russell fields pier Fishing Report 2024

Well today was another tough day for the whole group. A couple stops on 40-70 lb. tuna and a sprinkling of 100-120 lb. fish, but for the most part slow. The weather is still good and the food great. We had lobster salad and home made cream of chicken soup for lunch, and another superb sushi sashimi layout before a prime cut steak and potato dinner. We'll be looking at a new area tomorrow.

Today capt. Ray went out with 46 passengers and caught. 8 yellowtail 3 lingcod 2 sheephead and 118 rockfish. The yellowtail are still around but they only got active for about an hour today. Cold water yellowtail can be very moody. Timing is everything when it comes to catching these 59 degree water fish.

Skipper JJ Gerritsen returned with his Apollo to Fisherman's Landing November 21, after an eight-day, ultra-limited trip. The boat's ten passengers fished Guadalupe Island before taking off for Magdalena Bay to fish big tuna on their final day. "All of our long range trips are ultra-limited," said JJ. "It takes away competition factors, we won't do more than ten passengers. We got limits of yellowfin, Guadalupe's been great our last six trips, but we did something different this time; we headed out for a shot at these big ones. All of our fish are kept in refrigerated saltwater, so they still look great." Matt Bowland of Encinitas took home the best tuna; a 224-pound yellowfin that fought "long and hard." Matt used a 6/0 Owner ringed Super Mutu hook, on an 80-pound P-Line topshot, 100-pound Spectra, a Tiagra 30 reel and a Calstar Grafighter 765 H rod. "I butt-hooked the sardine," said Matt. "The fight lasted two and a half hours." Drew Card of San Diego was second with a 196-pound tuna, and Craig Biddick of Rancho Santa Fe was third for a 164-pounder.

Captain Shane just called in with 30 Bluefin, most in the 40-70 pound range. We go again tonight and there’s still room available.

2 stops for 205 yellowfin tuna and 75 skipjack. Amazing local tuna fishing continues !

We had an absolutely fantastic day fishing yellowtail in flat clam weather. Most were in the 16-22 lb range with some around 25 lbs. Late in the afternoon we received information from one of our code boats that he found a good area of albacore so we are off and on our way. We will have two days to fish the albacore. This is the first good hit in about six days and it is a new area so we are very excited. Thanks! Tommy and crew

We departed today on the Davis Construction annual private charter. This year there are six lucky individuals who were invited to go, with Jim and Gunnar being the new guys. We loaded up at the bait receivers with some excellent bait, and headed down south in beautiful, flat calm weather. Everyone is excited at the prospects that lie ahead. We dined on a great barbecued pork tenderloin for lunch and just enjoyed the company and the smooth ride.