pine island sound Fishing Report 2023

The annual Burgesons private charter went the distance today. They were rewarded with limits of dorado and 13 yellowfin tuna.

1 yellowtail 31 calico bass 82 whitefish 2 sheepshead. Conditions seem to be improving daily but the fish we see are still in a funk. What we’re seeing as far as water temperature, color and current is “text book” for good fishing, only time will tell.

July 15
  Howdy folks.  Arrive depart day today so I don't have any juicy fish stories for you.  We made it dockside by 5:30 in the am.  We had a lovely time of off loading a beautiful catch of yellowtails, then an even better time of fueling the vessel.  When we got back to our slip I was surprised to see my mother who just happened to bring my lovely daughter down to see me.  I didn't know she was coming and did not expect to get to see my Sydney so that just made my day.  But we're out fishing now so it's all business.

  Things went great at the bait receivers.  We topped off on some good looking sardine and we're looking to put them to good use tomorrow.  We have a report from one of our code boats fishing on the grounds we fished last trip offshore wise and it sounds interesting.  A better grade of fish moved in today and we're going to investigate it tomorrow. 

  Everyone on board is just relaxing now or stuffing there face with prime rib.  I'm about to join them.  Mark's trying to diet and it's hilarious.  I've never seen him  give  the slightest about what goes in his stomach and he's going crazy with hunger.  He's a big boy and he's' having chicken fried steak withdrawal.  See you tomorrow.  Hopefully our timing is right on tomorrow and we get some of that action on those better tunas.
           

101 Yellowtail, 58 Bonito. Full size yo-yo lures, dropper loops with 10-12 oz sinkers and some fresh 40 lb mono is all you need.

July 18
    We had an action filled morning today.  The yellows were biting good.  The only downside was it didn't last long.  For whatever reason breakfast only lasts an hour and a half.  We found another area that we worked on for a little bit then it went down.  After about 10:00 in the morning things were lifeless here until 5:00 this evening.  We had a couple shots at them before dinner was over for the fishies.  We're going to stay the night and hope things change here for the better.  We're hoping breakfast lasts longer and that there will be a lunch.  Theres plenty of fish around here when they're up and the grade of fish is wonderful so we want to stay.
                                

Osterkamp charter had to work hard for every bite but in the end we achieved our goal. (1) made it home safe. (2) enjoy the ocean with friends and family. (3) every one of our 43 customers caught a fish as we ended with 61 yellowfin tuna.

Sunday, June 17th.

Hello everybody. First off, we here on the Polaris Supreme would like to wish all the dad's out there a happy Father's day and we would like to assure all the mother's back home that the young men on-board are beat. Tired and happy as can be from an eventful first day of fishing. Worry not about them, they are sleeping soundly and are looking forward to doing it all again tomorrow morning.

We arrived to our destination on schedule due to our phenomenal weather and proceed to look around for a bit. To no avail, we made a move a little ways to some fresh country and upon arrival, spotted a breezer of Bluefin tuna. Most guys went out with their 30 lb. outfits as we hadn't yet seen a boil to get a size estimate. After a couple minutes of drifting, the ocean, which was peaceful and calm for the past twenty-four hours, was now full of big, beautiful Bluefin tuna erupting all around the boat and it was a classic scenario of hunting elephants with deer rifles. We hooked a few on the lighter gear and actually managed to land a couple and as for the rest, you all can guess what happened. Once we started fishing a little bit heavier gear, the bites diminished a bit but what we did hook, we landed and they were some real beauties. It was one of those classic Bluefin deals that warrants a stealthy, 50 lb. rig with the best bait you can find and although we had very little wind (which is a problem when trying to fly a kite) we did successfully hook a couple on the balloon rigs and what a show that presented. We drifted for four hours and came out with a couple handfuls of gorgeous 50-100 lb. shortfins but that wasn't without a few heartbreaks as well. Like I said, a short topshot of fluorocarbon with a 3/0 hook, two-speed reel and a strong, castable rod is the best bet for landing these trophies. It was truly a spectacular show that these fish put on for us as fish were blowing out all around the boat. Kind of gets frustrating at times seeing all those fish and not hooking them like you should but that's how Bluefin fishing is sometimes. We're just thankful that we had our shots and connected on a couple o trophies. Some of them are bigger than the kids that landed them. Pretty cool.

Anyhow, the rest of our day consisted of a spot of jumpers that produced some 25 lb. Bluefin, a couple Yellowfin tuna jig strikes and a kelp loaded with rat Yellowtail. Going from 100 lb. Bluefin to 3 lb. Yellowtail might disappoint some, but the kids sure weren't disappointed, they were pumped! We had a good ole time catching and releasing all of the juveniles to grow but like I said, it was the most fun the kids had all day. So with that, our day was complete and we've decided to make a move into some more coastal waters to not only elude the wind that is forcasted for tomorrow but to also try for some Yellowtail of greater size than the ones we caught today. Fun day, awesome weather, we're out. We'll chat with you tomorrow.

P.S. Mark would like to tell Ana, " ti amo". Happy Father's Day once again to all the daddy's out there. Chat with you tomorrow.

A awesome sunset and some action on bigger Bluefin last night. But..... in typical Bluefin fashion lately, the big ones came through and bit baits flylined on gear from 40-60 pound. We had two fish at color in the dark (estimated @ 130 pounds) and somehow the last 4 fish of the day found their freedom (1 spooled, 1 broken hook and 2 pulled hooks). These things can be down right mean.