housatonic river Fishing Report 2025

Hello everyone, Today we started fishing on our annual Hess Charter. It was a slow start but we did end up picking at a couple Yellowtail. We are by no means satisfied with what we caught, so we will be giving it another try here tomorrow. The fish we did manage to land were that great grade fish, 20- 30lbs. We are just hoping to get a great hit on them tomorrow before we head out to a new area in search of offshore exotics. Will report tomorrow, Team Supreme

Saturday, September 29th, 2012

Hi friends. Tough day for us down here in the magical kelp paddy zone. The weather gave us fits all day but we did manage to scratch a day together. The weather was workable but not favorable with 18 knots of wind and a short, medium-sized wind chop. I had trouble going any kind of northerly or westerly direction most of the day for fear of soaking our mast-man.

Even with the weather, we managed to catch 60 yellowfin tuna, 19 yellowtail, 17 dorado, and some skipjack off of a few jig strikes and multiple kelp paddies. We saw good water structure and found plenty of beautiful kelps but all we found were either scraps from other boats or the fish we did see, were just reluctant to latch on to our hooks. All in all, I'm happy with our day and I feel that we were right on par for the boats in the area. Guys have been fishing the same kelps for days and days --either in the local zone or this lower zone-- so I felt the need to get on something fresh and get away from the glob of boats in the area. It kind of panned out but like I said, I'm happy with our day --weather considered-- and our group hung tough with the sloppy weather.

So that is all. We'll be returning to the docks tomorrow sometime between 11:00 and noon, and we'll be turning around for another day and a half trip tomorrow evening. The weather is projected to come down and now all we have to worry about is getting a load of bait that doesn't die eighteen hours later. Take care and we'll chat with you tomorrow.

-The Supreme Team

~~July 13
 How about this... Today was awesome! We fished the yellowtail grounds today and it worked out. From about 8 am to 4 pm we were hot and loaded! 14- 28 pounds was the grade and they were snapping. After a slow couple of days like we had iit was perfect. Long drifts with 1-6 fish always on the line. Very little moving. Mostly all drifting and catching. Smiles for everyone and relief for some, myself included. It was a fun day. Windy as heck but we still drifted well and nobody cared. We left at 4:30 because the fish weren't really in the mood anymore and we wanted to gain some latitude to extend our fishing time tomorrow.

 

 We'll be offshore tomorrow hunting for yellowfin tuna. We're stuffed with the Jacks and now we want tuna. Wish us luck back home. Here we go...
 

 

Friday, July 22nd, 2011

Good evening. With all of the life around the boat last night, we never managed to hook a fish this morning so we made a move and relocated the good sign of fish from yesterday. All in all, it was a very slow day up until the afternoon time when we got on a big breezer of smaller fish and had a nice little flurry on that smaller grade of fish. They really responded well, boiling within ten feet of the transom but for whatever reason we only managed to hook and land a handful. That was pretty much our hot action of the day. We saw a couple good spots of fish today but the Bluefin were Bluefin and it was a struggle to get a bite. There's potential for some decent hits in this area but for now, it's only for a couple of lucky boats and today, we were not a lucky boat. Sometimes, that's just how the cards fall.

With a beautiful load of Yellowtail in the fish holds and an annoying load of kelp flies everywhere else, we put a bow on the 2011 Paul Hess five day trip. Our utmost gratitude goes out to Paul for once again putting together a stellar group of folks and continuing to bring them back year after year. No matter what type of economic situation or what type of fish we catch, this group has a great attitude and they come out here to have a good time. Also, thank you to Sandra and Dave Lafferty for bringing some delicious food, especially the Cherry cobbler. We'll see y'all next year. Go Giants...not.

So there you have it. We're enjoying a fine ride as we motor back to port and we're shooting for a 0730 ETA tomorrow morning. We'll be coming back out with the Costello gang for five days of fun with Captain Drew Henderson at the helm. We'll check back with you tomorrow and have a good weekend.

-Team Supreme-

Thursday, July 21st, 2011

Hi friends. We finally made it to the hot Bluefin grounds in the afternoon and as soon as we arrived, the bite shut off. We saw good life and a few schools but we never saw the whites of their eyes. There is potential to scratch out a day here as the few boats that were in the area all day had a few fish to show for their efforts. Based on that, we rigged up and tossed out the sea anchor and will be drifting offshore all night. There is a ton of life around us right now with squid, sauries, and birds all around so hopefully with all of this life, we'll wake up and pick away at some shortfin's. Wish us luck.

-Richie and Team Supreme-

Wednesday, July 20th, 2011

Good evening friends. Yellowtail fishing aboard the Polaris Supreme was outstanding today. From right after breakfast until the late afternoon, we were pulling on 'tails in the 14-20 lb. class. Massive breezers, meter marks, and color spots were repeatedly located and we enjoyed steady catching all day long in beautiful weather. We had a very entertaining day and the evening time found us on the hunt for "premiums" which we managed to boat one right around 35 lbs. Hot rigs today was 30 lb. test, fly-lining a sardine with a J-hook tied on. No fluorocarbon, no designer circle hooks. A Yellowtail's mouth is like sandpaper, so there is no reason to waste the money on more abrasion resistant/expensive line and a hook that is designed to be set in the corner of the mouth so you don't get chewed off by a fish with teeth. With the exception of cow tuna fishing, we see more fish lost on circle hooks than landed. Granted every type of tackle worked today but time after time, we see just a simple 30 lb. rig filled with mono and tied up with a J-hook catching more fish than a rig with fluorocarbon and designer circle hooks. For Yellowtail fishing, it's an unnecessary expense when a so called "cheap rig" will get the job done just as good. Hey, when you step foot on the Supreme, you can fish with whatever type of tackle you wish. But take it from the people who are out here everyday, when it comes to Yellowtail fishing, keep it simple. Outfit yourself with mono and a J-hook and save that money that you would've spent on the fluoro/designer hooks because you're going to need to put it towards your fish processing bill. Get what I'm saying?

So that is all. The gang has had their fill on Yellowtail so the decision was made to venture offshore to focus on tuna fishing for the remainder of the trip. A couple of our community boats had an OK day on the Bluefin grounds so we're looking forward to seeing if we can't track down a few schools and add to our beautiful catch of Yellowtail before trips end. Our weather is a little bumpy but everyone is too tired to notice, they're out and so are we. Wish us luck and we'll chat with you tomorrow.

Happy Hump Day,

-Team Supreme-

Tuesday, July 19th, 2011

Hello friends. We began the hunt for Bluefin tuna early this morning by shutting down in the gray light on a school of tuna and just as soon as everyone woke up to begin fishing, they vanished. So we followed suit and the hunt for greener pastures commenced. It took us a little while to get a school located but when we got it located, it was a good one. We immediately saw fish boiling up good all around the boat and we hooked a few right off the bat. We landed a handful and we lost a handful but what we did land were a beautiful grade of Bluefin in the 25-35 lb. range. With the massive surface show 360 degrees around the boat we decided to get the kite out. Multiple fish attacked the baits but missed the hooks and after that, all we could do was watch them boil within ten feet of the baits and turn their nose away from our double sardine rigs. We watched the show for a couple of hours before they bailed and it was a slow day from that point on. We did pull a couple of nice Yellowtail from a kelp paddy and we even trolled up a smaller grade Bluefin tuna later in the day. Not too shabby considering a lot of boats in the prior weeks have been calling in zero's for fish counts, so we're very happy with what we caught and we'll be back on the tuna grounds after we do some Yellowtail fishing. A couple of boats in our long range community had a pretty steady day on smaller grade Bluefin in another area so we'll keep our ears open to that developing situation. Like I said, we're going to go do some Yellowtail fishing as the bite has been hot and we're looking forward to finding out for ourselves just how hot the bite is.

So that's it. Our weather is fair and we're in excellent company with Paul Hess and his good friends. We'll be in the zone first thing tomorrow morning and we'll report back to you tomorrow. Take care now.

-Richie and Team Supreme-

P.S. Te amo, Anna. From: Mark.

Monday, July 18th, 2011

Hello friends. We're back in business as we departed on our annual Paul Hess five day trip this morning. Paul has been putting together a great group of anglers for the better part of a decade on the Supreme and we're happy to see all the familiar faces that he's brought aboard this year. Our bait loading went smoothly and we've been traveling in calm weather ever since leaving the harbor around lunch time. With boats spread out in different areas along the coast and offshore, we're taking our time in deciding what our game plan is. Part one of our journey will be on the hunt for Bluefin tuna tomorrow morning as one of our companions in the long range fleet saw good sign and had an OK day on the shortfins today. We'll begin looking around in the morning and we'll see if we can't boat a couple of tuna fish tomorrow before we worry about part two. Wish us luck and we'll report back to you tomorrow.

Happy Monday,

-Richie and Team Supreme-

Wednesday, October 17th, 2012

Hi friends. We had ourselves a very productive morning down here on the yellowtail grounds. We awoke this morning to beautiful, balmy conditions and after catching only a couple of premiums, we bailed back out to the drift zone. The drift zone once again was kind to us, as that quality 16-22 lb. grade bit the jigs and dropper loops for us all morning. Really fun fishing on a really nice grade of 'tail. Unfortunately, as the wind picked up speed around lunch time, our lines went slack and the yellows stopped biting. Bummer. To throw salt on the wound, the weather kept freshening up and we had to make a run for cover for the afternoon.

I'm thankful to say that we did find shelter for the evening. Although it's still blowing thirty-plus knots with gusts up to forty knots, there isn't the washing machine sea conditions that we had in the afternoon. The wind this evening was like the clock concept of the arena in the second book of the Hunger Games series "Catching Fire". It would blow from the east, then the southeast, then the south, and so on. Every time the wind direction changed, we ran for cover and hid until the direction would change again. We're very smart!

Like I said, we're sheltered away for the night and the wind is letting up now, so we're pumped. We'll try for bait throughout the night/morning and then try for some yellows when we're all finished with the bait-making. After that, we're hoping to bust a move offshore and focus on tuna for the remaining three days of the trip. With a favorable weather forecast, our excitement is high and let's see if we can't get on some of that nice grade yellowfin and bluefin. Stay tuned.

-The Supreme Team

Hello everyone, Day one was rather uneventful after checking out the yellowfin tuna grounds. We were able to scratch away at a couple fish on jig strikes and porpoise schools, but it wasn't the big hit we were hoping for. These fish are very finicky, and aren't sticking with the boat like we need them to.With a plethora of other sport boats in the area, these fish have been getting hit pretty hard recently. Team Supreme

From Brook Trout to Big Yellowtail! Siblings Tom and Mary Chaparro have been fishing buddies since the early days. They started out catching Brook and Golden Trout in the mountains when they were kids, now catching Yellowfin Tuna and Yellowtail on Toms annual 7 day trip. Keep it up you two! A tad bit breezy today, but still plenty comfortable. Will report again tomorrow, Team Supreme

Good evening everyone, Today we rolled up the beach on our last day of our A.H.I 8 day trip. The charter masters put together an amazing award ceremony with shirts, prizes, and trophies. This was the perfect way to end the trip along with a very nice dinner from chef Mike. Talk about next years trip was already in progress, and these anglers cant't wait to be back. Next year will mark their 25th A.H.I charter. This just goes to show the groups organization and passion for being on the water. This was a very well rounded trip with everything you could ask for, great weather, good fishing and most importantly, everyone had a great time with us. Our ETA is 6:30 tomorrow Until next time, Team supreme