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LAST DAY OF THE YEAR We fished that mid range fish this morning again and had good action with a few better fish mixed in. The photos of the day are Dan and Glen with the couple of stand outs for the morning. We ran down to the Cow Bank in the afternoon with no luck for us, but we're in hopes of tomorrow getting our shot at the Title. Everybody have a Happy New Year.
GOOD NIGHT, The Gang Tune in to Let's Talk Hookup on Saturday morning 7-9am, featuring Capt. Brian Kiyohara and Capt. Ray Lopez! |
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ANOTHER DAY OF SCRATCHING We had another nice day of fishing today on these 70 to 100lb grade fish and we are going to give it a go again tomorrow. The weather has been pretty good, a little windy at night but today was nice and sunny out. The photo's of the day are Eric, John and Greg with their fish.
GOOD NIGHT, The Gang |
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FINALLY MADE IT DOWN TO THE GROUNDS We arrived down here at the Lower Banks in the early hours of the morning after a very nice ride down. As the sun came up over the horizon, we hooked our first fish and seemed to keep one or two going most of the morning and then by the afternoon it slowed to just a pick. Most of the fish are 70 - 90lbs with a few over a hundred pounds. Pictured are Allen with his fish and the biggest landed today by Liwie, weighing in at 140lbs.
GOOD NIGHT, The Gang Still 2 spots on our Jan. 5th Accurate trip departing next Tues evening and tune in to Let's Talk Hookup on Saturday morning 7 -9am, featuring Capt. Brian Kiyohara and Capt. Ray Lopez! |
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Wow, what a trip We returned this morning with one of our best trips of the 2009 fall season. There were basically two grades of fish, Medium and Large. We are very happy that every angler on the boat caught at least a fish over the 100 lb mark, not to mention the 200 lb fish and of course 3 over 300 lbs. This was the kind of trip you dream about; getting a shot at the fish of a lifetime, and many caught thier personal best. The way conditons look - this should only get better in the weeks to come and who knows what records could be set. We are now home for the holiday break and will be departing the day after Christmas on another 10 day trip - we hope our Luck sticks. To everybody that was on the trip we Thank you so much for letting us take you fishing for that fish of a lifetime, and to all a very merry Christmas! Your Crew, Sam, Brian, Ray, Cameron, Taro, Jordan, Bobby, Nate, Gregg, Paul and Lori. Congrats guys for your jackpot fish. Pictured below are the jackpot winners, the whole gang showing off their tuna 100lb+ with the crew and three generations of the Lopez family. First place : Ross Dale 322.0lbs YFT Second place: John"Papa" Lopez 312.0lbs YFT Third place: Ray Jordan 240.5lbs YFT Honorable Mention: Craig Holmes 301.0lbs YFT
A note from the office, the day after Fresh fish from the American Angler doesn't make it's way to our home very often because everything caught belongs to our passengers - as it should be! But because of someone's generosity, a big chunk of fresh yellowfin tuna was going be our dinner. I was so excited that I was discussing with everyone at the dock - how were we going to prepare it??and called the folks to join us. Sam sliced some for sushimi (my favorite), he manicured some of it into rectangle cubes and rolled in olive oil and furikaka for seared tuna (Brian's idea & he supplied the furikaka - and now our new favorite) and some was marinated in white wine and italian dressing and bbqued. We all agreed it was the best food ever enjoyed at a dinner table and that we had to be in a small percentage of people that were ever lucky enough to eat fish this pure and delicious. This made me realize that I never mention or think about what the the crew puts into caring for this tuna. First it's caught by a passenger,then it is gilled & gutted & bled & put into the RSW & babysat for the remainder of the trip. It's funny, I hear the dock talk while the guys are sorting their fish after a trip, from groups like Ken's Cusom Reels, Bob's Sporting Goods, Sport Chalet and many others, who make plans to leave the dock together to meet in someone's backyard to cut fish and eat sushimi and bbque it up family style right then and there. After dinner last night, I really get why they do it!!! So, thank you to the passenger who caught this fish and then to Ray, Taro, Cameron and Jordan for taking such good care of this fish so I could have the best fish dinner ever! American Angler A couple of spots left on the Calstar trip leaving on the 26th (morning departure) and the Accurate trip departing Jan 5 (evening departure) |
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IT WAS OUR TURN! We have had very good luck throughout the trip - starting with good fishing on that Mid Range size fish all the way to the end with our shot at Big Cows. The Gang did a great job soaking baits to get a bite - sometimes for hours at times, but when the Fish came through, we took full advantage of the opportunity. As far as a count on Cows (which some, not everyone, might judge as success on this kind of trip), the tally was 11 over 200lbs and 3 fish over 300lbs. If you're signed up on an upcoming trip, keep your fingers crossed for your shot at a Giant Fish of a lifetime. The highly recommended tackle is a minimum of 135lb spectra with 130lb flourocarbon as your top-shot and hook sizes that we are using vary from 6/0-8/0 circle hooks. These are a few things that have been keys to success. We are going to spend the next couple of days traveling up the line; we're done fishing so there is some relaxing to be done here in the near future.
GOOD NIGHT AND WHAT A TRIP!!! The AA Crew We have a couple of spots on both the Calstar Dec 26 trip and the Accurate Jan 5 trip...come fishing!!! |
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THE LAST 36 HOURS Well, there is no better time than right now to get your shot at a Big Cow or even a "Super Cow". We spent the first few days catching smaller (compared to what we're catching now) grade - 75 to 100 plus size fish. Between yesterday and this morning, we have had many fish over the 200lb mark and of course, Ross's giant, so it's good times. We're going to spend the rest of our trip here, then it's time to head home. We'll send a report tomorrow to give you guys the final on our Big Fish adventure.
HAVE A GREAT DAY- REMEMBER THIS COULD BE YOU, The AA Gang We have spots on the Calstar Dec 26 trip and the Accurate Jan 5 trip...come fishing!!! |
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GOOD FILLER FISH We've had nice scratch fishing on the Lower banks "Filler grade fish", which range from 65lb - 125lbs and on any 10 or 11 day trip, most would take these all day long. The weather has been pretty good to us so far, a little windy at night but during the day it's been sunny and warm. The photos show some of the gang having a good time - getting warmed up to hunt for Giants.
GOOD NIGHT AND STAY WARM, The AA Gang |
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Bob's Sporting Goods Trip is home The boat returned this morning at 7:30 with A1 quality consisting of average 100lb yellowfin tuna. The group had great fishing on 80-145lb tuna with 2 over 2 and 1 over 3. The fish were all fresh and ready for sashimi or the bbq, pick your pleasure. We want to thank Bob Hara for sponsoring this Bob's Sporting Goods trip and for all the work he put into representing the trip. Also thanks to all that came fishing on this trip - we enjoyed having you on the boat. And have to mention the best avocados ever from Mr. Stoney - thank you. Check out jackpot winners below - thanks for your patience hanging on to those while the cameras' snapped... And one more shot of Ed's 320lber with Capt. Sam helping him out there. First place : Ed Morrison 320lbs YFT Second place: Joe Rubio 218lbs YFT Third place: Harry Aljajyan 195lbs YFT Honorable Mention: Christian Rydgren 294lbs YFT
The boat next departed on the annual now-11 day trip with lots of familiar faces and a few new ones. Have a great time guys. Thank you to Skip Stenbro and Melanie Kito for all the Tiburon, Fish Junkie and Pink Fishing clothing - we will all get good use out of those sweatshirts, thank you! Our Jan. 5, Accurate trip has openings...come fishing American Angler |
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HUNTING FOR BIG ONES Today was another day of beautiful weather and high hopes for hooking a fish of a lifetime, and one thing is for sure - if anybody had a chance we did. The day began with very little sign of fish, but by late morning we started seeing a few fish around the boat. The fish we did see were all size Large and we threw everything we had at them, but they just weren't in the mood. The day wasn't a total loss, we did catch three fish - 131, 183 and Harry's 195 lb YFT. Today was our last day of fishing and we will be heading home tonight. There are still a few of our Guys down on the grounds so we'll keep up to date with all the Skinny.
GOOD NIGHT, The Gang |
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THE FISHING AND WEATHER, JUST WHAT THE DOCTOR ORDERED This morning we spent a couple of hours catching the 80 to 110lb grade fish to fulfill everybody's needs and by afternoon it was time to put on the Heavy gear & go Hunting for Biggins. We were fortunate to find a little spot that gave us just a few chances, however we had some Heartbreaks - but right at sundown Ed landed the Super cow. We have one more day of fishing and of course we are going to spend it hunting for giants so with a little luck we get another chance.
GOOD NIGHT, The AA Gang |
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TODAY WAS OUR DAY Today we woke up in the right spot, just before the sun came up and it was Go Time on deck. The fishing was as good as it gets for about 4 hours and then just slowly tapered off by late afternoon. With all the action going on there was no time for anybody to pick up a camera to take any pictures, My Bad. We ended the day with a very nice catch of 80 to 145 lb Tuna. We still have a couple more days down here before we have to head it for the Barn... so we'll just see what happens tomorrow. GOOD NIGHT AND DREAMING OF COWS SOON, The AA Gang |
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WELL DESERVED Today began as a challenge, however it is amazing how things can change ... just like that. The photos' tell the whole story - we had a very good stop on 80 to 120lb Tuna with the stand out being a 218lb tuna caught by regular passenger, Joe Rubio, who fishes multiple trips a year with us and deserves this one! The rod he used to catch the fish was wrapped by Mike Naoe, Bob's Sporting Goods and delivered right before the trip. We hope things keep looking up in our near future - we still have a few more days and are hoping for continuing Luck. We have very nice weather and a good forecast which is great news.
GOOD NIGHT, The Gang We have 3 spots on our Dec 26 trip and 6 spots on our Jan 5 trip...come fishing!!! |
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Well, I'll start with the weather - it was a very windy and rainy ride down. This morning we still had 20 knots of wind, but as the day progressed it did back off and we finished the day on a nice ocean. We had to make the full tour of this place to find out the best place to be, and caught only one fish for the day - but it was a definite keeper. The photo of the day is Christian with his 294lb beauty. The weather is forecasted to be very nice for tomorrow and we're ready.
GOOD NIGHT, The Gang |
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ANTICIPATION! Well, as you can imagine, if you are on a Long Range trip heading down to the grounds it's like when we were kids and our parents took us to Disneyland.... are we there yet?! We will arrive just after midnight tonight and start looking around in the dark to fish in the morning. The gang has been rigging their tackle for the last couple of days and they are ready to use it. Yesterday we made a quick stop for some Cod for today's lunch. The photo is Greg Stoney with our first Cow of the trip.
WISH US LUCK, The AA Gang |
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MAKING IT NICE During this Thanksgiving Break we have done a little mini-overhaul....the guys spruced up the rails, put new upholstery in the galley, cleaned the carpets and did a deep clean in the staterooms. IT'S GO TIME,the Cows are here and it's time to break out the Big Gear and go fishing. Some of our upcoming trips are sold out, but we still have room on the 10 day Calstar trip departing on Dec. 26th and the 10.5 day Accurate trip departing Jan. 5. Call the office for details! The American Angler |
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Angler's Choice Trip Returns We returned this morning with the first, we hope, of many Big fish of the Fall season, the conditions are starting to develop so let the games begin. Thanks to Luc of Angler's Choice for all the nice giveaways and to Christine for being a great onboard sponsor. And thanks to everyone who came fishing on this 11 day trip! The boat will be in til Thanks Giving and we're going to use that window of opportunity to give the boat a little TLC. Until then, don't eat too much turkey. Check out jackpot winners below - congratulations guys! First place : John Metcalf 173lbs YFT Second place: Bill Hennigh 163lbs YFT Third place: Dennis "Red" Saylors 127lbs YFT Honorable Mention: Jim Zeder 190lbs YFT
The boat next departs on the Saturday after Thanksgiving - Nov 28 - sponsored by Bob's Sporting Goods, call if you'd like to join this trip and have a chance at your first cow of the season! American Angler |
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TRAVELING HOME Today was scrub down day while we were traveling, which typically is handled by our very physically fit crew. HOWEVER, we have this one passenger whose name is Jim Bostian (I think he wants a job on the boat). Jim is always a huge help to the Crew when he comes out and I told him not to help the Crew scrub and to just relax. But he didn't listen to me - so if Jim scrubs... so do I. Also pictured is all the gang right before dinnertime. We would like to Thank Christine, our Angler's Choice sponsor, for bringing out all the great raffle prizes. I know there was all kinds of good stuff given away just about every night. Also Thanks to everyone on the trip, looking forward to fishing with you all again soon.
THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH, Sam, Cam, Ray, Taro, Bubbles and Nate. eta 0515 |
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THE GANG HAD TO WORK FOR 'EM TODAY We fished Yellows where we haven't fished in a long time and it was nice to be somewhere different. However, every fish was caught on a Yoyo lure so I'm sure the gang will have sore arms in the morning. The fishing was spuradic at times, and other times slow, but the grade of fish was very nice and the weather again was stunning; nice & warm by mid morning. We are on our way up the line now and all the gear is broken down so tomorrow will be a day of rest for all the gang and it's time to give the Girl a bath in the morning. The photos of the day are Jim and Jim with some of the Yelllows we picked throughout the day.
GOOD NIGHT AND KEEP THE WIND MACHINE DOWN. The Gang |
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GOOD ACTION We spent the day targeting the 20-30lb class Tuna with good luck. The weather has been very good to us this past few days and we like that - thank you very much. The photo of the day is one of my favorite anglers and a good friend, Chuck Constable - he still has the touch and just about every time we stopped the boat today, he had one on! We are going to shift gears and put on the Yoyo Jigs and hoop loops and target some Yellows tomorrow.
GOOD NIGHT AND THANK YOU TO ALL OUR VETERANS OUT THERE! The Gang |
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NICE WEATHER, AHH! We have been blessed with good weather the last few days which everybody loves. Today we worked over the shallows on the way up the line and were lucky enough to have a couple of good stops on Wahoo and ran into Dorado on the way as well. The photo's of the day are Ted and Ron with their fish of the day.
KEEP IT NICE AND GOOD NIGHT, The Gang |
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WE WERE HOPING FOR MORE After yesterday's sign of fish and the fishing we had for the afternoon, it seemed like a No Brainer. We caught Uncle Bill's fish right out of the gate and thought... here we go - but not the case. We had to wait til right at dark before we hooked any other Bigger Tuna which Jim picked up on the Kite after being in Kite Jail for about 8 hours, but it paid off. We are running up the line and going to work our way up the next couple of days and target anything that gets in our way. We are having a nice ride at the moment and the forecast looks good for the next couple of days.
GOOD NIGHT, THE GROUP IS HAVING FUN, The Gang |
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THE CHARGERS WON AND WE GOT SOME BIG ONES We had a slow start to our trip and have a crowd on board who pretty much from the gate wanted to target Big Tuna. Well, today we did just that; we had a few tackle failures and also won some of the battles to make a good day on quality Tuna. Today's photos show off some the stuff coming over the rail today.
GOOD NIGHT AND STAYING PUT, The Gang |
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TOUGH DAY ON THE BANKS We did lots of looking today for next to no fish *- we ended up catching 1 wahoo and keeping 1 tuna, for our efforts. Tomorrow's got to be better and we're hoping for a big day soon. GOOD NIGHT, The Gang |
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MAKING A MOVE The Stones didn't work out the way we wanted, so it's time to move on - we hooked a nicer fish which came off, caught a few Yellows (pictured below) and some school grade Tuna. Now we're running inside to spots unknown to see what we can find, and are officially in Trophy mode.
GOOD NIGHT, The Gang |
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JUST GETTING A FEEL FOR THINGS We arrived at the Rocks after lunch and with the new time change, we only had a few hours to fish. I would like to say we rolled in here and loaded up, but that wasn't the case. We caught a few handfuls of mixed fish - Wahoo, Yellowtail and some tuna that were the 18 to 25 lb models with one around 40lbs caught by Ron. Also pictured is Uncle Bill with his Wahoo landed on the Bait. We are just starting our trip, so we'll just see what happens here in the next few days. Wish us luck.
GOOD NIGHT, The AA Gang |
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ROLLING DOWN.. Today we spent the day just doing seminars and getting ready to do some fishing tomorrow when we arrive at our destination. Took a few pictures of the gang doing little this and thats throughout the day - all is well and we're having a nice ride down.
GOOD NIGHT, The Gang |
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Sport Chalet Family Returns The boat returned this morning with Capt. Ray Lopez at the helm. It was an unusually intimate setting this year. Everyone enjoyed each other's company and the great fishing they during the nice weather windows throughout the trip. A huge thanks to Brad Lemoine for providing the rich man's dinner and for all the great giveaways including those coolers (everyone at the landing wanted one).....Brad would like to thank the following sponsors for their generous donations to the trip: Dennis from Owner, Rick from Gamagatsu, Maxima, Wendy from Colemans, Leon from Calstar, Matt Salas, Bob from Outwest Marketing, Steve from Izorline, Maurice's Sporting Goods and of course, Sport Chalet. Many deposits were left behind for next year's trip and then lots of goodbyes.... until next time Check out jackpot winners below - congratulations guys! First place : Jeff Nichols 95.5lbs YFT Second place: Bill Randall 93.5lbs YFT Third place: Richard Tanaka 86.5lbs YFT Honorable Mention: Brad Lemoine 95.5lbs YFT
The boat departed on our Angler's Choice 11 day with most of the usual suspects + a few new faces to the trip - Luckily we have Chuck Constable there to keep everybody in line! American Angler |
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Fun in the sun Waking up to a serene sunrise and flat calm weather, it didn't take long before sweating and burning muscles were common symptoms on deck. For the best results in this morning's game, a couple cranks off the bottom with a yo-yo jig was the ticket and having the luxury to drop down at any time and get a bite - made this fun in the sun day truly picture perfect. With everybody getting what they wanted, one couldn't think of a nicer way to end a trip. Fermin Diaz poses with one of our better models of the day.
Rollin Up, The boys |
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DESERVING After several days of difficult weather and tough conditions, we couldn't help but feel like today was well deserved. The weather finally backed off and allowed us to work effectively. With the help of dedicated crewmembers burning their eyes out through binoculars, we were able to get on a fishy area of porpoise. With the boat stopped - one look around and you can tell that everyone was having fun by all the bent rods. We spent a few hours enjoying steady action on school size tuna biting everything from surface iron to live bait. We have one full day of fishing left and plan to spend it fishing yellows. Halloween did not go unoticed this year aboard American Angler as evidenced by today's photos featuring our costume contest winners....Bobby as guess who and Cameron as guess who.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Come fishing.... plenty of room on the next couple of trips...departures on Nov. 3 & Nov 28!! |
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Just enough good weather for some nice action Getting a little break from the weather this morning, we were fortunate enough get a taster on the elusive wahoo. Jig strikes and a frenzy of exciting hook-ups, bites and bite-offs can best describe the morning's action. The wahoo bite was not long lived, so by mid-day we found ourselves wandering north and capping off the afternoon yanking and cranking on some nice grade yellowtail. With the weather still in our favor, we are continuing north looking for a strong finish in the final days of the trip. Today's photo shows team 2 after one of our morning stops, with Bill Randall proudly displaying his pending IGFA line class record wahoo that unfortunately was terminally wounded in the heat of battle.
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Today we woke up to our new scenery and were able to sit on the anchor all day. With beautiful fishing conditions, things felt right but after a few hours of the morning, it was apparent that today was one of those days where rail time was a must. Scratching all day on four different kinds of species - from tuna up to 95lbs to those pesky wahoo made it all the more fun not knowing what your bite might be. With the weather not in our favor, we are going to pick it up and change area codes once again. In today's photos, Richard Tanaka shows off one of his better tuna for the day and Mr.Bob snyder shows off his first skin of the trip.
Turn off the wind machine PLEASE! The boys |
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MEETING OUR GOAL After seeing good sign yesterday afternoon, we were eager to put in a full day of fishing. After trying a few different batches of fish, we got on one that wanted to cooperate and spent the better part of the morning plunking on two beautiful grades of tuna. Having the bite time in our favor, we took full advantage of good weather and biting fish. Everyone got plenty of bites and the had the opportunity to catch a premium. After enjoying the chance to use a few tags, we are continuing our southerly tack in search of new species. In today's photo, Joe Ferris diplays one of his better tuna from the morning hit.
Traveling The Boys |
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Start up kit Leaving the dock with slower reports from our normal 10 day destinations, we decided to stop short and fish the outside island. Arriving just after lunch time we able to get on fish right away and enjoy a nice afternoon of scratch fishing. Having the option to fish on the first day made it nice for everyone to get the rust off and get a little start up kit. With still mixed reports from our fellow code boats down below, we are going to spend the night in the lee and give it a full day tomorrow. Today's shoot stars Tony Duprey showing his first bait and fish of the trip.
The boys |
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The Annual Penn 10 day trip is home Despite being chased by hurricanes this trip - the boat returned with a respectable load of beautiful fresh fish, including a couple of fish over 100lbs (not eligible because they were kite fish). Gary Osborne had a beauty that weighed in at 101.5 and Chong Chang also had a nice Yellowfin that came in at 100.5. Thanks to Steve Carson for all he does to promote this trip and the plethera of giveaways -including several Penn reels, tackle, tackle boxes, tshirts - everyone loves the goodies! Check out jackpot winners below - congratulations guys! Also pictured are the two Chris's - both on leave from duty in Iraq (Chris on the left is a Marine and Chris on the right is a subcontractor for the military) and both scheduled to go back soon. Thanks for choosing to spend your time home with us - we're honored! And pictured is our one and only, Steve Carson, showing how it's done with his yellowfin caught by jig. First place : "Sailor Jack" Esson 91.0lbs YFT Second place: Tom Bruch 87.0lbs YFT Third place: Chris Carney 86.5lbs YFT Honorable Mention: Ron Anderson 71.0lbs Yellowtail
The boat departed with the annual Sport Chalet trip with Capt. Ray Lopez at the helm - good luck! American Angler |
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Still having technical difficulties with the email - but they called and had fantastic fishing today on Yellowtail and Tuna - and to seal the deal, beautiful weather, making for a perfect ending to this trip. ETA is Sat. am 7:30am. Check back then for pictures and details from the bridge then. On a sad note, Bill Poole passed away last night- our thoughts and prayers go out to the Poole family. He was a great man and we will miss him and his guidance. American Angler |
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Talked with the boat tonight and they are having technical difficulties with the email and so can't send a fish report. All is well and they had decent fishing today with 80 Yellowtail and 18 tuna - there will be pictures to follow tomorrow, check back then. American Angler |
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THEY DIDN'T WANT TO PLAY TODAY We gave it most of the day before we had enough of watching fish show around the boat - but not bite. We did scrape up a few nice Tuna and some Wahoo for the gangs effort but it was slow catching. The photo of the day is Gary with the 101lb Tuna he landed today, with some help from the Guys. We are heading up the line to fish the Beach and get some distance between us and ol Hurricane Rick - today the South swell showed up so we are going to finish our trip in the northern Latitudes. All is fine here so loved ones don't worry about your guys.
GOOD NIGHT AND NORTHBOUND, The AA Crew |
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THINGS ARE LOOKING UP! Well today was a much better day of Tuna fishing for us, we caught fish that just broke the 100lb mark and we saw more sign then yesterday. We are going to give it another day before we will most likely have to head north due to Hurricane Rick, but for tonight we are going to sit tight. The photos of the day are Chris and Dan with a couple of the fish they landed today.
GOOD NIGHT AND HOPING FOR A BIG DAY, The AA Gang |
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THE BOYS FISHED HARD TODAY Well, today was actually our first full day of fishing - we arrived here at the Stones late last night. Today we had high hopes of catching a bunch of nice Tuna but things are not what they were here a week ago. We still had a good day fishing with good action on Yellows, all being nice grade including the Giant that Ron & Cameron are posing with. We also managed to catch a few of the good grade Tuna which kept things interesting - as in the Tuna photo of Chong, the Guys and Tuna. The weather is flat calm right now, so we are hoping the fishing picks up tomorrow.
GOOD NIGHT, The AA Gang |
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M&M Returns from the season's first 10 day The boat returned with a really super nice catch of mid grade Yellowfin tuna, quality yellowtail and a few other incidental catches. Thanks again so much to Monte of M&M Custom Rods who is already gotten a good start on next year's trip - we look forward to this First Ten Day of The Season! Pictured below are the jackpot winners - congrats guys! And Monte and Mary Parsons - the M&M of M&M Custom Rods. Thank you and it was great to have Mary out there catching fish and sticking up for the girls. First place : Matt Ford 94.5lb YFT Second place: Tom Szczeblowski 94.0lb YFT Third place: Richard Clark 92.0lb YFT
Steve Carson, rep for Penn reels, and gang are on their way....check back tomorrow night for progress on this ten day trip. |
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THE NEARING END OF A GREAT RIDE HOME Today was a wonderful travel day and the gang just kicked backed and enjoyed the ride because rides like this up the line are few and far between and we all are thankful for this one. The photo of the day says it all. We would like to Thank Monte and Uncle Dee of M&M Rods for sponsoring this trip - it's always a pleasure taking this gang fishing. We caught nice grade fish and plenty of them.
THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH, The Crew - Sam, Ray, Jordan, Bobby, Cam, Nate and Greg ETA 0545 |
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MISSION ACCOMPLISHED The goal was to catch Yellows and that's just what we did - today we didn't have the quanity like yesterday, but the quality was there. We have very nice weather now for the ride home and we all are liking it very much. The photos of the day are Bill with a sample of the size Yellow of the day and Pat with our token Yellowfintuna caught at Cedros on the surface iron, wow. It was a great trip... now its time to roll up the line.
GOOD NIGHT TO ALL, The AA Gang |
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FUN DAY IN THE LEE We had good action on Yellows today - the fish were 15 to 30lbs all mixed up size, and the gang had a great day of fishing. We are going to spend the night and hope to finish up on our Yellows tomorrow before we have to run up the line. The photos of the day are Capt kirk and Monte also Bill and Rich with some of the better grade fish we caught this morning.
GOOD NIGHT, The AA Gang |
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TOPPING OFF ON OUR TUNA We found some nice grade tuna (25 to 40lb fish) here this morning and everybody has plenty of tuna to take home. We are going to run up tonight and fish for Yellows the next couple of days to finish our trip off and hang in the Lee of an Island. The photo of the day is Matt with the token Grouper he bagged this morning.
GOOD NIGHT, The AA Gang |
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RECAP ON THE LAST COUPLE OF DAYS We left the Stones last night after having very good fishing on 60 to 95lb Tuna and then ran in to the Ridge. Today was very slow but the weather was great, we are going to spend tomorrow on the upper end and then make a move up the line to try to get our Yellowtail to finish the trip. The weather is getting much nicer so we hope it will help us out and will be to our advantage tomorrow. The photo of the day is John with one of his Tuna Caught at the Rocks. We have a lot of time left in our trip so we'lll just see what happens from here on out.
GOOD NIGHT AND LOVING THIS WEATHER, THE M&M Gang |
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The guys had great fishing on bigger tuna - couldn't get report through, check back tonight! American Angler |
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GOOD GRADE FISH We arrived at the Stones around 0900 and things were happening. Today there was a little window of morning action with a slow period midday and by late afternoon another window of good fishing for about 2 hours. The fish ranged from 60lb to 85lbs, very nice!. We are going to stay here tonight for tomorrow and just take it day by day and then go from there. The photos of the day are Monte, Mary and also Tony with their good ones for the day. The weather is not too bad, a little bit of wind - but it's nice fishing weather.
GOOD NIGHT AND WISH US LUCK, The M&M Gang |
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Ken's Gang Home The boat returned with a nice load of fish and thanks to a nice paddy on the last day - they settled jackpot with some beautiful tuna. Thanks to Ken and Wes for organizing the trip again this year and keeping interest high in this limited load 6 day trip. We appreciate you! And Ken's Custom Reels would like to thank Blackwater, Calstar and Tady for their generous donations to the trip. Check out jackpot winners below - congratulations guys! First place : Zeke Harloff 85.0lbs YFT Second place: Dale Puett (YT 46.6lbs) 82.5lbs YFT Third place: Wes Cogan 34.8lbs Yellowtail
The boat departed with the annual M&M Custom Rods trip - the first Sunday in October of every year....good luck to you Mary! American Angler |
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OUTSIDE THE DUMPER! We had a very nice ride after choppy weather most of the day, but it laid down nicely for our travels up the line. We looked around offshore where there had been some good fish caught a couple of weeks ago, for our last day of fishing today. We covered a lot of water and chased a bunch of sonar marks around - found plenty of kelps but when the day was done one kelp and one sonar mark made our day. From all the photos of the day we had a mix of Flats with one stop and one mix of good grade Tuna to finish up the trip in flat calm weather, very nice. Check out Ken's gang, Jamie Lyons - owner of kk pono custom lures and Zeke all showing what they harvested today. A special Thanks goes out to Ken and Wes of Ken's Custom Reel for sponsoring yet another trip, we love taking these guys fishing it's always a blast, and Thanks to all for being on the trip!
GOOD NIGHT AND IT'S A NICE RIDE IN, The Crew - Sam, Taro, Jordan, Keith, Bobby, Paul and Greg ETA 0545 |
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BUMPY TO FLAT WEATHER Today we spent the day looking offshore and it wasn't nice working weather in the morning which wasn't all that much fun. However by the late afternoon, the weather got nice and we did find one kelp that produced some hot and heavy action on School size Tuna for just a little bite to make our day. We are running up the line in nice Seas and hope to find a few last Albacore tomorrow to finish off our short season trips before it;s time to go South. GOOD NIGHT AND SMOOTH SAILING, The Gang |
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GOT LUCKY AGAIN We were very lucky this morning to be able to just stay steady with this beautiful grade of Yellowtail - we're very pleased to have our shot at this. The photo of the day is Dale with the Giant Yellowtail he caught in this morning's bite, without a doubt the biggest of the trip so far. We are going to try our luck offshore for the remainder of the trip and hope for something good.
GOOD NIGHT, THE BOYZ |
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YANKING AND A CRANKING We started on the beach this morning - our goal was to target Yellows and it wasn't easy at first but by mid morning we found some fish that wanted to bite. In the afternoon we moved on and had a good day on bigger yellows to round off our day. The photo of the day is Wes and Zeke with some of the Quaility fish we had late in the day.
GOOD NIGHT, KEN AND THE GANG |
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Turners is home The boat returned this morning with a nice catch of Dorado, Yellowfin Tuna, Yellowtail and even a couple of handfuls of Albacore. A Huge thanks to Rich Jenkins who works on organizing this trip all year - and to all the folks that came out fishing - thanks! Check out jackpot winners below and pastry chef extraordinaire, Nate, spending some downtime with Mr. Bill Randall.... First place : Bill Randall 37.8lb YFT Second place: Corey Sullivan 32.6lb YFT Third place: Ted Cramer 25.8lb YFT
The boat departed with Ken Corwin and Gang on their annual 6 day journey - both Ken and Wes present for this trip.. Check back for reports! |
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Enjoy We finished up the trip looking for exotics because we were in the great situation of having plenty of fish. We went out to the west looking for good grade tuna fish and found decent conditions. We saw lots of mysterious sonar marks that we could not get close to and we will never know what they were. We did catch a couple of handfuls of decent grade yellowfin and a few albacore as there is still a little sign and a chance for some great late season fishing. Scott Taves shows off the first albacore of the day with Cameron and the reason why we caught anything... Martha Bummer and her great Karma.
What A Great Ride Home, The Guys |
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On The List We decided to try and get even with the kelp area that treated us so poorly the first day. We woke up to beautiful weather and the visibility was in our favor. It took us awhile but right before lunch we saw "the one". There were flats jumping over a large area and when we started getting semi-close to the kelp, the sonar was lit up. The fish were there and they wanted to bite in a big way. The dorado were all 15-20lb fish - just about as good a grade as one could ask for and the majority of the tuna that made it to the box were 18-30lb fish. It was pick-your-type-of-fish because it was aquarium style fishing and biting as good as it gets. Do You Believe? We Do. The Guys We have a 10 day trip departing the Saturday after Thanksgiving - definitely a go with plenty of rail room - come fishing! |
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Good Living We went into the beach to stop the boat and fish over the side. After moving all day yesterday, it was therapuetic to stop the rig and fish at a leisurely pace. We started catching yellows right after grey light and we had good steady 2-8 going type fishing on yellows all morning. By lunch we were satiated so we took off and headed offshore. Tom Meyers is stoked with his yellow and a Turner's trip just would not be the same without a picture of our number one sweetheart in the whole world, Martha Bummer's million dollar smile.
Appreciating The Good Weather, The Guys |
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The Right Kelp The right kelp is music to any fisherman's ears whether it is holding yellows, dorado, and/or tuna. Today we started looking for good-sized dorado and there were a few good kelps to be had... unfortunately, not for us. It was not from lack of effort though, as our crew glassed their behinds off - we just never found one. Glenn Bummer shows off an example of what we were looking for.
Looking Forward To Tomorrow, The Guys |
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Badfish returns The boat returned with a nice catch of Dorado, Yellowtail and a few jackpot Lupe tuna. Again thanks to Louis Papai who couldn't make his trip this year - but put together some nice giveaways and we appreciate Karl for representing. Thanks to such a nice group of people - Adam & Michelle thank you so much for the smoked salmon all the way from Alaska! Check out jackpot winners below - congratulations guys! First place : Arthur Jamison 68.0lbs YFT Second place: Adam Zenger 64.0lbs YFT Third place: Steve Leonhart 53.5lbs YFT
The boat departed with the annual Turners Rod and Reel Club open trip - check back for reports. American Angler |
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BOUND HOME AGAIN We really didn't have much time today to fish due to being slowed down by a little bit of weather last night. The weather picked back up here this afternoon, but the forecast is for it to back off tomorrow - so it should be a nice ride out on the next trip. We would like to say Thanks to all of the Badfish Anglers for another great trip - it is a pleasure to take you guys fishing every year. And a special Thank You to Louis Papai for all the giveaways, sorry you couldn't make it but Karl Salinas did a great job filling in as sponsor. THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH, Your Crew, Sam, Ray, Cam, Bubbles, Travis, Nate and Greg ETA 0600 |
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GETTIN IT DONE! Very good Yellowtail fishing for the few Long Range Boats fishing the beach today. It took about a hour for them to wake up, but when they did it was Tons of Fun. The photos of the day are Sue and Michelle with a couple of Trophies that they picked up in one of our Honey Holes. We are traveling up the line tonight to do a little fishing in the A.M. and then it will be time to Bundle the rods and clean the boat up.
GOOD NIGHT, The AA Guys |
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TODAY WAS A GOOD DAY We are very lucky to have a shot at catching these nice dorado up here in our area, it sure breaks up the ride coming and going from the Big Island. With a lot of effort and patience we finally found a couple of the Right Kelps to make our day and leave a smile on everybodys face as shown here in today's photo of the day. Tomorrow we are going to fish the beach for Yellowtail and hope we have good luck in there as well.
HAVING A GOOD TIME - NIGHT NIGHT, The AA Boyz |
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LIMITS OF SUN, NOT MUCH FISH We started at the Big Island offshore in hopes that this place changed for the better - but it did not. We did manage to catch all of our Jackpot fish and that was about all we could scrape up for our efforts. The photos of the day are Adam with his Yellowfin and Karl with Big Yellow. We are in search of Kelps tomorrow - the weather is just awesome and the forecast looks great for the next couple of days.
WISH US LUCK, GOOD NIGHT. Team BADFISH |
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Skinny Pirates Return The boat returned early this morning to a beautiful day and unloaded their nice catch of Dorado, Yellowtail and Yellowfin Tuna. This group receives the most-neatly-placed-fish-on-the-dock award. They gingerly layed out all their fish - not one fish being thrown onto the cement - preserving their catch for consumption.... A gigantic thanks to Chris Cruger for being the Skinny Pirate and the glue of this group - and to Mas for his help keeping the trip full as well. Chris wanted to thank the following for their generous donations: Kens Custom Reels, Five Star Fish Processing, Ballast Point Brewery, the Waterfront Bar and Grille and Outback restaurants. Appreciate you gathering the giveaways Chris, and to Steve Powell - nice design on this years T. We look forward to seeing all next year and thank you so much! Pictured below are jackpot winners and Skip Sato with son Richard. Skip is 90 years young, still going strong and we are honored to have him fishing with us onboard the American Angler. (He is previous owner of Avila Sportfishing and fishes this trip with son, Richard and friends). First place : Anthony Bantiles 70.5lb YFT Second place: Larry Marksworth 67.5lb YFT Third place: Chris Cruger 65.5lb YFT
The boat departed with the Badfish group - Karl Salinas filling for Badfish owner, Louis Papai - who will be missed- but thanks Karl. Check back for reports! |
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GOOD RIDE HOME Today was not much of a fishing day with only a few fish to show for it, but the weather is just beautiful right now and all the folks are enjoying this last leg of the trip. We would like to Thank Chris for putting The Skinny Pirates trip together for another year, what a great group of Guys and a gal to fish with. Looking forward to fishing with all of you again soon. THANK YOU YOUR CREW, Sam, Ray, Jordan, Cam, Bubbles, Travis, Paul and Greg ETA 0600 GOOD NIGHT - OVER AND OUT |
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GETTING THE JACKPOT FISH We arrived here at the Big Island around 0900 and it took a while before we had any good feelings about this place. After lunch we got settled in to a spot where there were finally some fish around and we were able to have a slow pick on them. For all the gang's hard work, we ended the day with 11 of these nicer Tuna. The photos of the day are Chris and Anthony with some of the Jackpot fish for the day. Tomorrow we are going to spend a few hours looking offshore and then it will be time to go home.
GOOD NIGHT, The AA Gang |
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GOOD ACTION Well today was another day of good fishing, we had wide open style fishing on Yellowtail with some Yellowfin Tuna mixed in to keep it interesting. The photo of the day is a shot towards the end of the bite - you can see some of the gang still fishing and some just watching the fun. We are enroute for the Big Island out west in hopes of getting a few Jackpot fish to finish up our trip.
GOOD NIGHT, The AA Gang |
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STARTING OFF ON THE RIGHT FOOT We took the offshore route today and had very good luck finding what we had set out to do - Flats and things, were on the menu. This morning was pretty slow, but by the end of the day it all worked out the way it was supposed to. The photo of the day is Miss Nancy with one of the nice Dorado she caught; everybody enjoyed tugging on these today and we got a few Tuna mixed in as well. We are going to fish the Beach tomorrow so wish us Luck.
GOOD NIGHT, The AA Gang |
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Bobs Sporting Goods Back Home Capt. Brian Kiyohara backed the boat in this morning with the gang from Bobs Sporting Goods. Thanks to Jay for filling in for Mike this trip, and a huge thanks to Mike Naoe without whom these trips would not be possible - he spends the year organizing from the shop and it is a great group of guys. And again thanks to Scott Okamura for the beef sticks - they are soooo good! The guys had a nice catch of Yellowfin Tuna, Yellowtail and Dorado - all beautiful fresh fish, many of which were being taken home for a backyard fillet party to be consumed and shared by friends and family. Check out jackpot winners below - congratulations guys First place : Jay Maeda 65lbs YFT Second place: Matt Salas 62lbs YFT Third place: Scott Okamura 62lbs YFT
The boat departed at noon with the Skinny Pirates group - chartermaster, Chris Cruger started off the trip with a great new Skinny Pirates Logo t-shirt to be enjoyed by all....check back for reports. |
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Wrapping It Up We rolled up the coast, made a quick stop and caught a few reds to share with Friends and Family. It went very well, so we were able to enjoy the day and leisurely break down our gear. Every group has their own signature and this group from Bob's Sporting Goods in West L.A. specialty is definitely their gear. Mike who owns the shop, builds some of the finest rods that we see throughout the year and all the guys with no exceptions are outfitted with the best. We are already looking forward to seeing some of these guys on this fall's 10 day trip and also next year's summertime trips.
We Love It All, The Guys |
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Back To Business After having to deal with an ocean that has been stingy for the last week, we finally got a reprieve. We traveled into the beach and enjoyed wide open yellow tail fishing and it was great to be back on deck and on the ropes. Sorry no picture tonight because when we were busy ...we were busy. Working Up, The Guys |
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Change Of Address We woke up at the island anticipating a nice day of tuna fishing. We tried looking for loose schools of fish and we found them, but they just would not cooperate. They were hard to chase down and even if they did show themselves they would not bite or stick around. We anchored some of the shallows and saw decent sign of fish but the sharks were very aggressive and would not let us pull any through. We decided to make a move and by lunch we were traveling looking for kelps. We are fortunate to have a crew that can see extremely well. Taro put us on a few kelps from a long ways away which is tough to do in hot water where they are not as plentiful. We had a couple of great stops on mixed grade Dorado and had one kelp that produced 36 decent grade tuna. Today's picture is Gordon Toguchi and Matt Salas.... if it wasn't for different last names, one would swear that they are brothers.
Hoping They Bite, The Guys |
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Stingy The Island at times can be very stingy with her possessions. Today we arrived just before lunch and we saw decent amounts of fish. We had a few spots react but we never hooked more than one fish at a time. We tried some conventional spots but every time we hooked a fish the "locals" were waiting and we either got back half a fish or most times nothing. We had a little shot late in the day for some action so we ended up with a mixed bag of decent sized flats, a few yellows, and some good sized yellowfin tuna. Not everyone was fortunate enough to land a tuna today so that is tomorrow's goal. Scott Okamura caught the first good sized tuna of the trip and hopefully there will be many more.
Every Day Is Different, The Guys |
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The boat returned early this morning after facing challenges with fishing and weather conditions, but even so, the passengers unloaded in great spirits. Thank you all so much - we appreciate you coming fishing! We want to thank our friend Stan Chin who chartered this trip for the past 6 years and due to life's circumstances has retired from that job - we are grateful to you for all your support - thank you. Check out jackpot winners below - congratulations guys First place : Dave Uradomo 46.2lbs YFT Second place: Wyatt Russell 41.0lbs YFT Third place: Steve Brandon 40.6lbs YFT
The boat departed early with the gang from Bob's Sporting Goods. Check back for reports! A Special thanks to our friend Scott Okamura for all the out-of-this-world beef teriyaki stixs!!! American Angler |
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Action We slid away from the chop and went into the beach to sample some of the local fishing. We had a little grey bite to start things off and then thanks to the random jig strike and kelp paddy, we managed to stay busy most of the day. The grade of fish was not impressive at all, but the action and commotion made up for it and kept everyone at the rail. Enough about the fishing and more about the group. We had a couple of first time AA anglers but the bulk majority of the folks are true blue regulars. For those of you that ride with us you have probably heard this but for those who haven't - here it is. Some of the best trips we have ever been on have been tough fish catching trips because everyone pulls together and every fish landed not only appreciated but also celebrated. Some of the worst experiences happened on trips where we loaded up on everything and had to stand on the fish hold hatches to close them. On these trips all of our worst emotions can come to the surface - jealousy, selfishness and greed just to name a few, as quite often good fishing is not only expected but sometimes unappreciated. This group thrived and ate up adversity.
We Carry The Best, The Boys ETA 5:30am |
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Looking For A Break We started out way west again in the land of the dragons looking forward to the forecasted 10kts of wind. We got up at 3:30 to pull the chute and it was 25 kts with big white combers going down the side of the boat. We caught a couple of bluefin and one albacore before we pulled the chute after daylight and once we started moving we realized that it was near impossible to work. We opted to slide down to the southeast, realizing that our guys glassing and our machines would be the most effective going that direction. We covered the albacore grounds of a few days ago and at fast jig speed we covered roughly 80 miles of water for only a few fish here and there. There was one rig that had a nice day on quality tuna but we were once again lumped in with the guys that struggled and scratched. Today's picture is Dr. Chiro David Birznieks albacore that he boated with the help of Ray Lopez. This tough fishing has made the bond between this group strong and has brought us closer to achieving our goal.
Always Trying Our Best, The Guys |
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Prayer We started off in the zone where our guys had good fishing yesterday evening. We saw sign of fish driving around in the dark but had no grey bite. Throughout the day we saw plenty of fish, we just could not get any of them to stick around. All our stops were just for a couple of fish as the "good" one never came our way. There was 25% of our guys that had an OK day, but unfortunately we were thrown in with the bunch that did not catch much. This is a true character builder as all other options except offshore fishing has expired for the rest of the trip. This group is one of the more understanding groups and are still enjoying each other's company. Tom Knott and Rob Smith show a sample of a couple of the fish that were caught today.
Please Say One For Us, The Guys |
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The Total Miss We left the dock with high hopes for good fishing and weather. We had beautiful weather and a few fish out of our grey bite, so we thought we were well on our way. After daylight we saw off color water and very little sign, so the four of us split up and went searching in different directions. One of our guys got on the fish at one o'clock and by that time we were too far away to get in on it. It was a very tough afternoon listening to the good fishing when we caught absolutely nothing. If you go to enough ball games, you will eventually sit in every seat. We have been fortunate enough to have had pretty nice seats throughout the year... but today we were in the nosebleed sitting next to the bathroom. The good news is that there was some pretty good fishing and that we have three more days to catch a fish. Thriving On Adversity, The Guys |
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James Hardware Gang Returns to Pt. Loma Capt. Brian backed in this morning with a beautiful load of Bluefin, Yellowfin and Albacore - the fish were carefully separated so the charter could head home to begin their process of preserving their catch. A huge special thanks to our friend David Samarin for his hard work all year long organizing this trip and to Dan Shubin who thoughtfully plans the menu and food gathers for this special trip. Thanks to all on board - we look forward to seeing you next summer! Check out jackpot winners below - congratulations gentlemen and one more group shot of the gang looking sharp, sporting their newly designed James Hardware tees... 1st place: Daniel D. Samarin 69 lb YFT 2nd place: Jim Demetriff 63 lb YFT 3rd place: Morrie Beliakoff 61 lb YFT
5 day trip departed at noon - check back for reports! |
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Luck Of The Draw Today we made it back up to the offshore grounds mid morning and were excited because there had already been a few good stops. The kind of fishing that we have been doing has not been temp break orientated, it has been 100% geographically orientated. There is not very much loose fish, only isolated balls of fish which meant a boat had to be the chosen one to get a few hits. Unfortunately, we were one of the guys that did a lot of driving - but when we stopped, we were overwhelmed with the grade of fish. We caught albacore to 35lbs and we had many "lupe" grade yellowfin up to 55lbs thrown into the mix. We ended up with about 80 mixed fish to top off a succesful trip. The Samarin brothers and the rest of the guys with this James Hardware Gang group are top notch individuals. Hard working and respectful are the first couple of words off our lips and we are also glad to see a nice blend of younger guys from the community learning to appreciate these trips. All we can say is that we look forward to this trip, appreciate our relationship and hope that it is a long and fruitful one.
Feeling Like Part Of The Family, The Guys |
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Timing Is Everything We rolled down to the island with one goal in mind. That goal was for everyone aboard to have the opportunity to pull on a yellowfin and land one and to be able to share the benefits with family or Friends. Because we happened on the lucky anchor job, we accomplished that goal and then some with a very busy morning keeping 4-8 hooked most of the time. Today morning time was best and thankfully so because around 2 o'clock in the afternoon the sign of tuna disappeared. So far this trip, everything brought over the rail has been a quality fish with today's 30-70lb yellowfin being no exception. Steve Samarin takes the prize for the odd man out in today's picture with his afternoon yellowtail.
Moving Back Up The Line, The Guys |
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Fickle Today we once again were blessed with beautiful fishing conditions. Things started out with a bang as the albacore found us in the dark and we had action right away. We then went a little ways and had another quick stop and things seemed to be on track. What we didn't plan, was driving for a couple of hours between stops as the fish would spend more time "down" then they would in the bite zone. We also saw several nice deals of fish that did not cooperate for unknown reasons. We ended the day early to start traveling down and ended up with around 75 mixed good grade tuna. Jack Sussoev Jr. gives his dad a helping hand with one of today's albacore.
Rolling Down, The Guys Still a couple of spots on Wed. Sept 2 trip ..... |
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The Perfect Specimen We started out on the offshore grounds not knowing what to expect. This year has been very unpredictable with little or no consistency. David Samarin landed the day's first fish which gave him "stud" status and the right to wear the colors in a proud manner. As the day progressed, we enjoyed steady action on mixed albacore, bluefin and yellowfin. We had the best of both worlds with plentiful stops and a beautiful grade of fish. Nathan Suhovy boated an albacore that bottomed out a 50lb scale and there were also several bluefin that would have done the same. Big Daddy Shubin gets a helping hand from his son Dan, with a bluefin, and David Samarin who caught the first fish was also blessed by catching one of the last ones in a sundowner bluefin stop. These beauties are all bled and chilling in the RSW tank waiting to be unloaded with the "just swimming" look to be taken home and utilized by the whole community.
Every one Is A Beauty, The Guys (Still a few spots on next Wed's 5 day trip .... call the office) |
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Chasin Tuna group is home The boat backed in and unloaded a nice catch of Bluefin, Albacore and Yellowfin. We want to give a huge thanks to Mike Goldsmith who works hard all year to organize this great charter and for all his generosity. We enjoyed seeing everyone and look forward to seeing you next summer! Thanks to Sara from 5 Star for the gift certificate. 1st place: Mike Goldsmith 83.5 lb YFT 2nd place: Mike Hill 65.5 lb YFT 3rd place: Mark Malone 65.0 lb YFT Honorable Mention: Bruce Marcotte 84.0 lb YFT
David J. Samarin, chartermaster of the James Hardware Gang, are on their way - check back for reports. A big thanks to Jim Demetriff for the grapes, plums and prunes and to Paul Portnoff for the watermelon - everyone will be enjoying fresh fruit this trip...along with the Cuban Empanadas - spinach filled - supplied and distributed by Mr. Shubin. They were delicious! And a special thanks to Sara Samarin for all the wonderful canned tuna for everyone. Also thank you to Mario of Sportsmen Seafood for the hats and product for the group. |
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Just a taste Things sounded pretty promising when we left the island last night. Reports from the grounds of good fishing and good weather - the stars were lined up. As we all know everyday is different but in today's story the fish teased us all day only allowing us just a taste. Not lacking faith in the luck department - everyone was able to get a least one nice bluefin today with a couple handfuls of albacore thrown in. With no hard feelings, the day was accepted and we wrapped it up. Pat Noll says "sushi" as he shows off one of the nice bluefin he caught.
The end, The boys Still a couple of spots on Wed. Sept 2 trip ..... |
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Patience Everyday is different on the ocean no matter what you're fishing for - from local calico bass to world class 300lb tuna and today was no different... Hats and sunscreen were a must the first half of our day, and with lots of patience and luck the light switch finally turned on and we had steady action all afternoon. After the smoke cleared, the smiles were back and morale is at its peak. With one more day, we're going to head up the line and finish it off on the albacore grounds. Today's shot features Mr.Bernie Arum displaying one of his trophies from today.
Enjoying the weather, The boys |
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Action With the luxury of having a few fish for everyone to take home already, we put her on a southerly course. Arriving on scene just after daylight, we had action all day. Being the first in the water and putting your time at the rail was key to getting a bite as shown here by Chasin Tuna Regular, Rick Johnson. By the end of the day everyone had a trophy or two to talk about. With smiles all around and having fun we're going to give it another day here and try our luck tomorrow.
Having fun, The boys |
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Sliding down Pulling them back and not taking the guadalupe express, we decided to stop short with the local fishing on the up swing. Waking up to great weather and yesterday's hot spot - we found out that today we had to go looking somewhere else. By lunch time we found ourselves in an area scratching nicely at premium grade albacore and yellowfin. Giving it as long as we could before having to slide down to the big island - our trip is off to a great start. Richard Orosco and star crew member, Cameron, show off one of these beautiful grade albacore.
En route, The boys |
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Uesugi-Kimura trip returns Capt. Brian brought back the charter from a 7 day trip with nice Wahoo, Yellowfin Tuna and Yellowtail from Alijos and Cedros. Thanks so much to this group - we look forward to seeing the guys every summer and appreciate the all year effort from Russ & George to organize the trip. Thank you!! The jackpot and group Wahoo picture is courtesy of Michelle Uesugi - thank you for having your camera ready! Honorable Mention: Russell Fujizawa 65.0 lb Wahoo 1st place: Andrew Owyoung 76.5 lb YFT 2nd place: Tosh Kimura 72.0 lb YFT 3rd place: Jerry Endo 68.0 lb YFT
Mike Goldsmith, chartermaster of the Chasin Tuna crew are on their way with Capt Ray in the bridge |
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Offshore We went offshore on the way up to try and top off with a few tuna fish. Reports of alto of green water caused us to get an early jump from the islands to put us in clean water. We started out at daylight in decent water and had a few strikes and kelps on smaller grade tuna, yellows and dorado. We worked up for half the day before we hit that green water and called it a day. This has to be one of our closest groups as the joking and fun never stops. We have enjoyed decent fishing, great weather and lots of good times. Uncle George Uesugi still knows how to enjoy himself and his great attitude is contagious.
Enjoying The Weather, The Guys ETA 6am |
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Scratching We spent the night on the anchor hoping we were in the right spot in the morning.Current conditions were good but the fish apparently didn't think so. We pulled the anchor and moved around and later the life showed up right where we were. We only had a couple of wahoo strikes but when we put the anchor down they got on us right away.We scratched at wahoo and mid grade tuna one to three at a time and by the time we pulled it to leave we had an OK day. Moving Up The Guy's |
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Home Again Capt. Brian Kiyohara brought the boat back with a beautiful load of varied species - Yellowfin tuna (big and football sized), Bluefin Tuna, Yellowtail and a couple of Dorado. Thanks so much to all the passengers - there were a lot of new folks on this trip and we appreciate you giving us a try! Look forward to seeing you all again. Check out jackpot winners below - congratulations guys First place : Doc Geyer 70.0lbs YFT Second place: Chuck Hone 68.5lbs YFT Third place: John Obrien 64.0lbs YFT
The boat leaves with a 7 day charter - the guys from Uesugi-Kimura. We are so appreciative of all the great food everyone brought - Glenn's peaches, plums , tomatoes - Blake's watermelons - Jerry's wine - Uncle George's Kim Chee, rice cakes and apricots. Thank you all! Good luck and we'll see you in a week. American Angler |
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Icing We moved up the line to maximize our fishing time by looking offshore. On our first day down we fished bluefin and in just a matter of a few days we have switched gears to football tuna. It was mid morning before we found an area and got a good stop right away. It was on-the-corner type fishing for quite awhile and we were lucky to get it done in one stop. Everybody added something special to this trip as many different people who were strangers four days ago are going to walk off the boat with new Friends. Planning And Opportunity Coming Together, The Guys |
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Reality It seems like lately we have been lucky enough to enjoy good tuna fishing at the island. Whether it was the lucky drift or anchor job, it seems to often times work out. Today was different - no matter what we did we just couldn't put the tuna fishing together. We saw plenty of fish and enjoyed some pretty good shows, but they would never hang out with us and sure didn't bite like we had hoped they would. We called it quits in the early afternoon with 22 fish and headed to fish yellows the rest of the day. We were fortunate to find good wind and current conditions and ended the day with a bang having good fishing on 20-28 lb fish with a few standouts. The beauty of this afternoon was that it was take-your-pick fishing style. Flyline, surface plug, yo yo,or the drop loop were all working as it was a fun way to relieve some stress. Our T.V. star Michael Rodrick shows off one of his tuna and Rose Obrian gets a helping hand from Cameron (the ladies man) with one of her many yellowtail.
Enjoying The Ride Up, The Guys P.S. Don't worry Francesca, you are still the one There is availability on our 5 days departing Sept. 2, Sept. 17 and Sept 22 - call the office @ 619 223 5414 - come fishing |
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Steady We fished the island today in hopes of getting everyone a trophy. We were fortunate enough to be in a position shortly after daylight where the fish got on us and we stayed busy. We had 1-5 hooked into the afternoon before it totally died. The sharks at the island are definitely getting with it as they were around right away and created havoc the entire time. We were able to get 63 nice 45-75lb tuna for our efforts as the group worked really hard. Capt. Willy Cloyes gives Doc G a helping hand with a nice tunafish.
Looking Forward To Tomorrow, The Guys |
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Starter Kit We are very lucky to have several folks that are new to the AA family on board with us. We couldn't think of a better way to acclimate everyone to the boat then the classic style bluefin fishing. Offshore albacore style fishing quite often could be very hectic with its stop-and-go personality. We had a few nice sonar deals of bluefin that showed in numbers right away and then would settle in to the classic plunker style type bite that equivilates to everyone spread out up the side fishing. We stayed in a drift pretty much all morning which gave everyone plenty of opportunities to become familiar with the bait tank. We ended up with a nice catch with everyone aboard at least capturing one and with the "hot sticks" putting several in the bag. They were all a beautiful grade of fish proven by the smiles of Ray Lopez and Chuck Lowe and the husband and wife duo John and Rose Obrian.
We're Meshing, The Guys |
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Anglers Choice trip returns The boat returned at the hand of Capt. Ray Lopez - that's one more successful trip under his belt. The guys had quality fishing at the Island and caught a few fish offshore on the last day with beautiful weather to finish it off. Thanks to Luc, Anglers Choice, for sponsoring the trip and Frank, on board rep. And as always thank you so much to everyone that keeps coming back to this 5 day - making it the special reunion it is every year!! Check out jackpot winners below - including first place winner Ernie Seko, an Izorline pro-staffer who caught his jackpot fish with 40lb Izorline: First place tie : Ernie Seko 68 lbs YFT First place tie : Nildo Massucco 63 lbs YFT Third place: Bob Axel 62 lbs YFT Honorable mention: Bob Starkey(where'd he go?) 63 lbs YFT
The boat departed with an open 5 day trip - check back for reports American Angler |
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Fun while it lasted The last few days down here have been nothing but fun to say the least. Hot sunny days and biting fish was the recipe. As for Fishing... a place like Guadalupe can be very challenging and mentally stressful at times, but also very rewarding as it was this time. We started the day off right and from first light til dusk had steady fish around us that was willing to cooperate, and although it was not wide open there was enough action to make it encouraging to put your time in at the rail. In today's picture, we have TW Cunningham showing off yet another beautiful Guadalupe yellowfin. Thankfully our last few days here were exciting and we are heading offshore now to do some looking.
wish us luck The boys |
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Sunscreen Another fun day in the sun were the words at the end of the day. With such good results at yesterday's hot spot, we decided to give her a try right out the gate this morning. Slowly scratching the morning away, we knew that today it wasn't going to pay off. With a little bit of a crowd we opted to run up the island and make an afternoon elsewhere. And with lots of luck and faith on our side, it worked out and next thing you know we had steady action on the premium tuna and 25-35lb yellows. From yo-yo jigs to a fly lined bait, the chances of getting a bite were good. Putting on yet another good show, the word 'BOIL' was a common word to be heard all afternoon. Taking the time to pose for a picture, Roy Yoshida shows off just one his couple of tuna he put aboard today. Reapplying the sunscreen and giving it another shot tomorrow.
Keeping the faith, The boys P.S. I'm doing it mom Love Mijo |
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working out Hustling and working together like a good team, allowed us to get a great jump on things and put us in position to be at the big island at a reasonable hour in the morning. Rolling down, we felt we'd made the right choice just being able to get out of the wind. With most of the tuna sign spread out in various hot spots, we didn't waste any time and put the anchor down on the first sign of fish we saw. It wasn't long before we had steady all afternoon action on these beautiful 45-65lb tuna. Keeping 1 to 3 going throughout the day while enjoying the show of tuna boiling around the boat - it was the perfect pace. On that note we are going to stick it out another day and try our luck tomorrow. In today's picture, Mr. Gene Lafond gets down on one knee to show us one of these nice trophys to be had down here.
Enjoying the lee, The boys |
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Guadalupe was good to us again The boat backed in this morning after a bumpy ride home, once again with a beautiful load of Yellowfin Tuna - two of which were over 100lbs, and Yellowtail. Thanks to all who joined the trip - we appreciated you coming fishing with us! Check out jackpot winners below: First place tie : Ron Hatada 105 lbs YFT First place tie : John Phillips 87 lbs YFT Third place: Don Garcia 69 lbs YFT Honorable mention: Tad Hirai 100 lbs YFT
The boat departed with the annual Anglers Choice 5 day - check back for reports American Angler |
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Chop Chop Last night we were fortunate enough to gain some elevation as we enjoyed a fairly decent ride up to the offshore grounds. It seemed like as soon as we reached the grounds the wind picked up and the sea condition increased making it very tough and uncomfortable to get on breaking fish. John Phillips had the hot stick as he boated the days only two bluefin that weighed in at a whopping 71lbs and a respectable 50lbs. We also added some small yellowfin to the count before we started pounding up the line. Heading For Waypoint One, The Guys |
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Scratching We enjoyed the most heavenly night of sleep anyone could ask for, anchored in tight to the lee of the island. We had a few younger guys that stayed up to fish yellows and they caught a couple handfuls. After daylight it didn't take us long to find some fish, but we only picked at them catching a few at a time. That was the story for most of the day as it was no problem finding them, as it was having them stick around. Everyone aboard caught a nice fish again today with the nicest one landed by Ron Hatada that weighed 105lbs. We boated 57 tuna and we suffered our normal losses due to hook pulls and the ever present white shark. The rig of choice is a castable-sized rig with either a topshot of flourocarbon or a short leader of 40 or 50lb test of flouro. Good Times, The Guys |
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Beyond Our Expectations We really didn't know what to expect from the island because there has been mixed reports. All we can say for sure is that it was great to be able to get out of the weather and enjoy the flat calm of the lee. Our goal for the day was for everyone aboard to catch one of these good grade tuna and everything after that would be gravy. We saw decent sign of fish but they were not really in the biting mode. We were afraid because in previous days, the morning seemed to be the best and even though we had caught some fish by lunch it wasn't quite up to our expectations. However, we ended up with a lucky anchor job where they got on us and we enjoyed good steady tuna action. We kept 3-8 hooked most of the afternoon and ended up with a great day. We boated 89 tuna averaging 45-60lbs with a few standouts including Tad Hirai's 110lber. Sorry - no pictures due to operator negligence, but we can assure you that there were smiling faces. In The Lee, The Guys |
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Busy We started in the offshore zone in hopes of connecting with the bluefin that we had a couple days before. The main difference between the two days was the weather. All last trip we were blessed with beautiful flat calm seas but today's predicted wind showed up on schedule. In the morning we had 15knts, but no fetch so we were able to get located around some life. We had steady kelps that were holding both Dorado and yellows plus several yellow fin jig strikes in between. We never went more the 45 minutes without running or stopping on something. Our best quality stop was on a skipjack jig strike that turned into eight 25-40lb bluefin and seven 30 - 50lb yellowfin. Overall everyone caught fish and got the sweat off and we are on our way to the island. Getting Out Of The Wind, The Guys |
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Harry and Rogers guys are back The boat backed in this morning with a beautiful load of Bluefin, Yellowfin, and Yellowtail. The sushimi platters will be full and the bbques will be cranked up tonight... Thank you to Harry Yamada and Roger Kuramoto for organizing and putting the trip together - also a big thanks to Roger for the wonderful Hawaiin Bakery goodies which everyone at the dock really appreciated the day the boat departed. We look forward to seeing everyone next year - enjoy the spoils of victory. Check out jackpot winners below: First place tie : Gary Teraoka 105 lbs YFT First place tie : Tony Contreras 71 lbs YFT Third place: John Liu 70 lbs YFT
The boat departed for an open 5 day trip - check back for reports American Angler |
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Going Out In Style We moved up the road in hopes of seeing a few bluefin. We started out in the wrong place so we began moving towards where we thought there was a temp break. As planned, the water temp started rising and that seemed to be all that was needed then crew did the rest as they put us on a few different spots of fish puddling with the deals reacting well to the bait and biting good. After the initial blast we would hook a few residual fish and then the spot would move on. These were beautiful 30-40lb fish as our group could not have asked for a better way to end it. We captured 64 bluefin, 1 albacore and one token yellowfin which was bested by Ben Kawata who is flanked by John Liu and Dr. Uyeki. We would like to thank Harry Yamada and Roger Kuramoto and their group for joining us again as they have been with us every year. The whole group - being experienced fisherman - realize that the fishing that we have seen (as much as we would like, it isn't always this good) consider ourselves very lucky.
Going Home, The Guys |
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Action After our good fortune at the island, the group wanted to take advantage of the nice weather and look for bluefin and albacore. We arrived at last week's zone to find decent water structure but no sign of fish in the dark. After daylight we had random strikes on 15-18lb yellowfin instead of the albacore that were once there. We took off in search of but never found any albacore. With the help of Andy on the Rooster we took over a school of fish after he had to go home and drifted with it until dark. We caught 19 bluefin but kept busy having fun with the smaller grade yellowfin. Roger Kuramoto is all smiles after landing one of his bluefin. If you have Friends or family aboard with us this trip - plan on enjoying fresh tuna.
Enjoying The Weather, The Guys |
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Unreal The day started out slower than the previous morning as expectations were high, but there was little sign of fish. It took a little while but when we located the fish, it was quite the show, as the 30-60lb fish were free swimming in the water and they were actually biting too good. They were eating heavy line right out of the gate, but there was so much going on we had some massive multiple fish tangles. Everyone on the boat would have one on and there was fish after fish going through the corner unmolested. Gary Teraoka from Accurate reels put one of Jack's new reels to the test landing his 105lb fish on the new B2-500 reel. The dream continued when we left that stop and went fishing for yellows and had a one-stop shop limit style fishing on mixed grade yellows. Our chef Paul Cloutier (hi Martine) shows off some of his angling skills with this nice fish caught on one of Matt's fancy sardine imitation painted 7x surface lure. We understand that fishing is not normally this good but at least we now have a new high standard to always shoot for.
Living The Dream, The Guys |
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Wow When we left the dock, we didn't know what to expect. The offshore fishing seemed to be on a slight downhill trend so we opted to take advantage of our SAC leader Ken Franke's hard work and go outside to the island. After daylight we got the 911 call from our code boats to keep coming because there was good sign of tuna. We got to the zone after lunch and we had a strike as soon as we slowed down. Kub Ito got this year's first "local" wahoo which he graciously donated for an upcoming wahoo dinner. Soon afterwards we saw a small school of tuna on the machines and they showed immediately. We had very good angling on [get this] 40-60lb tuna with a few pushing 70lbs as bites were very easy to come by. We kept 4-12 hooked for several hours as everyone aboard was on the ropes. We ended up with 100 of these good grade tuna for the afternoon and our other guys that were here all day also had big days. Art Taylor on the Searcher said that this was the best fishing that he has ever seen on this grade tuna and he has owned a long range boat for over 25 years. Obviously we don't know if they are going to bite like this for long but what we do know for a fact is that they are here right now. I know that there are lots of people that walk and breath for this kind of fishing so call Lori. At times they were biting heavy string, but the rig of choice would be a castable sized 2-speed reel with spectra and a flourocarbon 50lb topshot with a choice 7-8 foot rod for fishability.
Biting 50-60lbers, The Guys |
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Ken's Custom Reels 5 day returns Capt. Ray docked the boat ending his 2nd trip this morning- a very successful trip. The guys & Lee Ann had outstanding offshore fishing on the Albacore and Bluefin - even a Yellowfin Tuna snuck it's way in there and they also had great fishing at Cedros to round off the species with a nice catch of Yellowtail. A huge thanks to Ken and Wes for all the hard work they put into organizing this trip - nice shirts this year guys! Thanks to everyone who came fishing - we'll see you next year. First place: Jamie Lyons 44.4 lbs BFT Second place: Big Ron Penn 41.4 lbs BFT Third place: Dan Steinke 41.2 lbs BFT Jackpot photo by Wes
Pictured below - trip shirts, Rubes with brother Art and Wes, Ray and Ken - thanks guys!
We'll see you guys in Sept. for the 6 day, American Angler Spots on our Aug 1 five day trip and Sept 2 five day - come fishing with the American Angler crew!! |
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Down Taking advantage of the good weather and an already fun day of fishing yesterday, we decided to head up the line early last night to put us in position to be on the tuna grounds at daylight. With seeing such great sign the day before, our were spirits were high in hopes to end her with a bang. But by midmorning and lots of coverage, everyone started getting the feeling that today was one of those days and the fish had their noses in the mud. Having a successful trip under our belt already, we kept our heads up high all day covering new waters - only to find out where not to go. In the end, we would like to thank Ken Corwin and gang for a special wonderful trip - having fished with them for many years.
traveling up The boys ETA 6:30 - 6:45am |
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Keeping it going After being very fortunate on the albacore grounds the last two days we decided to change it up and point the bow south. We arrived at Cedros just after coffee and started seeing steady sign of yellows instantly. After we finally got set up, we had steady action on 15 to 20lb yellows with a few better ones coming over the rail - when the group had their fill of the enjoyment of biting yellows, we went searching for Premiums. With an unusually large south swell the conditions were not in our favor, but we still managed to scratch a few better ones. Pat Odonogue, our former Marine on this trip, proudly shows off one of these nice premium yellows for our daily shoot.
Keep the ball Rollin The boys Availability on 5 day trips departing this upcoming Mon July 27, Sat Aug 1 and Wed Sept 2 - loads are light and fishing is great. Call Lori in the office @ 619 223 5414 |
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Right Timing It's pretty amazing how sometimes things can be lined up so perfectly that you can't turn the wrong way. After having such a wonderful day yesterday, we opted to stay on the grounds but could only ask for half that today. Once again waking up to flat clam seas it didn't take us long to get back on the fish and before you knew it, we were making long bluefin and albacore plunker style drifts. Boiling fish off the stern and off the bow - all it took was a good bait and some fluorocarbon. After putting together a few of these - we could only shake our heads and smile at what another great day we had. So with everyone having some beautiful RSW tuna to take home, we are going to change sceneries and slide down to the island in hopes of catching a few yellowtail. The smiles in today's pictures translates the fun we have had the last two days not only by our group - but by the crew as well.
Break out the sunscreen, The Boys p.s. Sonia we all miss you & wish you were here |
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Leaving the dock yesterday, we had good reports on the albacore grounds and we woke up this morning excited, our stomaches filled with butterflies but not getting our hopes up too high. Rolling into the zone with beautiful working weather, we right away started seeing sign of biting fish. Working together with our fellow code boats allowed us to stay on them and keep the fish located all day. After the day was all said and done, our team can say hands down we had an excellent day of albacore fishing. With such good weather, our plan is to stay in the zone in hopes of rounding up a few more albacore and possibly some bluefin. Today's picture stars the right hand man, Wes Cogan, for Kens Custom Reels, displaying one of these beautiful grade tuna we're catching.
Thinking Bluefin, The Boys Availability on 5 day trips departing this upcoming Mon July 27, Sat Aug 1 and Wed Sept 2 - loads are light and fishing is great. Call Lori in the office @ 619 223 5414 |
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Sport Chalet trip returns The boat returned this morning with a nice variety of Albacore, Bluefin and Yellowtail. Those Bluefin were beautiful and all that were weighed in at the dock were from 30-40lbs.....if you are a raw fish fan, you would have been tempted to start slicing right then and there. Thanks to Bill Randall for stepping in for our friend, Brad Lemoine, who wasn't able to make this trip and all the line, which was appreciated. And thanks to everyone for coming fishing! Pictured below are our jackpot winners and one more father/son team on board this trip. 1st place: Matt Fischer 40.6 lbs BFT 2nd place: Bill Blankenship 39.2 lbs BFT 3rd place: Ron Hatada 36.8 lbs BFT
The boat departed today with the gang from Ken's Custom Reels. They got away a little late and it was more than a little warm outside - but everyone got on the boat in high spirits and ready for Capt. Ray's 2nd trip taking the wheel. A side note regarding our 10 day and longer trips beginning October - there will not be a charge for any Mexican permit/tax fees - that will be all inclusive. |
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Our Favorite Of all the different types of fishing that we experience, it's hard to pick out what is our favorite. This time of year we are fortunate enough to see some of the best yellowtail fishing in the world with many epic scenes of fired up fish swimming in the water chasing fly lined baits or the plug - which is truly any die hard "local" fisherman's dream. Another part of this season is the offshore fishing scene. We don't get the fish all the time, because we are prisoners to the weather and fishing conditions that we're dealt with at that specific time. Today we were given flat calm weather and good sign of fish. We experienced sliding into stops where it was mass confusion - everyone has one on, instant 5 and 6 way tangles, fish on the corner sensory overload and mayhem. This one particular stop turned into the classic plunker where the fish settled in with us and we had to touch fish and finesse in order to keep 2-5 fish hooked. A great swimming bait underhanded off the bow [hint of the day] was quite often an instant bite as this wave of fish consisted of 25-40lb albacore and 25-45lb bluefin. Professor Valerie Otera from the University Of Colorado at Boulder was skillful enough to catch this nice bluefin and the crew was lucky enough to catch her as the good times are permanently printed with everyone's smile. Our beloved Bill Randall did a great job as Sport Chalet fill-in for Brad. Our core nucleus of anglers once again treated all the first timers on the boat with the traditional American Angler class and hospitality which made the trip a huge success.
We Love It All, The Guys (Availability on 5 days departing Mon July 27, Sat Aug 1 and Wed Sept 2 - come fishing on the American Angler) |
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Change It Up After two days of driving around dealing with trolling rotations and obviously only fishing conventionally when the boat is stopped, it was nice to go into the island. When we got up in the morning it was socked in fog which meant there was no wind but created high anxiety amongst the crew. The majority of all our fishing is done with visual aid and the fog made bird school fishing nonexistent. We knew that the fog would eventually lift but we didn't plan on waiting until lunch. Many gray hairs later, we finally got with the program and stomped on the yellows until dark. We had great fishing with all the techniques working equally well. This weather is as good as it gets and believe me we are stoked.
Back Offshore, The Guys (Availability on 5 days departing Mon July 27, Sat Aug 1 and Wed Sept 2 - come fishing with the guys) |
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Open Water Today we started out in the "old zone" as kind of the in-the-middle stop between the two fishing zones. It's amazing how three days previous there was steady sign of fish but today there was very little. We had beautiful weather so it seemed inevitable that we would find the mother load. After 14 hours of daylight and lots of miles, we found that the ocean at times can be very stingy. We ended up with 45 mixed fish with an even spread of albacore, bluefin, yellowtail and dorado. There are several family teams such as brothers Matt and Dan Fischer and the Blankenship boys that were a part of landing a few of the nice bluefin.
Flat Calm, The Guys |
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High Expectations The last three days in a row albacore fishing has been a slam dunk. We were kind of leery when we left the dock because the wind was predicted to howl. After a rolly ride out, the weather man was not joking,we had choppy weather and albacore fishing was pretty tough. Sign of fish was few and far between but luckily when we did see a little they jumped on the jigs right away. We ended up with 59 albacore and 3 bluefin after a long day of fishing. Pete Hanson boated one of the larger bluefin as he showed his two sons how it is done. Tomorrow's weather outlook is much better so hopefully the fishing follows suit.
Reaching For The Stars, The Guys |
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Crystal Pier...is Home The boat had great fishing at Cedros and offshore - and except for the first day, nice weather throughout. Thanks to Jim Bostian for once again making this trip a memorable one. The day the trip loads, everyone spends most of time revisiting last year's antics and then while unloading talking about this year's. Thanks everyone for keeping this trip such a unique one... Check out jackpot winners below and Jim with his grandson, Dustin. 1st place: Jim Bostian 42.6 lbs Yellowtail 2nd place: Dave Wilson 37.6 lbs Yellowtail 3rd place: BJ Beck 37.2 lbs Yellowtail
The boat departed today for the annual 5 day Sport Chalet Trip minus Brad Lemoine - it's the first one his sponsored trips that he wasn't able to attend - the guys will be thinking about you during the trip! |
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Timing Long range fishing throughout the years has changed drastically from many modern technological breakthroughs. With all the fish-finding capabilities, one of our most important tools is our weather program.The forecasted flat weather on the backside of this trip was true and coincidentally the albacore fishing also got better. We woke up after a beautiful night drifting and immediately saw sign of fish. We were able to stay on the fish the whole time that we were on the grounds before running up the line home. We had the short stops and we also were lucky enough to enjoy on the corner type fishing as we put well over a hundred albacore and a handful of bluefin on the rig before we took off early afternoon. Our Crystal Pier charter master Jim Bostian once again showed off his hard work ethic as he goes out of his way to help the crew and his overwhelming generosity that is second to none.It has been a few years since I have been fortunate enough to run this trip and I have seen this group mature into one tight knit family. Today's picture is the father-son team of Jim and Joe Kastorff who have been an important part of this trip since it's conception.
Living Right, The Guys |
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Full Benefits We traveled up from the island today and for a change we had a good ride. For whatever meteorology phenomenon, we have had a lot of wind this year - so flat calm is a welcome and pleasant surprise. We took full advantage as we had a few good kelps and some decent tuna fishing. We had 80 mixed tuna fish and 40 kelp related fish as mother nature showed off some of her wares. Today's picture is of the "goon", Jerry, Bob, Dustin, Craig,and Mark as the seas are flat and spirits are high.
Pinch Us, The Guys |
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Good Fun After getting blown off the offshore grounds - last night's downswell ride and fishing around an island was a welcome change. We started the day off scratching 35 premium grade yellows and then enjoyed ridiculous wide open 15-20lb yellowtail action. It was a great day as there was excellent sign of fish in many different zones. Our leader Jim Bostian fished the surface iron with an unorthodox "long rod" in order to utilize a good friend's gift. Meanwhile,his grandson Dustin Bagalini shows proper form and utilization of the correct surface iron throwing apparatus. B.J. Beck shows off one of today's premiums and Chuck Constable is as happy about his ten millionth yellow that he has caught in his lifetime as he was with his first.
Going Back Offshore, The Guys (Spots available on upcoming 5 days ...call the office for details) |
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Down Again We started out the trip on the albacore grounds because of the perfect mileage between home and different fishing areas. A few days ago we had decent weather, but it was tough fishing. Today we had the same kind of minimal fish sign but choppy, rolly weather. We made the best of it as we scratched short stops when most everyone was driving. We also had a bonus sonar school of yellowfin which made the days tally 44 mixed tuna fish. We are traveling down to the islands to get out of the weather and to enjoy some yellowtail fishing. Mark Poehlman shows off a couple of today's yellowfin tuna.
Waiting For Them To Show, The Guys |
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The 1.5 day Bob's Sporting Goods Charter returned this morning and we wanted to tell everyone thank you so much for joining the trip and making the effort to leave early. To Mike Naoe, owner of Bobs Sporting Goods - we appreciate you completely organizing and filling this trip, thank you! See you guys in September, American Angler |
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What Happened? After we unloaded last trip's catch and saw how many beautiful fish we caught - our group departing was very pumped. When we departed on the trip, reports from down below were as good as it gets. Limit style fishing and a line of fish twenty miles long - it seemed like a no brainer. The morning started out kind of slow and it really never picked up. We kept hoping that the fish would come up, but they never did. We had scratch fishing at best and we ended up with 40 albacore and a few bluefin. What happened to the fish remains a mystery as we hope that they are just down and not gone The Disappearing Act, The Guys |
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Unbelievable fishing on the Salas Open The Salas trip returned this morning with enough fresh fish for everyone's bbque and their neighbors - it was limit style fishing on Albacore and a little under 100 on the BFTs - all came back in great shape, looking beautiful and ready to eat. We would like to thank Matt for being such a great sponsor and Al for the shirts - thanks so much! And to all the people that joined this new trip - hope to see you back next year. It's always fun to come back the following year and see the same faces that you shared the rail with in the past! Check out biggest fish caught by Matt Salas - a 41.6lb BFT and got a shot of the Miyazaki Family - 3 generations fished together -that is always a special event.
Out on a Bobs Sporting Goods Charter- check back tomorrow night, American Angler (Spots available on upcoming 5 days ...call the office for details) |
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Easy Explanation Fishing on the offshore long range grounds right now is good. All the conditions whatever they may be are right as albacore and bluefin fishing is as good as it gets. We can only hope that it stays consistent for a while, but even if fishing is half as good - it would still be fantastic. Matt Salas once again was a great organizer and leader as everyone had a great time. We Can Get Used To This, The Guys |
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Wish You Were Here Today is one of the days we dream about offshore fishing. Limit style albacore type fishing with stops in excess of 50 fish along with a great show on bluefin tuna which accounted for 44 beautiful fish in the afternoon. From daylight to dark we were busy as we enjoyed "pinch me am I dreaming" type fishing. Fred Miyazaki shows off one of the many bluefin that he has caught so far and he has sure shown that experience sure pays off.
Wow, The Guys There was also decent sign caught locally within one day range today as the summertime deep sea fishing seems to finally be kicking into gear. We have a few spots on the next few 5 day trips - departing Wed. July 22, Mon. July 22, Sat Aug 1 - come fishing! |
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It's On With the prospects of good weather we left the dock in anticipation of good fishing. We checked in with the local guys and there were a few of them getting a few strikes. We figured we could reach them by evening so we could maybe work a few kinks out. We got into the zone and had a nice sonar deal and it turned out to be straight blue fin boiling right on the corner. We had the standard first stop mayhem where we lost a few initially but we settled in and had good fishing. It was one of those deals that was shut off by dark but we still managed 43 blue fin to 40lbs and a token albacore.It is amazing to see what floats when the weather gets calm as there was sure good sign of fish in local waters. We had a couple boats in the long zone and they also had ridiculous fishing at dark. If you are on the fence and waiting to see if there is sign of fish before you book a trip the time to call Lori is now.
Will It Be Consistent? The Guys We have a 5 day trip departing Sat. Aug 1 with plenty of room and a few spots here and there - call the office and come fishing... |
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Yellowtail extravaganza The boat returned this morning with a lot of new passengers on board - including a group that flew out from Texas for this 4 dayer. They had decent albacore fishing the first day, then great fishing down at the island. Want to thank all the passengers on this trip - new and regulars, it was a unique mix that fished well together and enjoyed each other's company - appreciate you all coming fishing! Check out jackpot winners below: First place tie : Richard Dick 26.4 lbs Albie First place tie : Andy Smith 25.6 lbs Albie Third place: Ron Chaing 24.4 lbs Yellowtail
The boat departed on a 2.5 day trip - check back for reports American Angler |
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Empty Space Because of a very choppy and bumpy ride last night we had to almost straight line it home. One would think that in 13 hours of daylight we would eventually drive over some fish, but all we caught was a small yellow that we skipped in. That just goes to show the great expanse of ocean that can be devoid of fish. There was some good bluefin fishing caught by our fleet today and with the prospect of good weather on the horizon it will be interesting to see what happens after the moon. Looking Forward to better weather, The Guys |
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Feeling At Home We left the choppy weather and albacore grounds behind us to enjoy a comfortable day of fishing with the ground tackle. We started off the morning right, as we rolled right into a good steady drift. As fast as we were feeling good about ourselves the fish evaporated. They stayed in hiding for several hours but could not stay hidden forever. We got on them in the afternoon and were pleasantly surprised to find them in the biting mode. We absolutely stomped on the fish as the yellows were hitting full speed. The beauty of this trip is that for some unknown reason, it was filled with a majority of first timers. Whether it was their first time ocean fishing, long range fishing or their first time aboard with us - everyone got along great and got the job done. We very rarely brag about our crew but during this evening's family get together in the galley they were the main topic. The crew's uncanny ability of taking away the intimidation of "the first time" was said to be second to none. Everyone no matter what their skill level caught fish and had a great time. Today's picture was "up the side" and if you notice, every single rod is a rental rod that went along with the smile.
The Family Grows Larger, The Guys We have a 5 day trip departing Sat. Aug 1 with plenty of room - call the office and come fishing... |
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Happy Fourth We started out the trip leaving the dock to the year's best long range albacore reports. The perfect distance from the dock is arriving on the grounds just before daylight. When we arrived on scene we had borderline choppy weather and when we shutdown for our grey bite we really rolled around. We had no bites at daylight but it seemed like the wind backed off a little. We saw scattered sign of fish but it did not want to bite as good as the day before. We ended up having consistent scratch fishing and tallied up a score of 67 albacore before we started sliding down the line early afternoon. Dale Johnson showed off some of his Texas angling style as he poses with part of the days catch.
Barbecue and Fireworks, The Guys |
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Thanks to everyone on this annual - almost - charter because the same guys who never knew each other befor the trip continue to rejoin every year adding a unique quality to this 1.5 day trip. Congrats to Rick Sowers for capturing jackpot fish, a 25lb albie. Look forward to seeing you guys/gals next year - everybody have a great 4th tomorrow and check back for reports of the 4 day that leaves today. Thank you, The American Angler |
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Fish To The Nine Mile Bank It was always the inside joke between me and Sam when we owned the Pacific Queen when we ran local trips. We would never give in and always fish to the last possible minute, thus came the term "fish to the nine mile bank". Last night we went the distance and looked for something different. We started at 120 miles with the Searcher. They had a school of bft for 14 fish and a kelp for 30 nice yellows and a few albacore. In that same zone we could only manage a dozen yellows and one bluefin and that was it. After a long morning, we reevaluated the game plan and started traveling up in order to give us a shot at albacore hopefully during the evening bite time. We ran several hours and didn't catch a fish for 5 or 6 hours and morale was getting low. At 6 O'Clock by sheer luck we ended up at the right place at the right time. We got on a little postage stamp of fish and our guys took full advantage. We caught 56 albacore between 6 and dark and morale flew off the scale. Liam Lowe is not letting his first-ever yellowtail go,literally. Sam Kell caught the first albacore of the day assisted by tarpon gaffer Cuppy Cribben. Reynaldo Guerrero is the proud owner of our first locally caught dorado of the year.
Bottom Of The Ninth, The Guys |
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We would like to thank Jerimie Lloyd and his colleagues (whose work saves lives)for joining us on the American Angler and to everyone else on the trip - thank you! Look forward to fishing with you guys again. We have another 1.5 day departing this evening, check back tomorrow night for report. The Boys |
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Up And Down After the local fleet's tough weekend, we were encouraged when we left the dock by a few decent reports. Although it wasn't for everyone a couple of boats managed a few decent scores on albacore which seemed to mean that things were on the upswing. We were on the grounds at daylight and got an immediate jigstrike. There were several short stops for most of the fleet but right about the time we were getting a few, things changed. Where there were once scattered meter marks within minutes the fish were down and there was no sign. The fleet split up in search of and unfortunately the only thing found was increasing wind. We covered quite a bit of ground for not very much but on the other hand, we saw scattered sign over a big area which leads us to believe that there is more around. We ended the day with a stop for 8 albacore - such as the one caught by Brianna Lees - which sure helped the cause. Our total of 15 albacore and 7 bluefin was not from lack of effort by crew or passengers but hopefully can by written off as a down day. The tough day for the fleet should not discourage interest in any way for many reasons. The old saying of "you should have been here yesterday" does not apply for tomorrow and the chance to be here when things bust open is very realistic.
Looking Forward To The Up Days, The Guys |
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Ray's Maiden Voyage Capt. Ray Lopez backed the boat in after a successful 5 day trip to Cedros - a great yellowtail catch - and they scratched a few albacore/bluefin in touch conditions on the backside of the trip. A huge thanks to all the Shaker Tour passengers - and lots of love and gratitude to cruise director, BG. Also want to thank Steve Paterson, Rooster Rods, for wrapping the beautiful raffle rod. Thanks everyone and look forward to seeing you next year! Trip Notes From the Chartermaster: I personally consider it a great honor to be on the first trip run by Captain Ray Lopez and the crew, Taro, Jordan, Cameron, Travis, and our world-class chefs, Greg and Nate. They all performed absolutely flawlessly in every aspect, and I thank them for a wonderful trip. It was very apparent—how the training, nurturing, and direction Brian and Sam have given these young men to perform like the seasoned, well oiled machine they are—paid off in a big way on our trip: "you guy's rock". I would also like to thank all of the passengers on the trip, you were among the most fun groups I've had the privilege to fish with. We had two father and son teams onboard (Jack & Andrew, Rick & Evan), and two couples aboard (Skip & Melanie, Steve & Monique). The ladies, the young men, the newbies, and the old salts all listened to the crew and caught lots of fish: job well done. We always give away a sportsmanship award, which this year was won by Monique: our new shaker girl knows right when to make a fresh batch of delicious margaritas. We would also like to thank our awesome Fish Junkie girl Melanie for her wonderful sense of humor, and the fun she added to the trip. The passengers make the trip, thank you all for the great time!! Finally, I would like to thank our great sponsors on the trip who provided a beautifully wrapped Super Seeker SD8 fishing rod , Daiwa Saltist 4/0 reel & 50 lb spectra that we raffled off. A considerable amount of money was raised and the proceeds went to the crew. World class rod wrapper Steve Paterson from Rooster Custom Rods for the perfect rod for the trip, a Super Seeker SD8. Joey and John, owners of Squido on Barnett in San Diego, for the Daiwa Saltist 4/0 reel. Mark from Charkbait for the 50 lb spectra for the reel, and shirts for the crew. Max, who works at Charkbait, fished with us, delivered the goods, and is a welcome new member of the AA family. Mario owner of Sportsmans Seafoods for 2 fish processing certificates. We also would like to wish him a speedy recovery from an incident that happened in the landing parking lot. It’s all good. Tight lines. BG First place: Bill Randall 38.8 lbs Yellowtail Second place: Jack Purtell 37.0 lbs Yellowtail (he had 2 @ 37lbs!) Third place: Paul Pangburn 34.8 lbs Yellowtail Honorable mention: Brad Arnold 41.4 lbs BFT Jackpot photo by BG
Capt. Ray with our two Shaker Tour Gals, Fish Junkie Melanie and Rooster Rod Monique, Mystery Presenter & Capt. Ray, and one of the father/son teams that were on board, Jack and Andrew Purtell (Andrew had a 30.8lbr!)
Check back tomorrow night for report on the 1.5 day that departs tonight at 6pm.... American Angler Spots on our Aug 1 five day trip - come fishing with the American Angler crew!! |
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It's bound to happen... With the tuna having their noses in the mud for the last couple days, we envisioned our last day offshore would be a float day. Starting our morning below the fleet, we covered some new water in hopes of saving the fleet. But by lunch we were in the area where some of the better scores have been had. As the day went on and the sun started to lower, we all kind of got the feeling that today wasn't going to be that day. But with 4th of july being only a week away - which in the many years past is generally the kickoff for albacore, we are all looking foward to it, knowing it's bound to happen soon. Ending up the day with a handful of albacore, we still couldn't forget the great time we enjoyed at the island. The Boys |
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quality vs quantity With reports of slow fishing on the tuna grounds, we opted to stay the night at the island and enjoy the good weather. We woke up in the morning and never had to pull the anchor as we kept steady on these nice big yellows. From lined baits to surface irons every bite was a thrill. With having only half a day to fish, we picked it up around lunch and started heading up the line to put us in position for the tuna grounds. Today's picture stars our wonderful fish junkie girl, Melanie Kito, showing off one of her beauties.
moving up, The Boys |
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Change of Pace After driving around yesterday and not seeing much, everyone kept their heads high and put it behind them. Today we arrived at the island at first light and were immediately rewarded with great yellowtail fishing. All morning we stayed steady on beautiful 12-18lb yellows. Having enough for everyone to take home a few, we moved up the island in search of some better ones and it didn't take long before we had steady fishing on premium 25-40lbers. Putting on an awesome show, we able to enjoy these beautiful fish all the way til dark. Today's picture is of Brad Arnold displaying his rare lost bluefin and Steve Paterson showing one of his nice yellows. Still in search of tuna, we are going to spend the night at the island and move up the line tomorrow afternoon.
Looking for big ones, The Boys (Spots available on July 27th and Aug 1st 5 day trips.....call the office for details) |
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Rolling Down En route to cedros today we broke up the ride down and spent the majority of the day looking in an area of water where there had been some good tuna sign. Rolling into the zone we had high expectations but after a few hours of not seeing much life we continued on course, hitting various kelps. After all was said and done, we ended up with a handful of yellowtail for our efforts. With good reports from the island, we're looking forward to stopping the boat and having some fun in the sun. Positive mind set, The Boys |
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Moving We left the dock yesterday evening with the intentions of going right back down the line and finding the albacore where we left them. The weather was drastically better as someone was really looking out for us. We started out with the Vagabond so we would have a better chance of finding the correct water structure. After several hours of looking we had to abandon the plan because the water was gone. We were lucky that we had great weather because we started fishing yellows. We had great action with several good stops and madness, mayhem and fun was the name of the game. There was just enough decent 12-20lb yellows to make it interesting as most were the smaller grade kelp paddy fish. Late some of the local guys got into some fish and we made the run up for just a sample before dark. Ryan Leitner shows everybody how to have a good time and Bob Kofmehl, one of our regulars, shows off good karma as he handed off lots of yellows throughout the day and was rewarded in the end with one of the Bluefin.
Trying To Stay On Them, The Guys Today the guys had decent fishing 90 miles from home. Tomorrow is Ray's departure on his maiden voyage and we all wish him luck. |
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The boat returned this morning after an open 3 day trip with some of our favorite regulars and folks new to the American Angler - and a good time was had by all despite the tough weather conditions on Sunday. Capt. Brian came home with 80 albacore, 11 bluefin and a few handfuls of yellowtail. Thanks to everyone for joining us - hope to see you again soon! First place: Oscar Pardinas 26.0 lbs Bluefin Second place: Murph 24.0 lbs Bluefin Third place: Josh Hess 23.0 lbs Bluefin Jackpot photo on board courtesy of Oscar Pardinas
Here are a couple of great shots from the Zuker/G Loomis trip - dockside...Brian and Dennis showing their true colors and two good fishing buddies - Joe and Sol
Check back tomorrow night for report on the 1.5 day that departed tonight at 6pm.... American Angler |
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Visions Of Glory We were looking forward to the forecasted 5 kts in the morning. When we got up we already had a few whitecaps and fired up the weather and it was upgraded from the previous night. We saw groups of bluefin under birds and on meter marks but could not get them to go. Throughout the day we saw very little sign of albacore. The weather really came up about lunch time and we started to roll around. We then started to work towards the temp break we were on and had a albacore meter mark for a quick seven. We then started tacking around and there it was, we saw a good sized sonar school of albacore and chased it around. We got over a piece of it and it boiled up for only a few seconds and we hooked a handful of fish. From watching the machines for innumerable hours, schools like this are the ones that 100 fish stops are made from. We want to see that batch on a bite day. The moral is that it sure seems that these fish are weather sensitive and go down when the wind comes up. We are currently looking out the window at buffalo backs and 20 kts as the ride home is wet and sloppy. We ended up with a successful trip for what was going on and we are looking forward to the weather laying down. Back On The Grounds Tuesday, The Guys |
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Scratching We started out the trip yesterday with a couple handfuls of bluefin within 1 day range . There was decent sign of fish but previous local experience put the equation together. Close to home, good weather, Saturday, and the first good sign of tuna fish in local waters meant that we would not be there on a 3 day. We idled down during the night and in the morning with the help of a few other boats we were able to get on some fish. We saw pretty good sign of jumpers throughout the morning but a lot of the spots wanted nothing to do with us. We scratched a few here and a few there and ended up with a respectable 66 albacore and a couple of bluefin. Today's picture shows the Japanese American/bluefin connection. Pictured is Takeuchi{gaffer], Takeshige[angler], Imai{angler] and Kiso{mast man} with our two bluefin of the day.
Looking For More, The Guys Today's fish were caught in 1 1/2 range and we leave for one Monday evening call Lori |
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Zuker/GLoomis The boat backed in and had a nice catch of Albacore, Bluefin, Yellowfin and Yellowtail - great variety! They toughed out the weather at the rocks and were rewarded with beautiful conditions offshore. A huge thanks to Zuker for his feathers and all he does behind the scenes and don't forget about those out-of-this-world chocolate cheesecakes - who knew he could cook too! And representing G Loomis was Bob Hornschu - we appreciate the nice prizes, thank you! It's great seeing all the passengers - Roy's wife Heidi had a baby, Dennis had knee surgery, the guys welcomed "Jimal", Chappy combed his hair and Tony lost an all black Seeker rod with black guides if you guys could check to see if it mistakenly got mixed with your gear, thanks.... Lots of sign ups for next year - if you have seven days next June, you should consider this trip, it's a great adventure.. Tie Jackpot winners (picture courtesy of Bill Roecker) First place tie : George Kaneko 40.8 lbs Bluefin First place tie : Bob Chapman 40.8 lbs Bluefin Third place: Tim Ebner 39.2 lbs Yellowtail Honorable mention: Roy Afusia 38.2 lbs Yellowtail
The boat departed on a 3 dayer - check back Sat. night to see how they're doing, (there are still 6 spots on Monday night's 1.5 day trip) American Angler To Mrs. Samarin - thank you so much for the delicious turnovers that you made last night for the boat, they were beautiful - those pastries will be devoured |
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Prospecting We went looking up the line in some of the historical areas offshore in zones that have not yet been covered. Like panning for gold you can strike it rich or miss out. Today we helped the overall cause by figuring out where not to go. We saw the best looking water before daylight but unfortunately when it counted after daylight we were in "off"water for the rest of the day. The trip was an interesting one where weather variables definitely had its place. We covered alot of ground from Alijos Rocks to local waters and we made the best of it. There are fishless zones for sure and the ocean can be stingy but on the same token timing can be right and fishing can be wide open. The group was great as once again all shapes and sizes meshed to become one group. Zuke, as always, led the daily entertainment from up top with his playful banter and dialog. We hope times change for the better as there were several regulars that were truly missed and we hope to see them soon.
We Will Keep Trying And Never Take No For An Answer, The Guys Todays picture is of Leonard Nadler who would like to wish his beloved wife a happy birthday! (we don't know why Jordan is in every picture - we do have other crew members) |
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The First Of Many We got out to the tuna grounds at daylight. We had a weird morning as visibility was very poor and the moisture was so thick it was hard to determine if it was heavy mist or light rain. We saw a few scattered marks but nothing very good. We had the good fortune of having three of our other guys fishing in the same general area. There were a few decent stops in the morning but we were not the recipient of any. We wandered off to the west for nothing and the morning flew by. We had 1 albacore and three yellowfin tuna at one o'clock and it was high anxiety. Then we got in the zone and picked off a stop that was reminiscent of the bluefin drift years of the early and mid nineties. We kept 1-6 going all the time as they were showing down swell,on the corner and in the bow in classic bluefin style. We remember now why we love bluefin fishing so much. When it petered out and we started moving, the albacore were up, floating and eager. We had on the corner type fishing with everyone having one on several stops in a row. In one afternoon we experienced the "classic" bluefin drift on 25-40lb fish and good on-the-corner albacore fishing. We compiled the first hundred fish day on albacore of the year and it certainly looks like there is a good chance that there will be more. In 6 hours of fishing we caught 114 albacore and 40 bluefin... we were very busy. If you have any ambiguity about the offshore fishing outlook we hope that we have answered the questions as the possibilities of a big day are here. John Lloyd of Zuker lures {they chewed the feathers off of them} shows off one of many that he caught today on the iron.
Keep Them Coming, The Guys We have openings on this weekend's 3 day, a 1.5 on the 22nd and then a 5 day on the 24th - call the office for details 619 223 5414 |
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Float Day There are some days on the ocean where everything floats and it usually revolves around flat calm weather. The difference a day makes is one of the many reasons we all wake up in the morning. We had a tough last couple of days weather-wise so grease calm and very little wind was well deserved. We got to the yellowtail grounds shortly after daylight but it took about an hour to get on the fish. We had decent shots at them but overall it would be considered a steady pick. We then made an anchor job and fishing turned into as good as it gets. We had lots of visuals of fish in the water when at times it was almost aquarium status. We smashed the 15-22lb fish as morale is as high as it gets. Today was definitely a float day. The guys that arrived at the rocks had steady fishing on tuna, the yellows bit wide open and the Excel had the best offshore day of the year. Justin had a jigstrike turn into a long drift for 55 albacore and 60 bluefin which has set the standard so far this year. We are en route as we speak hopefully to experience a little of the same.
Fishing Is All Timing, The Guys We have openings on this weekend's 3 day, a 1.5 on the 22nd and then a 5 day on the 24th - call the office for details 619 223 5414 |
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Writing On The Wall Yesterday in the afternoon with the lack of sign, we were hoping that the morning would be better. We had decent conditions but compared to what we have been used to, productivity was low. We had a very slow pick on yellows and saw a little bit of tuna. By midmorning it made better sense for the overall trip to leave and make our way up the line. At dinner we all looked defeated as the 48 hours of sloppy wet weather has taken its toll. The great John Wooden's famous quote "When the going gets tough the tough get going" applies as we accept the challenge that stands before us. Along with our 3 or 4 handfuls of yellows, Paul Hokeness got a nice tuna.
Snorkeling Up The Line, The Guys |
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Touchy We arrived at the stones just before lunchtime. All the life was in the same place where we left from just 5 days previous. Conditions were a little different with the current barely a trickle and the fish did not really want to bite. We saw fish showing but we had to soak our baits in order to induce a strike. We still ended up with a respectable 58 yellows and a couple handfuls of decent tuna. There presently is a large south swell from New Zealand rolling through coupled with 18kts of nnw wind and the sea condition to go with it, so it is making our stay very uncomfortable. Luckily we have a tough bunch and the baby back ribs were devoured without a hitch. We're hoping for better fishing conditions tomorrow and we will keep our fingers crossed. Six year old Koa Afusia let his dad Roy borrow his fishing rod and Koa would be proud to know that it caught the day's largest yellowtail.
Rolling Around, The Guys |
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GOT TO GO FISHING TO GET THE BIG ONES! One would always like to report that every trip is phenomenal, but what really gives it that status? The fishing for one in the eyes of most fisherman - but not so true always. Going on a Long range trip, there are many things that make a great trip - The Anglers, The crew, The weather, and but of course, the fishing. As far as The fishing was concerned this go around, it was off the hook with the opportunity to catch some of the Biggest Yellowtail in the History of Long range fishing. These early June 7 and 8 day trips are the best trips we have to offer...they are affordable and this time of the year is the time when things start to happen and Let the Games Begin. They arrived this morning with just about all species you could catch - Yellowfin, Albacore, Bluefin, Yellowtail (Big ones)and not to forget a few Halibut to top it off...one can only imagine what is in store for us in the upcoming months. From what we see right now it is time to go - give us a call for upcoming trips. Check out the amazing jackpot fish and winners below 1st place: Armando Castro 104.6 lbs Yellowfin Tuna 2nd place: Bob Brozavic 79.2 lbs Yellowtail 3rd place: Paul Yarnold 77.6 lbs Yellowtail Honorable Mention: Rick Sikes 65.8 lbs Yellowtail
The boat departed with the annual Zuker G Loomis 7 day trip - tune back in for reports |
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A Success We thought it would be nice to end the trip adding a little color to the catch, however giant squid and ripping current made it real tough to get it done. We ended up going into the island to break down our gear and we caught a few halibut. This trip started with many new faces as the majority of the folks have never fished with one another and it ended up a success not only because we got a bunch of fish, but more importantly how the group ended up meshing. During our last dinner one would never know that a week ago many of the people downstairs were foreign to one another. Despite Geographical, occupational, gender or age difference it absolutely does not make a difference as it is now one. Many thanks to John and Wayne from Catchy tackle for providing a great and comfortable atmosphere. Papa Dave Ohalloran and Karen Castro show off a couple of today's fish. We would also like to let everyone know that our Barry Gambarana is doing great and without a doubt on the right road to recovery. We all are blessed to have him as our cruise director/ambassador as during the day he dedicates much of his time rigging tackle and helping anyone whom might ask.
See You Dockside, The Guys |
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Potential We were running west in the morning with no known destination when we had a double jigstrike on an up and down meter mark. After boxing the area we found that we were in close proximity to a half degree edge. We found fish right in the transition and stayed busy most of the morning. We seldom went 20 minutes without seeing some sort of sonar or fathometer mark. We had one stop in particular where the albacore were right on the corner biting every bait for about a minute as we hung the majority of the boat. It seemed like business as usual - the action was hot and heavy and the adreneline and excitement pumped through everyone's veins. We ended up with 19 albacore and 3 bluefin out of that stop as the meter depicted the real deal. At around 11 in the morning the ocean changed right before our eyes in a matter of minutes as the edge melted and dissapated along with the fish. We ended up the day with 48 12-19lb albacore and 3 18-22lb bluefin and we were encouraged with the potential that we saw. What it comes down to is that the ocean is very big. It's one thing to look at a temp chart or a topographical chart and formulate a game plan, but it is totally different actually doing it. Without coverage it is a question of what ifs. Are the fish down or did they move? What is 10miles to the north, south, east or west? It is next to impossible for one boat to figure it out. For Example, Mark on the Pacific Voyager had 23 fish scattered over a 22 mile area today we both think that the offshore potential is here already waiting to be exploited. His fish were all caught in premium day and a half range. One great note for our long range fleet is that today's sign at 210 miles from home is at the perfect spot for our multi day trips. The perfect distance from San Diego for a full first day's of fishing and an easy overnight run to our favorite island destinations. If we sound like a salesman you are right. First and foremost we are fishermen because of our passion but because of the aforementioned reason of coverage - we need you to go fishing. John Grindley and Dave Zeman are pictured with the AA's first albacore of the year. Mike Nichols with the help of Cameron displays the years first bluefin.
Let's Go Fishing, The Guys We have availability on an upcoming 3 day trip (departing the 19th), followed by a day and a half trip (departing the 22nd) for a short getaway and then we have a 5 day trip at the very end of June (departing the 24th)... come fishing with us! |
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Captain Excuse List We got up to the islands midmorning, ready for the shallow water surface yellowtail show. We ended up striking out the entire day. The list included the fish being too small, water temp dropped, dirty water, streaky water, no current, too much current and many others. What it comes down to is that we didn't connect and couldn't find any life to work with. We covered lots of water and two different islands for the same result. John Grindley and Wayne Martin from Catchy tackle are taking full advantage of the observation deck.
Going Looking, The Guys |
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A Different Speed We woke up in the morning to the nicest weather that we have had since we got to the stones. The current was a little different direction but still plenty good. We started picking at the fish right away and it stayed like that until we took off after lunch. Instead of the hectic wide open fishing, we had 1-4 hookups at a time. We kept waiting for the big attack but it never happened. We caught some nice grade tuna and a few nicer grade yellows but it was a little touchier then the day before. With great appreciation for the conditions provided to us the last three days, we are starting our adventure northbound. Planet's impressive fish from yesterday deserves a little more print.
Moving Up, The Guys |
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Excellent Today's conditions in the morning were just about as good as it gets. One could pat himself on the back and say he found them but when it comes down to the rocks - you are only as good as the conditions provided. We took advantage of the perfect current conditions right from the get go. We stayed busy all morning with the fish biting so well at times it seemed like we could hook them "at will". We had a pretty even mix on yellows and tuna with both species going 15-50lbs on the average. Several of our regulars said that this was about as good as they have ever seen. It seems in our fishing careers we see the standout fish caught in only the premium fishing condition. I once saw Taka's group on the New Hustler get 4 calicos over 10 lbs at the first boiler at Clemente in perfect uphill conditions. Everything such as water temp, clarity, current, wind, bait and I'm sure many other unforeseen variables came into play to make that epic day of bass fishing happen. We had the same today because in the mix of fish were some unbelievable catches. Planet landed a 78lb yellow, Bob Brozovic caught a 75lber and good karma nice guy Rick Sykes got one in the high 60's. These fish were truly special and every time we see these - we are simply awestruck. We had many other 30-45lbers and had some nice grade tuna such as the one caught by Armando Castro.
What A Great Day Of Angling, The Guys Next Friday's 7 day has availability - call the office |
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Timing We rolled into the stones around lunch and current conditions had the fish stacked in one zone. It was a no brainer as they were showing in the circle before we dropped it. We had great action for about 2 hours before conditions started to change but that was all that was necessary to take the edge off the ride down. We did really well on the yellows from 15-40lbs and ended up with 35 tuna 12-50lbs. This group had a good time mingling with one another on the way down and it sure made it easy when the fish were biting. Controlled pandemonium to say the least, as over and under was the name of this afternoon's game. Bob and Lora Brozavic came all the way from Ohio and the result on their face is very evident.
Looking For A Little Downhill Current, The Guys Mark O. on the Pacific Voyager got into an area late and had 4 stops for a total of 10 albacore at around 125miles.Bring them on. |
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Season Opener The boat returned today from the first 8 day trip of the year with a great catch of fish, Big Yellows, Yellowfin Tuna and not to forget some token Halibut. These early season 7 to 8 day trips are the Best Bang for your Buck, and with no surprise the fishing was good as stated above. The conditions look beautiful for the offshore scene, all it is going to take is for the troops to show up in force. The boat departed again today on another 8 day trip and a lot can change in just a week, we have seen it happen before!. We still have some spots available on our upcoming 7 day trip, so if you want to be the first to get on the main vein for the 2009 season, give us a call. Check out winner and honorable mentions below Winner takes all: Fermin Diaz 56.4 lbs Yellowfin Tuna Honorable Mention: Bill Kuehl 52.6 lbs Yellowtail Honorable Mention: Jim Bostian 50.6 lbs Yellowtail
The boat departed with the annual Catchy Tackle 8 day trip - tune back in for reports American Angler |
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Coming Home There were 15kt bars on the weather maps so we decided to stay on the beach. We had a halfway decent ride up throughout the night and tried a different location for halibut that we have never fished. It is hard to have the patience for this type fishing and as soon as we stop the boat - we already want to move, but we overcame this anxiety and just fished, ending up catching 7 halibut for the morning. It was a great change of pace and a fun way to end it. Brad Lemoine from Sport Chalet once again organized a great trip. For one reason or another, some of our regulars could not make the trip - we missed them, and hopefully we'll see you on next year's fish extravaganza. We had a great trip with a mix of tuna and yellowtail fishing with a calm, nonchalant group that took full advantage. The only missing ingredient was the offshore action that remains an unknown because there has literally been zero coverage. We leave tomorrow and will be in prime country the next day and will definitely have our eyes open. For the folks on the next trip, a "castable" 40lb outfit will be an important one to have if tuna fishing remains touchy.
See You Dockside, The Guys There are spots on our 7 day trip departing Friday June 12th - call the office for details |
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The Show We stayed on the yellowtail grounds another day because who doesn't enjoy flat calm weather and good fishing on quality fish. The show consists of aggressive fish throwing water all around the rig free swimming through the corner as they were chasing plugs with a vengeance. The whole crew has seem this a bunch of times but cannot conceal the excitement and probably never will. Richard Clark is today's cover boy with just another yellowtail.
We Will Never Tire Of It, The Guys There are spots on our 7 day trip departing Friday June 12th - call the office for details |
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Worth The Ride We got it handed to us coming up the line - we had 15-18kts of wind as we endured wet windows and a bouncy ride most of the night. We got up to the yellowtail grounds and saw pretty good sign of fish. Being that we are in a "shi shi" type position, we bypassed the school sized 15-22lb fish. We had incredible shows in some of our honey holes in the afternoon. We had seal sized boils all around the boat as we caught a half a dozen fish from 35-52lbs. Uncle Bill got the biggest, but the others were also shallow water surface iron beauties. We also experienced everyone having one on sonar school fishing on 25-35lb fish that was also a show to remember. The father-son team of Jordan and Mario Souza show off the benefits of the mint swirl Salas 7x and the group shows part of the results of a hectic bite.
Hoping For Reruns, The Guys |
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No Sign We started out fishing another night bite honey hole and got a handful of yellows at daylight. Right away we could tell that most everyone had plenty of yellows to take home and utilize. Even though we are well within our limits - we are not the type to keep killling them if you don't need them. We had good conditions everywhere we went, but could not get away from the yellows(what a great problem to have). By not being able to sit in one of the alpha current spots, it made it tough to wait out the tuna. Overall there was less sign of tuna but we all know how that changes day to day. We started traveling up in the afternoon planning out the backside of our trip. Alijos Rocks was very generous to us and we are thankful for the weather and the opportunity. Our Uncle Bill Kuehl proudly displays a nice yellow that made the mistake of eating a properly presented metal fish fooling device.
Moving Up, The Guys |
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Everyday Is Different We had a couple of guys start the the day off early getting a handful of yellows beginning about four thirty in the morning. After daylight we adjusted for the current and had beautiful fishing conditions. We saw sign of tuna right away but didn't hook many in the morning because of the yellows. The yellows from 18-30lbs were biting full speed. It was almost hook at will whether it was fly lining, plugging or yo yoing. The tuna fishing was tougher today as there was less sign. We didn't really start hooking them until we repositioned in the afternoon. We had wind against current which made it real tough to fish. It was frustrating as baits would head back under the boat - but worth it if you hooked one. We ended up with 43 tuna and lots of yellows as everyone was beat tired by the end of the day.
Spending The Night, The Guys |
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Got It Good We arrived at the stones around lunch and saw pretty good sign coming in. We were excited when we had instantanious action in the circle before we got the anchor down. Current conditions were kind of backwards, but we made it work because of very little wind and good weather. We kept one to five going as it turned out to be steady touch fishing for 30-50lb tuna and decent yellows. Forty pound and a "castable rod and reel outfit" was the ticket as it was cast your bait out, change it, get a good bait that swims and whamo type fishing. By dark we put a bunch of fish on the rig, morale was good as we had only a couple of people fishing because everyone was content. Posing with the average grade tuna are crewmembers Cameron Cribben and Travis Potter with Brad Lemoine. Steady tuna fishing, great weather and a great group of guys... how could it get any better?
Wishing You Were Here, The Guys |
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The Social Gathering Of The Year Bob Hara who works for Curtis-Rosenthal,Inc. has been planning this trip all year. He has put together a great blend of Friends on this trip and as it just so happens, some of them are business associates. Right from the get go it seems like the social event of the year and it lasted throughout the whole trip. There was constant conversation and laughter to be found at all times during the day. We spent the morning fishing reds and lings and were not disappointed as they cooperated well. We then went offshore and tasted the local offshore scene. We found a kelp and caught 29 yellows as action was fast and furious. Jessica Hara shows off a nice double on reds she caught with a shrimp fly and a Salas 7x heavy.
Next Years Must Do, The Guys |
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Are You Crazy? As we are rolling down on our last springtime day and a half trip, we are gathering reports from our compadres down below. One guy has choppy weather 175 miles from home but is getting random jig strikes on albacore and has 11 fish straight lining for the yellowtail islands. Jeff on the Independence on an 8 day trip had another interesting report. He had absolutely wide open fishing on 35-50lb tuna and nice grade yellows. He was so excited that I quote "if a person had some money and had some time he or she would absolutely be crazy out of your mind not to get down here". It almost seems hard to imagine that kind of fishing is going on as we are the only boat that left the dock tonight. It just so happens that we have 2 eights and a seven day trip leaving the dock soon that still has available spots. We're Going, Are You? The Guys |
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Busy Work We spent the day on the beach fishing for rockfish. We enjoyed beautiful weather and conditions and because of this the lings and reds bit very well. For those people who "poo poo" bottom fishing, not enough can be said about getting lots of bites and catching great-eating tablefare. By midmorning we had enough to share with friends and family, so we headed offshore for only a handful of yellows. With the weather window that we enjoyed what a great way it has been to take full advantage of the Memorial Day weekend. Today on the way down, the Independence had a jigstrike on a 25lb albacore at 175 miles. This shows us that they are showing up over a pretty wide area. Hopefully these are a few scouts and soon the major forces will arrive. Looking Forward, The Guys |
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Making The Most There's always something exciting about early season prospecting offshore. Envisioning jumping albacore and bluefin must go through everyone's mind before any such trip. We started out in the morning in beautiful albacore-looking water, only to find conditions great but no fish. Unfortunately for us all, the kelps in the tuna water were also empty. After driving around all morning, we had to pick a direction and by sheer luck we drove to the right place. We were able to string together some kelps in the afternoon and ended up with over a hundred of them. These fish weren't the best grade but for what is available they sure provided a great time. Nikki Peterson is proof that a good time was had by all. There was a handful of albacore caught by the fleet today and it sure seems like the table is set for a good year.
Apple Sauce From Apples, The Guys |
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The Maiden Voyage After spending the last several months involved with a very busy maintenance period, it was nice to leave the dock and go fishing. With no real legwork done, it was tough to decide where to go. With the weather outlook predicting very little wind it was an easy choice to spend the day offshore. We scratched at kelp paddy yellows and ended up with 17 fish along with several bonito stops. Sam helps Charlie Pace with our first American Angler gamefish of the year. Today's great weather contributed in making May 16 a memorable date in the 2009 fishing season. Mike Lackey on the Vagabond was up to his old tricks as he produced the year's first albacore news. He got into a nice area of water 120 miles from home and saw a batch of puddlers. He promptly drove over there and hooked jig and a bait. Both fish were boated and they weighed 18-22lbs. A bluefin tuna of the same grade was also caught in the same area. Closer to home, Buzz on the Prowler landed 4 bft seen at our local short banks. During our travels today we came across lots of good looking water with all the signs - as if the door is open for the fish to move in.
Looking Forward To A Good Year, The Guys |
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BOAT WORK 2009 B.O.A.T., BRING ON ANOTHER THOUSAND IT SEEMS LIKE EVERY YEAR, Y'ALL ASK THE QUESTION, "WHAT ARE YOU GUYS DOING TO THE BOAT THIS YEAR?" Well, this year it was beyond anybody's comprehension. As you can see from the photos, we had an unexpected surprise, the exhaust system and that was just a warm up! Brian and I don't do anything to the boat half fast. I heard a saying a long time ago, "if you don't have time to do it right, make time to do it twice." The exhaust system was just one of the projects we took on. I'll make a short list for you without getting into detail. EXHAUST SYSTEM (we covered that in the photos) PAINT JOB REFINISH THE RAIL'S NEW DECK PAINT NEW LIGHTS ATOP OF BAIT TANK (Hopefully BG proof, BG 2, lights 0) ALL NEW REBUILT BAIT PUMPS AND FIRE PUMP NEW GEN SETS 4 CYLINDER JOHN DEER, TIER 2 COMPLIANT (go green!) COMPLETE OVERHAUL OF MAIN ENGINES (fun stuff) REBUILD THE WATER MAKER PUMPS WITH A NEW SPARE REBUILD ANCHOR WINCH Here are some photos of the crew at work
Doesn't sound like a big list of things - believe me, that was just part of the work your crew did to keep the boat the way you expect it. We are on the downhill slide of this huge task and we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. The crew is ready to go fishing soon which won't seem like a big deal of work after our little maintenance party which was 80+ days. In a nut shell, the American Angler got a make over in a big way. Now let's talk about some fishing stuff. The 2008 fishing season reminded me of, Yes I'll say it...of 1998. That year we had very good Yellowfin tuna fishing in the local waters after a slight El Nino, warmer than normal. The following year we had a La Nina event and I am sure everybody knows what happened next...okay, I'll remind you. Some of the best Albacore fishing this generation had seen in a long time. Getting back to the present - the 2007 season was a warm water year and since then the water has slowly got back to normal with great local fishing in 2008. Guess what. This year we have another La Nina event happening and there is a lot of colder than normal water around and that is just what we want to have a banner year on Albacore again. I know times are a little tough this year, but maybe a fishing trip is just what the doctor ordered. We have trips in May and June with spots on them and the boat is going fishing...now is the time to go. Light loads, great crew, complete overhaul - lets go fishing! Call Lori and lets do this; 619 223 5414...book now! This is your passsion, so make it happen!! Sea ya this spring!! Thank you all!! Capt Sam Patella |
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ALMOST READY Well, even though the boat wasn't in her slip for day at the docks - we still had a lot of our regular passengers drop by to say hi to the crew. It was great just getting to have a day of low-key visiting with everyone. Thanks to all for dropping by! Check out the pictures below of some of our American Angler family that came by to say hi that day. Apologies for the pictures that didn't make it up - it was the photographer....
Next report - pictures/description of boatwork done. She is almost finally ready to go fishing - with the first trip departing next Friday night, May 15th, at 6pm for a 1.5 day trip. You should check it out - get out on the water for the weekend; the boat will pass the white glove test and it will be a nice, light load with plenty of rail room - a great experience for the first timer and the experts alike - call the office! AMERICAN ANGLER |
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DAY AT THE DOCKS Tomorrow is the 30th annual Day at the Docks in Pt. Loma which promises to be a funfilled day (from 9 - 5) for all ages. The American Angler is still high and dry (pictures will be posted of ongoing progress on the boat and all the upgrades happening for you in a few days), but we'll have a booth in the long range section (behind Fishermans Landing) with our crewmembers on hand all afternoon to answer any questions you might have or if you just want to stop by and say hi. We've also added a few new trips to our schedule for those of you that want to go fishing this season, but can only get away for a couple of days. Come on down tomorrow and bring the whole family! The American Angler |
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THE OFF SEASON Well we're back from the Long Beach Boat Show - it was a wonderful opportunity to see everyone - and it was especially fun this year because we had Ray, Taro and Cameron in the booth with us this year shaking hands, answering questions and just saying hi. It was with great pride that Brian, Sam and myself watched them enjoying the connection with their passengers! Check out the pictures below of just a few of the folks that came by to say hi during the week. The American Angler is out of the water right now with a big project list to complete before the season opener on May 15th. At some point in the next few weeks, the guys will sit down and post photos and a description of what is keeping them so busy right now!
AMERICAN ANGLER |
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FRED HALL SHOW IN LONG BEACH If you haven't already heard - the Fred Hall fishing show begins this Wed. and runs through Sunday in Long Beach. Any questions about times or directions - check out www.fredhall.com for more info. Brian, Sam, Lori and a few crewmembers (Ray and Cameron so far) will be in the American Angler booth to answer any questions about trips & tackle or just come by to say hey! The show runs through Sunday March 8th and then the American Angler hauls out. Check back then to see what the guys have planned for this maintenance season. Thanks and hope to see you in Long Beach later this week! The American Angler |
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Ken's Custom Reels...is Home The group returned to a cold, wet morning (at least not raining hard for unloading) and took home a few nice 100 - 300lb tuna and the boat brought home newlyweds!! Congratulations Bev and Cam - it couldn't happen to two nicer people. Again and as always, a huge thanks to Ken for organizing the trip and a shout out to his following sponsors; thanks to Burns Saltwater Outfitters, Accurate, Tady, Blackwater, WFO, Tiburon and Fishworks for their contributions to the trip - it's very much appreciated! 1st place: Drew Hoffos 246.0 lbs Yellowfin Tuna 2nd place: Zeke Harloff 232.0 lbs Yellowfin Tuna 3rd place: Bruce Marcotte 225.0 lbs Yellowfin Tuna Honorable Mention: Jamie Lyons 302.0 lbs Yellowfin Tuna
Well folks- that's it for a couple of months. We'll update you on the upcoming maintenance projects this off season. And of course, we'll be at the Long Beach boat show from Wed. March 4 - Sun. March 8. Hoping to see lots of you there! And our season resumes on Friday May 15th with an American Angler intro 1.5 day trip - get your feet wet and ready for the 2009 fishing season! Thanks everyone for a memorable 2008 and we'll see you soon, if not at the show then back on the water in a few months... |
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WE WILL MAKE IT HOME IN TIME FOR THE RAIN We have been traveling up the line the last couple of days in so-so conditions, but late yesterday the weather got nicer and we had a little Wedding cerimony in the Galley with Bev May and Cam Robertson taking their wedding vows. Just one of the other duties we are more than happy to perform for our customers. It was also a great reminder on Valentine's Day to cherish those out there that we love. We would like to Take this time to Thank everybody on the boat for coming on Ken's Custom Reel trip and of course a huge thank you to our fearless leader Ken Corwin for being with us and all the great stuff he handed out for everyone to enjoy!
Thank you all, Your Crew, Sam, Taro, Travis, Bobby, Cameron, Greg and Paul ETA 6:15 RAIN OR SHINE |
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ANOTHER DIFFERENT DAY I would have to say every day has been different for us this trip, and sometimes that's the way it goes. We just caught a few smaller fish today for our efforts and with that we are going to make a run tonight down the coast and try a Different area on a Different day...might as well stick with the Theme. Thanks to Jay for the Photo of the day.
GOOD NIGHT, The Gang |
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THINGS LOOK LIKE THEY COULD GO OUR WAY Well we have been dealing with some not-so-nice weather here the last few days and it doesn't look like it's going to back off any time soon, so be it. We were lucky enough to stay put all day with life around the boat and pick at some nice fish. We ended up landing 9 fish which doesn't sound like much - but after 2 days of Blanks, the Gang was pretty happy. They ranged from in the 100 lbs to the biggest at 220 lbs and it feels like we've got a shot at a comeback. We are going to hang out for a couple more days before we have to make the trip up the line.
GOOD NIGHT AND HOPING FOR A BIG DAY TO FINISH IT UP, Ken and the Guys |
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WHEN IS THE WIND GOING TO STOP? We started on the inside with a very breezy night and morning and green water - with no fish in it. This afternoon we went fishing, as we always do, and really didn't find much but did make back out to the lower Banks here right before dark and the water conditions look way better than they have the past few days. We got our fingers crossed that the party will get started again soon.
GOOD NIGHT, The Boyz |
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A TOUGH DAY ON THE BANKS Well what started out a few days ago as what one could call "Off The Hook fishing" pretty much just vanished. We fished the lower banks today and saw really no sign of fish at all so it's time to make a move. We are going to fish the beach in hopes of finding what we are looking for. I'm sure something will turn up in our travels soon. GOOD NIGHT, The Boyz |
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THINGS WERE BETTER TODAY It seems like the zone where the fish have been caught, the conditions are not the same anymore... wow never seen that happen. So we went back to square one and spent part of day where we did see the best life and were able to catch some fish today. We ended the day with 18 fish total, most of them being over the 100lb mark but to be honest we didn't give it much time because we spent most of the day looking for those Jumbos. Tomorrow we are just going to do what we do. fish. and just see what happens.
GOOD NIGHT, The Boyz |
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HERO TO ZERO Yesterday the fish were biting and the weather was nice, well today it all went the other way. On a positive note, we didn't get skunked - Jay Love did catch the one and only fish for the day. The forecast looks better for tomorrow so we hope the weather and fishing is as well. GOOD NIGHT AND WE GOT A LOT OF TIME LEFT, The Boyz |
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LUCKY, LUCKY, US!!! For whatever reason we were the Chosen One this morning and at the crack of dawn found the right school out of the gate. We drifted just about all day with these beautiful fish and stayed steady most of morning and into the early afternoon. We finished our day with 23 fish over the 100lb mark, 5 of which were over 200lbs and Jamie's token 300 plus for the day. I would like to comment on the caption of this report because granted all of these Long Range Skippers are pretty much seasoned Veterans but it sure is nice when you have Luck on your side, which indeed we did today. We have the whole place to ourselves for the next few days so we hope luck is with us again tomorrow, we will keep our fingers crossed for now.
GOOD NIGHT, Ken and the Boyz |
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CATCH ME IF YOU CAN Wow, you want to talk about time of day. We arrived down here on the Lower banks right after daylight and started to see jumping fish, sonar schools, you name it - but getting one to bite was a whole other subject. We finally had 2 fish on the boat around lunchtime, and I wasn't really feeling very good about that, but we kept at it. Finally @ 2:45pm the the light switch came on, and we started to catch fish. We ended up with 14 fish 80 - 180 lbs, not a bad day. The photos of the day: a shot of the meter of the schools that we were stopping on that didn't bite most of the day and when it was bitetime, a sample of the guys with their sucess.
GOOD NIGHT, The Gang |
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The guys are back The boat backed in at 7:45am with a beautiful catch and a boatful of new friends. There were twelve tuna over 200lbs - Galen Steward 241, Ralph Mikkelsen 235, Scott Olsen 231, Mike Goldsmith 230, Sam Cornell with a pair @ 220 and 201.5, Jake Waardenburg 213, Matt Bruce 213, Steve Leonhart 212, Richard Clark 210, Robin Lemaster 209, and Charlie Iwashita 202.... And thats not to take away from all the fish caught over 100lbs. A huge thanks to everyone that came fishing on this trip, we appreciate you making the trip and also a special thanks to Ben Frazier who spent much of his trip making wind ons! Check out jackpot winners below and congratulations gentlemen 1st place: Galen Steward 241.0 lbs Yellowfin Tuna 2nd place: Mike Goldsmith 230.0 lbs Yellowfin Tuna 3rd place: Jake Waardenburg 213.0 lbs Yellowfin Tuna Honorable Mention: Ralph Mikkelsen 235.0 lbs Yellowfin Tuna
Our last trip of the season departs tomorrow - a 14.5 dayer sponsored by Kens Custom Reels - they'll be traveling for the Superbowl, but seems like everyone is more interested in going fishing..check back in a few days for the first fish report! |
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In Our Blood We are cruising up the line wrapping up another trip up in the bridge contemplating life and enjoying "shop talk". Why we spend time away from our loved families, put up with a sometimes hostile work environment, finding it hard to always please everyone and relying upon the ever changing ocean conditions trying to make a catch is easily answered. We would not change our fishing experiences,the people we have met or the individuals that we have worked for or with for anything because it is in our blood. We have been lucky enough to have Shawn Steward [wingnut] work for us on deck this trip giving our customers that even extra special treat[he's possibly working the same trip next year]. We love all kinds of fishing and it seems like what he has to offer aboard his limited load open party and charter boat would be appealing to all our loyal clientele. Depending upon the time of year depicts whether or not it's shallow water rockfish, deepwater rockfish, calico bass, seabass or halibut as his centrally located Channel Islands Harbor offers close proximity to the Islands and the Coast. It's hard to recommend different sportfishing operations not really knowing what the operation is all about, but Shawn's go getter attitude and pleasant personality would be hard to beat...Get all the details from our daily picture.
Love To Fish, The Guys |
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Grand Finale We spent a rolly night on the anchor and we were relieved when the wind backed off in the morning. We had beautiful current conditions and the fish got on us right after daylight. Being on the backside of our trip, we pulled the anchor when all we saw were 100-180lb fish. At this point of the trip, we were interested with cows to finish the trip. We ended up finding an area of cows blowing out on 40lb squid and when we got on the right show we were rewarded with biting fish. We ended up with 6 over two and several more in the 150-190lb class. Ralph Mikkelsen is pictured with the rest of the group with his 235lb tuna. Scott Olsen 231, Mike Goldsmith 230, Jake Waardenburg 213, Steve Leonhart 212, and Mr. Richard Clark with his 210 rounded off the day's big fish bandwagon. This trip is just one of those lucky ones where all the moves corresponded with good timing weather and fishing wise. Our trip is completed with a nice catch of 100-190lb fish, decent wahoo action,and a dozen cows which we owe strictly to the great conditions that were provided. Regardless of the fishing, once again the best thing about the experience was the way this diverse group united into one.
Going Home, The Guys |
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Reality Today was our first dose of reality. When daylight was upon us, we found ourselves in 15kts of breeze. In the following hour it picked up to 20-25kts and had tough sea condition to boot. We stopped on our first deal of fish and it was very apparent that it was a no go. It was plenty fishable, but with modern day short top shots it would be nearly impossible to land a big one. We tried several anchor jobs as in reality they became controlled drifts as we drug anchor down the bank. There was decent enough sign for us to pick off a few fish (such as Galen Steward's 241lb beauty). The weather came down a little in the afternoon and we liked the way the fish responded as we hooked several and boated a few 150-180's. Tomorrow is the big hurrah and we hope to end it with a few more big fish.
Wishing The Wind Away, The Guys |
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Working Out So far we have been lucky enough to have timing, weather and fishing working in our favor. Today the wind came down and we enjoyed beautiful weather. Today's catch was evenly spread out and everybody was on the scoreboard. We landed a couple of fish right around the 200lb mark, like Lt. Mike Goldsmith's 193lber.
Looking For Big Ones, The Guys |
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In Search Of We used today basically as a stepping stone for our next move. We spent most of the day traveling up the in unfortunately bouncy weather. When we got to our destination we found nothing but whitecaps, but we have high hopes for tomorrow. Our picture of the day is veteran angler Ralph Mikkelsen and a tuna fish he caught yesterday. Made very apparent by his bigger than life smile, he continues to enjoy himself in the sport that has been his passion for life. He has touched many including myself when I saw that he still has a pair of pliers in his back pocket that I had wrapped for him over 20 years ago on a Clipperton trip (just imagine what he has seen).
Wish Us Luck, The Guys |
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All About Conditions The overall success of our fishing day totally depends on the conditions that we are dealt with. For the better part of the day we had absolutely no current and therefore we caught no fish during that time period. Following the pattern of the two previous days, the afternoon was definitely the time to concentrate at the rail. We had beautiful conditions and we made the most of it. We had steady fishing on 80-170lb as they were showing good all afternoon. Charlie Iwashita got our token "two" for the day and we are all stoked on how good the picture turned out (nice sickles) The other shot is of our Jordan hanging out with the locals.
Good Flow, The Guys |
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Good Times We are enjoying good timing both fishing and weather wise. We are having great weather for the time being - this has been one of the best weather windows that we have ever experienced. The fishing has been steady with always a few decent tuna or wahoo making a showing around the boat to keep it interesting. The majority of the tuna have been 50-125lbs with a few standouts. We were grateful to have a couple of three handfuls of wahoo mixed in to our nice day of tuna fishing. Robin Lemaster with the help of the guys, shows off his 209lber that he caught for his beloved grand daughters Laura, Melanie, and Emily.
Looking Forward To More Good Times, The Guys |
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Good Fortune On the way down to the grounds the latest reports were not very good. Reports of backwards current and no fish just adds to the many stresses of our job. We got here last night and took care of all the necessary bait-gathering chores with relative ease. We found conditions to be great and with these great conditions we saw sign of fish. Just about everybody aboard ended up the day with something cool. Whether it was a wahoo or two or a nice sized tuna, everyone had a great time and the weather is flat calm. There were two standout personal Bests also recorded today. Sam Cornell landed a 219lb fish and Matt Bruce picked off a a 213lber.
Hoping For More Of The Same, The Guys |
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Accurate trip home The boat returned this morning with what was an absolutely beautiful weather trip, 5 fish over 200 and a few handfuls of over 100lbers....all ready for sashimi or the bbque - your choice. Thank you to Accurate for the abundant loaner gear - Gary Teraoka for his great job as on board sponsor. And to all the passengers - thank you so much for being a part of this trip. Check out jackpot winners below and congratulations gentlemen 1st place: Corey Burak 267.5 lbs Yellowfin Tuna 2nd place: Jeff Price 240.0 lbs Yellowfin Tuna 3rd place: Ted Windham 232.0 lbs Yellowfin Tuna Honorable Mention: Felix Weaver 279.0 lbs Yellowfin Tuna
Our first 14.5 day trip depart this evening - they'll be traveling for a few days, check back then for a fish report! |
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Understanding We are very fortunate to be lucky enough to carry the best passengers to be had on the American Angler. Although it was tough catching and we didn't open the hatch as often as we liked, we still heard many comments about this being a good trip and a few saying it was the best. What this means to us is that the already stated downsides were far outweighed by the pluses. This was as good a chance to catch a trophy as we have seen as we were around cows pretty much all day everyday that we were on the grounds as evidence by fish out of the water next to the boat. The weather was ridiculously great as everyday even the whole ride up has been fantastic. Most importantly as with most of our trips, the people aboard is what puts our trips over the top. Everybody was a cohesive fishing machine and every evening is like a social event. Somebody said last night that we are very lucky to do what we do because it is like we get to have all our Friends over every night and whoop it up. Gary Teraoka was this trip's Accurate representative. Not only being a good guy, he is very patient and giving with the wealth of knowledge that he possesses about these top of the line reels and rigging techniques. As with all Accurate sponsored trips, Jack Nilsen is extra generous providing tons of rod and reel combos for everyone to try. Also we would like to thank some of the other manufacturers for also contributing to the cause. Accurate Fishing Products, Izorline International, Pelagic Gear, Smitty Belts, Baja Fish Gear, Yo's Custom Rods, Fishing Videos, and our beloved Matt Salas from Salas Lures. We have to admit that sometimes our fishing perspective can sometimes be off. Six fish over two hundred pounds and many over one hundred pounds and this was tough?
Making The Most Of Every Situation, The Guys |
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Opportunities Once again we were blessed with beautiful weather on the lower banks. From being here every day, we have become accustomed to the daily behavioral pattern of the big tuna. Although every day has been different we have basically been able to stay on fish all day long. We had a handful of opportunities throughout the day to land these big tuna. We would have them showing bigtime in the circle right where our fishing lines were and after stopping they would be jumping all around the boat.... literally right next to it and it was tough to get a bite. Our fish-finding apparatus would signify sign of these big cows around us and under us as good as i have seen it. For some inexplicable fishing phenomenon, these suckers were tough to make bite. Right away you folks at home start thinking of reasons why or tricks - just imagine what goes through our minds on the boat! We landed a couple of handfuls of fish up to the mid one hundreds and lost at least one legitimate cow right next to the boat. Forever Learning, The Guys |
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Change Every day that we have been in the lower zone we were lucky enough to find sign of good sized fish. For whatever reason or excuses one might have, it has been very tough to get a bite. What makes it worthwhile is the potential grade of the tuna fish that we are landing. Today we hooked 12 of these better fish, but for one reason or another, we only landed 5. Felix Weaver landed today's biggest at 279, Joe El-Deiry traveled out from New York and landed a 227, And Dan Spiegel got one that weighed 208. Also pictured is the father and son team of Joe and Cameron Cribben with his personal best. Tomorrow is our last day on the grounds... wish us luck.
Hope They Bite, The Guys |
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Change Of Pace After several days of looking at big fish that wouldn't bite, we opted for a change of pace. We enjoyed action on 15-30lb fish with the occasional bigger fish mixed in. Most everybody caught at least a couple of fish with the "hot sticks" catching quite a few more. The biggest change was the gear as fishing with a 50lb outfit seemed feather weight compared to what we have been using. Jeff Price landed today's biggest fish that weighed 91lbs and today's picture is of Jeff Bott with a very nice grade tuna that was well deserved.
Back To The Cow Pasture, The Guys |
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Tough We started out in the morning in the right place. We were around fish all morning and could only coax a few bites from smaller grade fish. We kept trying different spots of better fish but just could not get them to cooperate. We were treated several times throughout the day to quite a show of big fish jumping out of the water. Our only two fish of the afternoon were captured by Dan Spiegel and Fred Best. Dan won the daily prize for the biggest fish of the day and is the proud owner of a new Accurate Boss reel. Everyone is still hanging in there, but we are hoping to eventually find some biting fish.
Keep Trying, The Guys |
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Soon Coming We saw sign of fish from the time it was light enough to see till about 4 in the afternoon. We sometimes have a hard time determining whether it is more frustrating to see fish and not have them bite or not to see them at all. Now that the day is done, it is safe to say that seeing them is best because there is always a chance. Corey Burak made his trip out from New York, a worthwhile one with a beautiful 269lb tuna that he caught first thing in the morning. We had three more fish in the mid to high 100's and a handful of 40-70-lbers to round out today's catch. We feel very confident as we hope that one of tomorrow's stops will cooperate as the potential is here.
Fingers Crossed, The Guys |
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Start It Up We are blessed with beautiful weather on our first fishing day of the trip. We had our work cut out for us as we had to relocate the zone. We warmed up with a couple of handfuls of school grade tuna in the morning and one bonus stop for a couple of wahoo. We spent the rest of the morning in search of bigger fish but had no luck. After lunch, our mastman reported a show of birds and breaks about three miles away and as we got closer it was what we were looking for. We were fortunate to land everything that we hooked as 5 good fish were boated in the afternoon. Jeff Price (pictured) landed today's best at 240lbs and Ted Windham landed our other cow that weighed 233. Joe Gigliotti got the kitty off the boat this morning with a wahoo and would like to wish Alex and Nicki a happy birthday as Dad is surely missing you.
Keep It Going, The Guys |
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ONE FOR THE RECORD BOOKS Today was crazy on the cement pretty much all morning long, and well into the afternoon when the last boat finished unloading. Lots of spectators - friends & strangers coming down to watch the whole scene. It was great fun to see everyone and be a part of the action and we especially enjoyed a special visit from two favorites, Jack Nilsen and Del Marsh - who always liven up the party. It was also great to see John Cameron (who couldn't make it on the trip, but came to support the homecoming) - and of course, all the gang from Ken's Custom Reels. The Angler unloaded 4 fish over 300lbs, 8 over 200lbs and 3 over 100lbs along with some supplemental school-sized tuna & Yellowtail for all - and one lone 64lb Wahoo caught by Gary Gillingham...lucky him! The props for the 300lbers belong to Jake Abbate with a 375lber, Rick Okuni with a 368, Chris Cruger had a 347 and last but not least was Ted Cramer with a 300.5lber. As a side note: These fish were weighed on our recently calibrated official scale on the boat. At the dock, the monster fish which weighed 375 on the boat, weighed 360 on both the dock scale and the boat scale. Thanks again so much to Calstar & all the wonderful passengers on this trip - it was feast or famine and all took it graciously - with or without a 300lber.....that's what really makes for a great trip, the great people. Check out jackpot winners below and congratulations on the fish of a lifetime, you guys! 1st place: Chris Cruger 347.0 lbs Yellowfin Tuna 2nd place: Ted Cramer 300.5 lbs Yellowfin Tuna 3rd place: Eytan Rosenberg 266.0 lbs Yellowfin Tuna Honorable Mention: Jake Abbate 375.0 lbs Yellowfin Tuna
The Accurate 10.5 day trip got away on schedule and the group was ready to go for most of the day. Gary Teraoka has Accurate gear for all to borrow and the guys plan on taking full advantage of that offer. Check back for reports. |
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THE LAST LEG After yesterday's pitstop so the Gang could do some Yanking and Cranking, we have had more than mostly of the 48 hour journey home being a nice ride. This was quite the trip with some people catching a fish of a lifetime and others working at it for 5 days wihout even a bite. This is the Most and Biggest fish over 300 lbs I've seen in my entire Long Range career without a doubt - but like I said before, it didn't come easy. We would like to Thank all of the Gang for putting in so much time at the rail and a Special Thanks to Calstar rods with Gary Gillingham as a great onboard sponsor. And John.... we did really miss you! THANK YOU, YOUR CREW Sam, Ray, Jordan, Bubbles, Travis, Greg and Paul ETA 0800 PS Jacqueline TOU LUV CHRIS |
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YANKIN AND CRANKIN We wet our lines one last time on the ridge today for a few fun hours of fishing 12-14lb Yellowtail and a few more school sized tuna. Everyone's packing up their gear and getting ready to head home and listen to the CHARGERS/ colts game tonight.... Looks like the ETA on Monday morning will be 8am or so. GOOD NIGHT, The AA Gang |
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YESTERDAY AND TODAY'S REPORT ALL IN ONE Not sure what happened to the computer yesterday, but we're back. We ended the day with 8 tuna total.... 6 of which were over 200 lb and up to 290 lbs, which in fish numbers was our best day. Today was our day in the Pickle Barrel and had only a few handful of 25 - 35lb school fish to show for our efforts. We are on our way home for the most part - but we are going to make a stop at the top of the Ridge in the morning for a couple of hours and then its to the barn. JUST SO YOU KNOW On Monday when this Long Range fleet hits the dock, to my knowledge, there hasn't ever been this many Yellowfin Tuna over 300 lbs caught in a basically 5 day period - the total should be around 20 give or take. We ended up with 4 for the American Angler and 2 of them should make the top 10. One would have to think that this could be a trip of the lifetime for those also in the near future!! So if you are signed up on a trip leaving soon, make sure your gear is in order because opportunities like this don't come along often.
GOOD NIGHT AND IT'S A NEW YEAR, The AA Gang |
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THE LAST FISH REPORT OF 2008 You know we haven't been catching very many fish the last few days but they have been some Big Boys. Today we hooked and landed 2 fish shown in the photos of the day, both of which are over 300 lbs and one of them will join the over 360 lb club which to my knowledge is the top 10 list. Again we see lots of fish and we have been throwing everything but the kitchen sink at them - maybe we should try that? Anyhow we are going to give the Giant Tuna fishing one more day and most likely start working up the line.
Happy New Year to everybody and best wishes from the American Angler family to yours !!! GOOD NIGHT The Cow Killers |
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PRETTY MUCH A REPEAT OF YESTERDAY Again lots of sign of fish but they just are not in the biting mode for us - but one of these days... we'll just leave it at that. However we did pick up another 300 lb fish today, and if you're not going to catch very many fish they may as well be Giants. We are going to give this another day and if things are the same tomorrow, we are going to try for some action fishing, where ever that might be. No complaints, the weather is still flat calm so tomorrow is make it or break it.
The Boyz |
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HOPE WE ARE HERE WHEN THIS STUFF GOES OFF !!!! By our score on the fish board one would not be impressed, however the 4 fish we did land were nice ones. Let's start off with the tally - Gary with a 165, Nacho with a 262, Eyton wih a 266 and last but not least Jake and Capt. Ray with fish of a lifetime, one for the record books weighing in at 375 on our boat scale which was calibrated in Aug of 08. We always Gill n' Gut the bigger fish on the American Angler, but just so there is no question about the weight we left the fish whole to weigh it back at the dock, it may lose just a couple of pounds but regardless it truly was a Giant. We are seeing a lot of fish down here, when they really decide to bite, hope we're here.
Let's Rock !! The Boyz |
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START UP KIT We spent a few hours letting the gang get out of the car and stretch their legs and do some fishing today. We arrived at the Top end of the Ridge around 11:00 in the am and had steady fishing on some Tuna and Yellows for about 3 hours, and the bonus is that we had a not-very-good ride down with Northwest wind and swell the first day and then had up to 25 knots of northeast wind starting last night which didn't make for a fun ride at all. Good things happen to good people, I'm a firm believer in that because the weather laid down and turned out to be a beautiful day. The photo of the day is of our good buddy Nacho with a shot of some of the Tuna we had today. We are on our way down the coast, bound for the Bait grounds in hopes of catching a box of Greenies just in case they come in handy tomorrow. The forecast looks great so we hope the Big ones are waiting for us!
GOOD NIGHT AND CAN'T WAIT FOR THE MORNING, The Gang |
