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

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

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

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

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,

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

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

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

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

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

Hello anglers,

We started our trip looking for kelp paddies and dorado, hoping for a little action to start the trip and get everyone acclimated to gear and bait. We saw several kelps, and at the end of the day we found one that had a ball of dorado with it. Everyone had a chance to land a dorado and we all had some fun!

We’re enjoying the great weather and we are headed west to try for bluefin tuna tomorrow.

Captain Art and Team Searcher

Good afternoon anglers,

We’re still on our morning drift, plunking away on 25-40lb bluefin tuna. Lots of anglers have their limit right now. We had heavy casualties this morning, but are still accumulating some nice fish. The go-to set up has been 25lb test, with fluorocarbon to match ,and a small #1 circle hook. We did have a period in this drift where we were hooking them pretty steady on the 40lb as well. We still have one hanging right now. We’ll see what the rest of the day brings.

Captain Mike and the boys

p.s. Make sure to check out our tackle videos before your trip, for bluefin, wahoo, yellowtail, or anything that bites a hook in So Cal saltwater! Searcher Sportfishing YouTube channel.

Hello anglers,

We have been in the bluefin tuna zone all morning and have seen fish all morning! We have only caught a sample, but we have high hopes for this afternoon.

We are grateful to Turner’s Outdoorsman for all the giveways! Sponsors Jason R  (San Diego store) and Mike A (Oxnard store) are great to have aboard and fish with.

Captain Art and Team Searcher

Hello anglers,

We saw a lot of fish today and most of it didn’t want to bite. But by late afternoon we had some good fishing with opportunities to land a nice bluefin tuna. A live sardine with a small circle hook and 25-30 pound line was the method that worked best. Great weather today!

We loved having Turner’s Outdoorsman as a sponsor of this trip, as well as pro-staffers Jason R and Mike A. See them at the San Diego or Oxnard stores!

Captain Art and Team Searcher

Good morning anglers,

We are having a little slower day today on the bluefin. We managed to scratch some up as well as a dozen or so nice-rade yellowtail. We are seeing some sign and are hoping it’s a time of day thing.

We have a camera issue, so we’ll update the photos when we return.

Captain Mike and the boys