Searcher Finds Skinnies by Bill Roecker
Art Taylor docked his Searcher October 6 after a seven-day trip with 19 anglers. He was thwarted in reaching Alijos Rocks by tropical depression Julia,, so he fished offshore kelps, The Ridge and Cedros Island, where his anglers got over five dozen big yellowtail.
He also found some wahoo and dorado, and wrote this on October 3:
“We decided to stay on the Ridge today. We figured since we came all this way to try for wahoo we might as well put in the time to try and catch a few. We got lucky and caught 12 wahoo before we had to leave. For most everyone that caught one, it was their first wahoo. Even though we didn’t get everyone a wahoo we were at least in the right zone and had opportunity to catch one.”
We traveled north the rest of the day with no luck finding something floating, so we are in position to be at Cedros Island tomorrow morning to try for those nice, big yellowtail to finish the trip.”
At the Fisherman’s Landing dock, Art weighed the biggest wahoo caught on bait or cast jigs. Trolled fish are not eligible. Two brothers took both ends of the jackpot.
Ballanti Brothers Score: Don and Bob Ballanti have Mike Jimenez bookended in the Searcher jackpot.
Don Ballanti of El Cerrito won first place for a 46.8-pound wahoo. Hed said the ‘skin took his Burns Bomb in blue and silver. He fished 50-pound Big Game line, a Tiburon ST 12-2 reel and a Calstar 700 M rod.
Mike Jimenez of LA won second place for a 44.4-pounder, and Don’s brother Bob Ballanti won third place for a 41.8-pound wahoo.
Sep 29-Oct 6
This 7-day trip had 19 anglers and they caught 132 yellowtail, 114 dorado, 16 wahoo, 2 grouper, and 2 yellowfin tuna. The jackpot winners are (left to right):
- Don Ballanti, El Cerrito, CA — 46.8# wahoo
- Mike Jimenez, Los Angeles, CA — 44.4# wahoo
- Bob Ballanti, Boise, ID — 41.8# wahoo
Sep 16-22
This 6-day trip had 22 anglers and they caught 330 yellowtail and 18 halibut. The jackpot winners are:
- John Curtis, ENGLAND — 44.2# yellowtail
- Robert Chavez, San Diego, CA — 38.8# yellowtail
- Dan Kelleher, Cambria, CA — 38.8# halibut
New Sponsor in 2008! GUY HARVEY
An August 5-day trip will now be sponsored by GuyHarveyShirts.com in 2008. Each passenger will receive a nice assortment of Guy Harvey designed shirts.
Join us for some great summer and enjoy some top-quality fishing shirts too!
DATES: August 24-29, 2008. Reservations available through the Searcher office.
619-226-2403
reservations@searchersportfishing.com
Sep 12-16
This 4-day trip had 25 anglers and they caught 257 yellowtail. The jackpot winners are (left to right):
- Jerry Jellsett, Temecula, CA — 25.8# yellowtail
- Jim Marshall, Jackson, CA — 25.4# yellowtail
- Rick Lalama, San Diego, CA — 24.6# yellowtail
976-TUNA Open by Bill Roecker
Searcher arrived at Fisherman’s Landing September 12 under owner-skipper Art Taylor’s hand, after a five-day 976-TUNA open charter.
“We fished albacore for a day,” said Art, “and then went down to Cedros Island, where we fished at the South End and up near the North End on the lee side.”
In his blog, Art wrote, “We made it to Cedros Island and caught some mackerel for bait last night. We fished the south end of the island in the morning and caught a few good-grade yellowtail. We left there mid-morning and moved up the lee to try a spot or two. The report from the day before was favorable so we made a move.
“We arrived at a spot where we have done really well in the past and had excellent fishing for mixed grade yellowtail. Most of the fish are in the 20-pound range with a few smaller. The primary method used was flyline mackerel or sardine with 30 or 40 pound test line. There were a few fish caught on dropper loops on the bottom.”
Tim James of Westminster won first place for a 37.8-pound albacore. He said he got it with a sardine on a 2/0 Flyliner hook, 25-pound Ande line on a Daiwa 40 reel and a Calstar 870 rod.
Tim’s brother Chuck James of LaPine, OR won second place for a 30.7-pounder, and John Wilmore of Temecula won third place for a 30-pound longfin.
Friend to all Fishermen, Philip Friedman of 976-TUNA, Needs Help!
Philip’s brother-in-law has a brain tumor. To help, read below. If you can help with a monetary donation, thank you! Let me know and I’ll send you a Searcher t-shirt!
Christian had his fourth brain surgery on August 28th, 2007 in San Jose, Costa Rica. Since that time his condition has deteriorated to the point where he still has not eaten since August 28th, is in severe pain and now has meningitis.The meningitis may have been prevented as we had the following advice from Cedar Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles.
"It seems like the fluid draining from the wound is CSF (cerebro spinal fluid) in Spanish (liquido cefalo raquidio). Probably when the nurse removed the drain, she didn’t put a stitch or even if she did there is still drainage. This is very dangerous because if he gets an infection he will develop meningitis. I recommend for the doctor to recheck the wound and tried to close with a stitch hopefully that will stop the fluid."
Christian Back in the Hospital
The preceding advice was not followed and Christian and he was discharged from the hospital with no instructions on how to care for him. He has now been readmitted to Hospital San Juan de Dios as he became non responsive. He is talking a bit and still can recognize loved ones. They are treating the meningitis but seem very pessimistic. The following advice is from Cedar Sinai in Los Angeles.
"They shouldn’t be so negative about it– meningitis is dangerous but with appropriate care he can be ok. They should do cultures of the cerebrospinal fluid and give them IV antibiotics to treat.
Please keep me informed."
Christian to go home again soon
Doctors at San Juan Dios Hospital say he could die at any time or he could hang on for a few months; no one knows for sure. They plan on sending him home to die shortly.
If you would like to help Christian, the need is greater than ever.
The Christian Rodriguez Fund
2655 W. Carson St.
Torrance, CA 90503
Current needs:
An orthopedic bed for his home
A nurse to administer antibiotics and watch over him
Purchase all of his meds as well as all other medical needs including bandages, morphine, and every other medical needs.
Help to pay for day to day living expenses
Help to pay for clothing and schooling for his children and so much more
If you can help take away some of the tremendous pressure on this family, it would be deeply appreciated by all of us.
Sep 7-12
This 5-day trip had 26 anglers and they caught 256 yellowtail, 10 albacore, 13 dorado, and 3 yellowfin tuna. The jackpot winners are:
- Tim James, Westminster, CA — 37.6# albacore
- Chuck James, Lapine, OR — 30.6# albacore
- John Wilmore, Temecula, CA — 30# albacore each