skagit river Fishing Report 2025

Tommy Rothery docked his Polaris Supreme after the annual George Davis Expedition, with only eight anglers aboard. Rothery tied up at his space on the inner wing at Fisherman's Landing, ending his long range season on a positive note with a visit to Baja's southern banks and the Cleofas Bank, where all the fish that were kept were caught. Four cows were among the fish offloaded January 13. "All the big fish were from Cleofas," said Tommy. We released about half the fish we caught there, and nearly everything, including 15 big tuna, we caught up above. "So many people put so much emphasis on their pile of fish at the dock," remarked Rothery. "It disgusts me." Rothery and his anglers consistently release many fish of all sizes. Charlie Middleton of San Pablo got two cows; one with a sardine and the biggest one on a chunk. His tuna weighed 201.4 and 245.6 pounds. He said he fished with 8/0 Gamakatsu hooks, 130-poudn Maxima line and 130-pound Spectra backing on a Penn 80 SW reel and a new Ugly Stick 130-pound class rod. "That rod works good," said Charlie, who got his smaller fish in only 15 minutes. Al Tokunaga of North Hollywood took a 232.4-pounder after a 30-minute tussle. He said the fish bit on a sardine pinned to a 9/0 Eagle Claw hook. He fished with 130-pound Momoi line and 130-pound Spectra, with a Cal Sheet-s prepped Penn 50 S reel and a Calstar 6455 XH rod. "I used an eight-ounce torpedo sinker attached with a rubber band," noted Al. "He bit right after daylight. They were down there about that time every day." Roger Brown of Riverside bagged a 210.9-pounder with a mackerel on a 6/0 ringed Super Mutu hook. He said he fished with 100-pound Jin Kai line and 130-pound Jerry Brown Line One Spectra on a Tiagra 50 W reel and a Calstar 6455 XH rod. Brown's fish was notable in that it fought for 35 minutes, and then pulled skipper Drew Henderson over the side when he single-gaffed it. They were both brought aboard without further incident. Rothery noted that he will be doing boat work from now until May 31, when he will begin his summer season of three to five-day trips.

Polaris Supreme Trip Update 11-30 To 12-01-2018 Getting a little behind on the reports. This is our report for the 30th and the first. We departed Guadalupe and traveled all day on the 30th to Ensenada to check in. Our weather was pretty nasty but our ride was not that bad due to the fact that we headed straight in for Colnett on the coast and then turned up toward Ensenada after the weather got better. The port of Ensenada was closed due to weather so The Port Capt. had us all signed releases to allow us departure. The weather going up to San Diego was not that bad at all there was plenty of space between the swells and it was a pretty decent ride. We cleared San Diego customs around 5 AM and were unloading in San Diego by 530. What a absolute beautiful catch we had of that yellowfin tuna from the island. We did our usual quick turnaround and are out now on a seven-day OTR charter to Guadalupe. We did our check in at Ensenada and will be at the island around 230 tomorrow afternoon. Boats that are fishing there right now have excellent sign of 80 to 150 pound tuna. Wish us luck the Polaris Supreme Crew !

Ryan Bostian talks about the gear you will need fishing at this time of year
Hey guys:

I'd like to check in and give you guys a recap of our last week at the Coronado Islands as well as prepare you for what you can expect this week. This is the time of year when surface fish are the target species. Yellowtail , barracuda , calico bass , sandbass and white seabass are all on the menu right now. Most of our trips last week we caught between 5-15 yellows 50-150 barracuda and 30-70 calico bass. An area of squid has moved into the island area and some of our trips have started out jigging live squid to use for bait. Squid jigs will be provided by the boat if we decide to stop for squid. Having the live squid opens up a few more options for us.

I want to give you guys a list of rods and reels you should bring out this time of year. One 15 lb. rod with a bass rod and reel like a Calcutta or curado for fishing anchovies and plastics for calico bass and sandbass. One 25 lb. or 30 lb. rod for fly lining sardines . One 30 lb. rod for fishing a live squid with a small sliding egg sinker. The fourth outfit is optional and it is a 40 lb. jig stick for fishing the surface iron.

While everyday is different on the ocean and we need to be prepared for a variety of fish this time of year. These 4 outfits will have you prepared. A wise man once told me " the definition of luck is when preparation and opportunity collide".

Capt Ryan

Covered a lot of water for 6 yellowtail. Saw both bluefin and yellowfin but we’re unable to connect. Getting the lay of the land and putting the pieces of the puzzle together. Back at it tomorrow.

~~Sep. 6
 I think I'm going to start naming my reports.  This one is called "We should have stuck with the game plan".  The plan was to start where we did, and if it didn't look good run up 40 miles to the next spot arriving just after lunch when it's bite time there.  Well we started off slow.  Conditions were a little funky.  We saw some fish, but they didn't really bite.  We caught a few yellows and the biggest ling cod I've ever seen brought up on this boat, but it wasn't good enough to stick around.  So we started off sticking with the plan when we left and went north but then we decided to do some radio fishing.  I heard 4th hand and then 3rd hand that a boat had a couple really good dorado kelps the day prior almost in striking distance and then really good yellowtail in the afternoon definitely in striking distance.  Then I saw on my water temp chart that same water just a few hours below us so we made the move.  Obviously by my whining you can tell it didn't work out.  We didn't find much kelp in the good water.  We found one OK kelp but we only caught a handful of flats.  There was a few wahoo swimming around it but we didn't catch any.

 So that's OK.  We're not worried.  We still have yesterdays afternoon yellowtail hot spot to fish.  Not today.  Should have been here yesterday. Maybe that should be the name of the report. We saw some and caught a few but it was nothing good.  So here we sit.  I'm not sure if we stuck with the game plan that it would have worked out.  There already was a boat on the spot we were headed to and it's kind of a one boat spot so maybe we didn't miss anything.

 It's funny.  I haven't written this long of a report in a long time.  If fishing was good today I probably would have written one paragraph.  I needed to rant.  Anyways we're going to stick it out here and regroup and try it again in the morning.  Hopefully we find some yellows to work with but either way we plan on looking for a dorado kelp in the afternoon.  Hopefully I only write one paragraph tomorrow.
       

 

Wednesday, August 8th, 2012

Hi friends. Well, we finally did it, we fished the tuna pens today. At first, we thought it was pretty cool; roll on in, find a school, and catch some. Well, after our initial whack for 17 bluefin, that was about it. The rest of our pen fishing was kind of lame as we never found another biting school. I can see what a real zoo this would be with fifty plus sportboats and skiffs out here. Anyhow, we're rolling on down to hunt for some yellowfin, bluefin, yellowtail, and dorado. Our weather is pleasant and we'll check in tomorrow.

Reed Fiori checked in tonight with an audio update for The San Diego out of Seaforth Sportfishing. Today we had 24 anglers catch 52 Yellowtail and 20 Bonito. We had plenty of opportunities today. The Yellows are currently down deep. We are catching them with heavy YoYo Jigs. Bee sure to use a large monofilament top-shot. We are also getting some fish on the dropper loop too. The San Diego is a Go for tomorrow call (619) 224-3383 to get in on the action or BOOK ONLINE.

11 Yellowfin & 145 Yellowtail. Steady November kelping, plenty of action.