staten island Fishing Report 2025

Larry Brown chartermastered the ten-day 976 TUNA Catch & Release Fundraiser aboard the Polaris Supreme that returned November 7, and he won second place in the jackpot to boot. Owner-skipper Tom Rothery handled the helm. "We released 352 fish," said Larry at Fisherman's Landing. On November 1, he posted this: "This is a two-day report, as we didn't have much fun yesterday. They call it a fishing trip, not a catching trip, for a good reason. Yesterday we had one of those inevitable days of fishing and catching a lot, but it was poor quality and most all fish where released. It makes you appreciate those other wide open days on quality fish. Today we struggled again in the morning until Tommy found the area with the good water. We had a great afternoon with epic, limit style dorado fishing on beautiful grade flat heads. Even though the quality was fantastic we released 85% of the fish we caught providing us with good Karma which came in the form of wahoo. Weeding through the dodos was a challenge, but we managed to score a decent catch of these great eating speedsters." At the weigh-in, Phillip Smith of Sebastian, FL showed off a dorado he caught on a sardine and 20-pound spinning tackle. Alex Bravo of San Diego won first place in the Supreme's jackpot, for a chunky 73.8-pound wahoo. He said he bagged it with a gold and purple Burns Bob, on 40-pound Ande line, a Trinidad 30 reel and a Penn Sabre six and a half-foot rod. "We had a jig strike, and this one bit on the slide," said Bravo. "He almost spooled me. He had me down to 12 wraps of line on the reel." Larry Brown of Playa del Rey was second, for a 48.9-pound ‚Дтhoo that he got with a Tady 9 jig in blue and chrome. John Quick of Alamdeda was third, for a 47.6-pound skinny that ate a blue, red and purple Burns Bomb. Karl Bornemann of Hemet stood in with the group with his 35-pound dorado.

The tenth annual George Davis trip aboard the Polaris Supreme arrived at Fisherman's Landing December 5, after spending ten days in southern waters with a super ultra-light load of seven anglers, including chartermaster Davis. There were five tuna over 200 pounds in the catch. One fish was well over 300 pounds. The big fish came in at 347.8 pounds, caught by Kevin Stokes, who is studying video making and cinematography, working on his B. A. in digital video at Mt. Sierra College in Monrovia. The giant yellowfin bit a sardine on a 6/0 Mustad 7691 hook tied to 100-pound P-Line and 130-pound Spectra on one of the boat's rigs: a Tiagra 50 reel and a Calstar 6460 XXH rod. It fought for 35 minutes. "He didn't fight too hard," said Stokes. He just laid there like a big cow. I almost lost him at the end, because his circles went all the way across the stern. They got him with four gaffs and lifted him over the rail. "My best tuna before this one was 180 pounds. It fought harder. I may have this one mounted. Next, I've got to go back to work and to school." Stokes said he does freelance work in video. Eleven-year-old Gunnar Johnston outscored the men by taking two cows; two yellowfin over 200 pounds. One of his fish weighed 217.8 pounds and won second place. The other went 209 pounds. Gunnar goes to Marinotha Christian Academy, and races motocross. His dad Craig Johnston is a construction manager in Orange County and was close by when Gunnar hooked his big cow. "I was up the rail," said Craig, "and I saw him get bent, and I shouted, ‚Дтdon't let go of that rig,' and I saw him pull back harder." Gunnar got the fish to gaff in 45 minutes, after it bit a sardine on a 6/0 Super Mutu hook on 130-pound Izorline fluorocarbon leader tied to 100-pound Momoi line and 130-pound Line One Spectra. He used an Avet 50 reel and a Calstar 6455 XXH rod. "It's my first long range trip," said Gunnar. "It's fun, hooking up and catching these big fish. Craig Johnston said his son had been on one and two-day trips before, but this was his first long range venture. "My best fish before was a 30-pound albacore or a dorado," said Gunnar. "I want to do it again." His dad felt the same way. "He was bit hard at first," said Craig, "but he did his work in the corner." Charlie Middleton of San Pablo took a 213-pounder and won third place. He said it bit a sardine on an 8/0 Gamakatsu hook tied to 100-pound Soft Steel Ultra line and 130-pound Power Pro Spectra on a Penn 80 SW reel and a five and a half-foot Ugly Stick rod. The fight lasted 20 minutes. "The best fishing was during the squalls," said Charlie. "That's when I hooked this one. He took me around the boat twice. There was a lot of 18-inch squid around."
Jim Jacobs of Murietta had never been fishing before. "I didn't know how to hold the pole," he said. Jacobs got a 202.6-pound tuna after a 40-minute scrap. It bit a sardine on an 8/0 Mustad 7691 hook, also on one of the boat's rigs. "My first trip," said Jacobs, "and my first fish."

I have the Apollo in Santa Barbara again for the spring Channel Islands season. We are chartered on most of our weekend dates but here are a few options if you would like to get out fishing with us while we are up north. First we have a 2-day charter coming this weekend (Sat and Sun March 29/30). This regular charter group only takes 15 people and they are short 2 spots. The cost is $ 440 and includes all food. to book on this trip please contact Craig at (858) 638-7500.

Aug 16
    We started our morning off again in the local bluefin zone.  Things felt a little better.  There were only about half the boats that were there the day before.  It had a much less claustrophobic feel to it.  Unfortunately the bluefin didn't seem to care.  It was on the slow side.  In 4 hours we managed 9 of them with 20 yellowfin to go along with them.  We left for the day and looked around for schools.  We scratched here and there throughout the day.  We had some reports of spots of 100+ pounders up so we made it there for the evening hit but never found a school of those.  We did catch some nice grade yellowfin though so with those and the sign of the 100 + pounders we know where we're starting tomorrow.  But first things first, we're going to run into the beach and try for bait tonight and as I write this we just finished up and we're headed back out with a couple tanks of mackerel and a couple tanks of sardine that we still have for ammo.
                            

 

The San Diego checked in with this today:

2 yellowtail and all the bottom grabbers you could want. Water conditions seem to be improving but the south wind we’ve dealt with the last couple days have made things interesting.

Polaris Supreme Trip Update 11-26-2019 We spent the day looking for Wahoo mostly, but ended up with only a handful. We had absolutely phenomenal Marlon fishing and some pretty fair Dorado fishing throughout the day. The Wahoo has definitely eluded us this trip. Another day of absolutely beautiful weather good food and hanging out with a bunch of good friends. I just noticed that the last two days we only had pictures of Rudy and John. Neither one have been fishing before so there definitely get the lions share of attention as far as photos. Today we mix it up with some of the other guys who have been hanging in the background. We're going to spend tomorrow heading up the line toward San Diego to try to be the Thanksgiving storm or at least part of it. We will definitely be in a day early and all of you leaving on the seven-day on the 30th be down there bright and early at 5 AM. We will be fueled loaded with groceries and ready to rock 'n roll right away. The Polaris Supreme Crew

Sunday, July 15th, 2012

Hi friends. I just want to start off by saying that Travis Donahue our new best friend. That guy gets on the boat and the Bluefin just are drawn to this guy. He's been on the boat three times this year already and every time he's out, the Bluefin bite. It's truly amazing. This trip was no exception as he tagged along with Garth and the boys from Optima and we had ourselves a good day on 15-30 lb. Bluefin. The other boats in the area struggled but we filled the box a few times on a couple of stops and we also managed to catch three thirty pound Yellowfin off of a kelp along with some Yellowtail. Like I said, it wasn't for everyone out here but thankfully, we had Travis on the boat and everything was just fine for us on the Supreme. We also had awesome weather to round out a fun day of fishing and we're currently en route back to San Diego. We'll be back to the docks tomorrow morning around 0900 hours. Thanks for checking in and thanks to the gang from Optima as well. Take care and we'll chat with you in a few days.

P.S. Mike Grella - thanks for the rags. You're the man.

Hello everyone, Today we spent the day tuna fishing. It was very difficult at times, weeding through all the skip jack and small tuna. However our efforts paid off when every once in a while with a nice yellowfin. Throughout the day we were able to scrape up a great catch of yellowfin tuna. We know there is Wahoo around and we will be trying for them tomorrow. Wish us luck, Team Supreme