upper tampa bay Fishing Report 2024

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."

Still plenty of room on tonight’s limited load 1 day trip aboard the Tribute. Trip is $230 and will be fishing for Bluefin, Yellowfin and Yellowtail. Make sure to bring gear from 25-80 pound, assorted fluorocarbon, jugs and sinkers.

Call Seaforth Sportfishing 619 224-3383

18 yellowfin tuna 13 skipjack. Unfortunately all of the fish we found were in the vicinity of bait. Tuna that have not eaten for a few hours are much easier to catch than tuna that are gorging themselves on anchovies.

The Voyager returned this morning with 13 Bluefin Tuna and 5 Yellowfin Tuna. They landed a couple of monster Bluefin, with the largest weighing in at 298 pounds! Congratulations to Captain Todd and the passengers and crew of the Voyager.

Well late in the day yesterday we got into a good school of albacore. They bite well and everybody was hung on the boat. It was a wild afternoon and we ended up with a nice round of albacore. This morning we are in a new area. Prospects look good and we've had a handful so far. We are coming up on a really good looking spot so I will update again later. Thanks! Tommy and crew

Polaris Supreme Trip Update 11-24-2019 We arrived early afternoon to the fishing grounds. We had a good afternoon of fishing on tuna from 12 to 35 pounds. Most of the fish were down toward the lower end of the spectrum. We didn't see much sign of anything else but the tuna throughout the afternoon but were still going to stay another day here to get fixed up on them. Late in the day we decided to pull the anchor and go troll around about 40 minutes before dark but picked up a old seiner anchor that weighed about 500 pounds. That ended those plans! It took us about three hours to get rid of it and fix everything it broke! Quite the tussle. Good weather still a little squally and rainy at times but good seas! See you tomorrow. The Polaris supreme crew!

Oct. 10

Another travel day today so another day with nothing to report. I enjoyed a nice sleeping in this morning, then ate some cereal, then cleaned an engine room along with Mark and Jed. I noticed there were some movies being played and naps being had. We're going to try our hands at some squid in the early a.m. hours to give us a little more to fish with tomorrow. We're getting in the bluefin mode tomorrow for our last day before we return to San Diego.

Mr. Joe G. Yes you Joe. I am truly sad to say that tomorrow is our last chance to catch an albacore before we square up our bet. Unfortunately even if there was a miracle and we did find a biting school I don't think we could get a hundred to make you a winner in our bet so make sure you have that bill clean and crisp. I know you know but I would have loved to lose that bet. Thankfully we had the bluefin this year covering for the albacore so we were still in good shape for the summer. Fall is here and they're still biting. Timing is everything.