valentine refuge lakes Fishing Report 2025

Capt Mike Pritchard checked in with this report from the Tribute. "Another great day of fishing here. We have limits of Yellowtail. Now we are in search of some Bluefin. We have caught one so far.

Today we went out with 13 anglers and caught 33 yellowtail and 12 rockfish. The best way to catch a yellowtail today was on a yo-yo lure. These fish are very big and mean so make sure you have fresh 40 or 50 lb. monofilament. We did manage to catch a couple of yellowtail on the surface iron but the yo-yo was by far the most consistent. The yellowtail were in the 18-30 lb. class.

Capt Mike Pritchard called in last night from the Tribute last night with an update, they were on day 2 of a 4.5 day trip. They arrived Colonet around 10 am, very good Yellowtail fishing from 18 - 28 lbs. We did have a lot of casualties and ended the day with 53 Yellowtail and probably lost just as many. The Yoyo fishing was the most fun, but we had a hard time getting them off the bottom with 50 lb rigs. So far today we have 25 Yellowtail, as the weather gets nicer we are going to head offshore. We will check back in again later.

There were many schools around and it took a lot of work but we got them to play!  There are Yellowfin Tuna schools and Kelp patty Yellowtail in the area as well.

We were able to get a great evening hit on the 60-100lb Bluefin.

Shown here are father and son teams Captain Alec with his father Joe and  Isaac with his father Isaac Sr. with Both duos were able to land a large Bluefin.

14 Bluefin Tuna 60-100lbs

5 Yellowfin Tuna 

19 Yellowtail

Monday, October 10th, 2011

Hi friends and happy Columbus Day. For the morning time up until around 1300 hours this afternoon, we sure felt like Columbus. The on-going search for a kelp paddy was getting to the point where I felt that we were going to sail right off the map and into oblivion. Between myself and our mast-men, we searched high and low with the one other boat in the upper area until our eyes were beginning to bleed and our faces burnt by the wind. By morning's end, our tally was a Bluefin tuna and four Yellowtail, ouch. I wish that I could type that we made some crazy move to left field and got on something spectacular to end our day but that just wouldn't be truthful. Well, half of that sentence is true.

We owe our day to our long-range brother, code group affiliate, and good friend, Roy Rose on the Royal Polaris. The "RP" was coming up the line from Cedros Island and really wasn't looking to do any type of fishing as they were just wrapping up an 11-day trip. But Roy is a very cool cat and when Roy's not fishing, he's fishing. Bottom-line, he was more than willing to help us out, drag some jigs, and scan the horizon for signs of life for a few hours as a lower area check. At around 1300 hours, Roy called us up and informed us that he had a couple blind jig strikes on Yellowfin, a couple bait-fish, and he also saw a very nice kelp paddy that he stopped on and --as he put it-- was"corroded" with Yellowtail. Being only a couple hours from his position, we kicked the tires and lit the fires down to his position where he graciously marked this beauty of a kelp for us and he was one-hundred percent correct; this kelp was LOADED with Yellowtail. We made three drifts on the kelp, got all we needed and began the search for tuna, which was unsuccessful, but our day was salvaged thanks to our good friends on the RP. My point is, that it's good to know good people, and Roy is one of the best and we owe him greatly. Although Roy is one of the nicest guys around, any one of our long-range brethren would've done the same for us as we would for them. Helping out each other is what makes the long-range fleet one of the finest teams you'll find and today was a perfect example of teamwork and sacrifice. Thanks Roy.

With that, we're making our way up the line in a little bit of weather. Fifteen knots of wind (weatherman was bad. Bad weatherman!) and a mild sea is bumping us up and down a little bit, but it could be a lot worse. We'll take this weather we have now as long as it doesn't build. We'll be back to the docks sometime tomorrow in the mid-morning time and we'll be returning on Saturday afternoon for Joe Giglioti's 8-day trip. If you can swing it, there are still a couple of spots available and Joe will be bringing some goodies from Accurate Reels to give away to our ultra limited-load of anglers. Give Susan a call at 619 390 1958. Until then, we'll chat with later. Take care.

-Team Supreme-

Hello Everyone, We are still marching up the line here making good speed. Our ETA to the dock is 6 am tomorrow morning. Another great Billy Stephens Charter in the books. A well rounded trip with a great variety of fish and enjoyable anglers. Cant wait for next years charter Billy! Will report again tomorrow, Team Supreme

Managed to locate 4 different schools of yellowfin in strong Santa Ana wind. 26 yellowfin and 10 skipjack for 33 anglers. 20 lb bait, medium size Flatfalls and colt snipers and a few popper bites. One of our tuna will be worn as a mask tomorrow. Happy Halloween.

The morning started our ok. We scratched yellows for about 4 hours and kelps patties. Little sign of dorado. As the day progressed it got tougher with few patties. Overall it was a slow day.

Our weather is still great. Tomorrow we our on our way to do some Island fishing. Wish us luck.

Thanks for checking in. Tommy and the crew