Long Range Fishing Report – 8/16/08

Bill Roecker for FishingVideos.com & the San Diego Sportfishing Council – Net Update August 16, 2008

Cedros Rolled, Benitos Bit

Kevin Osborne docked Intrepid at Pt. Lomas Sportfishing August 16 after a five-day trip to Baja waters with 26 anglers.

“Cedros rolled,” said Kevin, “so we went over to Benitos, where we got some really good calico bass and yellowtail inside the kelp, and a dorado! We also fished offshore, and we got some albacore in 74-degree water about 100 miles south of San Diego.”

Mike Heflin of Chino won first place on the trip for a 37.4-pound yellowtail he took on a mackerel and a 7/0 Gamakatsu hook. He said he used 60-pound Izorline on an Accurate 665 two-speed reel and a Sabre six and a half-foot rod.

Dietmar Kruger of Santa Monica was second, for a 32.6-pounder, and Ken Morris of San Diego won third place for a 27.8-pound yellowtail.

Fishing with his dad Brian, 11-year-old Andre Harnack of Culver City got a nice albacore and stood in with the winners as honorable mention. He said he goes to Culver Middle School next year and he’s a soccer player.

Seabass Grab Top Spots On 15^th Barnett Family Charter

Eric Weldele skippered Qualifier 105 on a five-day trip with 32 anglers. He docked at Pt. Loma Sportfishing August 16 and weighed the fish.

Luke Vickery of Oxnard won first place for a 34.6-pound white seabass. It bit on a blue and chrome Tady 45 jig tied to 25-pound Ande line on a Daiwa 30 SG reel and a nine-foot Loomis rod.

Spencer Leseur of Ojai found a 33.4-pound white seabass with a Salas 6 jig in blue and white, and that fish won second place. Wade Braker of San Mateo took third place for a 31.6-pound yellowtail.

Chartermaster Chuck Barnett said his family charter is the longest-running in San Diego aboard the same boat.

“We had six father-son teams aboard,” he noted.

LoPreste Lights Up Rocks

Fishing was so good the experienced anglers had to take a break, on the best trip of the summer to date. It was a seven-day Blackwater trip with 17 anglers aboard Royal Polaris, which ended August 16 when owner Frank LoPreste docked the boat at Fisherman’s Landing.

“Weather at Alijos Rocks today consisted of 12 knots of breeze and plenty of sunshine,” said the boat’s report for August 12.

“Fishing was absolutely sensational. We started the morning with about 15 Yellowtail and one 60-pound Yellowfin tuna for the three or four guys that were fishing. After breakfast we trolled around and picked up 13 Wahoo.

“We anchored up to fish tuna about 09:00 hours and we left at 16:00 hours. We left because our passengers could not pull on fish any longer. We had eight fish from 105 pounds to about 135 pounds. We had lots of fish from 50 to 80 pounds, and also some in the 20 to 25-pound category.

“In the late afternoon we fished Grouper and caught two good ones. We also picked up a couple more Wahoo. Tomorrow we will fish Grouper and Wahoo in the morning and then fish tuna for a few hours and probable leave Alijos around 15:00 hours.

“Please note that we have two seven-day trips coming to Alijos Rocks in early September. The Newell trip has four openings and the YO’s has two openings. Call Scotty or Andrea if you are interested.

“P.S. Anyone that has been to YO’s tackle shop, knows Jimmy Lew. Well today Jimmy was making some top-shot leaders and glued his hands together. So Big D know what to do, but his new name is now Jimmy Glue.”

Chartermaster Don Kuroye of Calabasas got the biggest tuna of the trip on the kite with a squid bait. It weighed 142.4 pounds.

“He ran off about half the Spectra on an Accurate 50 W reel,” said Don, “at least 300 yards.”

The jackpot winner was John Yoneda of Escondido, for a 107-pound yellowfin he got with a sardine on a 3/0 ringed Super Mutu hook. He fished with 40-pound Blackwater shock leader tied to 60-pound Blackwater Spectra on an Accurate 870 two-speed reel and a Calstar 800 M rod.

“It took about 30 minutes,” said Yoneda. He got wrapped on the anchor line, but Jesus got him off. He took me around the boat twice.”

Seaforth Landing manager John Yamate took second and third places for his bait-caught tuna of 95 and 105 pounds. Yamate fished with his two sons and tackle manager John Rowe, who also supervises the Friends of Rollo charity that takes hundreds of kids fishing. Rowe got a tuna on the kite that was within a pound of Kuroye’s.

“We spent two and a half days at Alijos and a day at Cedros,” summed up Tracy Kuroye, “and the weather was beautiful.”

Pilot Rock Pick Pays Off

Art Taylor brought his Searcher home from Guadalupe Island after a four-day trip with 27 anglers. He docked at Pt. Loma Sportfishing, as the Royal Polaris was occupying the facilities at Fisherman’s. Chartermistress Jan Howard, a Braid rep, made several notable catches, including a yellowfin on 12-pound line and a large yellowtail on 30-pound.

“We started out on the North End near Pilot Rock,” said Jan, “and we got some big yellowtail there, and some bigger ones on the weather side not far away. We had a night bite on slabs of scad mackerel, until the boat ran out of sinkers.

“Whitey showed up,” continued Jan, “and he got a lot of the sinkers. Once he breached on somebody’s yellowtail coming to the boat.”

Gary Holpuch of Golden Shores, AZ won first place for a 40.8-pound yellowtail. He said he got it with a sardine on a 2/0 Gamakatsu hook and 50-pound P-Line. He used an Avet LX reel and a Seeker 670 rod.

Greg Locke of San Diego tied with Ron Servis of Escondido for second place. Both men had 40-pound yellowtail.

Using one of the boat’s trolling rigs, Jenel Ross of Lake Forest cranked up a giant black sea bass estimated at 200 pounds, and released it.