BY GUNDY GUNDERSON
SAN DIEGO – Another successful trip to the cow grounds returned with a good catch of 100-pound class yellowfin and a sample of cows topped by a dandy 245. The Hurricane Bank and Buffer Zones have shown a consistency not seen in recent campaigns. The good tuna fishing has been augmented by excellent wahoo catches. Trips of 7- and 8-day length are starting to go and the coastal fishing for yellowtail has been outstanding. These length trips start on the yellowtail grounds then finish hunting for trophy bluefin.
Rooster returns
The Red Rooster III returned from a successful long trip to the Hurricane Bank and the Buffer Zone with a good catch of trophy yellowfin tuna and some quality wahoo. The boat found consistent fishing on 129- to 190-pound fish with several cows topped by a 245-pound model. The boat sent this wrap on the trip, “Rocco Rampino won the Accurate 600 two-speed with his 245- pound yellowfin tuna. It put him in the solid for the Jackpot. The big fish ate a flyline sardine. The jackpot winners were Rocco Rampino, 1st place with a 245-pound yellowfin tuna, 2nd Place goes to Paul Oster with a 208-pound yellowfin tuna and 3rd place goes to Leroy Janulewicz with a 187-pound yellowfin tuna.
Indy 7-day
The Independence departed on a 7-day trip anticipating a look at the recently unfished Baja coast. The group was not disappointed as the yellowtail action was red hot. The boat with Capt. Matt Kaullen at the wheel, sent this report, “After a couple days travel we are all settled in down here. We left with the Graftech Rods group for 7 days. After a bit of scouting, we ran into some hungry yellowtail. Fishing got hot and heavy for us just before the sunset. We are on scene again tomorrow morning”
The next day, even better, “We experienced some great yellowtail fishing, as good as it gets. Fly-line sardine and the surface iron was the hot ticket. We are all fixed up on yellowtail and are on our way up in preparation for some windy weather on the way. We will be up in the local bluefin tuna grounds tomorrow night and hoping to get a piece of the action.”
Intrepid strikes yellow
The Intrepid was on a 7-day JRI sponsored trip and were also on the great coastal yellowtail fishing. Capt. Bill Cavanaugh was on the bridge and sent this report, “We anchored up at 0645 yesterday morning and before we even came tight on the anchor we had waves of yellowtail chasing bait and jigs. The guys fishing the surface iron were doing really good and the JRI #4 and JRI Stinger jigs were the most productive. A well presented sardine behind the boat was an almost instant bite and the guys fishing the 30-pound fluorocarbon and a #1 J hook had the best success. Fluorocarbon doesn’t reflect light as much as regular monofiliment and is less visible to the fish which, in turn, gets more bites. All of our fish were 12- to 20- pounds with some fish up to 40-pounds. It was as good as it gets yellowtail fishing. Everyone is stoked. We are making our way up the coast to fish bluefin the last day of our trip.”
The boat returned and reported the jackpots, “We arrived home from our JRI sponsored 7-day with a great catch of yellowtail and bluefin. Thank you to Jerry Guzman for hosting the trip. Thank you to everyone that fished with us. Our jackpot winners for the trip are as follows: Third place went to Doug Delany with a 52.6-pound bluefin, second place went to Jonny Aviles with a 53-pound bluefin, and first place goes to Randy Laskowsky with a 118.6-pound bluefin.
Angler on nightime ripper
The American Angler has been a regular high-liner on the bluefin grounds this season. The boat is fishing on a daily basis and has a beat on the moving schools. The boat sent these short reports, “The guys are in much nicer weather finally with 27 fish ranging from 25- to 115-pounds so far today. When the sun went down, the action went up. We had tremendous opportunity on 100- to 190-pound class bluefin tuna last night. It was the bite of a lifetime and we are hoping to experience it one more time before it’s all said and done.”
Star on big bluefin
The Royal Star was on the Yamada 3-Day in search of trophy bluefin. In a good night bite the boat put some fish in the slammers. The boat sent this report, “Good Flat-Fall bite last night getting us off to a good start. We boated 20 bluefin tuna, a few small ones but mostly 80- to 140-pounds with two over 200, beautiful weather.”