central illinois Fishing Report 2024

Found what we were looking for, away from any other boats. Ended up with 4 Bluefin, #135 and the others all at #70 or so. Heck of a day!

Happy independence day! guys! We finished our day yesterday by continuing to pick away at those larger size yellowtail. Almost all of our anglers ended up with at least one yellowtail and we even had a hand-full of anglers who managed to catch their limit of those larger sized fish. As I'm writing this report, I am seeing quite a few small schools of yellows on the sonar. We are eager to find out what today has in stock for us! Happy Independence Day, Team Supreme

Jodie called in with this report for the Apollo. "We have an Open Party 2 Day Trip for July 4th & 5th. We will be leaving from Fisherman's Landing on July 3rd at 10:00 0'clock. We will be targeting Bluefin Tuna. They are starting to bite at 125 miles. If you'd like more information or want to make a reservation 619-221-8500."

Suggested tackle for 7:00-4:00 local 3/4 day trips. (1) A 25 or 30 lb. outfit to fish fly line sardines , sliding egg sinker and squid and a lead head and squid. This outfit can also double as a light dropper loop rod for shallow water rockfish. (2) A 40 or 50 lb. outfit. This will be a heavy dropper loop rod for targeting yellowtail , white sea bass and halibut down on the bottom. (3) A deep water rock cod outfit. A 20 size reel filled up with 65 lb. spectra and a 7 ft. rod stiff enough to handle a 16 oz. sinker. If you only want to bring one rod a 30 lb. outfit would be your best bet. TERMINAL TACKLE (Hooks) a pack of size 2 live bait hooks for fishing anchovies and small squid strips. A pack of size 2/0 live bait hooks for fishing live sardines and live squid on an egg sinker. A pack of size 4/0 live bait hooks for fishing live squid on your heavy dropper loop rod. A few long shank rock cod hooks may be usefull but not mandatory on the days we fish deep. (Sinkers) an assortment of sliding egg sinkers from 1/8-1 oz. an assortment of torpedo sinkers from 2-16 oz. Sinker size will be determined by depth of water and strength of current. (Lead heads ) An assortment of "banana" shaped lead heads from 1/2 - 2 oz.

POLARIS SUPREME TRIP UPDATE 09-26-2020 We spent the day looking for Tuna and Wahoo without much luck. We did however get some great wide open Dorado fishing. As usual we only kept a small portion of them. The weather is a little bumpy but OK. Going to try a little nite fishing. The Polaris Supreme Crew!

Today our 30 anglers were treated to a 6 hour drift which resulted in 33 bluefin tuna from 60 to 100 pounds and 1 twenty pound yellowfin. We managed to keep 1-8 fish hooked at all times. Our bites were coming on 40&50 lb flyline sardines and 130-160 gram Shimano Flatfalls as well as 100 gram Shimano Colt snipers. TIP FROM THE CREW: In order to keep the deck clean and safe. We rinse with a saltwater hose constantly. Wearing rubber boots or waterproof shoes is recommended.

"We fished at Cedros Island and we fished on offshore kelps," said Polaris Supreme skipper Drew Henderson July 28. He'd just ended a five-day Catchy Tackle trip with 24 anglers, and was weighing the catch at the Fisherman's Landing scales.
"We got yellowtail, dorado and some non-biting albacore," he added, "and; wow!" The albacore he hung on the scales pushed the numbers up to 41 pounds even. "That's the best one so far this season," I remarked. Henderson high-fived angler Al Brandenburg, who grinned and brought his fish over to the side for some photos. Brandenburg said he got the big longfin on a sardine and a 2/0 Flyliner hook. He used 30-pound Izorline on a Trinidad 30 reel and a Calstar 700 M rod. He won second place in the jackpot. Harvey Rosen of Benecia bagged a 43.6-pound yellowtail on the dropper loop to win first place. "He fought like a bulldog," said Rosen, who used a sardine on a 4/0 Mustad hook with 60-pound Izorline XXX mono, an Avet 4-2 reel and a Seeker 6460 glass rod to beat his fish in ten minutes. Don Spitzer of Petaluma was third, for a 33.8-pound yellowtail. Chartermaster Wayne Martin hoisted a dorado he said was typical of those encountered on kelps.

Our very light load charter of 11 people had some fun finesse fishing. They were able to trick 18 bluefin 3 yellowfin 10 yellowtail and 1 bonito.