Long Range Fishing Report – 7/29/08

Bill Roecker for FishingVideos.com & the San Diego Sportfishing Council – Net Update July 29, 2008

Super Yellowtail On Kelps

“We spent the last two days looking offshore for tuna, yellows, and dorado,” wrote Excel skipper Justin Fleck July 28. “We spent the majority of Sunday spotting kelps in absolute gorgeous weather. Kelps were plentiful and easy to spot and just about every single one was full of yellowtail and dorado. Some of the yellows we were pulling off were upwards of 30lbs. Definitely a good day of fishing. Since we were pretty much loaded up on yellows and dorado we focused our entire efforts looking for tuna yesterday. We saw plenty of sign of yellowfin, bluefin, and longfin but they just didn’t bite as well as we hoped for. We did get one hit on fatso albacore with a few bluefin that wanted to bite, but again, not the banner day we were looking for.”

Justin docked the boat at Fisherman’s Landing July 29, having finished up at 27 miles on the Sogioka-Stires five-day trip with 30 anglers.

Greg Shimizu of Irvine won the jackpot for a 38-pound yellowtail. He took it with a sardine on a 4/0 Mustad hook, 40-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon leader, 40-pound Izorline, an Avet LX 6-3 reel and a Calstar 700 L rod.

Mike Young of Westchester won second place for a 36.2-pound albacore. Norm Sogioka took third for his 34.8-pound yellowtail. Standing in with the winners were Marcus Cohen of Erie, CO with a 32.4-pound bluefin and Dan Robinson of Alhambra with a 24.5-pound dorado.

Five-Day Angler Trip

Sam Patella brought American Angler in to Pt. Loma Sportfishing July 29 after the Ken’s Custom Reels trip with 28 passengers.

“We have had a great trip on Yellows and Mahi,” he wrote July 28, “the only thing we were lacking were tuna fish. Nothing like waiting until the 9th inning to pull a Rabbit out of our Hat. We finally got on some Albacore and a mix of BFTS late in the day to finish off just a wonderful trip with a fabulous group of guys. We landed 40 this afternoon.”

Chris Slaughter of San Diego won first place for a 37.6-pound yellowtail. He was unsure of his tackle, but thought he used a mackerel bait. Chris Demcak of San Diego tied him with a 37.6-pounder that bit on a Salas 7X jig he hand-painted.

Zeke Harloff of Oceanside got third place for a 36.2-pound yellowtail. Lee Ann Sisson of Carlsbad stood in with the winners holding her 35.4-pound albacore.

Bluefin Jim Charter

Andy Cates docked Red Rooster III July 29 after a four-day trip with 31 anglers.

“Another good day of offshore kelp fishing,” he reported July 28, “with a mix of yellowtail, Dorado and a sprinkle of Yellowfin tuna. Things do seem to be developing with a little more tuna being caught on the kelps and an occasional hit by the lucky boat. Hopefully things continue to progress. The weather has been great the whole trip and looks to be good for another day.”

At the office next morning, he said, “We had a good scratch on kelp paddies, and some slow fishing at Guadalupe Island with some bigger fish. We went up to the North End before we left there and got some good yellowtail.”

Scott Peterson of Las Vegas won first place for a 55.5-pound yellowfin tuna. He said it bit a sardine on a 3/0 Gamakatsu hook tied to 40-pound Offshore line on a Quantum Bluewater reel and a Bluewater rod.

“He fried my reel,” said Peterson.

Andy Beldy of Las Vegas was second for a 30.6-pound yellowtail. Barrett Howarth of Newport Beach and Pelagic offshore clothing won third place for a 29.8-pound yellow he bagged with a Salas 6X Jr. jig in scrambled egg color and a Whopper Stopper rod.

Coastside Fishing Club

Joe Crisci docked Qualifier 105 at Pt. Loma Sportfishing July 29 after a five-day charter with 18 anglers.

“Today we spent the day fishing our way home,” he wrote July 28. “We found some beautiful kelp loaded with bright blue and geen dorado.  The fishing was wide open and at times it seemed like a good idea to make cups, pads, and face masks a requirement to prevent the dorado from smacking us silly.   The grease flat weather continued and made for ideal conditions.”

Tom Tealdi of San Mateo won first place for a 35-pound yellowtail. He said it bit a sardine on a 2/0 circle hook and 30-pound P-Line. He used a Trinidad 40 reel and a Seeker 6470 Black Steel rod.

Chartermaster Ben Sleeter of El Granada swept second and third places. He got a 29.6-pound yellowtail and a dorado of the same weight.

New Accurate B-2 30 Reel

Some new Accurate reels are nearing the end of their developmental stage and may see a release to the marketplace sooner rather than later.

A prototype of one of the new reels, the B-2 30, is out on the American Angler today with pro-staffer Gary Teraoka, who showed it to Bill Roecker as he was waiting to board the boat.

The new series comes in an International size, but without the pre-set mechanism on the handle side that is common to the Platinum series. There will be more information on the new series as it becomes available. The selling price of the new reels will be less than the Platinum reels

On another note, Dan Walsh of Carlsbad recently bought some mini-sized Internationals, some sort of promotional items, on EBay as gifts. They are not made by Accurate, according to owner Jack Nilsen. They are tiny, “working” models with no practical value, but remarkable in their size and appearance.