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WHAT A GREAT WAY TO FINISH UP THE YEAR Today was our day - after a slow morning of seeing fish that wouldn't bite for us, we finally got on a spot right before lunch that stuck with us all afternoon. We ended the day with 14 fish, 5 over the 200 lb mark and the photo of the day is our regular passenger, Jim Stein, with the big one weighing in at 261 lbs. Taking into consideration our luck today, we are going to start the New Year off by fishing for these beautiful fish again tomorrow before heading up the line. We would like to say Thank you to all of you that were a part of our 2006 fishing season and hope that you have Happy New Year and that 2007 will be even better! 
Have a great night and may God Bless you, Good night for now. The AA Gang ps. Hi to Vicki, Michelle and Heather, Daddy sends his love. (We have a few openings on upcoming 13 to 16 day trips in Jan & Feb) |
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THINGS ARE LOOKING BETTER Well, first of all the weather was very nice today and there was more sign of fish than what all of us saw yesterday. Today was a good day and let's just call it a slow day, depending upon which boat you were on. Two out of the seven boats down here found the right schools that produced 15 to 17 fish out of their stops, which gives us all hope for tomorrow. We stopped on a handful of different spots for which we only hooked one fish for the day but you might say, It was the right one. Wally Kakemoto hooked and landed his fish of a lifetime weighing in at 343 pounds. We still have time...so maybe tomorrow will be our day. 
GOOD NIGHT AND HAVE FAITH, The AA Gang (We have a few openings on upcoming 13 to 16 day trips in Jan & Feb) |
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IT'S WAY TOO EARLY TO GIVE UP! I know everybody is just dying to know what is going on down here in the Big fish zone.. so here it is, straight up. Catching was a little on the slow side today, but there were a few spots of fish seen between all the boats, which lets us know they're still here. We had a very long day only stopping on one batch of fish which didn't bite for us. In the last couple of days traveling down, the wind has been really blowing, but today it is finally looking like we'll be getting a break. Everyday is different and things can only get better from where we're sitting. GOOD NIGHT AND WISH US LUCK. The AA Gang |
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Equipment what worked !!! Reels: Good Quality 50 Sized reel Rods: Glass rods Calstar 6465XXH & Super Seeker SS 6463 XXXH (I caught my fish on the boats kite rod which was an Accurate 50 wide, 135 spectra & mono, & a Calstar 6465XXH). I was very impressed with the power of this rod & reel combination. Line: 135 lb. Spectra with a 30 yard topshot of 135 mono Hooks: Good Quality circle hooks ringed 8/0 Eagle Claw 2004F is my choice The most important advise I can give you is listen to the crew they do this everyday. Do not put 100 lb. test in the water, these fish are big & mean. Don't wear yourself out early, be patient & save as much energy as you can for the end of the battle. And lastly have fun it's a vacation. Team Washington
Tight Lines & Happy Holiday's Web Master Barry |
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AA's Visit to the Home of the Tubbie's I had the great fortune to be on this trip with 4 of my best fishing buddies, I will be your guest reporter on the final summary of our trip. I will write a detailed report tomorrow on what worked and the tackle we used on this trip. I would like to thank Sam and the crew (they were awesome as usual), they make it look easy. It's the definition of luck that comes to mind, which is dedication, hard work, preparation, & opportunity that makes a dream come true. We only lost 2 of these big fish, which is a credit to the team work mentality of all the passengers and the crew, everyone worked together to get the job done. Everyone on the trip caught a trophy sized fish. We can't catch these beautiful fish without the experience of the captain and and his very professional and well trained crew. All I can say is thank you for the thrill of lifetime. Our apology's for the fishing report page loading a little slow. It's the end of the year and so many photo's and great memories are there. I will archive it at the end of the year, which will help it load a lot faster. Here is a few photos of the fish at the dock & JP photo. Please check tomorrow for a complete update and more photos.
Tight Lines & Happy Holiday's Web Master Barry |
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THE LAST LEG We were very pleased to wake up this morning and see the wind had backed off, which is making for a nice ride up the line. The photo of the day is some of the ringleaders of the Lounge - a common meeting place for all that may pass through from time to time. The stars, the moon, the palm tree and your neighbor's car were in a line to just make this an Awesome trip, with a great group of people. And so I would like to say this for all of you Anglers out there that are still sitting on the fence wondering if you should jump on a Long Range boat sometime in the next couple of months - maybe these numbers might change your mind if you're in the market for a Big Tuna. 257, 195, 126, 240, 283, 204, 172, 208, 163, 218, 247, 174, 171, 244, 118, 220, 324, 128, 267, 155, 214, 327, 287, 288, 263, 264, 178, 183, 176, 187, 150, 250, 146 and 153 just as an example. And in the last couple of days there have been 3 more fish that taped out over 300 lb on some of the boats fishing the area we left a few days ago. Last year was record-breaking for fish over 200 lbs, this may be the season to break the record on fish over the 300 lb. mark? You know Christmas is coming, maybe Santa will give you a 16 day trip if you were good this year. To everybody that was a part of this trip, we would like to Thank you so much and Thanks to Skip of Tiburon for being our sponsor. 
Thank you. Your Crew. Sam, Taco, Tony, Mitch, Paul, Jodie, and Jordan. ETA 0630 The boat will be in until the day after Christmas and then will depart again for a 10 day. Merry Christmas to all and I hope Santa brings you everything you asked for. God bless and happy holidays. |
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GETTIN ER DONE! Today we rolled up the line to try and catch some Yellows to finish up the trip, and after our first spot of the day we were very pleased with our success of 12 to 16 fish. We had some time to burn so we thought we'd check out another spot before calling it a trip. When we got to our destination, one sweep of the Sonar and Jed's a millionaire - straight 20 to 25 lb Yellows just wanting anything and everything you had to offer. The photo of the day answers the most commonly asked question in the wheelhouse, "what do fish look like?". To end the story, it was a epic day. We are bound for home now, so tomorrow will be time for the gang to kick back read a book, watch a movie or just drink some more beer. 
GOOD NIGHT, WHAT A TRIP. The AA Gang (a few openings on 13/16 days in Jan) |
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GOOD FISHING There has been just a beautiful grade of Dorado down here for the last month on the lower end of the Ridge, so once again we had an action-packed morning to get all the Mahi Mahi that one would want. The Photo of the day is John Heil and Capt. Jordan with a beautiful sample of today's catch. The grade of this fish is 20 to 35 lbs., which makes for a pretty good fight. We are traveling up the line tonight to fish the beach tomorrow in hopes of finding some Yellowtail that want to play, to finish up the trip. 
Good Night, The AA Gang PS Kelly, miss you. Jordan |
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CHRISTMAS CAME EARLY Last night's family get together, I told the gang the only thing I wanted for Christmas was for everybody on the boat to catch a fish over a 100 lbs, and today we took care of the handful anglers that needed one. Today was again a different day, meaning the fish did show themselves most of the day but you had to work at it to catch one. We ended the day with 8 fish - the fish Mike caught tipped the scale at 250 lbs and the rest of our catch weighed in anywhere from 145 to 183 lbs. There is really going to be some good catching any day, but any time you can come down here and have shot at some 200 lb fish was unheard of back in the 80's. We are running up the line tonight and are going to target Dorado tomorrow and then move up to finish with Yellows somewhere on the coast. 
Good Night, The AA Gang |
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EVERY DAY IS DIFFERENT Well this morning we had our epic weather til mid afternoon, then the flat calm ocean we have been enjoying was no longer, though it's not bad by any means. Now for the fishing. Things didn't look the same in the morning..... well things looked pretty dead. After making the full tour around the zone, we finally got on a school of MONSTERS to make our day of searching all come together in the end. When the day was done they had 9 fish marked down, 7 over 200 lbs and Steve's fish tipping the scale at 327 lbs, Wow. By the way... Steve is 6 foot 4 inches tall, just to give you an idea of the length of his fish. We are down to just a few of our Anglers that need to get into the Big fish club, so we are going to give it one more day and then start moving up the line. 
Good Night, The AA Gang PS Liz and Rachelle, I love you. Steve. |
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THINGS ARE LOOKING UP! Once again we woke up this morning to flat calm weather, which makes it so nice to do this kind of fishing - when it's calm, you use your eyeballs more than anything else to put the boat on fish. With that being said, today was a totally different day because there was plenty to look at and they wanted to bite just a little bit. We stopped the boat several times today, sometimes we would not hook anything and other times we would hook a couple of fish but you wouldn't go very far before everybody was at the rail and putting a bait in the water for a fish of a lifetime. We ended up with 14 fish today with Barry Gambarana boating a 324 lb Monster and 2nd place fish John Heil with his 283 lb Tuna. As long as the weather stays nice we will be down here in the zone trying for these Jumbos.
GOOD NIGHT AND WISH US LUCK, The AA Gang |
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FLAT CALM Well, we have the weather in our favor for now and there are plenty of fish to catch but you know the old saying, You can bring a Horse to water, but you can't make it drink. That pretty much sums up our day down in the Big Fish zone. There is very good sign of fish, Plenty - and we did manage to get on one batch of fish and hang a few, which did make our day, but mostly they weren't interested in what we had to offer. We are hoping they'll be in a more playful mood tomorrow. Today's tally was 257,240,195 and a 126 lb fish. The photo of the day is Craig Holmes with his 240, and helping him out is Tony, Jodie and of course the Barbie twins, yes that's right they're back! 
Good Night and wish us luck, The AA Gang |
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ANTICIPATION! Tomorrow is the day we arrive down in the Big Fish Zone and with what has been going on the last few days - it's a safe bet that most won't get a good nights sleep. We did make a stop on the upper end of the Ridge and did some fishing this afternoon. We picked a few handfuls of 15 to 25lb Tuna and caught some Dorado for a tasty dinner. We are going to try to get some Greenies tonight and roll on down the line. It seems that the weather for now is holding with light winds and the forecast is good for the next couple of days and so with a little bit of luck, things will go as planned. GOOD NIGHT AND WISH US LUCK. The AA Gang |
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Bob's Sporting Goods 10 day is home After a successful 10 day trip - Brian Kiyohara brought back the American Angler. Their catch included 4 fish over 200lbs, 10 over 100lbs, and a monster Yellowtail weighing in at a whopping 82lbs. (check out pictures below). We want to thank Mike Naoe for everything and also, Sam Ishida our onboard representative. And as always thanks to our wonderful passengers!!
1st place: Mark Curry 221 lb Yellowfin Tuna 2nd place: Dave O'Halloran 214 lb Yellowtin Tuna 3rd place: John West 181 lb Yellowfin Tuna Honorable mentions: Larry Bolan/Christian Rydgren 232 lb Yellowfin Tuna /Sam Ishida 267 lb Yellowfin Tuna Tom McWhorter 82 lb Yellowtail Also pictured is Tom McWhorter with his Giant YT and Dave O'Halloran showing two of his finest from the trip! The A.A. Team |
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Running Up We finished off with a little action at the 13fa spot. It was a very nice grade of school tuna that ranged from 12-25lbs. The drastic change of size from what we have been pursuing was actually kind of cool. It was no pressure fun and a good chance to play around with the light stuff as every tuna landed will end up a cherished rsw sashimi gumdrop. This trip was sponsored by Bob's Sporting Goods in West LA home of some of the finest custom rods available. We cannot say enough about our group as we are positive that they would be grateful for anything that the sea has to offer, because they understand the real reason for a 10 day vacation. Special thanks to BJ Beck for taking time away from the rail and supplying us all with professional grade pictures. Bring The Big Gear, The Guys |
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Tired It has been a long time since my body has been so tired. The amount of adrenaline that was pumping through our veins would make even a long distance runner take a seat at the end of the day. Once again the questions regarding cows are probably one of today's main topics concerning long range fishing. It is our opinion that it is just the beginning. We started out in the zone at daylight and almost immediately saw sign of big fish. We saw excellent sign of scattered big fish almost identical to what we saw on some of our best days last year. There were probably six or eight deals where we slid on spots that were made up of 10-20 big cows erupting out of the water. We managed to hook about 10 fish today and ended up putting 5 of those aboard. Sam Ishida and Dave O'Halloran led today's parade with a 267 [pictured] and a 214 to go along with Larry Bolan's and Mark Curry's deuces from the day before. For everyone at home the formula is pretty simple. During the past month everyone has seen sign of fish in the area. Last week Mike Lackey got the first fish to bite and that was a 245. The last 2 days we not only saw fish but also had the opportunity to put 8 of these big fish aboard. It sure seems like this is just the beginning of good things to come. In our personal opinion, the big fish bite is starting later this year due to warmer water temp. After seeing the amount of fish that we saw the last 2 days, the formula equals one thing. The opportunity to catch a big fish is now so if you are serious about having a shot at a big one, giving a call to your favorite long-range office would sure make sense as far as inquiring about a December or early 2007 long trip. Obviously there is no guarantee that conditions will remain optimum, but things sure look good. 
Running Up, The Guys We have 1 spot on the Dec. 5th ten day trip and a couple of spots on Dec. 26th ten day trip. Call the office @ (619) 223-5414. |
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The Answer Is Yes The most common question asked since last fall is whether or not those big fish will show up at the lower banks. Today we were lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time and had the opportunity to catch a few. What we saw today was the real deal. We stopped on spots of scattered cows where it was straight big fish showing on the stern. We were able to land three fish: a 181,221 and a 232 but the sign that we saw today was as good as we have seen in years past. For those people that are hanging on the fence as far as booking a big fish trip, they might want to think about calling soon. We don't want to come off as a salesman but we are merely calling it as we see it. It seems like we often brag about our passengers, but once again we call it as we see it. Sliding into one of the spots of big fish, Chris Rydgren hooked a fish and without hesitation handed it over to his Uncle Larry Bolan. Chris eventually got the utmost satisfaction as he was an integral part of Larry landing his 232 pound yellowfin tuna [he is shown behind his Uncle in the night time shot]. Without a doubt, the unselfishness that our passengers possess is a major contribution to our success.
Hoping For Another Shot, The Guys We have 1 spot on the Dec. 5th ten day trip and 4 spots on Dec. 26th ten day trip. Call the office @ (619) 223-5414, Lori is standing by. |
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Rough Today the weather forecasters were dead on. Three days ago there was forecasts of lots of wind. Throughout the night the wind intensified from a workable 15kts to an absolute miserable 25-30kts. Even though it was a wild ride on the anchor, we were glad to be stationary. After daylight we fished for a few hours and hooked a half a dozen big ones. There was a spool job and a couple of pulled hooks, but we still managed to land 3 nice 80-90lb fish. We looked around for wahoo and after a sample of seven or eight, we decided to leave our honey hole that has been so good to us. We thought that it is the right thing to do not only to make room for some of our code boats in need of some tuna fish, but also to try our luck elsewhere. We are headed inside hoping for the best. The weather is coming down and we hope that the meteorologists prediction of better conditions holds true. Wish Us Luck, The Guys |
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The Biggest Ever Today we spent another day sitting on the anchor at the Rocks and are enjoying quality tuna fishing on nice fish as today was topped by a 123lb fish boated by Chris Rydgren. Since we left the dock, it has been a relentless 15-20 kts of wind that has made it uncomfortable looking for fish on the move, but things are going well because added to the steady tuna fishing there have also been a few wahoo and yellowtail thrown into the mix. We have onboard a first time saltwater angler by the name of Tom McWhorter, a policeman from New Mexico, who is an avid bass fisherman and thought he might give this tuna fishing a try. After boating an 80lb tuna he thought he would take a breather and soak a 3 foot giant squid flylined off the back of the boat. Within a few minutes he was tied into what turns out to be the biggest yellowtail we have ever seen. This had to be the most well-proportioned big yellow that we have ever layed eyes on and it unofficially weighed 82 pounds. With the help of Jesse Kemble and Matt Romaine they are displaying this beautiful specimen. We are going to give the Rocks one more morning and then probably will change our address and scenery.
Impressive, The Guys |
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Good Grade Today we were very lucky to have the opportunity to fish without the sharks being a big nuisance. We got the anchor down shortly after daylight in a zone that felt lively. After patiently waiting for about a half hour, we saw our first fish boil. From 7:30 in the morning until dark, we had 100lb fish showing around the boat. It wasn't wide open but the opportunity was there with every bait thrown out. We definitely think that a one hundred pound tuna on 50 and 60 lb gear is one of the toughest battles that we see. We kept one to four going for most of the day and with our standard fish casualties we still ended the day with 23 fish between 70 and 120lbs - along with a handful of wahoo and several handfuls of smaller tuna. Dustin Selck shows us how they do it on the Central Coast as a Captain that fishes on his time off always has our utmost respect. 
Unfortunately No Cows Inside Today, The Guys |
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Our Hero Ever since last year's epic fall and early winter season on the "Lower Banks", big fish have been on the minds of everyone that either has been or will be going on one of these trips. For the most part, the majority of our anglers have been able to accept the real reason that one books a ten day trip and that is for a ten day vacation. Obviously, everyone including us would like the opportunity for big fish, but the true veteran angler has been around the block enough to realize that it is only possible to play with the cards that are dealt. So far this season, those cows have been located on our fish finding equipment but there has been only a few isolated occasions where they actually have made a visual showing. November 27 in the year 2006 is the day that this all changed. Mike Lackey aboard the mighty Vagabond physically put one of these "dream fish" aboard. This large yellowfin tuna taped out at 245lbs and is hopefully the start of many more to follow. Mike deserves a lot of credit, however every boat in the long range fleet had a direct influence on the success. Without the fleet spreading out to not only locate prosperous waters but also areas to cross off the map, I am sure that even Mike would agree that this would not have been possible. Today we arrived at Alijos Rocks and saw pretty good sign of quality fish. We put the anchor down and immediately started to hook these beautiful fish. Unfortunately, it was tough to land this grade of fish through the ravenous sharks that have been a problem here all year. We landed 4 big ones along with some smaller tuna before we decided to relocate. We picked up the anchor and tried a different area and it paid off. We had biting fish with no shark problem - only to be shut down by darkness. We ended up with a respectable dozen fish that weighed between 70 and 116lbs. The father and son team of B.J. and Jim Beck show off a respectable 75lber. Following the golden rule of not leaving fish to find fish, we are going to give this another day. 
We Will Get Our Shot Later, The Guys |
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CME4TUNA Returns The boat returned today with an awesome catch of variety - Dorado, Wahoo, Tuna and Yellowtail. The Dorado were exceptionally large and we had a decent shot on that better grade of Tuna 75-100lbers to finalize the jackpot. Thanks again to Mike Farnsworth for all his work putting this trip together!
1st place: Michael O'Donnell 103.5 lb Yellowfin Tuna 2nd place: Tony Postolov 100 lb Yellowtin Tuna 3rd place: Randy Morgan 92.5 lb Yellowfin Tuna Also pictured: Dad brings in back-up for the unloading. The A.A. Team |
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FLAT CALM ALL THE WAY We made a few stops to gather up some lunch and continued on our way, and boy was that fish Good!!!!!. I'd also like to comment on the weather - we have been very lucky here in the last week, along with the last couple of months, during which time we've seen some great weather; what a bonus! We would like to thank Mike Farnsworh and his gang of guys for coming out with us again, they are beginning to become quite the bunch of Regulars. Thank you, Your Crew, Sam, Nick, Jodie, Tony, Taco, Greg and Paul ETA 0830 Have a Happy Thanks Giving and God Bless you all. |
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YOYO YELLOWS! We arrived at the lower end of Cedros around noon and were very pleased with the action this afternoon. We had a little better than 50 Yellows for just a few hours of fishing and that's just what we were looking for. Tomorrow we are going to stop and pick up some lunch fish, then bundle up the rods and head her for the barn. GOOD NIGHT, The AA Gang |
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STEADY ACTION ON THE ANCHOR Well if you would have asked me a few days ago if the fishing would be as good as it has ben the last couple of days, I would have said you're crazy. As it turned out, things change and we were there when it did... and the gang is very pleased with the fishing we've had in just a couple of days. Today we concentrated on more Tuna-style fishing than trolling most of the day. Bottom line: we had good fishing on 18 to 30lb Tuna with 10 fish 70 to 103 lbs and on top of that - - good fishing all the way around. The photo of the day is Mike O'Donnell with his 103 lb Tuna assisted by Taro and Jodie on the gaffs. We are going to be up at Cedros Island around Lunch time to finish things up. 
GOOD NIGHT, The AA Team |
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FUN DAY We made it out here to the Rocks just after daylight - our goal was to get a few bigger Tuna and if we were lucky, pick up a few Wahoo and that's just what we did. When the sun went over the horizon we had 22 Wahoo and 4 Tuna 75 to 100lbs also 25 fish 20 to 40lbs, mission accomplished. We are going to try it again here tomorrow before we have to run up the line and shorten the distance to home, so wish us luck. The photo of the day is Tony Postolov with the 100lb fish he caught this morning. 
GOOD NIGHT, The Gang |
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ACTION PACKED We spent the day on the anchor fishing the Ridge for 14 to 22lb Yellowfin Tuna with a mix of Yellowtail and a token Grouper to throw in the catch. It was very good fishing and the weather was just beautiful to go with our good fishing. We are presently bound for the Rocks in hopes of catching a better size fish or more and we still have a few days left in our trip so it seems things are starting to click. GOOD NIGHT, The AA Gang |
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A LONG DAY I wish we had a good report today but the truth is we never hooked or landed any fish. We did have one spot of the Bigger fish swim under the boat at one short time, but that was all to say for the day. We are going up the Ridge to stop the boat and do some fishing tomorrow and just take it from there. GOOD NIGHT, The AA Gang |
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AS GOOD AS IT GETS ON DORADO Wow! It was good fishing this morning on quality size Dorado. They weren't quite biting the banana peels, but it was sure good. The photo of the day is Ken and Capt. Jodie Morgan (Owner/Operator M/V Voyager) making a guest appearance on deck this trip. As you see by the picture, Ken picked up a very nice fish. We are down fishing the lower banks and there was some good news that have us all looking forward to tomorrow - Mike Keating on the Spirit of Adventure had a spot of the Bigger Tuna at least come up and show themselves. They managed to hook 2 fish, but unfortunately, they hooked them on too light of line....it's good news, nonetheless. There is going to be a few of us Long Range boats here for the next couple of days trying - so wish us all good luck. 
GOOD NIGHT, The AA Team |
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DAY ONE We fished offshore today looking for Kelps in hopes of targeting some Wahoo and that's just what we did. I didn't say we caught a lot of Wahoo... but we did manage to get 5 of those toothy critters when it was all said and done. There were plenty of Dorado on some of the Kelps, but we were not in the market for those, except for the few we kept to have for dinner. Tomorrow's plan - we are going down to fish the lower banks to try for Tuna. The photo of the day is Kevin Klopfenstein with one of the two fish he caught today,and the Wahoo we did catch were very nice quality size. 
GOOD NIGHT AND WISH US LUCK. The AA gang PS Happy Anniversary Deb, we miss you. |
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Anglers Choice 11 day limited load trip home The American Angler arrived before dawn with 21 passengers who experienced A-1 fishing. They decided unanimously, as a group, to roll the dice, put all their eggs in one basked on this trip and make a run for Hurrican Bank. Their path had been paved by Andy Cates, and so off they went. They returned wealthy with tuna - 6 over 200lbs and everyone on the boat had at least one over 100lbs. Thanks again to Luc who spent those long travel days making sure everyone was rigged up and to all our spunky passengers who said let's go for it. We'll see you all next year. Congratulations to our jackpot winners below. Also pictured below is a group photo - everyone has their trip best and 4 happy fishing compadres.
1st place: Jim Bostian 225 lb Yellowfin Tuna 2nd place: Joe Jacoby 208.5lb Yellowtin Tuna 3rd place: Darrin Seiji 203 lb Yellowfin Tuna Honorable mention: Luc Ofield 217 lb Yellowfin Tuna Not pictured: Bill Rensberger 208 lb Yellowfin Tuna Not pictured: Hugh Estes 203 lb Yellowfin Tuna The A.A. Team |
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FILLING THE CRACKS Today we fished Cedros Island for most of the day. The weather was beautiful and we managed to catch a few handfuls of nice Yellows and plenty of Calico Bass for lunch tomorrow. The photo of the day is "The Man" Jim Bostian with one of the Yellows he picked up today. Tomorrow will be the last travel day before our return on Saturday morning, so we would like to say Thanks to everybody on the trip for making this all possible. It was a long haul down to the Bank, but it paid off in a big way. Also Thanks to Luc Ofeild of Anglers Choice Tackle for being our sponsor - Luc had a lot of great giveaway prizes for all of the Gang. 
Thank you, Your Crew. Sam, Matt, Jesse, Taco, Nick, Paul and Mitch. ETA 0530 Saturday. |
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WERE BACK! After running back up the line for the last couple of days, everybody had plenty of time to rest their sore muscles and get caught up on some sleep. We arrived at the Rocks at 0300 hours and started to wet a few lines. We did catch some nice Yellows in the dark and throughout the morning we hooked and released some Tuna and Tagged a few more Yellows before we took off around lunch time. The photo of the day is our Capt. Matt, releasing a Tuna around 60 lbs, to bite again another day. 
GOOD NIGHT, The AA Gang We had an opening on our 10 day trip that departs next Sat. - Nov. 11th. Call the office for details @ 619 223 5414 and come fishing on the American Angler! |
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WHAT A DAY We had just an awesome day of fishing today - one that will be talked about most likely for quite some time, not only with the gang but even myself. The photo of the day is Bill and Luc with the last couple of fish caught today, both were over the 200lb mark. We are going to run back up the line and try to finish up with a few Yellows to end the trip. 
GOOD NIGHT, The AA Gang We had an opening on our 10 day trip that departs next Sat. - Nov. 11th. Call the office for details @ 619 223 5414 and come fishing on the American Angler! |
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WELL SO FAR THIS IS WORKING OUT We arrived down here at the Bank around 10:30 this morning and trolled around for a few Wahoo before it was time to get the anchor gear out and try for Tuna. Within just a few minutes, we started hooking fish. To just sum up the afternoon, It was good fishing. The photo of the day is Shane Maciel with his 177lb Tuna, which was about the only fish we had time to take a picture of after all the smoke cleared. We have 2 full days to fish here before we head home, so at this point all the gang is very happy for making the long run. 
GOOD NIGHT, The AA Gang |
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GOING THE DISTANCE! It's just before lunch and we have another 237 miles to go before we reach our destination to start out the trip. This is day 3 and we have one more day to go before it's time to put on our battle gear and get down to business. Yes that's right - we are running for the Bank! This is an 11 day trip and the gang wanted to make the run down here. We are crossing our fingers that this run is going to be worth it all, you know the old saying - No Guts, No Glory. The photo of the day is Luc of Angler's Choice Tackle - he and the guys are just getting ready for tomorrow's party to start. Only the Big Guy in the sky knows what awaits us off our bow, so everybody is really excited to get fishing tomorrow. 
GOOD AFTERNOON TO ALL AND WISH US LUCK!!! The AA Gang |
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Sport Chalet 10 day returns The American Angler returned at 6:30 this morning with a fine variety of Tuna, Wahoo, Yellowtail and Dorado. We want to thank sponsor Brad Lemoine for all the terrific giveaways and once again for the delicious lobster dinner! Also thanks to our wonderful passengers on this trip - it's one we all look forward to. Check out the jackpot winners below - all three are trip regulars, as are the majority of passengers on this 10 day. Also pictured are the Sport Chalet raffle winners. Congratulations to all!
1st place: Ying Lee 118.5lb Yellowfin Tuna 2nd place: Bob Clark 76.5lb Yellowfin Tuna 3rd place: Rob Perry 75.5lb Yellowfin Tuna The A.A. Team |
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Good Fall Variety Today we are wrapping up our annual Sport Chalet ten day. We had a good morning of cod fishing before plowing up the line. In the last ten days we have experienced a great mix of fish. We got a small taste of bigger tuna at the rocks, we did the wahoo and dorado kelp thing, and we experienced blue ribbon yellowtail fishing; everything you would expect from a fall ten day. We would like to thank our Sports Chalet representative, Bradley Lemoine and the whole group for coming out. 
Looking Forward to Seeing Everyone Next Time, The Guys ETA 6:15am |
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Yanking And Cranking Today we moved up the line in search of yellowtail. We started fishing right at daylight and within minutes had our first fish aboard. This would be an omen for things to come. Even though the area that we covered in the morning never produced numbers, we were catching a few quality fish. By mid-morning we were in search of and even though it took a couple of hours to get them located it was well worth the wait. We made a couple of drifts that were very productive as at times we would have half the boat hooked up. After a while people started giving them away and releasing them which was a good indication that we had had enough. A special thanks goes out to Matt Salas for his generous contribution of Salas jigs for the trip, as they were definitely put to good use! 
Moving Up The Line, The Guys |
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The Right Kelp!! We decided to spend today fishing kelps for Wahoo in the same zone where we had sucess yesterday. This morning we were greeted with beautiful weather; light wind and reasonable seas--ideal conditions for kelping. We spent the day jumping from kelp to kelp getting tasters of Wahoo. Upon hearing reports of other boats in the area getting a few good hits, our anticipation was high, but it was not to be. Today we never got lucky. We worked very hard for every fish that was brought over the side, never finding the magic kelp that we had hoped for. Today's picture is of most of the guys enjoying the day. 
Encouraged that the magic kelp exists The Guys |
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Stumbling Sometimes stumbling into things can be good. After the sign at the rocks dissipated and we were forced to leave, we went in search of a new zone to fish. After our first day of only so-so type kelping and other attempts by our counterparts we knew only of areas of where not to go. We aimed for a different zone and shortly after sunrise we found our first kelp of the day. Fortunately for us this kelp had good sign of Wahoo and we experienced a sample of real deal fishing. Although the weather was kind of choppy periodically we found nice kelps to stop on. We had several good shots on Wahoo as the lost jigs,burn offs,high speed racing, and all the other excitement of Wahoo fishing was enjoyed by all. We also found good action on Dorado such as the one displayed by Bradley Lemoine. The ocean changed drastically at dark and laid down beautifully and we are staying another day. 
Having Blind Luck, The Guys |
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Enjoy Today we had hoped to be the day that fishing at the Rocks would break loose. We have had decent fishing the previous two days and had hoped that today would be even better. After it was all said and done, fishing was a lot slower, but at the same time the weather got nicer which added to the overall enjoyment. We picked at the smaller school grade fish and had a few opportunities at the better grade ones. Ying Lee led today's parade with a 118lb yellowfin tuna. This place has been good to us and we appreciate it, but it's time for us to leave. Tomorrow we will take advantage of the weather and search for kelps. 
Wish Us Luck, The Guys P.S. one of our guys was in the lower area and even though they did not hook anything, they saw good sign on the machines of the right stuff. I hope you are booked on a longer trip because it's not a question of if, but a question of when. |
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Fun Today we spent the entire day sitting on the anchor at the Rocks. We were fortunate enough to experience what 10-day trips are all about. We pretty much had several "something's" hooked at all times throughout the day. We had nice big tuna, school-sized tuna, yellowtail, dorado and wahoo all at the same place. These fall trips are designed around taking advantage of all the different varieties that the warm water season has to offer. With every bait that was cast out, came the unknowing excitement of what kind of fish was to be hooked next. Our group took full advantage as they figured out that the most important thing about their ten day vacation is having a good time. Dan Spiegel shows one of the reasons that he is enjoying himself in today's picture. 
Keep Things In Perspective, The Guys |
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Lucky A lot of the decisions about destinations come with much planning and foresight. What happens when we arrive is quite often pure luck. With Hurricane Paul bottlenecking the fleet, there was no destination that was going to be enjoyed alone. We fished the Rocks with a couple of other boats and we were lucky enough to be the fortunate one with enough sign to stay the whole day. We were lucky enough to connect with good wahoo fishing and a decent sample of yellows and tuna. We picked up 38 wahoo which forced us to stay and after everybody left, conditions changed and we saw enough sign to spend the night and try our luck tomorrow. Tony Duprey shows us all a great way to end the day. 
The Storm Is Out Of The Picture And We Are Enjoying The Weather, The Guys PS Happy Anniversary Andi, Love Don |
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Playing Cards Due to the reports from the boats that left a few days beforehand, we felt our best shot at some quality fish was stepping off of the beaten path and kelping offshore. Our day started off as good as anyone could have hoped for--hardly a lick of wind and not much swell. The extraordinary weather allowed us to stay busy jumping from kelp to kelp. We spent our morning getting a little sample - one here, one there. Optimistic that we were on the edge of something greater, we carried on only to have the weather degrade. The wind picked up and we dealt with rain for most of the afternoon. The kelps that we found did not deliver in spite of ideal water quality. By the day's end, we finished with a handful of Dorado for the galley and 6 beautiful wahoo like the one proudly displayed by Monteil Tremaine and Tony Villasenor. This evening finds us traveling through thunderstorms on our way to the Rocks to try our hand at tuna fishing tomorrow. 
Goodnight, The Guys |
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Penn trip returns The American Angler returned this morning at 6am with a beautiful catch of quality Yellowfin Tuna from the Rocks with a few trophy Yellowtail to top it off. Thanks again to Steve Carson for the great giveaways and everyone else on board - because everyone as a team is what helps to make it a memorable trip! Check out our jackpot winners below. 
1st place: "Tito" Lazcano 130lb Yellowfin Tuna 2nd place: Bobby Chapman 124lb Yellowfin Tuna 3rd place : Jim Tallerico 114lb Yellowfin Tuna The boat departed @ 12:30 for the annual Sport Chalet 10 day trip and it is so great to see all these guys who come back for this one every year - this is definitely a family trip. Thanks to Brad for supplying the group with a lobster dinner. Check back in a couple of days! Team A.A. |
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FLAT CALM ALL THE WAY We made a stop this morning to stretch everybody's line out, while in doing this we managed to pick up very nice frying pan size Reds for those who wanted them. The rods are all bundled up and the gang is down having the last night dinner so we would like to say Thank you to all of guys on the trip and especially Steve Carson our sponsor from Penn reels. Steve and I have been fishing together for a couple of decades now and it's always a pleasure. Thank you all so much, Your crew: Sam, Taco, Tony, Gerald, John, Keith and Paul. ETA 0600 |
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BEING IN THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME After 2 days of looking for Yellows, which was a very tall task, we finally had a little salvation late today and got our shot at some Trophy size Yellows to finish off the long day. We are on our way up the coast now and it looks like we should have a good ride. Tomorrow we are going to make a little stop in the a.m. for some Red fish and then bundle up the rods and call it a trip. 
GOOD NIGHT, The AA Gang |
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MAMA TOLD ME I'D HAVE DAYS LIKE THIS! There is only one way to put this fish report tonight - We struck out. We ran up to Cedros Island in hopes of catching some Yellows today and everywhere we tried, the conditions were not in our favor. The highlight of the day is that we did catch... All you can eat Calico Bass lunch. We are running down the beach to check out some of our other spots we like to fish so things can only get better from this point. GOOD NIGHT AND WISH US LUCK, The AA Gang |
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TIME TO MOVE UP We had a nice pick on these quality fish til around 11:00 in the morning and then it was time to pull our anchor gear and start rolling up the line. The gang landed 14 Tuna today, 5 of them over that 100 lb mark, but in the time we spent fishing in the last few days... every once in a while some angler might pull a nice size Yellow over the rail. The photo of the day is Dado Deleon and Taco with his 51 lb Yellow. (That's a good one.) 
GOOD NIGHT, The AA Gang We have availability on our Dec. 26th 10 day trip - call the office @ 619 223 5414 - come fishing. |
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EVERY DAY IS DIFFERENT! Well the morning action was nonexistent and it wasn't til before lunch that things started to wake up around this place. We had a very good day on variety of species - Yellowtail, Dorado and of course Tuna. We ended our day with 16 of the bigger Tuna (50 lbs or better) and 2 of those were over 100 lbs. The photo of the day is Ed, Chris and Star crewman Gerald with the biggest of the day weighing in at 137lbs. We are going to stay here one more day and then take off to work up the line and finish up the trip. 
GOOD NIGHT, The AA Team PS. To Ed and Chris's better half's, they really did go fishing. |
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THINGS GOT OFF TO A GOOD START TODAY This morning we had steady action on these beautiful grade fish up until just after lunch. The afternoon was a bit on the slow side, but when the day was over we had 29 Tuna - 5 over the 100 lb mark and 5 Wahoo. The photo of the day is our Capt. Tony and Dan Rivas with his fish that tipped the scale at 107 lbs. We are going to sit tight here for another day and just see what happens. 
GOOD NIGHT, The AA Gang |
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ANOTHER DAY AT PICKING QUALITY FISH Today was similar to yesterday in that throughout the day we would at times hook a few fish and then have our dry periods. When the sun went over the horizon, we had 16 Bigger Tuna and 3 Wahoo. The biggest Tuna, weighing in at 114bs, was caught by Jim Tallerico, as is shown here in the photo of the day. We are going to give it a try again tomorrow and take it from there. 
GOOD NIGHT, The AA Gang |
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JUST GETTING STARTED Today was our first day of fishing, we arrived here at the Rocks just before lunch, looked around and then got the anchor down and started to do some fishing. This afternoon was what I call just a pick til around 5 o'clock in the afternoon - we seemed to keep one to two fish going most of the time. When the sun went down over the horizon, we had 13 bigger Tuna, 5 of which were over the 100lb mark - so we are pretty happy with what we caught for the time that we spent fishing today. The photo of the day is Tito Lazcano with one of his 100 pounders and the one in the photo weighed in at 130 lbs. 
GOOD NIGHT AND DREAM BIG! The AA Team |
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M&M comes home The American Angler arrived at 6pm with our friend Monte, Uncle Dee and the rest of the M & M Tackle passengers. The guys had plenty of Yellowtail - some beautiful quality - up to 50lbers - and everyone had a Wahoo to take home - there were 59 of those delicious-to-eat, jumping, toothy critters. Congratulations to our jackpot winners below and check out the group showing off their skinnies. Photo credit to Dave Wimberly for the Wahoo Group picture - thanks Dave! Thanks again to Monte for his hard work all year preparing for this 1st ten day of the season. And of course, thanks also to his sweet wife Mary!!
1st place: Doug Rodricks 50.0lb Yellowtail 2nd place: Dave Wimberly 49.4lb Wahoo 3rd place: Bryan Kistler 46.2lb Yellowtail The A.A. Team |
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THE FINAL TREK The last 300 miles of our journey up the line has been heavenly to say the least - one would say we were living the good life. The gang all got caught up on their books and movies all day on the Plasma TV before going back to the hustle bustle of life back at home. We would like to Thank Monte and Uncle Dee of M&M Tackle for putting this wonderful group of Guys and Gal together and looking forward to fishing with all of you next year or sooner. Thank you, Your Crew. Sam, Matt, Ray, Taco, Karen, Mitch and Paul. ETA 0600 |
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IT'S ALL ABOUT THE QUALITY SOMETIMES We looked at many different spots today and with a little luck here and there, we finished the day with some very nice size Yellows to show for the Teams effort. The photos of the day: one of Luis's fish taken at one of our spots and the other photo is "Dad" Dave O'Halloran taking a nap while we traveled from spot to spot. He got whip creamed. Hmm... I wonder who would do that? Tomorrow is going to be a travel day and we arrive the next morning, so time to relax and kick back and enjoy the ride.
The AA Gang PS Maureen, thinking about you and see you Wednesday - Dave. |
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NORTHBOUND TO COOLER WATER We had an action-packed morning on Yellows and Tuna and thanks to Karen, we added another Wahoo to our Tally. Tomorrow we head up to finish the trip in hopes of finding some Trophy Homeboy Yellows before we make that last phase of our voyage towards home. 
GOOD NIGHT, The AA Gang |
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LOTS OF ACTION! Today we put the anchor down and did some catching. Things here on the Ridge are full of life -, Dorado, Yellows and Tuna up to 25lbs in some places. We are going to fish here again tomorrow and then roll up the line to fish our final day. The weather man says it should be coming down soon and do we hope he is right this time. GOOD NIGHT, Team M&M Boyz |
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THE TABLE IS SET! The big question is are those Big Fish going to show up this fall season? Today we and a couple of the other Long Range boats did a little prospecting down in the lower zone just to see if that question could be answered. Unfortunately there are no confirmed kills, but we do have things to report as far as sign of fish and conditions. Today the weather was very workable in the early hours of the day, before the wind picked up for the afternoon. This made things very difficult to locate, or even catch some fish. The lower zone will be kept honest here in the near future on what we and the other guys saw today. For now we are headed back up to the Ridge to put the anchor down and spend time at the rail tomorrow. GOOD NIGHT, IT WILL BE SOON!!! The AA Gang |
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JUST ANOTHER DAY IN THE TROPICS We started the day in our Wahoo honey hole and weren't surprised that it wasn't anything like yesterday - but we did manage to pick a few more before we continued on down the line. We put our day together by catching a little bit of everything: Yellows, Tuna and some Dorado. The photo of the day is Louis and Ray doing a little bizz up the side. 
GOOD NIGHT, The AA Gang PS Noah, Russell says he misses you and hi. |
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WHAT A GREAT DAY The reason why it was awesome, everybody on the boat caught a Wahoo today. It is this time of the year when all of us start running these 10 day trips and there is always a lot of stones that haven't been turned over yet and it's nice when you flip over the right rock. The photo of the day is our first stop and as you can see not all of the gang were quite ready for the shot - but you get the idea. We still have many days of fishing left so you just never know what we might find hidden under other rocks in the next few days. 
GOOD NIGHT, The AA Gang |
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SOUTHERN BOUND We had fair action on some Yellows for the time we spent at the Island in the morning, but then it came time to pull our anchor and start running south. We are going to look at the upper end of the Ridge and just go from there(I just love my job.) The photo of the day is Dave and Dung (Yung) with a couple of the nicer models we picked up during this morning's activities. 
GOOD NIGHT, The AA Gang |
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A LITTLE AFTERNOON WARM UP! We arrived at San Benitos Island late this afternoon to put in just a couple of hours of fishing before the sun went over the horizon. and we picked at some nice yellows. We are going to spend the morning over at Cedros Island and then make our next move. Good Night, The AA Gang |
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Ken's Custom Reel 6 Day Trip is back home The American Angler returned at 8am with those beautiful Guadalupe Tuna and Yellowtail. Thanks once again to our friend, Ken Corwin, for putting this special group together, and thanks to Wes for being a great rep. Check out our jackpot winners below. 
1st place: Sonia Forbes 91.5lb Yellowfin Tuna 2nd place: Wes Cogan 80.5lb Yellowfin Tuna 3rd place : Adam Jonas 79.5lb Yellowfin Tuna In Dr. Jonas's stead - Ken Corwin We dedicate this trip to our friend, Ray Harshman - we will miss you and keep you in our hearts always. Team Ken's Custom Reels and American Angler |
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The Same Page Thanks to Ken Corwin of Ken's Custom Reels for putting together one of our favorite trips of the year. This end of September limited load six day trip is something special because most everybody thinks the same. The overall success of this trip is the camaraderie that is developed from everyone wanting the same thing. The most important thing is having a good time while being conscientious to one another and because of this good fishing always seems to happen. We had good fishing at Guadalupe on quality sized tuna even though the trend had been slow fishing. We believe that this happens because everyone aboard is a true fisherman and has no problems playing with the cards that are dealt. Our parting shot is one of our favorite regulars, Ray Harshman, doing what he does best... having a good time. 
God Bless, The Guys ETA 0800 |
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We're Here! Due to extenuating circumstances, our nightly fish report was put on hold for a few days. To bring everybody up to date, we'll give a brief recap. We began outside at the island and it was looking pretty tough as far as fish is concerned, as it has been in recent weeks. After spending most of the day prospecting around the entire island we found what we were looking for in the afternoon. We had tuna boiling up and biting only to be shut down by darkness, but we ended up with a great sample of quality tuna fishing. Our next fishing day found us offshore in the dreaded "in between zone". Because of our crew's diligence and great eyes, we found a good kelp which served as an oasis in the desert. We had fast and furious fishing on school-sized tuna along with some quality dorado. This kelp is what we were looking for during our recent attempts offshore. Today we were back at the island and the island was back. We found the island like how it was a few weeks ago, when it was biting. We had fun fishing all day long as fish were boiling and biting with earnest. Some school-sized fish up to 30lbs showed up to compliment the 60-90lb fish that have already called this place home. Even though there was not any volume around, there was enough to keep us busy all day. We ended up with over 70 fish topped by Sonia Forbe's 91lb monster. 
Trying To Do The Right Thing, The Guys |
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Turners home The American Angler returned at 6am from the annual 5 day Turners Rod and Reel Club trip - thanks again to Rich Jenkins and to everyone on board - regulars and newcomers - for a great time! Check out our jackpot winners below. 
1st place: Tim Campbell 72.5lb Yellowfin Tuna 2nd place: Steve Huth 68.5lb Yellowfin Tuna tie for 2nd: Scott Taves 68.5lb Yellowfin Tuna Honorable Mention: Rich Jenkins 98.0lb Yellowfin Tuna The boat departed at 10am for the ultra limited load Ken's Custom Reels 6 day trip - Check back tomorrow night for the first trip report. The A.A. Team |
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GOIN' HOME Once again we fell for the delusion of finding the right kelp loaded up with dorado. We traveled up 95 miles of the northern Baja coast today. During our journey we looked at water of many different colors and temperatures. The one common thread we found was a lack of biting dorado. After a full day of looking, all we had to show for our efforts was bloodshot eyes and a handful of released yellowtail. We would like to give a special thanks to Rich Jenkins and the entire Turners Rod and Reel Club for being such a fine group of people to go fishing with. MISSING JIM CLOUGH AND MARTHA BUMMER, THE GUYS ETA 6am |
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Different We went into the beach for a little change of pace and took full advantage of many long-range benefits: the advantage of time and range enabled us to change our location and attitude. We experienced touch fishing for trophy yellowfin tuna the last couple of days to wide open fishing on yellowtail. Everybody aboard had the opportunity to try all the different methods of enticing yellowtail and all succeeded. Today's picture is one of our favorite regulars, Matt Salas. It is not a coincidence that the lure involved is a Salas CP 105 as Matt has taken over the lure business from his brother, who sadly passed away last year. The tried and true Salas 6x jr was today's bread and butter even though flylined baits were also very effective. 
Moving Up The Line, The Guys We have a cancelled spot on the next 2 trips - one on the 6 day departing Monday and one on the 10 day, departing next Sunday. Call the office for details, 619 223-5414. |
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Nobody Knows We enjoyed a beautiful night on the anchor that included good bait fishing on all different varieties. We caught perfect sized squid and both varieties of mackerel to compliment our ample supply of sardines. Armed and ready, we were looking forward to seeing sign of tuna and hoping that we had what they want. After daylight we hooked our first round of fish on squid, as the fish started showing steady around the boat. It got to the point of frustration, as there was literally no go for all the show. Not due to the lack of fish, but due to their lack of cooperation we pulled our anchor and headed for greener pastures. To try and explain the lack of cooperation would be impossible. Anyone that offers an explanation is purely speculation as nobody has personally talked to one of these tuna lately. About the only thing that we can say for sure is that we hope to be around when they change their attitude. The day was not a total loss as we landed a couple handfuls of these 60-75lb fish to go along with the normal amount of chances at besting one of these trophys. Father-son team Tom and Tim Campbell were part of the triumphant group, as they tested their "Sato" crimp style connections to the maximum. Speculating, The Boys P. S. To Father Joe in South Africa, not only are you missed but we believe. |
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A Start We started up at the North end of the island in search of something to do on our first day. After a few anchor jobs, it became apparent that we'd have to change our address to catch a few fish. Even though the reports coming from the other end of the island were not great, we were forced to take a look anyway. We saw decent sign of fish on one of the points and were able to get established and start hooking a few. We saw pretty good sign of fish all afternoon but had a little trouble finding the cooperative ones. We managed to land about a dozen nice fish and had our fair share of the usual casualties. We were led by our fearless chartermaster, Rich Jenkins, and his 98lb beauty [he wants a shirt]. Tomorrow we are looking forward to a full day of fishing and we hope that it pays off. Martha you are missed more than you can imagine. - not only do the boys need a fishing lesson, they also could use a few pointers about landing them. 
Fingers Crossed, The Guys Hey Gang - we just had a cancellation on the next 2 trips - one on the 6 day and one on the 10 day. Call the office for details, 619 223-5414. |
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Skinny Pirates 5 day pulls it off in the 9th inning The American Angler returned from the first annual Skinny Pirates trip - and we want to thank this great group of individuals for their perseverance and for joining us on this 5 day adventure. Check out our jackpot winners below and our Pirate Leader, Chris Cruger - who loves you Superstar...
1st place: Aaron Plugge 125lb Yellowfin Tuna 2nd place: Bob Barnhill 106lb Yellowfin Tuna 3rd place: Fred Latase 77lb Yellowfin Tuna The boat departed with the annual Turners Rod and Reel Trip - good luck guys! Check back tomorrow night for the first trip report. The A.A. Team |
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FINISHING UP ON A GOOD NOTE! The plan was to try and catch a few Yellows before it was time to bundle up the rods and run up the line for home, and that's just what we did. We only had a few hours to fish, but we took full advantage of that time. The Yellows we caught ranged anywhere from 25 to 35 lbs - which makes for a nice ending. Chris Cruger is the ringleader for The Skinny Pirates and he is responsible for the trip name... photo of the day is Chris's Nephews (Future Pirates of present Pirates). This was just a great group of anglers and they did a great job at the rail - never giving up - and all their hard work finally paid off in the end. Thank You through the slow times and the good times for just being a great group of guys. 
Thank you all so much. Your Crew, Sam, Matt, Ray, Jesse, Taco and Mitch. ETA 0715 Allen, bring the icechest tomorrow - Mas. |
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FINALLY THINGS WENT OUR WAY Today was a good day for the Mighty AA... we worked at it, but when the sun went over the horizon we were all satisfied with the day. There is a good sign of fish on most all the spots here, so there is no doubt in my mind that there is going to be some Big hits soon. Today's tally was 36 of the bigger models for us and the photo of the day is Aaron Plugge with the first place fish tipping the scale at 125 pounds. We are going to spend the morning here at the Island and then run up the road to home. 
GOOD NIGHT, The AA Gang |
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THINGS ARE SLOWLY IMPROVING Today was a better day of fishing than yesterday for all the boats down here at the Island, but it has a lot more potential if you ask me! The weather calmed down and the fish seemed to want what we had in the bait tank, but getting bites were still hard to come by. The thing about this kind of fishing is that when you get a bite, it is such a nice quality fish, that it makes it worth the while. The photo of the day is my buddy Jake De Angelis with one of his Tuna of the day. We are putting all our eggs in one basket in hopes of a better day tomorrow. 
GOOD NIGHT, The AA Team |
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A TUFF DAY ON THE BANKS Wish I had a great catching report tonight but the truth is it was just down right slow fishing. We still saw the fish around this neck of the woods, but what we had to offer - they were not interested in. The photo of the day is Steve Powell with his 68 lb Yellowfin - one of 6 that we caught. We are hopeful that tomorrow things get back on track. 
GOOD NIGHT, The AA Gang |
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Badfish 5 day trip returns The American Angler returned at 7:30am from a 5 day trip - they returned with an earned catch of Tuna and Yellowtail. The guys(and gals) worked for these beautiful tuna - but it looks like all had a good time. Thanks to Louis of Badfish and our regulars we wait all year to see - we had folks come from as far as from Georgia and Hawaii for this adventure. Thanks all!! Check out our jackpot winners below...including a father/son team. 
1st place: Louis Papai 109lb Yellowfin Tuna 2nd place: Liwei Liao 94lb Yellowfin Tuna 3rd place: Dennis Liao 80.5lb Yellowfin Tuna The boat departed for the 1st annual Skinny Pirates limited load trip - Check back tomorrow night for the first trip report. The A.A. Team |
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LAST CHANCE We fished the upper end of the Island for just a couple of hours to finish up our trip today, and caught a couple of Tuna and handful of Yellows for our efforts. The photo of the day is brothers, Bill and Frank, with those fish to button up the trip. We would like to thank Louis Papai of Badfish.com for being our sponsor. Louis has a great group of Anglers that come every year on this trip and we sure enjoy fishing with all of you. 
Thank you all so much, Your Crew. Sam, Ray, Jesse, Billy, Tony, Mitch and Paul. ETA 0730 |
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SOMETIMES IT GOES AS PLANNED Last night when we were having our little family get together in the galley as we do every night - I had told myself that if all of our anglers caught one of these nice Tuna, it would be a success...and by lunchtime today we had accomplished that task. Today we hit it right; we ended the day landing 66 Tuna which is just a great day. The photo of the day is Louis and Liwei with a couple of the bigger models - Louis with a 109lber and Leway's was 92lb. We are going to spend a couple of hours in the morning here and then blast off for home. 
Check it out guys, Lori told me we had a cancellation on Friday's trip and next Wed.'s trip. Call the office for one of these spots and get in on some of this gettin some - 619 223 5414... Good Night, The A.A. Team |
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THE DAY HAD A HAPPY ENDING The Yellowtail game plan didn't quite work out until the 9th inning. We had hopes of arriving at the big Island and getting the job done early, but when we arrived the sign of fish we were looking for was nonexistent. It wasn't until the last few hours of daylight, did we manage to save the game and end the day on a good note with some great fishing that made it all worth the while. We are on our way back outside to give another try for those nice quality Tuna fish. Good Night, The AA Gang |
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ALL GOOD THINGS MUST COME TO AN END FOR NOW! After all the good fishing we have enjoyed the last few weeks, it was time for our Paradise Island to take a day off. It wasn't that we didn't see fish - but it took an act of God to get one to bite your hook...needless to say, it was slow catching today. The photo of the day is the first fish caught this morning landed by one of our Lady anglers, Star Fowler, with her Dad, Mike, assisting for the photo shot. We are making the run to the inside to fish for some Yellows and we hope that they are a little more eager than the Tuna fish. 
Good Night, The A.A. Gang |
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Bob's Sporting Goods 5 day home The American Angler returned from a successful Guadalupe 5 day trip and had a beautiful catch of up to 110lb Yellowfin tuna and a few Wahoo. A huge thanks to our friend, Mike Naoe, and his onboard sponsor, Nathan, for everything and to the Bobs Sporting Goods fishermen for a great time. Check out the jackpot winners below - congratulations guys! 
1st place: Bob Hara 110lb Yellowfin Tuna 2nd place: Greg Stoney 105lb Yellowfin Tuna 3rd place: Todd Phillips 79lb Yellowfin Tuna The boat departed early for the annual 5 day Badfish sponsored trip - Check back tomorrow night for the first trip report. The A.A. Team We just had a cancellation today on upcoming Friday's limited load 5 day trip - call the office @ 619 223 5414. |
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The Guys Today we took a shot offshore looking at a zone that has not been recently covered. Unfortunately we weren't able to find anything worth keeping. By the afternoon it became apparent that we have figured out an area that is not worthy of going back to for awhile. The kelps that we found either were dry or had a grade of mini yellowtail and toaster sized dorado. We would like to thank Nathan Rosser for doing a fine job advising the captain in all aspects of fishing and being a great representative of Bob's Sporting Goods. The store is located in West Los Angeles and specializes in high quality custom fishing rods. 
Coming Home, The Guys ETA 0600 |
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Spreading It Around We spent another day outside on the grounds hoping of a repeat of the day before. The morning started out with concern when there wasn't much sign of fish around. Greg Stoney led it off with a 105lber, but there was nothing much to follow. We pulled the anchor to look for better sign of fish and were pleasantly surprised to find a few wahoo. Todd Kawabata, Bob Hara, and Dean Rhoades were the fortunate ones that landed their fish and there were a few more casualties. After a couple of attempts, we found a spot where we could consistently hook fish and we ended up with another very nice day. Once again the generosity of those with the "hot hand" hooked and handed multiple fish - which helped make everybody a winner. It was an overall great atmosphere as there were lots of chances at hooking and landing these trophy sized fish. 
Enjoying Great Weather, The Guys |
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Pickin' Our morning started at 3:30 am when we got up to snag a little bait. We got enough to pin on the hooks and started the fishing day before daylight. In the grey, we hooked our first fish of the day and so it began. We never had a time period where they were really biting instead you really had to put some time in and "fish" in order to get a bite. Even though at times it was hard work, the dividends paid was worth it. The opportunity to hook fish from 60-120lbs was there every bait. We ended up landing 50 fish, although we really think that we lost a lot of big ones. Today's picture is Bob Hara with his tuna that weighed in at a respectable 112lbs. 
Wish you were here, The Guys We had an opening on the limited load 6 day trip departing Sept 25 - call the office at 619 223 5414 |
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Relative We got to the island mid morning and started looking around. We checked out several of the historic hotspots and saw pretty good sign on one of the ridges that we fish. We had them showing around the boat within a half an hour and started hooking them pretty steady. Unfortunately, we had some bad luck as our hook-to-land ratio was not very good. We thought that we would be able to iron out the wrinkles and get back on track when "they" showed up. We had a pair of white sharks that literally ran us out of our spot in search of a new home. We ended up scratching 23 fish with John Liu and Kenny Itomura teaming up on a 105 lb fish. All in all it was a good day for some, and a tough one for others. There were a few people that had a tough time getting a bite or would have the unfortunate luck of losing them and there were the guys that landed multiple fish. Hopefully tomorrow we will be able to spread these out and everyone will catch one. Enjoying The Weather, The Guys |
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The American Angler returned from a 4 day trip this morning with their share of Yellowtail and Yellowfin tuna. Check out the jackpot winners below - congratulations guys! 
1st place: Tom Szczeblowski 73.0lb Yellowfin Tuna 2nd place: Joe Torres 71.0lb Yellowfin Tuna 3rd place: Richard Sato 69.5lb Yellowfin Tuna 3rd place split: Rick Sikes 69.5lb Yellowfin Tuna The boat departed with the 4th annual 5 day Bob's Sporting Goods trip - Check back tomorrow night for the first trip report. The A.A. Team |
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DIVERSITY We spent the night at the island in hopes of ending the trip with a bang. The morning action started an hour before daylight. We were in the midst of catching bait, when the Yellowfin Tuna showed up and started stealing them off our rigs. We quickly went from bait mode to Tuna mode and several of the first baits cast out were instant bites. Reminiscent of pre-dawn action at the Revillagigedos Islands, we had multiple fish going in the dark. We ended up with a total of 18 fish and pulled the anchor early to begin our choppy ride home. Today's picture is our group of happy anglers led by Brett Edmondson. It is nice to see such a diverse group of individuals mesh together into a machine that is concentrating on having a good time. 
Have a good night, The Guys ETA 7:45am |
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Good We endured a choppy ride out to the island last night but it was worth it. Even before we got there it was evident from reports, there were biting fish. We got the anchor down and started catching fish almost immediately. Throughout the rest of the day, there were times when it was slow but there were definitely times when it was very busy. We ended up with almost 60 fish between 50 and 70lbs and everybody from this diverse group got into the action. It didn't matter - age, gender,or experience level, everybody caught at least one trophy and had a great time. Skip Sato, at the young age of 87, showed everybody that age does not make a difference. 
The Guys We just had a cancellation on our limited load 6 day trip that departs Sept 25th - call the office for details @ 619 223 5414 |
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Afternoon Because of the possibility of being affected by Hurricane John, the common sense decision of our first destination was a no-brainer. We chose to start out fishing yellowtail in order to get a few fish in the sack, just in case the Hurricane would later chase us north. We arrived at San Benitos shortly after lunch and immediately were lucky enough to get on biting fish. We spent the rest of the afternoon pulling on fish and by dark had put together a nice day. Today's picture is father-daughter combo, Rick and Meghan Sikes with no explanation needed - this time spent together for them will be cherished forever. We wish all the people well that were caught in the path of Hurricane John and we are lucky to report that the storm is no longer an issue to us [we are still keeping a close eye on him]. 
Headed For The Loop, The Guys We just had a cancellation on our limited load 6 day trip that departs Sept 25th - call the office for details @ 619 223 5414 |
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Stan Chin/Little Tokyo returns from 5 day The American Angler returned from a 5 day trip this morning at 6am after two island visits, and they brought back a beautiful catch of Tuna and Yellowtail. Check out the jackpot winners below - congratulations guys. Thanks once again to Stanley and everyone onboard! 
1st place: Stan Chin 94.0lb Yellowfin Tuna 2nd place: Nobe Takasaki 78.0lb Yellowfin Tuna 3rd place: Tim Ebner 76.0lb Yellowfin Tuna Honorable Mention: Bret Koshu 50.5lb Yellowtail The boat got away at 10:30am for the Sakamoto 4 day adventure - Check back tomorrow night for the first trip report. The A.A. Team |
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A DAY OF REST AND RELAXATION Not much to report in the way of fish for this morning's action, we did catch a few more nice Yellows last night - but it was going to be a long ride home and we had to get on the stick and go. We really had a good time with Stanley Chin and his great group of anglers this year again...it's always nice to see the same faces and everybody is looking forward to next year's trip already. Thank all of you so much, Your Crew: Sam, Taco, Ray, Matt, Jesse, Mitch, and Paul ETA 0600 |
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SOMETIMES THINGS JUST WORK OUT The idea was to come back out to our Paradise Island in hopes of catching some more quality Tuna for the last day, before it was time to roll up the line. Well, to be quite honest, this morning things didn't look too good upon arrival but we did some adjusting and things went according to plan. We ended the day with 33 Yellowfin Tuna and 35 Yellows ranging in size from 25 to 50 pounds. The photo of the day is Bret Koshu with the jackpot Yellow of the day which did weigh 50.5 lbs. 
GOOD NIGHT AND WE'RE GOING TO ROLL UP IN THE MORNING, The A.A. Gang |
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YANKING AND A CRANKING! Today everybody was a winner - we arrived at one of our favorite Yellowtail spots just after daylight and had good steady action just about all day long til around 3:00 o'clock when we pulled the anchor to head back out to the Big Island. The weather man was wrong today in a good way... it was forecasted for more wind than we have so that just made this day an even better one. Stanley Chin is our Charter Master and every year one of his guests is Toyomi Koshu, owner of Little Tokyo Sushi Bar, who happens to be one of the best Sushi chefs that I know. The photo of the day is Toyomi's spread with his son Bret - they put this beautiful presentation together for all to enjoy!! 
GOOD NIGHT AND WISH US LUCK, The A.A. Gang We've had a cancellation on the 5 day trip that departs next Tues., Sept. 5th - call the office for details @ 619 223 5414. |
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After having good Tuna fishing the last couple of weeks, it was no surprise that this day was in our future. As we were arriving at the Island in the mid morning, the reports didn't sound good. We made it to our destination and saw a little sign of Tuna, got the anchor down and it wasn't long before we hooked the biggest fish of the day - landed by Stan Chin - in today's photo, but it was slow-going from there on out. The conditions were poor and we still saw fish but hooking them was a whole other issue. We are on our way inside to try for some Yellows and just take it from there so wish us good luck. 
GOOD NIGHT, The A.A. Gang |
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James Hardware Family home with 3 fish over 100lbs! The American Angler returned from the annual James Hardware Gang 4 day trip. It was good fishing at Guadalupe for this group of family/friends and congratulations to David Samarin, for his 109.5lber caught on the new Accurate spinning reel (check out the details of this unique trip at Bill Roeckers site - fishingvideos.com/news/). And again, a warm thanks to David J.Samarin, chartermaster of this trip - we'll see you guys next year!
1st place: David Samarin 109.5lb Yellowfin Tuna 2nd place: Gary Samarin 104.5lb Yellowfin Tuna 3rd place: Gabe Berekoff 80.0lb Yellowfin Tuna also pictured is Gary Samarin giving us a better view of his American Angler 100lb shirt - thanks for being a such a good sport Gary and posing for this one! The boat departed early again with the annual Stan Chin/Little Tokyo Charter - with sushi chef and owner of the Little Tokyo Sushi Bar, Toyomi Koshu, on board this year. The guys are in for many culinary delights this trip! Check back tomorrow night for the first trip report. The A.A. Team |
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Again we spent our last day looking at a different part of the offshore ocean in hopes of stumbling upon the lucky kelp or anything to spend the last day of fishing between the Island, and again we found nothing. We're not going to worry about today - but look back on the last couple of days of fishing and this great group of anglers we had to enjoy it with. The James Gang group leader is David Samarin and what a wonderful group he has put together once again this year. We would to just say Thank You to all of the James Hardware Gang for coming out with us this year and we are looking forward to next years trip already. Thank You, Your Crew, Sam, Brian, Matt, Jesse, Ray, Taco, Mitch, and Rick ETA 0600 |
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IT'S ALL ABOUT THE QUALITY! After a very windy night, by daylight the wind had backed off to nothing and as it has
been in the recent past, it wasn't an early morning bite. Shortly after last call for
breakfast we started
to see the first fish around the boat and then it was one, two at a time for
most of the morning. The last couple of days it hasn't been big numbers of Tuna
but by any standard it's good fishing for this grade of fish on any year of fishing this
place. We did catch 3 fish that weighed in over the 100lb mark today and an
easy 50 to 60 lb grade average.
GOOD NIGHT AND KEEP IT FLAT, The A.A. Gang |
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ONE BIG HAPPY FAMILY !! The James Hardware Gang charter is a group of guys that are brothers, first cousins, related by marriage and or just grew up together. We arrived at our Paradise Island this morning after a very nice ride down, got the anchor set and then it took a while before things started to happen. By lunch time it seemed we could keep one or two fish hooked most of the afternoon. All is all we ended the day with 44 tuna and 6 Yellows. The photo of the day is one of the David Samrins (we have a few of them onboard) with one of three fish he caught on the New Accurate spinning reel, this fish weighed in at 63 lbs. 
GOOD NIGHT AND WISH US LUCK, The A.A. Gang |
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Chasin Tuna charter returns from 4 day The American Angler returned from the annual ultra limited load 19 passengers, 4 day trip. It was good fishing at Guadalupe for this group and we want to once again thank Mike Goldsmith for all his hard work putting this group together again! See you next year.... 
1st place: Mark Malone 71.0lb Yellowfin Tuna 2nd place: Pat Noll 70.0lb Yellowfin Tuna 3rd place: Aaron Carvey 68.5lb Yellowfin Tuna The boat got away early with the 6th annual James Hardware Gang Charter - have a great time, guys! Check back tomorrow night for the first trip report. The A.A. Team |
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OFFSHORE NO FISH FISH REPORT... Let's just face the facts, it was pretty tuff to catch just about anything on the offshore scene today, but the weather is laying down which should improve anybody's luck. We spent two days at our Paradise Island and had a great time with Mike Goldsmith and his gang fishing for the trophy Tuna, it's always a pleasure fishing with this limited load group every year and looking forward to next years trip which will be a 5 day trip. Thank all of you very much, Your Crew, Sam, Taco, Matt, Jesse, Tony, Paul, Rick ETA 0600 |
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ANOTHER FINE DAY IN PARADISE We have been very lucky to have such an opportunity to fish the Lee of an Island the last couple of days with the Wind up as it is, and also taking advantage of some good fishing while doing so. We had another good day for the Gang and when the sun went down we had caught 57 of these nice quality Tuna for our efforts. We are enjoying dinner on the anchor before we gain some altitude tonight to be in bright and early on Wednesday. The photo of the day is York and Pat pulling on a couple of these fish.. Tomorrow we are going to settle the trolling Jackpot before we go home. 
The AA gang PS - David Samarin, tell the boys to have plenty of 40lb Gear..... We've had a cancellation on our first upcoming 10 day trip departing Sun Oct 1 and returning Wed. Oct 11 - call the office for more info at 619 223 5414. |
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PARADISE ISLAND There's nothing better than having a Lee of an Island to fish when the wind is blowing, again we had a great day fishing on 40 to 70 lb Tuna. We arrived around 0900 in the morning and pretty much all day long it seemed like one of the Gang had one hooked up at all times, and when the day was done we had landed 46 of these nice Tunas. The photo of the day is some of the Boyz with their fish caught just before dinner. 
The AA Team PS - Bernie, Thanks for wine....they're all too drunk to fish for bait tonight. PSS - Dan, Mike says sorry you missed it and try to stay cool. |
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Uesugi-Kimura charter comes home The American Angler returned with 26 passengers from a 5 day trip with Brian Kiyohara at the wheel. It was fun for all at Bonitas and Guadalupe and the fish were magnificent - check out the jackpot winners below! Thanks to Russ and George for once again putting together a great trip - we'll see you and your guys next year.. 
1st place: Toshi Kimura 105.0lb Yellowfin Tuna 2nd place: Jim Chaussee 81.0lb Yellowfin Tuna 3rd place: Frank Delgado 75.0lb Yellowfin Tuna Honorable mention: Blake LeBeck 40.0lb Yellowtail The boat got away at 10:30am with the 9th annual Chasin' Tuna ultra limited load charter - 19 guys headed out this morning ready to go.... have a great time, guys! Check back tomorrow night for the first trip report. The A.A. Team |
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What It Is Today we fished the "In Between" area that separates the offshore island and home. We have been fishing on the beach the last day, but the last several attempts have been in vain. Although there remains a lot of country to look at, our attempt offshore today resulted in nothing. The day was spent resting tired arms and breaking down equipment as everyone made the best of the day's boat ride. We were fortunate enough to experience world class fishing but we realize that we were very lucky this trip and can't expect this every trip. This year as you probably realize is different than years past. Concentrating on enjoying your fishing experience should be number one and then hopefully it will pay off. Once again fishing with Russell, George and their cast of characters was a great time and we are already looking forward to next year. Playing With The Cards That Are Dealt, The Guys ETA 6:40am |
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Gettin It Done The name of the game at Guadalupe is quality not quantity. As a fleet we fish for tuna at the island typically from June through November. We have seen all different types of conditions but overall it seems like the perfect situation would be to be on anchor with scattered fish showing all around and having a steady pick. Having to fish hard for just a couple of bites a day would quite often be the best that one can ask for. To have the cast out a bait, and put it in gear type fishing doesn't happen all the time and when it happens it is usually just for a brief moment. Today we were lucky enough to be anchored in a good spot where we experienced great steady action. To have the opportunity to have 40-75lb fish boiling around the boat all day and actually be in a "biting" mode most of the time is actually a pleasure that doesn't happen all the time. We ended up the day with over a hundred of these beauties topped out by a few 100lbers as it was about as good as one could ever hope for. Not only did we catch a few but the locals also got in on the action as shown by today's picture with a 60lb hors d'ouvre. 
The Guys |
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Beyond Expectations Whatever we do in life we always set goals and strive to achieve them. We like to set realistic goals when we are planning the fishing day. To have everybody have the opportunity to land a nice quality tuna is a realistic goal that is many times not met. Even when fishing is good at the "Loop" there are often people that have a run of tough luck - whether it be white sharks, unbuttoned hooks, or just pure frustration that may end the day without a fish. Today was not one of those days. It started with the Polaris Supreme going out of their way to save us the "honey hole". Through the generosity of Tom Rothery, we were fortunate enough to have steady fishing on 40 to 70lb fish from the time we arrived at ten in the morning til dark. It was by far the best fishing that we have seen here as the sign of a few scattered fish developed into 2-8 hookups all day. Pictured is the happy crew with a stock yellowfin tuna. 
The Guys P.S. Happy Birthday Yoshi From Your Beloved Husband Norm |
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The Goal This morning traveling down there was a lot of time to think - when your eta is after lunch. Our goal of fishing yellows was to get some action and ensure that everybody aboard had a few fish to take home. We told ourselves that if we came close to catching our daily limits, we would head offshore and give the outside a full day and a half. We ended up having great action once we got to the island and after 5 hours of steady fishing, we had reached our goal. We pulled the anchor and plotted our westerly course for a try at some jackpot tunafish. Today's picture is two long-time friends. Sam Patella is shown helping George Uesugi hold up a nice yellow... one of many that these two have taken part of with each other over the last twenty five years. 
The Guys |
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4 day August open returns The American Angler returned with 27 passengers from a 4 day Island/offshore excursion and Yellowtail swept the jackpot. A big thanks to everyone on board this trip - Rusty Bennett & Sean Pena from Oakley, Doug Hone and his group from Nevada, the Yoshimoto family and our other new passengers. Check out our jackpot winners below! 
1st place: Charlie Hone 28.0 lb YT 2nd place: Brent Curtis 26.2 lb YT 3rd place: Art Swerdloff 23.4 lb YT And pictured with one of his fish, Supreme Yellowtail catcher - Matt Bennett The boat got away at 10:30am with the annual Uesugi-Kimura charter - have a great time, guys! The A.A. Team |
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IN BETWEEN Today we worked up the line all day in beautiful 70-72 degree water in search of the magic school or kelp. With the presence of juvenile Yellowfin Tuna and Yellowtail, the targeted species was Dorado. After 11 hours of diligent glassing, all that we could come up with was one lonely fish. At the present time the ' In Between' area that separates San Diego and the islands remains very tough. But not to worry because as quickly as things change for the worse, things get better. The photo of the day is our grateful group of anglers who enjoyed good weather and a pleasant day of fishing "up the line". We would like to thank everyone on this open trip from the regulars to old friends from our Pacific Queen days for making the past four days so enjoyable. 
The Guys ETA 0615 |
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Mission Accomplished !! We came down to the lower islands to fish for yellows and have some fun. It took several anchor adjustments throughout the day as conditions were changing rapidly. When we got the boat in the correct spot the yellowtail did their part by biting full speed. Everyone aboard got to hoot and holler because for several hours it was controlled pandemonium. Our diverse group of anglers meshed together and spread the wealth as some of the more experienced anglers helped others catch more fish. Tomorrow we will be looking and hoping for that special kelp on our bow holding the opportunity for Dorado and Yellowfin Tuna, as we work up the line towards home. Today's photo is of the unusual anchor Dorado caught by Andy Davis. 
The guys |
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Full Circle !! The bunch of folks that we are lucky enough to have aboard this trip is one of our most refreshing groups that we have had in a long time. Please don't get me wrong as we enjoy all of our groups but this one brings back old times. The nucleus of this group is from one of our rent rod charters from the Pacific Queen as this is probably the only trip of the year that the majority is not regulars (hopefully they will be). With this in mind we hoped to bend some rods and have some fun catching some Yellowtail to start the trip. We had it all today as in the beginning we learned how to use the equipment and by the end of the day everyone not only had a few fish in the sack but also became comfortable with a rod and reel ready to do some damage tomorrow. Today's picture is one of the most important reasons why we should go fishing. To proudly watch our significant others, son, daughter, or our grandchildren enjoy the same thing that we do has to be full circle. Matt Bennett shows the reason why we fish in one photo and the other shot is of the priceless father-son bond that is glued together by sharing the same interest.
Ready for tomorrow !! The guys |
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Good albacore fishing !! The boat returned this morning with a nice catch of albacore, some yellowtail, and a few dorado. We would like to thank the trip sponsor Angler's Choice Tackle & charter master Frank for all the nice prizes. There was a rumour going around that the shaker (margarita's) was the hot trolling ticket for the albacore. We had a last minute cancellation today, we have 1 spot open on our Mon Aug 14 - 19 five day trip open up. Please give Lori a call at the office (619) 223-5414 if you would like to join us on the trip. 
1st place: Alex Lail 37.6 lb Albie 2nd place: David Karlin 36.4 lb Albie 3rd place: Robert Starkey 35.8 lb Albie Honorable mention Melissa Palmer 33.2 lb Albie Thank you all. Your Crew. Sam, Matt, Jesse, Tony, Taco, Mitch, Paul and Lori. |
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THE WIND BACKED OFF TODAY, AHH!!! We anchored up on one of our offshore Hotspots late last night to more or less enjoy a nice quiet night after a long day of choppy weather. This morning when everybody was having coffee, the weather had come down quite a bit; we scratched a few nice quality Yellows on the anchor before we pulled it and ran for the Albacore zone to give it a try. Late in the afternoon we did manage to find the right part of the area to get it on, a few stops before it was time to head it for the barn. The photo of the day is Melissa and Jesse with the biggest Yellow of the trip, for sure. We would like to Thank all the gang for coming out on this 4 day trip with us sponsored by Anglers Choice Tackle - it was a lot of fun as it is every year. 
Thank you all. Your Crew. Sam, Matt, Jesse, Tony, Taco, Mitch, Paul and Lori. ETA 0830 PS Amy, Happy anniversary, I love you, Harvey |
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I HATE IT WHEN THE WIND BLOWS! No beating around the bush tonight - the wind started blowing last night and through out the day sometimes up to 20 knots.. lets face the facts, it just seems we have not had good fishing on the Albacore in those conditions. We did manage to catch a few Longfins early in the morning, but let's just say it was a long day. We are going to spend the day offshore again tomorrow and hope for less wind and more fish. GOOD NIGHT AND SOMEBODY TURN THE WIND MACHINE OFF! The Windburn Crew |
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A FINE DAY ON THE BANKS! Today the weather was down and the fish were up. We had steady action on Albacore just about all day long, stopping on spots where some wanted to bite and some didn't, but by the end of the day we had put together a great day of fishing. The weather system right now is that the further West, the better the weather, as if one was fishing down the beach - there is more wind nearshore than offshore so we are in luck as far as the weather goes. We are going to try our luck again out here in the Longfin zone, and take it from there. The photo of the day is Mel and Tony posing on the bow. 
GOOD NIGHT, The AA Gang |
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Ty's Tuna Charter home The American Angler returned this morning with Yellowfin and Yellowtail from this limited load charter. Thanks once again to Ty, for organizing this trip and bringing all these great guys on board! Check out the jackpot winners below - congratulations guys. 
1st place: Dan Spiegel 60.0 lb YFT 2nd place: James Hasselberg 58.0 lb YFT 3rd place: David Kitchens 57.5 lb YFT The boat got away early again with the limited load Anglers Choice annual 4 day trip. Good luck and have a great time! Check back tomorrow night for their first trip report. |
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Timing This years warm water fishing has been a little different than most. Now that the water is 70 plus degrees everywhere there are fish spread out all over the ocean. Whether it is at Alijos Rocks, the Rockpile at the Coronados or even Santa Monica Bay, it seems like there are Dorado everywhere. Like everything, there is also two sides to every story. Cooler water species like Albacore and Bluefin although still around only make brief appearances in the upper water column which makes them harder to locate. However when found, these fish can still bite with the same vengeance as other more "typical" years. It seems that even though conditions are different we are still able to have successful trips. This years gang that assembled with Ty meshed together to make this a great trip. Even though there was some scratchy fishing there was also great fishing . No matter what the situation was this group made the best of it. Unlike yesterday's great fishing, today we scratched away on a few Yellowtail and Dorado on kelps. Ty made the most of it by using light line and having fun as shown in today's photo assisted by Matt. 
Hoping For Good Timing, The Guys |
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Sore There are several different types of sore in this world but one of the best is the feeling that many of our folks aboard experienced today. That kind of sore is from pulling on fish and cranking jigs from morning til dark. We arrived at San Benitos Islands mid-morning and right away we saw pretty good sign of fish. At first the fish didn't bite real well, but eventually our timing was right and we had a couple of successful anchor jobs. The fish bit flylined sardines, yo-yo jigs and the surface plug as it was pretty much pick your poison. Today's shot is everybody's hero, Ray Lopez, giving Dave Gunther a hand with one of his yellowtail. 
Having Fun, The Guys |
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Snowball Today we fished beautiful Guadalupe Island with Ty's Tuna charter - we didn't get down to the tuna grounds until lunchtime. As with most of the fishing that we do, it took us a while to get situated. There was a small amount of scattered tuna around and as it gathered around us, we were able to pick at them for a few hours. It was the classic one to four hookups at a time, with some happy endings and some sad ones. The overall personality of this group is great because even though it was very tough to get a bite and even harder to land them, there was no visible frustration. This island is king for the snowball effect. That means once frustration sets in, it only gets worse. Because of the good attitude - we were able to overcome the scratch fishing and sharks and were able to land 13 nice trophy fish. Pictured is our leader Ty Breitman and Richard Mandel with a tuna that narrowly escaped the jaws of a Great White Shark. 
Looking For Fish, The Guys |
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Harry Yamada annual 4 day charter home The American Angler returned this morning with Albacore.... Thanks again to Harry, Roger and all the gang that fishes this trip! Check out the jackpot winners below - congratulations guys. 
1st place: Roger Kuramoto 36.4 lb Albacore 2nd place: Tokichi Ouchi 33.4 lb Albacore 3rd place: Joseph Liu 32.8 lb Albacore The boat got away early again with Ty's 3rd annual 4 day charter. See you guys back here on Sunday! Check back tomorrow night for their first trip report. |
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WIND IS UP AND THE FISH ARE DOWN Today was one of those days we wish to forget soon, after having flat calm weather and good fishing the first couple of days of the trip and then the wind picks up and the fishing well let's just say, Not so good. The fish are in that nighttime mode which should only last a few days and then get back on the bite for all of us. We would like to say Thanks to Harry Yamada's Gang for being part of this Albacore adventure. We look forward to fishing with all of you next year. Thank you, your Crew Sam, Brian, Matt, Tony, Ray, Paul, Rick and Lori. ETA 0615 |
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DIFFERENT DAY We saw good sign of fish in the dark before the sun came up over the horizon and without a doubt thought we could repeat yesterday's performance. Well... it is Albacore fishing, the fish came up for just a short period in the morning and let me tell you it was a long day before they showed themselves again right before dark. The photo of the day is Gary Teraoka with a Fatso for the day. We are going to fish these Longfins again tomorrow and finish up the trip. 
GOOD NIGHT AND HOPE THEY BITE, The AA gang |
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REGULATION ALBACORE FISHING Well it only took til July, but better late than never. Through a huge effort by all the long-range boats, there was the Real Deal Albacore pinned down just a couple of days ago, and today it felt like this may last for a little while. The weather still is just beautiful and by the end of the day we had 166 Albacore marked down of the fish board, and any way you Slice and Dice that, it was a great day of fishing. The photo of the day is Tony and Mas Kaneko, Mas is still getting his share at the rail. 
GOOD NIGHT AND SLEEP TIGHT, The AA gang |
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Kens Custom Reels 5 day trip home The American Angler returned this morning with a great group of people and a nice catch. We want to once again thank Ken Corwin and everyone on board this trip. Check out the jackpot winners below - congratulations! 
1st place: Jim Breckenridge 69.0 lb Yellowfin Tuna 2nd place: Ed Royles 64.5 lb Yellowfin Tuna 3rd place: Scott Cummings 64.0 lb Yellowfin Tuna Honorable Mention: Dennis Steinmetz 51.5 lb Yellowtail The boat got away before noon with the 8th annual Harry Yamada/Roger Kuramoto charter. Roger-thanks for all the wonderful pastries from Kings Hawaiin Bakery that you supplied for everyone!!! Check back tomorrow night for their first trip report. |
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THAT'S ALL FOLKS Today we spent the day in search of the Mighty Longfin; we traveled a lot of water to find a few stops for our efforts. There still is a fair sign of Albacore in a few different areas but those stops are hard to come by sometimes. The weather is wonderful which made it great for looking around. We made the full tour on this trip fishing - Cedros, Benitos, Guadalupe and to finish it up ..offshore. This was a great group of Guys and Gals and we would like to Thank Ken Corwin and Wes for being the sponsors with us on this great trip, and everybody else that was a part of it. 
Thank you, your Crew. Sam, Brian, Jesse, Tony, Taco, Mitch, Rick and Lori. ETA 0730 ps. Happy Birthday Aurora. I love you. Rick |
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NICE QUALITY FISH! We started at Paradise Island in hopes of getting some nice quality fish for the trip. This morning we had some southeast wind with south swell, which was left over from the Hurricane that was down below us at 200 miles. We had a steady pick on 40 to 60lb Yellowfin Tuna for most of the day and for about one hour they decided to bite for us before it was time to start heading up the line. The photo of the day is one of our Lady anglers, Leann, with her 63lb Tuna. We are on our way up the line to look Offshore tomorrow to finish up the trip. 
GOOD NIGHT AND LOOKING FOR THE GOING-HOME STOP, The AA Gang |
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WESTWARD BOUND We had good action on Yellows for most of the morning and now it's time to make the run out to the west to try to pick up some Tuna type fish. The weather has been very nice the last couple of days - flat calm, hot and humid. When the weather is like this it is like the roller coaster ride you never want to end but as we all know it will. The photo of the day is our Fearless leaders, Ken and Wes, with one of the nicer Yellows that were caught today. 
GOOD NIGHT, The AA Gang |
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THE LONG RUN WAS WORTH IT! Day one, we got an early start and decided to make the run down to Benitos to fish the first day of the trip for Yellows. The weather is flat calm and when we arrived it took only a little time to get adjusted and in place - by the late afternoon things started to click in our favor. The photo of the day is Capt. Tony with the handy gaff for Miss Sonia with one of her many fish of the day. We are going to have a little bait party tonight and fish Yellows again tomorrow and move on with the trip. 
GOOD NIGHT AND HOPE THE BAIT BITES GOOD, The AA Gang |
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5 day Sport Chalet trip returned this morning Thanks to all the Sport Chalet passengers and to our sponsor Brad, for another fantastic trip. This trip produced Yellowfin Tuna, Albacore and Yellowtail. Check out our jackpot winners below - congratulations guys! 
1st place: Bob Falkenberg 48.4 lb Yellowfin Tuna 2nd place: Scott McKay 41.8 lb Albacore 3rd place: Daniel Fischer 41.0 lb Albacore The boat got away at noon with Ken's Custom Reels 5 day trip - go get 'em guys!! Check back tomorrow night for their first trip report. |
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THE FINAL TREK Today was a day to go look at a part of the ocean that nobodys looked at to try to find a little somethin somethin. Trust me it was a gamble but as my Daddy use to tell me, Son if you go looking for fish you just might find some. We started down around 200 miles from home in the morning and it was looking not-so-good, but as it turned out things worked out and we did find a couple of kelps that helped make the day for us. We also stumbled across a school of Yft that were biting good for a little while which also made the day. The photo of the day is some of the gang which most likely at some time in their life sat at the back of the bus - because that's where all the Cool kids used to sit... this is what they do while waiting for last call to dinner. We managed to put together a nice trip in the last few days considering the way the fishing has been and it really was a lot fun with the gang we had onboard. We would like to say Thanks to everybody for being a part of this trip - we caught some nice Quality fish and covered a lot of ocean to put it together. The Sports Chalet trips are always a great group of Guys and we would like to Thank our sponsor Brad Lemoine for all the free line for everybody and just being here with us. 
Thanks to all. Your Crew. Sam, Matt, Ray, Taco, Jesse, Mitch, Paul and Lori. ETA 0730 |
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QUALITY NOT QUANTITY Today was the day to try our luck at some anchor fishing, and that's just what we did. We had a fair day on these Big Yellows which was a lot of fun for all to enjoy. The photo of the day is Jason and Brian with a sneak peak of the size fish we were catching. Tomorrow we are heading back to the offshore scene in hopes of finding our going-home stop. 
GOOD NIGHT, The Gang |
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ON OUR GAME Today we had one thing on our minds and that was Albacore, we devoted the day to being on the fish when it popped up and that's just what we did. This area of fish has been moving up the line 5 to 8 miles a day which is a great thing for the local fleet but there are just a couple of windows of time when these beautiful grade of Albacore come up the surface and you better be in striking distance. The photo of the day shows a little bit of what was going on the AA today. We are going to leave it up to the weekend warriors to keep the Alby zone honest so we're on our way down to the Big Island to try our luck there tomorrow. 
GOOD NIGHT, The Gang |
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A LITTLE BIT OF EVERYTHING We started out fishing in the local zone to begin our trip. We spent a good part of the day fishing Kelps which produced some nice grade Yellows and a few Dorados. The late afternoon we concentrated on getting some Albies. When the day was done we had a fair day with good variety. We are going to give it another day here and hope for a big hit tomorrow, so wish us luck. GOOD NIGHT, The Gang |
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The boat returned this morning from great fishing - a nice catch of Albacore, Yellowfin tuna, Yellowtail and one beautiful Opah. Thank you to all our regulars and newcomers to this charter and thank you Jim Bostian for organizing the trip and for the spectacular give aways. 
1st place: Richard Clark 60.0 lb Yellowfin Tuna 2nd place: BJ Beck 58.0 lb Yellowfin Tuna 3rd place: Bob Francis 55.0 lb Yellowfin Tuna Honorable mention: Steve Mellintin 52.0 lb Opah The boat got away at 11:30am with the Sport Chalet 5 day trip - have a great time guys!! Check back tomorrow night for their first trip report. |
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Generosity The guys that are members of the annual Crystal Pier charter are one of our most unique fishing groups. By far and away this group is our most laidback charter of the year. Even though they are some of our most talented fishermen, the need to fish at every possible moment is not a priority. Saying this is an understatement, as quite often in the evening a glass of wine, good conversation or a book that couldn't be set down would definitely take precedence. More often than not, the last stop of the day would be just a couple of guys and part of the crew (as evidence in one of our pictures of Tony Villasenor participating in the final bait stop of the day) as most people were more content to watch and enjoy. The backbone of the trip is our respected charter master Jim Bostian. He is one of the most generous individuals that we ever had the pleasure to meet. Not only are the raffle prizes and give always exceptional, the generosity that Jim exudes is contagious. Our daily photo from left to right consists of Scott Stoyan, Dale Monday and Bob Williams. The dorado that Scott captured would not be possible without the generosity of Bob. When we stopped on a kelp, Bob instantly hooked this nice dorado and was generous enough to lose it(the fish swallowed the hook and the line was abraded by its teeth) in order to let Scott hook the released fish on his very next bait (smart fish). As mentioned above, we started out catching a few nice dorado and yellowfin and then ended this beautiful day with some classic stop and go fishing on big albies. 
Looking Forward to Next Year, The Guys |
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No Current... No Fish We got to the island in the morning with high hopes of catching some trophy fish. When we got in the zone there was pretty good sign of scattered yellowfin tuna on the machines. We set up at one of the spots that we are confident in and proceeded to wait. We had fish showing around the boat, but fishing was a pick at best. There was absolutely no current which not only made it hard to get a bait out away from the boat, it also made the fish seem lethargic. We managed to keep a tuna or yellowtail hooked most of the time but never had more than two going at once. We managed some nice tuna, like the couple displayed by Ron Hughes and Jim Beck (photo supplied by son BJ). We then got tired of the "all show no go" and pulled the anchor and headed down the island. Late in the day keeping the faith payed off with a yellowtail flurry that quickly erased the memories of pick fishing. 
Enjoying Beautiful Weather, The Guys |
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Classic We as sportfishing captains often classify 25-35lb albacore that are found in a little warmer water, as "fatso's". When it comes to the different pelagic fish that we catch, these "fatso's" are near the top of the list. When they are around and in the mood they are aggressive and a fast-biting fish but like everything there are two sides to the story. These fish are notorious for being a time-of-day biting fish. What this means is that the fleet can drive around all day without a fish and all of a sudden the fish come up and simultaneously the entire fleet will get stopped - even if they are separated by twenty miles. As good as this sounds, it also means that if their bite window is small our catches will be limited. Today was one of those days where these fish had an extremely small bite window. It seemed that even though fish were seen all day, bites were hard to come by. Limited to only a few stops today (17 fish) we chose our other option of kelping. We had enough action throughout the day to make things interesting as we picked away at the yellowtail, dorado, and school-sized yellowfin tuna. We also had a pleasant surprise with a nice opah caught on the iron by Steve Mellentin and displayed by Matthew O'Reilly Romaine (hi mom). Unfortunately for the fleet today the "fatso's" displayed their classic nonbiting routine. 
Hoping For A Jackpot, The Guys |
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Important When booking a long range fishing trip, one has to think about what is important. The gang from Crystal Pier is comprised of a nucleus of regulars along with old friends being introduced to this great experience. Even though everyone aboard caught plenty of albacore and yellowfin, everybody took the time to enjoy their vacation. Whether it was reading a book, father and son bonding, enjoying a nice cold beer, or just taking a nap - getting away from the everyday stress of life is what seemed to matter to this bunch. Enough of this cr-p, let's get to the fishing. This morning started off with a mixed-up and confused sea condition. There was a NW swell,a large S swell, Uphill current and about 20kts of breeze which made fishing conditions very tough. The fish on the other hand had no problems going about their daily business. There is good sign of small bait around and the fish could be seen busting through the baitballs even in these tough conditions. We had steady fishing all day and many times fish could be hooked at will. We ended up with over a hundred fat albacore(top fish weighed 43lbs) and close to the magical mark with yellowfin as rods were bent most of the day. Will Work On A Picture Tomorrow, The Guys |
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San Fernando Japanese American Fishing Club back from their 5 day trip The American Angler returned this morning at 7:15am with a beautiful catch of Yellowfin, Albacore and Yellowtail (and 3 Bluefin). Thanks so much to everyone on this trip - we look forward to seeing you every year and a special thanks to Al Tokunaga and Eddie Wong. Check out the jackpot winners below - 
1st place: John Specht 60.8 lb White Seabass 2nd place: Howard Hirokane 57.2 lb Yellowfin Tuna 3rd place: Al Tokunaga 52.2 lb Yellowfin Tuna The boat departed at noon with the 4th annual 5 day Crystal Pier Charter led by Jim Bostian - have a great trip guys! Check back tomorrow night for the first report. |
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Good Trip When I was down in the galley somebody asked me if I thought this was a good trip? Some of our best long range experiences have come on trips that had tough fishing. Some of our worst experiences have come on trips where we absolutely killed them. On tough trips everyone pulls together and every fish landed is not only appreciated but the fisherman is congratulated by all. On wide-open fishing trips quite often our worst emotions (jealousy and greed) come to the surface. Al Tokunaga, the SFVJAFC and other fishing guests that participated in this year's 5 day trip got the best of both worlds. Not only did everyone get along, we were blessed by good fishing. As far as fishing is concerned, we once again lucked out by being at the right place at the right time and ended up with a beautiful catch of albacore to 35lbs and yellowfin tuna some of which are going to push the scale to around 50lbs. Tonight's shot is from a couple of days ago and its participants are John Specht and every fishermans dream. 
Have A Good Night, The Guys We had 2 spots open up on a 5 day from 7/24 - 7/29. Call the office at 619 223 5414... |
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Uh Oh Remember a few days ago when we talked about the unpredictability of fish, well it happened again. For two days the fleet experienced steady albacore fishing and we all hoped that it would continue for a couple more months. As we were traveling from down below there was nothing but concerned chatter as there was very little fish seen and caught. The general consensus was the hope of an afternoon bite. Unfortunately it ended up being pretty tough overall for the most of the fleet. We all hope that today was just a momentary lapse in what turns out to be a successful season for everyone. Today we were fortunate to have seats right behind home plate. We were lucky enough to possess the golden horseshoe and were able to string together a few stops. We ended up with over a hundred nice albacore from 20-35lbs and had twenty-five bonus nice yellowfin up to 45lbs, but we were the exception rather then the rule. In today's picture we have Wally Wachi, Ken Itomura, and Glenn Matsushita with a sample of today's fish (do you think rice,wasabi, and soy sauce are in their future?). 
Hoping For Good Seats To The Game, The Guys We just had 2 spots open up on an upcoming 5 day trip sponsored by Kens Custom Reels, departing July 24 and returning July 29 - call the office. |
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Fast Whenever we have a moon phase, things seem to change one way or another. We traveled down to fish yellows where reports from the previous day were good. When we pulled the anchor after fishing for bait, we went to set up for yellows but found current conditions to be nonexistent. We were forced to seek them out but there was very little fish sign. We then stopped on a few puddling fish and set up for a long drift. We picked at the nice grade yellows for a couple of hours and also caught a bonus big halibut and a 60lb white sea bass. While we were drifting, we noticed that the current had picked up in velocity and made the proper adjustments. We set up a structure area "by the book" upcurrent of the whole kelp area. When we put the anchor down, we immediately had several fish hooked and the yellowtail then proceeded to bite full speed. Kris Wagen and Tony are proof positive that good fishing conditions combined with eager fish equivilates to lots of fun. 
Biting Fast, The Guys |
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Pleasant Surprise To say that the ocean works in mysterious ways is an understatement. We can only guess what makes the fish bite or where they disappear to when the ocean is like a desert - but I'm positive everyone has their own opinion. The only thing that we can say for sure is that quite often as fast as they disappear, they can reappear. Being that my partner is one of the hardest working captains in the fleet, last trip's tough catching days did not end when it got dark. Instead he drove around at night looking for a likely fishing spot for the next day and for several nights he saw good fish around. Due to powers out of our control, when daylight would arrive the fish would disappear. He told me that the fish would pop up again soon and today was that day as several boats in the San Diego fleet connected with albacore. We are hoping that the fish stay up and bite for many more days to come and in the short term that we can be a part of it before this trip is over. Today we traveled down towards the island and experienced decent tuna fishing on 12-20lb yellowfin mixed with yellowtail and a few dorado thrown in for good measure. Tomorrow we are looking forward to an enjoyable day fishing on the anchor. Keep The Faith, The Guys |
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The American Angler returned this morning at 7:30am. Even though the first two days of the trip was slow fishing, they had a nice day yesterday and came home with a variety of quality fish - Yellowfin, Bluefin, Yellowtail and Albacore. And once again, a big thanks to Brad Lemoine and the passengers!! Check out the jackpot winners below - 
1st place: Tony Swezey 43.2 lb Bluefin Tuna 2nd place: Sean Green 36.8 lb Bluefin Tuna 3rd place: Kelly Montgomery 36.0 lb Albacore The boat departed at noon with the 4th annual 5 day charter for the San Fernando Valley Japanese American Fishing Club - it was great to see everyone! Check back tomorrow night for the first report. |
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SUCCESS! Well, with the last couple of days of fishing being a little on the slow side, it had only one direction to go, that is up. The day started with a couple of short stops on Albacore, then we found a kelp with some 15 to 25lb Yellows, followed by a long drift on Bluefin mixed with some Yellowfin Tuna. It was a great day. When fishing is really good there is always a time when it slows down, fact. It just so happened, that slow time was the first couple of days of the trip and today was a glimmer of hope for the days to come. Thanks to everybody that was on the trip for being just great people and Thanks to our sponsor Brad Lemoine of Sport Chalet as well. Thank You. Your Crew, Sam, Ray, Matt, Jesse, Tony, Rick, Mitch and Lori. ETA 0730 |
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A GLIMMER OF HOPE! Today was not a good day of fishing for the fleet, but throughout the night we did see good sign of fish. It wasn't until the sun was going down, however, did we have the chance to catch any. We ended the day with a stop on Albacore where we landed 12 fish to add to a few Yellows and Yellowfin for the day. Tomorrow is the day to do it, let's end it with a bang. GOOD NIGHT, The A.A. Team P.S. To all fish in the Eastern Pacfic, we don't get mad....we get even! |
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THE LONGEST DAY OF THE SEASON Things sounded good when we left the dock yesterday that here on the grounds would produce some Tuna type fish for us today, but that's not what went down. We did not catch any Tuna at all, just a few scattered Yellowtail here and there throughout the day. There were a couple of boats that did get the Lucky schools of fish to bite for them but we were not so lucky today. We got time, we got hope, we got cold beer and most importantly IT'S NOT OVER YET. GOOD NIGHT AND WISH US LUCK, The A.A. Team |
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HAPPY 4th OF JULY! The American Angler returned from a day and a half trip at 9am. The trip was a bonanza!! Bluefin up to 57lbs, Yellowfin Tuna, Yellowtail and Albacore. It was unbelieveable fishing and a fun day for everyone. A big thanks to all our passengers on board this trip. The jackpot winner was Larry Thomas with his 57lb Bluefin Tuna. Congratulations! The boat departs tomorrow at noon with the Sport Chalet 4 day trip sponsored by Brad Lemoine. See you then and check back for fish reports on this trip. Until then.....Have a Happy 4th of July, All! American Angler |
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ONE AND A HALF DAY SUMMER FUN What a fun day we had.. flat calm weather, good fishing and don't forget ice cold beer. Most all of the anglers onboard today booked this trip many months ago - who knew that it was going to be one of our very best days of offshore fishing yet this season. We got started right at the crack of dawn and stayed busy just about all day stopping on various spots of Yellowfin, Bluefin and also Albacore. We did have that 3 hour dry period in the afternoon but finished up with a late bite on 30 to 40 Bluefin to end our day. On behalf of the American Angler Crew, we would like to say Thanks to all that were a part of today's trip and may you all have a Happy 4th of July tomorrow night. Your Crew, Sam, Matt, Taco, Tony, Jesse, Rick, Paul and Lori. ETA 0900 |
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The American Angler returned this morning at 8am with a nice variety - Yellowtail, Bluefin, Yellowfin and a few Albacore managed to find their way onto the boat as well. We want to thank everyone for being a part of this trip. A special thanks to Barry for the great pictures! Check out the jackpot winners below - Father and son took 1st and 2nd with their Yellowtail. 
1st place: Pete Hanson 45.6 lb Yellowtail 2nd place: Drew Hanson 40.4 lb Yellowtail 3rd place: Skip Stenbro 39.4 lb Yellowfin The boat departed at noon with our one summer 1.5 day trip - have fun folks! Check back tomorrow night for their offshore report. |
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FINISHING IT UP WITH A BANG It is always nice to finish a trip with a, as we call it, a going home stop. That's just how it went down today. After a not-so-nice ride up the line last night, throughout the day the weather did improve and so as the day progressed everything worked out. This morning we found a kelp with plenty of nice grade Yellowtail and some Yellowfin Tuna mixed in for the morning action then it was a long intermission before that last stop of the trip: Bluefin, Yellowfin and a couple of those Longfin to cap off the trip. All in all we had a great trip with a little bit of everything but what made this trip so great was all of the nice Anglers we had onboard to experience it with. 
Thank you all so much. Your Crew. Sam, Jimmy, Taco, Jesse, Tony, Paul, Mitch and Lori. ETA 0800 |
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ROLLING UP THE LINE After the last couple of days of fishing for these beautiful grade of Yellowtail, I would like to say each fish that was caught was earned. Some trips you drive down to one of our favorite spots and get the job done in a hurry, but there are times you actually have to put your time in at the rail to put a catch together (as we had to do today). The gang had a great time fishing for Yellows, but now it's time to head back offshore to target those Tuna type fish and finish the trip. The photo of the day is Pete and his son Drew with their big Yellows caught today. I think Pete has first place in the Jackpot with his 47lb fish, for the time being. 
GOOD NIGHT, The A.A. Team P.S. Happy Birthday Butch, from Grandpa. |
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ISLAND FISHING Today it was time to tie on our Yoyo jigs and Surface Plugs and go fish for some Yellows. We finally got located in the early afternoon, got started and tied into some of these nice grade Tails. We put together a healthy score for the time we spent fishing, and will enjoy another day here before we roll up the line to spend our last day fishing offshore. The photo of the day is some of the Gang showing off their stuff. 
GOOD NIGHT AND WE'RE SLEEPING IN THE LEE, The Team |
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A BLIND SQUIRREL FINDS A NUT EVERY ONCE IN AWHILE With not-so-hot reports down in the Bluefin zone, we took it upon ourselves to branch out and look at some different water today in hopes of finding a little somethin somethin. After many hours of circumnavigating the ocean we had nothing to show for our efforts til around 3:00 o'clock in the afternoon when we found the nut we had been searching for all day. It's funny how within a matter of just a few minutes things can change...Bingo, the Bluefin were boiling right on the corner. Needless to say it made our day. We are switching over to Yellowtail mode for tomorrow and trying our luck later in the offshore scene. GOOD NIGHT AND I'D RATHER BE LUCKY THAN GOOD ANY DAY OF THE WEEK, The Gang |
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The boat returned this morning with Mike Farnsworth's limited load 5 day charter with a nice catch including Yellowfin Tuna, Bluefin Tuna and nice Yellowtail. We want to thank Mike for his hard work all year putting his charters together and all his gang for joining us again - we'll see you in November! Check out the jackpot winners below 
1st place: Charles "Lucky" Reynolds 47.4 lb Yellowfin 2nd place: Don Garcia 40.6 lb Bluefin 3rd place: John Yarbrough 39.6 lb Yellowfin Honorable Mention: Chad Schwartz(16th bday) 33.0 lb Yellowtail The boat departed at noon with an open party 5 day trip - lot's of familiar faces on board and some new ones too. Go get 'em guys. Stay tuned for a report tomorrow night. |
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Down The more experience that we get on the water teaches us one important thing. The more that we learn about fish makes us realize how much that we actually don't know. We planned to finish off the trip with some tuna action while enjoying nice weather. One of the two cooperated - as the wind and sea condition was beautiful. The fishing on the other hand was very tough. The area where there has been decent sign of fish, today seemed like a desert. It's funny how on the same day the bluefin area, the local area, and even the sand bass area all took a powder. More important than the fish, were our wonderful passengers we had aboard. Being experienced fishermen, they took the good days and tough days in stride. Special thanks to Mike Farnsworth for putting together such a great group. Learning All The Time, The Guys |
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Not Every Day Today we ventured offshore looking for some jackpot type fish. With choppy weather and positive fish reports, the move outside seemed like a no brainer. Coming into the island we saw a few jumping 20 pound tuna and we thought it would be game on. Little did we know that in the next 12 hours, catching would be very slim. We ended up with one tuna which was caught by Lucky Reynolds and a couple of handfuls of big yellows. However, even though we didn't catch much fish, we were able to enjoy plenty of sunscreen and flat calm weather. 
Always Hoping To Catch, The Guys |
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Good Grade After a day of offshore feast and famine, we decided to try our hand at catching some yellows. When we got to the area in the morning, the birds were already hard at work. They made it very easy to determine where the fish were and left it up to us to figure out how to capitalize on the situation. We promptly dropped the anchor and proceeded to keep 3 to 8 fish hooked for several hours. The bonus of the whole picture was that the grade of fish was between 18 and 30 pounds as well as the visual display of aggressive feeding behavior. We are proud to have our husband and wife team, Kevin and Deb Klopfenstein, show off a pair of these fine specimens. 
The Perfect Fish, The Guys |
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All Or None Today we were fortunate enough to experience "classic bluefin" type fishing. What this means is that either you are enjoying a boat ride or in the midst of hot and heavy action. In between stops was very uneventful today but the couple of times we did manage to get on fish, it was very busy. It was almost "too much,too fast' because when we would stop on the fish, everyone on the boat would immediately hook up and then it was pure pandemonium. By the days end we finished with a decent catch of bluefin and a few bonus yellowfin thrown in the mix. Displaying part of today's catch is chef Mitch with a school-sized bluefin and fishing extraordinaire, John Yarbrough, with a yellowfin. 
We Always Want It All, The Guys |
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Zuker/G Loomis back from their bonanza 7 day trip The American Angler returned to port this morning with their biggest variety catch of this young season. There were Yellowfin, beautiful Tails, Bluefin and Albacore - what a mix! Thanks again to everyone on this trip - it was fun fishing with you and for all of those that signed back up - we'll see you next season! Also a huge thanks once again to John Lloyd, Danny Kadota and Phil Oliva. Check out the jackpot winners below 
1st place: Danny Kadota 56.4 lb Yellowfin 2nd place: Chuck Carlson 49.6 lb Yellowfin 3rd place: Phil Oliva 49.2 lb Yellowfin The boat departed at noon with the premier annual CME4TUNA 5 day charter. Have fun guys! Stay tuned for report tomorrow. |
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FIRST DAY OF SUMMER Today was our last day of fishing on this trip, and as I mentioned, we were going to mix it up with the Local fleet in hopes of catching some Longfins to wrap things up here. In the last week things sure have changed in a good way with all the sign of fish still in a bunch of different places in this ocean - it sure looks like we're in for a fun season ahead of us. We did manage to get in on some Albacore today late in the day to end the trip on a good note and it was a lot of fun fishing with all the gang again for the day. Zuker and G-Loomis, Sponsors John Lloyd and Danny Kadota & Phil Oliva are the real names that make this just a great trip every year, with just a very generous amount of great fishing give aways such as Lures, Rods, Hats and numerous other stuff I can't list but then that's not what makes this trip so fun. It is John and Danny that put it all together to make just wonderful time. We would to thank everybody that was on this trip - it was just awesome fishing with the gang and already looking forward to next year's trip. THANK YOU, YOUR CREW. Sam, Matt, Gerald, Taco, Jesse, Rick, Paul and Lori. ETA 0615 |
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TODAY WAS A GOOD DAY We rolled up the line in hopes of getting a shot at some Bluefin Tuna and that's just what went down. In the dark before daylight we got on our first spot of fish that we drifted on til around 0900 then it was late in the afternoon when we hit our second spot that took us all the way into the dark. We ended the day with a nice score on the BFTs. The photo of the day is Matt Hall with one of his Shortfins and by the way, Matt caught the only Albacore of the day as well - not bad for his first trip. We are rolling up the line to go mix it up with some old friends in the local zone tomorrow. 
GOOD NIGHT, The A.A. Gang |
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DIFFERENT DAY After having a decent day of fishing on nice Yellowfin Tuna, we woke up this morning wondering if it would be an early bite... it wasn't. After hitting various spots, the hand writing was on the wall - these fish did not want to play today at all. By late in the day it was time to try for some other type fish, so we tried a couple of our Big Yellowtail spots to finish off the day. The photo of the day is Bob Chapman with one of his 3 big yellows for the afternoon. We will be going deep water fishing here for the next two days to finish up the trip - wish us luck. 
GOOD NIGHT, The A.A. Gang |
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ANOTHER SUNNY DAY IN PARADISE Today was all about catching some quality fish, and that's just what we did. It was a little more show than go, but we still have some beautiful weather and plenty of time in our trip. The Tuna hit the scales anywhere from 35 to 60lbs and the Gang is pleased about that. The photo of the day is Kelly and Phil with just a sample of our catch today. 
GOOD NIGHT AND KEEP IT CALM, The Gang P.S. Phil says Hi to Katie and Sara, He misses you Guys. A message to Dylan and Austin, Dad Loves you and see you soon. HAPPY FATHERS DAY TO ALL YOU DAD'S. |
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WOW, WHAT A FUN DAY One thing is for sure, the Yellowtail are here in full force. The weather was awesome and the great fishing put together a wonderful day. The grade of these Yellowtail are a notch bigger than we have seen in the last few years, the bulk of our catch, I would say, were a 25lb average and there was a good sign of some 12 to 20lb fish if you cared to try for those. The photo of the day is Ken Volk with a sample of his catch for today, assisted by Capt. Jesse with the Gaff shot. We are making a move tonight in search of some Tuna-type fish. Wish us luck. 
GOOD NIGHT AND KEEP IT CALM, The A.A. Gang P.S. Leta, Happy Birthday, I love and miss you. Can't wait to see you. Love Leonard. |
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THE WEATHER MAN WAS WRONG IN A GOOD WAY! Today we basically spent the whole day traveling down the coast to arrive at our destination. With only a few hours to make something happen it didn't look too bright until just before sundown. Well you know the old saying, never say never and we had ourselves a little go around at dark. The photo of the day is most of the gang that got in on our late bite and one of the fish weighed in at 37 lbs, so we hope we can start it off right in the morning. As far as the weather is concerned, it was forecasted to be windy for a few days, but a good part of the ocean became flat calm overnight, Thank You. 
GOOD NIGHT, The A.A. Gang |
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Catchy Tackle 8 day home The American Angler returned to port this morning with a great yellowtail catch and a few tuna from the Rocks. Thanks again to everyone on the trip - it was fun Yellowtail fishing with you. Also thanks to Drew Grindley from Catchy Tackle. Check out the jackpot winners below 
1st place: Todd Phillips 70 lb Yellowfin 2nd place: Anthony Griego 54.5 lb Yellowfin(not pictured) 3rd place: Joe Ferris 54 lb Yellowfin Honorable mention: Anthony Foster 52.5 lb Yellowfin(not pictured) The boat departed at noon with the annual Zuker/G Loomis 7 day trip. The following greeting was written by our friend Danny Kadota, describing this upcoming trip: G.Loomis - Zuker American Angler Trip It's that time again! I'm looking forward to the camaraderie that has developed over the years of doing this trip, the laughing, joking, learning, and awesome fishing. It doesn't get any better. This group has almost evolved into a charter, with many returning people from year to year. Phil Oliva from G. Loomis is bringing down five PSR 84-30's to raffle off, roughly giving passengers almost an one of four chance to win a rod. The new Black/Red Fade Skeleton Fish Hats from G.Loomis will be given to everyone. John Lloyd and the folks at Zuker generously supply everyone on board with a packet of the finest trolling lures ever made to stop a boat offshore. The bonus is having John "MC'ing" the trip from the upper deck corner, bringing you his wealth of knowledge mixed in with his sense of humor. Other manufacturers I represent have jumped in with their support …SPRO-Gamakatsu will be giving away packets of ringed hooks for both anchovies and sardines. SPRO is sending their new Abalone "Sushi Spoons" rigged with Gamakatsu Assist Hooks and SPRO swivel and split ring system, and SPRO hats. This will be deadly on the dropback or vertical jigging in the stop. Costa Del Mar is taking care of the crew on the American Angler, and face it, it's more important that they spot the schools of fish. The crew will also be sporting Pacific Fly Group's new short sleeve Deck Jacket and new Deck Pants that zip off to shorts. We'll also be "smoke testing" the new Torey Fluorocarbon Lines and hollow Dyneema's, and with the trips we've been having on the AA, it'll be a great testimonial to the lines. See you at the boat. Danny Kadota Thanks again guys! |
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THE FINAL LEG About last night's ride, well let's just say it wasn't fun - the wind has kicked up and the ocean is in grumpy mode. We didn't have any time to stop and break up the ride but there was plenty of R&R going on down below. Our trip started at the Rocks and due to lack of Tuna fish, we came in on the inside and had just a great time fishing for Yellowtail. Yesterday was just an epic day and with the weather up we all had a great time fishing in the calm of the big Island - it was a nice treat. This was a great group of guys, mostly regulars with some new faces and all a pleasure to fish with. Drew Grindley was the Catchy Tackle rep who gave away a bunch of nice gifts. Thank you. We would to say Thank You to everybody and looking forward to fishing with you all again soon. Your Crew, Sam, Tony, Ray, Taco, Matt, Paul, Mitch and Lori ETA 0700 |
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FUN IN THE SUN AND THE LEE OF THE ISLAND We had a little bumpy ride up last night, but as the sun came over the horizon the wind backed off with it. Things have changed for the better with the Yellowtail that are around, and we enjoyed a nice day fishing the Lee out of the wind. The weather man says it going to be windy for the next few days so we are having Dinner on the anchor tonight before we head up the line again. Hope to fish the coast somewhere tomorrow...we'll just see where we end up at daylight. GOOD NIGHT, The Gang |
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GOOD ACTION We had a great day of fishing for Yellowtail - most of the hot action was before lunch time. We had to work at weeding through some Big Bonita and some Log Barracuda to make our catch, but it was well worth it when all said and done. The Yellows that we tagged ranged anywhere from 12 to 25 lbs but I mean to tell you, it was steady fishing just for the simple fact you didn't know what you were going to hook. The photo of the day is Doug Rodricks with just one of the nice Yellows he got today. We are heading up the line right now to fish the coast and do some more prospecting for our upcoming trips. 
GOOD NIGHT, The A.A. Team |
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THINGS ARE LOOKING UP We started down in the middle of the ridge today in search of Yellows to clamp onto our plugs, but it wasn't easy because for most of the day we kept coming up with blanks. Late in the day when all hope was just about gone, we found what we came for, Yellow. Needless to say, we are going to start here in the morning and keep our fingers crossed to have more good luck on these Yellowtail before we have to start moving up the line. GOOD NIGHT, The Gang |
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ADIOS ALIJOS After a long day of circumnavigating the entire shallows, we came to the conclusion there seemed to be a lack of Tuna fish for us to enjoy. The day wasn't a total loss - we did manage to catch a couple dozen nice Yellows and our token one tuna for the day. It's time to Bustamove, and we're hoping for some action to be just waiting for us tomorrow. GOOD NIGHT, The A.A. Gang |
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BACK ON SCENE Today we arrived at the Rocks around 0900 and started our trip - it took us a couple of hours to somewhat figure out where we needed to be, but by the afternoon it seemed like things looked right. We had a fair little bite on some Tuna for a good part of the late afternoon to get the trip started. The photo of the day is a couple of San Pedro guys, Anthony Griego and Todd Phillips with a sample of their catch of the day. 
GOOD NIGHT AND THE PARTY IS JUST STARTING, The A.A. Gang |
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Sport Chalet 8 day home The first 8 day of the season made its way home early this morning. Everyone helped unload a nice catch of 30-62lb Yellowfin Tuna and pretty Tails up to 45lbs. Once again, thank you to Brad Lemoine our sponsor and everyone onboard this first long range trip of the season! Check out the jackpot winners below 
1st place: Richard Clark 62.6lb Yellowfin 2nd place: Bruce Logan 60 lb Yellowfin 3rd place: Mark 59 lb Yellowfin Honorable mention: Miguel Padilla 45.6lb Yellowtail The boat departed at noon with another 8 day trip, this one sponsored by Drew Grindley of Catchy Tackle. Check back in a couple of days for reports on this trip. Thanks for staying tuned! |
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HOMEWARD BOUND We didn't use up a bunch of staples today but things look very interesting in this early season fishing. There was a nice little sign of mixed Yellowfin and Bluefin - they were all show and no go, but they will bite one day. The steaks are on the grill and the boat is cleaned up, also the weather has been in our favor all the way up the line. We would like to Thank all of the gang that was a part of our first 8 day spring trip to start it off on the right foot and to all the Sport Chalet regulars and our sponsor Brad Lemoine. Thank you all very much, Your Crew - Sam, Brian, Matt, Jesse, Ray, Rick and Mitch. ETA 0600 |
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CHESTERS, CEDROS, BENITOS TOUR We made the full tour today looking for Yellows and did manage to find a few fish to make all our work seem worthwhile. The water temps in some of our favorite Yellowtail spots is a little warmer then usual for this time of year so I guess what I'm trying to say is that we are just going to call it an off day. The weather was just beautiful again so it was a great day to do some prospecting for the upcoming trip. Tomorrow we are going to blast Offshore and look at some different water in hopes of Longfin or Shortfin. GOOD NIGHT AND WISH US LUCK, The A.A. Gang |
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TIME TO MOVE UP THE LINE We fished the morning for steady action on these Tuna Fish and by 0900 it seemed to be over, so with already having a nice catch on Tuna it was time to pull the anchor gear and head up to Yellowtail Country. The weather is just unbelievable to top it all off. GOOD NIGHT AND GET THE LONG RODS READY. The A.A. Gang |
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BACK ON TRACK! After yesterday's fishing, I was starting to wonder about things, but it worked out today and all the stars and planets were lined up for us. The fishing was great because just about any time throughout the day if you had a good swimming bait, your chances of getting a bite was awesome. We have under estimated the size of these fish we have been catching here because we hadn't weighed any up until I grabbed Mr. Clark's Tuna which weighed 63 lbs - so the grade of this Tuna we would call 30 to 63 lbs. We are going to give it another morning here before we have to start running up the line. GOOD NIGHT TO ALL, The Gang P.S. Conchita, Lincoln says hello and he loves and misses you. Also don't go to the Casino. |
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IT WASN'T LIKE YESTERDAY Well, we have all heard the topic of the day before and all of us here are kind of scratching our heads wondering what happen today. Things looked pretty much the same with the exception of the key ingredient. We did get a sample of these Tunas and a fair pick here and there on some Nice Yellows, but it seemed slow compared to yesterday's fishing - that's for sure. We've got plenty of time still so we will just see what tomorrow brings and take it from there. GOOD NIGHT FOR NOW, The A.A. Team |
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WHAT A NICE SURPRISE! After two days of running down the line, we were only thinking positive thoughts about what was waiting on our bow at the destination. When we did arrive around 0830 - things just looked good: water temp, color and just enough Bird sign to make it interesting. To get to the point, we had a great day of fishing on Yellowfin Tuna with a fair amount of nice size Yellowtail mixed in to top it all off. The Photo of the day is Jim Stein and Capt. Ray Lopez with just a preview of the grade of Yellows that are here for the taking. 
GOOD NIGHT AND WE ARE JUST GETTING THIS PARTY STARTED, The Gang |
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At 9:45, the American Angler returned from a 3 day trip - Everyone had their share of Yellowtail and 8 Albacore were caught. A huge thanks to all our passengers on board for joining us on this trip... Thanks guys and gal! Check out the jackpot winners below 
1st place: Rob Brown 21.4lb Albacore 2nd place: Ryan Harris 20.4lb Yellowtail 3rd place: Steve Nelson 19.4lb Albacore The boat will depart tomorrow, Tues. May 30th for the first 8 day season of the season, sponsored by Sport Chalet, our friend Brad Lemoine. Start checking back for daily fish reports! |
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WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES Well- we started our day on the anchor enjoying some nice calm weather, and to go with that we caught a variety of Bottom Grabbers. The weather today is like we are in a different ocean, the seas and wind are down in a huge way from yesterday. After having a little fun in the shallow water it was time to venture offshore. We did manage to catch a couple of Albacore but had good fishing on Yellowtail on the Kelps. We would like to Thank all of the gang that made the trip with us - we had a lot of first timers and some veterans as part of the group. ETA 0945 Thank You all very much. Your Crew, Sam, Ray, Jesse, Tony, Taco, Rick and Paul. |
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THE WEATHER MAN ISN'T ALWAYS RIGHT! Today was the first fishing day of our trip and from the time sunrise came so did the wind. Today was by no means unfishable weather but it was just down right uncomfortable. The bright side of the day is that there was still a big spread out area of scattered Albacore swimming around with a few caught in several different zones. We captured 6 Albies and a couple dozen Yellows for our efforts today but we have high hopes for tomorrow. The weather forecast tomorrow is for more of the same as today, we will see. Good Night, The Gang |
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Professionalism By now everyone has heard of the unfortunate event on the Legend. After a good day of fishing in good weather the wind and sea state picked up dramatically in the afternoon. Whether it was a submerged log or another reason, they soon found themselves in a situation where they were taking on water. Being that we were one of the few boats out, we followed the whole scene from beginning to end. The professionalism demonstrated by the captain was very calming. In a tense situation there was never panic in his voice and the number one most important thing was the safety of their passengers. One might ask about the safety of these vessels. Our fleet is thoroughly inspected both topside and bottomside by highly qualified inspectors yearly. The response was overwhelming as within a half an hour there was a car carrier and USCG helicopter on scene. In a cooperative effort involving the US Navy, USCG, and every vessel in the vicinity - lives were not endangered. An important lesson learned is to not overlook the captains safety speech in anticipation of hearing about the upcoming fishing trip. As master of the vessel equipment such as lifejackets, life rafts, life rings and other safety equipment are not taken lightly because safety is not something to be compromised. Today we only captured samples of bluefin, albacore and yellowtail. Despite the choppy weather, we all stayed safe and enjoyed some decent fishing. Safety First, The Guys |
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Happy Ending Last night while traveling down the coast, we dealt with rain squalls that had lots of moisture and packed a lot of punch! With 25-35 knot gusts from the south, we took a beating all night. Daylight found all of us weary with the ocean crossed up and confused. This made for tough fishing conditions. We were lucky enough to find a few nice kelps and with the good yellowtail fishing, the ride was soon forgotten. There was a miraculous change in the afternoon because the wind totally died and the sea state calmed down. With the improved fishing conditions we were able to find some good water that had a few albacore. It was nice to see fish boil in the circle before jumping on the jigs and several stops produced baitfish. We ended the afternoon with thirty six albacore to go along with the yellowtail caught in the morning. Enjoying a beautiful ride home, The Guys |
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Back To Our Roots Making these day and a half runs at the beginning of the season are some of our favorite trips. A lot of the folks are first time customers interested in finding out all about the long range experience and it's rewarding for us to see the enjoyment on everyones face while holding bent rods. Today we started out fishing for smaller kelp paddy yellows and we were fortunate enough to find the right ones early in the morning. These kelps supplied us with fun, chaos, and enough fish to work out the kinks and provide everyone aboard some wonderful fish for the table. The next thing on the fishing agenda was to provide some variety to the catch. We set off in a westerly direction in hopes of finding some tuna fish. A couple hours later we crossed a temp break and were rewarded with a sample of some albacore fishing. As fast as we picked up our couple handfuls of fish, the whole ocean went down and we enjoyed the beautiful weather the rest of the day. Looking forward to tomorrow night, The Guys Still a couple of spots on next week's Tues to Thurs trip....office# 619 223 5414. |
FIRST TRIP OF THE SEASON First of all, the weather was just beautiful for us today - flat calm with maybe 3 to 5 knots of wind which made it ideal for looking for fish. We took a different route last night on the way out and looked at some different water. Just after breakfast we had our first stop on some Yellows and it wasn't very long until we saw our first sign of Albacore jumpers. There was a time today for about 2 hours that you could see spots of Yellows breezing around and an occasional Albie. Well just about the time lunch was over, so was our fishing - the whole ocean went dead. On the bright side, there was still plenty of fish seen in a wide spread area today - it is just a matter of time before they get back on the bite. We would like to Thank Mr. Wayne Martin of Catchy Tackle and his gang of guys for joining us on this first trip of the season. Thank you all very much, Your crew, Sam, Ray, Taco, Jesse, Tony, Rick and Mitch. ETA 0845 We still have availability on our last 1.5 day trip departing next Tues. the 23rd and 1 spot just became available on the 3 day Memorial Day trip. Call the office @ 619 223 5414. |
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1.5 day trips on the American Angler For those of you that haven't had a chance to tune in to what's happening in the fishing world in the last few days - there is good sign of offshore kelp yellowtails and a few albacore being caught as well. Even though these fish are small to medium grade - it equals lots of fun. We still have openings on our 1.5 day trips from May 17 - May 23, call the office to book your reservation @ 619 223 5414. Brian, Sam & the American Angler crew |
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1.5 day trips on the American Angler Hey folks - the boat's all polished up and we are ready to rock and roll. We're anxious to get out there and do our part to help get the season underway. There have been sign of Albacore and Yellowtail offshore and we are just itching for the opportunity to get in on some early season action. We still have plenty of room on our last 1.5 day trip departing Tues. May 23 and returning Thurs. May 25 - so call the office at 619 223 5414 and let's go fishin'!! Brian, Sam & the American Angler crew |
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Home Sweet Home for a little while... The boat returned this morning from the Sport Chalet 16 day trip, with a full load of Big Fish...the holes were full and with half RSW. They also released many cows throughout this coastal trip. The most 200lbers were caught by Rocky Opliger - who had four of the beasts; 256, 233, 218 and a 204lber. Friends, new and old reunited when the boat pulled in this morning because many of the guys flew home. And once again, thanks to our terrific sponsor, Brad Le Moine! Check out the some of the gang gettin' it on Big Fish Style and to the jackpot winners - great job, guys!! 
1st place: Ken Kouchi 290lbs 2nd place: Bill Randall 280lbs 3rd place: Richard Tanaka 267lbs We're done for now - and into the boatyard for a little TLC. We'll see you all at the Long Beach Boat Show from March 1 - March 5. And if you haven't booked your trip yet for 2006 - call the office at 619 223 5414. Thank you everyone for the most memorable season yet!!!!! |
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Finished it up with a bang Today was one of those days that will never be forgotten - it will be a day that every passenger and crewmember on this boat will remember forever. This morning we got on a fair sonar school and we had just started picking on a few fish when the mother lode arrived. It was one of the best stops on big tuna, any of us had ever seen. By 11am we had all that we needed to finish up and the gang had just a great time hooking and releasing fish all afternoon. When the day was done, we kept 22 fish, 4 more over the 200lb mark ( and there were many in the 190lbs), and we are not quite sure but somewhere between 45-50 fish were released to bite another day. Brent Collins boated the biggest today, at 263lbs. We're now Cabo-bound to drop off folks flying home and to give the gang a day of R&R. We would like to thank everyone who was a part of this big fish bonanza and always a special thanks to Brad Lemoine, our wonderful sponsor of this trip. Thank you all for a great trip, Your Crew, Sam, Matt, Ray, Taco, Hoffy, Mitch and Paul ETA: 9am Superbowl Sunday---see you then. |
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The boat checked in - they are having problems with their email, but relayed the message that all is well. The weather has been up and the fishing has still been down. They traveled to new country and turned over some new stones, to find nothing under them. But the weather is coming down and they have high hopes for tomorrow and already have a lot of fish on the boat. Sounds like the gang is having a great time and that's what's most important. Check back tomorrow night. GOOD NIGHT, The Gang |
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WIND IS UP AND THE FISH ARE DOWN The caption pretty much sums up the day, although it wasn't a total loss - we did pick up 4 fish ranging from 165 to 193 lbs before the breeze picked up. Tomorrow we are going to relocate to another area nobody has fished for quite some time so we have our fingers crossed to find something waiting for our arrival. GOOD NIGHT, The Gang |
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ANOTHER DAY ON THE BANKS Today was one of those days you needed to wear your raincoat for most of the day, it hardly feels like we are even fishing for Yellowfin Tuna...by the weather we are having, it reminds us of fishing for Albacore in June. By midday the rain stopped and we did manage to get on some fish that wanted to stick around the boat and we ended the day with keeping 6 fish ranging from 175 to 190 lbs and Bill's Big Boy of the day weighing in at 280 lb. 
GOOD NIGHT, The Gang |
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ANOTHER BANNER DAY Let's just start with the weather update: the weather last night was blowing around 20 to 22 knots, this morning light and variable winds and there were plenty of fish around to make a guy feel good about the day. The first stop was around 0630 on our first school and as soon we got the boat stopped, we hooked our first fish in about one minute, at that time it felt Right. When all the smoke cleared and the day was done, we kept 20 fish - 6 over 200 lbs and released a few to bite another day. The photo of the day is Rocky Opliger with his 256 lb Tuna, and earlier in the day he caught a 233 lb Tuna. 
GOOD NIGHT AND KEEP IT CALM, The Guys P.S. A special " I Love You" to Kathleen, Erin and Brandon From your Rocky. |
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THEY'RE STILL AROUND We saw very good sign of fish today, but only had a couple of different spots that wanted to bite. We ended the day keeping 7 fish with a couple over the 200lb mark, and we released a few 120 to 140lb fish to bite another day. The weather is up just a notch but it is forecasted to back down tomorrow. GOOD NIGHT, The Gang |
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THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT! Well, what a day we had here today!! The water down here is cooling off a little each week and we have broken all of the text book rules about what is the best water temperature to catch Big Yellowfin Tuna. Today we saw very little fish where we had seen good sign of fish yesterday and it was time to do some of that Skipper Stuff and get back on the Fish. Right about lunch time we found a very nice spot of these (just) trophy size fish and boy did they want to play. We drifted on this school from noon till dark with 4 to 6 going most of the time. When the smoke cleared and the sun went down over the horizon, we ended the day with 26 fish - 10 over the 200lb mark and the biggest of the day caught by Ken Kouchi with a 290 lb Tuna. The photo of the day is of some of the Guys with just a sample of today's bite, including the brothers Brotherton. 
GOOD NIGHT, The Gang P.S. This ones for you, B,E,E,F and F, Daddy caught a 251 lb Tuna today. Love John. |
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DAY ONE Well, we are just getting started and the weather is absolutely flat calm - we saw plenty of fish in the area, but our timing as it is, the fish were not in the biting mode today. We landed 6 fish ranging from 120 to 216 lbs. On one of our stops we had fish boiling around the boat for one full hour and we never hooked one. We have a lot of time left so we hope that this was just an off day. With the weather being so nice and plenty of fish still around, we hope our day is coming soon. Gary Sos landed our Big Fish for today @ 216lbs. GOOD NIGHT, The Gang |
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At 5:30pm, the American Angler returned from a fantastic 14 day trip - The final tally was 61 big fish, with 31 over 200lbs. These fish were all kept fresh and were in beautiful condition when they arrived at the dock. We want to thank Gerald Scholl for organizing this trip and for Mike Naoe of Bob's Sporting Goods for sponsoring it. And of course, a huge thanks to all our passengers on board who helped to keep it so fun for all... Thanks guys and gal! Check out the jackpot winners below and some of the gang. 
1st place: Greg Stoney 277lbs 2nd place: Lloyd Voorhees 265lbs (not pictured) 3rd place: Dan Shubin 260lbs (with a little help from his son, Kyle) The boat will depart tomorrow, Fri. Jan. 20th for the 3rd annual 16 day trip sponsored by Sport Chalet. Start checking back for daily fish reports in a few days! |
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Nice Trip When we walk off the boat at the end of a trip, what determines whether or not it was a good trip? Remembering that this is a vacation and that the experience will last much longer than the amount of fish in your freezer is very important. Some of the worst trips we have ever been on has been when fishing has been at its best. When fishing is good, it is easy to become overwhelmed by the situation. Our worst emotions such as greed,jealousy, and selfishness can easily come into play. This particular trip was a great success for several reasons. There was a perfect mix of people aboard this trip whose long range fishing experience varied greatly. We had 30 year veterans aboard as well as several first timers and rather than having the newcomers become intimidated, everyone bonded together as a family and helped each other out with advice whenever necessary. By the end of the trip, people that were strangers at the beginning, now have lifelong acquaintances that they will have forever. It also helped that the weather was nice and coincidentally the fishing was also outstanding. Because fishing was good there were lots of chances to not only test a lot of tackle, catch a lot of quality fish, but also to share bites as the people that were "hot", often times handed fish off to those who weren't. In the end, no matter how big the fish was or who was fighting it, there was 100% backing from everyone else on the boat for a successful ending. Lastly,the presence of a lady always helps and we were lucky enough to have Jennifer Barner aboard. Not that it is uncommon to have ladies aboard because there are many that fish, although there never seems to be enough. Having ladies around is a big help for several reasons. It keeps testosterone levels down to a minimum as our kindergarten tendencies are kept at bay with the never-ending battle of keeping our gentlemanly ways. It is funny how everyone including myself, unconsciously holds our stomach in whenever she was around. For the ladies reading this please do not be intimidated by the big fish as Jennifer was able to land 2 fish over 200 pounds, as easily as anybody else. As you can probably figure out by now, we have too much time on our hands during the travel north. For those of you concerned with our ETA, it is going to be late because of the 25-30kt winds and rough sea conditions we battled the first 250 mile leg of our journey. Call Lori, The Guys |
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A Different Perspective These are the good old days...my how things have changed from fishing the Revillagigedo Islands. This new standard in Cow fishing has leveled the playing field. Fishing 130 pound test with 50 size reels on the windy side of the boat makes it fair for even the novice angler. This new world standard is so much cleaner than "old school" cow fishing, by drifting albacore style you eliminate so many negative variables. There are no concerns of slack tide causing you to wrap the anchor line or getting "rocked" on the reef. You don't have to worry about sharks eating your 250 pounder after an hour battle or biting every salami you throw in the water costing you 20 dollars in hooks per night. No more staying up and fishing for bait until well beyond midnight fighting with sharks stealing your baits along with your expensive sabiki rig. The days are gone that would require you to wake up at 3 AM for the opportunity to hook and land a cow. Many thought that the days days of trophy cow fishing ended with the closure of the Islands -- little did we know that the best was yet to come. These trips should not be taken for granted. In years past we would consider 6-12 fish over 200 a great trip. Now that's considered a "decent" DAY of fishing. If you were lucky enough to hook, let alone land a 175-200 pound fish that would be a good trip. This is truly an extraordinary experience when every bait cast could produce a 200+ pound fish. I have been waiting almost twenty years for a trip like this, so every bite, every tail beat and every circling tuna was cherished and appreciated to its fullest. What a shame it would be to not savor the opportunities this year has brought us. Yes these are truly the good old days. The Anonymous Angler P. S. This piece was written by one of our passengers that was with us this trip. The trip was a huge success not from the fish we have aboard but because of the way everyone bonded as a family and pulled together for the cause. |
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World Class We saw pretty good sign of fish all day but it was scratch fishing in the A. M. We saw the same amount of fish in the afternoon, but their attitude became aggressive in nature. We are nearing the end of the trip and everybody has plenty of fish so we are now a lot more passive at the rail. Although we hooked many "heavies", we never had full participation at the rail. We were all laughing at the fact that there were more people with gaffs, than were fishing, when we all made a "pincushion" out of Greg Stoney's 277. We added another half a dozen biggies to the tally, but way more importantly - everybody is having a great time. One More Day, The Guys |
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The Perfect Pace When out on the grounds for so many days with nice weather, we are bound to see all the ups and downs. The day before we got here it was wide open and the first couple of days that we fished, it was very good. After that it tapered off and was tougher fishing and we really had to work at it. Today we enjoyed a nice drift where we were able to keep at least one or two going at all times. It was a perfect pace, especially because 70% of the bites were on 200 pounders. We lost a few big ones and also brought up many 150-190 pound fish and our 200pound total was eight. Mark Smalley lost a cow but backed it up later with today's best, a 233 pounder. We are looking forward to tomorrow and are enjoying each other's company as this is a very mellow and laid back group. We Are Spoiled, The Guys |
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Grade Long Range sportfishing has changed over the years where quality is now more important than quantity. Today we were in a long drift that was very slow and tough to get a bite. The reason we stuck it out was because of the excellent grade of fish around us. Chances were better then 75% that if you hooked one, it would eventually weigh over 200 lbs. We ended up with 6 over two and with a few others that were really close. Lloyd Voorhees caught the biggest with a 265 and Kevin Nonoguchi was luckiest with a 254 and a 223. We still have a few days left so we are hoping to get everyone in the club. Size Large, The Guys |
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We ran in for bait last night fearing the upcoming full moon. Our suspicions were correct as the bait did not cooperate until the moon went down at four. We sacrificed our morning for some beautiful greenback mackerel as we ended up a distance away from our central fishing grounds. The overall day for the fleet was slow and after getting in on some of the "fun", we had our taste of tough fishing. After experiencing a day like today, it only increases our passion and will to search out and find a cooperative bunch of fish tomorrow. As our glass is half full we cannot overlook our incredible good fortune with the weather. The Guys We would all like to wish Meritza a happy 9th birthday as her proud father "Stretch" cannot stop bragging about his wonderful family. |
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Door Number One We think it was Let's Make A Deal where during the show the contestants got to choose from three different doors. Today when Monte Hall gave us our turn, we had the misfortune of picking the wrong door. The majority of the fish that we got on today were smaller fish and even though it was tougher overall for the fleet, there was still a couple of good stops for those lucky enough to be holding the golden horseshoe. We ended up the day with a couple of handfuls of that 170pound plus grade and Kevin Nonoguchi was responsible for our only 200 pounder. Hoping For The Right Door Tomorrow, The Guys |
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Need To Be Slapped During the last two months of fishing this zone, the catching has been coincidental with the weather. When there is no wind, not only does it make it easier to get on the fish, it makes it easier to land the fish. For all you folks that have friends or family out with us or on one of the other boats, let me inform you that the weather is good. It's easy to get caught up in all of this and we found ourselves in a position several times where we would shake our heads. We left biting fish a couple of times because we were only catching fish in the 170-195 pound range. With time on our side it was easy to make this decision. In the fleet today there was one over 300 pounds caught as well as a few 225-285 pounders and that is what we would like to find tomorrow. Uncle Pete Nelson caught a 247 pounder which was the larger of the two we put aboard today. At times it is easy for us to complain, but we can't as we once again enjoyed action on beautiful grade fish all day long. Keeping It In Perspective, The Guys |
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WE THOUGHT WE WOULD NEVER GET HERE Yesterday we had some of the most interesting fish reports that our code boats had to offer in the past several months. Tommy Rothery described the fishing as"unbelievable... the best I have ever seen it in 35 years of long range fishing". Young Andy Cates described his scene as " Dude it was so gnarly...it was hectic..we were asses and elbows. Frank LoPreste summarized his day as "Nice" (which can be translated as wide open). These reports caused us a restless nights sleep. We arrived this morning to beautiful weather and steady all day fishing. Everyone on board had the opportunity to not only pull, but land one or several of these big beautiful fish. When the once in a lifetime opportunity arises, people make the most of it by learning and trying different techniques. Greg Stoney and Dan Shubin led the hit parade with a 266 and a 260, as we ended the day with a total of 6 fish over the prestigious mark. The all day action also included numerous other fish in the 160-195 pound range either boated or released to fight another day. Wish You Were Here, The Guys |
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The American Angler returned from an 8 day trip this morning with 13 big fish - 8 of them over 200lbs. They also had nice fishing on school-size tuna and Yellowtail. We want to thank everyone on board for an amazing New Years. Check out the jackpot winners below - congratulations! 
1st place: Rick Okuni 257lbs 2nd place: Paul Medina 253lbs 3rd place: Dave Mcphail 236lbs Honorable Mention: Virgil Arends 248lbs The boat will depart tomorrow, Thurs. Jan. 5th for the 3rd annual 11/14 day trip sponsored by Bob's Sporting Goods and organized by Gerald Scholl. Start checking back for daily fish reports in a few days! |
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THE FINAL JOURNEY After a nice ride most of the night, the weather did pick up a little bit, but by the mid morning we found better weather and were able to make a few drops for a nice fresh fish lunch. Everybody is bundling up their rods, putting all the gear away and we are heading for home. We would like to say Thanks to all of the great people that brought us into the New Year - we managed to catch a few Cows and finished up with some yankin and crankin for all to enjoy. Thank you all very much and we wish the best of luck in upcoming year. Thanks. Your crew, Sam, Ray, Taro, Matt, Hoffy, Paul and Tony |
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WE ARE BACK ONLINE It seems that we have all our High-tech gear working again for some unknown reason. We had a good day of Yellowtail fishing for our efforts and the weather is just beautiful to go with the day. Tomorrow we will make a stop to pick up some lunchables and then onward and upward. Sorry for not sending any pictures the past few days, we hope that this problem has fixed itself. Sounds like still good fishing back down in the lower zone from the reports of the boats that were on the grounds today. GOOD NIGHT, The Gang |
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We had good fishing today with lots of action on school sized Yellowfin and some Yellowtail on the ridge. We are headed up the line and will be in the Yellowtail area tomorrow. Wish Us Luck!! The Guys |
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