emerald isle nc Fishing Report 2024

61 yellowtail. Never had the big blow out we were looking for but scratched a day out on a handful of kelps.

~~Oct. 15
 I forgot to mention yesterday how steamy it is down here.  Steamy, like we're boiling a giant pot of water or something, I can't explain it.  Anyways when you walk out of an air and conditioned part of the boat it's like POW!  Holy Toledo!  But after a little bit you get used to it and it's not that bad until you find some AC again and then come back out and it's like, POW again.  Anyways, we had a little more wind this morning which helped with the kite fishing and it stayed one direction which helped with the anchor fishing.  We had another decent morning.  George caught another over 200 and his bud Craig joined him with a 207.  The sharks weren't as ferocious this morning and this afternoon I'd have to say they weren't much of a problem at all.  We really did a number on the wahoo yesterday because today we only caught a few but thankfully we had a great day on the anchor starting mid morning or after lunch, I already can't remember.

 The boxed and vacuum sealed flying fish from Florida the gang brought down really paid off today.  That's mostly what I did this afternoon was rig flying fish for the kite and help gaff tuna when they needed me. For a couple hours they were hitting the baits on the kite as fast as we could put them out.  Most of what we're catching is in the 100-130 pound class. The big story was Charlie this afternoon.  He caught 3 bigguns.  A 194, 213, and a 204.  A nice afternoon for Charlie.  About half the gang are already releasing anything under 200 pounds.

 For dinner we had a lovely corned beef and cabbage and potato meal.  Afterwards I was waiting for the shower and i noticed all the tuna that was under the boat and I pointed it out to the chef.  So he went down there and sinker rigged a sardine right on top of one of the tunas heads and he got himself a 177 pounder shattering his previous personal best of 35 pounds.  Way to go Mike.  Most people at the time were tying on new top shots on there reels.  They all new what was going on and that they could most likely do the same but nobody did a thing.  Everyone was fished out so that shows we had a good day.  You just can't fish 24 hours a day.
         

 

~~Sep. 16
 It was raining wahoo around the Polaris Supreme today.  It wasn't raining wahoo on the Polaris Supreme, just around it.  We scratched out a good day though.  I told myself if we caught 40 wahoo today, it would be worth the run down here.  We caught 46.  It felt like we should of had 200, and with all the fish we lost today, that might not be an exaggeration.  We're just 5 shy of 100 for the trip.  If you add up all the halves and heads we wound in today, we might have a hundred.  The sharks were really bad out here today.  You wouldn't have wanted to go for a swim.  I say it was raining wahoo today because they were flying out of the water most everywhere you looked chasing flying fish and such.  It was an awesome sight to see.  I have never seen anything like it in my 15 years of long ranging. 

 We've really put together a very nice trip so far.  I wouldn't mind a little more tuna and some yellowtail.  We've left the stones and we're now headed up for the remainder of the trip.  We're going to check out the baja coast tomorrow in search of all the species and get in position for the rest of the trip as well.
     

Captain Ryan Bostian called in this evening with an update from “The San Diego.” We had Captain Cameron running the boat today. We had 26 anglers catch 54 Yellowtail and 2 Bluefin Tuna. We got the big boys today. Our Bluefin Tuna weighed in at 119 and 112 pounds. We had about ten bites and landed two. RECOMMENDED TACKLE 25 pound bait rod - 25 pound mono with a short 25 pound fluorocarbon. This outfit is excellent for the Yellowtail and smaller Bluefin Tuna. Be sure to use 1 or 1o hooks. 50 pound bait rod - 50 pound mono with a short 50 pound fluorocarbon leader. You will need 2o hooks for your heavy bait rod. Flat Fall rod - 7 or 8 foot rod with a Talica 12 or Talica 16. Use 65 or 80 pound spectra with a short 80 fluorocarbon leader. Make sure to have your Shimano Flatfall 200 or 250 gram model.

Captain Ryan Bostian checked in with an update from the San Diego out of Seaforth Landing in Mission Bay, CA.  We had 18 passengers today catch 12 Bluefin Tuna (60 to 80 pounds).   We landed 1/2 the fish we hooked today.  We also caught 3 Yellowtail.  We recommend the flat-fall jig with a two-speed reel loaded with spectra and a short 60 to 80 pound fluorocarbon leader.  You have also be prepared with a 25 to 35 pound live bat outfit for the kelps.

Thursday, April 11th, 2013

Hi friends. We're still traveling down in decent weather, with plenty of sunshine to make for an enjoyable trek. Although, the travel days can be very monotonous, we always find something out of the ordinary to do to break up the boredom. Today was a unique day, even by our standards; and even after all of the sea time that passengers and crew members alike have accumulated over the decades, we still found ourselves in activities, scenery, and fishing that we don't experience everyday.

Now, I'm not trying to make roses out of you-know-what; we caught Yellowtail today. That's all. We didn't run into the first wave of Albacore or run up on a breezer of giant Bluefin tuna. Nope, we simply caught beautiful 18-22 lb. Yellowtail. Before I go any further - I am not bashing the Yellowtail fishery in any way shape or form. We had a great time doing it today and in all honesty, typing out words to explain the amount of fun we had for an hour would bore everyone half to death. What garners this report is simply the hour-long spectacle that was associated with our Yellowtail fishing. Having wide open fishing and not really trying to compete with other boats or boost our own egos is fun enough, trust me. Just good old fashioned yankin' and crankin' is what we did today but add in the sight of breaching Humpback Whales (two adults and one cute little calf, literally within casting distance) with the backdrop of one of the most beautiful destinations that we fish in one of the most isolated places in the Eastern Pacific was something I'll never forget. Like I said, it was Yellowtail fishing; but add in the group of gentlemen that we shared this experience with, it was hard not to just stop for a moment and take everything in. All in all, it was a super fun day.

I'm sorry for the lengthy report. I'm reading three books at the moment and one of them is 83 Neurobic exercises to increase mental fitness and it encourages you to do some off-the-wall stuff - things that you normally wouldn't do to keep your brain healthy. It's a fascinating read and I'm applying a lot of the little things that the book says to do. I'm sure that I'm driving the crew crazy with how stoked I am to do these things; from switching my watch to my other hand, to navigating my way around the wheelhouse with my eyes closed and let my senses other than sight guide me around (don't worry, I'm not driving), to putting different types of tape on the keyboard (don't ask) - it's all really interesting to me and it's keeping the travel days fresh and exciting. So, I apologize for this whacky report but I'm helping to keep my brain stimulated and hopefully yours too.

Anyhow, With this particular trip -- or any 17-day trip, for that matter -- there is always something new to do to keep us on our toes. From rigging up "Bruce" our new anchor (insert circus music here) to finding a good book to read to learning a new way to rig tackle or just enjoying the ride with some good friends, the entire experience of traveling down to our destination can be looked at in multiple ways - today was one of those good travel days and I felt like sharing it with everyone because we're pumped. Other than good weather and good food, I'll leave y'all with a few more clues as to what in the heck we're doing with our time. It involves: five grown men, a food processor, Yellowtail Milt, a deck brush, and a bait scoop. Stimulate your brains. We'll chat with you manana.

P.S. Devon, Alayna, and Lyall - I caught y'all a delicious Calico Bass today. I wanted to release it but mortality was imminent. I am deeply sorry. Scootch didn't even try to save it either so it's half his fault. Sorry.

Capt Mike Pritchard called in last night from the Tribute last night with an update, they were on day 2 of a 4.5 day trip. They arrived Colonet around 10 am, very good Yellowtail fishing from 18 - 28 lbs. We did have a lot of casualties and ended the day with 53 Yellowtail and probably lost just as many. The Yoyo fishing was the most fun, but we had a hard time getting them off the bottom with 50 lb rigs. So far today we have 25 Yellowtail, as the weather gets nicer we are going to head offshore. We will check back in again later.

July 14 and 15 all in one.
    We fished the 14th offshore in some haven't been fished in waters for a while and we found plenty of tuna but they were all small.  For the most part it's what the grade of yellowfin is this year so we opted to put tags on them.  It bit well on one stop.  After a while we wound in the jigs due to constant jig strikes, we couldn't short stop anymore without it costing us time in the local grounds where the better grade was biting.  Mark and I played a game we call suicide trolling.  We each put out a troll rod and the first one to get a tuna on deck wins.  The boat doesn't stop.  We both got bit instantly but mine fell off.  I kept getting bit but they wouldn't hook.  After 30 seconds I realized I didn't have a hook on my jig and by the time I got a different jig out we were past the fish and Mark took his time and wound his in for the victory.  

    We can't complain about today.  The weather was as good as it gets.  No wind and no sea.  It was beautiful.  We also caught 54 30-35 pound tuna and for what was around today, it was a good score.  We're headed in and we're going to be the first boat in tomorrow at 0530 hours.  We'll be heading back out tomorrow on another 5 day trip.  See you then.