David Castillo of Garden Grove got a 219-pounder. He fished a sardine on a 9/0 Super Mutu hook, with 100-pound Izorline and 130-pound Spectra on a Daiwa 50 reel and a Calstar 655 XH rod. Barry Page of Fountain Valley scored a 212-pounder on a mackerel and an Eagle Claw 8/0 hook. He fished with 130-pound Big Game line, 130-pound Spectra backing, a Tiagra 50 reel and a Calstar 760H rod.
Click on photos for a larger view

Leighton Pagay of Long Beach got a 202-pound yellowfin tuna with a sardine on a 7/0 Eagle Claw hook, 100-pound Soft Steel line and 130-pound Spectra backing, with a Penn 50 SW reel and a 6455 XXH rod. He also bagged an 812-pound wahoo on a black and orange Marauder. Paul Pennello of Laverne took a 201.8-pound tuna with a sardine on a 9/0 Eagle Claw hook, with 100-pound Soft Steel line on a 50 LRS reel and a Seeker 6463 XXXXH rod. Click on photos for a larger view Wes Flesch of Canyon Country found a 200.2-pounder with a mackerel on an 8/0 Super Mutu ringed hook. He fished with 130-pound Izorline and 130-pound Spectra backing on a Penn 50 SW reel and a Seeker 6463 XXH rod. Click on photos for a larger view All the 200-pound tuna catchers posed at the top of the dock, and then the whole group (there were 21 fishermen aboard theVagabond) stood with each angler's best fish. October 24, 2005 San Diego Angler's Group Photo I had the good fortune to fish with a great bunch of anglers and with a little luck our timing was just right for some serious YFT combat. I can not say enough about the hard work and professional manner Capt. Mike and his crew did while landing these beautiful fish. My hats off to the crew, you were awesome. There were 23 YFT ranging from 125 lbs. to 251 lbs., 5 of the fish went over 200 lbs. Be sure to take a good 100 lb setup, these fish have plenty of attitude. Below is a group photo, there will be more photos posted in the next few days. 9 Days On The Vagabond By passenger Richard Lenyk It's 3:00 Friday afternoon and Captain Mike Lackey calls for a safety meeting in the salon. We're on the sport fisher Vagabond and have already spent most of the day in eager anticipation loading up our fishing gear then putting on 400 scoops of bait at the barges. Now it's a 2 day boat ride to the fishing grounds. Going past the Coronado Islands in smooth but foggy seas, second ticket, Captain Dave goes through the boats safety rules and tells us where all of the life saving equipment is stored and what to do incase of an emergency. After the meeting the cooks, Rick and Joe, put out the first of what will be a continual flood of wonderful food and snacks. Don't ever think of going on one of these trips and losing weight, it won't happen. Saturday was a day to put the fishing gear together rest a little then work on terminal gear and rest some more. Taking a nap in your stateroom or on top of the boat was probably the hardest decision that needed to be made. There was a tackle seminar at 10:00 am and the first news of what we will be fishing for. The news from the fleet was that there was good fishing for Wahoo, Dorado, yellowtail and yellowfin tuna on the Ridge. But the big news is that there are very large yellowfin tuna in the 150 to 250 pound class down on the lower banks. So the decision is made and we will forgo Alijos Rocks and go for a chance at catching a fish we all dream about. Around 6:00 pm we slid past Bonitos and Cedros Islands on flat calm seas. Here we were treated to a Blue Whale show with about 10 of them swimming around feeding or doing whatever these wonderful animals do. One even gave us a tail wave as we headed south. Sunday finds us around 350 miles south of San Diego. We are now high speed trolling. Around 9:00am we get a Wahoo strike and land our first fish. Putting out baits we land a few more. All of the preparation is paying off and the feeling of pulling on a fish is snapping us into reality of why we are on this trip. What an adrenalin rush it is to hook into one of these speedsters. Continuing now with the trolling we get into a wide open Dorado bite that won't stop. We release most of the fish but do keep a few for ourselves and for tomorrow nights dinner. It's evening now and we're anchored on a high spot just a few small yellowtail and white fish were caught on bait but the weather is still calm and fairly warm. Monday was pretty much a repeat of yesterday; wahoo, yellowtail and small yellowfin and skipjack tunas. The main exception was Dean and Harvey Tucker both caught a grouper. Deans probably went around 70 pounds and Harvey's around 40 pounds. We had an unexpected visitor when an adult whale shark made a spin around the boat. Down the port side and up the starboard side. What a beautiful fish to encounter. They are so large and graceful it was truly a rare treat to see it. That evening we picked up some mackerel for bait . The trip in was as stunning a boat ride as could be. The water was absolutely flat calm and glassy. Standing on the steady and non rocking bow of the boat the full moon and stars were reflecting off the water as we moved through the warm air. Inside the bay, around 1:00 am, we made enough bait in a couple of hours to last a couple of days and headed out and south to the tuna grounds. But what a difference a couple of hours make. The wind and swell came up and the water turned choppy. It would be this was for almost the rest of the trip. Tuesday morning around 7:00 am finds us in the big yellowfin area. Anticipation is high for what is in store for us. Mike keeps telling us of how the other boats in the area are doing. The word is 200 pound average on the tuna and 100 pound line is what is recommended. So far very few fish hooked on 80 pound line are landed. Mike keeps metering the tuna and we make a couple of stops but they won't come up to play. Trolling has not produced any of the large fish but we try anyway. Finally Mike tells the chummer to toss out some bait. Then he says throw out a scoop. He tells us over the microphone that the fish are coming up ad to get our baits out. Hugh boils start to explode in our wake. After a few moments Ron Bader is the first to get hooked up. Then Harvey Tucker, Rick Robinson, Tracy Delgado and Ian Tucker. All around the rail there is a flurry of activity of lines going in and out people running back and forth from the bait tank to the rail and back. "Hot rail" as Ron goes flying up the rail passing Ian going the other way. Avoiding a tangle is now one of the most important objectives. Someone yells "fresh one" as a reel with 100 pound line starts screaming. Ron is the first one to get one of the "cows" to gaff. It's unbelievable to see this large fish go sliding over the rail with 4 gaffs in it then go crashing on to the deck. The aluminum decks ring out as the large yellowfin tuna thumps its tail against it. Harvey loses his fish when the hook breaks right behind the barb. Ian's hook also breaks in the same place but he is able to keep pressure on his tuna all the way to the gaff and then it's landed. Rick also gets his in but Tracy's looses her fish when it spits out the hook. That stop lasted about 2 hours. Off now for more fish. We repeat the same exercise as before but this time on the stop we put out a kite and a balloon. I get hooked up on a nice fish and get it in in 38 minutes. Dean is hooked up on a kite fish and it is kicking his butt, Robert Alexander, Dwayne Patenaude and Tony Shanley are on a bait fish. After about 2 hours we have all of the fish in except Tony's which snapped off on the rudders and Dwayne's that snapped the leader. We're off again searching for more fish. Later Bob McKittrick gets hooked up only to lose his during the fight. In total we now have around 6 cows aboard. Later in the day we get into late bite. Ron and I each put one more fish on as well as two other people for a total of 4 more fish for the stop. Harvey had an epic 4½ hour battle with a large yellowfin only to loose it with in sight of the boat when the hook pulled out. The total for the day was 10 yellowfin and plenty of sore muscles. I think everyone slept well this night. Wednesday was the same as Tuesday except for the downing of Advil to help unstiffen the muscles first thing in the morning. Mike was back on the microphone telling us when the fish would start to charge the boat and we would put out the baits to hook up. This routine went on all day. On one stop Bob McKittrick, Dwayne Patenaude, Robert Alexander, Dylan Palmer and Harvey Tucker got their fish. Dylan wants to throw something at his fish but doesn't have the strength to. Another stop and Allen Schneid and Ron Bader landed a nice fish. Tracy Delgado picks up a very nice fish on another bite. A few more fish during the day then a good evening bite hit. On this bite John Gleaves, Dean, Barry Gambarana and I got hooked up and landed some nice fish. Seems like the fish hooked near evening don't like coming to the boat after dark. Maybe it's the lights? At the end of this day we had 13 cows for a total of 23 for the trip. We hung up a rubber chicken for Fred Dunham who cancelled out on this trip so he could go fishing for big fish on a 16 day trip. Hope he gets them there. It was decided that we would go back up north for more mackerel and then work our way back. Making bait was easy except for the seals that decided they would snack on our fish. Thursday morning found us heading back up to the high spots we fished 3 days earlier. The water was choppy from the wind and swells but the air wasn't to cold. We did pick up some more wahoo and smaller yellowfin tunas and started heading north toward Cedros Island in the afternoon. Friday morning we were just off Turtle Bay. The weather has calmed down a lot and the ride is a lot smoother now. The fishing has also slowed down. Just a few smaller sized yellowtails and some bottom fish. We put together a crew tournament with a pool for the largest fish winner take all. They have 45 minutes to fish and they can use any of the equipment on the boat. Dave, Ryan, Tim and Marko were the competitors. It was fast and furious action for 45 minutes. Mike was chumming while the rest of us, as you can imagine, were yelling out directions and encouragements. Finally in the end Tim won it with a 3.8 pound bonito. All in all it was a lot of fun for everyone. Running at night we passed to the inside of Cedros. The town was all lit up and looked very pretty. Saturday we came up to San Martin Island at San Quintin. We pulled up to a spot called the "breakers" and tried for some yellowtail with out any luck. John Gleaves did get a nice lingcod but that was just about all we caught there. We moved to the north side of the island and backed up to the kelp to try to get some Kelp bass but here again nothing was working. It probably was because there wasn't any current running. It's now 2:30 pm, we tried hard but nothing was going on so we decided it was just time to head back to the barn. Sunday morning we stopped at the bait barge in San Diego to bring out the fish and line up the big tunas along the stern rail. What an impressive sight to see all of those large fish standing there. We pulled into the slip around 6:30 am. It was real good to see our family and friends that showed up to see our return. What a trip! Richard thank you for the great report! For additional trip photos click here!! The anglers names are from left to right! Click on photo for a larger view Dylan 165.2 Dwayne 185.3 Robert 146.3, 148.1, 150.8 Deano 242.1, 251 Ron 139, 145, 168.7 Rick 166.5, 210.8 Bob 144.2 John 202.9 Allen 125 Tracy 201.7 Ian 183 Richard 139.6, 156 Harvey 153.1 Barry 193.3 Tight Lines Webmaster Barry October 20, 2005 The Cows are Coming Home! The boat is heading home from a fantastic trip. She'll reach the dock on Sunday around 8:00 a.m. with 5 Yellowfin over 200 lbs. Our webmaster Barry has documented the trip so look for some great pics soon. Come on down on Sunday and take a look for yourself. For those lucky passengers going on our next 3 long trip, Mike says to be sure to bring your 100-lb outfits and circle hooks. We still have a few spots on trip #45 (Sun. Oct. 23 thru Fri. Oct. 28) Hook, Line, & Sinker, Limited Load 22, 1 spot on trip #46 (Sat. Oct 29 thru Mon. Nov. 7) Alijos Rocs/Limited Load 20 and 2 spots on trip #48 (Sun. Nov. 13 thru Mon. Nov. 21) Mikey's Wahoo Special/Limited Load 22. Call the office to grab up these rare spots. October 14, 2005 Another fun trip with the Navarra charter. Good weather, fair scratch on Yellowtail and scratched some nice tuna. Jackpot winners were Brian Caster with a 91.4-lb Yellowfin and Doug Searle was close behind with a 73.6-pounder. Chartermaster Jerry Narvarra boated a fiesty 41-lb Yellowtail. Click on Photo for a larger view! October 9, 2005 Despite having to dodge Hurricane Otis, we had good fishing and beautiful weather at the Rocks for quality Yellowfin with a fair pick of Wahoo. We tried Guadalupe Island on the way home for just a couple of large Tuna and Yellowtail. The big fish of the trip was a 124-pound tuna caught by Carl Moore of Santa Clara. "I wouldn't have caught it," said Moore, "but Mike said I should change my line. My old line was stretched and milky. "The fish fought hard for about 40 minutes. I was after Wahoo, fishing with a 40-pound wire leader." Moore said he fished with a sardine on a 3/0 Mustad hook, 40-pound Soft Steel line and 50-pound Spectra backing. He used an Avet LX reel and a Calstar 700H rod. John Stepovich of Santa Cruz was second, for a Tuna that Capt. Lackey said was "…the biggest 88-pound tuna I ever saw." It was also the only Guadalupe tuna, he said. Jeff Lampman of Morro Bay won third place for a 79-pound Yellowfin Tuna. He was joined in the jackpot lineup shot by Vaughan Barker of Newport Beach, holding a 52-pound Yellowtail, and David Ramirez of Huntington Beach, with a 59-pound Wahoo. Get in on this BIG action, we have a few spots available on trip #45 (Sun. Oct. 23 thru Fri. Oct. 28) Hook, Line, & Sinker, Limited Load 22 and trip #48 (Sun. Nov. 13 thru Mon. Nov. 21) Mikey's Wahoo Special/Limited Load 22. Call the office to grab up these rare spots. Click on photos for a larger view October 1, 2005 The 6-day trip to Uncle Sam Bank and the 13 Spot honored Jim Hall's son Matt, on his way to the Iraq. His other son Steve, is in the 82nd Airborne Division. Jim called on some great companies in the fishing community to show their support for all the sons and daughters that are serving our country. Many answered the call and donated some really nice giveaways for the trip. Our thanks go out to: Champion Shirts of San Diego, Star Lures, Seeker Rods, Calstar Rods, Tiburon Engineering, Avet Reels, Okuma Fishing, Ringed Hooks.com, Braid Products, Fishtrap Lures, WFO Sportfishing, Kicker Jigs, Basil Pappas- BHP Tackle, Charkbait, Noah's Tackle in Kearny Mesa, The Bait and Tackle shop in Escondido, Albackore Bags, Specs and Sports, Allcoast sportfishing.com, Bloodydecks.com, Senor Tuna.com Richard Hefferon of Lawndale won first place for a 57-pound wahoo. He said he popped it with a Megabait jig, a six-ouncer in anchovy color, on 50-pound Ande line, he said. He fished with a Trinidad 40 reel and a 700H rod. Frank Rowe of Buena Park was second, for a 50-pound wahoo, and Don Farrell of Laguna Niguel won third place, for a 49.7-pound 'hoo. Click on Photo for a larger view! September 25, 2005 The annual Barking Spiders and Rich Fagner's Group had another fun Yellowfin Tuna trip. Fishing was tough but the group was great. Jim Merkel of Ridgecrest won first place with a 30-pounder. He said he got it with a sardine on a 3/0 Eagle Claw hook, 40-pound Izorline on a Penn 12LT reel and a Seeker 660 rod. Tom Goettle of Carlsbad was second, for a 27.4-pounder, and Dave Delmotte of Seal Beach was third, for a 27-pound yellowfin tuna. Click on Photo for a larger view! September 18, 2005 We got a good grade of yellowtail with lots of them about 12 to 25 pounds. Skipper Gordon Lackey fished at Benitos, and later on kelp paddies near the 30-degree line, where he said the water was 70 degrees. Steve Rose of Fontana won first place for a 24.5-pound yellowfin tuna. He said he got the fish with a sardine on a 2/0 Mustad hook on 30-pound Ande line, with a Pro Gear 545 reel and a Calstar 700M rod. Jim Haberbush of Colton was second for a 23-pound dorado, and Steve Wolken of Lake Havasu City was third, for a 22.6-pound yellowtail. Click on Photo for a larger view! September 14, 2005 The Lage family charter brings members from as far as Georgia and as close as San Marcos. The group is always such a pleasure to have aboard. This year the 4-day trip started out some beautiful Dorado, managed some wide-open Yellowtail fishing, and finished up with a kelp patty of Yellowfin Tuna. Dick Rhinehart of Newport Beach took first place with a 28.6-pound Dorado, he caught his big “flat” on a sardine and a 2/0 Mustad hook, with 30-pound Big Game line, a Torium 20 reel and a Sabre 660 rod. Michael Lage of Atlanta won second place for a 25.6-pound Yellowtail, and Chris Bartleson of Santa Paula was third, for a 24-pound Yellowtail. Sorry for the lack of reports but the internet has been down at the office. Click on Photo for a larger view! August 28, 2005 We headed West, and found a few sizeable bluefin among the small yellowfin, yellowtail, etc. We lost one right at the boat that looked to be at least 120 pounds. The angler had it almost to gaff, but couldn't put that last turn on the reel handle, and we saw the jig fall out of the fish's mouth. We chased 'em all day and they mostly gave us the fin, but we got five! A 52-pound bluefin caught by Rick Braswell won first place. Rick said he fished a sardine on a 3/0 Mustad hook, with 40-pound Big Game line on a Penn 12 reel and a 670 Sabre rod. Gary Trevor of Santa Barbara was second, for a 42.6-pound shortfin, and Rick Smith of Agoura won third place for a 38-pound bluefin tuna. Click on Photo for a larger view! August 24, 2005 Ken Wells charter started off with slow fishing and bumpy weather until the last day. We did pick on kelps getting some nice Yellows and some Dorados. We finally had a good Yellowfin kelp stop to finish off the trip and also some nice, calm seas. Bob Kobata of Chatsworth won first place for a 43.8-pound albacore. He said he hooked it on a sardine and a 3/0 ringed Super Mutu hook, a Torium reel and a Seeker 6465 rod. Dick Harris of Villa Park won first place, for a 26.1-pound yellowtail. He said he got it with a sardine on a 3/0 Gorilla hook, 30-pound Big Game line, a Trinidad 30 reel and a Sabre 660H rod. Frank Klopp of Oceanside was second, for a 24.9-pound yellowfin tuna, and Tom Sakurai of Huntington Beach tied Klopp with a 24.9-pound yellowtail. We had some hot spots open up on an upcoming trip #37 (September 14-18). Click on Photo for a larger view! August 17, 2005 Gordon Lackey skippered the Vagabond on a three-day charter for Jesse Lim of Saguaro Tackle trip. The Arizona group enjoyed some tropical fare of wahoo and dorado and gorgeous weather. Al Cordero of Winnetka scored a wahoo on the trip, a dandy 64-pounder that latched onto a Zucker's green and yellow trolling jig Click on Photo for a larger view! August 14, 2005 Fidel Moreno did another excellent job of chartermastered the four-day trip for Graphite USA rods (Hastings Rods Company). The passengers enjoyed beautiful weather and some nice fishing. Mike Livingston of Sunland won first place for a 37.2-pound albacore he got with a sardine on a 2/0 Gamakatsu hook, 30-pound Ande line, a Newell 440 reel and a Truline D-7 rod. Greg Musselman of Valencia won second place for a 36.8-pounder, and Richard Sanchez of Murietta was third, for a 36.6-pound albie. Click on Photo for a larger view! August 10, 2005 Gorgeous weather for the great guys escaping the Arizona heat. Scratch fishing for a fair catch of beautiful Albacore. We finished off with a wide open stop. Dave Ware of Phoenix won the jackpot for a 36.9-pound albacore. He said it bit on a sardine and a 2/0 Mustad hook, tied to 30-pound Big Game line on a Penn 500 reel and a Penn Power Stick rod of six feet. Donny Berry of Fontana won second place for a 35.8-pound albacore. We have some hot spots open up on 2 upcoming trips, #28 & #30, please call the office to grab these up! Click on Photo for a larger view! August 7, 2005 Excellent group enjoyed good weather. Friday was good fishing for Bluefin and Albacore. The biggest Bluefin was 60 lbs landed by Vegas' own, Alan Runge. Our jackpot went to a 44.5-lb Blue for Jackson Hamilton and Danny Roscoe with a 40.5-lb Bluefin. August 4, 2005 Day 1 was slow picking, a few Albies and Yellowfin. The things really improved with excellent Yellowtail for numbers and 30+ lb. fish. We finished with a big day on Albies and a Bluefin. Flat calm weather the last 2 days. Bill Osborne of Bakersfield needed only 15 minutes to break his 43.8-pound bluefin tuna and see it gaffed aboard. He said he fished a sardine on a 2/0 Mustad hook. He used 25-pound P-Line, a 545 Pro Gear reel and a Calstar 870 rod. Greg Bocardo of Tucson took first place for a 41.6-pound yellowtail. He said he caught it on a sardine and a 4/0 Mustad hook, with 50-pound line of unknown origin, a TLD 25 reel and a Custom five and a half-foot rod. Michael Boido of Tucson was second, for a 39.1-pound yellow, and Roger Henne of Mesa, AZ won third place for a 38-pound Guadalupe yellowtail. Click on Photo for a larger view! July 31, 2005 Bluefin swept the jackpot spots on Tiny's limited load charter this year. Bill Osborne of Bakersfield needed only 15 minutes to break his 43.8-pound bluefin tuna and see it gaffed aboard. He said he fished a sardine on a 2/0 Mustad hook. He used 25-pound P-Line, a 545 Pro Gear reel and a Calstar 870 rod. Tim Shedd of Moorepark was second, for a 37.6-pound shortfin, and Kirk Drickman of Woodland took third place, for a 37-pound bluefin tuna. Click on Photo for a larger view! July 27, 2005 We had good fishing in nice weather. The water is about 68 degrees, and there's lots of fish out there. A lot of it looks like new fish have moved in. Bob Richardson of Garden Grove was first in the jackpot, for a 39-pound albacore. He said he took it with a sardine on a 2/0 Mustad hook, 40-pound Big Game line, a Newell 541 reel and a Daiwa six and a half-foot rod. John Harris of Corona was second for a 37.6-pound albie, and Steve Clark of Long Beach was third for a 35.3-pound albacore. We had some hot spots open up on the next charter, trip #24 (July 31-August 4). Call the chartermaster, Ed Henne, directly at 1-800-777-6065. Click on Photo for a larger view! July 24, 2005 Per usual, Jan Ishii put on a really nice charter. We had some pick fishing with fair weather, the Albies and Bluefin are increasing in size and numbers. Bob Kobata of Chatsworth won first place for a 43.8-pound albacore. He said he hooked it on a sardine and a 3/0 ringed Super Mutu hook, a Torium reel and a Seeker 6465 rod. Alan Walther of El Centro was second, for a 38.2-pound bluefin. Trent Kanemaki of Fullerton tied with Paul Warren of San Clemente for third place. Kanemaki had an albacore; Warren caught a bluefin tuna. We had some hot spots open up on an upcoming charter, trip #24 (July 31-August 4). Call the chartermaster, Ed Henne, directly at 1-800-777-6065. Click on Photo for a larger view! July 20, 2005 An albie split up a pair of winning bluefin on Ken Wells 1st charter of the season. Excellent albie fishing and tuna to spice it up, mix in weather as day 1 was rough but it came down to beautiful by the end. Our thanks to Ken for assembling the gang. Sorry you missed it Frank, this was your kinda fishing, hope to see you next month! Art Vanderbrake of San Dimas won first place for a 41.6-pound bluefin he fooled with a sardine on a 2/0 Super Mutu hook, 30-pound P-Line, a Penn 525 reel and a Sabre seven-foot rod. Matt Kodama of Pasadena got a 40.5-pound albacore to pay off with second place, and Richard Harris of Villa Park took third place for a 40.3-pound bluefin tuna. Click on Photo for a larger view! July 17, 2005 Another Youngster Wins Jackpot! The Far West Charter enjoyed excellent weather and fair scratch fishing for nice Albies and a few 18-22 lb Yellowfin. Our thanks to Tom Byma for putting together such a nice group to fish with. Max Russell, 14 of La Canada, won first place on the trip, for a 36-pound albacore he nabbed with a sardine on a 3/0 Mustad hook tied to 30-pound Soft Steel line on a Penn 500 reel and a Penn seven-foot rod. Doug Brink of Bellflower was second for a 34.6-pounder (he said this was his fourth year on the same trip in the jackpot), and Tom Nakamura of Santa Monica won third place with a 32.6-pound albacore. Click on Photo for a larger view! July 14, 2005 The Beauchamp Limited Load charter docked with a nice catch of albacore and yellowtail. Jimmy Beauchamp of Phoenix won first place for a 39-pound yellowtail, and said he bagged it with a mackerel on a 5/0 Eagle Claw hook, 50-pound P-Line on a Daiwa 450 reel and a Sabre 6465 rod. Click on photos for a larger view July 10, 2005 Schoolgirl Wins Jackpot! The Lage charter went for limit Albacore fishing despite some rough weather. We docked today just in time for the rest of the Lage family to wish Patriarch Bob Lage a Happy 75th Birthday. Makena Pautsch,12, a student at Shorecliffs Middle School in San Clemente, caught a 37.6-pound longfin on a sardine and a 2/0 Super Mutu hook tied to blue 40-pound Izorline on a TLD 20 reel and a short, four-foot, nine-inch rod. Maxx Dexter of Laguna Niguel is 16, and he won second place for a 34.4-pound albacore. Makenna's mom Debbie Pautsch won third place, for a 33.4-pound albacore. Click on Photo for a larger view! July 7, 2005 Good schools of Albies out there with some Bluefin around also. Weather went a bit cold so bring some extra sweatshirts on the upcoming trips. Congrats to Charles Eng on his jackpot Bluefin at 26.11 lbs. Click on photos for a larger view Greg & Pam with their 1st Bluefin & Albacore!!! July 5, 2005 A slow morning for the 4th of July but we managed to put together a nice afternoon of fish. Weather was OK. July 3, 2005 Another great trip! Great group, excellent Albacore fishing and yes, even flat, calm seas. Thanks to Steve Mesner for putting together another fine limited load trip. Also, congrats to him for his jackpot winning fish, a 38.5-lb Albie. Let's not forget Bill McCarty with his 34.1-lb. Albacore for second. Ian Flannigan came in 3rd place with a 33-lber Bluefin Tuna. Pictures s/b posted soon. We still have some spots open on upcoming trips #16 & 18, and some hot spots on trip #30 & 37. Please check out our schedule for openings. Click on Photo for a larger view! June 29, 2005 The weather finally improved and made limit-type Albacore fishing, fun for all! We had steady action for most of the trip on good sized Albies and most weighed in at 25-30 lbs. Our Bluefin was served for an appetizer on Tuesday afternoon thanks to Dave Staudte and was enjoyed by all. Sorry no jackpot photos because Bill Roecker was going fishing and was late. Jackpot fish were Doug Roberts with a 32.6-lb. Albie, Richard Jones came in second with a 31.8-lb. Albie, and Alan Bishop took third with a 30.8-lb. Albert. There is great Albies out there and signs of Bluefin within easy range of our upcoming trips #15, & 16. Also there is some room on trips #17, 18, & 30. June 26, 2005 Despite the weather, we put together a nice catch of Albacore. We had limit-type fishing each day on Albies. Alan Perry got the big fish, a 53-lb Bluefin. Elliott Wasser managed 2 nice Yellows and took 2nd place with one at 40.4 lbs. Rollie Smith came in 3rd with a 33.9 Albacore. I'd like to thank all the great sponsors that Fidel Moreno put together for this trip: Hastings Rod Manufacturing, Maxima Line, Maui Jim Sunglasses, Gamakatsu Hooks, Accurate Fishing Reels, and Booyaa Fishing Wear We still have some spots open on upcoming trips #14, 15, 16, 17, and some hot spots on trip #30. Please check out our schedule for openings. Click on Photo for a larger view! June 22, 2005 Still poor fishing due to bad weather. Some Albies and Yellowtail brought in. Passengers were a pleasure to be with. June 19, 2005 Great group of people, as per usual, nice weather allows to bring in some fish every fish. A good trip all in all. Eddie Hagiharn of San Gabriel won first place on the trip for a 73.2-pound yellowfin tuna he nabbed with a sardine on a 4/0 Eagle Claw hook tied to 40-pounde Soft Steel Ultra line and 130-pound Spectra backing. He fished with a Trinidad 30 reel and a 765L rod. Jan Ishi of Rancho Palos Verdes won second place for a 63-pound yellowfin, and Richard Conrad of Murietta got third, for a 58.4-pound yellowfin tuna. Click on Photo for a larger view! June 8, 2005 Slow offshore fishing and tough weather still. San Martin, had fair weather and a few Yellowtail and a some nice Halibut upt 35 lbs. June 5, 2005 Slow fishing and tough weather to match. Looking for better of both! May 30, 2005 Our Memorial Day/Graphite USA trip was another great one. Saturday morning we found eager Albacore with our limits coming early. The weather picked up a little on Saturday evening and continued thru Sunday and the fish seemed to go down. But all in all another great weekend with about 250 Albacore and 1 Dorado. The signs are very good. Mixed size, up to 37 lbs, and spread out over a good area. We are out on Friday again for 2 days, hope they're up again. One last spot open on the trip leaving Friday but still room on a few of our upcoming trips. Please check the schedule for updates on availability. Good Fish'n, The Vagabond Crew Click on Photo for a larger view! Click on Photo for a larger view! May 28, 2005 MORE ALBACORE!!!! The boat just called in AGAIN with 60 plus Albacore in the 25-35 lb. range in the day and 1/2 range! Get in on the action--still some spots left on trips 8 & 9--both within this Albacore range. May 25, 2005--more info and pics Ooopps!!!! We just finished bringing in a beautiful catch of 30-lb. class Albacore and Yellowtail. The fish started hitting the scale and we realized that we underestimated the size of the fish. The smallest Albie weighed 25 lbs. and the largest was 36.7 for Matt Merkel in the 2nd jackpot spot, followed by a 36.6 lber for third place jackpot by Jose Martinez. The 1st place spot went to Ron Bader with a 38-lb Yellow. This trip found near-limits of yellowtail and five yellowfin tuna. The 'tails were strong 30-pounders from Chester Rocks, and the tuna were swimming near the albacore when we found them late the evening before. The yellows are a very nice quality, they were biting mackerel the best, but we got some on jigs. We got one albie on the way down, when it was bumpy. We spent two days fishing the yellowtail, then we went offshore. We finally found an area with fish, and stopped on a meter mark for albacore at 15 fathoms. They wanted to bite. We got a good number at the stop. We didn't go on very long before we had another stop, this time for more albacore. After that we had one more stop, for five 15-pound yellowfin, and then it was dark and we started home. There's gorgeous blue 65-degree water out there, and lots of bait. I think the bait is small anchovies or sardines. The albacore ran from about 20 pounds up to nearly 37 pounds; about the same size seen in last year's bumper crop of big longfin. Gorgeous weather, wonderful passengers, excellent fishing. This is the way to start a new long range season. Don't miss your trip. We still have some room on some upcoming trips. Call Dawn at 1-800-483-4226 or (619) 224-6400. Good fish'n, Mike and the Crew Click on Photo for a larger view! Click on Photo for a larger view! May 24, 2005 ALBACORE!!!! The boat just called in with 60 plus Albacore in the 20-28 lb. range in the day and 1/2 range! That is in addition to full holds of nice, quality Yellowtail. Look for jackpot photos after the ETA of 2:00 p.m. tomorrow. Get in on the action--still some spots left on trips 8 & 9--both within this Albacore range. January 30, 2005 We woke up Friday to gorgeous weather and wide open Red bite with Lings thrown in to boot. The wind picked up on Saturday out at San Martin but the gang worked thru it and picked a few Yellowtail, scratched a few Lings, and generally put a day together. The highlight of the day was going to the Island and getting out of the weather for a wide open lg Bonito and log Barracuda with a few Bass. Click on Photo for a larger view! Click on Photo for a larger view! January 16, 2005 Couldn't ask for more beautiful weather and fun bunch of guys, a lot from the Senor Tuna gang. Came home with some nice Reds and Lings. Click on Photo for a larger view! Click on Photo for a larger view! 2004 Fishing Report Archive 2003 Fishing Report Archive 2002 Fishing Report Archive Vagabond Sportfishing Home Page