brainerd lakes Fishing Report 2024

~~Nov. 14
 "Just what the doctor ordered".  We had a great afternoon out here on the Polaris Supreme today.  It was a slow morning but a strong afternoon.  We started where we had to.  For one we were there at sunrise and for two we had to keep it honest due to the previous good fishing there several days ago.  It wasn't happening so we took off and arrived to the promise land after lunch.  It started off with a wahoo strike that turned into a wide open tuna bite with wahoo mixed in too.  We ended that drift with 14 skin and 60+ tuna.  Action baby.  Just what we needed after yesterday.  After that we were in full wahoo mode but they were hanging with the tuna so while we would catch wahoo we"d catch tuna too.  The perfect scenario until you have limits of tuna.  We're not quite there yet but we're close.  We opted to stay another day to finish off our tuna quota and see if we can get some more wahoo.  That also gives the Rocks another days rest as well.

 The wind finally backed off today.  For the past few days we had windy/choppy weather with a current going against it which adds to the choppiness and makes anchor fishing uncomfty.  We handled it those days but today it was just nice.  We're all stoked.  Like I said, "just what the doctor ordered".
        

Nov. 12

                I'm sitting here trying to figure out how to start this report.  Well, the bottom line is the cows gave us the slip today.  We got hosed.  The 20-60 pounders were there though.  They weren't shy to nestle up under and around the boat.  They were a little shy to bite though.  We ended up with a few over 1 per rod on the tuna today.  More than half those were 40-60 pounds and the rest were 20 pounders.  Like I said, there were no lack of those fish.  This afternoon we couldn't be sitting any better.  The fish were under, around, and the school was right behind us where our lines were going, then at 3:30, poof, they disappeared.  And the cows never showed.  We looked around the bank for awhile after but there wasn't a scale around anymore.  So we left and we're not coming back.

 

                The weather today was fantastic so we can't blame it on that.  Oh well.  At least we still caught some nice tuna and made jackpot easy to figure out.  We're going to try and catch some bait tonight and fish for all of the above tomorrow.

                                                                                                               

The Voyager just got a opening on the 28th of may and will be running a overnight mexican coast trip. Limited to only 16 passengers!!! Spring is here and good signs of surface action are appearing day to day. The cost of the trip is $115.00 and this will include your mexican permit. This is a excellent opportunity to jump on and see all the new upgrades done to the boat. Call Jodie to reserve your spots. 858-220-1593.

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 boats 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." "We started with yellowtail fishing on the ridge that turned out to be a real good bite," said Rothery. "We easily could have got limits on yellowtail and dorado, but these guys normally release most of their fish. We had one day of awesome marlin fishing, which this group enjoyed quite a bit." "I think we had maybe 200 hookups on marlin," said John Esler of Portland. "But our yellowfin bite was pretty amazing. Once Tommy would find them, he'd shut the motors off and just drift. They didn't need a lot of chum either, they were boiling all around the boat." Esler landed a 206.7-pound yellowfin.
Matt Kiesse of Cederville, CA was second place with a 279.8-pound yellowfin.
"The trip was just spectacular," said Kiesse. "We got everything." Lon Mikkelsen was third with a 277.9-pound tuna. The trip scored five tuna over 200 pounds.

This trip will depart on Saturday night the 5th and fish Sunday the 6th of April. The weather is supposed to be getting much better and shouldn't be a factor on the trip. Ling cod season is open and we will be looking for seabass as well. Please call Sea Landing for reservations at (805) 564-6753.

Today we arrived to the grounds late. We were looking around for wahoo a little after noon. We only scraped up one Wahoo. However around 4pm we got the anchor down and started catching some great quality Tuna. 18-25lbs with the 30-40 lbers making a showing in the mix as well. Very clean tuna fishing here today. Hopefully we can get these Wahoo figured out tomorrow. Here we Have Bryan and Wai Hung Man showing off their quality tuna.

Today we switched gears to Wahoo fishing. It was quite a bit of work but our persistence payed off with a couple nice stops on Wahoo. The fish are beautiful and the grade is excellent. we will be here tomorrow to try and get another crack at them. Here we have Alan with an absolute Jumbo Wahoo!