July 24-29, 2011
This 5-day trip had 24 anglers and they caught 265 yellowtail, 44 yellowfin, 3 bluefin and 2 dorado. The jackpot winners are:
- Dave Buck, Altadena, CA — 27.6# yellowtail
- Steve Heffner, Hailey, ID — 23.4# yellowtail
- Frank Vanoudheusen, Dominguez Hills, CA — 23.2# yellowtail
July 21-24, 2011
This 3-day trip had 16 anglers and they caught 53 bluefin tuna and 9 yellowfin tuna. The jackpot winners are:
- Dave Howard, Thousand Oaks, CA — 39# bluefin (right)
- Jim Potter, Sterling Heights, MI — 32.4 bluefin
- Dennis Yoshioka, Bishop, CA — 34# bluefin (left)
July 17-21, 2011
This 4-day trip had 19 anglers and they caught 251 yellowtail, 25 bluefin tuna, and 13 dorado. The jackpot winners are:
- Tony Dipaola, Encinitas, CA — 22.4# yellowtail (left)
- and Henry Nguyen, Hesperia, CA — 22.4# yellowtail (tie for first)
- James Freed, Carson City, NV — 21.8# yellowtail (second from right)
On far right is David Knight with his non-jackpot 65# bluefin!
Searcher Finds BFT by Bill Roecker
Owner-skipper Art Taylor’s Searcher returned from a four-day trip with a catch of yellowtail, dorado and some bluefin tuna. One, an ineligible 65-pound shortfin, joined the jackpot winners as an honorable mention for a lineup shot.
Dave Knight of Corona got the big tuna. Tony DiPaola of Encinitas won first place for a 22.4-pound yellowtail. He was tied by Henry Nguyen of Victorville. Third place went to Jim Freed of Carson City, NV, with a 21.8-pound yellow.
July 5-7 Let’s Talk Hook-up Shimano Seminar, 2011
This 1.5-day trip had 20 anglers and they caught 13 bluefin tuna and an opah. The jackpot winner is:
- Mike Ploessel, Laguna Niguel, CA — 123.8# opah
June 30-July 4, 2011 Izorline Special
This 4-day Izorline Special trip had 18 anglers and they caught 188 yellowtail, 1 bluefin tuna, 1 halibutt, and 90 rockfish. The jackpot winners are:
- Alan Sasai, Buena Park, CA — 22# halibut
- Howard Folmer, Gardena, CA — 19.4# yellowtail
- Ernie Seko, La Palma, CA — 18.4# yellowtail (left)
Norm Fujimoto from Izorline holds Alan’s trophy. Well done, all!
June 18-23, 2011
This 5-day Qualia Reels trip had 22 anglers and they caught 213 yellowtail and 38 bluefin tuna. The bluefin (and the lady anglers!) swept the jackpot. The jackpot winners are:
- Patricia Atkins, Palmer Lake, CO — 52.8# bluefin (left)
- Bill Zemba, Castaic, CA — 34.3# bluefin
- Wilma Atkins, Santa Rosa, CA — 33.7# bluefin (right)
Women, Kids Score on Searcher by Bill Roecker
Art Taylor brought his Searcher home to Fisherman’s landing June 23 after the five-day Qualia reels trip with 22 anglers and chartermaster Kent Cremolini.
Art had some good news for San Diego anglers in regard to bluefin and possibly albacore moving up toward the border.
“We had great yellowtail fishing,” Art told dock reporter Bill Roecker, “and ended up with about two-thirds limits by drifting the South End of Cedros Island. They wanted the blue and white yoyo jigs, and stayed down near the bottom for the most part, in 60 to 90 feet.”
On the way home, Art talked with other skippers and saw fish at a couple of new distances.
“American Angler is having some good fishing at 160 to 185 miles,” noted Taylor, “and we got a half-dozen coming through there, mostly 15 to 18-pounders, but up to 40-pounders. We saw jumpers at 60 to 70 miles, too, but they weren’t biting yet. There’s lots of clean water. It looks right.”
“Froggy” Patricia Atkins of Palmer Lake, CO won first place for a 52-pound bluefin. She worked at H&M Landing from 1969 to 1974 for Ralph Miller. She said she hooked her winner on a sardine and a 2/0 Mustad 94150 hook. She used 40-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon leader and 40-pound Ande line on an Avet JX reel and a Calstar 700 M rod.
Bill Zemba of Castaic won second place for a 34-pounder and Wilma Atkins of Santa Rosa won third place for a 33.7-pounder.
Two youngsters were also aboard, and both got bluefin. Anthony Altieri of Toluca Lake is 16, and made his first-ever fishing trip with his dad John. Tony goes to Notre Dame High, where he’s an honor student who wants to study medicine.
“It was fun,” said Anthony. “I’d do it again.”
Joey Johnston of Haliwa, HI is 13, but has fished before. He got the trip’s best bluefin, a 54.8-pounder, on a handoff from his granddad Gary Dittmar, who is related to the boat-building family.
Joey spent an hour and a half on 25-pound line fighting his big tuna. Dittmar said it took 200 yards of line, and then went up and down several times in the water column. Joey’s best fish came on his second long range trip. He goes to Kahuku High School.