Trip Reports

Trip Reports
Sep 202020

Extended 1.5 day trip: Sep 20-22

September 20th, 2020|Categories: Captain Mike's Blog, Trip Reports|

Good evening anglers,

We left this morning on an extended day and a half trip, and headed south looking for kelp paddies. Having fished the zone the day before, we had a pretty good idea of where to start looking. After traveling for most of the afternoon, we found our kelp and it was loaded with dorado and some yellowfin tuna. We had a lot of action and it was a great way to start off our trip!

We are excited to have an entire day of fishing ahead of us tomorrow and plan on being on the bluefin grounds in the morning.
Armando and the Searcher

Gary picked up a nice dorado

Sep 192020

Trip #23: Sep 17-20 (3 day) Penn Reels

September 19th, 2020|Categories: Captain Mike's Blog, Trip Reports|

Good Afternoon Anglers,

We started our morning to the south in the dorado and yellowfin zone. The weather was a bit choppy but we did manage to locate the kelp we were looking for. Once we pulled up, dorado and yellowfin were eager to bite the fly line sardines. We picked up quite a few fish before the kelp went dry. From there we were able to find a good line of kelps that all seemed to have a little bit of fish swimming around them. We are in some beautiful warm water and our weather is steadily improving as the day goes on. Conditions are perfect for some end of summer kelp paddy fishing.

Captain Armando and Team Searcher

Cameron’s nice dorado on the first kelp

Good evening anglers,

This afternoon we continued our search for dorado and yellowfin on kelps. All throughout the day we found kelps with fish on them. It seemed that every we kelp we found had a little bit of fish on it. So we spent the afternoon picking away at the fish in search of that big kelp that was loaded up.

In the late afternoon it finally happened. We found a large kelp that was holding a huge school of dorado. Everyone had a bent rod, they were even biting the 60lb test! We had a blast and ended the trip with a great stop. It was an extremely fun trip with a great group of anglers. Many thanks to Steve Carson and Penn Fishing Reels for the great sponsorship.

We are on our way in and will be arriving in the morning ready to do it again!

Armando and the Searcher crew

Sep 182020

Trip #23: Sep 17-20 (3 day) Penn Reels

September 18th, 2020|Categories: Captain Mike's Blog, Trip Reports|

Good afternoon anglers,

We began our morning on the bluefin tuna grounds. Shortly after sunrise we saw a school of birds picking on the surface with a few tuna boiling underneath them. Once we got close we realized that it was a very large school of tuna. We had bites on the fly line sardine, the sinker rig, and the Colt Sniper. Steve Carson from Penn Reels got a nice one on the fly line sardine on 25lb test. We have amazing weather and are seeing lots of fish. Everybody is enjoying an awesome carnitas lunch and we are ready to put some more on the boat!

Captain Armando and Team Searcher

Mike and Greg got in on the good bluefin tuna action!

Good evening anglers,

This afternoon was a little slow for us in the bluefin zone, though we did manage to land a few more. We are hoping to get a stop in the dark tonight to drop the flat falls down for some more bluefin, and then we are on our way south to try for some dorado and yellow fin tuna on kelp paddies.

Captain Armando and Team Searcher

One of the Hawaiian shirt bunch, Mark, and his bluefin!

Sep 172020

Tackle Tip Thursday Vol. 117 (Favorite Set-up)

September 17th, 2020|Categories: Captain Mike's Blog, Tackle Tip Thursday|

It’s Tackle Tip Thursday! Today we have Nathan W. from Penn Fishing. Nathan gives us the run down of his favorite fishing and his favorite set up. 8 foot rod with a Penn Fathom (FTH25N LB2) 2-Speed reel. Is his favorite set-up. Do you want to try out this set-up?   Penn Fishing has given us this set-up as a demo set for you to try. Just let our land crew know and we can set you up with a demo set-up for you to try with out having to purchase anything. It’s all about stay on top of whats biting.

Huge thank you to Nathan and Penn Fishing for the tackle tip and the demo gear.

Hook 🎣 more Tackle Tips here.

Sep 132020

Biter’s Private Charter: Sep 11-14 (3 day)

September 13th, 2020|Categories: Captain Mike's Blog, Trip Reports|

Good morning, anglers:

We managed a few on the flat falls last night and this morning. We’re seeing the same grade bluefin as yesterday: 30-50lbs. It’s a very good sign of fish, but it has been tough to get a bite. We had one stop for a dozen or so all caught on the fly lined sardine on 25lb test.

Captain Mike and the boys,

Mark with his morning bluefin

Good evening anglers:

We opted for a change of pace here this afternoon and went in search of big bluefin. We searched all afternoon, finally got on them at about 5:30 p.m. and had a shot at them. We had quite a few bites but we only landed a few of these beauties. There was very good sign here once we did get on them. Our biggest fish on the boat this year taped in at 239lbs. We”re going to try catch some on the flat falls here tonight before we have to run in.

Captain Mike and the boys

Jeanine and Pat (husband and wife) double-teamed this cow bluefin (239#)

Sep 122020

Biter’s Private Charter: Sep 11-14 (3 day)

September 12th, 2020|Categories: Captain Mike's Blog, Trip Reports|

Good morning anglers,

We stopped on a nice school of bluefin in the dark and picked one up on the flat fall. There was a very good sign of fish, however we were forced to relocate due to an unannounced Navy training exercise.

We have gotten on a different batch of fish since then and have been picking away at 30-50lb bluefin. We’ll check back in a bit. We’re currently in a stop.

Captain Mike and the boys

p.s. Check all our Tackle Tips here: Tackle Tip Thursday videos

Bluefin in the dark

Good evening anglers,

We had a nice “plunker” going for most of the day on 30-50lb bluefin, In fact, we just about have our daily limit.

We got another shot late on the same grade of fish, as well as some 60lb yellowfin. We’re going to try flat falls tonight and camp out and try again in the morning.

Captain Mike and the boys

Jeanine and a sample from today’s catch.

Sep 102020

Tackle Tip Thursday Vol. 116 (Crimping)

September 10th, 2020|Categories: Captain Mike's Blog, Tackle Tip Thursday|

Tackle Tip Thursday is here! Today we have a special guest, Billy from Fisherman’s Landing Tackle Shop. Billy tells us what hot right now for big fish fishing. He gives insider tips on how to crimp and secure your hook properly. You will need line, a crimp, crimping tool, chafing sleeve and a lighter. Now that you have all the tools Billy will give you the step by step instructions on what you need to do. Stay hooked here for all the latest Tackle Tips.

Thank you so much Billy and Fisherman’s Landing Tackle Shop for the great Tackle Tip!

Sep 62020

Trip #21: Sep 4-7 (3 day) Labor Day Special

September 6th, 2020|Categories: Captain Mike's Blog, Trip Reports|

Hello anglers,

We saw good signs of bluefin tuna almost all day though the morning was very slow. The fish just wouldn’t bit. Around noon, things changed and we started seeing better signs with fish on the surface. We had a couple of stops that made our day and everyone had a chance at landing a nice bluefin! Some of our beginners landed fish and we hope to have all the new customers get a bluefin tuna tomorrow.

Captain Art and Team Searcher

p.s. There’s still time to fish during this incredible season. Check for availability here: Searcher Sportfishing 2020 trips

Long-time Searcher angler Ryan with a nice bluefin

 

Hello anglers,

We had some action on 25-45 pound bluefin tuna today. We saw a tremendous amount of fish. And even though not every spot cooperated, we had fun with the spots that did. Calm seas and sunny skies today.

Capt Art and Team Searcher

Captain Art and Ryan with another beauty bluefin!

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