causeway Fishing Report 2024

Aug 10

Good evening folks. We departed today on Eric Rogger's annual 5 day trip. We took a while at the bait receivers. The bait they had wasn't all that bitchen. We took a couple lids that should do fine for the trip but I'm not so sure about the rest. Time will tell but it may turn on us. Hopefully we'll be able to use it tomorrow on big schools of bluefin before it turns solid red. We're going to start off looking for the elusive bluefin first thing in the morning and put in a day doing that. It's beautiful weather today and we're enjoying a great ride now and the passengers are enjoying the departure meal of prime rib and sides. Wish us luck

Drew signing out till tomorrow

Today was greatly disappointing after such a great fishing yesterday. Our efforts for better quality fish did not pay off. We saw great signs of 80-100 lb. fish but they just didn't want to cooperate. They would boil up good and look promising, but we only got a handful of fish. We are going to leave this place and give it time to straighten out. We are going to look for a new area. Our weather is still absolutely premium. Warm, hot and balmy. Thanks for checking in.

AWESOME 1.5 TRIPS WITH CAPT. J.J.!!! APOLLO is fully booked for January. We're now getting reservations for February. They will go fast. Boat will be departing every Friday night. Cost of the trips is $225 including Mexican permit. Book now before they're gone. For reservations call Fisherman's Landing @ (619)221-8500

~~It had been 3 years since my last long range trip. Personal events have kept me away from going fishing. But finally everything worked out and I was able to make this trip on the Polaris Supreme. Having fished with Tommy Rothery and the crew of the Supreme I knew the only worries I would have would be the weather and if the fish were hungry.
The weeks prior I kept track of the fishing. Where each long range boat had fished and what they landed. With two weeks remaining until my trip departed things were looking good but there was still two weeks left. Knowing that it would only take one boat to fish the “Rocks” and my chances for catching wahoo could disappear, I could use a little luck. Then the weather worked in my favor. A hurricane came up from the tropics and kept any boat from fishing the “Rocks”.
Thursday morning I arrived in San Diego and was ready to start my long range trip. It was three years since my last long trip. That was also on the Polaris Supreme and with this same charter. That year I was the new guy”. By the end of that trip I was invited back for the next year’s trip. I told the charter master that this might be my last trip ever. Who knows if I would have caught a few wahoo on that it might have been my last.
I invited Terry Kitahara and his two sons, Byran and Eddie. We were Team ONO. Terry and I really just wanted to catch Wahoo or Ono. Byran had been on several of my trips before and this was Eddie’s first long trip. Terry’s sons are great young men. The four of us fitted in great with the rest of the charter.
 By mid-day we were underway to the bait barge. As we left the bait barge we hadn’t been told where were we would fish first, offshore in US waters or head south. When we cleared Pt. Loma and didn’t turn right I knew the game plan. Skipper Drew had mentioned one of our options was to take our time to get to the Rocks while the winds died down. Well the Rocks are south of the point and we were heading to the south and not west. The rest of the day was spent rigging up tackle, eating the fine cuisine prepare by Chef Mike and catching up on the sleep that I had missed the two previous nights. I did more eating and sleeping than rigging of tackle. The crew and rest of the anglers gave me grief for it. But that’s part of fishing with people you know.
Friday we continued down the coast. Drew gave us an update on the weather at the Rocks, the winds were dying down and his plan was to get there Sunday morning. So its yellowtail fishing today and tomorrow we fished all around Benitos Island on Friday. Most fish were in the 10 to 15 pound size, nice eating size but not much on fight. Toss in a bonito or barracuda here and there and that was our first day. As the sun set we were traveling down the coast.
Saturday we fished the high spots as we continued south more yellowtails and the stray yellowfin tuna. I was at the right place at the right time and hooked one of the yellowfin tuna or YFT for short. Most of fishing is being at the right place at the right time. By the afternoon the winds at the Rocks had dropped down to fishable speeds and Drew pointed the Polaris Supreme to the Rocks. We would be there around 7 or 8 in the morning. Just about the time wahoo are looking for their first meal of the day. As long as no one had fished the Rocks on Saturday the Rocks would be ready for us to enjoy their bounty.

Sunday was here and what I had been waiting for the Rocks and wahoo fishing. I had been there three years earlier but the timing was off. Another vessel had been fishing the Rocks before we arrive. And they hooked just about all the fish that were in the area at that time. But today would be different. The Rocks had not been fished for weeks due to Hurricanes and great tuna fishing in off of San Diego. Drew’s game plan was put into play this morning. We had taken our time to get there, the weather was great, now let’s find out if anyone is home. It didn’t take long to find out. Maybe 10 minutes had passed when one of our four trollers got hooked. I tossed out a chrome candy bar jig and got a slight tap on my first cast. Second cast got a solid hit and just kept grinding on the reel trying to set the hook. The wahoo finally made a short run up the port side of the Supreme and showed itself. It was a small wahoo or skin as some call them. I followed the fish up the portside and then the skin did a head shake and released itself. All I could think was three years and I blew it. Most fall trips you may get one shot at landing a wahoo. Now I just missed mine.
Trollers went back out again. As the crew cleared the deck and put the wahoo in the Raw Sea fish hold, I noticed that all the skins on the first stop were small. They were 20-25 pounds just like the one that I lost. But that is a good sign. Small fish are more aggressive and maybe the larger ones would show up soon. The crew didn’t have much time as a trolling rod was hit again. Again more of the same, a troll fish landed and a couple of fish on casting jigs. No action for me on that stop. I was up on the next troll rotation so I quickly got my trolling outfit and found a corner to fish. I like to troll in close and with a very tight drag. Maybe 5 minutes had passed and my troll rod jumped to attention and the reel was slowing giving line out. I un-hooked the rod from the trolling straps in the stern port corner, followed the fish across the stern and up the starboard side of the boat. Grinding as I walked, the boat slowed and the skin came in with a little muscle on my part. The fish was gaffed and I had ended my drought. It wasn’t a big skin maybe 25 pounds but it was a skin!
Out again went the trollers and again the same thing, one maybe two fish on the troll and a couple of jig fish. I wasn’t getting any more bites on my chrome candy bar jig so I switched to a chrome and red sinker bomb. It’s a little smaller and easier for the small wahoo to hang on to. The change of lures worked to perfection on the next stop not only did I hook another wahoo, but this one had some size to it.
When it was weighed at the landing it went 40 pounds. Nice size for the Rocks. The stops continued until late afternoon. Most stops had 3 to 6 wahoo each and there were a couple of stops where more than 10 fish were landed. As the day progressed I had 3 wahoo in the fish hold, missed two strikes and had three taken by sharks, aka the taxman. This was the first time I experienced sharks eating wahoo at the Rocks. I’ve seen them eat tuna but not wahoo. I was not happy paying the taxman but I did have two fish on the sinker bomb and one on the troll an excellent day by most fall trips. There were a couple of anglers who were “hot”. They fished their butts off but it paid off very well. I wish I could still cast and crank all day long like those guys but I was totally out of wahoo fishing shape.
As the day was ending I was trolling on the starboard stern corner. The angler on the port stern corner had a trolling plug that just would not run straight and second skipper Jed asked me if I would trade places with him. So I reached down to grab the rod and crank in my plug. I had just gotten the safety straps off when a wahoo decided it wanted my plug. All I could do was yell “FRESH ONE”. Jed looked over and said “really”. This wahoo was ripped off line so I knew it was a good one. A few minutes passed and the fish neared the boat. Jed was ready with the gaff and was raking me over the coals for not getting the fish in quickly. I told him this one got some size to it. Jed said “you’re just getting too old”. When we saw the fish at deep color the joking stopped. After a couple of quick dives to try to free itself, the wahoo was gaffed and introduced to the deck of the Polaris Supreme. Finally got a decent wahoo from the Rocks today, it just missed the 50 lb. mark by a few ounces great way to end an amazing day of wahoo fishing.
This was the best day of wahoo fishing I have seen on a fall trip. Everyone on board had many chances of landing wahoo. If you were not good at casting lures you still had plenty of chances getting them trolling or live bait fishing. Everyone was talking about how they missed a few but no one was upset about it. We all had more than enough chances to get some wahoo today. We would stay the night at the Rocks and give it a try in the morning to see if we had missed any wahoo. Second day at the Rocks could be tough. We had hooked most of the “stupid” ones today.
Monday morning at the Rocks was flat calm just a little ripple on the water. You wouldn’t know that you were 160 miles offshore. I knew today was not going to be an amazing as yesterday. You do not get two days back to back of even good wahoo fishing at one spot. This morning the troll stops were farther apart. Yesterday maybe 20 minutes was the longest time between stops. Today 20 minutes was the shortest time. Most anglers were still fishing the trolling plugs they used the day before. By the time my trolling team was up I had switched lures to a chrome jethead with black, clear and purple skirts. I dropped the lure in one of the center positions and placed it far enough back that it was smoking (trailing bubbles) pretty well. I was out numbered 3 to 1 but I knew this lure had proven itself many times when fishing for wahoo was tough. After 20 minutes no strikes but I had to take a “break”. I called over Byran to watch my rod while I disappeared to the head. Well you know what happened. The rod goes off while I’m in the head. When I finally return to the deck there’s my jethead and a 45 lb. wahoo coming over the rail. I joked with Byran that he did a great job landing my wahoo. I took the trolling rod from him and gave him one of my tags for the fish. Byran had a look on his face that was priceless. Eventually we placed his tag on the fish.
Fishing continued to be slow compared by the previous day. I was able to hook one 40 lb. wahoo on a sinker bomb. I think we landed 25 fish by noon. It was time to pull the plug, the Rocks had been good to us and it was time to north.
As we left the Rocks and headed back up the line towards San Diego I knew that I was just part of an amazing wahoo bite. Usually if you get 2 wahoo on a fall trip you’ve have a great catch. Well the last day and a half at the Rocks I landed 5 wahoo and I was near the bottom of wahoo landed on the boat. In years past I’ve caught more than my fair share of the wahoo catch. This year I wanted to enjoy the fishing more and not worry about being the hot stik on the boat.
A couple of other factors have to be mentioned here. First of I don’t like to see fish go to waste. So I only kept what I needed for my personal use and my friends. I gave 2 fish to Terry and the final one was for Tommy and Susan Rothery. I told them if fishing was good I would get them one. I know that those fish were going to “good homes”. Secondly I would have to pay for the fish to be cleaned, filleted and then air shipped to my home. So I really didn’t want to catch a lot of wahoo. When I landed the two 40 lb. plus fish that was all I needed for my needs.
The rest of Monday was a travel day. That gave us plenty of time to re-load our reels with fresh line and repair any reels. I re-loaded by 50 lb. jig reel and then went below for a nap. I woke up our afternoon snack and then took another nap, woke up for dinner, played some cards and then went to sleep for the night a nice and relaxing day.
Tuesday and Wednesday, we were fishing for yellowtails as we traveled up the line. Drew hit various spots and we had some success, but I don’t think many of us had your hearts into it. After catching wahoo, catching yellows was “boring”. LOL… I spent the days trying to hook yellows on lures that I hadn’t used in years. Old school lures that many had heard of but never used. The one that worked the best was a 4 oz. green mackerel painted Crocodile. The best thing about fishing a Crocodile you don’t have to crank it fast. I’d catch one take a break, when we got to the next spot I’d try the Croc again. If it didn’t work there I’d wait for the next spot and try again. By late afternoon I called it a day. Really didn’t need any more yellows and was completely stuffed from the breakfast, lunch and afternoon snacks.  By 5 PM I didn't have any room for dinner so off to my bunk I went.
Wednesday we were further up the line and yellowtail fishing again. Most of today for me was a rest day. Eat a little, nap a little, eat a little, play some cards, nap a little. Didn’t fish much as we still had two more days left to hit the US tuna grounds and I wanted to be ready for that. I did mention that I wasn’t in fishing shape. Getting old and not fishing regularly, I was dragging on Wednesday. The crew did give me grief again but that’s to be expected.
For the past week now I had been eating like a king on the Polaris Supreme. Breakfast to order, wonderful hearty lunches, afternoon snacks to die for and dinners that any restaurant would be proud to serve. The Supreme only carries 24 passengers. Yet there food bill is equal to boats that carry 30 passengers, so you get the best on the Supreme. It not often that you have baby lamb chops for afternoon snacks. All I can say is the food was 5 stars.
Thursday, we are now at Cortez Bank making bait at sunrise. First time all trip were are making bait. The small mackerel were biting full speed as the sun came up. Four hook rig four mackerel, eight hook rig eight mackerel every hook had a mackerel in less than an hour we filled the tanks. Now off to the tuna grounds nearby. The hunt for tuna begins but not much action this morning. A jig strike here and there, then were finally hit a school of YFT’s. These are decent size 18 lbs. and up. Better than what they were catching last week. We continue to fish this area and are rewarded with more stops on YFT. Most of the fish are biting the live mackerel but I am using my old standby jig. Salas 6X Jr. in blue and white. For me it’s more fun to catch them on iron. When the bite slows you can always toss live bait and still get bit. I get a couple of fish on the jig, take a break and then get a couple of bait. Then its first call for lunch. Chef Mike is serving monster burgers for lunch. They look more like steaks than burgers. I know once I sit down I’ll be there for a while, but I got YFTs already and I want that “burger”.
Thursday was great for those who wanted to catch tuna.  Even a few Bluefin tuna were landed and we still had another day to go.
Our final day on the tuna grounds was similar to the day before.  Very good Yellowfin tuna strikes on meter marks.  At times there were even biting on 50 lb. mono.  I landed a couple very quickly on 50 lb.; Sashimi grade yellowfin tuna in the RSW.
As Friday ended, I was feeling blessed to have taken this trip.  Anyone who wanted to caught, tuna (Yellowfin or Bluefin), Yellowtail and Wahoo had more than ample chances to catch their fill of these fish.  The only fish that did not want to find the Polaris Supreme this trip was Dorado or Mahi Mahi.  But the amazing wahoo fishing more than made up for the absence of Dorado
Now all the hard work would begin: Tearing down of fishing outfits, stowing fishing tackle, packing up clothes and planning what to do with all those fish when we arrive back in San Diego on Saturday.
My main concern was making it to the airport in time for my Saturday flight.  I really didn’t want to fly out the same day we returned but I knew if I stay around in San Diego too long I wouldn’t want to go home.
Saturday morning the unloading of tackle, gear and fish when smoothly.  I dropped of 2 wahoo and 2 Yellowfin tuna to 5 Star Fish Processing. On my last trip they handled all of my fish and air shipped them to me without any problems.   I highly recommend their services when you return from your long range trip.
I would like to say it was a joy to fish with my fellow anglers on this trip.  We had various skill levels on this trip. From hot stiks to novices, we all fished together without any problems or drama.  That is something that is rare on these trips.
Final words are for the great folks of the Polaris Supreme.  Susan and Tommy always treat me like family.  Drew, Jed and the crew were always ready to lend a hand, a gaff or a verbal jab when needed.  I know I said it before but the food was amazing.  Thanks Chef Mike and Gringo.
If I could find the time every year this would be the trip I would take every year.  And if you are thinking about going on a long range trip give the Polaris Supreme a try.

 

Rolf Johnson  

aka Mr. Ono
 

Monday, July 22nd, 2013

Hi friends. We departed this morning on Paul Hess' annual 5-day adventure with a great load of folks and a good load of bait. This is one of my favorite trips of the year not only for the excellent company but Sandra brought homemade peach/blueberry cobbler for us to munch on. That's what I'm talking about! I'm going on a diet just so be able to eat it whenever I please. We'll see how it goes.

Anyhow, we headed out to an area that one of our spotter plane friends saw sign of that school-sized Bluefins we found 9 schools, they were as boat-shy as they come. We managed to land 28 of those fish up to 25 pounds. We will be in search of the 55 to 75 pound fish. If we were to stay here tomorrow in this upper area, we'd run out of bait with so many short stops.

With that, we're heading further south in search of those beauties that we've been catching the last couple of weeks and we'll be there first thing in the morning. Wish us luck and we'll report back to you tomorrow evening. Take care.

Monday, August 1st, 2011

Hi friends and happy August to all of you. Our ride last night was a little bit sloppy and we made horrible speed but we checked out a couple of coastal spots anyways. They were dry but we gave it a look and the call was made to break down the gear for the final clean-up. Throughout the day, our ride progressively changed for the better but as of 1900 hours this evening, we're bouncing around a little bit. Nonetheless, the gang are downstairs enjoying their final meal aboard the 2011 Tom Chaparro/Stern Hogs five day trip. We're still making less than normal speed and we'll hopefully make up some speed up the line so that we arrive to Fisherman's Landing on-time tomorrow morning at 0700 hours.

For this evening's report, we'd like to shine the spotlight on Tom Chaparro. As I said last night, this year was his fourteenth year chartering the Polaris Supreme and for the last five years that I've been involved with the Supreme, I feel that I can sum up Tom pretty well and it's pretty simple - Tom Chaparro is the man. Not only being an outstanding fisherman, Tom makes sure that everyone on-board his trip has a great time and does it the right way, the Polaris Supreme way and nobody knows that way better than Tom. It's just Tom's vibe that makes his trip special. Yes, he wants to catch fish more than anybody on the vessel but he still wants people to do things the right way and have an outstanding time. Tom makes you feel like you've been riding his charter since day one, he gives you the respect that he wants back in return and in this day, that is hard to find in some people. Most of Tom's charters are familiar faces year in and year out, and that is a tell-tale sign of Tom's desire for fishing and his desire to make sure that everyone on-board is happy. I could go on for paragraphs about Tom but all I can say is come find out for yourself. His sister Mary is one of the sweetest people you could meet and we were sorry that Tom's son, Thomas, couldn't make it this year. Get well man and we'll see you next year.

So that's all. It's dinner time and like I said, we're trying for a 0700 ETA. Tomorrow, the gang will be departing on the Prigmore four day adventure so look for Tommy's reports to continue tomorrow evening. Take care.

-Team Supreme-

Sunday, July 31st, 2011

Hi friends. We completed our tour of Yellowtail Land this evening the same way that we started this morning by landing a couple of lunkers in the 30 lb. range. Our time in the middle of our day was spent chasing breezers and color spots of Yellowtail with decent success and the size of these fish wasn't bad either with most being in the 15-18 lb. class. We would occasionally hook them on the surface jig's and yo-yo iron's but it was mostly a bait fishery. Fly-lined sardines on 30 lb. test was working with great success and our two days down here at the Yellowtail Grounds was a fine stay once again. Our weather today was awesome with the exception of a little afternoon breeze and the weather we're currently in now as I type this report. We're rockin' and rollin' up the line and depending on our speed, we'll see if we can get a couple hours of coastal fishing time in tomorrow. We'll see.

After Chef Schooler kicked out a Yellowtail dinner with his Polaris Supreme famous lemon-butter-caper sauce, charter-master Tom Chaparro extended his gratitude for 14 years of quality service by teaming up with Herb Yamanaka and presenting the crew with some of Herb's handmade exotic mahogany bowls/pepper grinders and University of Oregon merchandise. We say thank you to Tom and also a big thanks goes out to Herb. Herb normally fishes on Lon Mikkelsen's Ocean Tackle Research ten day trip in the fall but decided to hop on with Mr. Chaparro and his exceptional group. Herb took countless hours of footage on last year's ten day and made an awesome video from last year's OTR trip that is currently on our website and Herb is flat-out one of the nicest guys you will ever meet and we issue many thanks to him. He also tells Donna that he loves you and go Ducks.

Also, Joe Gigliotti, who has been riding with Tom since the beginning of his charter, has an Accurate sponsored 8-day trip leaving October 15th returning October 23rd, limited to 20 anglers, and he's informed me that there are some openings on it. This time slot is prime time Alijos Rocks and Ridge fishing for tuna and wahoo and Joe will have plenty of goodies to hand out as well. Joe is a super cool cat and if you'd like to come join up with him and Accurate, give Susan a call at 619-390-7890 and let's get in on some limited load, early Fall action at it's finest.

So that is all. As I've said before, our weather isn't ideal but we're doing just fine and not rollin' around too much. We'll hopefully get in some fishing time tomorrow and we'll check in with you tomorrow as well. Wish us luck and have a great start to the work week.

-Team Supreme-

Saturday, July 30th, 2011

Hey folks. Yellowtail fishing was limits today on The Polaris Supreme. We a steller start in the morning a lull to allow everyone a chance to get rested Then back at it in the afternoon. There wasn't a whole lot of times during the day that we weren't pulling on 'tails. Our grade of fish is still very nice with a few 40 pounders to round out our day in style. We caught them using all of the methods that we employ while fishing for Yellowtail and we're hoping for a repeat tomorrow, at the least. We're hanging out in the "premium zone" where we'll hope for a some big ones in the morning. That is our plan for now, Chappy and the gang are having a simply splendid time, and Garth Kubeldis is currently in the lead for the Lizard-fish jackpot (woo-hoo). We're enjoying the goregous weather and we'll be giving it a go bright and early tomorrow morning. Wish us luck and we'll chat with y'all tomorrow.

-Team Supreme-

Friday, July 29th, 2011

Hi friends. Windy offshore conditions made for a tough day but we managed to piece together a couple stops for Bluefin, Yellowfin, Yellowtail, and a couple handful's of Dorado as well. With the kelp paddy scene starting to take shape, we're excited about future ventures down this way. Throughout the day, we continued our southerly trek down to the Yellowtail grounds and we'll be fishing before the sun even rises. As a matter of fact, as of 0458 this morning, Chappy has already boated two 'tails on the dropper loop. We're off to a good start. Wish us luck and happy Friday.

-Team Supreme-

P.S. To Donna - Herb says he loves and misses you and I say - Hello Donna. The Oak floors are going to look marvelous, keep up the good work! Take care.

Thursday, July 28th, 2011

Good evening friends. We arrived at 0700 this morning to unload the Costello group and their catch of beautiful Yellowtail, Bluefin, Yellowfin, Calico Bass, Vermilion Rockfish, Lingcod, and the token White Seabass. Once our turn-around chores were completed, we brought aboard Tom and Mary Chaparro for their annual Stern Hogs five day limited load charter. They've brought along quite a few familiar faces with them, except they forgot "Little Chappy", but we're looking forward to catching up with the crew on-board and catching fish. Our bait is looking OK and we'll be monitoring the situation overnight to ensure that we have healthy bait. When all of the loading, eating, rigging, napping, and seminars were complete, the gang feasted on Prime Rib and hit the racks to prepare for the activities we have planned for them tomorrow.

For tomorrow, we'll be giving the offshore scene a try with the hopes of locating some Yellowfin and Bluefin. If a kelp paddy happens to pop up, we'll try those too as there has been some kelps kicking out some nice Yellowtail. So that is our plan, the weather is quite nice, and we'll get things rolling tomorrow morning. Wish us luck.

-Team Supreme-

170 yellowfin 93 skipjack. Good weather and great fishing, didn’t feel like November today.

Fishing report for the week of sept 16-22. This past week was all about looking thru the binoculars and praying that you find the lucky kelp. Scores for the 3/4 day boats this week have ranged anywhere from 0 to 150 fish. The highlight of our week was a kelp we found on Thursday which kicked out 44 nice size dorado and 100 yellowtail. On Friday we caught our first yellowfin tuna of the season. This season is showing no signs of slowing down so make those reservations and come on down.