keowee Fishing Report 2025

102 yellowfin tuna for the annual Gas Fisherman charter. One stop can make or break your day.

~~Aug 2
 Today was a bit on the slower side.  Until the end but I'll get to that.  We woke up in hopes of getting a sea bass bite going but that was only a fairy tale.  We got a few yellows is all.  After, we made some grouper drifts and caught some more of those Broomtail Groupers.  Something like 4 or 5 of them along with some calico bass and yellows while we drifted along.  And for the rest of the day we pretty much hung out in the lee of the island and drifted here and there and caught a handful of yellowtail here and there.

 Like I said, we fished the lee today.  No wind for us.  It was lovely.  We had plans for dinner at 7:30, so at 7:00 i hopped in the shower to get cleaned up because I was serving, and while I was in there, I heard some cheering, and then again some hooting and hollering hen I was getting out.  It turns out the first round of cheers came because of a nice sea bass they brought in.  The second was for a yellowfin tuna that was landed.  I went down and got the tables set and while I was doing this they kept catching yellowtail, tuna and seabass.  After we made first call we had a whopping 1 person come in to eat.  Team galley understood though.  We knew that there may possibly be no fishing time for the next day due to bad weather running up the line.  So we kept catching fish and one by one, passengers would come in and scarf down some dinner, which was a lovely meatloaf that was fantastic, and then go back out and catch some more fish. 

 This lasted until after 9:00 and then we took off.  We ended the stop with 30 yellowtail, 5 white seabass up to about 40 pounds, and something like 6 or 7 on the tunas. We prepared the deck for a rough ride home, and set sail toward the beach  to try and improve our conditions.  The swells always less on the coast rather than offshore.  I doubt we'll have any time to fish tomorrow.  Travel day.
      

Ryan Bostian called in with this fish report for the San Diego. "Today we went out with 36 passengers and we came back with 40 Yellowtail and 5 Dorado. The Yellowtail we are catching are a mixed size. Half of the fish were within the 8 to 10 lb. range. The other half were in the 15 to 20 lb. range. On this type of trip we have a high casualty rate. Today we landed 40 & I'd say we landed about 1/2 of the fish we hooked. If you're going out with us make sure you have some fresh fluorocarbon. If you are only going to use 1 rod, I would bring a 30 lb. fly line bait rod. If you want to be totally, totally prepred you might want to bring a 20 lb. live bait rod to fish an anchovy, a 30 lb. live bait rod to fish a sardine. And then a heavy rod, a 40 or 50 lb. rod to fish a Sardine as well. If we get at a good stop and they are biting a heavy line you might as well use that. Also if we run into some of the bigger Bluefin that are around, you'll want that 40 or 50 lb. rod. You can also check out our Facebook page we have a detailed tackle list there.

Come on down and see us. We offer these 5:30, 3/4 Day trips everyday. To make a reservation call Seaforth Sportfishing at 619-224-3383.

Capt Ryan Bostain checked in from the San Diego out of Seaforth Sportfishing, we went out with 43 anglers today and ended the day with 120 Yellowtail. Today they were from 12 to 28 lbs, with an average around 15 lbs, today they bit mostly on the surface with either a flylined bait or surface iron. We did also manage to get some on the yoyo jig, the ocean is alive down there. Come on down and get you some, make sure you bring a rig for every occasion. See you on the boat.

A nice grade of Bluefin still ready to bite with some being taken on poppers as well.

The first good catch of wahoo arrived with skipper Drew Henderson and his 20 anglers aboard the Polaris Supreme October 28. Over 100 wahoo were caught, and 65 came on a single wild day of fishing at the top end of The Ridge on the Dennis Bunker Memorial trip. Fishing was good for other species as well, but the wahoo drew all the oohs and ahs from the spectators at Fisherman's Landing, as many looked to be over 50 pounds. "We got the job done," wrote Drew on his internet report. "The morning looked very bad. There was wind and a choppy confused sea. That, combined with no fish, led to hopeless thoughts. I don't know why, but after lunch the whole entire bank we were fishing lit up with life. "It didn't take long before we quit fishing tuna and put our sinkers on. We have everything you would hope and ask for on a ten-day trip except one thing, the cow tuna. The storm below is dying. Ourselves and three other boats are going to look for them. I'll be cuddling with my horseshoe tonight. I'm sure they will too." Rick Bynum of Sacramento won first place, for an 80-pound yellowfin tuna. He said he bagged it with a sardine on a 3/0 Eagle Claw hook on 50-pound fluorocarbon leader, 60-pound P-Line and 80-poundSpectra backing. All of it was on a TLD 30 reel and a Seeker Black Steel 6465 XXH rod. "It was fun!" added Bynum. "It took a half-hour." Ddaze Phuong of Orange was second, for a 66.4-pound wahoo, and Mike Grella of Sylmar won third place for a 63-pound wild wahoo. "We saw a little dab of big tuna one day," reported skipper Henderson, "but they wouldn't come up and play."

Skipper Drew Henderson docked the Polaris Supreme June 17 after a five-day trip to the mid-Baja islands, on the Pacific side, of course.

"It was windy until the day we came home," he remarked. His 18 anglers managed a good catch of yellowtail and rockfish, however.

George Farnsworth of Kenwood won first place for a 27.6-pound yellowtail. He said it bit on a sardine pin ned to a 3/0 Gamakatsu hook. He used 30-pound Yo-Zuri line on a Saltiga 30 reel and a Calstar 870 M rod to beat the fish in 12 minutes.

"We had a great crew," he stated. "And that made a great trip."

Regular long ranger Joe Beck of San Pedro won second place, for a 27-pound yellow. Michael Robbins of Santa Cruz, one of three generations of family members on the trip, won third place, for a 25.4-pound yellowtail.

Welcome back. We departed today on a 7 day trip. We're currently heading down the coast unsure of a starting point. We're in a good position as far as making a decision. We have a good spread of boats in different areas so we'll have a good check on the ocean. We'll either keep rolling down tonight or stop short for an afternoon of yellowtail fishing and take it from there.