marathon key Fishing Report 2024

Polaris Supreme docked September 17 at Fisherman's Landing under owner Tom Rothery's hand following an eight-day Gary Roberts charter trip to Alijos Rocks and The Ridge. "It was a good trip," said Roberts, "with lots of fish caught and lots of fish lost." Sizeable tuna were hard to catch at the rocks, said Tom, because the skipjack, small tuna and sharks were all thick and hungry. The tuna were there, however, as were some wahoo. The Ridge got a good lock from the 24 anglers aboard the Supreme. They said there were plenty of yellowtail and lots of grouper and snapper biting there. Rothery said the temperature on The Ridge was very warm, at 81.5 degrees. Tom estimated that his anglers each released about 20 small tuna and four or five yellowtail. Jay Kotsier of Tulare showed off a pink pargo, also known as red snapper. These are excellent eating, especially if they have been kept in refrigerated sea water instead of under a frozen brine spray. Tom, Kroes of Tipton was first, for a 65.2-pound yellowfin tuna he got with a sardine on a 5/0 Mustad hook, 50-pound Big Game line, a TLD 30 reel and a Calstar 7465 rod. Everett Combs of PAZlm Springs was second, for a 62-pounder, and Alan Holleyman of Napa won third place for a 60.6-pound tuna. Bill Kuehl of Poway stood in with the winner, posing with his 50-pound wahoo taken on a Burns Bomb in Christmas colors.

WOW!! What an incredible day!!! This albacore is in the cooler 76 degree water. It wants to bite wide open. Can't say enough about how much fun today was catching big fat jumbo albacore. They tired our anglers out. By the end of the day only a few were still standing. Chef Pedro fixed a spicy teriyaki albacore lunch that was fantastic. For dinner he served some delicious veal chops. Today was just a great. this is what albacore fishing is supposed to be like.

Today we enjoyed the calm comforts of the island. We scratched all day on nice quality yellowfin tuna. All in the 35-45 lb range. There were larger ones that were hooked but the the great whites had their way with us. Some anglers lost as many as two in the 60lb class due to the toothy critters. It was a good show and pretty impressive to see a 12-16' great white eat a 60 lb tuna in a couple of bites. We also had some pretty impressive bites as our dinner was an excellent Parmesan encrusted yellowtail with rice pilaf and a mixture of zucchini, mushrooms and onions. Tomorrow morning we will give it one more shot here. Thanks! Tommy and crew

Fishing was absolutely phenomenal! If the last two day were great, today was even better. We had a good morning bite and then topped off the trip with an afternoon bite that went well into the dark. The tuna were biting the kite and anything else we put in the water. All fish ranged between 175 and 260 pounds. All anglers had a shot at them and a couple landed two. We did however stop to replenish our energy with some of Pedro's great food. For lunch we had tuna with a red sauce and ravioli on a bed of spinach with a cream sauce. Sounds like a weird combo, but boy did it taste good together. And dinner was a great roasted Cornish game hen with all the veggies and potato on the side. In addition to Pedro, I have to say our crew has done a fantastic job. They really work well together. And of course Lon and his group were a delight to have on board. And by the conversation in the galley, they are all planning on returning to this trip next year. Lon is going to open it up so if you are interested call Susan in the office. There will be a couple of spots. And on that note we are heading for home in excellent weather. We will be at the dock Sunday morning. Come down and see this great catch. Meet Lon from OTR. And see Susan about booking a trip.

Located a couple of good schools today but only managed to land 5 yellowfin and 2 skipjack. Back at it tomorrow.