big thompson river Fishing Report 2024

We have an exciting opportunity coming up. We have a two day open party trip on Sept. 5th and 6th. The cost is 565.00 and includes food and permits. Trip will depart at 9pm on the 4th. Contact Fisherman's Landing for more info or to sign up. 619 221 8500.

Tommy Rothery docked his Polaris Supreme after the annual George Davis Expedition, with only eight anglers aboard. Rothery tied up at his space on the inner wing at Fisherman's Landing, ending his long range season on a positive note with a visit to Baja's southern banks and the Cleofas Bank, where all the fish that were kept were caught. Four cows were among the fish offloaded January 13. "All the big fish were from Cleofas," said Tommy. We released about half the fish we caught there, and nearly everything, including 15 big tuna, we caught up above. "So many people put so much emphasis on their pile of fish at the dock," remarked Rothery. "It disgusts me." Rothery and his anglers consistently release many fish of all sizes. Charlie Middleton of San Pablo got two cows; one with a sardine and the biggest one on a chunk. His tuna weighed 201.4 and 245.6 pounds. He said he fished with 8/0 Gamakatsu hooks, 130-poudn Maxima line and 130-pound Spectra backing on a Penn 80 SW reel and a new Ugly Stick 130-pound class rod. "That rod works good," said Charlie, who got his smaller fish in only 15 minutes. Al Tokunaga of North Hollywood took a 232.4-pounder after a 30-minute tussle. He said the fish bit on a sardine pinned to a 9/0 Eagle Claw hook. He fished with 130-pound Momoi line and 130-pound Spectra, with a Cal Sheet-s prepped Penn 50 S reel and a Calstar 6455 XH rod. "I used an eight-ounce torpedo sinker attached with a rubber band," noted Al. "He bit right after daylight. They were down there about that time every day." Roger Brown of Riverside bagged a 210.9-pounder with a mackerel on a 6/0 ringed Super Mutu hook. He said he fished with 100-pound Jin Kai line and 130-pound Jerry Brown Line One Spectra on a Tiagra 50 W reel and a Calstar 6455 XH rod. Brown's fish was notable in that it fought for 35 minutes, and then pulled skipper Drew Henderson over the side when he single-gaffed it. They were both brought aboard without further incident. Rothery noted that he will be doing boat work from now until May 31, when he will begin his summer season of three to five-day trips.

Tuesday, October 16th, 2012

Hi friends. Fishing today was just beautiful today on 16-22 lb. yellowtail down here. We had a few of those "premiums" in the mix and a few shakers but for the most part, it was a really nice grade of 'tail. Our key to success today was finding--as Tommy puts it--fresh balls [of yellowtail]. Classic run 'n gun fishing for the morning as the guys on jigs and fly-lined sardines were getting their fill but once our drift was established, the dropper loop guys got in on the action too. Anyways, it was a good morning bite in the "drift zone" but a little after lunch, things shut off and we toured around trying to find another ball without much success. Speaking of lunch, chartermaster Joe Gigliotti did it again. He owns the pizza game and made a really awesome lunch for the guys. Sausage, pepperoni, olives, barbecued chicken, chicken and pesto, and smoked fish, capers, and onions were being devoured by the gang. Joe rocks. I only had a couple bites of each because my nutritionist, Chef Shawn, didn't think I needed the extra carbs and fat. I had salad and a banana. Eyes on the prize, baby. Anywho, it was definitely a morning thing and we'll be here for one more morning to see if we can't connect on some more fresh balls [of yellowtail] and let the weather fade out before we boogie out of here to get in some offshore tuna and dorado action. Oh yeah, we need to make some bait too.

As I type this, the time is 0245 hours in the morning and it's starting to rain, Gunny is all slicked up downstairs braving the elements, and I'm up here in the cozy wheelhouse contemplating typing a report for another hour and fifteen minutes until we have to wake up Tommy and Mark. Nah, I can't do Gunny like that. Anyhow, bait-making isn't all that great as Gunny has made a couple pieces and a couple of flying fish for next trip and I've made one lizard fish. Pumped.

Speaking of pumped, the gym here on the Polaris Supreme is overloaded with muscle right now. Last night before dinner, Tommy was in the wheelhouse gettin' his leg and core workouts in while I was out back in the "gun zone" getting my diesel on with some upper body workouts. Tommy was rockin' out a few sets of crunches, squats, and toe raises, I was in the gun zone jackin' out sets of chin-ups, tricep dips, push-ups, and leg lifts. It was on. So my fellow pump brother, Riddler the Ripped One, and I were getting all swollen and admiring each others work, and here's Gunny taking a shower. He doesn't have a membership to the gym yet but we'll find a way to get him one, don't you worry, Tommie. If you're nickname is "Gunny", you'd better be shredded to the max and not applying cocoa butter moisturizer when Riddles and I are getting wrenched. I'm proud of you, Riddler, I'll be your spotter anytime. If only we could get him bronzing...

Staying with the last topic, Drew and I took what might be the best photo ever this evening. A rainbow showed itself in the distance and what a beautiful rainbow it was. Instinctively, Drew leaped into my arms and I held him like a baby lamb in my toned arms and Mark snapped a photo of the exchange. The picture is just fabulous, Drew being held up by "Richie Gun Racks", his smile ear-to-ear, and a beautiful rainbow in the background. Just lovely.

So that's all. Life on the Supreme is grand right now and I've got to go and make some bait. Like I said, we'll be here tomorrow trying for some more 'tails. Hopefully, the action is a real fat burner and we're just going crazy all day. We'll see. Okay, I gotta go. Bait, bait, bait!

-The Supreme Team

Aug. 11
    We had a great morning today.  I'd have to check with the big guy but I believe we had around 60 of the 15-25 pound yellowfin and 9 of those big 60-80 pound bluefins on our first drift.  I'd call that a good morning.  It wasn't full speed either.  It was just a nice scratch over a period of a few hours.  Nice drifting along there in beautiful weather once again.  I sure hope this weather lasts a while along with the fishing.
    
    After our first drift we did some others of course.  None producing as well as the first one but throughout the day we scratched at some more yellowfin and a few more of those big bluefins.  It was just what we needed after a day of mostly driving around seing a lot and  not catching much.  Needless to say we'll be hanging around here tonight and trying it again tomorrow.

    On a sad note, one of the greats in the sportfishing industry passed away today.  Most of you reading this wouldn't know who I'm talking about because he was a behind the scenes guy.  I'm talking about the great sardine fisherman Joe Machado, and if you've been fishing in the last 35+ years, you were using bait most likely caught or found by him.  As you all know, no bait no fish, so we'll be throwing some sardines over the side for him tomoorow.  RIP Joe.
                                                        

 

Today capt. Ray went out with 46 passengers and caught. 8 yellowtail 3 lingcod 2 sheephead and 118 rockfish. The yellowtail are still around but they only got active for about an hour today. Cold water yellowtail can be very moody. Timing is everything when it comes to catching these 59 degree water fish.

Wednesday, August 10th, 2011

Hi friends. We arrived to the tuna grounds this morning a little after breakfast and with boats already broadcasting catches of Bluefin for the morning, we made our way out to the deck with heightened sense of excitement. Immediately upon entering the area, we had a couple of hits on the smaller grade Bluefins before a lull set in for most of the late morning all the way up until after lunch when we managed to find a few schools and had some action for the remainder of our day before we had to call it a trip around 1600. Throughout the day, Yellowfin tuna jig-strikes kept us awake and we also caught a few mixed in with the Bluefin schools. We ended our day with a respectable score but a few lucky boats managed to find a lucky school and ended up having a good day on the smaller short-fins. The potential is here for future ventures down this way and we also saw one spot of the bigger models so this area has us our full attention and we're looking forward to getting back down here as boats who remained in the area are reporting catching fish all the way up until dark.

With that, we put a bow on Eric Rogger's five day trip and are currently traveling up the line in beautiful, flat calm seas. Our ETA is 0700 hours tomorrow morning and we'll be returning back out for Ron Heil's five day trip. We'll report with you tomorrow. Take care.

-Team Supreme-

Tuesday, August 9th, 2011

Hi friends. We slid into our destination first thing this morning and immediately sent the bait-catchers down to snag some Mackerel and snag some Mackerel we did. The Mackerel proved very useful today as we had a very good morning on the premium-sized Yellowtail. We also hooked a decent amount the stock grade fish in the 15-22 lb. range but all in all we had nice mix of the 25-35 pounders to go along with the stock grade fish. After a couple Halibut drifts, we made our way back to the Yellowtail area and finished up our day with a nice bite and with that, we ride off into the sunset.

As for our next destination, we're busting a move to an area of fish up the line and this particular place is called "what we've been waiting for". Numerous boats are reporting very good afternoon scores on Bluefin with a handful of Yellowfin tuna to add some color. The Bluefin are a mixed up grade and it sounds like the range of those fish are small all the way up to 60+ pounders with some Yellowfin in the 15-25 lb. class. It was hard to get a true report from the guys as most of them were in long drifts with multiple fish hooked up and the captains had to remain on deck to deal with the melee. The cliff-note reports were all we needed to hear and we left the Yellowtail biting to get up there and have a chance at the tuna we've been desperately seeking all season. The setup is prime, we feel it's our time, and we're screaming up the line. We're out. We'll report with you tomorrow afternoon. Wish us luck.

-Team Supreme-

Monday, August 8th, 2011

Good evening Polaris Supreme subscribers. Our expedition for kelp paddies was a great success today. I don't throw the term "super duper" around lightly, but we had ourselves a super duper day. It wasn't find-a-glory-kelp-and-be-done-with-your-day type fishing but more of find-a-bunch-of-kelps-and-piece-together-a-solid-day type fishing. Our only tuna situation found us looking at a breezer of Skipjack and we only tagged a handful of Dorado but our Yellowtail count was mess of numbers on the fish count board when all was said and done. The size of the 'tails ranged from 1-8 lb. "shakers", which were all released, and a healthy 14-18 lb. grade with a handful of 20 lbers in the mix. It was never wide open but we stayed busy throughout the day all they way into dusk. What was more impressive to me was the abundance of kelps and the size of the kelps. There were some real beauties out there and the beautiful sunny, light swell/wind conditions made for prime glassing and we never went more than twenty minutes or so without finding a kelp. All in all, awesome day. We're stoked and we'll be making a move throughout the night to hunt exclusively for trophy-sized Yellowtail, White Seabass, and maybe a Halibut drift or two will be on the agenda.

So that is all. Good times with good people and wish us luck tomorrow on our hunt for some cow Yellowtail. Have a great night.

-Team Supreme-

Sunday, August 7th, 2011

Hi friends. Picking up from the previous report's update, we slid into the Yellowtail Island in the late afternoon and did some scouting around before we located the 'tails and with a flurry, they hit us hard and like a light-switch, they shut off. What gives? The grade of fish was beautiful with most of the fish being in the 16-22 lb. range. We did some more poking around the Island and around sunset time, we found another spot that bit all the way into dark and we finished up our day with bent rods. To sum up the day, it was fantastic. A couple hour drift on our Yellowtail/Dorado kelp in the morning was a great warm-up and when the Island bite was complete, we made the decision to go check out a new area for tomorrow. The new area is a kelp-paddy zone where Yellowtail, Dorado, and Yellowfin tuna have been caught and the weather forecast looks good for tomorrow. We'll be motoring hard throughout the night and we'll be there when the sun comes up.

In closing, our weather conditions were prime all day and along with the fishing we enjoyed today, we're hoping for a repeat on Monday. Eric Rogger's crew is sound asleep and anticipating a full day of fun tomorrow. Let's hope that the fish/weather don't disappoint. Wish us luck.

Before we sign off, I'd like to let you know that we have a couple of trips that warrant mentioning. Garry Roberts 9-day trip departing Aug. 25th and returning Sept. 3rd has a couple of openings available. In years past, this trip has been notorious for stellar fishing at Alijos Rocks/The Ridge and it's also one of the first trips to make a good score on the Wahoo. Garry is one cool cat and if you'd like to join him, give Susan a call at (619) 390-7890. Also, Joe Gigliotti's Accurate sponsored 8-day trip leaving Oct. 15th returning Oct. 23rd also has space available. Prime time Fall fishing with a limited load of 20 anglers. Can't get much better than that. Do yourself a favor and give Susan a jingle ASAP.

-Team Supreme-

12:45 August 7th Morning update

We were late on getting the report out this morning and before I send this out, I just wanted to inform y'all that this morning, we stumbled upon a glory kelp on our journey. We picked up a few boxes full of 12-20 lb. Yellowtail and 8-12 lb. Dorado. It was darn good fishing for a couple of hours for a 50/50 mix of flats to jacks,and once it dried up, we continued to make way towards Yellowtail Paradise. We'll be there in the early evening time, that is if we don't find another glory kelp. More to report this evening. See ya.

-Team Supreme-

Saturday, August 6th, 2011

Good evening everyone. Today we disembarked on Eric Rogger's five-day fishing adventure along with Eric's closest friends. After topping off our sardine supply, we began our southerly trek down to the fishing grounds while Chef Barry served up some king-sized cheeseburgers with all the fixin's. The rest of the day was spent rigging, napping, and with the completion of our tackle seminar, our day was complete and we're hitting the racks to rest up for tomorrow's activities.

Our game-plan for tomorrow is to do some scouting around as we keep on-course to our next destination, which if all goes according to plan, won't happen because we found some offshore species to stall our progress towards the Yellowtail grounds. The Yellowtail grounds kicked out some pretty good scores in a different area today and we'll be giving it a check tomorrow. Like I said, hopefully we arrive there late because we stumbled upon a loaded kelp, loaded porpoise, or any other types of offshore-pelagic species. Our weather is great and we'll report with you tomorrow.

-Team Supreme-

Captain Ryan Bostian from San Diego Sportfishing out of Seaforth Landing checked in.  Very good Yellowtail fishing at the islands the last couple of days.  Our next available trip is Monday the 27th.  Grab your Yellowtail gear and come join us.  Passports required!

Hey there everyone the Voyager has a 2.5 day San Martin/ offshore trip coming up with a few extra spots open. The cost is $550 this includes all the bells and whistles. It departs at 5:00 pm on friday the 14th and returns on monday morning the 17th between 5-7 am. Please contact Jodie at 858-220-1593 2 spots available to be exact!!