Best Catch Yet by Bill Roecker
Art Taylor brought his Searcher home from a five-day trip with 22 anglers that produced the best yellowtail catch of the season so far: limits of mossbacks that one angler weighed out at an average of 36 pounds. At least a dozen fish were 40 pounds or more, and a huge halibut graced the bag of forkies.
“It was Cedros Island at its best,” said Art. “Each angler had a personal best. It was world-class fishing. They were fish of a lifetime!”
George Guardiano of San Diego fished up a 42-pound halibut out of the congregation of toad yellows. He said he got it with a green mackerel baited on a 4/0 Gamakatsu hook tied to 40-pound P-Line. He used a TLD 30 reel and a Calstar 6460 H rod and brought the big flattie up to gaff in about ten minutes.
“He swallowed it, and I didn’t know he was there until I set the hook,” said George.
Rob Geiger of Simi Valley got a 43-pound yellowtail for first place. He said he took it with a mackerel flylined on a 7/0 Mustad hook and 40-pound Izorline. He used 65-pound Power Pro backing on an Avet JX reel and a Calstar 700 H rod.
Jim Hartwick of Harbor City won second place for a 42.6-pound yellowtail, and he also tied for third with a 41.6-pounder. Mart Pierpoint got one that weighed 41.6 pounds to get the other half of the tie.
The yellowtail catch may have been the best for Captain Taylor since 1988, when Bill Roecker went to Cedros with him, where they found 40-pounders thick as flies in a barnyard. That story is in Roecker’s forthcoming long range book, due from the printer right after Thanksgiving.
August 14-17
This 3-day trip had 27 anglers and they caught 294 yellowtail, 40 rockfish, and 1 halibut. The jackpot winners are:
- Jeff Nagle, Laguna Niguel, CA — 28.2# halibut (middle)
- Ryan Terschluse, Los Angeles, CA — 25.4# yellowtail (left)
- John Grech, San Marino, CA — 25.4# yellowtail (right)
August 10-14
This 4-day trip had 20 anglers and they caught 204 yellowtail. The jackpot winners are:
- Dave Bell, San Diego, CA — 28# yellowtail (middle)
- Joe Preciado, San Diego, CA — 24.2# yellowtail (left)
- Owen Yuen, Sacramento, CA — 23.8# yellowtail (right)
Searcher Tries Benitos, by Bill Roecker
Searcher Tries Benitos
Searcher returned from a four-day trip to the San Benitos Islands with skipper Aaron Remy and 21 anglers aboard.
Dave Bell of San Diego won first place for a 28-pound yellowtail and posed with it on the dock at Fisherman’s Landing. He said he got it with a blue and white Salas 6X Jr. jig on 40-pound P-Line XXX, and Avet LX reel and a GRUSA six-foot rod.
Jul 30-Aug 3
This 4-day trip had 27 anglers and they caught 119 albacore and 28 yellowfin tuna. The jackpot winners are:
- Larry Hicks, Corona, CA and Chris Alcaraz, West Covina, CA — 39.2 albacore (on left, tie)
- Mike Day, Glendale, AZ — 38# albacore, Howard Pukini (right) with best yellowfin
Big ‘Dines, Dinky Hooks by Bill Roecker
Big ‘Dines, Dinky Hooks
Art Taylor brought his Searcher home August 3 after a five-day Izorline trip. Pro-staffer Wendy Tochihara was aboard, and she looked to have as many tuna on the boat as any man. Her best one was a 35.8-pound beauty. She said the albacore seemed to prefer big sardines and small hooks. She got hers with hooks in the 1/0 size.
There was a tie for first place. Larry Hicks of Corona and Chris Alcaraz of West Covina both had 39.2-pound albies, so they split first and second place rewards.
Hicks won the Izorline trophy for the best fish on that product. He got his with a sardine on a 3/0 Mustad hook tied to 30-pound Izorline on a Penn 4/0 reel and a Sabre six and a half-foot rod.
Mike Day of Phoenix won third place for a 38-pound longfin, and Howard Pukini of La Mirada had the trip’s best yellowfin tuna, a 37-pounder.
Jul 25-30
This 5-day trip had 25 anglers and they caught 342 yellowtail, 2 white sea bass, and 125 rockfish. The jackpot winners are:
- Mike Lee, San Francisco, CA — 27.2# yellowtail (left)
- Raul Alarcan, Garden Grove, CA — 24.2 # white sea bass (right)
- Tom Kang, Huntington Beach, CA — 23.4# yellowtail (middle)
Cedros Island Remains Hot by Bill Roecker
Cedros Island Remains Hot
The yellowtail at Cedros Island are still chewing bait, jigs and just about anything else that falls into the water. Art Taylor took his Searcher anglers there on a five-day trip, and they loaded up on ‘tails before heading up the beach to try some rockfishing. A couple of nice white seabass bit in the wee hours at the island, and one of them made it into the jackpot.
Mike Lee of San Francisco won first place for a 27-pound yellowtail. He said he bagged it at two AM on the dropper loop, about the same time the white seabass came through. He baited a sardine on a 6/0 Eagle Claw hook on 60-pound Izorline. He used a TLD 30 reel and a Seeker 655 Black Steel rod.
Raul Alarcon of Garden Grove won second place for the larger fish of his pair of whites, a 24-pounder. The other one went 22.6 pounds. Both came on the dropper loop. Tom Kang of Huntington Beach won third place for a 23-pound yellowtail.