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Happy New Year Everyone!!!. Our sat phone modem is still giving us fits. Sam just phoned in with a good report to end the year, they had 10 nice fish with 6 going over 200. They are headed back up the line and want to wish everyone a safe, prosperious & happy 2006. American Angler |
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The boat called in tonight and is having technical difficulties with the computer and were once again not able to send in the email for today's fishing. They reported seeing lots of of tuna, in the 25-35lb range, and stopped on several schools - and had some fun catching a few handfuls of them. Wish them luck tomorrow - they still have lots of trip time left and are putting everything they have into it.... American Angler |
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The boat called tonight to report they were having trouble sending the fish report via email, and also to let everyone know that they have 2 fish over 200lbs - caught by Paul Medina and Rick Okuni and one @ 124lbs caught by one of the Chuck Petteks. It sounds like everyone is having a great time. As soon as they are able to send their email, we'll put up an official report from the boat - we appreciate your patience and check back later for the boat's report and picture. American Angler office |
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Thank you to everyone that was on board this 10 day trip sponsored by Tiburon. Thanks to Steve Bledsoe, for all the nice giveaways. Check out the jackpot winners below and congratulations! 
1st place: Harold Penelton 255 lbs Yellowfin Tuna 2nd place: Jacob White 239 lbs Yellowfin Tuna 3rd place: Jim Goodwyn 235 lbs Yellowfin Tuna The boat departed will depart on the evening of Dec. 26th for an 8 day trip Start checking back for daily fish reports on Dec. 29th! Happy Holidays from the entire American Angler Crew |
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YELLOWS IN THE LEE We arrived at the lower end of Cedros right at the crack of dawn; it took a little looking around before we got located on our first spot of fish that wanted to bite. It was a nice steady pick on 18 to 30lb fish either on bait or the Surface Plug. Now it's time to run up the line tonight and finish off the trip with a nice fresh fish lunch. The photo of the day is Mark Jacobson with one of his nice Yellows he picked up today on the Long Rod. 
GOOD NIGHT, The Gang |
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WORKING ON UP THE LINE We started on the upper end of the Ridge to break up the ride back home. We did some yankin and crankin on smaller Yellowtail, Tuna and managed to pick up one Wahoo to finish off the year. Tomorrow we are going to fish Cedros in hopes of some Yellowtail action. The photo of the day is Randy and the last Wahoo of the Year. 
GOOD NIGHT, The Gang The American Angler sends its condolences to the Salas family for their loss of Marty Salas, an icon in the fishing lure manufacturing business, who passed away this past Sunday morning. |
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WE GAVE IT OUR ALL! Today was another day of looking at plenty of fish that would not cooperate for us to say the least. The way the fishing has been the last few days its all about hitting the right school at the right time of the afternoon. We stopped the boat on several nice schools of fish today for not much return. We ended the day with 6 fish for our efforts but from what we have seen it looks like there should be some good fishing here in the near future again. The photo of the day is Steve Bledsoe and Alex Toh and also Randy Ladue with their prize catches. We have to work up the line tonight, so we are going to do some fishing on the Ridge and then move up to Cedros Island to finish up the trip. 
GOOD NIGHT, The Guys |
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A FEW MORE FISH OF A LIFETIME The way the fishing has been down here the last three days is, it's not a matter of finding fish, it's finding fish that want to bite. Again we spent several hours today going from one spot to another in hopes of the Lucky School but only managed to hook a few fish in our stops. We ended the day with a total of 6 fish - 4 over the 200 lb mark, but that doesn't justify the potential of what is around. The photo of the day is one of the Cows coming over the rail. We have one more day down here and hope for the best. 
GOOD NIGHT AND WE ARE LOVING THE WEATHER, The Gang PS. Heil, BG says bring the big truck |
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WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES Well today was a big improvement over yesterday for us. We caught 15 Yellowfin Tuna, 6 which tip the scale over the 200 lb mark - so with that said, things are on the up and up for the gang. The overall picture for the Zone is that there is still a good sign of Big Fish around and we hope that in the next couple of days, we put together a nice catch of these beautiful fish. The photo of the day is of some the guys with a few fish we caught just before sunset. 
GOOD NIGHT, The Gang PS. Debbie, I got what I wanted, Steve. PSS Marcia, Steve got his Big Fish today. |
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MY DAY IN THE PICKLE BARREL The highlights of the day included seeing plenty of fish and the weather is just beautiful but as fair as a respectable fish count, it wasn't our day. There are 3 other long range boats here in the area that caught 15 to 25 fish per boat. We stopped on 4 different spots of fish that only produced 1 fish for our efforts. The photo of the day is of Jim Goodwyn with his 235 lb Tuna. 
TOMORROW IS ANOTHER DAY. GOOD NIGHT. The Gang |
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WHAT A RIDE! The last couple of days we had pretty much one thing on our minds and that is to get down into the land of Giants. We spent a couple of hours trolling the upper end of the Ridge for nothing, and although we did see a fair sign of smaller Tuna - we were just not interested today. There are a couple of Long Range boats a day ahead of us with good reports today so we will be there bright and early in the morning ready to get this party started. As you can see from the photo we have the right weather. 
GOOD NIGHT AND DREAMING OF COWS, The Guys |
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After Thanksgiving 10 day returns Capt. Brian brought back the American Angler this morning with the best trip the boat has seen since it was built. 40 fish over 200#s - memories of a lifetime trip for these anglers that helped each other achieve this goal. A big thank you to everyone on board from the entire American Angler crew. Check out the jackpot winners below and the group with one of their big fish!!! 
1st place: Ken Corwin 285 lbs Yellowfin Tuna 2nd place: Larry Lau 267 lbs Yellowfin Tuna 3rd place: Andrew Owyoung 265 lbs Yellowfin Tuna The boat departed at noon with the Tiburon 10 day trip with Capt. Sam at the helm. Start checking back for daily fish reports on Thurs night, Dec. 8th! The American Angler crew |
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Arsenal Traveling up the coast heading for home, we have time to think about the incredible fishing that we were so fortunate to be a part of. All of our passengers are in the know about what's going on as far as the big fish are concerned before they walk on the boat. In preparation for the trip, they have visited their local tackle shops and we're sure have logged on to the "drama" on some of the more popular fishing chat rooms in search of the proper tackle to have when they come aboard. One of the most important things is to walk on the boat with an open mind. The majority of reasons why big fish are lost is because of a drag that is too loose during the end of a battle. The majority of the epic battles that are lost, happen because the angler ends up fighting his gear rather then the fish, as he struggles to not only gain but to more importantly, keep that precious line on the reel. The hardest thing for a deckhand to tell the people, is to tighten their drag. All of the crew aboard the various long range boats that have never experienced cows before, are now seasoned veterans in the art of landing big fish after seeing a lifetime's worth hooked in just the last six weeks. Given that, with all the preparation the most important thing you can do is to ask and listen to the crew, because they want to see everyone enjoy the success of landing one of these trophies. One thing that we have seen the last couple of trips that has really been brought out in our people, is their compassion for one another. With the "family thinking'" on the boat, having everybody on the boat leaving the grounds with a big fish under their belt has been a priority. With people hooking, handing and helping one another - this has been a success and should be a part of every angler's thinking in the future as the self-gratification of watching other people's happiness often exceeds ones personal goals. Talking to Lori she had mentioned a few spots on an upcoming trip. The eight day trip after Christmas gives an angler the opportunity to possibly fish these big ones for two or three days. If there is sign of fish seen on the trips before the holidays, just think of the possibility of catching a fish of a lifetime on such short a trip! Sorry So Long Winded, The Guys |
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Action We fished yellows today and were hoping for lots of action. Conditions however never let us settle down and make a home. Some places held too small of fish, others had too much current, and other places had uncooperative fish. Some days all we can do is try and today was one of those days. We ended up scratching a few here and a few there, but team comraderie still persisted. Hoping For Calm, The Guys |
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Thankful We moved out to the stones hoping for some decent wahoo action, but unfortunately didn't find any. We had a couple of wahoo like the one displayed by Travis Tanaka, and we also saw pretty good sign of school-sized tuna. We saw plenty of fish around, but we had trouble keeping their interest. We would hook a few and they would stop biting - but needless to say, it is an encouraging option for upcoming trips. The big cows are still biting down below and the reports are still unbelievable, but true. 
Hoping To End It With A Bang, The Guys |
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GROUND LEVEL After enjoying several days of unimaginable type fishing powered by positive attitudes and big tuna, things were bound to change. We moved up the line to experience 'classic' fall style fishing and never kept a fish. We have high hopes for tomorrow and hopefully the day of rest and recovery will pay off. We have been talking about what we caught and not so much how we caught them. The minimum size gear consists of a standard 50 size reel, spectra backing, 100# topshot, a matching rod, and a selection of quality type sardine hooks. As my partner's Uncle once said 'EVERYBODY KISSES DIFFERENT' - the specifics of the gear is merely a suggestion. After experiencing the first couple of fish, the natural progression has been going with heavier topshots. The length that we recommend is about 40 yards to get the best of both worlds. In the bridge on the fathometer, when a Cow is at deep color we see them circling at roughly 20-25 fathoms where the stretch and abrasion resistance of heavier topshots come in to play. Hope It Keeps Up, The Guys |
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Men It takes a real man to do what we have witnessed the last couple of days. We know that we talked about this last night but we are proud to talk about it again. Our goal for the trip was for everyone aboard to land one of these beautiful fish and because of unselfish generosity, it was accomplished. For the most part fishermen/hunters have the competitive machismo-type attitude inbred deep inside from the moment that they are born. With this in mind - think of the maturity, security, and the goodness in one's soul that it takes to hook and hand a fish even though chances were that it was a jumbo. Today's picture is Reny Endozo - who with thanks to Jamie Lyons landed a 242lb tuna, which was a perfect example of generosity that people possess. We were lucky enough to land 40 over 200lbs in the last three days, which was due to the good karma that our passengers displayed. Chef Paul Cloutier would like to wish his mother a happy birthday 
Lucky For Lots Of Things, The Guys |
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The Best We have to be blessed with the best passengers in the world. We are firm believers in what comes around goes around and from the displays of unselfishness that was witnessed today - there was no doubt that it would pay off. There were multiple people; Rick Sikes, Andrew Owyoung, Russ Kimura, Ken Corwin, Ogie Vasquez, and many others that would hook fish and immediately hand them off to the other guys that have had tougher luck. To think that each fish passed off was a fish of a lifetime is not exaggerated. Because of the generosity we were blessed with the best bite and day we have ever seen on big cows. Not one to ever post numbers, we ended up the day with 22 fish over 200lbs. To think of this is mind boggling and makes me numb. Pictured Is the group with the best karma 
This Is Crazy, The Guys |
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Special There have been a few times in our life when we have seen the opportunity to hook a big fish... and today was one of those. Out of the first 8 fish we boated, 7 of them were over 200lbs. To think of that kind of ratio is absolutely insane especially when these are high twos. We were fortunate to land a couple 280's, a 260, a 250 and several other mid grade 200lbers. We were not alone as far as enjoying this good grade as two of our code boats were lucky enough to land 300lbers. Ken Corwin, with the help of his buddy Jamie poses with a 285 lb fish which was one of many that hit the deck today. 
Lucky To Be Here, The Guys |
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Getting Our Toes Wet We tried looking for wahoo on a few of the high spots found on the way to the promised land. When we arrived at our first destination, we had a little action as soon as we slowed the boat down. We were feeling pretty good about ourselves after we boated a couple handfuls of fish like the one displayed by Jim Heuring. Little did we know that the wahoo action was to come to a complete stop...but we kept on trying. We were happy to hear reports from the guys that are a day ahead of us that the big tuna were still around. We will be in the zone at daylight and we are very anxious for our shot at the big leagues. 
Ready As We Will Ever Be, The Guys |
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CME4TUNA is back Capt. Sam Patella brought back the American Angler this morning with 48 YFT over 100lbs and 4 of those were over 200lbs (the largest @ 277lbs). The weather was gorgeous for the entire trip and everyone on the boat had at least one over 100lbs (many of the passengers also had a personal best this trip). We want to thank Mike Farnsworth for all of his hard work putting this charter together and thanks to everyone on board! Check out jackpot winners below and the gang with nicest fish of the trip. Thanks again everyone. 
1st place: Hal Friedlander 236 lbs Yellowfin Tuna 2nd place: Chris Matro 207 lbs Yellowfin Tuna 3rd place: Danny Chi 205 lbs Yellowfin Tuna Honorable Mention:Mark Byrum/Don Banks 277 lbs Yellowfin Tuna The boat will depart on Sat. Nov 26th for our 10 day after-Thanksgiving trip with Capt. Brian at the helm. Start checking back for daily fish reports on Monday night, Nov. 28th! And a Happy Thanksgiving to all - have a great day with your family and friends, The American Angler crew |
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THE FINAL JOURNEY This morning we stopped to make a few drops to catch some fish for lunch. It didn't take but a couple of drifts and we were on our way. The weather once again is unprecedented - the ocean having that mirror look to it which we call Glass. Know that the trip is over tomorrow and we will return with another outstanding catch of Tuna over the 100lb mark with 4 fish weighing in at 202 to 277 which was the primary goal of this trip. We would to thank Mike Farnsworth and his group of guys for being a part of this very special trip. With all the effort that went into landing each and every fish, it was well worth it. Oh by the way, lunch was wonderful and tomorrows eta is 0515. GOOD NIGHT MAY THE BIG TUNA GODS KEEP LOOKING OVER ALL OF US. Thank You all. Your Crew, Sam, Matt, Ray, Mitch, Paul, Taco and Hoffy. |
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FUN FISHING ON THE LAKE After a wonderful night of traveling we stopped this morning to fish for some Yellowtail, which was a nice steady pick on either flylining a live bait or your favorite Yoyo jig. And then, just before lunch it was time to hit the road, roll up and try a couple of our other Yellowtail spots - none of which panned out. We are going to make a stop in the morning and try to catch some lunch before it's time to bundle up the Rods and call it a trip. Good Night, The Gang |
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ANOTHER DAY OF BEAUTIFUL WEATHER This ocean has just been flat calm for our entire trip and was again for today's fishing. We ran up to fish on the ridge today in hopes of catching a few Wahoo and Tuna and that's pretty much how the morning went. There are still a few Wahoo around but it just depends what day you come across them to see if you get a sample or have a nice day on the Skinnys...today was just a sample for us. We did have some action on the 20 to 30lb Tuna to break up the morning before it was time keep rolling up the line in order to make it up to the island for Yellowtail fishing in the morning. The photo of the day is Walt Bryce with his Wahoo of the day. It doesn't matter what Walt has on the other end of his line - you can bet he will have the drag just hammered down to the max. Those fish don't stand a chance. 
Good Night, The A.A. Gang |
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BACK ON THE COWS When the sun came up over the horizon something did not feel right, and with that being the case it was time to spread out to get back in the zone - No guts, No glory. It was around 7:00 am when Capt. Brian Simms was 20 miles below the old area to let us know that he was on the big ones. By 10:00 am the rest of the gang showed up on scene and everybody had good fishing - thanks to Brian on the Q-105. We had 4 different stops for a total of 11 fish ranging from 155 to 277. Thanks to the team work of our fleet it looks like we are in store for some more of this unbelievable fishing in the near future. The photo of the day is Hal Friedlander with his cow. 
Good Night, The A.A. Team |
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SAVED IT LATE IN THE DAY Today we did the same thing for most of the day, looking at fish that just wasn't in the right mode. It was just around lunch time when we finally found a nice little school of 125 to 155 lb fish that stuck around the boat. We did manage to catch a total of 13 fish over the 100 lb mark for our efforts so we are happy with that considering the way the fishing has been the last couple of days. It sure seems that it is just a matter of time before this fish gets back into bite mode for all to enjoy. The photo of the day is Chris Matro assisted by Ray and Taro. We have one more day down in the Zone so we all have our fingers crossed to finish off with a few more Cows before we head up the line. 
Good Night and sleep tight, The A.A. Team |
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OUR DAY IN THE PICKLE BARREL When the sun went down today, we did not have the day we had hoped for but that wasn't due to lack of fish in the zone. The fish are just in that funk mode, we see plenty of tuna - getting the right school to bite was the challenge today. We ended the day with 5 fish ranging from 135 to 196lb. The photo of the day is Tony Postolov with his 170 lb Tuna... he wanted to make sure he was on the fish report to prove to Mrs. Postolov he really is on a fishing trip. 
Good Night, The Gang |
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ANOTHER FINE DAY ON THE BANKS! Well, let's just start this report out with the weather conditions; Flat Calm and as for the fishing, this is once again just remarkable, to say the least. Today, for our lucky anglers, every fish was a new personal best. We ended the day with 18 fish over the 100lb mark and a token 205lb fish landed by Danny Chi. The photo of the day is of a bunch of the gang that were in on the late bite of the day. This is day one for us down here in the zone and we have at least 3 more days of Cow fishing ahead of us ... so may the Tuna Gods be looking down upon anybody on a 10 day trip for the time being. 
Good Night, The A.A. Team |
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GOT HIM! One can only imagine what anybody within 100 miles off the Big Tuna Grounds are doing right now, needless to say we are all very restless. Today about all we could do is just burn up a little time and try to capture any loose Wahoo that might still be around. We did catch a few 18 to 25lb Tuna just to get the gang out on the rail, but we did put a lot of effort in hopes of catching some Wahoo. Well, we did get one for our efforts - it is getting late in the year for these toothy critters. The photo of the day is Hal Friedlander with Capt. Ray and the catch of the day. Tomorrow can't come soon enough for the Fleet, so keep your fingers crossed for all of us and hope we all can get back on those beautiful Tuna that may be awaiting our arrival. 
Good Night and Calm Seas, The Gang |
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Anglers Choice limited load 11 day trip returns Capt. Brian Kiyohara brought back the American Angler this early morning with an amazing catch of 63 fish over 100lbs and 20 of those were over 200lbs. 17 out of the 22 passengers on board had personal bests to be proud of. Following is a list of everyones biggest fish on the trip: 297, 255, 250, 230, 225, 218, 215, 215, 215, 214, 212, 210, 210, 203, 202, 197, 193, 189, 177, 168, 160, and 144. Congratulations to all and to your teamwork while catching these fish. Thanks again to Luc and Anglers Choice for organizing this trip and for the nice giveaways. We already look forward to this same trip next year! Check out the gang belowdecks, each with their favorite fish. 
1st place: Bob McPherson 255 lbs Yellowfin Tuna 2nd place: Beth Smith 250 lbs Yellowfin Tuna 3rd place: Darrin Seiji 230 lbs Yellowfin Tuna Honorable Mention: Art Preston 297 lbs Yellowfin Tuna The boat departed at 11am with Capt. Sam at the helm for the 3rd annual CME4TUNA Charter which is put together every year by Mike Farnsworth. Check back for daily fish reports! The American Angler crew |
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From the passengers: With our voyage coming to a close, it is time for us to document the recent memories of the moments we experienced during the trip. It started with beautiful weather which never stopped: flat calm seas which lasted for 11 gorgeous days. We experienced excellent wahoo action and fishing for giant Yellowfin Tuna which rivaled any trip to the Islands. There were many successes and many defeats in battle, but in the end there were 17 personal bests set, and a total of 20 fish over 200 pounds. We are all thankful for the opportunity, and the incredible help of such an exceptional crew, without which this would never have happened. Was it a trip of a lifetime? Only the future holds that answer. But as of this date, ABSOLUTELY. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the entire crew of the American Angler for our experience, and Luc and everyone at Angler's Choice for compiling such an excellent group on an excellent boat. We wish all passengers on upcoming trips as much luck and good times as were had by all on this trip. 
That's all there is, From the gang belowdecks |
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Going Home Today we worked up the line fishing different reefs and kelp lines we've never been to before. The weather was beautiful which made the fishing real nice but we had no current which made the catching tough. By the days end we ended up picking a few yellows and bass while we covered roughly 30 miles of coastline. Pictured is Matt Walsh regular Art Preston [he also caught a 297lb tuna] and Greg Tanji with a nice yellow caught on the surface iron. Alot has been written about the big tuna in recent weeks so I will try and keep my thoughts brief. The tuna fishing seems much better now then it ever was before but we think the main reason is that now we land more then we did before. The advancements in two speed reels, sato crimps with spectra backing,heavy top-shots, and the crews familiarity with these fish help put more of these aboard. The bite we had the first night where everyone aboard had a 200lber hooked at the same time is just another story in this latest run of fish but the moral of the story is that with the long range camaraderie we are now able to stay on the fish better and take more advantage of these special times. 
Moving Up !! The Guys |
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Right Place At The Right Time Even though we already have been lucky enough to be a part of the magic that's been going on , the need and desire to catch fish never ends. No matter if its with 100lb gear for big tuna or a ping pong ball at the carnival for goldfish the crews desire to catch never wanes. This mornings quarry was wahoo and we were fortunate enough to be on the right pimple on the ridge. We started hooking fish in the grey which gave us a pretty good feeling for the morning to come. We were not disappointed as we were pleasantly surprised with good steady wahoo fishing. We took care of the folks that didn't get one on the way down on our way to a fun day. We are moving up and tomorrow we plan on poking around the beach and exploring. Todays picture is of our beloved jokester, Hoffy lending a hand to Red in displaying part of todays catch. 
Enjoying The Weather, The Guys |
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Adjectives: Incredible Unbelievable Unprecedented Fun Phenominal Phrases: Once in a lifetime It doesn't get any better These words just begin to describe the fishing we have experienced as an entire fleet during the past few days and weeks. The steady fishing on big cows is something that all of us can actually say that we have never seen before. Every web report now almost seems redundent but for all the passengers and crew aboard the long range vessels these trips will never be forgotten. Even though every 200lber was acknowledged by the end of the trip they were just standard procedure. Every passenger on every boat has had a trip of a lifetime that will never be forgotten and todays picture is of our lucky group that we have onboard. 
Traveling Up, The Guys |
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No Guts No Glory After three days of chasing cows with the insurance of having a good catch aboard we opted to try for something different.In the back of our mind was a temp break which has been historically known to hold kelps and has been home to some of the most memorable deals of wahoo in the recent past. We arrived in the area midmorning and as soon as we neared the break our mast man spotted a nice big juicy kelp. By using straight jigs and no bait it kept the resident population of dorado at ease and enabled us to land a few wahoo. With all the cards seemingly stacked in our favor it seemed that it was only a matter of time. The rest of the day we anticipated a big hit every time a large kelp was spotted but we were never rewarded for our hard work. Pictured is Bill Goodwin with the afternoons only fish [a real beauty]. We are looking forward to once again fishing cows tomorrow because our fellow comrades enjoyed some of the best fishing so far that this incredible big fish flurry has had to offer. 
We Tried, The Guys |
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The Dream Our goal coming down to the big fish zone was that everybody on the boat not only have the opportunity to catch one, but to actually land one. We absolutely have the best passengers in the world because to accomplish this task, the the showing of unselfishness was overwhelming. There were kite rotations passed up and actual rods handed off with fish attached - which was one of the best things one could ever see. It seemed like the giver would always be the winner in the end, as the good deed always seems to come back around. Today was a little slower as we ended up with a couple of handfuls, but it was still appreciated as some of the best big fish fishing, ever. There were 6 members of our fleet here today and no matter how good they bit today [or didn't], it was encouraging that all passengers on every boat had a good shot at a big fish. Pictured is Jim Miller with a stock 160lb model, posing with Hoffy,Gregg and some good weather. 
Tommorrow... Variety? The Guys |
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Unprecedented We once again were fortunate enough to enjoy good tuna fishing for size large. We know that every web report for the whole long range fleet has been talking about this fishing and all we can say is that it is true. Big fish blowing out next to the boat with the chance that a persons next bait can turn into a fish of a lifetime, has totally been the norm. We have several people fishing every stop with 130lb main line with 100lb being the norm [take off the 80lb]. Also, with this great fishing, comes the emotional rollercoaster that goes along with these big fish. The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat can easily overwhelm a person if things are not kept in perspective. At times losing a big fish can seem like the absolute worst thing that can ever happen, then we think of those experiencing hurricanes, tsunamis, and other disasters both natural and man-made...then things quickly become crystal clear. Tonight's picture is our unsung hero, Mitch Coniff. Not only is he the best cook I have ever been on the water with, he is a crucial part of the deck crew when things get going. 
When The Going Gets Tough - The Tough Get Going, The Guys |
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A First We hope not to bore everyone with "old time" fish stories, so today we will talk about a new experience. We can modestly say that from old school Clarion, Clipperton, Lunker Hole and other big fish haunts - that we have had the opportunity to see some pretty amazing fishing over the years. Today is a first; we slid into a spot of cows and instantly we had 20 out of 22 anglers bent over on big ones and the only reason that the two couldn't get a bite was because there was no place to drop a line where there was no fish going. I have never been in a situation where it was next to impossible to land a fish. When a 200lber comes up and circles, it takes an area easily 20 feet in diameter, probably more. With 20 big cows hanging like grapes, 20 feet is a dream where in reality there wasn't 2 feet. At first I was discouraged we only landed 9 fish out of that deal [once again overcome by darkness], but after thinking about it we were pretty proud. I honestly think it would have made no difference even if we had 20 Rollos working that bite, as the crew did everything that was physically possible given the circumstances. As it turns out, seven of the nine fish landed, weighed between 208 and 297lbs - as this was truly one of the few times that the saying "I lost a big one" was not overexaggerated. For all of our guys that pulled hooks next to the boat and had other "big Fish" mishaps, tomorrow is another day. We are on a good pace for our dream goal of everyone aboard landing a big fish, as the last stop was not our only one. Please excuse the gaff shot in today's picture because it is merely one of many holes necessary to put them aboard. 
Telling Stories, The Guys We still have a couple of spots on our upcoming 11/14 day trip - call the office at 619 223 5414. Its going to be good.. |
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Time Today we started our 11 day fishing trip out on the upper end of the ridge. Even though our eta wasn't until lunch time we found plenty of action on a few different high spots. We saw pretty good sign of 20-30lb tuna but only kept a few as anticipation is high for the days to come. We talked about today as a warm-up, but it ended up being a little more than that as we stumbled over a nest of wahoo that sent everyone buzzing. We had a stop for 17 skinnies and for a few minutes they were biting very good. Unfortunately for us, darkness was our biggest enemy as it took over and ended the bite. With the action-packed ending along with the earlier tuna action, it was the perfect way to break up the ride to the promised land. Daylight during a travel morning is one of the most peaceful times that we know. 
Hoping For Good Times, The Guys |
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Sport Chalet returns Capt. Sam Patella brought back the American Angler this morning with one for the books. Every angler on board had at least one tuna over 100lbs and 11 of them were over 200lbs. Thanks again to Brad Lemoine and Sport Chalet for the terrific give-aways. See you all next year and some of you on the upcoming 16 day in Jan.! Check out jackpot winners below and 15 of the guys with some of their monster catch. Thanks again everyone. 
1st place: Monteil Tremaine 261.5lbs Yellowfin Tuna 2nd place: Bill Randall 244 lbs Yellowfin Tuna 3rd place: Richard Tanaka 243 lbs Yellowfin Tuna Honorable Mention: Rocky Opliger 250 lbs Yellowfin Tuna The boat departed at noon with Capt. Brian at the helm for the Anglers Choice limited load 11 day trip. Check back for daily fish reports! The American Angler crew |
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HAPPY HALLOWEEN Today was a travel day so it was time for everybody to just kick back and watch a movie, read a book or get caught up on their rest. Tonight we had a big drawing and gave away a lot of great things. The sponsor of the trip is Brad Lemoine from Sports Chalet, and we would like to Thank him and all the other manufacturers that donated some great give aways: Coleman,Shimano, Berkly line, Owner hooks, Seeker Rods, Mustad, Maxima, Salas Jigs,Diawa, Izorline and Accurate Reels. What a great group of guys to fish with on this trip, there are a lot of regulars that make this trip every year - it is always a pleasure to fish with all of you. This was not your usual 10 day trip, it seemed more like you were on a 14 to 17 day trip with the catch that we have onboard. Just to give you an idea of the quality, here are some of the weights of the fish: 261,244,243,250,221,230,219,211,211.5,205,201,198,198,198,195,195,192,198, 192,182,185,180,175,176,171,175,172,171,165,168,161,169,160,169,162,157, 153,156,159,143,140,138,134,138,139,137,125 and we may have missed one or two of them. That is just the fish over the 100 lb mark. To say the least WHAT A BANNER TRIP.. Thank you all for being a part of this great trip. ETA 0600 Your Crew, Sam, Gregg, Matt, Taro, Keith and Paul. GOOD NIGHT, There is still spots on our 14 day trip Departing Jan 5 2006 it's going to be Good. |
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FINISHING UP WITH SOME YELLOWS Today was Yellowtail day; we made it up to the south end of Cedros by the crack of dawn and nobody really knew what the correct time was - the only thing that was common to all was sunrise. We basically tried looking at all the good spots up the lee side of the Island, caught a few fish and enjoyed the weather. The photo of the day is Rob Perry with his nice-sized Yellow. Tomorrow we will be traveling up towards home and it will be a day of rest and relaxation for all of the gang. The weather seems fair right now and is forecasted to get better in the next few days. 
GOOD NIGHT AND BOUND FOR HOME, The A.A. Team Message from Bob Cass: Happy Birthday Dad, from #1 son |
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GAINING ALTITUDE We are at the point of our trip when it is time to start rolling up the line, so that was what we did today. We did stop and try to catch some Wahoo in the morning but with the reports of the boats coming down the line we knew we would be lucky to get just a few. The photo of the day is Monte Tremaine with our biggest Wahoo of the day, one of four that we did manage to catch. Tomorrow we will be in Yellowtail mode and then it will be time to head it for the barn. 
GOOD NIGHT, The Gang |
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WHAT A DAY! Once again it is hard to describe in a report what actually went down today, but I guess we'll just start with this morning. Before daylight we had a few fish on the sonar so we just shut her down; about 30 minutes later when it was just cracking daylight I walked back into the Wheelhouse and looked at the sonar and did not believe my eyes! At that time I told the gang to get ready - there were fish all around us on the machines, the weather was flat calm and it was like a hot Albacore bite but these were all Gorillas. When all the smoke cleared, we had landed 13 fish, 5 which tipped the scale over the 200 mark and we also managed to make our goal and take care of all of our Virgins. There was good fishing for the long range boats that were in the area today, so one has to wonder - was this the right day or are we in for a fall season of fishing of a lifetime? The photo of the day is what you might see if you are booked on one of these fall trips coming up in the near future. 
GOOD NIGHT AND WE ARE ROLLING UP THE LINE, The A.A. Team |
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FLAT CALM AND COWS Another day down in Cow Country, and we did not have the day we had yesterday, but we did land 7 fish over 100 lbs and one over the 200 lb mark. At last night's family meeting, there were 9 out of 25 anglers that had not landed one of these Trophy size fish, so today when somebody hooked a fish, it was instantly handed off to one of the Virgins. (Virgin is slang for an angler that has not caught a targeted fish.) That made today really special. We are down to just a couple Virgins, so we are going to try our luck down here in Cow Country again and start working up tomorrow night. The photo of the day is Joe locklear with one of his trophies landed on one of our new Avet 50w reels which is part of our loaner tackle onboard the boat, and they seem to work just fine! 
GOOD NIGHT, The Gang |
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IS THIS FOR REAL? I'm not even quite sure what to write tonight...the day we had today was what you would hope for on any winter 16 day trip. To have the opportunity to get on a 10 day trip in the Fall and have fishing like we did today is something that was unheard of 20 years ago. We landed 19 fish - 4 of them weighed over 200 lbs and with landing that many fish of this grade, of course we had our share of losses to go with it. It seemed at times today, that fishing with 100 lb test line was too light of gear - so anybody coming on a 10 day trip in the near future make sure you have some Big Gear in your bundle of rods. We are going to give it another day of Trophy Hunting again tomorrow. The photo of the day is Rocky Opliger with the Jackpot fish of the day. He wanted to make sure to say Hello to family back home; Hi Kat, Erin and Brandon - Love you guys. 
GOOD NIGHT, The A.A. Team Also anglers - there is room on our 14 day trip departing Jan. 5th - call the office (619) 223 5414. |
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RATHER BE LUCKY THAN GOOD, ANY DAY OF THE WEEK! We started on the lower end of the Ridge this morning in hopes of picking up a few Wahoo, but by 8:00 in the morning we didn't have that warm fuzzy feeling that it was going to happen. We had a shot to make a long run and have a few hours of fishing before dark, down in the Trophy Zone. The day was getting late and patience was running short and just about the time I thought what we were going to have to do this tomorrow - we bumped into our first Sonar school. The photo of the day is the first 4 fish that came over the rail. We also had another nice stop, right at dark, which included 4 more nice ones. 
GOOD NIGHT, The A.A. Team |
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GETTING EVERYBODY IN THE SWING OF THINGS Today was the first day of fishing and the gang sure had a good time; we started at the top of the Ridge for day one to kick things off. The bulk of the action was 20 to 30 lb Yellowfin Tuna which happened to be in the right mood for us and we did pick up one Wahoo for our starter kit. The photo of the day is Fred Mcnulty with not something you see everyday on a long range trip - 2 Sandbass on 1 lure?. At the time he caught these Sandbass, the Tuna were biting full speed for us; so if you're at your local tackle shop wondering what a good Tuna lure is... don't get what Fred was using today. 
GOOD NIGHT AND HIGH HOPES FOR THE DAYS TO COME, The A.A. Team |
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100 and 200lbers Capt. Brian Kiyohara brought back his American Angler from a successful 10 day trip with 16 fish over 100lbs and 4 of those were over 200lbs - 237lbs caught by Tim Bonnet, 225lbs caught by "Mac" Gonzales, 209lbs caught by Ed Royles and a 200lber caught by Jim Rhode. This trip was sponsored by Penn and our rep was Steve Carson (who had a fish that weighed in at 143lbs) - thank you again for your enthusiasm and nice give aways, including the Penn trophy for biggest fish caught on a Penn reel presented to Tim Bonnet. The pictures below are not all, but many of the over-100lb crew and the jackpot winners. Thanks to all those on board, we look forward to your next trip with us on the American Angler - this one was certainly memorable. Check out our jackpot winners below, congratulations! 
1st place: Ed Royles 209 lb Yellowfin Tuna 2nd place: Bob Crawford 185 lb Yellowfin Tuna 3rd place: John Arndt 168.5lb Yellowfin Tuna The boat departed at noon with Capt. Sam Patella at the helm for the annual Sport Chalet 10 day adventure. Check back for daily fish reports! The American Angler crew |
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Overview Today we spent the day traveling on our last full day of the trip. We had a great time as we had the opportunity to experience all that 10 day trips have to offer. Dorado jumping, Wahoo zipping around stealing peoples jigs, the jig stopping "thump" of yellowtail eating a jig, school size yellowfin tuna biting full speed and of course the outside chance of catching a trophy fish. With the modern technology and the improvement of fishing skills of the purse seine, one has to wonder if those tuna have a chance. With the scattered sign of COWS outside the ridge and the Red Rooster once again picking up on the action where it left off at Hurricane Bank, is proof that no one can catch them all. It might be different in two weeks but right now the outlook of having the possibility of catching a fish of a lifetime is here. Obviously, all we can do is hope the sign sticks around for the upcoming months and the years to come. Its a good time to own a Two Speed... The Guys |
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The Beach The last week yellowtail fishing has been a little slower. After such great fishing, all year it was hard to imagine tough fishing. When we arrived at our first destination, reality hit when we saw a few yellows on the machine but had no reaction. We had to do a little prospecting and eventually got lucky and found a ridge that kicked out a few biting fish. By the end of the afternoon everyone caught a few nice grade yellows and when it got dark, we called it a trip. We are now traveling up the line hoping the forecasted 10-15kts will be on the calm side. Many thanks to Steve Carson of Penn Reels, whose enthusiasm is unbeaten and refreshing. The Biggies Are Still Biting, The Guys |
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The Real Reason Being a firm believer of "do good things and good things will happen" has almost always paid off. Our original plan was to bypass a southern high spot for one of our code boats and travel through the morning for a northern one. Because of our location at daylight and a large head start, it was too tempting not to stop and taste some of the cream. We ended up getting one wahoo in the morning and only six for the day - as no matter how hard it was to believe there was no sign - there wasn't. There was probably many reasons for the lack of sign, but I believe in only one. As it ended up, we made a successful anchor job and everyone had a great time catching nice grade 20-30lb tuna on the big bait and artificials. Today's father-son bonding picture of Gary and our apprentice Cody, with their smiles, says it all. The reason that these trips are so successful is the camaraderie and enjoyable times that one experiences. 
Do The Right Thing, The Guys |
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Fluke? Today we fished for cows again and woke up to a little different type conditions. Instead of the greasy flat calm conditions we had, a sharp wind swell with 15 kts of steady breeze. With this jerky condition, these extra feisty fish definitely had the upper hand. Usually 100lb test seems unbreakable, but today not only did it seem too light -it was. Unfortunately, today's score was in favor of the fish as most of the epic battles ended up in heartbreak. The majority of fish landed were on 135lb tackle as we were fortunate enough to boat a handful of these including two over two. Pictured is Tim Bonnet with a 237lb tuna assisted by Tony,Malahini Mike, and Captain-in-charge, Ray Ray, with a little bit of showing off in the background by some of the locals. Usually,our daily fish report would have come to a conclusion, but as I sit here in the chair, one has to put what's happening in perspective. Even though this type of fishing doesn't happen all the time, I found myself explaining the day almost matter-of- factly. I think the reason being is that these big fish are no fluke. Even though they don't show up every year, we find ourselves not being surprised when they do. Our buddies on the Star landed one 306 [two years ago we matched the feat with a 302] and evening shop talk was about how many over two hundred pounds were landed. To think about having these big fish blowing out right on the stern sounds crazy on a ten day trip, but it's not because we saw it the last two days, and have also seen it many times in recent years. We usually don't try and be salesmen, but to have the opportunity like this without the islands or traveling to a foreign country - one would have to think pretty hard about not booking these fall and early winter trips on his or hers favorite long range boat. 
Call Lori, She's The Best, The Guys We have an opening on the 11 day trip departing Nov. 1 and a spot on the 10 day trip departing Dec. 6. Call the office at 619 223 5414. |
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Special We planned to put ourselves in a position for something special and by the end of the day it worked out. We have a passenger aboard who used to ride with me on the RP to the "islands" and we talked about how many trips we saw where we didn't catch big fish. We arrived on the grounds and saw immediate sign of big fish jumping everywhere. Our intuition told us that this was not biting fish and we were right. So far every day of the trip, fishing came together in the afternoon [moon?] and today was no exception. We had cows blowing out on baits all around the boat and after we started hooking them is when me and my old friend reminisced about big fish days in the past. We ended up with a couple over two and a handful more from 160-180 and went through the normal amount of casualties to get these. Over the years on the old boat I saw my share of big ones, but I would have to say that these were extremely tough as guys with 80lb test never had a chance. I hope that everyone out there understands that even though there is a good chance that this will happen on ten day trips again [we still have a few openings due to last minute cancellations] please realize that this is kind of special and we can't expect this everytime. Pictured with the guys is Mac Gonzales with his 228 - take special notice of that round thing in the back as we head into the beach hopefully to catch bait. 
Repeat Performance? The Guys |
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The Experience We are lucky to have quite a few first timers aboard who fast become our favorites. Please don't get me wrong, we love our regulars that we are so blessed to have - they are the best that one could possibly ask for. But, for the first timer, most long range experiences are new. The last couple of days we had the picky touch type fishing for nice tuna and wahoo, so today we tried for something different. We got to the ridge just before lunch and our objective was fast action type fishing. We saw good sign all day, but it never got better than 5 or 6 going. At dark, it happened.... we had massive tangles, everybody needed a gaff, it was full-on pandemonium as all a person had to do to get a bite was to find a wet spot around the boat and it was instant. All said and done, everybody had the opportunity to catch a few 20-35lb tuna, yellowtail and even a few pargo. This part of the plan worked and now we are lined up to try and experience something that every angler dreams of. This evening's picture is an indication of the type of weather we are expecting to have in tomorrows quest for the once in a lifetime. 
Got Cows? The Guys |
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What A Problem To Have We spent all day sitting on the anchor and what a beautiful day it was. With light and variable wind condition, sunshine, and a very fishable current, an angler really couldn't ask for a better day. The biggest problem(if you could call it that), was the good sign of wahoo jumping all around the boat that would not bite. In the afternoon we were surrounded by good sized tuna - so the big dilemma was to fish with wahoo type gear or fish with the 60lb outfit necessary to land these fish? We had decent action as we landed 5 fish over 100lbs and several others that were very close. Bob Crawford is shown with one of his two fish over the mark and the hit parade was led by our Penn Reel representative Steve Carson with a fish that weighed 143lbs. We are traveling inside tonight to hopefully have a fun day with school-sized fish and to use this move as a staging type manuever to get us in position for size large. 
So Fortunate and Lucky, The Guys |
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Acclimated Even though we have the luxury of concise fishing reports of different fishing areas from our code boats, quite often one must see for himself. Today we arrived mid-morning at the rocks and found that conditions had changed from the previous day [imagine that]. We saw sign of wahoo just about everywhere one might expect, but because of the traffic they appeared very beat up. The wahoo would put on quite a show often times clearing the water several feet but because of the pressure getting them to bite was another story. We saw very little sign of tunafish most of the day, but right about the time one was to become discouraged, they came into the shallows from the deep. We had steady fishing the last couple of hours of daylight and even though we suffered our normal amount of casualties, we managed to get a "first day sample". It was a little guy we were proud of, Cody Sos, with his first fish of the trip. 
Having A Better Feel For Things, The Guys |
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The American Angler returned today from its first 10 day trip of the season sponsored and organized by Monte, owner of M & M Custom Rods. This trip had beautiful weather, great fishing and good company. You can't beat that combination on a long range trip. They had a catch of YFT's up to 197lbs, Wahoo and Yellowtail up to 52lbs. Monte, thanks for putting this together and for your generous donation to the Hurricane Katrina fund through the raffle - and to everyone who contributed. See you all next year! Check out our jackpot winners below, congratulations! 
1st place: Joel Akamine 124 lb Yellowfin Tuna 2nd place: Bill Winter 106 lb Yellowfin Tuna 3rd place: Steve Kneip 97.0lb Yellowfin Tuna Honorable Mention: Dave Holliday 197 lb Yellowfin Tuna Honorable Mention: Angela Wimberly 63.5lb Wahoo The boat departed at noon for our first annual 10 day trip sponsored by Penn - with rep. Steve Carson on board with lots of goodies to give away. Check back for daily fish reports. The American Angler crew |
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SMOOTH RIDE UP THE LINE Today was the day that back at home nobody has time for: watching movies, reading a book or just taking a nap in the middle of the day. The weather was as wonderful as it gets which made the day that much more enjoyable. M&M Custom Fishing Rods is made up of a couple of guys - Monte Parson and Uncle Dee run the show at the shop. Monte always brings a lot of nice give away prizes like hats, t-shirts and fishing rods. But the best raffle prize comes right from Monte's heart, a $500 gift certificate and the money from the raffle goes to the Red Cross to those in need from those awful hurricanes that hit in the Gulf. We would like to thank everybody that was a part of this trip this year. We caught a bunch of fish, had a whole lot of fun and made some new friends. ETA 0600 
Thank you so much. Your Crew, Sam, Ray, Matt, Gregg, Tony, Mitch, Pat and Lori The Gang |
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THAT'S ALL SHE WROTE Today went as planned - we needed to catch some Calicos for lunch and then try to find a little action on Yellows to finish off the trip. Well the lunch thing was a success and the Yellowtail wanted to bite as well. The highlight of the afternoon was when we had only a couple of scoops of bait left, we managed to get a few trophies to end the trip. The photo of the day is John Lopez, Rob Olson and Russel Jackson - the lucky anglers. Tomorrow will be a travel day for us and we should make it in on time. The weather is very nice right now and we are looking forward to a smooth ride up the line tonight. 
Good Night, The Gang |
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ROLLING ON UP THE LINE We woke up to a nice steady bite this morning - the first three fish that came over the rail weighed in at 91,93 and 97 lbs - things were off to a good start. The bite was more in spurts today, if that describes it, but by the late afternoon it had slowed down and it was time for us to start gaining some altitude. The photo of the day is Dee Leeman and our fearless leader, Monte, holding one of Uncle Dee's fish that was caught on the Kite today. Tomorrow we are going to fish for lunch somewhere above and then it's time to head her for home. 
Good Night, The Gang |
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TODAY WAS OUR DAY After the last couple of days of having just a little window in the day when the fish wanted to bite, today was what anybody could hope for on a 10 day trip in October - from just after the sun came up til it faded away in the west, there was always something going on down on the deck. Todays fish ranged anywhere from 25lbs up to 135lbs. We also managed to land a few Wahoo mixed in the catch to go with the steady Tuna fishing we enjoyed so much. The photo of the day is John Lopez standing next to his son Capt. Ray Lopez, one of our Star crew members aboard the boat. John's fish weighed in at 107 lbs which was one of the 5 fish landed over the 100 lb mark. We have another day down at this latitude before we have to start making our journey towards home, so it's time for a good night's sleep before the sun comes up over that horizon. 
Good Night, The Gang P.S. To Samantha, Wendy and Madison - Daddy misses you very much. |
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Well this is how it is: when you are trying for bigger quality Tuna it is rare that the bigger fish bite like smaller ones. There are a lot of variables involved - conditions, time of day, currents and most importantly are you anchored in the right spot? Well all those things came into play today, but mostly it was all about time of day. We had just enough sign of fish to have us stay put, but things started to happen late in the day to make it all well worth it. The photo of the day is our lady angler, Angela Wimberly, with her nicest fish of the day. 
Good Night and it's time to make bait, The Gang |
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SPENDING TIME AT THE RAIL After having good fishing on the inside, our goal was to try and focus on some bigger, quality fish. We arrived at our destination around 10:30 in the morning and started looking around the place, and to be honest with you, it didn't look very promising. After a few different anchors jobs we finally sat tight where things looked the best to us. Fishing was slow - but this afternoon,fish were boiling around on a steady basis which helped to keep us here. Most of the Tuna we caught were 30 to 55 lbs until David hooked into Big Mo. The battle lasted for over an hour and a half before we put 3 gaffs into it. David Holliday did a great job fighting that fish, and not knowing he was using only 50 lb test line and still managed to land it. 
Good Night and dreaming of Cows, The Gang |
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WE HAD TO WORK AT IT! We spent the day fishing the Ridge and by the time the Sun went down we were satisfied with our catch for the day. It was by no means One Stop Shop, we had to earn it, with a lot of effort we managed to put together a nice day on the 18 to 25 lb Tuna with only one Wahoo to throw in the catch for the day. We are on a westward bound course in hopes of putting some quality size fish in the hatch - that's the game plan for the next couple of days, for now. The weather seems to be getting better all the time, let's hope that is a continuing trend. Good Night and smooth sailing, The M&M Gang |
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GREEN LIGHT TO GO! After having to put on the brakes in order to avoid the remnants of what was Hurricane Otis - it turned into a Tropical Storm which seemed to fade away to nothing throughout the night. With the aid of modern technology, our fancy weather machine gave us the green light to carry on with our adventure at the hour of 0300. We arrived at one of our Super Secret Yellowtail spots at the crack of dawn and as we had hoped, the Yellows were waiting for our arrival. By lunch time, it was time to move on and in our travels today our Man Hector was the lucky angler trolling when the big fish and the first of many (we hope!) Wahoo hit the Lure. There is a clear sky tonight with a little breeze from the Northwest so it's time to move on down. 
Good Night, The Guys |
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STILL IN A HOLDING PATTERN We arrived at the north of Cedros Island this afternoon in hopes of a little action, but we don't have much to report. We are going to stay here and fish tomorrow and watch what was at one time Hurricane Otis, now just a tropical storm. The forecast is for it to keep dissipating down to nothing in the next 36 hours, so everybody back home - not to worry. We just going to take a Chill Pill and see what the weather does here before we make the next move. Good Night, The Gang |
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The American Angler returned today from the 6 day trip sponsored by Ken's Custom Reels. A huge thanks to owner, Ken and to his right-hand man Wes for putting this trip together. We also want to thank every passenger on board this special trip - see you all next year! Check out our jackpot winners below, congratulations! 
1st place: Nacho Camareno 52.9 lb Wahoo 2nd place: Dennis Steinmetz 41.5 lb Wahoo 3rd place: Carter Katz 41.3 lb Wahoo The boat departed at noon for our first 10 day trip of the season, sponsored by M&M Custom Rods - Check back for daily fish reports. The American Angler crew |
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Breaking It Up We broke up the ride up the line by stopping to do a little angling for the palette. We pried the deeps and by dropping a couple of baited hooks, we were rewarded with delicious Vermillion Red Rockfish. After a couple of drifts we had plenty for our favorite lunch - breaded rockfish and rice. Ken Corwin, the owner of Kens Custom Reels, (sends his best to Theresa, Nico and Dakota) has once again put together a great group of guys to participate in his annual limited load 6 day adventure. Throughout the trip we were dealt some pretty good cards and with the good lord willing, we were able to put them in the right order and had a fun trip. 
Wrapping It Up, The Guys |
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SAME SAME Seems like the story of the trip has been traveling parts of the day and when the boat stops, we encountered wide open fishing. Today we enjoyed the better part of the morning traveling up the Baja Peninsula in flat calm weather. Today's marine biology class consisted of close interaction with the largest fish in the ocean, the Whale Shark. We had the opportunity to follow this beautiful creature as he nonchalantly lumbered on his never ending quest for food. When we arrived at hot spot number one, it took a little bit to get them going, but when they did - it was game on. After everybody had a few fish in the bag, we opted for the shot at some trophy Yellowtail, but unlike the rest of the trip this move did not pan out. Pictured with a Seriola Dorsalis, is Jamie Lyons, who once again took one for the team as he expertly removed one out of the way (small ones have small mouths) so the rest of his friends could have a shot at capturing the 20-25 pound Yellows that boiled around the boat. 
ONCE AGAIN ENJOYING BEAUTIFUL WEATHER, The Guys |
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Cream Since the advent of Mexican fish limits, long range fishermen have benefited dramatically. Once everybody has a few fish in the hole, it now forces us to look for quality fish rather than quantity of fish. In days of old, fish counts were synonymous with a good trip - now days having the opportunity of catching a quality fish is the name of the game. With that in mind, we concentrated our search to find out the whereabouts of some cooperative wahoo. We were very fortunate to be able to get a taste of wahoo fishing in all the triumphs and catastrophes that go along with it. All said and done, we ended up with 33 wahoo just like the one that Oceanside's very own Nacho Camarena is posing with. 
Enjoying the nice weather, The Guys We had a cancellation, leaving one spot available on the upcoming 10 day trip that departs this Sun. Oct. 2 - call the office for details at 619 223 5414. |
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Are We There Yet? When we left the dock September 26th, 2005, we had the luxury of being on a 6 day fishing adventure. With the inconsistent Yellowfin Tuna action within 300 miles from home, it was a no-brainer when we left the dock that we would be traveling for a couple of days. This task sounds easy, but to be here in person, it was very hard to keep our excitement and eagerness at bay. The last few hours seemed like eternity, but when we arrived at our destination, all the miles that we traveled were soon forgotten. We enjoyed nonstop action on Yellowfin Tuna, Yellowtail, Pargo and a few Wahoo. Tonight's picture consists of Ken's Custom Reels own Ken Corwin, and Wes Cogan with their Pro Gear and Tiburon weapons of choice. 
Enjoying the tropical weather, The Guys |
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Traveling on down Today we spent the day doing seminars and just getting all the gear in order to start fishing tomorrow. It looks like we should be to our destination some time before lunch. Good Night, The Guys |
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The American Angler returned today with quality Yellowfin Tuna and a beautiful catch of Yellowtail - up to 48lbers. Thanks again to Rich Jenkins for organizing the trip and to everyone on board for joining us on this last 5 day of the season. Check out our jackpot winners below, congratulations! 
1st place: Ken Pooley 94.5 lb Yellowfin Tuna 2nd place: Dennis Dickson 76.0 lb Yellowfin Tuna 3rd place: Rich Jenkins 72.5 lb Yellowfin Tuna Honorable Mention: Paul Dawson 48.0 lb Yellowtail The boat departed early with the annual limited load 6 day Kens Custom Reels trip - Check back for daily fish reports. The American Angler crew |
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TRAVEL DAY Last night we ran into some unexpected weather, nothing but a bumpy ride, but it forced us to slow the RPMs down. With that being the case, it gave us no time to do any fishing on the way up the line so it was a good time for everybody to catch up on their rest, watch a movie or just read a book. We would like to thank Rich Jenkins, chartermaster of Turners Rod & Reel Club, and all of the nice people that were a part of our trip this year. ETA 0600 Thank you very much, Your Crew: Sam, Ray, Hoffy, Matt, T.J. Mitch and Paul. |
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You can rule out the morning bite, because today was pretty much the same as the day before, but the fish were not in the same place. Around 10:00 am it was time to do some of that Skipper Stuff and find fish, so that's just what we did. Today's fish came at more of a steady pace rather than like yesterday's crazy bite. Late in the day we went over to secret spot # 44 in hopes of some Biggins, and well what do you know, they wanted to play. We ended up landing 10 fish that weighed anywhere from 38 to 48 lbs. Of course, to land that many of these nice fish there were some losses to go with it, but it was a great way to end the day. 
Good Night, The Gang |
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BOY DID THEY MAKE US WAIT TODAY It is always nice when you arrive at your destination and start catching fish right away but it doesn't always happen that way, and today was one of those times when there was a wait before Showtime. We arrived at our honey hole just after daylight and picked up just a few of these nice Yellowtail and then it just didn't look right anymore. So we did what most fisherman would do, go looking - which turned out to be more of an Island tour then finding fish. By late in the afternoon, conditions got right again and as it was, Bingo! The photo of the day is Mike Schultz with one of his fish on the plug. Mike and his wife Vicki, fish on the M/V Mission Belle which happens to be one of the best 3/4 boats in the local fleet, owned and operated by Ryan Bostian, a.k.a. Booger - we have been thinking of you today. 
Good Night, we are going to try it again tomorrow, The Guys |
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TOOK CARE OF THE JACKPOT FISH We made the run to the Big Island on the outside in order to have some fishing time for the day. We arrived at our destination and in about 20 minutes we saw our first Tuna boil. After about a hour we had landed 6 fish and then they just quite biting. We sat it out for a few more hours to pick up another 5 quality fish and now we are on our way to the inside. The photo is hot stick of the day, Ken Pooley, assisted by crew Hoffy and Ray, with the #1 fish weighing in at 94 lbs. 
Good Night and get the plugs ready, The Guys |
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The ProGear sponsored 5 day trip returned this morning with a beautiful catch of Yellowtail and nice Yellowfin tuna. Thanks again to Mike Fimjack for use of their gear and giveaways. Check out our jackpot winners below, congratulations! 
1st place: Rob Perry 81.5 lb Yellowfin Tuna 2nd place: Todd Phillips 61.0 lb Yellowfin Tuna 3rd place: Anthony Griego 60.0 lb Yellowfin Tuna The boat departed at noon with the annual 5 day Turners Rod and Reel trip - Check back for daily fish reports. The American Angler crew |
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ALL DONE Well, we had high hopes of running up the line and hitting it right, but as things worked out the good fishing that was available yesterday didn't happen today. We did find a few big kelps that produced some nice Yellowfin (25 to 30lb) for our efforts. Looking back on the last few days, we enjoyed some great Yellowtail fishing, landed some trophy size Tuna to settle the jackpots and had a little action on a couple of Kelps to end up the trip. We would like to say thanks to everybody that was on the trip and especially Mike Fimjack, the sponsor for Progear. There was a lot of great raffle prizes and plenty of Progear rod reel set ups for all to use at any time. ETA 0615 Good Night, Team A.A. |
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QUALITY NOT QUANTITY We arrived here at the Island just after lunch time today and happened to find a spot of fish that gave us the chance to put a few onboard. The past few days have been a little on the slow side so we were very pleased to roll in here and have some action. The photo of the day is Rob Perry that had the hot stick today landing 5 fish for his efforts, the #1 fish tipping the scales at 81.5 lbs. We are rolling up the line to look offshore tomorrow and we have just beautiful weather for looking - we hope to finish off with a bang. 
Good Night, The Gang |
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LIMITS OF SUNSHINE We had another great day of Yellowtail fishing today. We did a lot driving around this big Island, but we found what we were looking for, 18 to 25lb Yellows, eager to bite the surface plug or live bait, whichever you prefer. The photos of the day are Cheri (better known as "Woody") with one of her trophy-size Yellows and Anthony Greigo with his Home boy. Anthony was the Captain of the First String a few years back. We are heading out to the west tonight to look for some Tuna fish and will most likely take a look at the big Island tomorrow afternoon. 
GOOD NIGHT, The Guys |
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FUN TIMES LATE IN THE DAY We ran all morning to make it down to the Yellowtail grounds to start off the trip. When we arrived, just after lunch, we found what we came for - and after a couple of hours of fast fishing, we are off to a good start. The gang did a great job today of keeping the better grade fish and releasing the smaller ones. We are going to take a look at Cedros tomorrow in hopes of some more action. The photo of the day is the gang having fun. 
Good Night, The Guys |
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The Bad-Fish trip returned from a 5 day trip this morning and although fishing offshore was slow, they had nice Island Yellowtail fishing and a group of friends that enjoy fishing together. Thanks again to Louis Papai for organizing this trip and the lobster dinner, and thanks to Adam and Michelle Zenger for the King Crab for all. Also to everyone that fished this trip - we love having you on the boat, thanks again. Check out our jackpot winners below, congratulations! 
1st place: Jose Ortega 87.0 lb Big Eye Tuna 2nd place: Bob Chapman 67.5 lb Yellowfin Tuna 3rd place: Phil Coffeen 67.0 lb Yellowfin Tuna The boat departed at noon with a 5 day Progear sponsored trip - Check back for daily fish reports. The American Angler crew |
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THE REAL REASON As we worked our way up the line, we scratched at a few decent grade Tuna, Dorado and Yellowtail. We were fortunate to have a group of anglers that have fished together over the years and cheer each other on when one or many hook a fish. The camraderie among this group is apparent from the rail to the dining room - evident through the generosity of Bad-Fish leader, Louis Papai, and his Lobster that complimented the Prime Rib this evening and our Alaskan regulars Adam and Michelle Zenger, who shared their home state delicacy with us (King Crab). It is groups like this that make us realize that the real reason we love being out here - the experience as well as catching a few fish. Lucky To Be Doing What We Do, The Guys |
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STRESS RELIEF During the last few days of fishing kelps and touch fishing for tuna out at the island, the satisfaction of throwing a bait out and instantly getting a bite just wasn't there. Having our normal group of wonderful people, even though we caught several nice fish, we could still feel a little tension in the air. After a morning of uncooperative fish, we picked at quality fish - every one that was hooked, was definitely earned. The main reason for the tough fishing conditions, was the wind against current situation. By late afternoon, we had a nice catch aboard, but when we saw some sonar schools of Yellows, that's when the action cut loose. They were hungry and wanted to play as many times as everybody that had a line in the water had one on. At the end of the bite, the smiles told the whole story. Looking For The Lucky Kelp, The Guys |
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COMPETITION Ever since we left the dock alot of people have taken advantage of the open door policy [which we don't mind] and have talked about going to the Lupe. As we were anchored there watching fish boil all around the boat I looked at last years logbook and saw what a big day we had with this group here last year. It's easy to become spoiled by the past and even though we did manage to catch some nice fish the overall nonaggressive behavior of the fish coupled with the aggressive behavior of the tax man has set a new standard at the Island this year. Although total speculation [because no one has personally talked to a fish recently] one reason might be that the competition level might not be as high as other times. Instead of throwing a snickers bar into the middle of a crowded school yard we might be throwing it into a small classroom after lunch. After a morning of more show than go we are now heading inside in hopes of finding biting yellowtail. Due to technical difficulties we don't have pictures available but I can assure you that all of our wonderful passengers are as good looking as you can imagine. The Longer We Fish, The More We Understand How Much We Don't Know!! THE GUYS |
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VARIETY September and its warm water is one of our favorite times of year. With it comes the warm water exotics such as Dorado, Yellowfin Tuna and in recent history the second week of September also brings signs of Bigeye Tuna. Rather than running to an island and fishing for a limited amount of time we fished offshore and scratched away at the above mentioned species. We never really had a big hit but merely had a sample of each. Shown in today's picture is Bad Fish leader Louis Papai with his 83.5 lbs Bigeye Tuna, one of two that were put on the boat. 
HEADED FOR AN ISLAND THE GUYS |
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The Bob's Sporting Goods group led by charter master Mike Naoe returned this morning with some beautiful grade Yellowfin and Big Eye tuna along with good catch of Yellowtail. We would like to thank Mike and all the passengers for making it such a fun trip. 
1st place: Bob Hara 103 lb Yellowfin Tuna 2nd place: John Iorillo 87.5 lb Yellowfin Tuna 3rd place: Mike Naoe 86.5 lb Yellowfin Tuna 3rd place: Sue Tanji 86.5 lb Big Eye Tuna (third place was a tie) The boat departed at noon for the annual 5 day Badfish trip - Louis has a great group of anglers onboard ready to do battle. Check back for daily fish reports. The American Angler crew |
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You'll Never Know Until You Try We left Guadalupe in search of tuna, not knowing what our results were going to be. At daylight, we found ourselves in cool water and a fishless zone. Intuition changed our course and paid off, as we found ourselves in warm clean water. An hour into the search we found our first nice kelp paddy, which luckily had a school of Yellowfin Tuna that wanted to bite. Due to the nice grade of fish it took a while to land each fish, but we still ended up with a nice catch. The rest of the day we picked and scratched, and our final stop came right before dark and included a little bonus. In the midst of biting Yellowfin Tuna, we were pleasantly surprised to hook a handful of nice Bigeye Tuna and were just as successful finishing the job. At dark we ended up with a respectable catch of 18 - 35 lb. Yellowfin Tuna and four 80 - 86 lb. Bigeye Tuna landed by Greg Stoney, Gary Taylor, Gerald Scholl, and the lovely Sue Tanji. This concluded a successful Bob's Sporting Goods charter lead by Mike Naoe (Hi, Mikala & Zoe!) and are already looking forward to next years trip. 
Possessor of the golden horseshoe, The Guys |
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Trophies We endured a tough ride out to the island hoping for a shot at some trophy-sized fish. Although we always want more, we succeeded in putting a few nice tuna and yellows aboard. Top of the list was Bob Hara with a 103lb tuna followed respectfully by John Iorillo and Mike Naoe with an almost cookie cutter pair of 87lbers. We also had to end the day at one of our glory surface iron spots and were pleasantly surprised with a couple handfuls of biggies. Pictured here, Kenny Itomura displays how we ended our day. Tonight we are motoring up the line refusing to believe that the offshore season is done. 
We just had an opening on the 5 day trip that departs tomorrow, sponsored by Badfish - Sun. Sept. 11. Call Lori today for details at 619 223 5414 and go fishing on the American Angler! Looking To Get Lucky, The Guys |
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Timing After last night's sample of surface plugging for nice yellows, we really had to think about what we were going to do today. We opted to leave the "for sure thing" and run down to another zone where we hoped to find some ready and willing fish that wanted to bite. After daylight we were alarmed to find the area fishless. Our fellow code boats reports of fish biting had anxiety levels in the wheel house, code red. Finally about an hour after daylight, they showed up and when we got on them, it was full speed 18-25lb yellows eating everything that hit the water. Lucky for us, we were able to call it a day by 11 in the morning which puts us in perfect position to take our time going outside to fish for big tuna. As it turns out, we needed the extra time as we just finished dinner and only had about a dozen people attend because we are absolutely getting the ---- beat out of us. Sorry no picture - I will try for a good one tommorow. Looking For The Lee, The Guys |
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FUN Big egos, inflated chests and large fish counts sometimes overshadow the real reason why we like to go on vacation. Leaving the everyday stress, cell phones and bumper to bumper traffic are some good reasons, but the best reason is to just have fun. We made the trek down to the islands to get in on some Yellowtail action and we were not disappointed. We did not put huge numbers aboard, but we did have the good fortune of catching several good grade Yellowtail on flylined baits and surface iron. Tomorrow, we hope to have similar action which would leave us with hoarse voices and sore backs. Mike Naoe had the self-gratification of seeing many of his custom rods bent in the hands of lots of fellow friends. 
Hoping for more bent rods, The Guys |
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The American Angler returned from the 4 day Sakamoto trip this morning. A big Thanks to Brett Edmondson and the entire group! They had slow fishing offshore, but an Outstanding day of Yellowtail fishing. 
1st place: Brett Edmondson 28.5lb Dorado 2nd place: John Knight 27.0lb Yellowtail 3rd place: Dave Thomas 26.8lb Yellowtail Brett's son, Hunter Edmondson standing in with Dad The boat departed at noon for Mike Naoe's Bobs Sporting Goods trip - good luck guys! Check back for daily fish reports. The American Angler crew |
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BOUND FOR HOME I wish we had a good report for today, the waters between the inside Islands and the Big Island on the outside has a few kelps with fair Yellowfin on them and a lose school swimming around, but we were not the lucky boat. We did have a short stop on the Tuna to put something in the hatch. The Sakamoto charter is put together by Brett Edmondson which is just a great group of guys. So we would like to say thanks to everybody that was on the trip - we had a lot of fun with you all. 
Thank You, Your crew. Sam, Gregg, Hoffy, Matt, Ray, Mitch and Paul ETA 0730 |
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LIMITS OF FUN After a long day yesterday on the offshore scene, it was tons of fun fishing on the anchor all day today. We have been very fortunate to have this great Yellowtail fishing over the course of our short trip season. We are on the hunt again tomorrow in search of the glory kelp, we have our fingers crossed. The photo of the day is Hunter Edmondson with just one of the Yellows he picked up today. 
GOOD NIGHT, The Gang |
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In between our Island fishing, it's like going to a ball game because your team either wins or loses. Today we covered many miles of this ocean for just a sample of Tuna and Dorado for our efforts. Tomorrow we are going to fish at one of our favorite Yellowtail Islands in hopes of all-day, good times down on deck. The photo of the day is our leader, Brett Edmondson, with a nice Mai Mai for part of today's action. 
GOOD NIGHT, The Guys |
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The American Angler returned today from the Stan Chin/Little Tokyo 5 day trip. They had a nice catch of up to 97lb Yellowfin Tuna, Yellowtail and a big bull Dorado. Thanks everyone! 
1st place: Tom Knott 97.0lb Yellowfin Tuna 2nd place: Charles Oyagi 75.0lb Yellowfin Tuna 3rd place: Tom Szczeblowski 68.5lb Yellowfin Tuna Honorable Mention: Devin Preston 46.6lb Dorado The boat departed at noon for the annual 4 day Sakamoto trip - Brett Edmondson put together some very cool shirts for everyone - enjoy. Check back for daily fish reports. The American Angler crew |
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HOMEWARD BOUND We threw all our eggs in one basket today in hopes of finding the Glory Kelp, but it's a big ocean and locating that right kelp was easier said then done today. We look forward to this trip every with year Stan Chin and his group of wonderful anglers - our adventure took us to a couple of different Islands and looked at a lot of water on the offshore scene. When all was said and done, it was just a great time. We would like to say Thanks to Stanley and all of you that are a part of this trip and we can't wait until next year to fish with you again. Thank you, Your Crew - Sam, Brian, Hoffy, Gregg, Ray, Mitch and Pat GOOD NIGHT AND GOD BLESS. |
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SOMETIMES YOU MUST PAY TAXES We arrived at our paradise in the early a.m. hours and got set up on a spot that looked good to us. After sitting on it for an hour, we started to see fish boiling around the boat. It took some time before we hooked our first one, and by lunch time we had managed to put a few on board - those that made it past the Tax Man (Great white shark). The fishing was far better than the numbers we put onboard due to the sharks. The fish ranged from 35 to 97 lbs and all in all we put together a nice day on quality Tuna. The photo of the day is Tom Knott with the jackpot fish of the day. Tomorrow is the last day to find our glory kelp, so we have our fingers crossed to finish off Stanley Chins trip with a bang. 
Good Night, The Gang We have a spot on our upcoming 5 day trip (sponsored by Bobs Sporting Goods) departing Tues. Sept. 6 and returning Sun. Sept. 11. Call the office at 619 223 5414 for all the details. |
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ONE STOP SHOP! Today was a day that guys talk about when they go into their favorite tackle shops - when it comes to talking about Yellowtail fishing. We had to look around the Island a little bit to find what we where looking for, but when we got located it was just what the doctor ordered. We managed to get all the Yellows we needed in the morning hours and then we ran offshore in hopes of finding a glory kelp. We scraped up a few Dorado off various small kelps, but didn't find the golden one yet. The photo of the day is Stan Chin, our charter master. 
Heading for trophies - good night, The Gang We have a spot on our upcoming 5 day trip (sponsored by Bobs Sporting Goods) departing Tues. Sept. 6 and returning Sun. Sept. 11. Call the office at 619 223 5414 for all the details. |
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Our plans were to fish kelps on the way down the coast for day one - there are very few kelps around, but if you do find that needle in the haystack the opportunity to have fun is there. We did manage to put together a good day on a couple of different kelps to start our trip. The photo of the day is Devin Preston with a Bull Dorado,(biggest this year for us). 
Heading for dirt - good night, The Gang We had a spot open up on our upcoming 5 day trip (sponsored by Bobs Sporting Goods) departing Tues. Sept. 6 and returning Sun. Sept. 11. Call Lori at 619 223 5414 for more details. |
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The American Angler returned today from the 4 day James Hardware Gang charter. Thanks again to David Samarin for his hard work all year - and Dan Shubin for organizing the groups food this year - and thanks to the whole groups of families who joined the trip this year! Already looking forward to next year, 
1st place: David Beliakoff 52.0lb Bluefin Tuna 2nd place: Matthew Neverov 36.0lb Bluefin Tuna 3rd place: Alex Mendrin, Jr. 27.9lb Yellowfin Tuna The boat departed at noon with the Stan Chin/Little Tokyo 5 day trip - check back for daily fish reports. The American Angler crew |
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Once again, just about the time you think we got this all figured out, things change. We woke up this morning, got our binoculars ready to get back on those Kelps that produced fish yesterday, and well let's just say things were different. We did after a lot of effort, find a couple of kelps that had some Yellowtail on them, and then we did find some good Yellowfin Tuna fishing to finish this trip off with a bang. The James Hardware Gang Charter is led by chartermaster, David J. Samarin, who throughout the year puts much effort into organizing this trip with a lot of great raffle prizes. The American Angler Team would like to Thank everybody that was on the trip this year, and look forward to fishing with the gang next year. 
Thank you, your crew Sam, Gregg, Matt, Taro, T.J. Mitch and Pat. ETA 0800 |
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We had just a great day of variety fishing today; kelps with a mix of Yellowtail, Yellowfin and Dorado. We put together a nice catch of fish by lunchtime which put big smiles on everyones face, but in the afternoon you wouldn't think there were any fish out here?. The photo of the day is Gary and Dan with one of the nice Mai's put onboard today - sorry Dan, we're not hiring right now. We have another day down here in the Hot water area, so wish us luck. 
Good Night, The Gang |
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We took advantage of the nice weather and went for another look on the outside today, and managed to find some Bluefin, Yellowfin and Yellowtail. And although the fish were not super eager to bite in the afternoon, we did have a nice morning of fishing before they got into that all-show and no-go mode. The photo of the day is Matthew Neverov with a nice bft. 
Good Night, The Gang |
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The American Angler returned today from the 4 day Chasin Tuna charter. Thanks again to Mike Goldsmith for putting together this trip - and thanks to the guys who finally got to chase tuna on the last day! See you next year guys. 
1st place: Paul Martinez 26.6lb Yellowfin Tuna 2nd place: Howard Noll 25.0lb Yellowfin Tuna 3rd place: Rick Johnson 24.9lb Yellowfin Tuna The boat departed at noon with the James Hardware Gang (Family) - check back for daily fish reports. The American Angler crew |
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Today was our day: the weather came down and soon after the sun came up, we found a couple of paddies holding Yellows and then it was time to hit a few spots of these nice Yellowfin Tuna. All in all it was just a great day of fishing to finish up the trip. We look forward to this trip (Cops Chasing Tuna) every year, led by chartermaster, Mike Goldsmith with almost 100% same guys every year. So we would just like to say Thank You to the whole group for keeping their spirits up throughout the whole trip - it was great time. 
Your Crew, Sam, Hoffy, Ray, Taro, Matt, Pat and Paul |
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The weather seems to be backing off a little bit, and the fishing looks to be on the up and up as well. We spent the day looking at various kelp paddies for a mix of Yellows, Dorado and some Yellowfin tuna. We are going to give it our all tomorrow - we've got our fingers crossed that we'll finish up with a bang. Good Night, The Guys |
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We started off in an area where we ended our last trip that looked great two days ago, but it didn't look that way today unfortunately. The weather is up from what it has been, but it's only supposed to last for another day, so we have a lot of time left here on our trip. There is still fair sign of fish around, so we will just see what happens. Good Night, The Guys |
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The American Angler returned today from a 5 day trip with the annual Uesugi-Kimura charter. The catch consisted of beautiful Yellowfin - both offshore and Island fish, and nice Hamachi for the group. Thanks again to Russ Kimura and George Uesugi for once again organizing this trip. See you next year guys. 
1st place: Glen Iwamoto 67.0lb Yellowfin Tuna 2nd place: Jerry Endo 59.5lb Yellowfin Tuna 3rd place: Dick Shalita 57.0lb Yellowfin Tuna Honorable Mention: Robert McMillian 69.0lb Yellowfin Tuna The boat departed at noon for the 8th annual Cops Chasin Tuna 4 day trip - check back for daily fish reports. The American Angler crew |
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When we leave for a trip, we have a basic itinerary planned. Very rarely on the last day of the trip, do we find ourselves in a position where it was followed to a tee. That's probably why we enjoy what we do so much - no two days are ever the same. At one point this trip, we were at the South End of Cedros catching yellows, Guadalupe catching trophies, to 15 miles south of Cortez Bank in the never-ending quest for more fish. Today we ended up catching some nice quality yellowfin and this concluded one of the best weather trips of the year. Pictured are our fearless leaders, George Uesugi and Russ Kimura, two of the nicest people you would ever want to meet. 
Have A Good Night, The Boys |
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Taxes are a part of everybodys adult life. Unfortunately, even at Guadalupe Island we are not free of the tax man. We arrived at the island after daylight and after a few different anchor jobs we found a place that we could call home. Home consists of good current conditions, boiling tuna and a few bent rods. We hooked plenty of decent tuna from 30-100lbs, but landing them was another story. For every nice tuna we landed, we easily fed the local tax men the same amount. Even though the tax rate was close to 50% there were still plenty of happy stories, such as the one that Robert McMillian and Raymond Lopez have to tell. The average tax man is 14 feet long, wears a grey suit and has a large appetite. 
Jackpot Is Settled, The Guys |
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We arrived at Cedros at daylight and were greeted by plenty of local birdlife. Quite often when there are yellows around, their presence is given away by the seagulls and ternbirds. This morning was no exception, as before long we were in an area where there were quite a few fish boiling around and several of them biting. We picked away all morning and by after lunch, we were on our way outside to fish for jackpots. Today after each fish was gaffed, it was carefully subdued, bled and then slid into 29 degree seawater, which like every other fish caught aboard our vessel will end up being a perfect fish market sashimi grade quality fish. 
Delicious Yellowfin And Yellowtail Gumdrops, The Guys |
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Today we kelp fished for yellowfin tuna as we tried to get in on the same kind of action that we enjoyed last trip. Yesterday, our code-boats were kind enough to mark some good kelps with flags and plotted the course and speed in which these fish magnets traveled. If it sounds too good to be true, it was. There were three of us looking in the area and each of us had our own idea of how to get on these kelps. By mid-afternoon it became very apparent that all our speculation wasn't even close, as once again mother nature wins again. We were very fortunate that we ended up finding a kelp that had a school on it and when we stopped, every bait that hit the water was an instant bite. That action went on for a little while as everybody had the opportunity to put a few fish aboard. The interesting thing is that when we marked the kelp and came back a few hours later, the kelp had traveled directly into the 12 knots of northwest wind a mile and a half. Sorry no picture today because when we stopped, it was either all hands on deck or a fishless stop. Feeling Lucky, The Guys |
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The American Angler returned today from a 4 day trip this morning with a group of anglers, many of whom revisit this trip yearly. They had great Yellowfin fishing and got to see the scenery of the Island. Thank you everyone for joining us on this trip! 
1st place: Richard Graboyes 35.5lb Albacore 2nd place: Chris Wright 34.3lb Albacore 3rd place: Etti Yootanawin 32.0lb Yellowtail The boat departed at noon for the Uesugi-Kimura 5 day trip - check back for daily fish reports. The American Angler crew |
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We finished up our last morning Outside at the island. Even though conditions were decent, on this particular morning the fish were in a noncooperative mode. We managed a few nice yellows and had one epic battle that had a happy ending. Skip Sato is one of our yearly regulars, 86 years old, ex-owner of Avila Beach Sportfishing, and a big part of building many boats that are still a part of our sportfishing fleet today. The epic battle included Skip and a ninety pound black seabass, both of which are long- time veterens of the ocean. Skip ended up besting the fish on fairly light tackle, but the fish was the ultimate winner as she swam off after being unhooked, to live for many more years. ETA 8:30am 
Always In Respect Of Our Elders, The Guys |
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Yesterday when the writing was on the wall, we decided to make a 200 mile move in hopes of "STRIKING IT RICH". By 11 o'clock in the morning, our anxiety level was at redline as we just arrived to an area that our code boats had found a couple of days before. Our anxious energy was quickly focused towards the task at hand, as we began to work kelp paddies looking for "OUR POT OF GOLD". It took us about 4 to 5 kelps before we found "THE MOTHER LODE" filled with quality kelp grade Yellowfin Tuna as displayed by Chad Schwartz. 
May the "LUCK OF THE LEPRECHAUN" be with us tomorrow, The Guys We had a cancellation on our 5 day trip departing this upcoming Monday - if you'd like to join us - call Lori at the office, (619)223-5414. |
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PANNING FOR GOLD Even though we know there is "gold in them hills", we don't always strike it rich. Sometimes a fortune is made by getting a little bit at a time, working hard by panning for gold. Today we saw lots of potential as far as fish is concerned, but we could only scratch a few throughout the day. We caught some quality Albacore and Yellowtail, small Bluefin Tuna, as well as a taste of gold shown by our Matthew O'Reilly Romaine, caught by our pastor Joe Zeable. 
Hoping To Strike It Rich, The Guys For anyone out there who is able to break away from the daily grind beginning this upcoming Monday to Saturday - we just had a cancellation on our 5 day trip departing Monday, Aug. 15th - call Lori at the office for details at 619 223 5414. |
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The American Angler returned today from the annual 4 day Anglers Choice trip with a great catch of Albacore (average size 35lbs), Yellowfin Tuna (average size 25lbs) and 1 Big Eye Tuna just to keep things interesting. Thanks to everyone that was a part of this trip - it was a great time! 
1st place: Ernie Seko 39.1lb Albacore 2nd place: David Karlin 37.9lb Albacore 3rd place: Mark Yasuda 37.8lb Albacore Honorable Mention: Alex Lail with his 82.5lb Big Eye Tuna caught on the troll The boat departed at noon for another 4 day trip - check back for daily fish reports. The American Angler crew |
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PATIENCE PAYS OFF We returned to the Albacore area today in hopes of finding a morning bite and almost immediately found a good school enabling us to put some fish on the boat. The rest of our day was spent working hard amongst the other boats picking off a few fish throughout the day. The fish bit again before dark, allowing us to put together a nice day of beautiful 25-35 pound fish. A special thanks to Luc from Anglers Choice for all the great raffle items and assembling such a terrific group of fishermen. ETA 0715 
Still enjoying unbelievable weather, Thanks - the Guys |
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NATURE'S WONDER Being that this limited load Angler's Choice charter is comprised of mostly veteran anglers catching fish is often an added bonus. Today we fished for exotics and had a good day on Yellow Fin Tuna but the show stealers were definitely the Fin Back Whales. Throughout the day we would slide up on meatballs of anchovies that were not only being molested by tuna, but would have these beautiful whales lunge feeding right through the whole mess. Our pic of the day is of 6'3" 300lbs Alex Lail with his 83lbs Big Eye Tuna. 
We are enjoying awesome weather. The Guys |
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Mouth Watering Looking forward to eating ice cream for dessert,warming up the car, and rushing down to the local shop only to find that it closed only minutes before can not only be frustrating but also detrimental to one's mental state.Today we found ourselves looking through the window with mouths salivating as we stopped on school after school of lock jaw albacore. On any other day any one of these deals would be good enough to cause plenty of madness and mayhem with lots of bent rods but unfortunately today wasn't one of them.We scratched a few throughout the day and we were lucky enough at the end that the store keeper opened the door and gave us a little sample.We ended up with about three around as our regulars aboard this Angler's Choice trip made the most of it. P.S.I apologize for my run on sentences and otherwise poor grammar to Mrs.Dave Karlin {English teacher at Eastlake High School and when I retire from fishing perhaps college might be in my future. 
Enjoying The Good Weather,The Guys |
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The American Angler returned today with Albacore, Bluefin and a handful of Yellowfin Tuna from a 4 day trip chartered by Ty's Tuna Charter. Thanks guys! 
1st place: Bob Porter 47.3lb Albacore 2nd place: Daren Marten 45.1lb Albacore 3rd place: Dan Spiegel 41.7lb Albacore The boat departed at noon for another 4 day trip - the annual 4 day trip sponsored by Anglers Choice. Check back for daily fish reports. The American Angler crew |
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LOCK JAW! Well after another day of looking at fish that don't want to bite, we are all thankful for the first day of our trip. There is plenty of fish out here on the offshore scene and it will be a lot of fun when it gets back into bite mode. The photo of the day is of one of the few prisoners that was taken today - but without a doubt, the fish got the last laugh at the fleet today. We would like to thank everybody that was on board for Ty's Tuna Charter this year - the gang had a great trip and we are already looking forward to next year's trip. 
Thank You All, Your Crew, Sam, Gregg, Matt, Hoffy, Ray, Paul and Pat. P.S. To the Fish, we don't get mad, we get even. ETA 0700 |
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NOTHINGS COLDER THAN YESTERDAYS HOTDOG After having a big day yesterday, production took a turn for the worse. We saw a few good schools in the morning that didn't want anything to do with us, so I thought it would be a good idea to go find them elsewhere. In a nutshell, the bulk of the fish were just off the bite today, but we have all day tomorrow to finish it off. Good Night, The Guys |
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STARTING OFF ON THE RIGHT FOOT When we arrived on the grounds this morning, we saw good sign of Albacore in the dark, which gave us that warm and fuzzy feeling you all know we like to have. We had a bite in the gray light hours to start us off and then throughout the day we were lucking enough to pick off a school here and there. The photo of the day is Jimmy with the first BFT of the day. 
Good Night, The Gang |
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The American Angler returned with bonanza Albacore fishing from a 4 day trip with the Harry Yamada Charter. Thanks guys - see you next year! 
1st place: Gary Teraoka 42.8lb Albacore 2nd place: Larry DeWeese 39.1lb Albacore 3rd place: Harry Yamada 36.9lb Albacore The boat departed at noon for another 4 day trip - the 2nd annual Ty's Tuna Charter. Check back for daily fish reports. The American Angler crew |
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WE GOT EVEN WITH THEM After spending the last couple of days looking at fish while becoming sunburned, our patience finally paid off in a big way today and to top off our good luck, the weather layed back down. The photo of the day is some of the boys - Roger has been thinking about applying for a job on a Long Range boat. Thanks to everybody that was on this trip, and especially to Harry Yamada for putting this trip together every year. 
Thank You, Your crew, Sam, Brian, T.J., Taro, Ray, Mitch and Pat. ETA 0615 |
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IT'S NOT A MATTER OF WHERE, JUST WHEN Today was a little better day for us and we did manage to get one GOOD stop which made our day. At any time today we felt we could have had a really big day, but the whole ocean seemed to be a little bit on the finicky side. This isn't the first time we have seen these conditions before, so we will hang tough tomorrow because things are going to change in a good way soon! 
GOOD NIGHT, The Guys Last chance to grab one cancelled spot on a limited load 4 day trip departing this Wed., Aug. 3rd. Call Lori at the office for details. |
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Today we had good news and bad news. The good news is that there still is Albacore out here on the banks - we are seeing plenty of fish - the bad news they are only just now starting to show signs wanting to get back on the bite. We had a little hit in the morning which carried into a long afternoon. We hope tomorrow will be our day. Good night, The Guys |
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Kens Custom Reel's 5 day trip has returned with a plentiful load of Albacore, followed by a nice catch of Yellowfin Tuna, and wrapped up with those tremendous, Guadalupe Yellowtail beauties averaging 40lbs. Thanks again to Ken and his gang and all passengers on this great trip!! 
1st place: Alan Aoyama 49.5lb Yellowtail 2nd place: Jamie Lyons 44.3lb Yellowtail 3rd place: Scott Cummings 41.6lb Yellowtail Honorable mention: Sonia Forbes 41.6lb Albacore The boat departed at noon for a 4 day trip - the annual Harry Yamada charter. Check back for daily fish reports. The American Angler crew |
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HEADING FOR THE BARN The last couple of days these Albacore have not been very cooperative for the fleet so we thought we would spend our last day trying to help the gang get back on the bulk of the fish - we were most importantly being selective and hunting the Fatso grade (30 to 40 lbs). Well, we did find what we had wanted, but like all the rest of these Albies, they were just not on the bite. We found plenty of schools and only managed to catch a total of 16 Jumbos for our efforts. There is no doubt in my mind that we have not seen the last of the good Albacore fishing for the season - they will bite again!. Kens Custom Reels - Two guys that love to fish - we look forward every year when Ken, Wes and the gang are waiting at the dock getting ready to board the boat because they are so enthusiastic about fishing. We had a great trip with all of you and can't wait till the September 6 day trip to do it again. Thanks to everybody that was a part of this wonderful adventure with us. 
Thank you all very much, Your Crew, Sam, Gregg, Hoffy, Taro, Matt, Mitch and Pat. ETA 0615 |
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FUN DAY ON THE ANCHOR When we arrived at our Paradise Island, we did not know what to expect and were excited to find steady action on nice size Yellowtail. Our 2 photos of the day are Ken Corwin with sidekick Wes and our Lady Angler, Sonya, with just a sample of our catch for the day. We are rolling up the line tonight to finish off the trip, so we will see what tomorrow will bring. 
GOOD NIGHT TO ALL, The A.A. Team |
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SHIFTING GEARS After a great day of Albacore fishing yesterday, we thought we would go look for another Tuna-type species. Today we did see a little sign of the BFTS, but no luck in that department. We did, however, have a bit of fun with some Yellowfin Tuna late in the afternoon, to add to our catch. Tomorrow we are going to drop the anchor and enjoy some of that style fishing, then get back on the offshore scene to finish the trip. Ken and the gang are having a great time so we'll check back in tomorrow night. GOOD NIGHT, The A.A. Gang For those of you looking for a 4 day trip - we have one departing next Wed, Aug 3rd, that just had 2 cancellations. The fishing doesn't get any better than it is now, so call Lori at the office at (619) 223-5414 and get out there to be a part of this action! |
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STARTING OFF ON THE RIGHT FOOT When we got fired up in the morning because of our photo of the day, we had a good feeling about how our day would play out. Needless to say, we enjoyed very good Albacore fishing throughout the day and put together a day on the board by the time the sun went down. The weather is still beautiful, so we are going to try our luck again on the offshore scene tomorrow and see what happens. 
GOOD NIGHT, The A.A. Gang |
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The Sport Chalet 5 day trip returned this morning on the American Angler with a beautiful catch of Bluefin and Big, Fat Albacore - they are big folks. 
1st place: Andrew Gudaz 49.9lb Albacore 2nd place: Grant Larson 48.7lb Albacore 3rd place: Leann Sisson 47.4lb Albacore The boat departed at noon for a 5 day trip - sponsored by our friends at Kens Custom Reels - have fun guys. Check back for daily fish reports. The American Angler crew |
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BOUND FOR HOME Today was a day of complete enjoyment with weather so nice, it was just a pleasure to be out on the ocean, not to mention the fishing was most enjoyable, as well. The final ingredient that made this trip so much fun, is all the wonderful people that we are so lucky to have on this trip. It's a great group of anglers that are a part of the Sport Chalet Team that we look forward to fishing with a few trips a year. So, we would like to say Thanks to Brad Lemoine for being our sponsor on this trip and all the rest of the group for being a part of this great trip. ETA 0615 
GOOD NIGHT, The Gang |
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AS GOOD AS IT GETS When a person comes out on a 5 day trip on a long range fishing trip, there are a few elements that nobody has control over, including the weather. However, when all the stars are lined up with your neighbors car - things all come together. Today was one of those days, and we just about covered all the Tuna-type fish that a guy could ask for on a trip during this time of the year. Also may I add that the weather has laid down to a glass finish by dark. The photo of the day is our lady angler, Leann Sisson, with a trophy-size Albacore which was just a small portion of her catch for the day. 
GOOD NIGHT, The A.A. Gang |
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JUST A TASTE The way this season has been going, just about the time you think you have things all figured out - you realize you don't. We had one good stop that made our day, It seems that on any given day it could be a bonanza. We got a couple of days left in our trip so we are going to stick it out on the offshore scene and wait for our big day to happen. The photo of the day is Fred Fischer with a token Dorado. 
GOOD NIGHT, The Guys |
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NEVER SAY NEVER When we left the dock yesterday, we thought we would take a look at the local area before it got dark, and we did manage to catch few before the sun went down. With that in mind, my Daddy use to always tell me, "never leave fish to find fish", so we decided to stay for today's action. In the morning we saw plenty of fish before the sun came up and we were licking our chops awaiting the morning sun. Right out the gate we had a couple of short stops to start the day, then it got Slow! After a long day up in the wheel house, we did get a good stop right at dark that made our day. The photo of the day is our buddy Brian Gunnarson with one of the few Bluefin we picked up today. 
GOOD NIGHT, The Guys |
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Crystal Pier charter is home and thanks again to all! Great trip with an abundance of Albacore - nice Yellowtail fishing and a couple of Yellowfin tuna. 
1st place: Jesse Fishman 75.5lb Yellowfin Tuna 2nd place: Joe Jacoby 55.0lb Yellowfin Tuna 3rd place: Jason Marquette 38.8lb Albacore The boat departed at noon for a 5 day trip - sponsored by Sport Chalet. Check back for daily fish reports. The American Angler crew |
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UNLIKE NO OTHER We have come to the end of our annual Crystal Pier Charter and unlike our other fish reports we will start off with a glossary of a few definitions. Crystal Pier 1) Pier located in Pacific Beach ,Ca with 25 cottages for rent above the water. 2) Historical landmark for Pacific Beach. 3) Jim Bostian. Generous 1) Free in giving or sharing. 2) Noble, abundant, ample, copious, liberal, bountiful, open handed, munificent. The Crystal Pier charter is put together by Jim Bostian. The trip consists of family, close friends, and fishing companions. Jim's relationship with the pier started 46 years ago at the age of 12, when he worked emptying the trash in exchange for being able to fish from the pier. He started working full time at the age of 18 and by working hard six of seven days a week has become part owner, general manager, and one of the main reasons for the pier's success. Jim has been married to his wife Penny, who has stood by his side and supported him, for over 32 years. The oldest of their two children is Tiffany, who is a hard-working mother of their two grandchildren, Dustin and Dillon. Ryan Bostian is the owner of the M/V Mission Belle and is a chip off the old block. The reason we are writing this is because Jim is not here to join us. As it should be, his priority of tending to the needs of his beloved family member, his dog Sinjin, is at the top of the list. We(the crew) have never met such a hard-working "Man's Man" with tough-as-nails type morals, but who at the same time possesses unsurpassed sensitivity and compassion. His generosity is one of a kind and the saying "taking the shirt off your back", is a true understatement. The work and thought that goes into his trip is unbelievable as the prizes and gifts are more than you could imagine. The generosity is appreciated and respected by all passengers and crew alike. If we could all be just 10 percent of the man that Jim is, the word "need" would not exist in society. By the way, we got into an area of Albacore that was like Mush. Missed you Jim, The Guys |
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Stingy This island has been very good to us for the last month as we have been lucky enough to put together good days every time we have visited. Today was different, as Guadulupe dealt us a hand of either no current or lots of wind - which meant no matter how hard we worked, it was for very little. Everybody stayed in high spirits as we all enjoyed her awesome beauty and toured the island. Today's picture of Jesse Fishman with his tuna, was caught yesterday when conditions were a little nicer. We are now traveling up the line in search of cooperative open water tunafish. 
We Are Blessed With The Nicest People, The Guys |
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Grease A lot of our most memorable fishing days are the times that combine good steady fishing and grease calm weather. Today was one of those days, as we managed to catch a bunch of quality yellows and even had a few 50 to 75 lb tuna fish thrown in for good measure. Today's picture of Tom Gillgren is him and a stock-sized yellow, but it has special meaning. Tom is a special individual because when he caught a beautiful 100lb seabass, he chose to release this wonderful and old creature to roam and be the king of his domain for many more years to come. 
Sportsmanship, The Guys |
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Free-bee When we left on our five day trip yesterday we had no idea that we would experience the wide open style on the same day of departure. In essence, we turned our 5 day to a six day trip as far as the amount of fishing time. With that under our belt, we thought that we would take advantage of the good weather and do some prospecting further down the coast. During the 14 hours of available daylight, we stopped twice on deals of yellowfin tuna, but both times they would boil a little bit but would refuse to bite. We ended up the day with just a handful of fish and tired eyeballs from glassing through binoculars all day. Thank somebody for the get out of jail free card as we sure used it today. Our picture of the day is of future American Angler fisherperson Jacob Patton. 
Back On Track Tomorrow, The Guys |
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Survival Of The Fittest We cleared the point at one in the afternoon on our way down to points south to start out our annual 5 day Crystal Pier charter. Outside south island we saw a few fins on the horizon. When we arrived on scene, we were treated to one of natures most awesome scenes of organized 'wolfpack' style of hunting. There was a half a dozen Orcas circling a Risso's dolphin, taking turns bodyslamming and blowing out on it until it was so punch drunk that the younger members of the pod were able to move in for the kill. We have witnessed them hunting like this a few times before, but each time we see it we can't help but admire the communication and hunting skills that these nomadic pods possess. We also were fortunate enough to wet a line before dark and was at the right place at the right time and experienced wide open albacore fishing for a couple of hours before dark. 
Off To An Early Start, The Guys |
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The San Fernando Valley Japanese American Fishing Club returned this morning from their 5 day adventure with plenty of Albacore and beautiful Yellowtail - many over 40lbs. A special thanks to Al Tokunaga and Eddie Wong for organizing the trip. It is always a pleasure to have this group on the boat and we look forward to next year's trip. Thanks everyone! 
1st place: Fred Rohrs 79.0lb Yellowfin Tuna 2nd place: Mario Gonzales 44.7lb Yellowtail Third place tie went to: 3rd place: Matt Salas 44.0lb Yellowtail 3rd place: Ruzz Ortez 44.0lb Yellowtail The boat departs at noon tomorrow with the 3rd annual Crystal Pier Charter - Everyone joining this trip - don't be late tomorrow for Taka's famous sushi spread compliments of Jim Bostian! Check back for daily fish reports. The American Angler crew |
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Flying Pies On our last day, we decided to go offshore looking for bluefin and yellowfin with 3 other members of our beloved long range fleet. The ride on the way out was a telltale sign of the day as we rolled and snapped our way into the grounds. We were prepared for this as we have become accustomed to this condition this year - but we still don't like it. There is not much to report from the grounds, other than the future potential of catches on 12-35lb grade members of both desired species. We caught one yellowfin today, but it was a little smaller then the 79lber displayed by Fred Rohr he caught yesterday. Our thanks to Al and the rest of the SFVJAA fishing club, as we all had a great time on the trip. We must go, as Mitch just came up to inform us that there are two lost cherry pies. 
Dessert Is Now Cherry Crisps In A Pan, ETA 8am The Guys |
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Hindsight After every day of our life often times we look back and wonder what would have happened if we would have done something different. In the wheelhouse of every sportboat this is a nightly ritual. Having fished these nice sized yellows the day before, helped as we had our fingers on the pulse of the fishing conditions. It definitely paid off having the feel from yesterdays fishing, as we enjoyed steady action on big yellows and were treated to a spectacular surface show - they would frenzy and chase baits wildly right next to the boat. In on today's show was Marty's brother, Matt of the famous Salas jig company, with proof of the yellowtail's longing relationship with the 7X. 
Manana,Sashimi Maguro The Guys |
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Personal Best We went to the Island for a couple of reasons. First, to enjoy a fine day of fishing with the anchor down and secondly, to supplement the good time with a few fish. As it turned out, the name of the game was quality not quantity. Sure, we happened to catch plenty of fish, but the noteworthy thing was that we didn't have a fish under 24lbs. The day's catch really sunk in when a lot of our seasoned anglers made the mention of catching their personal best when it comes to big yellows. John Ito shows off his personal best, which happened to be caught on the plug. 
Swirls and Backlashes, The Guys |
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Sashimi Albacore biting full speed as everybody scrambles to follow their fish, as the crew can barely keep up with the shouts for gaff - the whole scene is a representation of the controlled chaos that we experienced today. Once landed, the fish is picked up off the deck, carefully unhooked, bled and then tagged, only to be slid into ice cold 30 degree seawater - can only mean one thing. That thing is a perfectly chilled sashimi-grade product, waiting to be processed and consumed by even the strict seafood connoisseur. Friends and family of the SFVJA charter group certainly have plenty of fresh fish coming their way. Putting Down The Anchor, The Guys |
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The Sport Chalet sponsored 4 day trip returned on the American Angler this morning with an incredible catch of Albacore and a few Bluefin mixed in - just to make it interesting. Thanks again to all our passengers on this trip and Brad Lemoine, our sponsor. 
1st place: Scott Stoyan 38.5lb Bluefin Tuna 2nd place: Mike Williams 36.5lb Bluefin Tuna 3rd place: Blake Barnett 35.0lb Albacore The boat departed at noon with the 3rd annual San Fernando Valley Japanese-American Charter. It's good to see everyone - check back for daily fish reports. The American Angler crew |
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GAME OVER - WE WON !!! With our hopes high and every gut feeling one could have, it all came together today. After a slow start this trip, to finish it off with the day we had - was outstanding. At first light, the first fish came over the rail and we didn't go 20 minutes without spinning on a sonar mark followed by stopping and hooking some fish. Not only was the Albacore fishing awesome, but there was a few Bluefin Tuna thrown in the mix to make it that more exciting. Needless to say, the fish are back on the bite and it seems that there is fair spread of fish around for all. We would like to thank Brad Lemoine of Sport Chalet for being our sponsor and everybody else onboard to enjoy this very special day. Thank you all. Your crew, Sam, Gregg, Hoffy, Matt, T.J. , Mitch and Eddie GOOD NIGHT, ETA 0730 |
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THE GAME IS NOT OVER YET! After a long day yesterday with not much success and a morning that wasn't much of a Barn Burner either - this afternoon we finally started to put some points up on the board. These fish have had their noses in the mud the last few days but late today, it looks like things are on the Up and Up. We have one more day to get the job done, and you know the old saying, "It's not over til the Fat Lady sings". GOOD NIGHT, The A.A. Gang |
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MAMA TOLD ME I'D HAVE DAYS LIKE THIS Well, I would like to say we caught a bunch of fish today, but that wasn't the case. The fish seem to have their noses in the mud for the time being - this isn't the first time we have seen this happen. Everybody is in good spirits and we still have a couple of days left to wait these fish out. GOOD NIGHT, The Gang |
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The Fish Lube Invitational 7 day returned on the American Angler this morning with a plentiful load of Albacore, Yellowtail, a handful of Bluefin Tuna and 1 Bigeye Tuna to round out the variety. The entire crew would like to say a big thank you to Barry Gambarana for organizing this trip and for the great fishwork pants. Happy 4th of July everyone - enjoy your Albacore bbque... 
1st place: Rodney Sharpe 68.5lb Bigeye Tuna 2nd place: Jim Kastorff 64.5lb Bluefin Tuna 3rd place: Rich De Wolfe 53.5lb Bluefin Tuna The boat departs at noon tomorrow for the annual 4 day Sport Chalet open Check back for daily fish reports. The American Angler crew |
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That's all folks This last couple of days fishing, we had one thing on our minds - Short fins! After getting located yesterday, we had every intention of getting down to business as soon as the sun came up. After hours of looking, we had a couple of short stops on 25 to 35 lb BFTs, where it was more show than go. It's time to start running up the coast now and the weather looks like we should have a good ride up all the way to the point. We would like to thank Barry Gambarana and all of his Fish Lube anglers for being a part of this awesome trip. Thank You Very Much, Your Crew, Sam, Ray, Matt, Todd, Hoffy, Mitch and Sara. ETA 0630 4 th of July. We just had a cancellation on our 4 day trip that departs this coming up Tuesday, July 5. Call the office for more info. @ 619 223 5414. |
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GOOD WEATHER The weather is finally going to give the fleet a break, and on that note it made it possible to get us located back on the BFT grounds. It did take most of the day, but by afternoon we stumbled across a couple of schools that let us hook a few. We are going to finish the trip down here tomorrow and then roll up towards home. The photo of the day is Jim Kastorff with his BFT assisted by Capt. Matt. 
NIGHTY NIGHT, The Boys P.S. Big Daddy, Jim says the one in the photo for you. We just had a cancellation on our 4 day trip that departs this coming up Tuesday, July 5. It's one spot for anyone that has the urge to pull on fish and can get away Tuesday by noon to be back on Sat. morning! Call the office to book this spot at 619 223 5414. |
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A FUN DAY IN THE LEE First of all, there is nothing like being able to fish in the protection of an Island - especially when the weather is up a bit and when that part of the Island is where the fish are located. So we had a most enjoyable day of Yellowtail fishing, with most of these fish tipping the scale at 18 to 25 lbs., with a few bigger than that. We are enjoying a nice dinner before we stick our nose out into the open water in search of some Tuna type species for the remainder of the trip. The weatherman is saying that it should get nice by then for our ride up the line. The photo of the day is Dominic Castagnola with just one of his fish landed on the surface plug. 
GOOD NIGHT, The A.A. Boys We have 2 openings on our trip#13, a limited load 5 day trip departing Friday, July 15 and returning Wed. July 20. For more info. call the office 619 223 5414. |
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NICE RIDE DOWN HILL Not much to report in the way of fish for today because we spent most of it running down the line to our destination. We arrived with only a few hours of daylight left and picked up a handful of nice Yellows. We will be in Yellow Mode tomorrow, and are enjoying the Lee of the Island for a good night's rest. The photo of the day is Gary and Kirk with just a sample of what we hope is in store for us in the morning. 
GOOD NIGHT, The A.A. Gang We have 2 openings on our trip#13, a limited load 5 day trip departing Friday, July 15 and returning Wed. July 20. For more info. call the office 619 223 5414. |
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GET HER DONE! On any Long Range trip there is never a set itinerary, but the plan was on this trip to start up in the Albacore area and just take it from there. Well, today was one of those days when everything went according to plan. It is my opinion that the bulk of the fish (albacore) were not biting - for the amount of fish that we saw. We stopped on several schools that did not bite very well at all, but we did hit a couple of schools that wanted It! There is very good sign of these Albacore within 90 miles from home, so now is a good time to book your reservation on the Pacific Queen next week with Capt. Brian Kiyohara at the helm. 
GOOD NIGHT, The A.A. Gang P.S. Hello Breezer and Vanessa from Daddy Casta. The photo of the day: This ones for you - Heil, Bert and Doc. We have 2 openings on our trip#13, a limited load 5 day trip departing Friday, July 15 and returning Wed. July 20. For more info. call the office 619 223 5414. |
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Capt. Brian Kiyohara brought back the American Angler this morning with a memorable load of quality Yellowtail - weighing in over 30lbs, many over 40lbs and a couple over 50lbs. and lots of albacore - they had prime albie fishing. We want to thank all our passengers on this trip - thanks from the whole American Angler crew for helping to make this one for the books. 
1st place: Ed Morrison 50.3lb Yellowtail 2nd place: Jim Hall 48.0lb Yellowtail 3rd place: Steve Hall 46.7lb Yellowtail Honorable Mention: Dave Hatch with his 50.7lb Yellowtail 2nd picture the Halls - Matt, Jim, Steve - it was almost a family sweep. The boat departed at noon with the 3rd annual Fish Lube Invitational 7 day limited load extravaganza - have fun guys - not that you need any help doing that! Check back for daily fish reports. The American Angler crew |
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The End We have not dictated many trips around the weather in the past, but this was definitely one of them. The first day of albacore fishing really beat us up, which made us run for cover. However, in the back of our minds was the forecasted possibility of good weather and a chance to get even with the fish. We were extremely fortunate to experience once in a lifetime type yellowtail fishing, while at the same time letting the troops recover. The forecast on Sunday was for 10-15 knots and relatively speaking it was flat calm. The albacore paid dearly as our hunch that when the weather comes down, the fish will come up. "Come Up" is an understatement, as we enjoyed albacore fishing as good as it gets. In The Books, The Guys We still have 1 opening on our trip#13, a limited load 5 day trip departing Friday, July 15 and returning Wed. July 20. For more info. call the office 619 223 5414. |
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One Of The Best? We have seen many yellowtail bites at all different locations over the last twenty or so years and there is the select handful of them that standout. Many of them are of the massacres that occurred along the beach in the old days to the wide open, everybody-has-one-on type fishing we see now. The bites that are the most unique and that stand out the most, are the ones that include catching straight big ones. The bites at Chesters in the early 90's, the 200 big ones caught at the lupe while fishing tuna with Steve Loomis (at a spot that is now named for him), and all the various bites, both daytime and nighttime at the Alijos rocks area - are a few examples of the standouts. Today was also one of those days that we will remember, as we experienced "once in a life time" type fishing. It wasn't one of those wide open bites, but instead a steady pick on 30-50lbers. Today's fishing was surface oriented as these big fish were swirling around the boat with boils the size of sea lions and the persistent angler picked them off with the surface iron or flyline baits. We ended up with 87 fish including 3 fish over 50 and too many to count over forty. If the hard-core surface plugger were to have a dream, he/she would have woke up on the American Angler this morning. 
Us With A Few Of Them, The Guys We have 2 openings on our trip#13, a limited load 5 day trip departing Friday, July 15 and returning Wed. July 20. For more info. call the office 619 223 5414. |
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Perspective Hearing different reports of fish caught by other members of our fleet always makes us want to be everywhere at once. However, we have to keep things in perspective as the windy weather has really been a factor in our fishing destination decisions. Today we decided to get out of the weather and heal our wounded, but it ended out that we instead went to battle. There are a lot of honey holes that only bite in perfect conditions and today we happened to be at one where the current and wind was perfect. When we saw the size of the fish in the chumline, we knew that we had better prepare to lose a few. The yellows boiling up were 25 to 51lbs and were sucking up sardines and the surface iron, like candy. Being that we were upcurrent of a pinnicle that they call home - we only landed probably a third of what we hooked. We ended up with about 40 of these trophies and then spent the rest of the day picking at different spots, never again finding the perfect condition. Pictured here is Ed Morrison, with an example that at times, quality is better then quantity. 
Anchored In The Lee, The Guys We just had 2 spots open up on our trip#13, a limited load 5 day trip departing Friday, July 15 and returning Wed. July 20. For more info. call the office 619 223 5414. |
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Rough And Tough If you go to enough Padre games, eventually you will sit in every seat. The same goes for fishing, and today's seat was in the rough weather section. We still were able to scratch a few fish, but the weather made it a little annoying and holding on to your hat was a must. The wonderful thing about a multi-day trip is the option of going to somewhere that is nice. When we come back to the albacore fishing game, we want to sit in the "good" weather section. Sorry No Picture, The Guys |
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Zuker/G Loomis sponsored trip home from 7 day trip Capt. Brian Kiyohara brought the Angler home from a great 7 day trip with a beautiful catch of Albacore, Yellowtail and a few handfuls of Yellowfin and Bluefin Tuna. There were also a couple of Dandy White Sea Bass and extra-large Halibut to show off at the dock. 
1st place: Jim Klaasen 58 lb White Seabass 2nd place: John Haugland 44.9lb Halibut 3rd place: George Kaneko 37.5lb Bluefin Tuna The boat departed at noon for a 5 day adventure - have a great time guys and check back for daily fish reports. The American Angler crew |
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Enjoyable With fish aboard, plus having everyone familiar and comfortable with each other, it equals a relaxing and confortable time. With the addition of steady yellowtail action and the chance at an exotic, it's hard to find a better time to be on the water. We had a great group of people aboard, led by my wheelhouse buddy John Lloyd of Zuker lures and Phillip Oliva from Loomis rods - we are looking forward to the same type great trip next year. We are spending the rest of the trip taking it easy and running up the coast due to choppy weather in the forecast. 
We Miss Dan Kadota From Loomis Rods As You And Your Family Are In Our Thoughts, The Guys |
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Ask And You Shall Receive After rolling around all day yesterday and catching no fish, our dream was to be on the anchor and catch fish. When we woke up, it became a reality as we had a great day of yellowtail fishing - they were biting all the different techniques and were a respectable 18-32lb average. Human nature is such that when it rains silver dollars, we want dollar bills, so to top the catch we added a father and son white sea bass deal as Steve caught a 35lber and his pops Jim Klaassen topped it off with a 57lber. 
What Should We Ask For Tommorrow? The Guys For anyone that would like to get in on some of the upcoming action - we have one opening on trip#10 - a limited load 7 day trip departing Mon. June 27th and returning the morning of the 4th of July. That means you could supply the fish for the big bbque.... |
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'"The Man That Is Afraid To Risk Failure Seldom Has To Face Success" John Wooden Having the luxury of time and several fish aboard - with no destination within our reach, we set out to search for a new area of fish. Using a quote from the great Bruin basketball coach, John Wooden - it's a different way of saying that not only did we not catch a fish, we didn't even see a fish. Tomorrow we are going to fish for yellows, get out of the wind, and have a good time. Skunked, The Guys |
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You Should Have Been Here Yesterday Several times during the day when the fish were down, radio chatter talked about the good fishing that was available the previous day. The funny thing about it was, we were. With all the joking aside, we enjoyed another fun day of offshore fishing with the fleet on the albacore grounds, as we put together another nice day before heading for points south. Today's picture indicates how we are not in the slightest bit prejudice, as we welcome all aboard. 
Looking For More Luck, The Guys |
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AHH Hopefully the albacore season is here to stay as we finally enjoyed our first full speed day of albacore fishing of the year. We experienced all different aspects of albacore fishing from the stop and go, to the wide open on the corner where everyone-has-one-on type scenario. As depicted by today's picture: the fishing, plus the good weather, equaled lots of smiles. As icing on the cake, we caught several bluefin and a couple of yellowfin to add color to the day's catch. We pray that this is the beginning of a long and steady albacore season for the fleet. 
FINGERS CROSSED, The Guys |
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Catchy Tackle back from successful 8 day trip The Angler returned this morning from an 8 day trip which produced a nice catch of Yellowtail, Yellowfin and even a 152lb Bluefin Tuna. The weather layed down and the fish started biting which was a beautiful thing for the American Angler and the rest of the fleet! 
1st place: Karen Schantz 38.5lb Yellowtail 2nd place: Dave Jackson 32.8lb Yellowtail 3rd place: Hal Sharp 31.0lb Yellowtail Honorable Mention: Drew Grindley with his 152lb Bluefin Tuna The boat departed at noon with Capt. Brian Kiyohara at the helm for a 7 day trip sponsored by both Zuker and G Loomis - good luck guys! Check back for daily fish reports. The American Angler crew |
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TIME TO HEAD FOR THE BARN We woke up this morning with very calm weather and a few Yellowfin swimming under the keel. When the sun came up, it was time to get on the move, and it didn't take long before we had a chance at some of those nice Bluefin Tuna. Unfortunately, we were not able to hook any - that's fishin. The day ended just fine though, because the Yellowfin fishing was fairly steady throughout the day, which kept us busy and we always had in the back of our minds that we may get another shot at the Short fin Cows. The photo of the day is the whole gang enjoying some more of Mitch and Sara's delicious food and we begin our final journey for home, after a great trip. 
THANK YOU FOR THE CALM SEAS AND GOOD NIGHT, The Gang |
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THE DAY IS NOT OVER 'TIL THE SUN GOES DOWN After a long day behind the wheel, the machines looked pretty blank most of the time, and just about the time we were all falling asleep or right in the middle of a movie - we stumbled upon a sonar mark and these particular marks did not look like small fish. They stuck with the boat for just few minutes but that was long enough for Drew Grindley to hook one of those Cow Bluefin - 152lbs. Once we got on the move again to look around, it didn't take long before the sonar lit up again with a school of Yellowfin Tuna just wanting to get it on! The weather is just beautiful now so we have one more day of fun in the sun before it's time head up the line and call it a trip. 
GOOD NIGHT The A.A. Gang |
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THANK YOU FOR THE NICE WEATHER We stayed out in deeper water last night to try our luck in an area where we located some small Yellowfin Tuna. As the day progressed, the weather just kept getting better, and we managed to have a stop where the fish stayed around the boat and wanted to play for us. We are going to work up the line tonight and keep looking for Tuna type fish. Our luck as been pretty good with the fishing and now with our weather, so we will just see what happens from here. GOOD NIGHT, The A.A. Gang |
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THE LONG MOVE PAID OFF! After traveling all day yesterday, we arrived at our destination this morning and it was Game On - an awesome Yellowtail bite, to say the least. This photo of the day gives you a glimpse of just some of the fun the gang was having in the stern. In the late afternoon we took off into deeper water for what amounted to only a little action on Yellowfin Tuna, which finished our day. We will be in search of Tuna fish for the remainder of our trip. The weather doesn't seem to be getting any worse and the weather man says it might be getting better by Sunday - we hope he's right. 
GOOD NIGHT The A.A. Gang |
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RULE OUT THE MORNING BITE We woke up this morning with the wind still blowing a tad, we took a tour around the Island and saw a few fish, but needless to say it was not a early thing. We are on our way down the coast and are continuing on with our trip. We feel very lucky with yesterday's afternoon bite.... so here we go. GOOD NIGHT, The A.A. Gang |
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JUST GETTING STARTED After running all day and finally arriving at one of our favorite Yellowtail hotspots, it seemed that luck was on our side - as soon as we got the anchor down, the Yellows were on us! It was fast and furious for 2 hours and the fish were biting just about anything you had; Yoyo jigs, Surface plugs and of course Sardines. The photo of the day is our favorite and only lady angler on the trip, Karen Schantz, with just one of many she picked up today. The Ocean is very windy right now and we hope that it calms down here in a few days for all of us, so for tonight we are enjoying a nice dinner tucked in the Lee of the Island and will give it a go in the morning. 
GOOD NIGHT. ZZZZZZZZZZ The A.A. Gang |
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Sport Chalet 8 day The Angler returned this morning with a nice Yellowtail catch and a handful of Tuna- thanks again to our wonderful sponsor Brad Lemoine for all your hard work putting it together 
1st place: Russ Jacobs 60lb Yellowfin Tuna 2nd place: Glenn Patterson 48lb Yellowfin Tuna 3rd place: James McCoy 48lb Amberjack The boat will depart tomorrow for another 8 day sponsored by Catchy Tackle - good luck guys! Check back for daily fish reports. The American Angler crew |
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One Thing Is For Sure Yesterday Tommy on the Supreme had a decent day on albacore and we were looking forward to finishing up our trip with a little action. With a little bit of sign of fish and three guys looking in the area, we were pretty confident on piecing together a catch. However, like all the previous albacore bites in this young season, the only consistent thing about it, is its inconsistency. We started out the morning spinning on marks and even hooking a few, but that was very short lived. The rest of the day the albacore life slowly dissapated until it was eventually gone. Thanks to Brad and Sport Chalet for assembling a great group of guys as he always seems to do. ETA 8:30am Sometime Soon, The Guys |
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Tease Like looking forward to a bowl of ice cream, only to find it melted - we anchored several spots today where the nice-sized yellows came up boiling in the chum. We would get a few right away and then they would stop biting. Thankfully, by anchoring 57 times, we managed to pick at some very nice yellows throughout the day. Pictured are brothers Tim and Dale Fero, with two fine specimens of the day's catch. All kidding aside, we enjoyed a day of nice calm weather in the lee and had plenty of leisure time to fish. Tomorrow will find us offshore once again in search of the elusive tuna fish. 
Wish Us Luck, The Guys |
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Big Ocean The day before yesterday my old roommate who drives the R.S., called and told us about an area of birds, bait, whales and most importantly biting yellowfin tuna. We were anxious to run up the line after hearing this report, only to find the water temperatures the same, but unfortunately the area devoid of life. My mother used to tell me that I'm a poor loser, but I insisted that I wasn't..as long as I won. With this attitude, we drove around the ocean the rest of the day best described by today's picture of our fish finder; blank. We are thankful that our regular passengers understand fishing and take the good with the bad. By the afternoon, many of them came up to the wheelhouse and thought that it would be a good idea to bring in the Italian guy, as a relief pitcher. 
Humbling, The Guys |
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In Search We spent our last morning at the Rocks, catching just a few nice yellows before starting back up the line. While metering around in the dark, we had high hopes of having a good nightbite as we marked several decent spots of yellows on the fathometer. But when all was said and done, we ended up with very little to show for our efforts, which goes to show that even though they may be there, it doesn't mean that they always bite. We are now enjoying burgers for lunch and traveling up in order to gain some altitude and to further extend our fishing time. Over the next few days, we are hoping to find some type of tuna fish to supplement our yellowtail catch which includes some Dandies like the one Mark Johnson and Brad Lemoine have on display for us here. 
Wish us luck on our tuna fish quest, as it is always appreciated, The Guys |
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Variety Yellowtail,dorado,yellowfin tuna,calico bass, and wahoo are the surface species that we encountered during the last two days of fishing. There has been a few things that have been out of the ordinary this year, such as the giant squid and the scattered sign of yellowfin tuna already spotted within 300 miles of San Diego and with all the different things going on - nobody can predict whats going to happen. There is one thing that we can hope for, and that is that all of our future groups can be as relaxed as the group we have on board this trip. We have a few guys that are at the rail all the time, but for the most part, the majority of our guys are fishing at their leisure and having a good time. Keith Healy,Ed Jantzer,and our Ray Lopez pose with our first wahoo of the new year. 
Enjoying Quality Yellow Fishing, The Guys |
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Sign We arrived at the Stones soon after we downed a delicious spagetti lunch. By looking at the sea state and our vessel's speed, we didn't think we would have premium conditions. When we got the anchor down, we unfortunately were correct with our current direction prediction. We sat on the anchor and to our surprise, nobody told the fish that conditions were not optimum. The yellowtail started to bite pretty steady and we saw a few nice tuna boil as well. We ended up with a nice day of yellowtail fishing and a bonus couple of tuna. The largest tuna was a 60lber landed by Russ Jacobs, who in the accompaning picture, proves that it is not wise to swim with yellowtail. 
Rock And Rolling Weather, The Guys |
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The final 1.5 trip returns The American Angler returned from their last 1.5 day trip of the season and brought home with them 68 Albacore. Thank you to Brad Overfield for bringing his gang from Vegas for the annual Imperial Palace trip and thanks to all the passengers on board! Congratulations to the jackpot winners below: Jackpot winners: 1st place: Ray Vagas, Jr. with a 27.5lb Albacore 2nd place: Victor Benson with a 26lb Albacore 3rd place: Hal Friedlander with a 25.5lb Albacore The boat departed at 12:30pm for the annual 8 day Sport Chalet trip represented by Brad Lemoine. It was so great to see everyone - good luck guys! The A.A. Gang |
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Keeping Things In Perspective In our desire to catch the most fish, our competitive nature sometimes blurs our vision. Due to the distance of the fish and nature of our trip, we didn't arrive in the zone til midmorning. Our morning of way too much coffee was spent listening to our long range fishing companions reports of good fishing. We arrived and got lucky enough to participate in the end of the good morning bite only then to be a part of the grueling afternoon lull. In reality we ended up with a great day of quality, early season, albacore fishing as our 1 1/2 day anglers meshed together for a total of 68 albacore and limits of good weather. With the Memorial Day sportfishing fleet all spread out, it was very encouraging to see that there was quite a spread of fish which can only bring us optimism for the upcoming season. Victoria Pott and our own Sara demonstrated their own version of the AA girls club. 
The Guys |
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Albacore!! The Angler returned from its third 1.5 day trip this morning. Thanks to all our passengers for being on this special - Albacore "opener" of the American Angler season. Congratulations to the jackpot winners below. Jackpot winners: 1st place: Bryan Abramowitz with a 36lb Albacore 2nd place: Jim Montgomery with a 33lb Albacore 3rd place: Ben Inez with a 29lb Albacore The boat departed at 6pm for our last 1.5 day trip. This trip includes 16 passengers from the Imperial Palace Casino in Las Vegas - that just sounds lucky, doesn't it.....Check back tomorrow night for report and eta. The A.A. Gang |
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Far Thanks to Mike Lackey on the Vagabond, we had something to shoot for on today's 1 1/2 trip. He saw fair sign of albacore on 5-24 and we took on the task of trying to keep them located. It took us a while, but we eventually got lucky and found ourselves in a fishy zone. After a few stops, the hopes that everybody aboard would have the opportunity to catch an albacore, became very realistic. We had the classic short stops on albacore and also experienced a decent "plunker" stlye stop where they would come and go in waves. An added early season bonus of 25-30lb bluefin was also throw in, as we managed to capture 3 of them to supplement our catch of 78 18-25lb albacore. The photo of the day is our youngest angler on board, Luke Parrott, with a longfin. We are encouraged by what we saw today and looking forward to the upcoming season. Where were they? 
Far, The Guys ETA 11am |
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Wayne Martin's Gang Home The Angler returned from a 1.5 day trip this morning at 7am. A special thanks to Wayne Martin for organizing this trip - and thanks to all the passengers! Check out jackpot winners below. Jackpot winners: 1st place: Bruce Nelson with a 19lb Yellowtail 2nd place: Chris Kugel with an 18lb Lingcod 3rd place: Mark Leal with a 15.5lb Yellowtail The boat departed at 6pm for our third of four consecutive 1.5 day trips. Check back tomorrow night for report and eta. The A.A. Gang |
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Conditions We once again elected to go down the beach where we saw a little bit of sign of decent sized yt the previous trip. We saw sign, but had no current all day and once again the old saying of "no current means no fish", was the truth. We ended up with 9 yellowtail ,some misc sack fillers, and an enjoyable time on the water. eta 0700 We'll Get Even, The Guys |
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The first day and a half trip returns The entire American Angler crew would like to thank everyone on this trip. 13 Yellowtail from 18-25lbs and Lingcod for all. Check out the jackpot winners below and a special congratulations to our regular passenger and friend Rick McPherson. Not only did he win first place in the jackpot but this trip marked the first day of his retirement! Jackpot winners: 1st place: Rick McPherson with a 21lb Yellowtail 2nd place: John Hoenigman with a 19lb Yellotail 3rd place: Eric Kuhns with a 18.5lb Yellowtail The boat departed at 6pm with the second of four consecutive 1.5 day trips. This trip was organized by Wayne Martin of Catchy Tackle - have a great time guys! The A.A. Gang |
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NICE WEATHER We rolled down, woke up and the ocean had calmed down to nice weather. Our goal was to go down and take a look at the coast for some action. We found a little bit of Yellowtail (18 - 25lbs, thirteen of them) and phenominal Lingcod fishing. Everyone had a great time and we will be in at 8:15am. We have another 1.5 trip departing tomorrow night at 6pm - check back on Tues. for the next report. The A.A. Guys |
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Bobs Sporting Goods 8 day Trip is home The Angler came home this morning at 7:30am with a beautiful load of Yellowtail, a few handfuls of Tuna - including a 191.5lb Bluefin Tuna - and a group of wonderful anglers. Thanks again everyone and a special thanks to Mike Naoe of Bobs Sporting Goods and his rep., Sam Ishida. Check out our new plasma TV and theater sound system in the top left corner. 
1st place: Christian Rydgren 191.5lb Bluefin Tuna 2nd place: Bob Tanji 85.5lb Yellowfin Tuna 3rd place: Bruce Potter 84.4lb Yellowfin Tuna Honorable mention: Dennis Saylors 52lb Yellowtail The boat left this evening for the first of four 1.5 day trips with Capt. Brian Kiyohara at the helm. Check back tomorrow night for a report. The American Angler crew |
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GOOD THINGS ARE ON THE WAY We have looked at a lot of good water on the offshore scene during this 8 day adventure, and within several different areas we have seen good water conditions, bait sign and a spread out area of Albacore marks. We are just coming up on the Full moon phase and in this early season things are without a doubt in their night-time mode, so things look very promising for one of the long range boats to have a big day soon. Today we did manage to catch our first Albacore of the season, actually 3 Albacore and 1 Bluefin for our efforts. The photo of the day is Susie and Mike with the first fish of our season. Our ocean is shaping up - prepare for some good times in the near future. We would like to thank Mike Naoe of Bob's Sporting Goods for sponsoring this trip, Sam Ishida was his representative and did a great job. And we would like to say thank you to all the rest of the wonderful anglers that were with us on our first 8 day trip of the year, it was a lot of fun! 
Thank you all very much. Your crew, Sam, Hoffy, Gregg, Ray, Matt, Mitch and Sara. eta 0800 |
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SUNSHINE IN THE LEE Today we made a pit stop at one of the Islands to break up the ride back up the line and enjoyed a little action on Yellowtail and lots of sunshine. The photo of the day is our sponsor from Bob's Sporting Goods, Sam Ishida, with one of his dandies. FYI - Bobs Sporting Goods built the rods that caught the bigger tuna on this trip. Tomorrow will be the last day of the trip and then back to the offshore scene in hopes of some early season Albacore for all! 
GOOD NIGHT, The A.A. Gang |
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SOMETIMES IT'S NOT ABOUT QUANTITY, BUT QUALITY Today we took a sneak peak into the future season that just arrived at our front door step. (Well maybe just past our front door.) After several attempts on sliding from spot to spot of small areas of boiling Bluefin Tuna, we managed to hook and land one of these nice quality fish. The photo of the day is Christian Rydgren assisted by the A.A. Team holding up his Bluefin of a lifetime, weighing in at 190 lbs. We did see and catch a few 25 lb Bluefin today along with Christian's Cow and some small Yellowfin mixed in with various spots. 
GOOD NIGHT, The Gang Angie - Christian says he wants to marry you .... just not today (inside joke). |
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AWESOME MORNING BITE The Yellowtail fishing has been just fantastic for us the last couple of days. Yesterday, we enjoyed a nice pick on the Yellowfin throughout the day with fish anywhere from 15 to 90 lbs showing around the boat all day. After a ripper of a morning of Yellows, the Tuna did not want to play today. The photo of the day is Christian Rydgren with the biggest fish of the trip so far - weighing at 95 lbs, and that's no lie he caught it on his Long Rod. 
GOOD NIGHT, The A.A. Gang P.S. To Angie, Chris says - miss you and love you baby! |
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THIS IS A LITTLE MORE LIKE IT! Today was one of those days that is just the reason you come out on one of these spring trips - things aren't quite right back in the local waters, so you get on an 8 day trip and go the distance for some good fishing. After getting here on scene in the afternoon yesterday, we saw just enough sign of fish that we thought today might just work out and it did. The big Yellows started biting just after sunrise and it wasn't long after that the Tuna started to boil around and gave us a chance to start hooking some of those as well. All in all it was a great day of fishing. The photo of the day is Dennis (Red) Saylors with one of his Trophies that he picked up today, a personal best for him. The weather happens to be our favor as well - light winds, just enough to keep you cool while your are pulling on fish. 
GOOD NIGHT, The A.A. Gang |
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We arrived at the Rocks just after lunch, and when we first got here there was good sign of fish on the meter - things looked pretty good. The first couple of anchor jobs produced a few Yellowtail and a couple of Yellowfin Tuna, but as the afternoon progressed, the fishing went right down the tubes. Needless to say, we are banking on a morning bite tomorrow. The photo of the day is Bruce Potter (from Colorado), with one of his Yellows for the day. 
GOOD NIGHT, The A.A. Gang |
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DAY ONE The day started on the offshore where we found wonderful conditions - a great way for this upcoming season to begin. We decided to break up the ride down and stop and wet a few lines at one of our favorite Yellowtail spots. We only spent a few hours of fishing, but it was well worth it. The photo of the day is Suzi Tanji posing with her son, Capt. Gregg Tanji. We will arrive at the Rocks sometime after lunch tomorrow in hopes of some good times to be had for all! 
GOOD NIGHT AND LET THE GAMES BEGIN, The A.A. Gang |
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The first 8 day is on its way The American Angler had an early 8am departure on a beautiful, sunny morning - a perfect way to begin their first long range trip of the season. This trip is sponsored by Bob's Sporting Goods in West L.A. and the on board sponsor is Sam Ishida. It was so good to see some of our regular passengers again and meet new ones. Check back in a day or two for updates on this trip - there's chance for a lot of variety on this one and we'll keep you posted. Here we go, The guys |
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Rick Stetlers Group back from 3 day trip The entire American Angler crew would like to thank everyone on this trip. Fishing was slow, but the weather, food and company was excellent. A special thanks to Rick for organizing this first trip of the season. Jackpot winners were: 1st place: Sal Tocco with a 17.9lb Yellowtail 2nd place: Bill Wallace with a 10.6lb Yellotail 3rd place: Jason Stetler with a 10.6lb Lingcod Our next trip departs next Friday, May 13th at 8am - sign in begins at 6am. This will be an 8 day trip sponsored by Bob's Sporting Goods. Check back next Monday for reports! TAKE CARE, The entire A.A. Gang |
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FIRST TRIP OF THE SEASON Well, here we are again - it's that time of year to go fishing for A.A. Gang. Today is season opener with Rick Stetler and his guys. The plan was to go down the coast and fish the beach the first day and then just take it from there. We did start in at the beach, but that wasn't working out for us, so we took advantage of the nice weather and blasted out for a look offshore. We did find a few kelps that had a sample of Yellowtail on them, so it worth it. The photo of the day is Chuck Pulido and one of his two fish that he tied into in the afternoon. Tomorrow we will spend all day looking outside, so hope the weather stays nice and we'll have good reports for everybody at dark. 
GOOD NIGHT, The Guys |
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Bobs Sporting Goods 11/14 Trip is home and brought a 355lb Fish with them! Beautiful weather and great folks were the ingredients for this last trip of the American Angler's season and what a perfect way to finish it up. This trip produced a monster 355lber (caught by American Angler regular passenger and friend, James Hasselberg), 5 beauties over 200lbs and 30 fish over 100lbs. A huge thanks to Mike Naoe from Bobs Sporting Goods for sponsoring this trip and to Gerald Scholl for coordinating the trip. Check out the jackpot winners below and the trip's 5 biggest fish (one of the angler's, Karl Kristkeitz, caught two 200lbers and only one is pictured). Congratulations guys - 
1st place: James Hasselberg 355lb Yellowfin Tuna 2nd place: Gerald Scholl 266.1lb Yellowfin Tuna 3rd place: Phil Williams 249lb Yellowfin Tuna Big fish honorable mentions: Brian Gunnarson: 246lb Yellowfin Tuna Karl Kristkeitz 241.2lb/231.5lb Yellowfin Tuna Thank you to each and every passenger that we had the pleasure of serving this season on the American Angler. Next stop - maintainance and upgrades and then we will be ready to rock again in May! Until then, stop by and see us at the San Mateo show from Feb. 3-6 and at the Long Beach Show from March 2-6. TAKE CARE, The entire A.A. Gang |
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THE FINAL CHAPTER We spent the last evening and a morning trying catch some more of those Monsters, to no avail. This midmorning it was time to try one other Hotspot before it was all said and done. We arrived at our 2nd spot around 11:00 a.m. and as soon as we came up on the shallow, they were waiting for us. The photo of the day is Dennis Saylors with one of the fish he landed, assisted by our chef Mitch. The Jackpot of the day was landed by Gerald Scholl, at 175 lbs. We are enroute to Cabo San Lucas to drop off a few of our folks and then it's time to run up the line. We are scheduled to arrive in San Diego on Wednesday, the 19th, at 0900 at the dock. We would like to Thank Mike Naoe of Bob's Sporting Goods for sponsoring this trip and everybody on this 14 day adventure. 
GOOD NIGHT, The A.A. Gang |
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ANOTHER DAY DOWN HERE IN TROPICAL PARADISE I know some day the weather man will turn the wind machine back on, but it wasn't today, and as for our fishing I would have to say it's pretty decent. It's not every trip you get the opportunity to see the amount of fish we have seen in the last couple of days - it is a beautiful sight that's for sure, but getting them to bite like you think they would has been another issue. We have been able to pick at these fish you see in the photos which range from 50 to 130 lbs, but believe me we have had to work at it. The other photo is Greg Stoney with one of his nice ones today. 
GOOD NIGHT, The A.A. Gang |
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WE MAY JUST RUN OUT OF SUNSCREEN THIS TRIP First of all, let me mention the weather. It's hot and beautiful. We are fishing a different area today, after starting the trip with those Monsters in the fish hole, we managed to pick at some 100 lb grade fish throughout the day and see plenty of that size fish where we are now. The gang is having a good time and we have high hopes for tomorrows fishing to be even better. The photo of the day is some of the sightings on these fish we captured today. 
GOOD NIGHT, The A.A. Gang P.S. Angie, Chris says hello and misses you... |
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QUALITY NOT QUANTITY! After starting a trip with just an unbelievable grade of fish, it's time to move on - we fished a half of a day yesterday and put in a full day at the rail for a total of 8 fish. But out of 8 fish - 5 of them are over 200 lbs and 1 over the 300 lbs mark. It is an impressive start for this trip. The photo of the day is Gerald Scholl, Capt Brian and Karl Kristkeitz. Karl had the day of a lifetime, because he landed two fish over 200 lbs today. 
GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK IN OUR TRAVELS, The A.A. Gang |
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FIRST, SECOND AND THIRD Today was our first day of fishing for the trip and it was not what I would call a lot of action but the few fish we did catch were the fish we had been looking for. We landed 3 fish for the afternoon - two of them over the 200 lb mark and one over the 300 lb mark, landed by James Hasselberg. The weather is just beautiful and we are just getting started. 
GOOD NIGHT, The A.A. Team |