middle tennessee Fishing Report 2025

Polaris Supreme Trip Report 07-19-2016 Okay we departed last night on Paul Hess's annual five day trip. We got another great group of folks and a nice load of bait to take down to the tuna and yellowtail grounds. The two pictures at the scale are of Jack and Kenny with their jackpot bluefin tuna one weighed about 124 and the other weighed about 120. We are looking offshore today and at this moment striking out. We have not put a fish on board. Have only found two scraggly kelp's and no schools of tuna. Weather is good and our expectations are high. Hopefully our evening report is a little bit more exciting than this one. The first picture that we put up today is a color water temperature chart of the area around Guadalupe Island. We would love to make a nice catch on the yellowtail in the next couple of days and be able to go scout out some new country for yellowfin tuna! It's a little hard to go out searching that far offshore though without something on board. Wish us luck! The Polaris supreme crew

Wednesday, April 24th, 2013

Good afternoon. We're still steaming up the line; making terrible speed at the moment. We're still to far away and there is still a large land mass that we have to navigate around to give a solid ETA at the moment (14:01 hours). We're about 150 nautical miles from the Cedros/Benitos gap so we've got a ways to go. Our weather thus far has been windy and cold. If the breeze would back off 10 knots or so, it would be hot butter out here. We don't do too much more complaining about it though, we easily could be taking spray over the house and shuttering along. It's really not bad; just windy and cold.

Anyhow, we've been knocking out various projects around the boat like Mark wrapping new gaffs because he breaks them at an alarming rate, organizing the tool box, organizing the tackle bins/upper deck, and Jeff was last seen rigging up 130 lb. flourocarbon leaders for some reason. I guess he's bored or really excited for his next trip. Other activities have included watching "Zero Dark Thirty", which we gave one thumb up, napping, and working out. I'm pretty sure Drew is trying to kill me. Yesterday, he had us walk around the boat 35 times, do 100 squats and 100 sit-ups. Today, he had us walk around the boat 70 times, do 150 push-ups and 300 squats. I hate Drew. So, I'm taking the day off tomorrow because on Friday, we have almost 6 tons of tuna/wahoo to take out of the wells and put into carts. Bottom line, I hate Drew right now. Hate him. Schooler wanted me to make mention that he made delicious cheeseburgers for lunch and I'm going to mention that he is wearing orange socks, shorts, and a long sleeve shirt; I can't decide if he looks like a hippity-hop or a Home Depot bucket.

So that is all. We'll chat with you tomorrow and hopefully, we'll make some decent speed and have a set ETA for y'all. Later.

-The Supreme Team

61 yellowtail. Never had the big blow out we were looking for but scratched a day out on a handful of kelps.

Drew Henderson docked Polaris Supreme June 11 after a three-day trip. He fished offshore kelp paddies to find a good catch of small yellowtail, a bluefin tuna and an albacore. Dale Goss of Lakewood got the bluefin and first place, as his tuna weighed 31 pounds. He enticed it with a sardine on a 2/0 Hayabusa hook. He fished with 30-pound Big Game line, a Daiwa H 40 reel and a seven-foot Sabre rod. Manvel Miuasyan of Van Nuys was second, for a 21-pound yellowtail, and Scott Tucker of Riverside was third, for a 17-pound yellow. Josh Evans of San Francisco got the albie. He trolled a cedar plug in natural wood color to land his longfin.

It started out great and got better and better. The whole boat went bendo kelp after kelp and the kelps weren't to far between. I'd say we could have done better on the hoo. We lost alot more than we landed. The anglers were pulling the tricks out of their sleeves seeing what cool ways they could get bites. Hookless jigs, taquitos etc. We couldn't ask for better weather. It is unbeatable. We're headed up north to finish the trip with some yellowtail fishing.

Aug 17

We started off early yesterday morning in the hunt for yellowtail unsuccessfully. Great fishing on it the day before but the water dropped 2+ degrees and they were very inactive. We were getting the "should've been here yesterday" vibe so we took off to fish for yellowfin. After a couple hour move and a few hours in the zone, we were getting the "should've been here yesterday" vibe again but shortly after chowing down a big fat cheeseburger the call came down from Gunny. "kelp". It's those black eyes I tell you. Gets um every time. After that we pretty much drifted till dark scratching at 20-40 pound yellowfin with the occasional flurry for 20 or so. In fact right at dark there was about 6 people fishing, all with one on and the 18 other anglers standing around with a cigar and a cocktail in hand.

The weather was choppy and rolly today but it didn't bother us. As long as your catching fish who cares what the weather does. We were all very sore and tired after today and I think we're all ready for a nice pork chop meal and a pillow and blanket. We'll be fishing for yellowtail all day tomorrow then setting us up for our last day of bluefin fishing.

Mama bear- The litluns doing fine. Pretty much had a bent rod all day.

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

Tuesday, June 19th, 2012

Hello friends. Another day here on the Yellowtail grounds and we had yet again, another fine morning fishing. It wasn't the hottest of bites, but it was a nice pick at some 12-20 lb. Yellowtail for our morning efforts. When the bite had shut down, we made a move and dodged the wind that was chasing us down like a we had taken Mother Nature's purse and made it into some calmer water to try our luck with some exotics. We hooked a few and landed a couple and when all was said and done, a couple of Broomtail Groupers and a nice Halibut laid victim to our offerings and are currently en route back to San Diego for a date with the dinner table. We enjoyed ourselves a fine meal in the calm waters of one of our favorite hangouts and once the last ice cream sundae was served, we had to make turns back for San Diego.

With that said, the boats that have been motoring up the line have been making terrible speed up the line, so we're just going to take a nice, easy course up the line and see what happens with our speed. If we make good speed, we'll do a little fishing. If not, we'll bundle everything up and get this ship back in to shape while the passengers watch movies, read books, nap and eat. We're shooting for an ETA back to the dock at around 0800 hours. Thanks for checking in.

-Richie & Team Supreme