ilwaco Fishing Report 2024

Aug. 22

We kicked the you know what out of the yellowfin today. We engaged in battle and we won. We started our drift at 6:30 this morning and drove away from them biting at lunch. The fish were from 22-35 pounds and were snapping. I don't think I've seen that good of fishing on that good of a grade since the albacore days. Hopefully this lasts for some time to come. The weather was great today but the further north we go now the more choppy it's getting. Just in time for dinner.

We've just been traveling up since our only needed stop this morning setting us up for our last day in the bluefin grounds. It sounded slow up there today but maybe they're just waiting for captain Drew to get up there. Rent rod Ryan donated a 40 pound bluefin yesterday to the galley and we were planning on eating it for dinner tonight but in the middle of the mayhem today we lost it buried under the yellowfin so he donated a few yellowfin so we're having seared Ahi instead. Mmmmm.

The big tuna are around and close! Be sure to have 80- 100lb gear ready with 130 LB leader so you land your fish of a lifetime! 

The last 1.5 Day produced this 190 lb beauty! 

July 31

This morning we had a good drift. We drifted along for a few hours catching mostly 40-70 pounders sometimes with as much as 5 going at a time. Unfortunately at around 9:30 am it stopped biting. We tried to be patient but it was done. After that it was a very slow day for the whole fleet. Most of the fish went down and the schools we found the rest of the day didn't want to play. A little before dark they got back in the mode and we had a nice stop on which started off 12-18 pounders and then turned into 30-40 pounders. That's it for this trip. We're headed back to the dock and are scheduled for a 6:00 eta. The big guy Tommy Rothery is taking the boat out for a 6 day trip and Richie will be coming back out too so the reports should get more entertaining. I'll be going home to hang with my lovely wife and needy dog. Take care all.

Mike Pritchard called in with this report from the Tribute. "So far we have a really good sign of Bluefin. We have definitely lost a lot more than we have landed. Right now we have 7 or 8 fish. The fish are running 40 lbs. to 50 lbs. Some of the fish we have lost is just due to insufficient tackle. These are really very large Bluefin. I know there was 1 Bluefin caught here yesterday that ran about 180 lbs. So if you are coming out on a trip you want to make sure you bring the right tackle. 40 lbs. would be the bare minimum. We'll keep you informed as the day progresses.

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Today we mainly fished for yellowtail. Good scratching at 15-20 LB Yellowtail. Nice to have a mixed bag to Finnish up with!

The offshore beat goes on! Funny how things just seem to work out when you try as hard as possible and keep a positive outlook. 2 weeks ago when the fleet received word that we had to check in at Ensenada in order to fish the Mexican coast. Many boat owners including myself were very concerned about the remainder of the 2012 season. With our backs against the wall and very little options we headed offshore. Our first few trips we scratched at bluefin tuna and yellowtail.

In the past five days we have been averaging 20-40 mixed fish, a nice mix of dorado and yellowtail. Today we had a very welcome visit from an 18 lb. albacore. While the political issues concerning the Mexican coast are being worked on we will continue to fish offshore. These offshore trips are 5:30-7:00 and are limited to 50 passengers cost is $115 and includes a fishing license. Past history shows that the offshore bite should only improve for us as we move deeper into the summer and into fall. Come join us!

Today we came across some Killer Whales today! Pretty cool!

A rare and incredible sight in these parts!