surf city pier Fishing Report 2024

~~Aug 16
 We had another good day today.  Well, afternoon I should say.  Yesterday, we got here at 2:30 in the PM and the fish were biting right away.  I thought for sure if we were here earlier, it would be stellar.  Nope.  2:30 was just right.  We hung out here all day not seeing any yellers, then right at 2;30, they showed up and it was good fishing for the next few hours.  We set up a little differently today and it paid off.  The grade of fish improved.  It was 70% premiums.  That's right.  18-30+ pounders.  2nd fish hold down.  We're cooling down the center well now. 

 Due to the fantastic fishing we've experienced this trip thus far, we are in need of some bait.  We're headed out to what I think is our best chance at making some.  No ones been there as far as I know for quite some time.  It's been windy.  It looks like we have a good weather window so it shouldn't look like the Flemesh Cap.  We're also hoping to run into some bluefin tuna while out there.  We're not just going out there for bait.  We're looking for something to use it on.  Let's keep the ball rolling.
       

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.

We spent the morning finishing rigging up everyone's gear for tomorrow. We arrived the days fishing grounds just after lunch and spent a little time looking around before finding a little nest of wahoo. We caught a handful and lost that many right away and thought "this is alright". That was the last of the wahoo we saw. All the small yellowtail you could ever want but that's not what we were in search of so we are now sliding down to be in the tuna grounds tomorrow. Wish us luck please.

Today was a tough day. The fish were there and the conditions were good, the fish were just less eager. Everyone was on the right program when it came to hustling the fish in to avoid the sharks. So the opportunities we did have we were able to capitalize on. Pictured here are fishing buddies Sean with Mark, and Dennis with Travis showing off their captures! Good going guys!

Our private charter had to display some good old fashioned patience today. In a typical 3/4 day trip we can expect to make about 3-5 moves thru ought the day looking for fish. Today however, we did not find what we were looking for until our 9th stop of the day. The rapidly changing conditions coupled with the short windows of biting fish have been driving yours truly crazy the past couple of days. Today's photo will show you why we have been putting ourselves thru such mental anguish. Today's final count for our 31 passengers is 11 yellowtail 20 calico bass 16 barracuda 7 rockfish. Our yellowtail today weighed 20-35 pounds and were biting the fly lined sardines the best.

Capt Mike Pritchard of the Tribute called in on the first day of a 2 day charter, we have over 60 Yellowfin of a really nice grade. We currently have 3 hanging and they are ranging from 25 - 30 pounds, with a couple in the low 40 pound range. Very good fishing and they are even biting the popper, which makes it even more exciting. Hopefully we will have more today and tomorrow, we will check back in later.

Captain Ryan Bostian called in tonight to report 100 Yellowtail today at the Coronado Islands. The fishing was pretty good then we had 30 fish on one stop. We are running trips daily to the Coronado Islands. Call Seaforth Sportifishing at (619) 224-3383 or BOOK ONLINE at www.thesandiego.com.