arkabutla Fishing Report 2024

48 yellowfin 89 skipjack 36 yellowtail 5 dorado. Aquarium style on a lucky kelp.

123 yellowfin tuna 3 bluefin tuna. Words can’t describe how lucky we are to call the 32 block home. Mother Nature continues to impress.

After a couple of slow days for the fleet we decided to go out on a search mission. Our morning was spent chasing 30 lb bluefin that we’re very difficult to hook. Around 12:30 our sonar lit up with the sweet sound of shallow, spread out yellowfin tuna. After 3 1/2 hours and ten short stops. Our 30 anglers were able to drop 123 yellowfin and 1 bluefin into the refrigerated Sea Water. Best success came on flyline bait on 25-40 lb, colt snipers and poppers. We will continue to fish offshore and target whatever we see.

Captain Andrew Viola called in late last night at 11:15 PM.  We just wrapped up an overnight charter.  It was a tough morning the fish slept in.  The fish showed up later in the day and we managed 3 Bluefin Tuna (up to 120 pounds).  It was a very encouraging sign of fish once we got on them.  

We had a 2 day Izorline trip tonight and we have a SOLD OUT trip departing Friday night.

Upcoming Trips
Sunday Night 1.5 Day Trip - has spots
Tuesday Night 1.5 Day Trip - has spots

Well late in the day yesterday we got into a good school of albacore. They bite well and everybody was hung on the boat. It was a wild afternoon and we ended up with a nice round of albacore. This morning we are in a new area. Prospects look good and we've had a handful so far. We are coming up on a really good looking spot so I will update again later. Thanks! Tommy and crew

Welcome back. We departed today on a 7 day trip. We're currently heading down the coast unsure of a starting point. We're in a good position as far as making a decision. We have a good spread of boats in different areas so we'll have a good check on the ocean. We'll either keep rolling down tonight or stop short for an afternoon of yellowtail fishing and take it from there.

Aug 7
 Well, our best fishing today came from the zone where all of our offshore fishing has been this year.  No surprise there.  I wish we would have stayed in that zone longer, but for the past week, anyone on there last day of there trip has been complaining about there speed going up.  "Oh it's soo slow", "we're driving through mud", "make sure you give yourself plenty of extra time", etcetera, etcetera.  So we planned on that.  We fished with our watch today.  But that never happened.  We never did slow down.  Unfortunately, by planning on it, it put us in this years desert zone.  The zone with no fish.  Beautiful water, no fish.  But things have to change right?  Right.  Just not today.  Oh well.  At least our first 2 days were good ones.  Oh, and the weather was good.  That always helps.

 We'll be in tomorrow and Tommy will be coming back out for 5.  I'm going home.  What will I do?  Spend every minute with my beautiful daughter except for the 4 1/2 hours spent on the golf course.  I will miss writing to you folks though.  I enjoy telling you what's on my mind.  I sugar coat nothing.  See you all in 5 days.
     

Thursday, April 11th, 2013

Hi friends. We're still traveling down in decent weather, with plenty of sunshine to make for an enjoyable trek. Although, the travel days can be very monotonous, we always find something out of the ordinary to do to break up the boredom. Today was a unique day, even by our standards; and even after all of the sea time that passengers and crew members alike have accumulated over the decades, we still found ourselves in activities, scenery, and fishing that we don't experience everyday.

Now, I'm not trying to make roses out of you-know-what; we caught Yellowtail today. That's all. We didn't run into the first wave of Albacore or run up on a breezer of giant Bluefin tuna. Nope, we simply caught beautiful 18-22 lb. Yellowtail. Before I go any further - I am not bashing the Yellowtail fishery in any way shape or form. We had a great time doing it today and in all honesty, typing out words to explain the amount of fun we had for an hour would bore everyone half to death. What garners this report is simply the hour-long spectacle that was associated with our Yellowtail fishing. Having wide open fishing and not really trying to compete with other boats or boost our own egos is fun enough, trust me. Just good old fashioned yankin' and crankin' is what we did today but add in the sight of breaching Humpback Whales (two adults and one cute little calf, literally within casting distance) with the backdrop of one of the most beautiful destinations that we fish in one of the most isolated places in the Eastern Pacific was something I'll never forget. Like I said, it was Yellowtail fishing; but add in the group of gentlemen that we shared this experience with, it was hard not to just stop for a moment and take everything in. All in all, it was a super fun day.

I'm sorry for the lengthy report. I'm reading three books at the moment and one of them is 83 Neurobic exercises to increase mental fitness and it encourages you to do some off-the-wall stuff - things that you normally wouldn't do to keep your brain healthy. It's a fascinating read and I'm applying a lot of the little things that the book says to do. I'm sure that I'm driving the crew crazy with how stoked I am to do these things; from switching my watch to my other hand, to navigating my way around the wheelhouse with my eyes closed and let my senses other than sight guide me around (don't worry, I'm not driving), to putting different types of tape on the keyboard (don't ask) - it's all really interesting to me and it's keeping the travel days fresh and exciting. So, I apologize for this whacky report but I'm helping to keep my brain stimulated and hopefully yours too.

Anyhow, With this particular trip -- or any 17-day trip, for that matter -- there is always something new to do to keep us on our toes. From rigging up "Bruce" our new anchor (insert circus music here) to finding a good book to read to learning a new way to rig tackle or just enjoying the ride with some good friends, the entire experience of traveling down to our destination can be looked at in multiple ways - today was one of those good travel days and I felt like sharing it with everyone because we're pumped. Other than good weather and good food, I'll leave y'all with a few more clues as to what in the heck we're doing with our time. It involves: five grown men, a food processor, Yellowtail Milt, a deck brush, and a bait scoop. Stimulate your brains. We'll chat with you manana.

P.S. Devon, Alayna, and Lyall - I caught y'all a delicious Calico Bass today. I wanted to release it but mortality was imminent. I am deeply sorry. Scootch didn't even try to save it either so it's half his fault. Sorry.