Our Cows or Bust ten-day trip was awesome bringing home 5 cows and several Tuna over 100 lbs and good action on 20- to 40-lb Yellowfin Tuna. We had smiling passengers ready to go next year already! One of the five cows nearly made the magic 300-pound mark. The 297-pound whopper yellowfin was caught by John Bounds of Peyton, CA on a mackerel pinned to a 6/0 Gamakatsu hook. "He ran out to 350 yards on me," said Bounds, "and then he stopped and rushed the boat. I had to reel as fast as I could. He fought for an hour and 40 minutes." John said he used 100-pound Soft Steel Ultra line and 130-pound Power Pro Spectra on a Tiagra 30 reel and a Seeker five and a half-foot Black Steel rod. Kirk Drickman of Westlake Village, a Vagabond regular angler, got a 285-pounder for second place. Kirk said he baited a sardine on an 8/0 Eagle claw ringed hook to get his best-ever fish. He tied the hook to 100-pound Jin Kai leader and 130-pound Izorline Spectra, on a Penn 50 SW reel and a Calstar 6455 XXH rod. Mike Toetter of San Diego won third place for a 246-pounder that cleaned his clock for two hours and ten minutes. "It was the hardest fish I ever got," he remarked at the scales. Mike baited a mackerel on a 9/0 Eagle Claw hook tied to 100-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon leader and 130-pound Line One Spectra. He used Sato crimps, a Penn 30 reel by Baker and Cal Sheets, and an M&M rod, a Calstar 7465 M. Steve Meinster of Van Nuys caught a 229-pounder on a 9/0 ringed Super Mutu hook holding a mackerel bait. He used 100-pound Big Game line and 130-pound Izorline Spectra on a Penn 50 S reel by Cal Sheets and a Calstar 655 XXXH rod, and got the job done in an hour and 15 minutes. Jack Coons of San Diego will turn 80 in March, he said. He caught a 205-pounder on a sardine and an 8/0 Eagle Claw hook. He fished with 130-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon leader and 130-pound Izorline Spectra on a TLD 50 reel and a Super Seeker 6465 XXH rod.

Click on Photo for a larger view!

After a slow start on our Cows or Bust trip, we managed to scratch at school tuna but yesterday we finally got in on the the Big Cow action and ended up with 3 Cows plus a couple of handfuls of 100-lbers. We started off this morning with a nice Cow and we are hoping for more of the same. Great weather and great group. Wish us luck.

Our 2009 schedule is posted, get your spots early.

Good fish'n,
Mike and the Vagabond Crew

Great 9-day trip with excellent timing. Started out with plenty of 20-40# school Tuna then 2 full days of excellent Wahoo fishing, loading the boat with over 100 Wahoo. Finished up with some fun 20-30# Yellowtail, rounding out an excellent buffet of fishing.

Mike Montgomery of Buena Park won the jackpot for a 59-pound wahoo. He bagged it with a sardine on a 2/0 Flyliner hook and 60-pound seven-strand wire tied to 40-pound Izorline and 65-pound Power Pro Spectra. He said he fished with an 870 Accurate reel and a Calstar 700 M rod. "It was about a 20-minute fight," said Montgomery. "He took a lot of line from me." David Cohen of Cape Cod, MA won second place for a 52.8-pound wahoo, and Jim Haberbush of Grand Terrace scored a 52.4-pound skinny to win third place.

Our 2009 schedule is now posted!

Good fish'n,
Mike and the Vagabond Crew

Click on Photo for a larger view!

Finally out of the wind and into beautiful weather. Everyone on the boat has a Wahoo today up to 75 lbs. and they keep coming. The past few days we have had lots of 24- to 40-lb Yellowfin and we have released a lot of 10- to 15-lb Yellowtail, keeping just a few. We are looking forward to more days like today.

Those lucky anglers on the next 2 trips, please check our NEXT TRIP INFO button for Mike's updated tackle list for your trip.

Good fish'n,
Mike and the Vagabond Crew

San Diego Anglers 10-day Charter was made-to-order EXCELLENT with flat, calm weather. 25# to 40# Tuna everywhere, Wahoo for everyone, good filler of Yellowtail, and topped off with a few Reds. We'll be at the dock around 7 a.m.

Those lucky anglers on the next 3 trips, please check our NEXT TRIP INFO button for Mike's updated tackle list for your trip.

Good fish'n,
Mike and the Vagabond Crew

San Diego Anglers Charter is going great. Plenty of fish (Tuna, Wahoo, and Dorado) and beautiful weather (in the 90s during the day with pleasant nights too).

Those lucky anglers on the next trip #41, please check our NEXT TRIP INFO button for Mike's updated tackle list for your trip.

Good fish'n,
Mike and the Vagabond Crew

Fun little short trip--slow scratch on Yellowfin Tuna, not much to report. Be home at 8 a.m.

Good fish'n,
Mike and the Vagabond Crew

We put together a great trip that included plenty of Yellowfin (limit type fishing) for all, large Yellowfin Tuna up to 130 lbs., A few nice Yellowtail to 59.9 lbs. will be remembered. Great group on this trip for some great fishing and good weather.

Our JP Fish, Ben Grey 130 lbs. Yellowfin, Tomo Hamasaki 89 lbs & Jan Ishii with a beautiful 88 lber.

Still some spots open on upcoming trips, pls check the updated schedule. A couple of very rare spots on the ultra-light load 10-day trip leaving Oct. 21st.

Good fish'n,
Mike and the Vagabond Crew

We put together a great trip that included plenty of Wahoo for all, large Yellowfin Tuna up to 104 lbs., and a night bite on Yellowtail to be remembered. Always a really fun group on this trip for some great fishing and good weather.

Bill Rinkes and John Medler brought home 104-lbers, and John Pasmakian brought in a 60-lb Wahoo.

Still some spots open on upcoming trips, pls check the updated schedule. A couple of very rare spots on the ultra-light load 10-day trip leaving Oct. 21st. Also, spots on trip #43 for 7 days leaving Nov. 16. Just opened up--2 spots on our COWS or BUST Limited Load 10-day trip leaving Fri., Nov. 28 returning Mon., Dec. 8.

Good fish'n,
Mike and the Vagabond Crew

We snagged some Wahoo on first real day of fishing with a good night bite on quality Yellowtail. The weather is good!

Still some spots open on upcoming trips, pls check the updated schedule. A couple of very rare spots on the ultra-light load 10-day trip leaving Oct. 21st. Also, spots on trip #43 for 7 days leaving Nov. 16.

Good fish'n,
Mike and the Vagabond Crew

P.S. Happy 21st Birthday to my daughter, Paris!!!

Click on Photo for a larger view!

Back from our 6-day trip and we enjoyed good catch of nice Yellowfin. Jack Bair had the big one, a 110-lber followed by Steve Howard with a 96-lber and Brad Daley with a 93-lber. We also had some good school fishing on 20- to 40-lbers. The weather was ok.

Still some spots open on upcoming trips, pls check the updated schedule. A couple of very rare spots on the ultra-light load 10-day trip leaving Oct. 21st. Also, spots on trip #43 for 7 days leaving Nov. 16.

Good fish'n,
Mike and the Vagabond Crew

Just returned from 2 glorious days of Bluefin fishing, Looking forward to the upcoming trips, check out the schedule for open spots.

Good fish'n,
Mike and the Vagabond Crew

On the way home from the Mesa AZ charter with limit-style fishing of Yellowfin and Yellowtail. More report tomorrow but the fish are close so jump on the 2-Day trip leaving tomorrow at 7:00 p.m.--still some open spots!

Click on Photo for a larger view!

Just returned in from the Bob Lage Annual Family Charter and as usual the trip was wonderful. The weather and Yellowfin Tuna cooperated to make this trip great. The jackpot was won by Keith Morrow with a 25 lb Yellowfin Tuna, second place went to Bob Curtis with a 24.75 lb Yellowfin Tuna, and third place went to Gene Lage with a 24.5 lb Yellowfin Tuna. 90% of our catch was between 22-24 lbs. Big thanks to Bob and family for another wonderful year, as well as thanks to Alice Lage for sending the group out. Hope this report meets your standards Doug.

Click on Photo for a larger view!

The Cofe Products 6-day trip with a limited load of 19 anglers came home with a huge catch of tuna. We had limit-style fishing of yellowfin and a good catch of yellowtail along with some wahoo. Even chartermaster Larry “Reelmeister” Coffeen had a big tuna, which he said was the first one on the boat. The winning fish was a 105.8-pound tuna that angler Byron Cloar said gave him a hard fight. He said he baited a sardine on a 4/0 Mustad hook, tied to 50-pound P-Line and 60-pound Spectra to get it. He used a Tyrnos reel and a Calstar six-foot graphite rod. Rick Perry of Sahuarita, AZ bagged a 96-pounder for second place, and Sam Romero of Santa Ana found a 93-pound tuna, good for third place.

Good fish'n,
Mike and the Vagabond Crew

Too busy to even tape the big tuna landing on the deck but we're sure they are in the 100-lb range. Sore arms all around. Beautiful weather. Looking forward to another great day on Thursday.

Still some spots open on upcoming trips, pls check the updated schedule.
Mike and the Vagabond Crew

Just spoke with Mike out on the ocean and looks like this 6-Day trip is off to a very good start. The day was filled with limits of Yellowfin fishing, some nice Yellowtail, and even a Wahoo. Looking forward to tomorrow.

Still some spots open on upcoming trips, pls check the updated schedule.
Mike and the Vagabond Crew

Just spoke with Mike out on the ocean and looks like Trip #28 is off to a great start. With flat, calm weather the guys have been catching Albies and Yellowfin all morning long. Looking forward to this afternoon.

Still some spots open on trip #29 Limited Load 6-Day leaving Sunday, August 31st returning Saturday, Sept. 6th.

Good fish'n,
Mike and the Vagabond Crew

Trip 27 ended up with limits of good weather, two steady Bluefin bites with fish up to 45 lbs. mix in some nice Yellowfin, Dorado, and a couple of big Yellowtail and fun was had by all. Looking forward to the next trip. Things are looking good for the upcoming longer trips don't miss a good opportunity to catch some nice Tuna at Guadalupe, fish up to 140 lbs recently.

Still some spots open on trip #29 Limited Load 6-Day leaving Sunday, August 31st returning Saturday, Sept. 6th.

Good fish'n,
Mike and the Vagabond Crew

Scratched some nice Bluefin Tuna and few Albies, looking forward to more tomorrow. Beautiful weather and the news from down below us is good.

Just had one spot open up on the next trip leaving Thurday, August 28 returning Sunday, August 31st. Also, still some spots open on trip #29 Limited Load 6-Day leaving Sunday, August 31st returning Saturday, Sept. 6th.

Good fish'n,
Mike and the Vagabond Crew

With a decent amount of fish, we return home tomorrow at 8 am. Check back tomorrow with updates. Please check our updated schedule online as we had some choice new spots open up.

Good fish'n,
Mike and the Vagabond Crew

A message from Mike out of the ocean.

Reached Guadlupe and already had a handful of YF Tuna 1st thing in the morning. Beautiful weather. Please check our updated schedule online as we had some choice new spots open up.

Good fish'n,
Mike and the Vagabond Crew

A message from Mike out of the ocean.

With the nice weather, a nice batch of Bluefin Tuna, some Yellowfin and a few Albies to round out the bunch we will be home tomorrow at 6 a.m.New spots available online.

Good fish'n,
Mike and the Vagabond Crew

On the Way Home--ETA 8:00 a.m.

Beautiful weather and fun kelp fishing for Yellowtail and Dorado and some Tuna. Good folks and great food!

Good fish'n,
Mike and the Vagabond Crew

It was a fun trip with nice weather and good variety of fish. Our jackpot winners were Scott Stoyan with a 39.6 Tuna for 1st place; Larry King was 2nd with a 38.6-lber; and David Piazza came in 3rd with 36.6 lbs. Also pictured is a nice Dorado.

Click on Photo for a larger view!

On the Way Home--ETA 7:00 a.m. Please click our NEXT TRIP INFO button for updated info on departing trip #18.

Beautiful weather but slow, slow scratch fishing. Saw plenty of fish but they were just not biting like we would like them to. Good folks and great food!

Good fish'n,
Mike and the Vagabond Crew

Ishii Charter

The trip was full of our long-time great customers the Ishii group.The weather started out poor and improved to excellent as the trip went on. Fishing was at stop and had moments of good but steady is a better word for it.We got several stops for a few nice Albies each time a couple of Yellowfin stops and a kelp that gave up 10 Dorado and some Yellowtail.When the trip was over we had fish for everybody and a great was had by all. We all look forward to next year's Ishii charter.

Good fish'n,
Mike and the Vagabond Crew

A message from Mike out on the ocean.

Fishing went from great to stop. The good thing is as fast as it goes this way it will change back. We had a great group, poor weather, and fishing was slow on Monday and stop today. We cannot wait to go back out and get things back on track, as I know fishing will be better soon. The water conditions are still excellent except for the wind and the fish will come back up.

Good fish'n,
Mike and the Vagabond Crew

A message from Mike out on the ocean.

The trip began a little slow as the fish used thier tails and moved. We started the search and started picking on kelps for some nice Yellowtail and a few fat Albies. The day ended in a place that we picked up some Albacore and a tuna. Saturday brought glass calm weather and Albies. We enjoyed steady short stops all day and ended with a good final stop at dark. The trip, as we hope they all are, was a success and a nice caught of Albies with a mix of Yellows for the color. Jerry Olsen was the hot stick for exotics with a Dorado and a nice Yellowfin. The weather, fish, and great people, Great trip!!

Good fish'n,
Mike and the Vagabond Crew

A message from Mike out on the ocean.

Today we started on the beach for a change of pace. We had a good pick on mixed grade Yellowtail 15 - 25 lbs til about 10. We then checked a couple of other spots, but the conditions were poor.A couple of drifts til lunch produced another nice Yellow and 6 Halibut. After lunch we ran off to get another fix of Albies picking up 51 and 3 Yellows before kicking it for home. Another great trip we have all the ingredients, excellent group of guys, awesome weather, and great fishing. We'll be in at 6:45.

Good fish'n,
Mike and the Vagabond Crew

A message from Mike out on the ocean.

Great day, we enjoyed limit style Albacore fishing, a good kelp for Yellows up to 25lbs, Bluefin to 42lbs,and Yellowfin to 30 lbs. With great weather and a great group who needs more, we are going to try some coast fish in the am.

Good fish'n,
Mike and the Vagabond Crew

A message from Mike out on the ocean.

Today started well with some good action on Albies to over 40 lbs. The rest of the day has been slow with some action provided by the occasional short stop for one or two Albies or nice Yellowfin tuna and a few yellowtail on kelp. We end at dark with 4 small Bluefin.

Good fish'n,
Mike and the Vagabond Crew

Another nice 1.5-day trip with for good Albies.

Blake Barnett caught the 27.5-lb jackpot Albie.

We still have 2 very choice spots on the next trip #14, leaving Thursday, July 10th.

Good fish'n,
Mike and the Vagabond Crew

Good trip with great weather for nice Albies.

Ed Aboud caught the jackpot Albie of 33.1 lbs.

Good fish'n,
Mike and the Vagabond Crew

Despite choppy weather we managed to put together a batch of nice Albacore together. We picked and scratched most of the trip, but we finished with a wide open bite on Tuesday afternoon. We trolled up a lone Bluefin Tuna.


We still have some choice spots on our upcoming trips, please check our schedule page.

Good fish'n,
Mike and the Vagabond Crew

Excellent weather and an excellent charter group. We looked in some new areas for very little the first day and came back to the old areas to find a great morning bite. Fun for all. Thanks Steve. See ya next year!


We still have some choice spots on our upcoming trips, please check our schedule page.

Good fish'n,
Mike and the Vagabond Crew

Great group with less than great weather, but we worked hard for two days to scratch a few nice Albacore, a 27 lb Yellowfin Tuna, and four nice Yellowtails. Despite slow fishing and a little weather it was a great time.


We still have some choice spots on our upcoming trips, please check our schedule page.

Good fish'n,
Mike and the Vagabond Crew

Excellent weather and 38 Albacore help make a good day for a great group of guys. We even got a Bluefin. From what I see the fish are close. The Albies are 15-20 lbs our jackpot was a 22.6er.


We still have some choice spots on our upcoming trips, please check our schedule page.

Good fish'n,
Mike and the Vagabond Crew

Had excellent weather for 5 days with great people. We are coming home with a nice catch of Yellowtail--near limits; on the way back up we scratched some Albies, Bluefin, and Yellowfin.


ETA is 8:30 a.m. tomorrow.


We still have some choice spots on our upcoming trips, please check our schedule page.
Good fish'n,
Mike and the Vagabond Crew

Tough fishing weather but the great group of anglers worked hard. Our jackpot winner was our youngest fisherman aboard, Matt Gray of Vista, with a 12.5-lb Rockcod.

Click on Photo for a larger view!

ETA is 12:45 p.m. Wednesday.

We had 2 great days of limit-style Yellowtail fishing up to 48 lbs. The quality and weather was really good. We stopped off on the way home for some table fare and the Reds were biting. A fabulous way to start off the season.

Click on Photo for a larger view!

                 

        

Our first hit on the islands is bringing us good Yellowtail fishing up to 48 lbs.

We're looking forward to finishing up strong and enjoying the beautiful weather.

We've added a few fun weekend trips available for booking thru Point Loma Sportfishing (pointlomasportfishing.com):

1.5 Day Fri 06-06-2008 8:00 PM Sun 06-08-2008 6:00 AM $375
1.5 Day Fri 06-13-2008 8:00 PM Sun 06-15-2008 6:00 AM $375

Good fish'n,
Mike and the Vagabond Crew

Our first Rock Cod trip of the season was a blast with the Santa Paula crew, Doug Buck, Big Ron Penn (our gate keeper), Lori Withee Patella, and a host of other great passengers. This is one of our favorite trips because my family comes out to share the fun. This year, my daughter Paris joined her mom and her uncle, and she brought along her own private deckhand/boyfriend, Mike Stevens. The fishing was slow overall but Sunday we had a nice bite for a few hours on good quality Reds and Lings, making sure everyone brought home some tasty fish. We also had a few Yellowtail in the morning and finished with a 17-fish flurry in the afternoon. Dave Wilder won the 2nd-Day Jackpot with an almost 19-lb Yellow and Jerry Napolitano won the 1st-Day Jackpot with a 15-lb Ling.


We may get wet on Thursday but it's looking like the wind is going to cooperate and give us another nice weekend.

Good fish'n, Mike and the Vagabond Crew

Tommy Maxfield boats a nice Yellow; Paris smiling about her Red; and Lori Withee Patella only fishes the Vagabond with it's great service and personal attention!

Click on Photo for a larger view!

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