November 1, 2004 By Bill Roecker Previous Report <--- The Polaris Supreme at Dock

Productive Ridge Trip
"Today fishing is still very good, with Dorado and Wahoo being the main attraction," read the report from Royal Polaris October 28. "The Dorado are in the 18 to 25-pound range, with the smaller one's being released back to the sea. The Wahoo are in the 40 to 60-pound range. Our weather is still good, with lots of sunshine and blue skies. We will start to move north today, still fishing offshore. So far this has been an excellent fall season; we still have a few openings left on upcoming trips, give Scotty or Andrea a call at our office (619) 226-8030."

The ten-day Terry Koike/Open trip was skippered by Roy Rose, and docked at Fisherman's Landing November 1.

Dennis Robnett of Auburn won first place, for an 81-pound yellowfin he took with a mackerel bait on a 4/0 Super Mutu hook, with 60-pound P-Line, 130-pound Spectra, a TLD 30 with a Game Over frame and a 665 Calstar rod after a 20-minute struggle.

"It was a great time," said Robnett "Everybody should go."

John Martini of Long Beach was second, for a 78.3-pounder, and John Matucci of LaHabra was third, for a 75-pound yellowfin tuna.

The trip produced many species, including tuna, yellowtail, wahoo, grouper, sierra, pargo and dorado. The next trip was scheduled to depart the same day with owner-skipper Frank LoPreste at the helm.

Rooster Renders Record
"That's the best this boat has ever done," said skipper Andy Cates at H & M Landing on Halloween afternoon.

"Twenty-six tuna over 200 pounds! That was the best fishing I ever saw down there!

"You could hand feed them off the stern at night," he continued. "And they never seemed to miss the squid or the flying fish, the frozen baits we had hanging off the kite."

There were 23 anglers on the "Winter Wanderlust" 14-day trip, which visited Cates' "secret spot," identified by anglers as The Hurricane Bank. They all had their share of big fish, with three, Bob Tyler of Bullhead City, AZ, Larry Martin of Imperial and Chuck Forrester of McAlister, MT scoring three cows of over 200 pounds. McAlister also won the trolling jackpot for a yellowfin of 200 pounds he got with a Marauder jig.

Larry Martin of Imperial won first place for whopper 260.2-pound tuna he got with a helium balloon and a flying fish.

"My personal best," said Martin. "He pulled like a big, big fish."

Martin used a 10/0 VMC hook, 135-pound Izorline and 135-pound Jerry Brown Spectra backing on a Penn 80 ST reel and a Calstar 755 XXH rod, and beat the monster in 45 minutes.

Brian Massey of Madera was second, for a 252.9-pounder, and Wayne Honda of Oceanside was third, for a 252.2-pound yellowfin tuna. Wayne also had the next-largest fish, a 248-pound cow.

The October date would mark the earliest the big tuna "season" has started, since US boats weren't allowed into the Revillagigedos Islands until November 1 in former years, because of hurricane season. Last season was best ever for cow tuna, even without the islands, because of an excellent fall bite off the Baja peninsula.

There wasn't enough room at the landing for the entire group to pose with all the 200-pounders, what with the attracted crowd and poles and trees in the way. In fact, 23 anglers weren't enough to hold up all the cows. The group made the best of it with as many as could be mustered for a panorama of 200-pounders; a great opener for the 2004-2005 big tuna season.

Polaris Supreme Wahoo
"The last several days have been outstanding for wahoo," wrote crewman Greg Hodgeman for the Polaris Supreme October 25. "The grade of fish has been 35 to 55 pounds, with a handful pushing 65 pounds. Even the old-timers on board are blown away by this. The chaotic fishing finally let up this afternoon and we are headed to pick up some larger tuna tomorrow. The disturbing weather we've experienced the entire trip seems to be giving way to something better we hope."

Skipper Tommy Rothery had a few remarks after docking the rig under a big, waning moon October 30.

"We did pretty well on wahoo with bombs on The Ridge," he said. "Alijos Rocks had turned, with green water, so tuna fishing wasn't up to par. There was gopod yellowtail fishing on the beach."

"The best wahoo fishing was on the bombs," agreed crewman Kevin Cleary. "But the biggest ones probably came on the trolled (Catchy Tackle) Spinnerheads."

A mackerel bait provided Geoff Murray of Solana Beach with the best fish of the trip, a 71.8-pound yellowfin tuna.

"It felt big when it hit," he said "It really took off; it was fun. I got him to the boat in about 20 minutes."

Murray fished a 4/0 Eagle Claw hook on 40-pound clear Izorline, with a 12T reel and a 660 Calstar rod.

Al Castellanos of Fremont was second, for a 62-pound wahoo, and Anthony Rainone of Garden Grove was third, for a 59.4-pound yellowfin.

Limits 'O Skins
Mike Keating brought his Spirit of Adventure home October 30 with limits of wahoo and dorado, and the first big tuna from the Ridge so far this season.

"We were cuttin' 'em off," said one angler about the wahoo. "We had to drive away and leave 'em biting. We got the big tuna, six or seven of 'em, on the 38 Spot. We got the dorado on a shark buoy line. We got limits fast."

Rick Rudd of La Mesa won first place for a 100.8-pound tuna. He said the fish took a mackerel and fought for a half-hour. He fished with a 6/0 Mustad hook, 60-pound Big Game line, 80-pound Jerry Brown Spectra backing on a Tiagra 16 reel, and an old Sabre 655 XH rod.

"He took three quarters of my Spectra," said Rudd. I knew it was big by the way it ran."

Flint Swasand of Ackley, OH was second for an 87-pound tuna, and also got an 80-pound wahoo.

"He made four long runs," Swasand said about his giant "skin. I had him on 30-pound line, so it took about 20 minutes.

Scott McFarland of Walnut was third, for a 73.4-pound wahoo

Searcher Wahoo Week
A week on the Searcher with owner-skipper Art Taylor produced a nice catch of jackpot-sweeping wahoo for his anglers.

"It was good wahoo fishing," he commented as he weighed the jackpot contenders on the certified scales at Fisherman's Landing.

First place winner Kevin Malaspina of San Diego agreed enthusiastically. "It was an absolutely fabulous trip," he said. "The wahoo cooperated!"

He said he used a Braid Bomb in green and yellow to take his winning 61.5-pound wahoo, with 40-pound Yo-Zuri line, an Avet MX 64 reel and a Kencor seven-foot rod.

"The two-speed reel made all the difference," he said. "He ran me around the boat twice."

Lance Gannon of Vista was second for a 575-pounder, and Johan Borupzki of Stanto won third place for a 55.9-pound wahoo.

Stand-Up Fishing Show Schedule

Bill Roecker owns Oceanic Productions and provides promotional services for the San Diego Sportfishing Council.