Good mix of teenagers and cows; wahoo fishing continues hot
BY GUNDY GUNDERSON
SAN DIEGO– A couple of boats were down on the cow grounds this week. The Royal Polaris was finishing up a limited load Jerry Brown sponsored trip, and the Independence just arrived on the grounds. For both boats, the timing was good as the pendulum swung toward good fishing. Anglers landed lots of quality fish with several cows in the mix. The wahoo fishing continues to be very good and the most consistent fishing down below. The overall sign of fish both tuna and wahoo continues to be good on the Hurricane Bank and the Buffer Zone, and prospects remain good going forward.
Royal Polaris finishes strong
After a good start, then several days of scratching, the Jerry Brown sponsored trip found more good fishing on a final up-day. Capt. Roy Rose was at the wheel and the man with the patience. The crew passed along this report, “What a day we had today. Good things come to those who wait, and boy did we wait it out. We were wondering how long Roy could sit in one spot. Now we know. We had excellent fishing in the morning on 50- to 70-pound fish, with a few in the 100-pound range, but by mid-afternoon, the quality started to show.”
The report continued, “It all started off with a 255-pound cow, landed by Richard Deloach. This would be Richard’s personal best, and yes he took the RP shower with a smile. We would land many more fish in the 130- to 170-pound range. Jim Tellarico would land a beautiful yellowfin, around 170 pounds, just a beautiful fish. The sickles on this fish went all the back to the tail. Weather wise, it was a beautiful day, light breeze, just enough to keep the kites flying.”
On the ride home, a final report, “Well the trip is over, and we are headed for home. We caught a good number of yellowfin, wahoo, grouper, and a dorado. With the sun setting in the west, we are headed for San Diego. The passenger spent the day breaking down there tackle, as the crew will clean the boat tomorrow morning.”
The report went on, “Not a lot of cows, but good quality fish. We did have two fish over 200 pounds, and the rest were in the 50- to 70-pound range (one group of fish) and 80- to 140-pound range (second group of fish). We ended up with limits of yellowfin tuna, over 100 wahoo, a few groupers, and don’t let me forget the one dorado.”
Indy arrives
The Independence arrived at the bank and was greeted by good fishing. Capt. Matt Kaullen was at the helm of the annual Rogers 16-Day Trip. After a few days of no Wi-Fi, the boat sent this message, “We just were able to re-connect for some pictures from our present trip. Pretty good fishing down here as evidenced by the photos. Will send more as conditions permit.”
A couple more days and another report, “We have had some great fishing the past few days with lots of action. The mornings have been busy with good fishing on tuna fish from 60- to 200-plus pounds. The weather is great and all is well on board. We have a couple more days down here and hope to keep the ball rolling.”
Big X Dinner Fish
The Excel was steaming down the line pointed toward the cow grounds. The boat made a quick stop for a dinner fish, one of the benefits of these trips. The group found those dinner fish in the form of yellowtail and a grouper, “Just cruising down in good weather so far. Decided to make a quick stop where we picked up a few fish for dinner tomorrow night. Tommy had a big ol’ grouper and Justin with a nice yellowtail. A few more big yellows also made it to the galley. Delicious. We are now sliding south again.”
