halfhitch Fishing Report 2025

Capt Mike Pritchard checked in with this report from the Tribute. "Another great day of fishing here. We have limits of Yellowtail. Now we are in search of some Bluefin. We have caught one so far.

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.

Captain Mike Pritchard called in this afternoon with an audio update from the Tribute out of Seaforth Sportfishing in San Diego, CA.  

We have a light load on a 2 day trip with 21 anglers. So far we have 30 Yellowtail & 54 Yellowfin Tuna (good grade 20 + pounds) on the boat.

We have some open party trips coming up.  Call Seaforth at (619 224-3383 to get in on the action!

Captain Ryan Bostian checked in with an update from the San Diego out of Seaforth Sportfishing in Mission Bay, CA. The water rolled at the Coronado Islands and the Yellowtail have stopped biting. We had 5 Bluefin Tuna today. We had 3 fish around 75 pounds and 1 fish weighing in at 120 pounds and the biggest fish was a 130 pounder.

The fish are biting fly-lined baits but they are really biting the Poppers. Make sure you bring you 50 pound out at a minimum.
We have seen some fishing pushing 200 pounds but we have not caught one of them yet!

Sunday, August 12th, 2012

Hi friends. Big, beautiful 25-45 lb. yellowfin with a few handfuls of those beastly bluefin is what was on our plate today. We had a couple of good drifts in fantastic weather that made our day just dandy. Everybody is really amazed by this quality grade of yellowfin and I'm personally amazed that crewmember Mark doesn't have his own television show. Networks are missing out on what a goldmine following Mark around with a camera would be, 24/7. Some people might think that they're paying a healthy sum of money to come out fishing on a long range boat but I look at it like, people are paying a lot of money to come spend a few days with Mark Clark.

Anyhow, here is a short recap of our day: good morning (0545 hours), good breakfast (French toast, sausage, and eggs), good trolling rotations, good fishing, good weather, good sunshine, good lunch (chili), good fishing, good afternoon snacks, good galley assistant/chef-in-training (Shawn), good friends, good times, good dinner (roasted turkey with all the goods), good showers, good squid making, good night. It's alllllllllllll good. We allllllll bundle.We'll chat with you tomorrow.

P.S. Thank you to Jim Bostian for hooking us up with the San Diego merchandise. You're the man and if you're ever looking to hop on a 3/4 day boat, hop on the San Diego our risk losing us as friends forever. Thanks Jim.

Polaris Supreme Trip Update 8-2-2017 Well I did find some photos of Tom Chaparros trip. One of the crew took a dozen pictures on his cell phone while he was running around working! As well as thinking Tom and the gang for a great fun filled trip I would like to extend a special thanks to Herb Yamanaka for bringing custom-made solid wood bowls to give out to all of the anglers and crew on the trip. Herb does this every year and the workmanship of his gifts are absolutely superb! Thank you Herb Tom and gang for a fun six days the Polaris supreme crew!

Many of you know Captain Ray Montera who has been involved in sportfishing most of his life. In March, his 32 year old Chris son was severely injured in a C4 blast in Afghanistan. We are holding a fundraiser on October 8th at the Bali Hai on Shelter Island. He is one of our own and we are rallying to support him.

As an Army soldier, Chris Montera was often taken aback when people would thank him for doing the job he loved. On a fateful day in March, he came to face the sacrifice. He was on a dismounted mission and was hit with explosion of C4, which literally blasted and propelled him into a grape field. He suffered major issues with blast lung and severe burns over much of his body. For 9 days he was on ECMO (lung bypass) until he was stable enough to be transported to BAMC in San Antonio for the treatment of his shrapnel wounds and third degree burns. On April 2 a fungal infection set into the wounds on his lower extremities and Chris underwent bilateral AK amputation of his legs. He was further diagnosed with an incomplete spinal cord injury in the thoracic area of the spine at VA Polytrauma Center in Palo Alto.

Through all of this, Chris remains focused and committed to rehabilitation. It is estimated that he will remain in Palo Alto for 3-6 months while he works to regain his upper body strength, which will be necessary for the next stages of rehab in the C5 program at Balboa Naval Hospital in San Diego where he will be fitted with prosthetic legs and with determination will learn to walk again. There is no doubt in our minds that Chris will recover to live an independent life. The goal of this fundraiser is to be able to assist Chris with expenses he will no doubt encounter on his journey to independence.

The event will be held at the Bali Hai Restaurant on Shelter Island On October 8th from 6:00-10:00 pm. There will be food stations serving food from many San Diego restaurants along with a no host bar. A raffle, live, and silent auction will take place during the event along with live entertainment by Mango Bay and World Famous Jim Gibson. The outpouring of support of raffle and auction donations from the sportfishing community, tackle, fishing supply manufacturers, and local businesses has been phenomenal. The evening will be great fun for all and will serve to help a young man who put it all on the line.

There are several ways you can help:
First and most important is attend the event.

Tickets are $50 in advance or $450 for a block of 10

Advance ticket purchases will include 3 raffle tickets and assorted swag

Cannot attend but would like to help, make a cash donation in any amount.

Donate an item for the raffle or auction. Anything from fishing items, art, gift certificates, clothing...anything is greatly appreciated.


We look forward to having you at the event. The sport fishing community has come together to take care of a wounded warrior of their own, and it promises to be a fun filled evening for all.

To purchase tickets for Island Nights at the Bali Hai, please visit our website at http://christophermonterasupport.com/island-nights-at-the-bali-hai

To donate items for our raffle/auction please visit our website and complete the donor form http://christophermonterasupport.com/sponsors-anddonors-supporters/donor-form

We're off to a very god start here this morning," said Mike Pritchard. "We're down here at about the 100 mile mark with very nice weather. We're doing well on the kelps and have some open water jig strikes. So far we have 71 Yellowfin Tuna, 61 Yellowtail and a handful of Dorado & Skipjack, for 26 anglers.

"We do leave on a 1.5 Day trip tomorrow night there is still room and the weather should be good. We'll check back later."