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May 2003

May 9th, 2003
Good morning everyone, we are finally underway after a 7 week stretch of annual boat maintenance. The boat is in excellent condition, with many new cosmetics improvements in the salon, as well as the outer deck, she is ready for action. We departed San Diego yesterday on a 20 day Clipperton Island extravaganza. Things started out well for us, as we loaded the boat with sardines which are in excellent condition. The weather has been on the breezy side, and we are headed to Cedros Island to try for some green mackerel. With all the good reports from Clipperton the last few weeks, we are looking forward to some decent fishing down there as well as the over all adventure that that island offers. We have a very good group of anglers, and with some luck we hope to get in on some of that big fish action. There is not much more to report at this time, so wish us luck on our bait fishing, and we will report later on. sea ya later, Jeff and crew

May 10th, 2003
Hello everyone, here is a brief account of yesterdays activities. We did various odd jobs and projects in the morning, along with a short seminar on bait catching. We arrived at Cedros at 1300 hrs. and by 1700 hrs we had all the mackerel we need for the trip. The weather was extremely windy, and continues to be so today as well. We opted to swing by Hurricane Bank to try for some wahoo, and should arrive there very early on Monday. As for today we will be going over techniques for wahoo fishing, and start to get our gear rigged up. We hope the weather starts to back off, as it is very choppy. That brings us up to date, so I will have another report tomorrow, until then, keep a tight line. Jeff and crew

May 11th, 2003
Hello again everyone, today is Sunday , and not too much to report for yesterday. We had a full length tackle seminar on all the latest techniques for fishing wahoo, and spent the rest of the day rigging up and doing various jobs on the boat. Today will begin with a tuna seminar, which is pretty in depth, as there are many different ways to go about fishing tuna at Clipperton island. As mentioned, we are headed to Hurricane Bank for a day of wahoo fishing, and should arrive there around 0230 Monday. The weather is 100 % better as we have lost some of the wind we had. other than that, we don't have much to report. In case you haven't heard the news, Andy Cates has returned to the boat, and we are glad he is back, making our already outstanding crew even better. We are armed and loaded, anticipating a action packed trip. We will report again tomorrow with the tally from the bank. Wish us luck, and happy mothers day to all. sea ya, Jeff and crew

May 12th, 2003
good afternoon everyone, here is the report for may 12th. Yesterday we spent the day traveling to Hurricane Bank, and used the day to go over all the various techniques we are going to deploy at Clipperton Island for those trophy yellowfin tuna. The rest of the day we spent rigging, and relaxing with one another. The weather was absolutely perfect.
Today we spent at the bank trying for wahoo and tuna. The tuna sign was not all that good, but the wahoo sign was there in force. we were pretty busy all day, and had excellent action on nice size fish. Some drifts were short and some were long to very long. The guys really had a great time, along with the outstanding weather. We departed the bank at 1600 hrs, and should be at Clipperton very early Thursday morning. Here are a couple of pics for the day, and most guys look happy and tired. Well, that pretty much brings us up to date, and so we will talk to you all tomorrow. Until then, take care and we'll sea ya later. Jeff and crew

May 14th, 2003
Good morning everyone, here is a quick rundown from the last few days. We departed the bank and have been traveling to Clipperton island. We should be there tonight around midnight. The weather has been choppy and breezy. We hope our timing is good, and we can experience some of the world class fishing this island has to offer. So on that note, wish us luck, and we will report tomorrow after our first day at the atoll. Sea ya then, Jeff and crew

May 15th, 2003
Good evening everyone, here is the first report from Clipperton island. We scratched 18 tuna today from 70 to 150 lbs. We did not see any great volume, but we saw enough to think one could scratch a trip here. We
have plenty of time, and I think we will get a chance at some good fishing. We had some action in the very early morning, as well as the midday. The weather is very hot, as we don't have any wind to cool us down. We are hoping for a great day tomorrow, starting with a night bite in the early a.m.. We caught  most of the tuna today on sardines, and a few on mackerel. Pictured here are a few fish caught today by Shad Burke, and Joe Stickles and Allen Jackson. That pretty much wraps up our report for today. wish us luck tomorrow. sea ya then, Jeff DeBuys

May 16th, 2003
Hello everyone, things down here are a little tough right now. We started after dinner last night with a couple of 90 pounders, and had good conditions until after daylight. We had a couple of handfuls of smaller tuna and a 80 pounder at day break. The rest of the day was very long and hot. We did get on 1 school of fish that had some volume, but only 1 bite, and we lost him. We had a few wahoo and a few tuna before dark. We are hoping that things get better, because they can't get much worse as far as the fishing is concerned. Wish us luck tomorrow. We will report again manana. sea ya Jeff and crew

May 17th, 2003
Hi everyone, here is the report for Saturday. Last night we did catch a 140 lb. and a 95 lb. tuna after dinner, and they were caught by the same angler, Pat Bryan. As for today, we had a  early morning scratch on the
tuna for 14 fish 60 to 90 lbs. things were pretty low after that. The rain has not let up for 15 hours, and it looks like more on the way. We did go ashore and had a fun time fishing and snorkeling and just walking
around beachcombing. We also managed 25 wahoo for the day which was a welcome sight due to the slow tuna fishing during the day. We are still hoping for something to change in our favor. Things are really tough
right now. That's all I can really tell you. wish us luck. sea ya Jeff and crew

May 18th, 2003
Hello everyone, another report from Clipperton Island. Last night after dinner, Pat Bryan again had the hot hand by landing a 180 lb. tuna. Shortly thereafter Larry Martin got a 140. At around 0230 things started to happen, as we got another 13 tuna , most of which were good ones. The tuna ranged from 100 to 170 lbs. with a few 60's mixed in. Things after daylight really fall flat on their face, as you see very little sign of fish around. We have altered our schedule to fishing all night, and resting and catching bait (rainbow runners) for the big baits. The weather has been rainy and hot at the same time. We have plenty of time left to put together a good hit on some decent grade tuna, and I think it only a matter of time. As I am writing this report we have just landed a 140 lb. tuna caught by a crewmember Spike Ivins on the skip jig. We hope for a big hit tonight, wish us luck. Jeff Debuys
 

May 20th, 2003
Well hello everyone, I will try to bring you all up to date. It is Tues. the 20th, 1030 a.m.  Yesterday was extremely slow for us, as we did not get any sort of night bite. During the day was brutal as well. We had the good weather, and we elected to get our 2 guys from national geographic off the island. We got the anchor back down before dinner, and got nothing until 0300 this morning. We had a few fish, 6 total, from 70 to 180 lbs. Pictured here are Joe Stickles and Shad Burke with a few of the fish this morning. Things have gotten even tougher for us, as there is a tropical storm (Andréa) headed right for us, which is suppose to arrive at 10 a. m. tomorrow. How is that for luck? We have elected to leave the island, and forego the rain and 55 knot winds that are predicted, and run up around the Puerto Vallarta area in hopes of finishing the last day and a half of fishing.  It seems we just haven't gotten a decent break since we departed San Diego. We have 650 miles to travel, so wish us luck . We will report tomorrow. sea ya Jeff DeBuys

May 22nd, 2003
Well hello everyone, not much to report here after Andre chased us from Clipperton. We traveled all day yesterday without seeing much in the way of fish. We are still running up to Corbetena Rock to see if we can
scratch some tuna before we have to call it quits. We have seen a few spots of porpoise today, but no tuna of any size were with them. We are going to try for some bait tonight, and then try various spots tomorrow,
in hopes of a few more tuna. Wish us luck, talk to you later, Jeff and crew

May 23rd, 2003
Hello everyone, here is the latest report for Friday the 23rd. Today we spent around Cleophus Bank and the surrounding waters looking for tuna. There was some sign off the bank around 0900, and things were looking
good for most of the day. We hit numerous spots of jumpers and foamers, and the guys really had a great day. The grade was a fair grade with fish going 60 to 90 lbs. We ended up catching 43 fish, and then things were starting to slow down around 5 p.m.. Today was our last day for fishing, and we will depart for Cabo San Lucas tomorrow morning. We will report again when we are underway. sea ya then, Jeff DeBuys

May 25th, 2003
Good morning everyone, we have departed Cabo San Lucas and are headed back to San Diego. The weather is a bit choppy, and we hope that it does not continue for our journey home.  Reflecting back on the trip, I feel we could have at least scratched some quality tuna had we been able to stay at Clipperton Island. Sometimes you just don't get the break that you need, in order to have the kind of success we set out for. I do look forward to next year and the trips we have planned to Clipperton. The potential is always there to have the experience of a lifetime. Just for general info, things look like summer already, with the recent catches of albacore, and some bluefin tuna within 2 day range of San Diego. We will be back to San Diego Wed. the 28th., at 0900. sea ya then, Jeff DeBuys

May 31 2003
Good morning folks. Yesterday we left on the June Heat 15 day trip. The bait situation was very good and we manage to put aboard a beautiful load of sardines. The afternoon was nice, good weather and after a welcome seminar we spent the rest of the day getting our gear stowed followed by an  excellent Mexican dinner that Jorge and Jose made. Weather has been an issue on this late season trip in the past so we will be keeping a close eye on any developing systems in the tropical zone. The last system Andre has moved west and is now closer to Hawaii and will not be an issue for us. Today we will go over a few things and rig up for fishing squid and also a possible stop at Alijos Rocks. The weather is still good and looking to continue that way. We will report again tomorrow Andy Cates

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