Monday, April 22nd, 2013
Hi friends. As you've noticed, we've been out of satellite reception for the past week and a half and Susan has been keeping everyone updated on our whereabouts and surely, doing just a lovely job of it.
Today was just lovely. Great weather once again with sunshine and a light breeze and sea condition. We just had pollo asada for lunch and we're getting ready to nap it ...up. We wrapped up our boat scrub and rails bleaching this morning and then we had time to just kick back and relax for a bit. I think there'll be a picture of that floating around somewhere. We crew members have to get creative with how we wind down so we got real creative. Like I said, we're all just kicking it and enjoying our approach to Cabo.
So, here's what went down on the Supreme for the past handful of days. Instead of trying to remember everything at the end of the trip and type up a report to send, I decided to keep a journal; which was basically me running up to the bridge now and then and putting down a few tidbits of what was going on -- in real time, for us, at least. I treated it kind of like updating Facebook so you're going to have to piece some puzzle pieces together as far as photos and other nonsense I've written down. It was kind of fun and it definitely helped that our passenger load is so light or this wouldn't have been possible.
So here it is: my little journal entries to all of you. Even with the crazy hours and craziness that we involve ourselves in whenever we take this group out, words can't really describe how much fun we had with Tom and Co. but I tried my best. I'm serious, we had a blast. Anyhow, our traveling weather is primo and we'll be into the Cape tomorrow morning around 06:00 hours to drop off everyone but Jeff to fly home.
What a way to kick off the Polaris Supreme's 2013 season. Enjoy.
-RE
Friday, April 12th, 2013
Hi friends. Don't worry -- DON'T WORRY. No brain games or me rambling on about God-knows-what. I finished the "brain book" and am currently enjoying Christopher McDougall's "Born to Run", so I'm sure the next report I type will be all about running or something.
Anyhow, this report is to inform everyone that we are currently below the Tropic of Cancer, our weather is unbelievably nice and this will be the final report from me for a little more than a week. Susan will be able to relay our information from our satellite phone calls in the morning as that will be the limited window of service that we will have. So, our next possible report from the boat itself won't be until we arrive to Cabo San Lucas on the morning of the 23rd. We'll report back to you on our crazy adventures then. And let me tell you; they will be crazy. We're pumped. We'll arrive to our destination tomorrow afternoon around 1500 hours.
So that's it. Not a whole lot to report today. We finished up our seminars and we'll be adding the finishing touches to our gear and bait setups tomorrow. It was nice to type for y'all for a minute. Like I said, today was nothing special to report other than sun tanning, naps, and eating. For fun, I'll give y'all a "backstage pass" as to what's going on in the bridge as I type this report out, on-the-spot. Gunny is driving, I am typing a report, and Riddler is doing crunches. Also, Google the adult beverage "B-52", light it up, and have one for us. Riddler says that they're the bomb. Wish us luck, Susan has the reporting duties from here until we gain some latitude in a week and a half. We'll chat with you later.
-The Supreme Team
Saturday, April 13th, 2013
21:00 hours update:
- We arrived to the seamount this afternoon around 1600 hours. Put on 30 Wahoo (I caught my first ever as did "The Big Banana" on a surface iron) and around dark, we settled back on the anchor for the tunas.
- Before dinner, we hooked a couple smaller tuna and then Gunny landed a 198, just now landed a 140, and is on again. Sonny Jim! Night-bite delight is scheduled to be around 0100 hours this morning. We'll see. I'll update when I can.
21:19 hours update:
- Gunny landed a 130. Jed is on a good one.
21:44 hours update:
-Jed's fish chewed through. It was no dink either and Zeb is none too pleased right now. Good night. Lord knows what time they'll bite tonight, but we're crazy and we're ready to do this.
22:00 hours update:
-Redemption! Jed got a good one and Shabba is on!!! We're up! Let's go! Everybody calm down and keep your composure and don't start freaking out!!!
20:21 hours update:
-Jed got a 166 and Schooler got a 165.8!
20:41 hours update:
-Jed and Gunny...again!! Boss is up, passengers are up, our business socks are on. You know what time it is. I'll report back when the dust settles. Oh yeah. Drew shaved his beard and is rocking a sweet mustache for his wedding reception. 'Til death you two part, Kristin. You knew what you were getting into when you two banded up.
Sunday, April 14th, 2013
00:14 hours update:
-Jed and Gunny remain hot, yours truly landed a 125, RK got in on the action, Bebo's hooked up, Dirty D (aka Dirty 'stache) landed a 176 on a skipjack, "Hoolie" just lost a good one after a 25 minute battle at color and we're still pickin' away at 'em. Just filled up the mug with some fresh Kona coffee with some hazelnut creamer. It's going to be a looooong night! Todo Noche, baby - All Night.
01:40 hours update:
-I just yelled at Mark out the window - he's on! Scootch bagged a 190, we've dropped a couple handfuls of 125-140's, Jed just dumped one on the PL-68, Tom P. is fishing every bait that we can find and having great success and Riddler lost one of our gaffs. Hard to make fun of a guy that once free-gaffed a 362. More coffee, more carnada, more chaos, more Cowboy. Oh yeah, I lost my peanut butter and jelly sandwich gaffing Scootcher's fish. You owe me, bro.
02:14 hours update:
-I just got smacked right in the nipple by the tail of a skipjack. If I was getting sleepy, I'm up now. Fishing has slowed down a touch but so has our current. We'll see what happens in the next hour.
04:05 hours update:
-Right after I ran up and typed our last "Facebook" update, we had a little action. Tom P. landed a 184 on a Skippy and we picked away at some 90-140's. As of right now, it's just Drew, Jed, Scootch, Jeff, and myself on the deck. We'll see what happens. Still no sign of Schooler. We might have put him down for the next few days. Wait 'til you see the photos we snapped of him yankin' on his tuna. Ha, classic! Anyhow, time for some coffee filtered with Monster Energy for the "grey bite".
05:15 hours update:
-Finally get to go to bed. Heaven.
08:30 hours update:
- We're awake. Let's see what kind of fun we can get ourselves into this morning. As Zeb would say "Spun Duck Delight". Schooler is okay and cooking breakfast.
19:21 hours update:
- From the time we woke up this morning until right now, we've done absolutely nothing on the tunas but them hooters were eager to fly aboard. But now, them tunas are starting to perk up. We'll see what happens.
21:18 hours update:
- Nothing has materialized as of yet. We all just ate a killer-fresh seared Ahi with rice and we're going to see if anything happens in the next hour or so. Other than having the "Hey! Ho!" song by The Lumineers stuck in my head for the past week, not too much going on as of now to report to you. We've put a couple smaller fish on but no ball busters yet.
22:54 hours update:
- Scootcher just boated himself a 174 on the skip-a-jack. Guns just boated a small one. Maybe they're waking up. I know the port stateroom in the wheelhouse is.
Monday, April 15th, 2013
00:57 hours update:
- We're all up, getting nasty...kind of. Jeff pulled the hook on a heart-breaker. His fish looked to be a deucer. RK just boated a 172. It's not near the action we had last night but the fish we're hooking are nice ones. It's mainly a Skipjack/small yellowfin thing but we're trying all the baits, just to see what bites 'em. I hear yelling and screaming down on deck - I'll update "Facebook" when I can.
05:33 hours update:
-Sorry, I've been lacking on updates this morning. Not a whole lot doing in the dark so we actually got some sleep. Granted, it was an hour here, hour there; wake up to gaff a fish - go back to bed kind of thing, but it was sleep so that was right on. Anyhow, everyone is up now. The mood on deck is quite chipper for how funky our hours have been. Conversations on deck this morning have ranged from Chugey's bachelor party. to Mitch's speech at Frank's wedding from the movie "Old School" to the OSU Beavers, and that's about all I have to report.
15:31 hours update:
- Woke up, had a peanut butter, jelly, and banana sandwich and all of a sudden, cow tunas started going bananas as well - blowing out all over the place. We've got Bebo on the kite with a flyer, Tom P. is on the hunt and Jed is playing with his dinghy (literally). We're all up, hoping for an afternoon/evening shot. Nothing doing up to this point - everybody has been sleeping.
17:26 hours update:
- Bebo nailed a 135 on the flying fish. Costa Rican dreamin'. Hoolie wasn't far behind with his kite rotation and after a twenty minute battle and his fish right at color, the "dog gear" busted in his reel. Freak accident. After a valiant effort by Jed and Mark to hand-line the fish, it popped - looked to be in the 180-or-bigger range. Super bummed. Little bit of life startin' to show around here. As I'm typing, I just looked out the window and viewed a 150 jump clear out of the water right off the bow. Let's hope we can get real nasty here, real soon.
18:17 hours update:
- Losing a couple of nice tuna is a grain of sand on the beach compared to the loss of life. We've received limited news about the Boston Marathon bombings. We're bummin'. We need a couple of fatties to hit the deck to perk us up. The opportunities are limited but they are there.
21:55 hours update:
- Not too long after typing the previous update, we started hooking and landing some tunas again. No beasts but healthy fish nonetheless. Anyhow, for the last couple of hours, we've been making bait. I personally enjoy the heck out of scooping flying fish and puffer fish (aka puff daddy's and puffy combs); we just drive around, see 'em in the lights, stop and wait for a few to swim near the boat and then try and scoop them. It's fun, rewarding, and good exercise too. The scoops we use weigh about 15 lbs. and you run around the boat chasing these things like they're maid of hundred dollar bills, which in reality, they kind of are. Cows love the live flying fish so it's very rewarding when you scoop one because you know the chances of catching a cow with a live flying fish is very, very high. We were having such a good time scooping bait, Drew's and I's shorts fell off - for serious. Good times!
Tuesday, April 16th, 2013
02:39 hours update:
- Up for watch with Dirty, not a whole lot going on with this whole night bite thing. Not yet, at least. We landed a 100 pounder and that's all. Maybe these fish are getting settled back into normal working hours. We'll see. All I know is that I have a fever and the only prescription is more Cowboy. Sonny James is awake and kickin'!
05:00 hours update:
- Time for work. Got an hour nap in after watch and then the boss told us what was up and that needed to be us. So we're up. Flying fish on the kites with glow lights, chunk line is going, sinker rigs going, and there is a stack of big fish consistently under us. Good morning, everyone.
07:00 hours update:
- For a while there, things were looking pretty thin this morning. Our hot topics of the morning were the movie "Blades of Glory", Mark having a mid-life crisis and wanting to go to Costa Rica with me before his son, Chace, sucks every last cent from his daddy for law school, and Riddler is running around the deck singing "The Muffin Man" song. Then we nailed a couple of fish with Bebo's going 167. A cow or six would be nice but we'll take what we can get.
12:46 hours update:
- Just had us some fun in the sun. Not too much to report as of now. Tom P. landed a 167 and our kite action is starting to perk up. Considering the fact that pretty much the entire boat is usually asleep at this time due to fishing all night and lack of any afternoon action, we're excited about what the afternoon might bring. In other news: RK and Tom P. passed around some Durian fruit. I think it's Indonesian but it's basically a weird, spikey looking thing but the fruit looks like and has the consistency of a mashed banana. What does it taste like? Well, Jed had some and almost lost his seafood chowder, Gunny politely said "&#!$ that", and I thought it tasted how Pfleger said it tasted - like burnt onions. Nothing like Wahoo tacos to put a good taste back in our mouths. See ya.
15:41 hours update:
-It was just Drew, Guns, Bebo, and myself trying not to die of boredom for a while and just like that, we started hooking a couple. Both Bebo and Tom P. landed a couple of fiesty teenagers in 7 minutes of fight time (we've been stop-watching all of our fish and it's amazing how close all of the fish we are landing are landed in around 7-8 minutes). Same as yesterday, a little bit of signal is starting up for the afternoon delight. Tom P. is fishing a small pompano dorado for bait, Bebo and Jeff are on the kite with flying fish, RK is keeping the sardines honest, and Mark is on the bow, fishing a Puffy Combs. Weather has been beautiful down here with enough breeze to fly the kites and keep us cool, but also get some quality bronzing in. Just need some hogs to find us.
22:45 hours update:
- We reset our position just before dark and had ourselves a little hit towards the end of the night and boated a couple of those teenager-sized tunas. Also, Riddler has a secret and he's not telling. Anyways, we just completed our flyer-scooping adventure and let me tell you, it was just that. Due to the increase in wind speed, swell, and the fact that the current is going straight into the wind, we're rolling around a whee bit more and we had to idle downswell and scoop 'em on the fly rather than getting a visual on them in the lights, stopping the boat, and doing work that way. It was quite the spectacle at first - lots of swings and misses, I accidentally hit a home run with one instead of catching it with my net in mid flight, and my favorite part of the entire ordeal was Drew, Schooler, and myself singing The Supremes' hit "Can't Hurry Love" lyric-for-lyric. Fun times! We finally got into a groove and got 50 flyers and heck, even Shabba netted two and even more surprising to me, he didn't fall in. So we're happy with our bait arsenal for kite fishing tomorrow and we've got a few brave souls downstairs hoping to get a night bite rolling. We shall see. Good night.
Wednesday, April 17th, 2013
06:48 hours update:
- We've landed a couple of 100 pounders so far this morning with the backdrop of a gorgeous sunrise to wake us up. (4/20 note: I snapped a photo of the beautiful view from the office but Rid deleted it.) We're seeing some decent sign of fish and hopefully, there are some big ol' fat slobs marauding around this here ocean. Good morning.
09:51 hours update:
- Sometimes on long-range trips, accidents happen. When they do, it's tough to deal with no matter what age, shape, or size with whom or what they involve. In this case, it was a tough pill to swallow for the simple fact that we lost him oh so very young - too young. We deal with these incidents with professionalism but it's a crushing blow, nonetheless. By the way, it's 10:05 am, the weather is a balmy and sunny 80 degrees. Anyhow, it's especially tough for us on the crew and the disappointment was undeniable - it happened and we won't soon forget. This morning, we lost "Bruce" our new anchor. "Bruce" was all of one week old and his life was cut too short and so was our anchor line. Thankfully, we have plenty of spare anchors, chain, and braid. To the tune of John Denver's "Take Me Home" sung by our very own Mark "Crow, Hard Hat Boy, Hillbilly, etc..." Clark, Riddles put the hammer down and we said good-bye to "Bruce". Obviously, we aren't doing much but we're seeing signal on bigger fish again so we're hopeful, even in our state of disbelief and despair. Good night, sweet prince. Also, there's a movie reference hidden in this update and it's not the last sentence. Name it!
13:43 hours update:
- Woo-hoo! Jeff finally got a nice one - 173 pounder! He was due, man. Pretty cookie-cutter grade down here but they're coming in hot!
16:51 hours update:
- The kite action has been up and down but we've managed to throw on a handful of fish in the 120-155 lb. category. Other than that, we're just snap-rollin' around pretty good, this whole wind-against-current thing is keeping us on our toes. Heeey! Scootch just hooked up on the kite. Gotta go.
17:48 hours update:
- Scootcher just bagged himself a 197 on the flying fish. Maybe he'll go duece at the scales dockside. We'll see.
Thursday, April 18th, 2013
06:35 hours update:
- Good morning. We made a few flying fish last night and we also scooped a bunch this morning at 04:30 - so we are set on kite baits for the day. After relocating, we've managed to land 4 fish to this point with Jeff landing a 177. Our wind has backed off considerably but it is expected to puff hard later in the day, so we'll see how our conditions play out. Once again, good morning and we're looking for some "02:00 - 10's". It's a riddle.
09:49 hours update:
- Still have good life around and we'll be sittin' here a while. No Wahoo trolling today. We've got the skipjack breezers rollin' through and when they do, we usually hook a couple on the kite baits. We'll see what the afternoon brings but after a busy morning, we'll see how many anglers stay at the rail and try for a trophy. On a side note, we've received the news about the fertilizer plant explosion in West Texas, a more in-depth report on the Boston Marathon bombings, and apparently, somebody sent Obama and some senators some fan mail. How about some good news? Can we get some of that, please?
15:22 hours update:
- Just came tight on the anchor and we're back in tuna mode after a brief tour for "hooters". The kites are out, Scootch and I just pounded a Monster and Drew, Scootch, and I are attempting to get the harmonies down for "The Weight" by The Band. The fun part about that song is, you can use anyone's name so nobody feels left out and it really makes Cowboy's face beam with joy when we insert his name in there. Our weather is still shh-notty but our sources on the beach tell us that after today, it's going to be back to jock straps and sun visors. Hopefully, my next update isn't nonsense but rather tales of hogs jumpin' on-board.
16:54 hours update:
- Mark putting out the kite just now was so freaking funny. Drew, Gunny, and I just keeled over and died laughing for a good ten minutes. Put on that freaking hard hat!
18:35 hours update:
-Toddler tantrums: the only thing I want to do when we lose a jumbo tuna. I just want to kick things and scream and possibly cry. But, you can't. Every member of the crew gets the same emotions when a big fish is lost, especially with a freak deal on a squirrelly fish. We just lost a heavy one. We never got a real good look at it but when you know, you know and that thing was heavy. That's fishing, though. There's a million ways to lose 'em and only one way to get 'em. We want another shot and we want it now.
21:22 hours update:
-We just got some flying fish for bait and it was really tricky to get them to the boat with all the wind and chop we have, so DH and I had to sing to them to coax them in. They didn't like: Bruno Mars, Justin Timberlake, Alanis Morrisette, Puff Daddy, Biggie, nor Four Non-Blondes. These were straight Jimi-fish. They dug "Electric Ladyland" best. They were flyin' aboard after that. Anyhow, we're all fixed up on bait for tomorrow.
Friday, April 19th, 2013
04:33 hours update:
- Good morning. Riddles, Shawn and myself have the deck and we're sinker-rigging the live puffies and scooping them at the same time. We'll see what works out this morning. Still a bit breezy and rolly down here. Another boat has joined us so we'll see if that has any effect on our fishing.
05:45 hours update:
- Tom P., RK, and Cowboy have landed fish this morning in the 100-145 lb. range so far this morning. Hopefully, something is starting up. Everyone is up and ready to get their butts in gear. Still no sign of the sun this morning.
09:14 hours update:
- A little signal this morning and we've managed to land a few nice tunas. While the slow times have been slow for us since we've been here, there's always a few "hooters" runnin' around to keep us busy. For our passenger load, we're doing really well on the skin. That's all for now. Just got word about what's going on in Boston. That stuff is wicked uncool.
10:44 hours update:
- We see you, Charlie Middleton. We see you, Charlie Murphy! Slow times right now. If these fish keep up their routine, next bite time will be 13:30.
15:25 hours update:
- Double roundhouse kick to the door, three going! Drew ate asparagus for lunch. Gross.
- Riddlers shorts are awesome.
16:00 hours update:
- Ugh, our streak of big fish bad luck continues; RK dumped a good one. Bebo got a 160 and we landed a couple of fish in the low 100's to keep the mood light. Apparently, I missed the crazy half shark-half catfish. I'll have to ask Scootch what the heck it was called but it was weird looking. You'll see the photos in a week or so. Speaking of photos, Stephen Pistone. If you're reading this, you're twin brother is on this vessel and his name is RK. You'll see those photos too.
17:02 hours update:
- ShaR-K just bagged himself a 182 and almost bagged Gunny's life insurance policy as well. Guns is okay. Nice fish, RK. A little bit of action here late. It got Scootch right out of bed and still half asleep, started prodding Cowboy with his core temperature thingy talking about "29.2" and his P/H is six-point Sonny James.
19:27 hours update:
- We're continuing to put on some of those medium-sized tunas: stock 75-150 pounders. The shark that we caught today was called a "Pacific Sleeper". Like I said, the thing looked like a grouper/catfish with a sharks head and Scootcher estimated it at over 800 lbs. In other news: I don't like to gloat -I really don't. But, in this case, I have to. I caught a 14 lb. yellowfin tuna on 60 lb. line in 28.9 seconds; the quickest fish landed on the trip and it was glorious. I was cheered and people were complimenting me and I felt alive again - like the world was brand new and all I could do was dance and drink the juice of admiration. It was good and it was in the name of science. You're welcome, science, and you're welcome, yellowfin tuna.
21:53 hours update:
- On first watch here. Scootch just bagged himself a 130, Jeff is giving it a go, as is Gunny. I've got the galley guys trying to scoop up a couple pompano dorados with limited success but it sure is funny to watch 'em try. Barring a barrage of cows this evening/tomorrow morning, this will be our final night here and we'll exit stage right tomorrow after breakfast. We'll see what happens. I get a kick out of this type of fishing. At any moment, the door can fly open and there's a crew member waking up the other crew members and the chaos ensues. It's like being a fire fighter on call. You have your spots for your clothes right next to your boots and tools so that when the time is called upon to spring into the pit, you're ready to go. Oh snap. Gotta go - Puffy Combs out the window. Mo Money, Mo Puffas. Oh yeah!!! Gunny just got bit on the skip-a-jack and it looks like a bruiser!
22:09 hours update:
- Wooooo!!!! Gunny!!!!! 208!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! COW!!!!!!!!!!!
23:24 hours update:
- Good night. Drew, Scootcher and Jeff will keep it honest for the next couple of hours. Lord knows what time we'll be rustled out of the racks and thrust into the action - hot action. See ya.
Saturday, April 20th, 2013
07:18 hours update:
- Good morning. I'm not going to lie, I'm pretty hyped right now and when I get hyped, I take my shirt off. Beautiful weather this morning with a light breeze to keep a couple of kites flying. Anyhow, we woke up this morning and had a couple of shots at some fish with Tom P. landing a nice one. We're sittin' pretty for the morning and we're giving it a couple of hours before we sling it on out of here. Schooler made a breakfast club sandwich this morning for the boys and they're at it hard right now - real hard.
11:15 hours update:
- We've been underway for the last couple of hours as our stay at the "bank" is over with. We tossed a 200 lb. anchor over to the Excel and kicked her in gear to gain some latitude. We'll be screwing off a little tomorrow and then we'll be headed for Cabo. Our weather is very pleasant, the passengers and crew will be taking some time to rest and recover after putting in some long, hard hours these last 8 days. Both us and our passengers deserve a day of relaxation.
-Man, Chef Schooler and Shawn just put out some fresh, perfectly seared Ahi tuna ciabatta sandwiches with wasabi mayo and that thing was straight butter. We hear some grumblings now and then that "serving fish as a meal is cheap", but I say hogwash, man. You can't get it any fresher than we get it and to have a top-notch chef prepare it for you? Come on! All of the fish we've eaten on this trip has been expertly processed and expertly prepared. I guarantee you that if you had eaten all the yellowtail, wahoo, bottom fish and yellowfin tuna that Tom has requested for meals, you'd be just as fired up as I. Without getting much more torqued up about it; Tom wanted fish for multiple meals, Schooler said no problem, life is bueno for us. Chat with y'all later.
*** P.S. Tim Jones - You be careful on your crossing, bud. Have fun and have a daiquiri or two for me. Chace Clark-Clark: Go Bengals and remember what Uncles Drew and I always say "A.B.J. - Always Be Juicin'. No legit ball player has ever received a scholarship for popping out to the warning-track and hitting weak grounders to the shortstop, Jimmy Dean.
19:09 hours update:
- Absolutely gorgeous ride up; a small, spaced out swell, eight knots of breeze and a very light cloud cover. Hold up, let me take a photo for you back on the beach...alright...got it. We'll post that one to Facebook when Riddles gets home in a couple of days. Jed and Guns are reading and Mark is absolutely blasting Katy Perry's song "Firework" while watching Boobies (birds) out the window. Life is bueno. We're diggin' it. We'll check in manana.
Sunday, April 21st, 2013
14:26 hours update:
- We caught 41 nice wahoo real quick and then we vanished. My arms hurt from pulling on wahoo and I'm not the only one. It was a good morning and we feel very fortunate to have stumbled upon the rare open-water wahoo. Other than that, we hardly did anything today exciting or anything that I should write home about. Yep, just another lovely day out here on the ol' Polaris Supreme. Our weather is cloudless and very pretty - it's like there's some beautiful Goddess looking down on us with bleach-blonde hair, and the sun bounces off her hair and she shines them down upon our bodies and we absorb them into our skin. That is what we call bronzing (brawn-zing). We did some heavy bronzing today, boy. I personally witnessed every passenger with their shirt off along with Mark, Drew, and Riddles. It was happenin'. In closing, we're out. We're in travel mode for today and tomorrow until we arrive to the Cape early on Tuesday morning. Our sources on the beach tell us that our weather is supposed to be picture-perfect for the remainder of our journey. That makes us happy. Like the two Green turtles that we saw mating today; they were happy too.
20:40 hours update:
- Holy Toledo! Riddler has more music on his Itunes than I do and he even has Red Hot Chili Peppers "The Uplift Mofo Party Plan". What's this world coming to? He has 6760 songs! He's probably never heard 24 songs all the way through in his entire life, and that's including the National Anthem. Oh horse feathers. Anyhow, Shawn and Schooler just tossed out a killer dinner and we're getting all the NBA Playoffs rundown from Tom and everyone is guessing the total fish count for a prize. Fun times, good weather; fat and happy. Uplift Mofo Party Plan, Tom Waits, James Brown - unreal.
December 22, 2024 bud n mary`s Fishing Report
2192
Monday, August 15th, 2011
Hi friends. Cherry on top of the Sundae action today. Pretty much a repeat of Friday with steady action on 12-20 lb. Bluefin tuna with a little bit more of that 12-25 lb. Yellowfin tuna to go along with it. Integrated schools for the most part and our score was a 75/25 mix of Blues to Yellows and when we left the area around 1330 hours, the boats still in the area had some steady stops on a little bite more of the Yellowfin with a sprinkling of Bluefin as well. Multiple spots of breaking fish, jig strikes, and machine fish were plentiful and we really didn't have a long break in the action today, we stayed pretty steady. The true cherry on the sundae today was our weather - flat calm and sunny. With our Bluefin limit topped off, we called it a trip and with two scoops of bait to spare in case something cool comes up in our travels to home. We'll see.
So that is all. We put a bow the Ron Heil five day trip and we're motoring up the line in fantastic seas with a little bit of sunshine and the ice cream is being passed about the vessel. Can't say much more about this trip other than it was simply awesome and Ryan and the gang from Let's Talk Hook-Up have some big shoes to fill as we'll be turning around for a four day trip tomorrow. We'll be arriving to Fisherman's Landing tomorrow morning at 0530 as there will be three other long-range boats from the landing getting in and we're in the early slot. We'll report with you tomorrow and take care.
-Team Supreme-
P.S. Ana, the little monster is coming home safe and sound.
Sunday, August 14th, 2011
Hi friends. Our early morning bite was brief but we managed a handful of dropper-looped Yellowtail and a 30 lb. Halibut before we pulled the pick and began looking around for trophies. The hunt was short-lived as we saw very little sign of fish and with that, a new game-plan was drawn up and we started looking around different areas for sign of fish. It didn't take us long before we pulled up on a sonar school of Yellows that bit fast and furious. The fish were the school-sized grade but we welcomed them with open arms and open hatches. The bite was short and sweet and after a couple hours of action, we found ourselves back in search mode with little success. Not much going on in the different areas we looked at and before we knew it, the deadline was up and we had to make our way up the line to be in position tomorrow morning to finish out our trip with a half-day of tuna fishing. The reports sound pretty solid and we're hoping that we can find us a morning school and top off on tuna and put a lid on the 2011 Ron Heil five day adventure.
The Yellowtail zone was productive enough for us to call our stay here a success so we're traveling up the line in OK weather to wrap this trip up with some of those better grade Bluefins. It sounds like there are some hits to be had and we'll be there to find out for ourselves. Wish us luck and we'll chat with you tomorrow. And yes, Ana, the fish-catching machine formerly known as Brendan is locked up with Dad and will be released for the morning bite. Take care.
-Team Supreme-
Saturday, August 13th, 2011
Hi folks. A much deserved sleep-in for the boys was a fitting reward for yesterday's performance and we switched from tuna mode to Yellowtail mode. We arrived at our destination a little bit later than we would've liked and we found out why we would've liked to be there earlier. The bite was over with everywhere we looked but we still managed to put together a score on 15-22 lb. Yellows with a couple handfuls of those 30-40 lb. cows. We saw a really nice spot of those cows come up in the late afternoon and we're excited about the potential for tomorrow.
So that is what we'll be up to tomorrow, start off fishing for cows in the morning time and from that point forward, it'll be a toss up whether we stay coastal or we head back up to do some offshore prospecting and finish off on some offshore tuna/kelp paddy 'tails and mahi-mahi. The ideal scenario would be us loaded up with some cows and bail offshore but we'll see. Things could change at the snap of a finger, this water could roll over, and we'll have to re-evaluate things. We'll see. Wish us luck and have a good weekend.
-Team Supreme-
P.S. Ana, the little monster is safe and sound once again. He started off this morning by doing some push-ups to get physically ready to do battle with the mighty Yellowtail and it paid off. He had a very good day. We'll be releasing the beast here in an hour or so (0530 hours). The boys miss you and say HI.
Friday, August 12th, 2011
Hi friends. Stellar day on the Bluefin grounds today. In actuality, I should say we had a stellar morning and a stellar evening on the Bluefins. We found our desired water conditions first thing this morning and after a few jig strikes for a handful of fish, we had a single jig fish that turned into the real deal school. Every bait that was tossed in the water was eaten, every angler hooked up, on-the-corner style Bluefin tuna fishing and once one stop dried up, we motored around for a short while until another single jig fish started the melee all over again. It was truly awesome fishing. The afternoon was a whole different story as all we could muster up was a few Yellowfin jig strikes and not very consistently at that. Happy with our morning hits, we decided to steer the Supreme in a southerly direction to arrive to the Yellowtail grounds first thing tomorrow morning. That was until a hunch that an evening float was mere minutes from beginning steered us back one-hundred and eighty degrees back up to the tuna grounds. After going hours without much action, like a light-switch the ocean came alive and we ended the day with sheer pandemonium stops on the school-sized Bluefin and we also had a whack on some 30-50 lb. Bluefins as well. This fishing was as good as it gets for Bluefin tuna and we continued hooking fish all the way until the darkness set upon us and at that time we actually did leave to go to some Yellowtail fishing.
The ocean is a funny place. After "character building" type days where boats would catch absolutely nothing for weeks and weeks, Mother Ocean has decided that we've paid our dues and she is giving up a bounty that is truly gold in our book. Today was a day for the personal log book and the gang enjoyed every second of it. How could you not? It was one of those days that everyone has been waiting for and it just goes to show you that you can't sit around at home and go with the mindset that "I'll book a trip when they start biting". If one was to go through our log books for the past five years, you would see that every year has been different with different time-frames of the best fishing. We are at the mercy of the ocean both fishing and weather-wise (which by the way, was flat calm and gorgeous today). These fish have been M.I.A. for the better part of the 2011 season and all of a sudden, they bite. If we could've predicted that today was going to be a banner day, I assure you, we'd all be living in houses on the hill and driving Ferrari's. What I'm getting at is book a trip to go fishing, not to go catching. Enjoy fishing for what it is, getting away from the stress that land-life might bring, enjoy good food, good people, and just go out to have a good time and experience for yourselves what the ocean is all about. Don't sit around and wait for it to start biting because as is the case with this fish, it might not be here tomorrow. Any trip that you book on a boat, you have the chance to have banner days like today or you have might have a slow trip; that is fishing and it has been since the beginning of time. A lot of people have paid their dues with slow trips and days like today is the most rewarding feeling to those who have had those slow days. Today was a classic reminder that every year is different and when you book a trip, expect the unexpected. Come out to take a fishing vacation and enjoy the ocean for what is, a mystery.
All words aside, we had a terrific day. We're going to enjoy some ice cream and hit the racks. We'll be on the hunt for 'tails and seabass tomorrow. Wish us luck.
-Team Supreme-
P.S. Ana - We kept the little monster locked up safe and sound last night and when we unleashed the beast this morning, he had an awesome time and captured his daily limit (5) of Bluefin tuna. Brendan and Scott are having a fantastic time, they say hello, they love you, and it's all good.
Thursday, August 11th, 2011
Good evening friends. Standard operating procedures for a turn-around day on the Polaris Supreme. We offloaded Mr. Eric Rogger and company along with their gear and fish, said farewell, and began the many task that we must complete before loading an entirely new group for another trip. Big fish honors go as follows: Mary Lukas, 46.4 lb. Yellowtail. Chad Snyder, 42.2 Yellowtail. John Warner, 40.8 lb. Yellowtail. Congratulations to the winners and we'll see everyone next year. A big thanks goes out to Eric for consistently putting together a fine group of people to enjoy the rail with and thanks to Eric for being one of those charter-masters who just plain gets it. He knows how a group of people should co-exist both at the rail and as people living on a boat. With that, bring on Mr. Ron Heil and his friends for another five day adventure.
A standard travel day was expected today as we loaded bait, ate lunch, did some light rigging, and some heavy napping. But as they say, expect the unexpected. Right around the time we were getting setup for our tackle seminar, we spotted a bird school with some breaking Bluefin below. We hit the school numerous times and only Bob Hagan could coax one into eating a bait. On a side note, if there's one thing that you should know about the crew on-board the Polaris Supreme it's one thing - we love ice cream. Nestle Company's number one driver, Bob, outfitted us with the goods from Haugen-Daas. All natural fruit bars, vanilla-chocolate almond ice cream bars (bomb), caramel cone (double bomb), strawberry ice cream, coffee ice cream, and Dulce De leche. Bob brought on the goods: the sugar, the calories, and the saturated fat, and for that, the fish god's thanked him by giving him a Bluefin tuna to start things off. The area where we caught Bob's fish was loaded with life and it was very close to home, so we'll see if something materializes in that zone. To the overnight fleet and private boaters alike, go get 'em. Tomorrow, we'll a bit further from home to do some Bluefin tuna fishing. Boats in the area had scores from good to excellent and we want some of that, so we'll be arriving there first thing tomorrow morning.
In closing, the weather is double A+ and we'll be fishing first thing in the morning. Wish us luck and we'll chat with you tomorrow evening. Take care.
-Team Supreme-
One last thing. We have one spot available on our Andersen/Lund 8-day trip that just opened up departing October 1st. If you'd like to come out and join the dynamic duo of Dan and Howard or join any trip for that matter, give Susan a call at (619) 390-7890.