he will no doubt encounter on his journey to independence.

The event will be held at the Bali Hai Restaurant on Shelter Island On October 8th from 6:00-10:00 pm. There will be food stations serving food from many San Diego restaurants along with a no host bar. A raffle, live, and silent auction will take place during the event along with live entertainment by Mango Bay and World Famous Jim Gibson. The outpouring of support of raffle and auction donations from the sportfishing community, tackle, fishing supply manufacturers, and local businesses has been phenomenal. The evening will be great fun for all and will serve to help a young man who put it all on the line.

There are several ways you can help:
First and most important is attend the event.

Tickets are $50 in advance or $450 for a block of 10

Advance ticket purchases will include 3 raffle tickets and assorted swag

Cannot attend but would like to help, make a cash donation in any amount.

Donate an item for the raffle or auction. Anything from fishing items, art, gift certificates, clothing...anything is greatly appreciated.


We look forward to having you at the event. The sport fishing community has come together to take care of a wounded warrior of their own, and it promises to be a fun filled evening for all.

To purchase tickets for Island Nights at the Bali Hai, please visit our website at http://christophermonterasupport.com/island-nights-at-the-bali-hai

To donate items for our raffle/auction please visit our website and complete the donor form http://christophermonterasupport.com/sponsors-anddonors-supporters/donor-form

Captain Mike Pritchard called in this morning from the Tribute. We are fishing out West today. We are catching Yellowfin Tuna and Bluefin Tuna. We have 90 mixed fish on the boat at 8:30 AM. We also have a good score on the Yellowtail. They are biting the 30 pound pretty job. We got a few on the Jig. We do have spots open on Sunday's trip. Call Seaforth at (619) 224-3383 to get in on the action or you can book online via our website.We will check back in later ...