surfland Fishing Report 2024

July 7

Today was kind of a disapointing day for me. I had plans of having good fishing in the morning at Cedros then heading to Benitos and having descent fishing there. Well the water got funky on us due to the big south swell that was pushed up from the tropical storm that rode it's way up. It was a green green green and the yellows didn't like it. They were still there like they had been for the last week but they didn't bite well. After 4 1/2 hours we gave up on it and went with plan b. We arrived at Benitos after lunch and I will say we saw a good amount of fish all over the island. The problem was the sea lion population. Those things are out of control right now. It's wierd how it works at that island. Sometimes they're tolerable and sometimes they're not. Today they were not. We're headed back to Cedros now and we'll give it another chance tomorrow. This south swell seemed to back off some late today so hopefully there is some strong current through the night tonight to flush all that icky water out of there.

I just reread what I wrote and it sounds worse than it was. We scratched out an ok day. We averaged over 3 fish per rod. Compared to the last week it was slow but back up further and we had a stellar day. See you tomorrow.

So far this year we have had absolutely phenomenal yellowtail fishing as well as a better chance than ever, in the history of Southern California to catch a bluefin over 200lbs! We are excited to announce we have multiple openings on trips that will be targeting these big grade of yellowtail, nice yellowfin and trophy size bluefin! The upcoming trips with openings are listed below: 4-day August 2 5-day August 6 5-day August 11 3-day August 2 We hope to see you guys out here soon and put you on some truly Supreme fishing this summer! Thanks, Team Supreme

Hello Everyone, Today we had a nice day fishing off the Baja coast. We managed to scrape up some Wahoo to start off the day and finished the day with great fishing on Yellowtail. They were mainly 14 lbs but 40% were beautiful 20-30lbs. Absolutely great Yellowtail. Mixed in were some good grade Yellowfin Tuna, Pargo, and Grouper. A nice way to taste the flavor of Southern Baja fishing. We are planning on trying it here in the morning. Will report then, Team Supreme

Monday, August 5th, 2013

Hi friends. Different style of reporting from me today. I'm going to give you little segments of information from our day. Before I forget, Travis Donahue would like to say hello to the lovely little flower that is his wife, Jackie, and hello to his lovely little garden that he calls his children. So sweet. Also, Tex wanted me to share with the worldwide web that he is slayin' the yellas. He also shared with us that there is a better vodka out there than Tito's. We're skeptical, because anyone that knows Team Supreme knows that it's Tito's or get out of our houses. You've got 7 bottles to send your boys, Tex. Anyhoo, here is a few short segments of how our day transpired.

-Started the morning off with a nice worklist. Various engine room and upkeep that is needed on a boat to maintain proper working order. Fixing leaks, changing light bulbs, cleaning under mains, and various other little projects. Nice to be sweaty and greasy before breakfast.

-Gunny got the gang into the galley and gave an in-depth dropper loop seminar. How do you dropper loop? You drop your loop and hang on tight. Thanks, Guns.

-Breakfast was baller. Huge breakfast burritos with whatever you desired. I had the works, complete with chorizo, eggs, potatoes, bacon, salsa, queso, and avocado. Oh yeah, get on my level, bro.

-I was off last trip but I came onto the boat to be pleasantly surprised that the boys had dusted off "The Big Banana" after a brief hiatus. Never ceases to amaze me that the only piece of saltwater gear I own is so very popular to passengers and crew alike. We put that thing to use today and The Banana was on fire! As she usually is, we bent the hooks on our surface iron. Yep.

-Mark, after a long dry spell, was issued 10 minutes of hard hat time. His offense was tying a halibut dropper loop, on fluorocarbon, and not only tying it but tying it wrong. Gunny took one look, wrapped the line around his hands and snapped it like a Popsicle stick. Maaaarrrrrk!

***03:54 hours update*** For anyone that knows me, I enjoy me some channel 46 on the Sirius radio. Channel 46 is the Old School Hip Hop station and it plays a certain song that gets me fired up and that song usually comes while I'm typing up a report about a great day of fishing, and right now is no exception. The song is "Today Was A Good Day" by Ice Cube and today was just that, a good day. Riddler just flashed me the "Westside" sign with his fingers from his bunk. Right back at ya, Tommy!

-For all of my nonsense in my report thus far, our morning wasn't all that sweet, considering the boats here in the previous two days absolutely clobbered the Yellowtail. We scratched a few handfuls of 'tail in the 15-22 lb. range but it was nothing to write home about. We fished hard and then the lunch call was given. Per request of Tom, we do a custom sandwich station on table 3 complete with all the various ingredients to build yourself a baller sandwich. While we were making some sammies, Riddles put us on a nice drift and they came up boilin' right next to the boat real nice and we had a decent drift some 'tail. I saw a few sandwiches go flyin' but the beauty of our setup was that you could just go make another one when the bite was over. Fantastic. I made myself a deli quadruple, all the fixins, and a pickle.

-A couple hours after our lunch drift, we got on the mother lode. For the next few hours, the Yellows were snappin' real nice. As wide upen as you could ask for on the fly-lined sardines and jigs and an excellent grade to boot with most being in the 18-25 lb. category. We were busy, busy, busy. Fun times! The sun was shinning, the weather was great, and the staple guns were firing. Just what the doctor ordered. The gang had a blast.

-During the melee, Chef Shawn rocked out a Bluefin poki, Tequila Lime chicken wings, and white rice for an afternoon snack. I managed to sneak in and eat 14 bowls of poki and rice. Wowza! Good job, Shawn, now get out on deck on help us out!

-Throughout the day, I was designated "camera guy" so I got to play Austin Powers and snap away. Hope y'all enjoy the photos. Not going to lie, we were so busy that it was hard to find the time. We were also so busy, that we forget to write down one of our box drops into the RSW. For the life of us, we couldn't remember if we had missed one. We got things squared away and our count looked plenty better. We had a fantastic afternoon!

-We tried for squid and seabass at dark but no dice. I got showered up and served a fabulous dinner that Chef Shawn and Sweet D prepared. I had to take photos and write down what the heck we were eating. Sesame and spicy seared Bluefin tuna, with a Sriracha vinaigrette and ginger/carrot sauce, wasabi mashed potatoes, and sesame stir-fried green beans and edamame. It was bananas. For dessert, Mama D gave us plenty of choices but most chose her "brownie delight" that we enjoyed a couple nights prior, I know I did. Great job, Team Galley.

So that is all! A lengthy report for just a dandy of a day. It was truly a lot of fun and a really nice change of pace for the gang. We're currently headed up the line to drop a few lines on some coastal high spots to hopefully load up on some reds and lingcod. We'll only have a very limited time frame to get down but we'll be at it first thing in the morning. In closing, our weather is OK, our day was splendid, and judging by my food intake today, I am now a diabetic. See ya. Wrap-up report tomorrow. Take care.

-The Supreme Team

P.S. Hi again, Drew! I have to go prime the watermaker. My bad!

Fishing was slow today. We had a handful of fish weighing in at 70-170 lbs. We are going to make a move and go look for bigger and better. Weather is still beautiful. Dinner was a delicious saut?©ed veal cutlet, pasta and roasted fresh veggies.

100+ yellowtail out of the first stop this morning. Please bring a 25 lb bait rod and a 40 lb yo-yo rod. Reservations are very important as trips are filling up fast. Call 619-224-3383 for resos. A passport or a passport card is required.

Tuna fishing was good again today with nice quality tuna. We took off mid-day to hunt for some dorado and wahoo on kelps in the afternoon, but no luck. We will be on the Ridge tomorrow to sweep for wahoo. Our lunch today was an outstanding fresh tuna fillet with avocado, lettuce, tomato and wasabi sauce. We will update again tomorrow. Thanks, Tommy and crew

May Luna-Sea Bendo at the Ranch Afire with neon blue, the marlin shimmied and snaked its way into the wake and the spread, coming in dead off the starboard side. Everyone saw it at once and made noisy note. "He's gonna eat it!" hollered Ben, holding the rod with the drop back bait, a small jack. It was already 30 feet back. "He's eatin' it, he's eatin' it!" Ben swung on the fish, winding on the little silver reel, and the black rod bent hard. The marlin headed off right into the sun, back the way he'd come into the spread of trolled baits and lures. Things got interesting in a hurry, with three men trying to use cameras, two men trying to get the rest of the trolled rigging out of the way before the fish fouled itself, and Ben, who was braced with one leg up on the rail, alternately pulling and winding on the fish. It was a big cockpit, but at the moment there were traffic jams on both sides of the unused fighting chair. The marlin had disappeared off up past the deckhouse, but the skipper and John Ireland were shouting on the bridge that it had jumped. When we got the invitation from Jack Nilsen of Accurate to join him at John Ireland's Rancho Leonero to do a product shoot, Paul Sweeney and I packed our cameras and our bags. We traveled light, with little fishing equipment, since I knew Jack would have plenty of reels. I brought a couple of my new Super Seeker rods and a bag of jigs and Mustad hooks for light tackle fishing May 20 to 22. We taxied from Los Cabos airport, arriving at the beginning of a sweet tropical Sea of Cortez evening to enjoy three days of first-class style angling aboard Ireland's 50-foot Mikelson sportfisher Luna-Sea. Rejoicing in the warm, light sea breeze, we saw the Ranch was lovely as ever, with improvements since our last visit a year ago. Ireland has renovated much, notably the bar/dining room, which has been opened up to be even more spacious and airy. For the first time, a wide-screen TV hangs on the wall at the far end of the bar, showing off a high-def satellite picture for those who want to keep up with things like the NBA conference finals. Bartender Jorge and the rest of the staff were still there, so the place felt as homey as ever. A hurricane last year took out a couple of the wall-mounted fish hanging in the dining room, and I noticed the old lion skin was gone. But there was a new covering for part of the dining patio outside, and all the beds had been replaced with fancy new big pillow-top models, making for comfortable, healthy sleeping in the air-conditioned rooms and stone walled thatched bungalows. There are several resorts at East Cape, and each has its own flavor and style, but I keep coming back to the Ranch because the place is smaller and more relaxed than most (Ireland calls it intimate), and it's set away from the rest of the resorts, up on a small headland that gets sea breeze from two sides. If you've got shade, the breeze keeps you cool at the Ranch, and the view flat out cannot be beat. Food is good, and varied daily here. Wells tap plenty of cool, clean water, enough to keep the grounds so green the resort looks like a little paradise, where mountains and Baja desert meet miles of white beach and the deep blue waters of the Cortez. Fishing begins about ten yards from the beach, and you seldom have to ride more than a very few miles before you can find something biting, like marlin, tuna, sailfish, dorado, snapper, roosterfish or two dozen other sporting species. Jack Nilsen and Ben Secrest, Accurate vice president of sales and marketing, wanted Paul Sweeney and I to get video and stills of some new gear. They had three spinning reels: named 30, 20 and 12, and two-speed Boss conventional reels with them, from the tiny 197 up to the 665 series. They also had a new line of Accurate rods to match the reels, made from light, slender but strong high-modulus graphite. Accurate makes two-speed, (with and without the pre-set drag mechanism) twin-drag reels all the way up to the 130 International size, but for this event the gear was small, light and easy to handle. Small doesn't mean little in terms of line strength, however. Most of the reels were loaded with 50 to 80-pound Spectra, with a short topshot of mono or fluorocarbon, a leader that could be easily changed to match the targeted species. Our first morning of fishing was spent catching snapper and cabrilla, which were plentiful just a quarter mile from the portable loading pier where anglers board their pangas and cruisers each day around seven a.m. Several types of snappers are available here, and some get so large they can be a serious challenge on heavy tackle. Snapper are about the only game fish I've caught that are even better at getting into the rocks as yellowtail. On this morning I got a couple on my new 665 F Super Seeker with an 870 N two-speed Accurate and two with the light version of Jack's new spinning outfit. Fish were thick on this rockpile. We found plenty of Pargo Amarillo, or yellowtail snapper of two to six pounds. They bit best on 20 to 30-pound mono and a 1/0 hook. I like to use a ringed Mustad circle hook for this type of fishing, and with a larger bait, I'd size up the hook. The local guides make their own ringed hooks by tying a loop or perfection knot, which gives the bait a similar mobility. Pargo and their cabrilla buddies bit well on sardinas. These baitfish look very much like western herring or eastern pilchard, with a single dark spot aft center of the gill plate like the row of spots that run down the sides of sardines. The guides suggest stunning the bait, to make it easier for the snappers to run down. I tried baits both ways, stunned and not stunned, and found the guides knew what they were talking about, though I also caught a couple of snapper on speedy, unimpeded baits. After we were done with the snapper and cabrilla we moved southward, and Ben and Jack made some deep drops in 200 to 300 feet with knife jigs, which produced whitefish and a bright orange-red popeye catalufa. It could have been a glasseye, but I can't tell the difference. They had outfits set up for the purpose. We tried slow-trolling mullet for roosterfish next, off the lighthouse at Punta Area. We got one looker but no takers. Two anglers in a skiff showed us a 30-pound yellowfin they said they had caught right there, but we saw no tuna sign. This is a great place to find jack crevalle, but on our days here those fish didn't show. Many shore anglers love this place for its proximity to deep water. A determined beach fisherman might manage to hook a marlin or a tuna here because of the drop-off and the currents circulating up to the sandy spit. We spent the rest of our time fishing for marlin, so we could document the use of the new light Accurate gear on larger, more powerful fish. That first afternoon, we drew a blank. The next day, we could sense a change coming, as the breeze picked up a bit earlier, from the east-southeast. It died and then went to the south. We trolled live mullet, rigged dead ballyhoo, and skirted jigs. During the afternoon, we raised two marlin. Both came into the spread, but refused. Just shopping. On our last day there was a big change. The breeze came up shortly after dawn, and reached 15 or 20 knots, out of the south. The palms around the pool pointed their fronds downwind, and whitecaps danced over a sloshy chop. "It's going to lay down," predicted both owner John Ireland and foreman Gary Barnes-Webb. We boarded Ireland's Luna-Sea again. Not knowing what to expect, we moved off toward the waters a few miles out from the lighthouse, where we'd come close to billfish the day before. As predicted, the breeze lay down. But that didn't help the fishing. The water smoothed off, but we couldn't see a fish anywhere, not even the jumpers we'd been watching and chasing the past two days. Before lunch, the wind suddenly picked up again. Within an hour, the cobalt Cortez was capped with white as far as you could see. The chop got up to three or four feet in a jiffy. If we'd been in a panga it would have been dangerous to fish. In a small cruiser it would have been uncomfortable. On the 50-foot Luna-Sea we weren't much affected, although we sometimes lurched a bit in a head sea. I enjoyed my lunch of a dried beef burrito and a ham and cheese sandwich, with chips, an apple and a diet cola. The breezy, choppy, sloppy conditions made a marlin miracle. We started seeing tailers, jumpers, even feeders in the white-capped blue waves. It wasn't long before that first one took that dropped-back bait. Ben Secrest worked the fish over while our skipper Gaspar ran the boat to his best advantage. The new Accurate outfit Ben fished with worked just like it should, putting pressure on the striper, picking up any slack with its high-speed gear ratio, while Ben shifted to make the most of any situation. Paul kept the Sony HD camcorder winding, recording on tape while Ben was winding line, and three cameramen worked around each other on the deck as Jack shot his photos from the bridge. It was only 10 or 12 minutes before Secrest had the marlin whipped enough to get it boatside for a release. We all celebrated, and began to relax; our mission was at least partly accomplished. We kept seeing marlin tailing and we sidled up to many to show them the goods, but the wind slacked off and they seemed to lose interest accordingly. Then there was a long period, maybe an hour without a sighting. I napped in Ireland's leather-lined salon, on a long sofa-seat at the table. I awoke to shouting. Another fish had come in for a nibble, but we missed him. I went out on the after deck to see the wind had picked up again. We began to see more marlin, some jumping in the distance, a few feeding and slashing at the choppy surface, and more tailing downwind. We were about out of time, said Ireland, who needed to host at home that evening. Then we hung another fish. Secrest had it on a lighter outfit, and this one looked to be a bit bigger. It gave us little aerial show, and like the other fish, seemed to want to sidle off up toward the bow, across the wind and chop. Backing into the chop brought water splashes up over the transom, and soon Ben was soaked on his front side, but in control of the fish. A couple of turns by the skipper and Ben's hard pulling had the marlin up to the boat, where all the shooters tried to get a shot before it was released. It was over before I could get in there. Moments later we got one more bite, and LA County fireman-engineer Wayne Shimabukuro played the fish for a moment before it freed itself. We had what we needed, and it was late in the afternoon. We saw more than 40 marlin. We tried to present to at least eight of them. We had some good looks, a couple of whacks, and Ben got a brace of beaks to the boat. It was a satisfaction. The ice chest produced cold bottles of Pacifico beer and limes. We toasted our good fortune as skipper Gaspar pointed the big Mikelson downwind and north toward The Ranch. The ride flattened out and the wake wave rose nearly to the height of the transom. The shadow of the big bridge kept us in the shade as we kicked back to enjoy a smooth ride, thanks to Jack Nilsen and John Ireland, and the end of a good adventure.