fortescue nj Fishing Report 2023

~~Aug. 21
 We missed again this morning folks.  I'm not very happy about it, but I've excepted it.  We've definitely put in our work this trip.  Not necessarily physically these last couple days but mentally for sure.  I am drained.  We didn't want to spend another afternoon like we spent yesterday so we left the grounds and fished the Coronado Islands this afternoon.  We didn't see much yellowtail.  Myself or the other long range boat here.  I heard some good analogies this trip by other captains on the radio that I'd like to share.  Looking at the fish reports is like watching sports center.  They keep showing you all the top tens, but they almost never show the other Joe's, and sometimes you're the bug, and sometimes you're the windshield.  Most guys the last couple days have been the bugs.

 There have been quite a few firsts for me lately.  First of all I've never spent this much time fishing this close to home other than my 3/4 day days..  I have never been anchored up right outside the harbor on the second night of the trip.  We were there catching bait.  I've never captained the boat to San Clemente or the Coronado Islands.  There's probably more.  Oh yeah, I've never seen the 5 freeway from the boat.  Mark thought it was a bird school.  In his defense, I had to give it a double take too.

 So that's it.  We're going home and we'll be leaving for 5 tomorrow.  Tommy is coming back out so he'll be deciding where to go.  I'll tell you though, it's tough to pass on this fish.  Unfortunately for us, it's the best grade of tuna around.  It's great for the 1/2 day boats though.
       

Good morning Everyone, Our annual Heil charter has come, the longest running charter on Polaris Supreme. We are very happy top welcome aboard this group of anglers. Ron Heil has been keeping his father's charter going for years with a good core group of anglers. We are exited to have these guys aboard as well as some new faces. Spirits are high, and we're all very hopeful for the next 5 days. Team Supreme

Today was mostly a travel day. We check around for albacore but the fish were down. The wind picked up this afternoon but we are good south so the ride is fine. This is our second day out on an eight day trip. So we have plenty of time to find the fish.

HOT HOT WEEKEND TRIP!!!! APOLLO has one spot available on a 2-day trip leaving tonight a 9pm and returning Sunday 9/23 at 8pm. Limited load to 20 passengers. Price is $510. For reservation call Fisherman's Landing @ (619)221-8500

100+ yellowtail out of the first stop this morning. Please bring a 25 lb bait rod and a 40 lb yo-yo rod. Reservations are very important as trips are filling up fast. Call 619-224-3383 for resos. A passport or a passport card is required.

Nov. 9

                We had a pretty good day today.  We were due in the zone at 8:40 AM but we didn't make that ETA.  We got caught up in a stop a few miles prior that bit pretty well for us.  Then we spent maybe too much time in that zone looking for another deal that never came.  So we mosied on down and found another little zone which gave us our best stop of the day.  That was a good stop.  We caught a couple tuna reaching close to 40 pounds on that one.  And then the life pretty much disappeared until late.  So from lunch until 5 or so we didn't catch anything.  Then wouldn't you know it, before dark we started seeing life again and stopping the boat and catching fish again.  I guarantee you us catching fish right before dark and nothing since lunch wasn't a coincidence.  The fish were down hanging low where we couldn't see them and came up late.  All and all it was a good day.  A nice little starter for our 10 day trip.  15-25 pound yellowfin mostly with a few we let go and some nearing 40.

 

                The weather held up for us today too.  It got a little breezy in the afternoon but then it came down late again.  We're heading down tonight and we're going to try our hand at some yellers tomorrow morning and take it from there.  We're hoping we get a weather window in the morning.  It looks like we should but the wind should be with us tomorrow night on through hopefully only the next day.

 

                I'm supposed to let mama bear know that your forever cub is kicking butt.  He got himself a nice one and plenty others today.  He won't stop yappin about how much he loves and misses his mommy though.  Frankly, we're getting tired of hearing it.

                                                                                                               

Oct. 13

Good afternoon from the Polaris Supreme. We returned this morning from our 6 day trip and off loaded our candy of the ocean. I'm not kidding you. Those bluefin are so darn good I could just make a shake out of them and drink them. I had the pleasure of getting my hands on a few this year and had the big fat belly of one last time I was off and the way I did it was so darn good I'm going to tell you how I did it for the people who caught those beauties this year. Salt, pepper and olive oil on the meat side. Put the belly skin side down on the grill and cook it through. If you flip it at all only do it for a few seconds at the very end. On the stove mix soy sauce, maple syrup and a splash of water and heat warm. Pour on top of fish and enjoy.

Big fish goes as follows: The big bluefins of the trip went from 68 up to 123 pounds, the wahoo was 58 pounds, and I weighed a yellowfin at 51 pounds and we caught several of those so some good quality fish there.

We departed on Joe Gigliotti's 2nd annual 8 day accurate adventure excursion quest outing journey tour ride drive cruise stroll trek trip this morning. Our bait looked mostly good. The last box we took scaled up after our first few scoops so I had the pleasure of taking part in my first bait bucketing. That's where you use buckets to scoop the bait as opposed to nets to put it onboard. It has it's advantages and disadvantages and one advantage is that it's a good workout. Holy moly. After that we had a lovely lunch and some lovely tackle rigging. I had a lovely nap as well and I jumped on the band wagon. I now started the Suzanne Collins Hunger Games trilogy. Richie and chef Shawn have book club meetings on them and I just couldn't be left out so here we go. Plus my David Lee Roth bio still isn't in, damn you amazon.

I'm handing the keyboard off to hopefully Richie for your reading sake, Tommy's out but I sure you want to read Richie's writing. I do. See ya!

Drew

Skipper Drew Henderson docked Polaris Supreme July 13 after a three-day trip with 23 anglers. "There's good sign of fish down to at least 150 miles," he said. "The ocean is nice, and about 67.3 degrees." Don Todd of Sun Valley won first place on the trip for his 37.8-pound albacore. He said it grabbed a sardine on a 3/0 ringed Super Mutu hook tied to 30-pound fluorocarbon leader and 30-pound P-Line on a Penn 555 reel and a seven-foot rod. "That fish made my day," said Don. "It felt good!" Sam Ferarelli of Los Alamitos got a 34-pound albacore and Dennis McNeely of Santa Cruz found a 33.6-pounder for second and third places.