riptide bait and tackle Fishing Report 2023

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

Nov. 8

Go fly a kite. We did. Awesome weather and great signs of big tuna all around us. We hit them with everything we had -kites, sinker rigs, fly line sardines, mackerels, flying fish on 100 lb then 80 lb, then 60 lb, then 40 lb, then 30 lb nothing. Chunking - nothing. Anchored, then drifted, then trolled. We proved that fishing does not equal catching. If you listened close enough - you could hear the cow tuna laughing at us. We found solace in chef Schoolers platters of sashimi, wonton cups filled with marvelous ahi poke and bacon wrapped asparagus. We heard of a place where 30 lb Dorado and mid sized yellow fin play. We are going there now.

Your charter head Mr. Lon Mikkelsen

Nov. 8

Timing is everything. And so far our timing for the most part has been a little off, whether it be wrong day or wrong time. This morning we caught some quality fish. Less of them then we were hoping but we caught a handful of 35-50 pound yellowfin mixed in with several handfuls of smaller ones and a couple of wahoo. It didn't take long for Tommy to figure out that this was the wrong day not time. So we took off from there in search of. We found a few more wahoo on our next spot but only landed one before we kept sliding down to new zones. We fished a couple other spots for just a couple more fish while setting ourselves up for some stellar bait making. We got that job done before dinner and as I write this we are anchored up in cow town. We're expecting a couple slowish days while we're down here but the fish we land should be trophies.

The weather down here remains good. Clear skies, little wind and it's hot and muggy. Well I'm going to go back to bed for another hour or so. Check back to see how many trophies we get today.

Drew

 

Tribute definite run tonight! Departing at 10pm fishing offshore for Bluefin Tuna and Yellowtail. Mexican fishing permit, bait and bunk included.Passport not required.

~~Nov. 12
 I'm not sure how to write about today because I'm not sure how I feel about today.  I'm definitely proud of us.  We fished hard today.  A lot of the boat was up before 4 trying to get a bite going and didn't let up till dark.  Now that's some hardcore fishing right there.

 We started in the last weeks hot spot.  Us and 2 other boats.  It didn't take long for the 2 other boats to leave the zone.  They were both on the latter parts of there trips and needed to head north.  We stuck it out as long as we could picking one here and one there along with a bounty of skipjack but most of the passengers stuck it out and stayed at the rail.  Like I said, I'm proud of them.  3 hours and 30 fish later we gave up and headed to different grounds in a direction for a boat more fresh out on there trip.  After lunch we arrived and again, I'm proud of these guys.  Once again we were picking one tuna here and one tuna there along with more skipjack and small dorado but once again these guys kept at it and fished hard.  Well the ratio got better and better until at the end it was pretty good fishing.  The grade could've been one more notch up but it is what it is and we understand that.

 We're on our way to try and make some mackerel and we'll be headed to cow town the following day.  We're going to give it at least a day and give everyone on board an opportunity to catch a major cow tuna.  Wish us luck.
      

Aug. 21

We had a good morning today. We managed to be the lucky boat and found a school of bluefin that stuck with the boat and we were able to scratch at them for several hours before having to move. The grade of fish was all mixed up from 15 pounds up to 40 pounds. After that we searched a lot of water and only found 1 school that wouldn't have anything to do with us. It just swam away. There were a few other schools in the area for other boats that did the same thing.

The weather today was OK in the morning then breezed up pretty good in the afternoon and then it backed off at dark. The forecast was down graded from what it was calling for and is now showing pretty good weather for the next few days so we're stoked about that. We hope they're right this time.

We're currently heading for the yellowfin grounds due to the poor reports in the yellowtail grounds. There will be a few of us looking around there tomorrow so hopefully we'll be able to get them located.

Drew doo di doo doo doo

I have the Apollo in Santa Barbara again for the spring Channel Islands season. We are chartered on most of our weekend dates but here are a few options if you would like to get out fishing with us while we are up north. First we have a 2-day charter coming this weekend (Sat and Sun March 29/30). This regular charter group only takes 15 people and they are short 2 spots. The cost is $ 440 and includes all food. to book on this trip please contact Craig at (858) 638-7500.

Today we spent the day in the crows nest looking for kelps. We had 73 degree water and flat seas . We were able to find some nice kelp patties with some Dorado and a few Wahoo on them. Nice little hits of action through out the day. Tomorrow we will be at Guadalupe Island to try for trophies. Here we have Gary with a great kelp patty Dorado on the light line! Also here is Mark with his first wahoo of the trip!

July 20
  Good evening folks.  Turn around day today.  In and out.  Unload, fuel, cherish baby, load, load and go.  That's how it goes down.  The bait receivers was fun.  Turns out all that rain we got may have effected the sardine we get there.  It's speculation but things weren't right.  We got some bait though.  Some good sardine and some good mackerel.  Yellowtail bait.  Tommy is back on board for this trip and he's decided to start off tailing tomorrow.  We're going to tail our butts off.  We'll see how it goes tomorrow but we most likely will get our tuna on the day after.

  Getting to know your crew: I've told you Mark is trying to bring his weight down.  Well Justin is in the same mode so I had an idea.  They're both throwing 50 bucks down.  He who loses the most weight by October 1, or the closest date we have a scale to October 1 takes the money.  Now that's a battle.  We have a couple of hungry crew members for sure.

  My rivals are on board this trip.  Many San Francisco Giant fans.  Uugh.  It just so happens that a 3 game series between them and my Pads start tonight.  I'm actually listening to the game now.  4-2 Pads in the 7th.  Now I know this is a fishing blog but it's a travel day.  You love it anyways.  I'll talk fishing tomorrow.
       and go Pads!