knoxville Fishing Report 2023

Captain Ryan Bostian just called in with an update from The San Diego out of Seaforth Sportfishing in Mission Bay. Today we had 33 Yellowtail (18 to 31 pounds) for 48 anglers. They fish were biting good in the morning on YoYo Iron. Then in the afternoon the surface action picked up. We are seeing lots of fish and things are looking good for the Coronado Islands. Call Seaforth Sportfishing or Book Online at the San Diego website to get in on the action.

Mexican limits on Yellowtail, 4 Yellowfin up to 50 lbs, 6 Dorados. Fishing is great. Get on Board call 619-224-3383

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

Drew Henderson docked Polaris Supreme September 22 following a six-day trip with 22 anglers that visited Cedros Island and the albacore grounds with a look for very little at Guadalupe Island on the way through. "The day started up very well for us," he wrote September 18. "It was good scratching up until just after lunch and fishing took a dump. We looked around the Island for a bit and after making a few stops for a few more fish we took off from there and are now heading west to the big Island. We have a great catch of jumbo yellowtail on board and we're hoping to get some jackpot-settling, trophy size yellowfin tomorrow. We had Portuguese style yellowtail for dinner tonight. We had it last trip for the first time and I must say it was by far the best yellowtail I have ever eaten in my life."

Local big tuna trips online! We just put some 1.5 day trips to capitalize on these BIG local Bluefin. Departing Friday August 17 Returning Sunday August 19

Aug 16
    We started our morning off again in the local bluefin zone.  Things felt a little better.  There were only about half the boats that were there the day before.  It had a much less claustrophobic feel to it.  Unfortunately the bluefin didn't seem to care.  It was on the slow side.  In 4 hours we managed 9 of them with 20 yellowfin to go along with them.  We left for the day and looked around for schools.  We scratched here and there throughout the day.  We had some reports of spots of 100+ pounders up so we made it there for the evening hit but never found a school of those.  We did catch some nice grade yellowfin though so with those and the sign of the 100 + pounders we know where we're starting tomorrow.  But first things first, we're going to run into the beach and try for bait tonight and as I write this we just finished up and we're headed back out with a couple tanks of mackerel and a couple tanks of sardine that we still have for ammo.
                            

 

Capt Mike Pritchard called in late last night with a report from the Tribute, they had absolutely fantastic Bluefin Tuna fishing they have seen. They ended with 72 Bluefin Tuna up to the Mid 30 lb range, we also got some Yellowtail and Bonito to round it out. We have added another trip departing Wednesday night at 10pm, to get in on this trip call Seaforth Landing at 619-224-3383 or you can go to www.seaforthsportfishing.com. The 2 fish limit for Bluefin has not gone into effect yet, so we can still keep 10 Bluefin per angler in US waters. Give us call and get in on this fantastic Tuna fishing while you can.

11 pass. 2 yellowtail 53 calico bass and plenty of whitefish and rockfish. Extremely light load for tomorrow.