carolina beach nc Fishing Report 2023

44 yellowtail 17 barracuda 1 bonito. One stop made our day.

Skipper Drew Henderson docked the Polaris Supreme June 17 after a five-day trip to the mid-Baja islands, on the Pacific side, of course.

"It was windy until the day we came home," he remarked. His 18 anglers managed a good catch of yellowtail and rockfish, however.

George Farnsworth of Kenwood won first place for a 27.6-pound yellowtail. He said it bit on a sardine pin ned to a 3/0 Gamakatsu hook. He used 30-pound Yo-Zuri line on a Saltiga 30 reel and a Calstar 870 M rod to beat the fish in 12 minutes.

"We had a great crew," he stated. "And that made a great trip."

Regular long ranger Joe Beck of San Pedro won second place, for a 27-pound yellow. Michael Robbins of Santa Cruz, one of three generations of family members on the trip, won third place, for a 25.4-pound yellowtail.

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.

We had awesome variety this year on our 8-10 day trips. Especially the Dorado fishing on kelp patty’s! 

The day started well. We found a school right after daylight and had a couple good stops on 40 up to 145 pound tuna. The rest of the day stunk besides the weather. We found virtually nothing. When the sun went down I was giving up the hope of an evening shot but right as I had the towel in mid air I snatched it before it hit the ground. We found our late shot. W.F.O. some would say. The bite lasted well into dark. A definite day saver. Let's do it again tomorrow.

Hey guys we have caught 3 yellowtail 24-28 lbs. out of our first couple stops this morning. I will keep you posted. We will be fishing U.S. waters all week $75 and a California fishing license is all you need. 619-224-3383 for reservations. Ask for the San Diego!

We had a nice hit on the wahoo before we had to pull anchor and head for home. This was a great group of anglers and we had a great trip. The weather however is not nice. It is going to be a rough bumpy ride. And the forecast for tomorrow isn't looking much better. We had a delicious fresh Mahi Mahi in a fresh basil pesto sauce with fresh vegetables and potato patties. We should be at the dock Sunday morning at 7am. Come down and see us.

The Aztec is running a Father's Day Special. They depart Saturday night for fishing on Sunday. The fare is $180. Call Seaforth Landing at (619) 224-3383 to book your spot. Now is your chance to fish with Tommy. He is one of our local All Stars.