west branch reservoir Fishing Report 2024

Larry Brown chartermastered a 976 TUNA father-son five-day trip aboard Polaris Supreme with skipper Drew Henderson. The expedition returned to Fisherman's Landing June 21. The trip produced a remarkable catch of yellowtail that included some halibut, three bluefin and two albacore.
Brown said the yellowtail fishing at Cedros Island was excellent, though seals created some problems. "The weather was good except the wind came up on the last day, when we fished outside," he said.

The jackpot lineup was most unusual: an opah, a white seabass and a yellowtail. Mark Taylor of Jamul got the first-place, 67.2-pound moonfish or opah, on a sardine-colored Mega Bait jig, with 40-pound Big Game line on a Trinidad 30 reel and a Seeker 6470 Black Steel rod.
Rick Parks of Watsonville won second place for a 54.6-pound white seabass that took his sardine on a dropper loop. Alex Bravo of San Diego won third place for a 47.2-pound yellowtail.
The kid's jackpot featured two yellowtail bracketing a bluefin tuna. Alex Bravo Jr. of San Diego, 14, won first place for a 42.6-pound yellow. Sydney Mack, 10, (whose dad Dave works on the boat) caught a 32.8-pound bluefin tuna. David Jacobsen, 10, got a 32-pound yellowtail.

We are headed south at the moment. Today will consist of mainly rigging and prepping. Primarily for Yellowfin Tuna and Wahoo. We are looking for kelps today to keep them honest but our main focus is on making good speed for tomorrow.

Today was another example of the fact that when targeting Bluefin, we are playing by their rules.  We stopped on fish all day and managed to land 15 fish from 30 to 70 lbs and one 45 lb Yellowfin. Staying at the rail and fishing either a 40 lb flyline rig, a 50 lb colt sniper or sinker rig was the best bet today.  Come out to enjoy the ocean, be prepared with your tackle.  Keep your fingers crossed that you are here when they let their guard down a bit is the name of the game.

Ryan Bostian called in with this fish report for the San Diego. "Today we went out with 36 passengers and we came back with 40 Yellowtail and 5 Dorado. The Yellowtail we are catching are a mixed size. Half of the fish were within the 8 to 10 lb. range. The other half were in the 15 to 20 lb. range. On this type of trip we have a high casualty rate. Today we landed 40 & I'd say we landed about 1/2 of the fish we hooked. If you're going out with us make sure you have some fresh fluorocarbon. If you are only going to use 1 rod, I would bring a 30 lb. fly line bait rod. If you want to be totally, totally prepred you might want to bring a 20 lb. live bait rod to fish an anchovy, a 30 lb. live bait rod to fish a sardine. And then a heavy rod, a 40 or 50 lb. rod to fish a Sardine as well. If we get at a good stop and they are biting a heavy line you might as well use that. Also if we run into some of the bigger Bluefin that are around, you'll want that 40 or 50 lb. rod. You can also check out our Facebook page we have a detailed tackle list there.

Come on down and see us. We offer these 5:30, 3/4 Day trips everyday. To make a reservation call Seaforth Sportfishing at 619-224-3383.

STELLAR BLUEFIN ACTION!!! APOLLO on an overnight trip with 18 anglers 90 Bluefin Tuna and 4 Albacore. Really Really great trip. Plan your next trip with Capt. JJ for another stellar trip. Call FISHERMAN'S LANDING at (619)221-8500 for more info and reservations.

Sunday April 14, 2013

Today we had about 7-10 wahoo and several tuna. Four nice ones around 170 lbs., and some smaller ones (many released) 50-60 lbs. We lost 4 nice ones, 2 thought to be over 200 lbs. The guys are pretty tired putting in 36 hours of fishing time. Most only had 3-4 hours of sleep.

Monday, August 15th, 2011

Hi friends. Cherry on top of the Sundae action today. Pretty much a repeat of Friday with steady action on 12-20 lb. Bluefin tuna with a little bit more of that 12-25 lb. Yellowfin tuna to go along with it. Integrated schools for the most part and our score was a 75/25 mix of Blues to Yellows and when we left the area around 1330 hours, the boats still in the area had some steady stops on a little bite more of the Yellowfin with a sprinkling of Bluefin as well. Multiple spots of breaking fish, jig strikes, and machine fish were plentiful and we really didn't have a long break in the action today, we stayed pretty steady. The true cherry on the sundae today was our weather - flat calm and sunny. With our Bluefin limit topped off, we called it a trip and with two scoops of bait to spare in case something cool comes up in our travels to home. We'll see.

So that is all. We put a bow the Ron Heil five day trip and we're motoring up the line in fantastic seas with a little bit of sunshine and the ice cream is being passed about the vessel. Can't say much more about this trip other than it was simply awesome and Ryan and the gang from Let's Talk Hook-Up have some big shoes to fill as we'll be turning around for a four day trip tomorrow. We'll be arriving to Fisherman's Landing tomorrow morning at 0530 as there will be three other long-range boats from the landing getting in and we're in the early slot. We'll report with you tomorrow and take care.

-Team Supreme-

P.S. Ana, the little monster is coming home safe and sound.

Sunday, August 14th, 2011

Hi friends. Our early morning bite was brief but we managed a handful of dropper-looped Yellowtail and a 30 lb. Halibut before we pulled the pick and began looking around for trophies. The hunt was short-lived as we saw very little sign of fish and with that, a new game-plan was drawn up and we started looking around different areas for sign of fish. It didn't take us long before we pulled up on a sonar school of Yellows that bit fast and furious. The fish were the school-sized grade but we welcomed them with open arms and open hatches. The bite was short and sweet and after a couple hours of action, we found ourselves back in search mode with little success. Not much going on in the different areas we looked at and before we knew it, the deadline was up and we had to make our way up the line to be in position tomorrow morning to finish out our trip with a half-day of tuna fishing. The reports sound pretty solid and we're hoping that we can find us a morning school and top off on tuna and put a lid on the 2011 Ron Heil five day adventure.

The Yellowtail zone was productive enough for us to call our stay here a success so we're traveling up the line in OK weather to wrap this trip up with some of those better grade Bluefins. It sounds like there are some hits to be had and we'll be there to find out for ourselves. Wish us luck and we'll chat with you tomorrow. And yes, Ana, the fish-catching machine formerly known as Brendan is locked up with Dad and will be released for the morning bite. Take care.

-Team Supreme-

Saturday, August 13th, 2011

Hi folks. A much deserved sleep-in for the boys was a fitting reward for yesterday's performance and we switched from tuna mode to Yellowtail mode. We arrived at our destination a little bit later than we would've liked and we found out why we would've liked to be there earlier. The bite was over with everywhere we looked but we still managed to put together a score on 15-22 lb. Yellows with a couple handfuls of those 30-40 lb. cows. We saw a really nice spot of those cows come up in the late afternoon and we're excited about the potential for tomorrow.

So that is what we'll be up to tomorrow, start off fishing for cows in the morning time and from that point forward, it'll be a toss up whether we stay coastal or we head back up to do some offshore prospecting and finish off on some offshore tuna/kelp paddy 'tails and mahi-mahi. The ideal scenario would be us loaded up with some cows and bail offshore but we'll see. Things could change at the snap of a finger, this water could roll over, and we'll have to re-evaluate things. We'll see. Wish us luck and have a good weekend.

-Team Supreme-

P.S. Ana, the little monster is safe and sound once again. He started off this morning by doing some push-ups to get physically ready to do battle with the mighty Yellowtail and it paid off. He had a very good day. We'll be releasing the beast here in an hour or so (0530 hours). The boys miss you and say HI.

Friday, August 12th, 2011

Hi friends. Stellar day on the Bluefin grounds today. In actuality, I should say we had a stellar morning and a stellar evening on the Bluefins. We found our desired water conditions first thing this morning and after a few jig strikes for a handful of fish, we had a single jig fish that turned into the real deal school. Every bait that was tossed in the water was eaten, every angler hooked up, on-the-corner style Bluefin tuna fishing and once one stop dried up, we motored around for a short while until another single jig fish started the melee all over again. It was truly awesome fishing. The afternoon was a whole different story as all we could muster up was a few Yellowfin jig strikes and not very consistently at that. Happy with our morning hits, we decided to steer the Supreme in a southerly direction to arrive to the Yellowtail grounds first thing tomorrow morning. That was until a hunch that an evening float was mere minutes from beginning steered us back one-hundred and eighty degrees back up to the tuna grounds. After going hours without much action, like a light-switch the ocean came alive and we ended the day with sheer pandemonium stops on the school-sized Bluefin and we also had a whack on some 30-50 lb. Bluefins as well. This fishing was as good as it gets for Bluefin tuna and we continued hooking fish all the way until the darkness set upon us and at that time we actually did leave to go to some Yellowtail fishing.

The ocean is a funny place. After "character building" type days where boats would catch absolutely nothing for weeks and weeks, Mother Ocean has decided that we've paid our dues and she is giving up a bounty that is truly gold in our book. Today was a day for the personal log book and the gang enjoyed every second of it. How could you not? It was one of those days that everyone has been waiting for and it just goes to show you that you can't sit around at home and go with the mindset that "I'll book a trip when they start biting". If one was to go through our log books for the past five years, you would see that every year has been different with different time-frames of the best fishing. We are at the mercy of the ocean both fishing and weather-wise (which by the way, was flat calm and gorgeous today). These fish have been M.I.A. for the better part of the 2011 season and all of a sudden, they bite. If we could've predicted that today was going to be a banner day, I assure you, we'd all be living in houses on the hill and driving Ferrari's. What I'm getting at is book a trip to go fishing, not to go catching. Enjoy fishing for what it is, getting away from the stress that land-life might bring, enjoy good food, good people, and just go out to have a good time and experience for yourselves what the ocean is all about. Don't sit around and wait for it to start biting because as is the case with this fish, it might not be here tomorrow. Any trip that you book on a boat, you have the chance to have banner days like today or you have might have a slow trip; that is fishing and it has been since the beginning of time. A lot of people have paid their dues with slow trips and days like today is the most rewarding feeling to those who have had those slow days. Today was a classic reminder that every year is different and when you book a trip, expect the unexpected. Come out to take a fishing vacation and enjoy the ocean for what is, a mystery.

All words aside, we had a terrific day. We're going to enjoy some ice cream and hit the racks. We'll be on the hunt for 'tails and seabass tomorrow. Wish us luck.

-Team Supreme-

P.S. Ana - We kept the little monster locked up safe and sound last night and when we unleashed the beast this morning, he had an awesome time and captured his daily limit (5) of Bluefin tuna. Brendan and Scott are having a fantastic time, they say hello, they love you, and it's all good.

Thursday, August 11th, 2011

Good evening friends. Standard operating procedures for a turn-around day on the Polaris Supreme. We offloaded Mr. Eric Rogger and company along with their gear and fish, said farewell, and began the many task that we must complete before loading an entirely new group for another trip. Big fish honors go as follows: Mary Lukas, 46.4 lb. Yellowtail. Chad Snyder, 42.2 Yellowtail. John Warner, 40.8 lb. Yellowtail. Congratulations to the winners and we'll see everyone next year. A big thanks goes out to Eric for consistently putting together a fine group of people to enjoy the rail with and thanks to Eric for being one of those charter-masters who just plain gets it. He knows how a group of people should co-exist both at the rail and as people living on a boat. With that, bring on Mr. Ron Heil and his friends for another five day adventure.

A standard travel day was expected today as we loaded bait, ate lunch, did some light rigging, and some heavy napping. But as they say, expect the unexpected. Right around the time we were getting setup for our tackle seminar, we spotted a bird school with some breaking Bluefin below. We hit the school numerous times and only Bob Hagan could coax one into eating a bait. On a side note, if there's one thing that you should know about the crew on-board the Polaris Supreme it's one thing - we love ice cream. Nestle Company's number one driver, Bob, outfitted us with the goods from Haugen-Daas. All natural fruit bars, vanilla-chocolate almond ice cream bars (bomb), caramel cone (double bomb), strawberry ice cream, coffee ice cream, and Dulce De leche. Bob brought on the goods: the sugar, the calories, and the saturated fat, and for that, the fish god's thanked him by giving him a Bluefin tuna to start things off. The area where we caught Bob's fish was loaded with life and it was very close to home, so we'll see if something materializes in that zone. To the overnight fleet and private boaters alike, go get 'em. Tomorrow, we'll a bit further from home to do some Bluefin tuna fishing. Boats in the area had scores from good to excellent and we want some of that, so we'll be arriving there first thing tomorrow morning.

In closing, the weather is double A+ and we'll be fishing first thing in the morning. Wish us luck and we'll chat with you tomorrow evening. Take care.

-Team Supreme-

One last thing. We have one spot available on our Andersen/Lund 8-day trip that just opened up departing October 1st. If you'd like to come out and join the dynamic duo of Dan and Howard or join any trip for that matter, give Susan a call at (619) 390-7890.

Boat limits of Dorado, 9 Yellowfin, 2 Skipjack and a Yellowtail made up our 5-5 Charter. Fun times!!