smith lake alabama Fishing Report 2025

~~Nov.15
 Well today went as expected.  We woke up on the anchor after a lovely nights sleep and shortly after daylight we started scratching tuna.  It didn't take long to meet our quota.  Some already had it and were dropper looping for yellows and getting a few.  Anyways a little after 7 we pulled anchor and trolled around for wahoo.  One  more than half the boat caught a wahoo by lunch time and we took off for Alijos Rocks.  We traveled the rest of the day while we looked for something floating with dorado under it but we never found anything as expected.

 So like I said, we'll be at the stones in the morning.  We're going to try for some more wahoo before starting north to finish off our trip.  You never really can have enough wahoo.  There is 2 or 3 passengers left on board who have not caught a wahoo so we're going to make sure they get one before anyone else tomorrow.  We call it the troll of shame and Glenn, if you're reading at home, I always think of you when we do this.
         

 

"So far we've had very good fishing for our morning down at 134 miles." Mike went on, "So far we have a little over 54 Yellowfin, 15 or 18 Yellowtail and a handful of nice Dorado. Very, very nice weather. It looks like the weather is going to be nice the next few days.

"If you'd like to get on a 1.5 Day trip, we have one leaving tomorrow night from Seaforth Sportfishing. If you have any questions or want to make a reservation call Seaforth at 619-224-3383, there is still plenty of room."

Hello Apollo Anglers:

We have a two day trip that has some spots available. The trip departs Sunday the 9th of September at 9 p.m. fishing the 10th and 11th. and returns on the evening of the 11th. This two day is limited to 20 people. Cost is $510 per person and includes food and permits.

Contact Baron for more info or to sign up.

Baron Spafford
1815 Gillespie St.
Santa Barbara CA 93101

805-569-9939
805-452=1562 (cell)

Captain Ryan Bostian called in late last night with an update from the San Diego out of Seaforth Sportfishing in San Diego, CA. We have been fishing offshore the last four trips. Four days ago we had 44 Yellowfin Tuna Then we had 27 Yellowfin Tuna Yesterday we had 7 Yellowfin Tuna Then today we had 44 Yellowfin Tuna Decent fishing. There is a lot of fish around. What is working 20 pound mono with 20 fluro. We also recommend having a a 30 or 40 pound outfit ready to go also. We are using size one or two live bait hooks, small poppers and flat fall jigs are also working. We are scheduled fishing Offshore tomorrow and Wednesday. Then we have 3 charters in a row but will be back OPEN PARTY .

Tom Rothery brought his Polaris Supreme home to Fisherman's Landing January 11 after a 16-day trip to the Hurricane Bank and the Southern Banks of Baja. There were seven anglers on the annual George Davis expedition, and they produced ten more cows for the record.

In his report from the boat on Friday January 2, Tom reported a good day of fishing.

"Yes, now this is what I'm talking about," he wrote. "We finally got a break in the weather. It is beautiful and we have left Hurricane Bank. We are now heading to the upper banks. We will be there tomorrow night. Yesterday was an ok day of fishing. George kept a 219 and released a 185. Jeremy released a 140.

"Craig kept a 205 and by the way that was a mistake yesterday. Craig kept a 210 pounder. Al kept a 100 for his buddies that are going to Ennis hunting. They are going to open pit barbeque it on a spit like a pig. Now, that sounds interesting. ‚Д®

"Charlie released a 125 and Scott released a 140. Each day we also had five to 12 fish that we caught that were under 100 pounds and were not mentioned. These all were released.

"Yesterday we also had good wahoo fishing. Jeremy and Craig both caught 4 and Gunnar and Al got 3. Everybody else had a couple a piece. Overall the trip to Hurricane Bank has been very good with eight tuna over 200 pounds, and excellent wahoo fishing."

Chartermaster George Davis of San Dimas won the jackpot while catching four cows. His tuna weighed 241.8, 219.8, 213.6 and 208 pounds. The big one came on squid on the kite, he said.

George fished with 7/0 Mustad 7691 hooks, 130-pound Momoi line and 130-pound Line One Spectra on a Penn 70 VSW reel and a Calstar 655 XXH rod. He said the big one came to gaff in just 20 minutes.

Allen Tokunaga of North Hollywood won second place for a 224.6-pounder.

"These Hurricane Bank fish seemed a little tougher than the ones on the inside," he remarked. "This one took me 40 minutes. He went around the boat a couple of times, and then came up on the port side of the stern."

Al fished a sardine on an 8/0 Eagle Claw hook, on 130-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon leader, 100-pound P-Line and 130-pound Izorline Spectra. He used a Penn 50 reel modified by Cal Sheets and a Calstar 6465 XXH rod.

Scott Brown of Costa mesa won third place for his 213.2-pounder. He also got a 202.6-pounder. He fished a small jack under the kite on a 9/0 Mustad 7691 hook. He used 130-pound Momoi line and 130-pound Izorline Spectra on a Penn 70 VSW reel and a Calstar 655 XXH rod.

"The big one was a 20-minute fish," he remarked. "He came to the boat pretty good."

One big tuna was eaten by the passengers and crew while the boat was still fishing. It was a 215-pounder caught by Craig Johnston of Costa Mesa, who also got a 204-pounder. Craig said he got them on the kite, on double sardine baits pinned to 7/0 Mustad 7691 hooks. He fished with a 130-pound Momoi topshot on 130-pound Izorline Spectra, with a Penn 70 VSW reel and a Calstar 655 XXH rod.

"It took about 30 minutes," he said. "We had rough seas then; it was a fun fight."

Jeremy Chandler of San Dimas got a 203.6-pounder on a jack under the kite on a 7/0 Mustad 7691 hook and the boat's kite rig.

19 yellowtail 88 red rockcod 35 rockfish 1 halibut. The daily game of hide and seek we play with winter yellowtail is something we are very familiar with on the San Diego. Today we busted them in an area they have used many times in the past. Sunday and Monday have been cancelled due to weather. Tuesday will be our next available trip. 619-224-3383 for reservations.

Tommy Rothery brought his Polaris Supreme home to Fisherman's Landing August 17 after the best five-day trip to Guadalupe Island so far this year. Rothery's anglers had an excellent catch of larger yellowfin from the big island, and a couple of wahoo. The luckiest angler on the Eric Rogger trip may heave been Dean Hendrickson of Chatsworth, who got a non-eligible (assist from a deckhand) 110-pound tuna on a sardine and 40-pound line, and a 47-pound wahoo, on a black and purple small Marauder. Phil Bruce of Ramona won first place, for a 105-pound yellowfin. He said he got it with a sardine on a 2/0 ringed Super Mutu hook, 40-pound P-Line and 40-pound fluorocarbon leader, a Cal Sheets-treated Penn 12 T reel and a Seeker 660 rod. Supreme regular Dietmar Kruger of Santa Monica was second, for an 87-pounder he got on 40-pound line, and Alex Rogger of Steamboat Springs, CO won third place, for a 79.2-pound yellowfin tuna. Stephan Kruger of Venice Beach took the trip's best yellowtail, a 39-pound mossback, on the kite with a squid for bait. "He hit it like a massive tuna," said Kruger, "there was a huge explosion in the water under the kite."

Captain Ryan Bostian called in late last night. The morning was very slow for us but around 1 PM they started to bite. We had 155 Yellowtail for our 58 anglers. It was very good afternoon.The San Diego runs daily from Seaforth Landing at call (619) 224-338 or BOOK ONLINE to get in on the action.