Trip Reports

Fishing news and tackle tips!

Trip Reports

Trip #17: August 24-28 (4 day) Accurate Fishing Products

Good morning anglers,

We have had excellent fishing on 20-40lb bluefin this morning. They started biting in the grey and have been biting all morning. We have been getting some bites on the 40lb flylined sardine. However most of our fish are coming using lighter tackle such as 25-30lb test and a #1 or #2 circle hook. We’ll check back later.

Captain Mike and the boys

p.s. Hop aboard for a 1.5 day trip to enjoy this offshore action! Click here for the details: SEARCHER EXTENDED 1.5 DAY TRIPS

Accurate’s Jack Nilsen, and grandson Douglas, with a 30lb bluefin tuna caught on one of the outfits Jack brought for everyone to use!

Good evening anglers,

Our steady bluefin action fizzled out, so this afternoon we went in search of some larger models to top off our day. We got a nice sample of the jumbo size bluefin for the few hours we fished them. We hooked a few on the kite and one on 80lb flylined sardine. There was a very good sign this afternoon and they responded well to the bait, so we are excited to see what tomorrow brings. We are currently picking off a few on the flat falls as well.

Captain Mike and the boys

A trio of 120-150 lb bluefin tuna

August 25th, 2020|Categories: Captain Mike's Blog, Trip Reports|

Trip #16: August 21-24 (3 day) Lady Angler Searcher Special

Hello anglers,

The ladies are killing it again today with great success on bluefin tuna. Both days have been exceptional fishing! No change in the best methods for catching one–have a fresh bait and change your bait regularly is key.
We are going to try for yellowtail this afternoon somewhere. Everyone has enough tuna.

We can’t say enough how grateful we are to our sponsors of the Lady Angler Searcher Special (LASS) every year: Seeker Rods, Izorline, and Turner’s Outdoorsman. And our fabulous pro-staffers!

Captain Art and Team Searcher

Rene brought this nice bluefin tuna aboard this morning. Congrats!

August 23rd, 2020|Categories: Captain Mike's Blog, Trip Reports|

Trip #16: August 21-24 (3 day) Lady Angler Searcher Special

Hello anglers,

We have had great fishing for bluefin tuna this morning with plenty of opportunity to land a tuna! Live bait with 25-30 pound line and fluorocarbon and a 2/0 circle hook is the method of choice.
This is our fifth annual ladies trip and the women are having a great time! As soon as they get onboard the festivities begin with gift bags for everyone and a cocktail to get the trip started right.

We’re enjoying some really great weather, with calm seas and no wind.

Captain Art and Team Searcher

All three pro-staffers boated a bluefin together!

Hello anglers,

Great fishing today and lots of opportunities to land a bluefin tuna! Live sardine with 25-40 pound line and a small circle hook was the key! Here are two new lady anglers from Las Vegas, NV with their fish landed using our “hook and hand” outfits.
We are spending the night and trying again in the morning. Great weather.

Captain Art and Team Searcher

p.s. Head over to our YouTube channel for all the latest tackle tips!

Introducing our newest tuna anglers!

August 22nd, 2020|Categories: Captain Mike's Blog, Trip Reports|

Trip #15: August 19-21 (1.5 day)

Good morning anglers,

We’ve had a great morning on the bluefin today. We caught our limit of 25-40lb bluefin before lunch! The key today was 25lb fluorocarbon and a small circle hook: 1 or 1/0. We’re off to go look for some yellowtail this afternoon.

Captain Mike and the boys

Father and daughter Jeff and Jolene with a stock size bluefin tuna from this morning!

Good evening anglers,

We were able to scratch up some yellowtail this afternoon. Conditions were not quite right, but the ones we caught were all quality. The go-to set up was a fly-lined sardine on 40lb. We also caught some on the yoyo jigs.

Captain Mike and the boys

A sample of our afternoon’s catch of yellowtail

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

Extended 1.5 day: Aug 17-19

Hello all,

Beautiful weather today with light winds, calm seas,  and sunny skies! We have had steady action with plenty of opportunities to land a bluefin tuna and an occasional yellowtail. There appears to be lots of fish here so hopefully it will stick around for awhile and all of us can take advantage of this good fishing. The method of choice is live sardine with 25-30 pound line and fluorocarbon with a 2/0  J hook or a 2/0 circle hook. Changing your bait regularly is the key.

Captain Art and Team Searcher

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Here is a happy customer with a nice bluefin. The method of choice is live sardine with 25-30 pound line and fluorocarbon with a 2/0  J hook or a 2/0 circle hook. Changing your bait regularly is the key.

 

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

Trip #13: August 14-17 (3 day) Captain Potatohead Memorial Fundraiser

Hello anglers,

We stayed in the same area and had our chances at landing yellowfin tuna and dorado today. We saw the same sign of fish for most of the morning, but there was a better percentage of nice size tuna. Here is Rich and Dave with a couple of 30 pound fish one landed on live bait and the other on a surface lure.

The weather is tremendous with no wind and calm seas. We had good fishing, great people and tons of fun. Thanks to Bob Bower and Mike Wicen for gathering and raffling off all the goodies. it was all for a great cause in honor of our great friend Dick Uranga. We’ll share all the totals donated to PanCan after the trip. We can’t say enough thank you’s to our sponsors: Fishermans Processing, Melton Tackle, Seeker Rods, and more, plus all the hard work of Dick Uranga’s friends for keeping his spirit alive on Searcher!

Captain Art and Team Searcher

Rich and Dave with 30 pound fish: one landed on live bait and the other on a surface lure.

August 17th, 2020|Categories: Captain Mike's Blog, Trip Reports|

Trip #13: August 14-17 (3 day) Captain Potatohead Memorial Fundraiser

Hello anglers,

We are having a decent morning with some action on yellowtail, dorado and yellowfin tuna. They are coming in as mixed sizes from small (released) to 30 pound tuna. Everyone is having a great time with great weather, lots of giveaways and raffle prizes donated by generous sponsors in honor of Dick Uranga.

Thank you to Melton International Tackle and Robert Aguirre for donations!

More later,

Captain Art and Team Searcher

Maria reeled in a nice tuna after hooked by Capt Mike on a surface lure

Hello anglers,

We had a great day of fishing with action throughout the day. Yellowtail and dorado in the morning, and yellowfin tuna in the afternoon. Plenty of opportunities to catch a fish and have some fun.
The annual grand prize for our Captain Potatohead raffle is is a rod and reel combo donated by Seeker Rods and Searcher. It comes complete with line on it so whoever wins it can use during the trip. Our good friend Terry Onishi custom wraps the rod in the same colors as our friend Dick Uranga’s rods were wrapped! This year, the winner is longtime Potatohead angler, Matt Aguirre, and then he proceeded to land a yellowtail with that rod and reel combo.

Raffle proceeds will be added to other money donated to Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, Dickie’s preferred charity. We are hoping for a record donation for 2020, and we’ll announce the Sportsperson of the trip who will receive $1000 credit on the trip next year. (This money was raised by a second jackpot and will be matched by us and added to the donation.)

And secret photos will prove that the schenanigans started by Dickie are underway on the trip too!

Captain Art and Team Searcher

p.s. Preparing for your trip? Check out our YouTube channel for loads of tackle tips: Searcher Sportfishing on YouTube

Potatohead angler Matt with a special rod/reel combo, and its first fish

August 15th, 2020|Categories: Captain Mike's Blog, Trip Reports|

Private Charter August 10-14 (3.5 day) trip

Good morning anglers,

After catching limits of bluefin tuna yesterday, the catching is much tougher this morning. We are still seeing signs in the bluefin tuna zone, it’s just harder to get a bite. We’re hoping it’s a time of day thing, and we’ll be ready for the afternoon.

Captain Mike and the boys

Steve got this 30# bluefin sliding into a sonar school on 30lb test

 

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

Private Charter August 10-14 (3.5 day) trip

Good morning anglers,

We’re off to a great start here on the bluefin grounds this morning. We had a nice long drift on some biting bluefin tuna and have been scratching late morning early afternoon. Very good sign of 20-40lb fish. We’re catching them on the flyline and the sinker rig. We suffered quite a few casualties this morning but I think we’ve worked the bugs out.

Captain Mike and the boys

To access all our tackle tip videos, subscribe to our channel here: Searcher Sportfishing on YouTube

Chartermaster Kevin and crewman Justin with a 30lb bluefin tuna

Good evening anglers,

We had a great day on the bluefin tuna! We ended up catching our limit for the day. They bit pretty much all day. The most successful ways of hooking them were on the sinker rig and fly lined baits on 30lb test. Here is Bryan with a 20lb bluefin tuna he caught on the sinker.

Captain Mike and the boys

Bryan caught this 20lb bluefin tuna on the sinker

August 11th, 2020|Categories: Captain Mike's Blog, Trip Reports|
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