rock hall Fishing Report 2025

Oct. 6

My sea anchor trick didn't work today. I had dreams of drifting beautifully on the sea anchor catching wide open yellowfin, bluefin and dorado but those were just dreams this time. We caught a handful of yellowfin and then had to pull it. The rest of the day was very slow for most the fleet. There were a few fresh kelps found today, and I mean a few but all the rest of the fish caught today were on kelps being fished all week long. Boats were waiting in line to fish them and I just can't do that. Not that there is anything wrong with it. These local guys are very very good at what they do and some of that involves keeping track of kelps for weeks at a time and that takes a great talent. We didn't have a whole lot of fish on board at 4 O'Clock but then we found the kelp of the day for us. It started off straight trout size yellows, then the skip jack started mixing in, then the yellows backed off and it went straight skipjack, then the tuna started to mix in, then the tuna overtook the skipies and it was straight tuna for a while. Not wide open but a steady pick of 3 to 4 going for a while. The day maker. And that was our day.

 

Tune in tomorrow for another exciting day aboard the Polaris Supreme.

George Davis made his eighth (his estimate) annual charter with Tommy Rothery aboard the Polaris Supreme, and met the boat when it returned to Fisherman's Landing January 13 after an 18-day excursion. It was Friday, but definitely not a bad luck day or trip, as chartermaster George bagged a 257-pound tuna for himself as the boat fished off southern Baja. He might have had a jackpot spot, but by consent the group of eight passengers had a single jackpot winner. Davis runs a construction company from Rancho Cucamonga. "Everybody got a cow," said Tommy, "and we released over 100 tuna. We ended up with 27 tuna over 200 pounds." The day's big winner was Tom Hilton of San Clemente who scored a 293-pound whopper yellowfin with a sardine on a 7/0 Super Mutu hook, 130-pound red line, 130-pound Spectra backing on a Penn 50T reel blueprinted by Cal Sheets, and a 760H Calstar rod tied by Sheridan Stanton (also on the trip). Hilton said he got the big tuna "‚Д¶in 25 minutes; my best fish ever. My biggest before was 178 pounds. "I knew he was heavy," remarked Tom, "but he bit on the last bait on the last day at the last stop of the day. The fat lady hadn't sung yet, but I could hear her warming up in the wings." Hilton also had tuna of 251, 237, 236 and 213 pounds. The water temperature in the tuna area remains at 69 to 715 degrees, anglers said. High score went to Scott Brown of Costa Mesa, with six over 200 pounds, at 279, 269, 246, 240, and a pair of 225-pounders. Scott said he fished with sardines on 6/0 ringed Super Mutu hooks, on 100-pound Ande line, 130-pound Spectra backing, a Tiagra 50W reel and a Calstar 655 TSS rod. Al Tokunaga had five, at 225, 222, 213, 208 and 201 pounds. The 27 cows was no boat record, but 27 for eight anglers may make for some kind of mark.

Today we departed on a 5 day Guadalupe Island trip. We got a very early jump and are loaded up with a great load of bait. We are all excited to get fishing and are hoping we do not encounter too many of these Guadalupe Shoulder mounts, courtesy of the resident sharks.

Good evening Polaris Supreme family. Today was our first full day of fishing at the tuna grounds. We got here about 0800 and went straight into wahoo mode. The skinny's didn't wait too long to show themselves. Getting a troll fish here and there, they sure seemed to like the live bait when we stopped on the jig strikes. Things change from day to day, wherther it be bait, bombs raiders...this morning, live sardines looked to be the bait of choice. After tagging a few dozen of the toothy critters, we got anchored up and went into big tuna mode. Kites out, lines in the water, time to try and chum up the big boys. It wasn't too long before Chuck hooked into something real nice. On his first long trip, he wound up putting a 145 on the deck for a new personal best. The afternoon showed to be pretty slow which can be pretty typical. The guys fished hard though. Eventually the sharks got on us, but not too bad. Could be a lot worse. We hooked a couple more throughout the afternoon and lost them, but that's why they call it fishing, not catching. After snack time, Bill hooked into a cow that took him into sundown that he ended up losing right at color. That's just part of the game though, and we have many more days of fishing time. Shake it off and tomorrow is a new day. The guys all hit the rack right after Chef Mike's amazing veal chop dinner to recharge the batteries because 0400 is going to be coming pretty early. Speaking of that, it's time for me to do the same. Thanks for checking in, till tomorrow friends.

 

Jed and the Supreme crew

Drew Henderson brought Tommy Rothery's Polaris Supreme home after a five-day trip with 24 anglers to Guadalupe Island. He said he got some fish at Westy's Hole, but the sharks were bad there. Marco Ramirez of Torrance won first place for a 74.8-pound tuna. He nabbed the yellowfin on a sardine and a 2/0 Gamakatsu hook. He said he used 40-pound Seaguar fluoprocarbon and 80-pound Power Pro Spectra on a Sealine 50 reel and a five and a half-foot Lamiglas rod. He remarked that he almost got too tired to reel during the one-hour fight. Michael Rayner of LA was second, for a 71.2-pounder, and Rodger Kang of Fresno tied him with a tuna of exactly the same size.

July 25
    A little bit of a slower day out here for us.
    
      We started our morning off all alone where we saw a few big schools late afternoon yesterday figuring we'd for sure be in them.  Un touched schools didn't make them bite any better.  We fished and caught a few in the same zoneish that we've been fishing before looking elsewhere for something fresh.  We ended right back where we'd been and saw the same thing.  Big schools that don't bite well.  We managed a few more of the 60-80 pound grade and a few handfuls of the 25-40 pound grade and some more 18-25 pound yellowfin before it got dark on us.  The weather all day was nice and we're headed back in now with fillet mignon coming up shortly. I hope I made this trip sound fun because that's what it was.  We were drifting 75 percent of the time with a chance any second for a bite. Thanks to Paul and the gang.  We always have fun together.
                            

 

123 yellowfin tuna 3 bluefin tuna. Words can’t describe how lucky we are to call the 32 block home. Mother Nature continues to impress.

The fall fishing season is on, as could be seen in the catch brought back from Alijos Rocks and The Ridge by Polaris Supreme owner-skipper Tommy Rothery, who docked his rig at Fisherman's Landing September 16 after an right-day trip. "Wow, what a great day!" wrote Tom on September 13. "We had an awesome morning bite on the Dorado; big bulls and cows. We took a break at lunch and Pedro prepared a Southwestern 10 oz. burger that was delicious. He really nails the menu with his creative spices and herbs. Back out on the deck, we had excellent fishing on the wahoo throughout the whole day. And then to finish up the day we caught some yellowfin tuna. It was just a great, fun day. Dinner tonight was a spicy ginger shrimp curry; another great dish. Our weather all day has been beautiful. I hear it's been crappy up above and hope it lies down before we start up the line." Jeff Theurer of Pismo Beach got the best dorado, a 44-pound whopper that will now be the season's best. "I got it in 15 minutes," he said, "on 40-pound line. This is my best dorado and the best on the boat this trip."
Chris Fitzgerald of Lake Elsinore won first place for a 70.2-pound tuna. He caught it with a sardine, he said, on a 3/0 Mustad hook, 60-pound P-Line on an Avet 5-2 reel and a Seeker Black Steel 6470 rod.
Wayne Campbell of Huntington Beach was second for a 70-pounder, and Bill Vogel of Oceanside won third place for a 62.6-pound Alijos yellowfin tuna. Jeff Camplese of Helena, MT took the best wahoo, a 55.4-pounder, and brought it into the lineup shot.