Sep 5-10
This 5-day trip had 20 anglers and they caught 51 yellowfin tuna, 162 yellowtail, and 5 dorado. The jackpot winners are:
- Bill Zemba, Castaic, CA — 35.2# yellowfin tuna(left)
- Bill Zemba, Castaic, CA — 33.2# yellowfin tuna yellowfin tuna
- Delane Lytle, Granada Hills, CA — 30.2# yellowtail (right)
Searcher Open: Two Fish Sweep
By Bill Roecker
Art Taylor docked his Searcher September 10 after a five-day Let’s Talk Hookup/976 TUNA open charter with 20 anglers.
“It was slow at Guadalupe,” said Art, “so we went down to Benitos for yellowtail and fished offshore on the way back up.”
Bill Zemba of Castaic won first and second places for his yellowfin tuna of 35.2 and 33.2 pounds. He said they came on sardines and 3/0 ringed Mutu hooks. He fished with 50-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon and 50-pound Big Game line on a Penn Torque reel and a Calstar six and a half-foot Grafighter rod.
“It took about ten minutes on the big one,” he said. “I was lucky; I got the only two tuna we got on the boat.”
Delane Lytle of Granada Hill won third place for a 30.2-pound yellowtail. Another angler remarked that he had a yellowtail much larger than the other fish up to the boat when a white shark ate it.
Aug 29-Sep 1
This 3-day trip had 28 anglers and they caught 62 yellowfin tuna, 98 albacore, and 21 dorado. The jackpot winners are:
- Jim Gill, Ventura, CA — 32.6# yellowfin tuna(right)
- Chris McMorrow, Thousand Oaks, CA (left)– 32.3# yellowfin tuna
- Jim Todd, Yreka, CA — 26.6# yellowfin tuna(middle)
Aug 19-24
This 5-day trip had 17 anglers and they caught 95 yellowtail, 37 yellowfin tuna, and 2 dorado. The jackpot winners are:
- George Hartlmaier, Parowan, UT — 86.6# yellowfin tuna(left)
- Tanner Huffer, San Clemente, CA — 62.6# yellowfin tuna
- Jared Nahem, Florida — 34.8# yellowtail(right)
Two Tusker Tuna From Guadalupe
Guadalupe is slowly rounding into shape, thinks Art Taylor, Searcher owner-skipper. He docked his boat at Fisherman’s Landing August 24 after a five-day trip with 17 anglers.
“Whitey’s getting his share, too,” noted Art at the scales.
George Hartlmaier of Brianhead, UT won first place for a stout 88.2-pound yellowfin. He bagged that baby with a sardine on a 2/0 Mustad hook and a 40-pound rental outfit.
“Please put in a plug for my shop,” he said. “It’s George’s Ski Shop in Brianhead.”
Tanner Huffer of San Clemente made his second lineup shot in the past few weeks. He took second place for a 62.4-pound tuna he caught on a Tady AA jig in blue and white, on 30-pound line. The young waterman is on the surf team at San Clemente High.
Damon Nahem of Islamorada, Florida, won third place for a 34.8-pound yellowtail.
Aug 16-19
This 3-day trip had 26 anglers and they caught 4 bluefin tuna, 34 albacore, and 5 yellowfin tuna. The jackpot winners are:
- Ken Roberts, Fullerton, CA — 36.2# albacore(left)
- Dick Hoagland, Newport Beach, CA — 32.6# albacore
- Dick Hoagland, Newport Beach, CA — 30# yellowfin tuna(right)
Albie Tops for Searcher
By Bill Roecker
Art Taylor docked his Searcher at Fisherman’s Landing August 19 after a thee-day trip with 26 passengers. He remarked that the trip found tough fishing.
Ken Roberts of Fullerton won the jackpot for a 36-pound albacore. He found it with a sardine on a 3/0 Super Mutu hook, and used 30-pound Big Game line on a Shimano 20/40 reel and a Seeker six-foot rod.
Richard Hoagland of Newport Beach won second and third places for a 32-pound albie and a 30-pound yellowtail.
Pilot Rock Pays Off by Bill Roecker
Art Taylor brought his Searcher home from Guadalupe Island after a four-day trip with 27 anglers. He docked at Pt. Loma Sportfishing, as the Royal Polaris was occupying the facilities at Fisherman’s. Chartermistress Jan Howard, a Braid rep, made several notable catches, including a yellowfin on 12-pound line and a large yellowtail on 30-pound.
“We started out on the North End near Pilot Rock,” said Jan, “and we got some big yellowtail there, and some bigger ones on the weather side not far away. We had a night bite on slabs of scad mackerel, until the boat ran out of sinkers.
“Whitey showed up,” continued Jan, “and he got a lot of the sinkers. Once he breached on somebody’s yellowtail coming to the boat.”
Gary Holpuch of Golden Shores, AZ won first place for a 40.8-pound yellowtail. He said he got it with a sardine on a 2/0 Gamakatsu hook and 50-pound P-Line. He used an Avet LX reel and a Seeker 670 rod.
Greg Locke of San Diego tied with Ron Servis of Escondido for second place. Both men had 40-pound yellowtail.
Using one of the boat’s trolling rigs, Janelle Ross of Lake Forest cranked up a giant black sea bass estimated at 200 pounds, and released it.