charleston sc saltwater Fishing Report 2024

Polaris Supreme Trip Report 11-15-2019 Lots of rigging, snacking and napping! The Polaris Supreme Crew!

Come fishing on our Seeker 1.5 day trip leaving tonight! Only a few spots left! 

The boys are loading up for the seeker 1.5 day leaving this evening. With a light load and gourmet meals it will surely be the most comfortable way to fish for these Bluefin.

Bluefin are in the crosshairs. Everyone is ready for action. Go get em boys! 

Team Supreme

Today we went out with 27 anglers and caught 30 yellowtail. These yellows have been a challenge to hook but well worth the work. The grade of this fish is as good as anybody can remember in the local waters. 25-30 pounders have become the norm rather than the exception. The wise angler would bring a 25 or 30 lb. bait rod a 40 or 50 lb. yo-yo rod as well as your surface iron rod with fresh 40 lb. Today we caught fish on all three techniques.

The tenth annual George Davis trip aboard the Polaris Supreme arrived at Fisherman's Landing December 5, after spending ten days in southern waters with a super ultra-light load of seven anglers, including chartermaster Davis. There were five tuna over 200 pounds in the catch. One fish was well over 300 pounds. The big fish came in at 347.8 pounds, caught by Kevin Stokes, who is studying video making and cinematography, working on his B. A. in digital video at Mt. Sierra College in Monrovia. The giant yellowfin bit a sardine on a 6/0 Mustad 7691 hook tied to 100-pound P-Line and 130-pound Spectra on one of the boat's rigs: a Tiagra 50 reel and a Calstar 6460 XXH rod. It fought for 35 minutes. "He didn't fight too hard," said Stokes. He just laid there like a big cow. I almost lost him at the end, because his circles went all the way across the stern. They got him with four gaffs and lifted him over the rail. "My best tuna before this one was 180 pounds. It fought harder. I may have this one mounted. Next, I've got to go back to work and to school." Stokes said he does freelance work in video. Eleven-year-old Gunnar Johnston outscored the men by taking two cows; two yellowfin over 200 pounds. One of his fish weighed 217.8 pounds and won second place. The other went 209 pounds. Gunnar goes to Marinotha Christian Academy, and races motocross. His dad Craig Johnston is a construction manager in Orange County and was close by when Gunnar hooked his big cow. "I was up the rail," said Craig, "and I saw him get bent, and I shouted, ‚Дтdon't let go of that rig,' and I saw him pull back harder." Gunnar got the fish to gaff in 45 minutes, after it bit a sardine on a 6/0 Super Mutu hook on 130-pound Izorline fluorocarbon leader tied to 100-pound Momoi line and 130-pound Line One Spectra. He used an Avet 50 reel and a Calstar 6455 XXH rod. "It's my first long range trip," said Gunnar. "It's fun, hooking up and catching these big fish. Craig Johnston said his son had been on one and two-day trips before, but this was his first long range venture. "My best fish before was a 30-pound albacore or a dorado," said Gunnar. "I want to do it again." His dad felt the same way. "He was bit hard at first," said Craig, "but he did his work in the corner." Charlie Middleton of San Pablo took a 213-pounder and won third place. He said it bit a sardine on an 8/0 Gamakatsu hook tied to 100-pound Soft Steel Ultra line and 130-pound Power Pro Spectra on a Penn 80 SW reel and a five and a half-foot Ugly Stick rod. The fight lasted 20 minutes. "The best fishing was during the squalls," said Charlie. "That's when I hooked this one. He took me around the boat twice. There was a lot of 18-inch squid around."
Jim Jacobs of Murietta had never been fishing before. "I didn't know how to hold the pole," he said. Jacobs got a 202.6-pound tuna after a 40-minute scrap. It bit a sardine on an 8/0 Mustad 7691 hook, also on one of the boat's rigs. "My first trip," said Jacobs, "and my first fish."

Oct 7

I'm sure like most of you at home, every morning lately I woke up in anticipation to read Richie's next fishing report and was let down to see nothing written. I was hoping he was just too busy on those shorter trips to write one for me but it's leaked into long range now too. So I guess your stuck with me.

We left today on a 6 day trip. Our bait choices were between healthy but giant sardine or not so healthy normal size sardine. We chose some of both. We'll have to see how it turns out but I am sure we will have some die off. Hopefully just the weak ones. Time will tell.

The weather out in the fishing grounds sounds windy and rough. We'll be crossing through an area tomorrow sometime around 10 in the morning and depending on the weather we'll either work the area or fish on through it on a down hill course to other more fishable grounds. One of the boats had a wahoo through these waters a couple days ago so we'll be trolling wire.

Drew

Mike Pritchard called in with this report for the Tribute. "The fishing has started off well this morning. So far we have 20 Bluefin and a handful of Skipjack. Weather conditions are good, hopefully the good fishing will continue. We'll keep you posted."

Pictured Above: This is a photo of yesterday's catch.

We departed today on Don Fischbeck's annual 5-day charter, but without our charter head Don! Don we will miss you at the rail but we will bring some fish home for you. Don't be working too hard! Today the reports off shore are slow but there is some action at a few of the islands. So we loaded up with some good looking bait and are hoping for a possitive change for the albacore. Pedro is in the galley getting ready for dinner tonight which is going to be grilled tenderloin of beef with a red wine sauce. So we will update again tomorrow. Thanks for checking in. Tommy and crew

Today was one of those days in which our anglers and ourselves will probably remember for the rest of our lives. Not because of the amount of fish we caught, but the tremendous shows these fish put on. It all began this morning when we found a fishy area on our way to a spot in hopes of wahoo, tuna and grouper. We spotted a nice bird school in some beautiful looking water. When it first came into sight, still a couple miles away, we saw some 30lb grade tuna jumping around in the middle of it. When we got up to it, the scene was a bit different. The tuna were pushed off of it by a jumbo school of big stripped marlin. And what a show they put on for us. A couple of our anglers presented their bait or jigs in the right place and the right time and hooked into these big beautiful fish. They where tail-walking and jumping high out of the water everywhere. On top of that, we were constantly seeing free-swimming marlin on all sides of the boat. Some even came within five feet of the boat! There were literally hundreds of marlin around the boat. It was truly a sight to behold! Finally, after battling and releasing all the marlin we hooked, we carried on making our way to one of our spots that has been extremely productive for big wahoo, tuna and grouper the past couple months for us. When we got there we quickly boated a couple handfuls of very nice mid-sized yellow fin tuna. Even though the tuna where present, there was little to no sign of wahoo. All of our anglers having wahoo on their mind, we decided to make our way to a spot about nights run from where we were. We will be there at the crack of dawn tomorrow. Wish us luck and we will check in tomorrow. Tight Lines, Team Supreme