Trip Reports

Hello anglers,

We’ve had some action on small tuna and better size dorado so far today. We are releasing the small tuna and keeping the dorado. However the small tuna are biting and are lots of fun on light tackle!

Tanner S brought some unconventional tackle with him this trip. He used spinning gear for yellowtail yesterday and did very well. Today he broke out a hand-line similar to what kids might have used back in the day– a coffee can with line wrapped around the outside so they can cast their bait or lure out. Tanner landed a dorado on his version of this outfit with a live sardine.

We are all having a lot of fun this trip!

Capt Art and Team Searcher

Evening update:

We had plenty of action with small yellowfin tuna and dorado associated with kelp paddies. We released the majority of the smaller fish so they can continue to grow. But it was fun catching them on light tackle with poppers, lures and live bait.

We are also continuing to enjoy great weather with light winds and partly sunny skies. We are headed northwest for our last day close to San Diego with hopes for some better size yellowfin tuna.

Yellowtail sashimi and skipjack poke

Today was a seafood day in the galley. We had yellowfin tuna melts for lunch, yellowtail sashimi and skipjack poke for afternoon snack and pasta alfredo with scallops for dinner. Delicious!

Capt Art and Team Searcher

Hello all,

Good fishing for yellowtail this morning. The fish are 12 to 20 pounds with a few stand outs that are 25 pounds. Tackle tip for you is, live sardine on 40 pound line and a 4/0 Owner hook was the method of choice today. A few fish were landed on yo-yo lures, scrambled egg (Tady), chartreuse and white (flat fall) were the good colors. Here is Tanner S.of Bay City Brewery with a nice yellowtail. The weather is awesome, sunny skies and light winds.

Evening update:

Our great fishing continued until 2 pm today. Everyone caught what they needed for yellowtail. It was one of our best days this year with good-size fish and great weather. Even the crew got in the action! I hooked and handed several fish and Captains Kenny and Mike had some fun doing the same.Towards the end of the bite Ryan landed a fish after hooking a few. Even Chef Roger had a few bites. Here is Ryan and Mike with a nice yellowtail.

~Captain Art and Team Searcher

Hello anglers,

We started our day with a sample of yellowfin tuna in the 10-15 pound range, caught with live sardines. But the skipjack and bonito took over and made it hard to land a tuna. We went offshore looking for tuna on kelp paddies. Unfortunately we didn’t find the right kelp despite finding several paddies.We are hopeful about tomorrow!

The weather is great with light winds and just a residual swell left over from the storm. We are headed further south on the coast to try for yellowtail. Here is a picture of the great ocean we have.

Capt Art and Team Searcher

Hello anglers,

We have had steady action this morning with lots of skipjack, small yellowtail and small tuna. But we also have been landing some mixed-grade yellowfin tuna up to 40 pounds. Most of the fish are caught on live sardines.

The weather is tremendous today with clear skies and light winds. David Thiessen is posing with  his jackpot contender.

Capt Art and Team Searcher

Hello anglers,

We started our day early by catching a few tuna before daylight and the action continued until after breakfast. The best success with hooking one of these tuna was to fly-line a live sardine. There were a few caught on flat fall lures as well. We’re hoping for more action later this morning.

Here is Biff and Barb M. with their good-size yellowfin tuna.

Afternoon update: We had steady action today with lots of skipjack, small tuna and yellowtail released. But everyone had an opportunity to land a nice yellowfin tuna today. All methods were worth trying: live bait as well artificial lures of various sorts.

Here is Alberto A with a quality yellowtail. We are staying the night with hopes of more chances at yellowfin tuna up to 40 pounds.

~Captain Art and Team Searcher

Hello anglers,

We arrived at the fishing grounds just after lunch today. There wasn’t much action to start, but we were patient. And as the day went on we had some action on yellowtail, and then right at sunset we had action on yellowfin tuna.

The yellowtail were caught on yo-yo lures and dropper loop set-ups with a live bait. The yellowfin tuna were caught on live sardines. Everyone had a good time and we are looking forward to tomorrow.
Here is Capt Shawn with our friend Ace and his vintage bamboo rod and reel, and a yellowtail he landed this afternoon.

Many thanks to Seeker Fishing Rods for their sponsorship!

Capt Art and Team Searcher