Jun 18-21
This 3-day trip had 23 anglers and they caught 2 yellowtail and 29 albacore. The jackpot winners are:
- Jim Kunkle, Fullerton, CA — 22# albacore (left)
- David Grollman, Glendale, CA — 21.6# albacore (middle)
- Mike Kunkle, Fullerton, CA — 21# albacore (right)
Photo by Steve “Wrong Way” Lamb
June 13-18
This 5-day Qualia Reels-sponsored trip had 20 anglers and they caught 256 yellowtail, 48 albacore, 3 yellowfin tuna, and 3 bluefin. The jackpot winners are:
- Doug Nance, San Diego, CA — 29.6# bluefin (left)
- Dave Bell, San Diego, CA — 25# yellowtail (middle)
- Kent Cremolini, Walnut Creek, CA — 24.6# bluefin tuna (right)
Photo by Bill Roecker
Cedros Yellows, Offshore Albies by Bill Roecker
Searcher returned to Fisherman’s Landing June 18 after a five-day Qualia Reels charter with 20 passengers aboard. One of those was chartermaster Kent Cremolini of Walnut Creek, who showed off a bluefin tuna, one of three caught offshore with 48 albacore and a few yellowfin tuna.
“It was an awesome trip,” said Kent. “We had really good people on the boat.”
“We fished a bit on the way down and then fished offshore again on the way back,” said owner-skipper Art Taylor to dock reporter Bill Roecker.
“We had good fishing at the island, with near-limits of yellowtail. Those fish were mostly 15 to 18 pounds, and they bit on the yoyo iron and on bait. Not many tried the surface iron.”
Searcher regular Mark Seals of Cambria wailed on the albacore, catching a two-day limit of ten. His best one weighed about 24 pounds.
Doug Nance of San Diego took 15 minutes to wrestle with the trip’s best bluefin, a jackpot-winning 29-pounder.
“He fought well,” said Nance, who baited a sardine on a 3/0 ringed Mutu hook he said he found on the deck. He fished with 20-pound Ande line, a Torium 14 reel and a seven-foot Fenwick rod.
Dave Bell of San Diego won second place for a 25-pound yellowtail, and chartermaster Cremolini bagged third place for his 24.6-pound bluefin.
Penn University 2009 Trip (with Steve Carson aboard!)
5-Day Long Range Trip
Aboard Captain Art Taylor’s
Luxurious 95X24-foot
SEARCHER
From
Fisherman’s Landing in San Diego
August 25 to 30, 2009
Targeting:
Yellowtail, Bluefin Tuna, Albacore, Yellowfin Tuna, White Seabass and more!
Prizes from:
Penn, Berkley, Sevenstrand, Owner Hooks, Flambeau and more
$1595, includes food and berthing
Limited to 22 anglers!
Not included are Mexican permits, possible fuel surcharge, soda and beer
For more information or reservations, contact Searcher Sportfishing
619-226-2403
www.SearcherSportfishing.com
or
PFU director Steve Carson at scarson@sunset.net
Searcher in Dry Dock
Everyone’s anxious for fishing, but first things first, like a bit of maintenance and our annual Coast Guard inspections. We’re in our dry dock period at Knight & Carver Yard in National City.
Searcher in dry dock. Her bottom looks great!
The crew and I have sanded part of the hull (two other parts were done in previous years) and re-painted. We took off 1,000 pounds of old paint this time, for a total of 3,000 pounds for the entire hull. I am looking for some improved fuel performance after that.
We also took out the propellers and shafts for inspection and to install new packing. The rudders and shafts were inspected and we put new packing there too.
What better way to begin my 25th year as owner/operator than scraping bottom paint!
We’ll start fishing on Qualia Reel’s open charter on June 13. Join us on this 5-day adventure, or at least follow along on the daily blog report on the web site.
We hope to see you aboard in 2009. We have some great trips scheduled and expect some exciting San Diego/Baja California fishing!
Capt Art and crew (and celia)
Jerry King’s passing
We will miss our regular June trip passenger, Jerry King, on the upcoming June 5-day trip, sponsored by Qualia Reels. Here is a first-hand fishing story about Jerry that makes us smile:
"So sorry to hear about Jerry King passing away so recently. We had the distinct honor to share a fishing trip with him back in 2007. It was blazing hot on that summer trip and I remember Jerry had a magic trolling lure that was a sure-fire boat stopper. It was an old red and white tuna feather with beat-up faded shiny stuff on the outside. Jerry claimed it to be the skin off a dorado. Every time he got up to troll that lure, he would hook up and bring the Searcher to a screeching halt. After Jerry got his fish in then he would head into the air-conditioned salon, leaving the rest of us outside getting sunburned waiting to catch the big one. Your cook would finish up whatever chore he was doing then sit with Jerry to play at cards. Nice. We should all be so lucky and blessed to do as well as Jerry when we get to that age.
I enclose a picture of Jerry that I took at the landing at the end of our voyage. From the looks of the cart Jerry did okay. No better homage than your friends helping you to get your catch underway. Thanks Celia and Art for have such wonderful crew and clientele. It’s what makes fishing the Searcher so memorable."
From another Searcher friend and regular, Ray Guardiano
Seven-day Trip Report
Seven Was Enough
by Bill Roecker
Art Taylor docked his Searcher at Fisherman’s Landing October 11 after a good seven-day trip to Alijos Rocks and San Pablo, where his 21 anglers caught tuna, yellowtail and an excellent bag of wahoo.
“We had a pleasant surprise this morning,” wrote Art October 9. “We woke up to a really good wahoo bite. I saw a few fish in our lights before daylight and when the sun came up it was game on. We had 33 wahoo before 7 am. We tried to get everyone up during the bite but not everyone had a chance to get a wahoo. For those passengers that were awake, they experienced wahoo fishing at its best.
“After that we tried for yellowtail and found fish on a couple different spots on the coast. We had good fishing and the majority of the fish were caught on yo-yo jigs. The yellows were 12-20 pounds so we had a great day.”
Two tuna and a wahoo shared the jackpot honors. The best tuna was an 89-pounder caught by Jim Berg on a sardine and a 3/0 Mustad hook. Jim said he fished with 40-pound Izorline and 65-pound Spectra on a Torium 30 reel and a Seeker 660 rod.
Dale Bunting of Cambria won second place for his 83-pound tuna.
A gold Raider jig accounted for a 58-pound wahoo presented at the scales by Dave Buck of Altadena, who won third place for the big ‘skin.
“We also had a good catch of dorado,” noted skipper Taylor, who was reloading Searcher for a shark trip leaving the same day.
Sep 25-28
This 3-day trip had 29 anglers and they caught 21 yellowfin tuna, 20 dorado, and 3 albacore. The jackpot winners are:
- Greg Locke, San Diego, CA — 26.6# albacore (left)
- Ryan Bussell, South Lake Tahoe, CA — 24.4# yellowfin (middle)
- Dave Povey, Dulzura, CA — 24# yellowfin tuna (right)