santa cruz Fishing Report 2024

Polaris Supreme Trip Report 08-21-2016 Hello Readers, Today was another beautiful day on the water. Fishing was tough but we made a day out of it. It was definitely quality over quantity today. We are all very optimistic about what tomorrow has in stock for us! Thanks for reading, Team Supreme

Tom Rothery docked his Polaris Supreme at Fisherman's Landing August 4 following a five-day limited load trip with 18 anglers. It was the Tom Chaparro charter, and Tom was aboard, winning the jackpot. Chaparro's tuna weighed in at 66 pounds. It took a sardine on a 4/0 Eagle Claw hook on 50-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon leader and 65-pound Line One Spectra. Tom fished with a Trinidad 40 reel and a Calstar 665 H rod. Mark Arbunich of Pacifica won second place for a 62.8-pound tuna, and Travis Donahue of Norco got third place for a 61.6-pound Guadalupe yellowfin tuna.

Today we arrived at the Island late in the day. We did not see much on our way down the east side, We started to see a little life once we reached the southern part of the island. However it was late in the day and we were not able to connect. Hopefully we can get it started here tomorrow!

Polaris Supreme arrived June 10 after a five-day trip. Owner-skipper Tom Rothery docked the boat at Fisherman's Landing and weighed the best of the catch. "We fished open water and found a new albacore area," he said at the scales. "We fished our first night out, and got a few. The albacore bit good, and we also got some nice yellowtail off kelps. On our first half-day of fishing we had an excellent bite on albies of 30 to 40 pounds." Chartermaster Paul Hess of Napa won first place for his 42.4-pound albacore, which set a new high mark for the species this season. He said he bagged it with a sardine on a 3/0 Eagle Claw hook tied to 30-pound Yo-Zuri line on a Trinidad 16 reel and a Calstar 800 M rod. Brian Schwartz of Napa won second place for a 40.8-pounder, and Casey Weaver of Woodland took third for a 40.6-pound albacore. "He came in after 15 minutes," said Hess. "It was a standard albacore deal."

June 30

We tried our hand at the elusive White Sea Bass today and that's exactly what they were. Elusive. We didn't see the life we were expecting to see. We covered a lot of ground today looking for them but we never found them. We caught some trophy calico bass at one spot and we tried and checked a couple traditional yellowtail hot spots for nothing. One plus thing about today for me is we fished most the day where I have never fished before in my 13 full seasons on this boat. Now I know why. The day wasn't a total loss though. We found an area that had a huge bird school in it but it went down by the time we got there but we know the conditions were much improved from a week ago so maybe tomorrow they'll be hitting. We may have just got there too late. With about an hour left of day light we hit a spot of those big big yellows and we caught quite a few of those before our day ended. And last but not least we ended with a 20ish pound seabass and a 20ish pound halibut. We will stay the night and try it where we are in the morning. It's good sleeping weather where we are. I may be sleeping with my thumb in my mouth tonight.

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

What a wonderful day yellowtail fishing we had! Limit style as they say.They malled the surface iron, bit the yo yo good and a small slider with a nose hooked sardine worked great. The fish where 25 pounds and weather was great. We all are looking forward to a good night sleep and a repeat of today. Have a great night Tommy and Crew.

A pretty slow couple of days. We saw plenty of fish in tuna zone only finding one school that would react. We hit it a couple times before it scattered and we had to try and find something new. The next day we hit a couple of the shallows along the ridge. It was slow there too. We hooked a few marlin, a couple handfuls of dorado and a skin trolling around. We tried various anchor jobs for a few yellows here and there but we weren't going to get the job done there. We will be kelping tomorrow, way out far.