Long Range Fishing Update – 11/20/09

Bill Roecker for FishingVideos.com & the San Diego Sportfishing Council

Big, Big, And Bigger
Rumor floats on the Internet this morning that Spirit of Adventure and Royal Star have made remarkable catches on tuna of over 250 pounds. No verification was available at post time, so viewers may anticipate more on the subject shortly.
“Pure Mayhem”
“What a day,” said the Independence report for November 19.
“Today was pretty much like yesterday and the day before, as we started things off with a nice 225 lb. fish, and then stayed steady with 90 to 125-pound tuna for the rest of the day. There was one point when everyone had one on for a couple of hours; pure mayhem is the best way to describe it. There were again a couple of handfuls of 125 to 150-pounders for good measure. The weather is outstanding, and everyone is happy.”

Rooster Has A Great Day
“Good morning folks,” wrote Red Rooster III skipper Andy Cates November 19. “Yesterday was another great day of fishing. Nice weather with plenty of action on 70 to 120 pound fish. Biggest fish landed was 180 pounds. No chances at big ones but what a great caliber of fishing. So far this morning similar results, maybe not quite like yesterday, just yet.”

Royal Polaris Yellowfin Tuna

Whoppers For RP
“Weather was quite good today with about 12 knots of breeze,” reported Frank LoPreste from his Royal Polaris November 19. “Fishing started out slower with Matt Brown catching a 250-pound Yellowfin on an eight-pound tuna for bait. Larry Chin then got a 212-pound Yellowfin on a Sardine. We picked up three more 130-pound fish and that was the morning bite.
“About 10:00 hours things started picking up. Pete Heimback got a 228-pound Yellowfin, Larry Chin got another at 225 pounds, and Matt Brown picked up another on a Sardine at 220 pounds. John Angel got a 228-pound, Don Burnside a 222-pound fish. Rich Couser got a 190-pound Yellowfin tuna. We had 2 fish at 199 pounds and several 170 to 190 pounds. We also had 10 fish in the 95 to 130-pound category. We had 43 Yellowfin tuna for the day, plus 5 Wahoo. Another good day will top us off, however it has already been a sensational trip and our passengers are pretty worn out.
“We will fish till dark tomorrow and then start for home. We are quite excited about our next trip, as the big fish have started biting on the beach.”

Gunning For Big Tuna
“Our day out here on the “Big Fish Bank” started with nice school sized tuna running with common dolphins,” recalled Shogun skipper Bruce Smith November 19.
“Several stops put yellowfin in the 25 to 45-pound class on board. Reports of bigger fish sent Bruce searching for cows. Soon thereafter we stopped on a sonar mark and were rewarded with three hookups that resulted in tuna in the 160 to 180-pound range. All afternoon in calm seas the Shogun drifted among big fish. A few taped out over 200 lbs, as high as 280! There were several personal bests along with a heartbreak or two. Chewing through the flourocarbon just beyond gaff’s reach… that’s fishing. All in all, today was a great day and we’ll fish this zone again tomorrow.”

Shogun Yellowfin Tuna

Hook Tidbits
Early word from Steve Tagami at Mustad indicates that the long-awaited new circle bait hooks are in production and about to ship to the stores. The high-strength hooks will come in sizes up to 8/0 or so, and they’ll be available in straight or offset points, with or without rings. We should have photos soon.

Also, the hooks used to bring in the giant white shark (something over 4,300 pounds) that was recently tagged and released by Dr. Michael Domeier were made by Mustad. Need anything in a 29 to 31/0 size?