Long Range Fishing Update – 12/19/09

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

Intrepid Coming Home

14 Over 200
Kevin Osborne docked Intrepid at Pt. Loma Sportfishing December 19 after an 11-day Avet-Larry Brown trip with 22 passengers to the southern banks. She was packing 14 cows, one of which was just short of supercow status.
The big 289.6-pound tuna was caught by Harris Miller of San Diego. He got it after a fight of an hour and 45 minutes. It bit a double sardine rig under the kite on a boat outfit: 8/0 Super Mutu ringed hooks on 130-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon and 130-pound Izorline Spectra on an Avet 50 reel and a Super Seeker 6463 XXXH rod.
“This is my second cow trip,” he told dock reporter Bill Roecker. “I only wanted to get one over 100 pounds. This one bit as dusk on the last day of fishing. I’d like to thank the crew for their help.”
John Whiteside of Oregon got a 246-pounder on a squid under the same kite rig. “That rod was hell-bent for stout,” said John. “It really put the wood to it.” He won second place in the jackpot.
Tom Hoskins of Oregon took 45 minutes to bag a 221-pounder, caught when he flylined a sardine on a ringed Super Mutu 6/0 hook on 130-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon and 130-pound Line One Spectra. He said he used an Accurate 50 reel and a new Super Seeker 2 x 4 rod.
“An excellent rod,” comment Hoskins, who won third place. “This fish just wouldn’t come to the boat. He was all over the place out there.”

Harris Miller 289.6# Yellowfin

Fred Best handed off a 274-pound tuna, due to a physical problem. He hooked it on a sardine and a 6/0 ringed Super Mutu on 130-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon and 130-pound Line One Spectra on an Avet 50 reel and a G. Loomis six-foot rod.
John Toninato of British Columbia, Canada got a 243-pound tuna on a sardine and an 8/0 ringed Super Mutu. He fished with 130-poundSeaguar fluorocarbon and 130-pound Line One Spectra on an Avet 30 reel and a Super Seeker 6463 XXXH rod.
Charles Pratty of Yorba Linda got a 204-pound yellowfin with a Sardine on a 6/0 ringed Super Mutu and 100-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon and 130-pound Izorline Spectra on a Penn 30 reel tuned by Cal Sheets and a Calstar Boomer Jr. rod.
Jeff Clark of Wildomar found a 214-pound tuna (his best fish) with a sardine on a 6/0 ringed Super Mutu tied to 130-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon and 130-pound Line One Spectra. He fished with a Penn 50 VSX reel and a Talus six-foot rod.
Chris Minnick of Pasadena caught a 222-pound tuna with a sardine on a 6/0 Super Mutu tied on 100-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon and 100-pound Line One Spectra on an Avet HX Raptor reel and a Super Seeker 2 x 4 rod.
“The new rod was fabulous,” he said. “The recoil worked the fish, and it was light to carry around all day.”

Larry Johnson of Whidbey Island, WA got a 202-pounder on a sardine and a 6/0 ringed Super Mutu hook. He fished with 100-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon and 130-pound Line One spectra on an Avet 30 reel and a Super Seeker 6463 XXXH rod.
Kevin Cosca of Mesa, AZ got a 207-pound tuna.
“Our best day was the first one, but we had good fishing on porpoise on day four,” remarked skipper Osborne, “on 20 to 200-pounders! And we got near-limits of yellowtail off bird schools near Turtle Bay.”

Ross Dale and his 322# Yellowfin

Angler Gets 14, Too
Sam Patella brought his American Angler home to Pt. Loma Sportfishing December 19 following an 11-day trip with 24 anglers. Chartermaster Skip Stenbro was aboard to represent Tiburon reels.
The big fish was a 322-pound supercow caught by Ross Dale of Trenton, NJ on a sardine and an Eagle Claw 8/0 hook. He said he fished with 130-pound Seaguar Premier fluorocarbon and 130-pound Line One Spectra on an Accurate 50 reel and a Super Seeker 2 x 4 rod he called, “awesome.”
John Lopez won second place for a 312-pound tuna he got under the advice of his son, skipper Ray Lopez. Granddad Joe Lopez posed with the boys for a photo or two. John, whose best previous tuna was a 125-pounder, said he got the fish in 40 minutes.
“I killed him,” he told Bill Roecker, “with a little advice from Ray. This is my 6th trip.”
Lopez baited a mackerel on an 8/0 Eagle Claw hook tied to 130-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon and 130-pound Line One Spectra on an Avet 50 reel and a 7465 H Calstar blank wrapped by M&M.
Craig Holmes bagged a 301-pound tuna ineligible for the jackpot. He said it bit a sardine on an 8/0 Eagle Claw hook tied to 130-pound fluorocarbon and130-pound Line One Spectra on an Avet 50 reel and a Calstar 6465 XH rod.
Solomon Rosenweig of San Rafael took a 261-pound tuna with a sardine on a 7/0 Eagle Claw hook. He used 130-pound fluorocarbon and 130-pound Line One Spectra on an Avet 50 reel and a Calstar 7455 XXH rod.
“A rockin’ fish,” he told Roecker, “my best one. It took an hour and a half.”

American Angler Fantastic Catch

Ray Jordan of California, MD took a couple of hours to play his 240-pound tuna. It took a mackerel on a 7/0 ringed Super Mutu hook tied to 130-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon on a Penn 50 VSW reel modified by Cal Sheets and a Calstar 655 XH rod.
Bruce Wheeler of San Diego caught a 231-pound tuna on a sardine and a 6/0 ringed Super Mutu hook. He used 130-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon and 130-pound Line One Spectra on an Accurate 50 W reel and a Super Seeker 6463 XXXH rod.
Dan Spiegel of Venice bagged a 220-pounder after a two-hour fight. The tuna ate a squid on a 12/0 Mustad 7691 hook tied to 130-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon and 130-pound Line One Spectra. He fished with an Avet 50 reel and a Calstar 760 H rod.
Paul Pangdurn of Sunland caught a 216-pound tuna with a sardine on an 8/0 Eagle Claw hook on 130-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon and 130-pound Line One Spectra. He used an Avet 50 reel and a Calstar 6465 XH rod.

Ken Olson of Newbury Park brought home a 207-pound yellowfin that bit his sardine on an 8/0 Eagle Claw hook. He fished with 130-popund fluorocarbon and 130-pound Line One Spectra on an Avet 50 reel and a Calstar 7465 XH rod tied by M&M.
Gerald Gaugher of Los Alamitos had a 203-pounder that bit a sardine on an 8/0 Eagle Claw hook tied to 130-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon and 130-pound Line One Spectra on an Avet 50 reel and a Super Seeker 6463 XXXH rod.
“It was in the dark,” he said, “and it was rough. This is my best fish. The crew performed like a SEAL team.”
Paul “Planet” Yarnold of San Diego got a 203-pound fish with a sardine on an 8/0 Eagle Claw tied to 130-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon and 130-pound Line One Spectra on an Accurate 50 W reel treated by Cal Sheets and a Super Seeker 2 x 4 rod.
“I loved that rod,” he said.

84 Year Old Bud Edwards and his 342# Yellowfin

Bud (84), Bags 342-Pound Buster
At the end of his 10-day Independence trip skipper Jeff DeBuys brought home “only” one supercow, but it was a 342-pound buster of a tuna caught by a guy who’s been after it for at least 25 or 30 years. Counting Bud’s giant, there were six cows.
Bud Edwards of Palmdale has been fishing long range for quite a while, but this one was the retired construction worker’s first 300-pounder.
“The craziest damn fish I ever saw,” he told dock reporter Bill Roecker December 19 at Pt. Loma Sportfishing. “He took 400 yards straight out on the surface. He took me around the boat three times. He took me up and down the side eight times. Finally, my best fish came up on the bow.”
Bud said he fished a mackerel on a 7/0 Eagle Claw hook tied to 100-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon leader and 100-pound Izorline tied to 130-pound Izor Spectra on an Avet 50 reel and a Calstar 760 H rod.
If anything made Bud prouder than that big fish it was the fact that his son Ron Edwards of Fort Worth, TX won second place for a 231-pound tuna. He also got a 201-pound yellowfin. Ron used the same bait and gear as his dad, except his reel was an Avet 50 N. He took an hour and a half to land his first cow and his best fish.
Brent Fisher of Reno, NV won third place for a 221.8-pound tuna (his first fish ever) he bagged with a mackerel on a 7/0 Eagle Claw hook tied to 130-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon and 130-pound Line One Spectra. He fished with an Accurate 50 reel and a Super Seeker 6463 XXXH rod.
Dale Austrulid of Nipomo caught a 206-pounder on a squid under the kite, on the boat’s kite rig: 130-pound fluorocarbon and 130-pound Izorline Spectra on an Avet 50 W reel and a Super Seeker 6463 XXXH rod.
Terry Sandoval of Anaheim slipped into the 200-pound club with a 203-pound yellowfin he took with a squid on the boat’s kite rig.

Independence Jackpot Winners

“Very good sign,” skipper DeBuys remarked to Roecker on what he saw down south. “You’ve got to be prepared for these big fish. We had many casualties. You need a little luck, too.”
DeBuys said he was staying home for Christmas and a little golf, then would be “…back here for the flying start of the mini-Bisbee, as we call it, on December 26.”