JACKPOT WINNERS
1st Place - Greg McCloud of Seal Beach, CA 65.2 lb. Yellowfin
2nd Place - Richard Parker of El Segundo, CA 58.9 lb. Yellowfin
3rd Place - Mike Sizemore of Riverside, CA 55.8 lb. Yellowfin
Trip #48 docked at 8:00 this morning from the Wahoo Special 7 day trip. During the trip they fished the Uncle Sam Bank, the Wahoo Hole and the yellowtail Spot. The weather was great except for a few hours on the way home. For they trip they caught limits of yellowfin, 166 yellowtail, 17 albacore and 40 wahoo.
Trip #47 docked at 7:00 this morning from Guadalupe. For the trip they had 163 Albacore, 32 yellowtaol and 21 yellowfin. The Vagabond is leaving today for the 7 day Wahoo Special and I will be on the boat fishing (finally...). This means no updates this week but hopefully a very good one next Sunday.
Trip #46 docked at 7:00 this morning with some nice Alijos
fish. For the trip they had 133 yellowfin, 76 dorado, 229
yellowtail and 18 WAHOO... We just had 2 spots open up for
Trip #48, our Wahoo Special. It leaves this Sunday (the 17th)
and returns the 24th. Call quick for these prized spots.
Got to talk to Mike for a minute and got a quick update. They
found some Wahoo (maybe I should say that the Wahoo found them) and
caught 15+, they have some good grade yellowfin (didn't catch how
many), a bunch of very good grade Dorado and are now on a yellowtail
bite with over 90 on the boat so far. The ETA for Sunday is 7:30am
but may change.
Trip #46 left the dock early Friday morning and headed to Alijos.
I have little to report because of phone problems. As of noon
Monday they had 34 yellowfin in the 60# to 90# range and 5 nice
yellowtail. Hopefully, the communications will improve and we
will have daily reports.
Trip #44, the Navarra Charter, left Friday morning for their
annual 5 day trip to Gaudalupe. Unfortunately, the phone has not
been working very well so there is little to tell. They had a couple
of tuna and some yellowtail and are looking around the island.
Trip #42 docked at 8:30 this morning with some nice Guadalupe
fish. For the trip they had 152 yellowfin and 16 yellowtail. Most
of the yellowfin where in the 50 to 70 lb. range. Geronimo had a
great birthday trip! A rarity did happen on this trip, we had a
3 way tie for the jackpot....
The Vagabond left Gaudalupe this morning but not after taking
another 31 yellowfin, again in the 50 to 75 lb. range. The ETA for
tommorrow is 9:00 AM.
Sorry for the lack of reports... Today was a very good day for
yellowfin. They had about 80 in the 50 to 75 lb. range along with
6 nice 25 to 35 lb. yellowtail.
Trip #40 docked at 7:30 this morning with some nice Guadalupe
fish. For the trip they had 62 albacore, 51 yellowtail and 42
yellowfin. Many of the yellowfin were 70 lb. grade and yellowtail
in the 40# range. FYI, ladies from Arizona and guys from Idaho can
fish (see below). We have a couple of spots open on the 5 day
trip leaving this Tuesday, the 5 day trip leaving November 12 and
the 7 day trip leaving November 17.
Sorry for the lack of reports but the phone has been tough to
reach. The weather has been good and the water nice. Fishing
has been scratchy but nice fish are being caught. The boat will
be in Sunday morning at 7:00 am.
For their one and a half days effort, these guys limited on
Albacore. The grills will be hot tonight!
The Vagabond got in about 8 am with many happy faces until they
had to unload all the fish. For the trip they caught limits of
yellowfin, 242 yellowtail, 15 wahoo and a few dorado (up to 25#).
Unfortunately, the camera broke so I have no picture of the
jackpot winners. They were: 1st Place - Michael Henn of La Jolla
with a 99.2 lb. yellowfin, 2nd Place - Dave Manning of Santa Rosa
with a 94# yellowfin and 3rd Place - John Cantonwine of Hayward
with a 90# yellowfin. Honorable Mention goes to Barry Page with a
115.4 lb. Yellowfin. I hope to get a picture soon.
The Vagabond left Alijos yesterday and is headed home. They
have 14 Wahoo, 200+ yellowtail and a good catch of tuna. The ETA
for Sunday is 8:00 am.
Yellowtail has been the word so far with plenty of 15 to 20 pounders
on board to go with good yellowfin fishing. Today will probably be
kelp paddy day looking for dorado and wahoo. Weather is good and the
water is fairly calm.
Mike and the guys have decided to head for the Uncle Sam and
look for wahoo. As we all know, it seems like they find you
instead of the reverse. Tonight all the passengers will be dreaming
of watching their spools whining as the wahoo test their drags.
Trip #37 docked at 7:00 this morning with a nice load of albacore
and 24 bluefin. The Spiders barked! Trip #38 got away early and
are headed out for 7 days of sun, fun, relaxation and fishing. I
believe Mike is going to head for Alijos to begin the trip.
Sorry for the late update. I will give a more complete report later.
Here are the Jackpot Winners.
Trip #35 was a great trip sponsored by Graphite USA. Fidel Moreno and Roy Hastings of Graphite USA went on the trip and made some lucky anglers happy by giving away some of their fine rods. Also Avet Reels gave away some reels to make even more anglers happy. They also may be giving Richard Winskye $5,000 for the largest fish caught in 2002 on an Avet reel! For the trip they caught lots of albacore and some quality Guadalupe yellowfin. Thanks to Graphite USA and Avet Reels!!!
Albacore was the word of the day. Limits were caught by early
evening and Mike is headed to Guadalupe. The weather is great and
the water is 68 degrees.
Trip #34 docked about 7:30 this morning with a lot of tired but
smiling anglers. For their efforts they brought home limits of
albacore, 20 Bluefin, 18 dorado and 1 yellowtail.
Another day of beautiful weather and limits of albacore. The
bluefin are hanging downwind of the boat so hopefully they will
want to become Vagabond passengers soon. About 20 have already
gotten aboard and more to come.
Trip #33 went to Guadalupe and brought home some nice ones. The
weather was great and the water temps are coming around finally. For
the trip they had 198 albacore, 36 yellowfin tuna and 10 yellowtail.
Trip #32, the Bob Lage Charter, came home with limits of albacore,
14 bluefin tuna and 1 dorado. One point of information for everyone,
guys from Georgia can catch fish. Trip #33 loaded up and left at
1 pm. for 4 days of fishing. They should be smelling the prime rib
cooking about now. After reading this, please spend a minute
remembering those who lost their lives on Sept.11, 2001 and always
thank those who protect us everyday by being in the military or your
local firemen and policemen.
Trip #32, the Bob Lage Charter, left Sunday and have started
their assault on the albacore this morning with 100 on the boat
by noon along with 8 bluefin. I'm sure they will add to this
total by days end.
Trip #31, a 5 day trip to Guadalupe, came in this morning with
a lot of smiling faces. Fishing seems to do that. For the trip
they had limits of albacore, 22 yellowfin, 15 bluefin and 11
yellowtail. It's great to see those yellowfins start to bite.
The Vagabond is fishing Guadalupe today and has found some good
sign of fish in the area. So far today they have boated 11 yellowfin
from 35 to 75 pounds and a few yellowtail up to 40 pounds. Water
temps are 71 - 72 degree range and hopefully warmer water moving in.
Another day of great weather and the fish are biting. Limits
of albacore by lunch and its time to find bluefin.
Trip #31 left Tuesday for Guadalupe with great bait and even better anglers. Among them are our old friends Tom Maxfield and Larry Coffeen, both taking their sons to show them how pros fish. As of about noon they had limits of albacore and 10 bluefin.
Trip #29 had 4 days of fishing that paid off well, they brought home 250 albacore and 31 bluefin. Trip #30 was also a good 1 3/4 day trip with 125 albacore and 48 bluefin.
Thursday was a good day of fishing. The totals for the day are 114 albacore, 30 bluefin and 1 50# BIGEYE. Today everyone is ready to hit that next school of hungry fish and get their exercise for the day.
Trip #28 arrived this morning with 260 Albacore, 59 Bluefin, 37 Yellowtail and 20 Dorado. Most of Tuesday was spent on a bluefin drift that lasted over 8 hours. The Marina Del Rey Anglers again showed their angling skills. Trip #29 left at 1:00 pm to have their shot at filling the freezer.
Trip #27 arrived this morning with 375 Albacore, 72 Bluefin, and 112 Yellowtail. This group showed us again this year how to "bring them over the rail". Ken Wells is having 2 trips in 2003 so they can do it again next year.
One great way to wake up is to have an albacore bite for over 8 hours plus. That is what the Vagabond passengers woke up to this morning. Oh, also 45 bluefin mixed in for some additional fun. They have good weather and great food to keep up their strength. I'm sure all will sleep well tonight.
Trip #26 got in early this morning and brought a nice catch with them. For the trip they had LIMITS of Albacore,137 yellowtail, 23 Bluefin and 9 Dorado. This was the Far West Property Charter with Tom Byma, chartermaster. Trip #27, the Ken Wells Charter, left the dock at 12 noon for 4 days of fishing.
Sorry for the lapse in reporting, I had to go act like a galley assistant. Friday we had fair albacore fishing with a few nice Bluefin from 35 to 50 lbs.. Early Saturday morning was spent drifting for 25+ nice Bluefin and yellowtail on a kelp patty. Totals for the trip are: 183 albacore, 34 bluefin tuna and 33 yellowtail.
Trip #24 came in today with a nice catch. 240 albacore, 1 yellowfin, 5 dorado and 5 bluefin are on their way to Arizona. Rumor has it that a lot of firemen in Pheonix will have fish for lunch this week. Let's all remember to thank our firemen for the great work they do. We are taking a day off and will be back to "go get 'um" tomorrow.
Trip #23 came in Sunday with a nice catch. 363 albacore, 110 yellowtail and 7 bluefin went home with the Saguaro Tackle guys. Trip #24, the Brian & Brian Charter, left the dock ready to fish and sit down for a great prime rib dinner. Luckily they cleaned their plates because they need the strength this morning because the BIG BLUEFIN came to play. As of about 9:00 am, they have caught 75 albacore, one 95# bluefin and one at 75#. Oh Doctor!
Just a quick update. Yesterday ended with 7 bluefin and limits of albacore. Mike is looking for bluefin today so I am sure they are nervous.
Trip #22 was a great trip! The count for the 3 days was 223 yellowtail, 114 Bluefin, 5 albacore, 1 Yellowfin and 1 Dorado. Mike found a "bluefin hole" and it really produced. Trip #23, the Saguaro Tackle Charter, left the dock ready to outdo Trip #22. They have started off well with limits of albacore this morning and 2 bluefin.
Trip #22 has started off with a bang. Monday they had 40 yellowtail and 50+ Bluefin from 30# to 55#. The weather is great and hopefully the fishing will be also, I know the dinner will be.
Trip #21, Joe's Freight Charter, showed they know how to catch fish. For their 3 day's effort they limited on yellowtail, 1 YFT, 43 albacore and 70 BFT. There will be a lot of fish dinners in the Las Vegas area this weekend. Trip #22 left the dock at 1:00 pm for another 3 days of enjoyment on the water.
Trip #21 has been very busy! As of 9:00 am this morning they have limits of yellowtail, 50+ albacore and 70 BLUEFIN up to 65#. The ETA is 6:00 am tomorrow. I'm sure they will be ready for the steak dinner tonight.
Trip #20 came to the dock with 135 albacore, 7 yellowtail and 1 bluefin. Trip #21 left on the annual Joe's Freight 3 day Charter today. The prime rib is ready for the oven and Mike is ready to go catch fish.
The weather has turned some and the fishing has slowed down a bit. Yesterdays count was 80 or so Albacore and some nice yellowtail. Early today they had 30+ albacore, more yellowtail and 1 bluefin. The ETA for tomorrow is 7:30 am.
Trip #19 docked at this morning with limits of albacore, 169 yellowtail and 2 dorados. They had a great 3 days on the boat and are ready to do it again. Trip #20, one of Dick Rhinehart's Charters, left with Capt. Cary Dodson at the helm and are ready to bring home another quality load of fish.
Another day of limits of Albacore. Beautiful doesn't adequately describe the weather, you couldn't ask for better. The Vagabond should arrive at the dock at 7:30 am tomorrow morning with a load of fish and tired anglers.
Trip #19 - Roger Windeler Charter pulled away from the dock yesterday with a group of anxious anglers. As of 1:00 pm today, they have 60 nice yellowtail and 12 albacore. The weather is beautiful and they are fishing in 66 degree water. Reports are that the prime rib dinner was great and very filling.
Trip #18 was our annual Dana Wharf Lady Anglers trip and they can fish! They brought home limits of albacore, 1 BFT and 5 YT. The Jackpot Winners were Loren Kampley of Chula Vista, CA with a 26.3 lb. Albie, 2nd Place went to Ray Stapp of Orange, CA with a 25.5 lb. Albie and 3rd Place went to Tacy Lee of Dana Point, CA with a 24.9 lb. Albie. We now have a picture of our Jackpot Winners thanks to Bill Roecker of fishingvideos.com.
Sorry for the delay in reporting! Trip #16 was a great trip. Once again they caught limits of albacore and 77 yelowtail. The Jackpot Winners were Gary Funk of Oceanside, CA with a 26.4 lb. yellowtail and 2nd Place was Mike Maris of Oceanside, CA with a 26 lb. yellowtail (sorry, no picture). Trip #17 came on at 7am with limits of albacore, 58 bluefin, 47 yellowtail and 1 dorado.
Captain Mike just reported in with Saturdays fishing report and the final results for the 3 day D Rhinehart charter. We fished a new area Saturday around 165 miles where we had great Albacore fishing. We also caught 64 Yellowtail weighing 15-20 lbs. on kelp patties, and 4 Bluefin. The fish are bitting flylined Anchovies & Sardines, the water temp is 65-66 degrees, and the weather has been good.
Another day of limits on the albacore. In January you were dreaming of days like we are having now. The albies seem to be like little puppies following you everywhere you go. I hope I didn't just jinx it. Yesterday, the 12th, we also had 30 bluefins from 15 to 30 lbs. hit cold storage. The weather and water have been beautiful. We have 1 spot open on Trip 18 (7/21 - 7/24) and 2 spots on Trip 19 (7/25 - 7/28). It's very rare to have open spots on these 2 trips so call us today.
Trip #14 came in yesterday with LIMITS of albacore, 69 yellowtail
and 5 bluefins for the 22 anglers. There will be a lot of albacore
dinners this weekend! Trip #15 left at 1:00pm and picked up a load
of excellent bait for their 4 days of fishing. Mike has that bluefin
look in his eyes....
Trip #14 has limited on albacore and is looking for the elusive
bluefin today about 165 miles from the point. The ETA for tomorrow
is 7:00 am. Hopefully I will be able to update later today with
all the up to the minute details.
Trip #14 started fishing about 1:pm and what a day. By 5:00 pm
they were near limits on albacore, had 12 yellowtail in the 20 lb.
range and 3 BLUEFIN. The weather is nice and 65 degree water.
Mike says they have found the body of bluefin and they are still
250+ miles south. I will update you later today.
Trip #14 left the dock yesterday and will be travelling
probably until noon or so today before fishing.
Trip #13 came in yesterday with 205 albacore and 12 yellowtail.
After whipping the albacore yesterday our guys decided to whip the yellowtail this morning. When talking to Mike, the bite went wild and he had to hit the deck to help gaff (he loves doing that).
It was another great day of fishing on the Vag. Our 26 anglers scored limits on the albies. The weather and water were nice and reports are supper was outstanding.
The Vagabond tied up to the dock with 155 Albacore and 12 yellowtail for the trip. After a quick turnaround, she left the dock at 12:15 pm with 26 anglers for 3 days of fishing. We have a couple of spots open for Trip 18 - July 21 to July 24. Prime time trip!
With the water temps at 63.5 degrees and great weather, limits of albacore were caught. The size range is typical for this time of year, from 12 to 20 lbs.. Cary is fishing about 200 from the Point with his usual success.
Sorry for the delay in reporting. We had another successful
Albacore trip with 222 albies and 2 yellowtail. The jackpot was
won by Tom Mulally of L.A. with a 20.8 lb. Albacore, 2nd to Jerry
Napolitano of Woodland Hills with a 20.4 lb. albie and 3rd to
Greg Belda of Marina del Rey with a 19.2 lb. albie. Unfortunately,
we did not get a picture of the three winners together.
Trip #12 just pulled away from the dock with Capt. Cary Dodson at
the helm. 27 anglers were putting the finishing touches on rigging
their tackle and beginning to think about tonight's Prime Rib dinner.
With the water temps and weather still good, over 50 more albacore have been given the gaff. The ETA for Sunday morning is 7:00 am.
After traveling overnight, 26 guys were ready to catch fish and their wish was granted. For the days they added 104 albacore and 2 yellowtail to the "very cold stateroom". The water temps were 62 to 63.5 degrees and the weather was very nice. After a great dinner, most were ready to hit the rack and dream about tomorrows fishing.
The Vag got in at 9:30 am with a load of happy anglers and full of fish. They took a chance and gave up fishing time to head wayyyy down south in search of bluefin. With the well earned reputation Mike has for finding bluefin, I think it was an easy decision to make. The seas got rough but everybody wanted a crack at large bluefin and they got it. The totals for the trip are 276 Albacore, 94 Bluefin, 13 Yellowfin, 5 Yellowtail and 3 Dorado.
Today is being spent traveling back to San Diego, tearing down gear and start telling the latest fish tales. The sea is slightly choppy so the ETA for tomorrow is a little later than normal (looks like 9:30 AM). Be sure and check back tomorrow for the trip totals and find out who the lucky jackpot winners are.
BillAs of 4 pm the days total is
90 BLUEFIN from 15 to 75 lbs., 75 Albacore from 18 to 35 lbs. and
12 Yellowfin tuna from 35 to 55 lbs.
Conditions indicate MORE Bluefin are ready to be caught!
Saturday June 22:(early report) Weather has gotten better but still a little spray.
Fri June 21st: Cedros fishing was usual for this time of year, it gave up 75 good grade yellowtail with the largest around 28#. The weather starting picking up so after dinner, Capt. Mike pointed the bow away from the island and started heading home. Tommorrow will be spent fishing for Albacore.
Wednesday June 19th (early report) Capt. Mike decided to head to Benitos so the day will be spent fishing offshore while underway. Picked up 6 nice yellowtail in the morning before leaving.
Tuesday June 18th Spent the day fishing the island for 29 good grade albacore and some 25# - 30# yellowtail at night. Weather was ok with water temps of 62.5 to 64 degrees. Reports are that the chicken dinner was wonderful!
Monday June 17th Left on the annual San Diego Anglers trip with 20 eager anglers. Picked up some prime bait and headed toward Guadalupe Island. Afternoon was spent setting up gear, enjoying chicken wings and a prime rib dinner.
 |
 |
|
91 lb. Yellowfin caught on the kite. |
1st Jim Merkel 63.4 lb Yellowfin 2nd Ted Carlson 61.6 lb Yellowfin Eddie Hagihara 57.8 Yellowfin Robert Chow 52.3 lb. Yellowtail |
Saturday June 15: (early report) Cruising back home with a few stops. Added a few reds and lingcods to the fish hold to fill in the cracks. ETA for Sunday - 7:30 - 8 am.
Friday June 14: Arrived at the south end of Cedros and caught 65 nice yellowtail. Went to the lee side and a beautiful 40# yellowtail was landed by Robert Chow. Left the island at 8 pm headed for home.
Captain's Report From Trip # 8
Sat June 8 Left the dock at 10am headed for Alijos Rocks. The weather was great and everybody was getting ready for some great fishing.
Sun June 9 Another day of wonderful weather and calm seas. Water temps ranged from 61.5 to 62.2 degrees and clean.
Looks like a new wave of better grade Albacore is on the way and are 200 - 250 miles from San Diego. Picked up 6 albies and a few yellowtail for the day of travelling. The Upper Deck Liars Club held a meeting and resolved that Bill Hatcher was absent without leave. After that was done, they adjourned for a "cold drink".
Mon June 10 (report as of 10:30 am) Good sign of Albacore and Bluefin. Also lots of big squid. Put some nice 30# to 50# yellowfin and a few yellowtail on the boat.
A Great Trip For All!
Trip #7 3 day trip Skipper - Capt. Cary Dodson
Mon June 3 - After leaving the dock, Cary headed out to find some hungry albacore. The passengers spent the time rigging their "Special Albacore Outfit" and enjoying the calm seas and prime rib.
Tues June 4 - As usual for this time of year, the fishing was scratchy with a few takers on each stop. The yellowtail did join the party and kept the crew busy for awhile.
Wed June 5 - More of the same, great weather and food but the albies were still finicky with a few at each stop.
Thurs June 6 - Arrived at the dock about 7:30 am with 26 smiling faces. For the trip, 104 albacore and 36 yellowtail made their way to our Anglers dinner table.
We just received the update from our 5 day trip .
5/29/02. Wednesday was our travel day.We enjoyed the great weather,
and had flat,calm water for our ride.We hooked up 10 albacore on the way down,
just to get us warmed up for our trip.We are anticipating
a great time!
5/30/02. Thursday we fished the Cedros Island and caught our limits of yellow tail.
These were nice fish weighing in between 12 and 20 lbs. This day was about as good as it gets!
5/31/02. Friday we are fishing the Benitos and the Yellow tail are larger here.
The weather is perfect again. What more can you ask for? Fishing at it's finest.
Saturday on the way home we will be fishing for albacore and bluefin.
On our last day of fishing we decided to head to the Coronodo Island area for a shot at the nice Yellowtail. Unfortunately the Barracuda were on the full speed bite and became a nuisance. We ended up with 7 Yellow tail for our efforts. Our passengers had a great time, the Albacore fishing was good, and the weather was gorgeous.
We had another enjoyable day of fishing. We caught 80 Albacore averaging 10-20 lbs. The weather is beautiful, our passengers are having a great early season trip.
Have a Nice Memorial Day!!!