chehalis river Fishing Report 2024

Aug. 15
 Our day sort of reversed from yesterday.  Today it was a super slow morning that led into an action packed afternoon.  We looked for bluefin tuna this morning.  We started off in the zone where it had been in the weeks prior, but like yesterday, it wasn't around.  We caught one 12 pounder on the troll all morning.  We looked around there and in other places I thought it might have gone but we never saw an meat.  We went through one area where at least we were seeing little dabs of the BF but it was diving off on the meter.  We could tell it didn't want it.

 So we kept tracking around and ended up close to a possible yellowtail honey hole. So we took a look and that's exactly what it was.  For the rest of the afternoon till dark we stayed pretty steady on 12-25+ pound yellers.  It was good fishing.  A very pleasant surprise.  We're keeping this ball rolling.

 Needless to say, well maybe not needless, but we're going to spend the night here and see what this place looks like in the morning.
    

Guadalupe Update

7/27/2011

Passports

Dear Polaris Supreme Anglers,

I hope this letter finds all of you well.  As summer fast approaches we have gotten final Guadalupe questions answered.  And below I have done my best to try to convey them all to you.

Not all trips will go to Guadalupe.  Last year there was already excellent fishing at Guadalupe mid July.  In a normal water temperature year like we have now, we start to see Guadalupe produce good yellowfin by mid August.  So mid July, mid August is the time slot we may start fishing Guadalupe.  Your guess is probably as good as mine.  But we do know if the yellowfin do show, they will be there in full force by September and October. Either way we want to be to be prepared for any scenario.

Passports, Visas, Mexican Permits, and Guadalupe Permits (one bracelet for each day of fishing at Guadalupe) will be required by all passengers on all trips four days and longer from July 18^th on that may go to Guadalupe.  This is a Homeland Security US and Mexico Customs and Immigration requirement to go to Guadalupe Island.

I realize the logistics seem very complex, but all you, as a passenger will need to acquire, will be a passport.  We will acquire all other documents.

The decision to go to Guadalupe will be made four to five days prior to departure.  This will give us time to prepare our forms, and notify our customs brokers, (Us and Mexican), Department of Homeland Security, Customs, Immigration, Agriculture, and Coast Guard.

We need your passport information now!

Our decision to go to Guadalupe will be made on the basis of whether there is good fishing or not at the Island, weather, input from charter heads and passengers as to their desire to go.  The Captain and owner will make the final decision based on the above-mentioned and any other issues that may come up.

A typical route on a five-day trip would be as follows:

     Day 0 – Board 9:00am * Depart Landing11:00am * Depart Bait Receivers 1:00 pm

                   It is 60 miles from San Diego to Ensenada * Arrive Ensenada 7:00 pm *

                   Two hours to clear * Depart Ensenada 9:00 pm

     Day 1 – Fish day light until dark off shore for albacore, bluefin, and yellowtail on

                  kelps.  It is 182 miles from Ensenada to the North end of Guadalupe and 196

                  miles to the south end.  217 miles from San Diego to north end of Guadalupe.

                  237 miles to south end.                                   

     Day 2 – Fish Guadalupe daylight and on into the night for yellowtail and tuna.

    Day 3 – Fish Guadalupe until dark.  You could also go back off shore at the end of the

                   Previous day to fish albacore, bluefin, and yellowtail on kelps this day.

     Day 4 – Fish off shore for albacore, bluefin, and yellowtail on kelps.  We must be within

                  60 miles of Ensenada by 4 pm to be into Ensenada by 10 pm to clear out of

                  Mexico.  Depart Ensenada midnight.

     Day 5 – Arrive San Diego customs 6:00 am.  One hour to clear.  Arrive back to the

                  dock 7:30 am.

The typical scenario for a four-day trip would be one day less at Guadalupe.  If indeed the Island was the main destination.  The time involved to target Guadalupe on four and five day trips will not allow us to have time to fish Cedros or Benitos.  Six or seven day trips will.

This is the longest expected clearing times.  We are hoping to keep Ensenada down to one hour and San Diego down to a half hour.  There is no scheduled check in into Guadalupe, but we expect to be inspected by Conapesca and/or the Mexican Navy.

Only on trips going to Guadalupe requiring clearance there will be a clearance fee of approximately  $3260.00  divided up amongst the passengers on board.  This will cover the cost we will be required to pay in and out of San Diego and Ensenada for customs, Immigration and Agriculture.  Other cost will include the following

Cost 5-Day:  (carrying 24 people)

                      Mexican Fishing Permit $ 87.00 (cost incurred on all trips to Mexico)

                      Mexican Visa  $25.00

                       Daily Guadalupe Bracelet  $ 5.00   (per day) times 3= $15

                       Clearance Fee  $135.00

                       Approximate total $257.00       

Our bait dying in Ensenada Harbor has been a question brought up and will not be an issue.  Ensenada Harbor is very clean, if not cleaner than San Diego Bay in the summer when there is no runoff.  It is also cooler than San Diego Bay and chance of red tide is slim in both bays this year with no El Nino. 

Thank you all for your patronage.  If you have any questions or concerns please call me or Susan at the Polaris Supreme office.  619-390-7890

Thanks,

Tommy

Captain Mike Pritchard checked in with an final wrap-up from the Tribute out of Seaforthl.  Today we had 27 bluefin (1 shy of limits) 2 yellowfin (first of the season) and 16 yellowtail for our 14 anglers today in flat calm weather.

Nov. 7

                First of all, what the heck was that?!  Did you see that tonight?!  Holy Toledo!  It was like a rocket or something, blasting through the sky, then all of a sudden, boom!  It just lit up.  For a second there, I thought that was it.  I thought, see you later world,.  This is it.  Then it was just out of control.  I watched it with the gyros for a while and it was zippin and zappin all over the place with a huge green glow in it's wake.  Wow!!  And the whole fleet saw it.  From here, out to there, and into there and all the way down there.  I can't wait to hear the explanation.  I'll remember that forever.

                  OK.  Onto fishing.. Today, we had a bad day.  Just an old fashioned bad day.  And I wish that was all I had to say about that, but you make me write more to you.  That wouldn't be good enough.  So I'll explain it.  Last night I downloaded what I thought was a tasty looking water chart.  It shows much much less warm water around but there was a lovely looking strip of warm headed southeast from Clemente.  So I thought I had this great idea to start at the Island, and leave when they closed it down at 11:30.  Well it's what we did.  We started at the Island, only we didn't catch a whole lot.  A handful of nice yellows and some junk was all.  So we stuck with the plan and headed down that strip of warm water.  You know, the promise land, so I thought.  I was wrong.  And that's all I have to say about that.

                We did experience some great flat calm weather.  And we caught our first ever American wahoo in November, so that was cool.  Good boat, good crew, and good food.  We just missed the good fishing.  Sometimes you eat the bar, and sometimes the bar eats you.  Sometimes you're sitting field level, and sometimes you're sitting nose bleed.  That's all a part of the game.

~~Aug 25
 Once again, today we had a good day.  We started our day off fishing bait.  Wide darn open on the small greenies.  I was singing the Who song "rain on me" because it was raining bait.  It didn't take long to get what we needed for the day and we headed off to the bluefin grounds which is right there.  We had one OK stop but right before lunch was our good one.  I remember because I ordered my lunch when we didn't have anything going and when I walked outside we had 4 going.  I can power down a meal pretty fast though and that's what I did.  We were able to drift with that school for hours before it stopped biting.  We had a couple per round of those 30-40 pounders.  I call those the perfect grade.  They are manageable, meaning they're fairly easy to bring to the boat while at the same time when you do you always end with a smile because they're big.  The perfect grade.  After they stopped biting say around 5:00, we looked for another school unsuccessfully for an hour so we ran back to the bait grounds and had a little start on our re-bait.  We'll finish in the morning.  Having this perfect bait right next to the fishing grounds is the most special thing about this area.  It's more special than the beautiful bluefin we're catching.  Sometimes where you caught your bait is more important than where you caught your fish.  No bait, no luck.
         
 

Oct. 11

We didn't connect on the bluefin tuna today. The fish was down or gone but it sure wasn't available for us or anyone else in the area to catch so that's it. We're done with this years Davis ultra limited load 15 day trip and we're headed for the barn. We'll have a big load of cow tuna to unload tomorrow and after an oil change, fuel fill and some grocery's we'll be heading back out on Joey G's Accurate sponsored 8 day trip.

The 3M private charter experienced both ends of the spectrum of tuna behavior. Many non biting schools made our mid-day aggressive school very special.