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Capt. Andy Cates If you do not see the day you are looking for please be patient sometimes reports are delayed Red Rooster III has permits to fish Guadalupe Island
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On Monday April 21st Chef Jorge Nicifore passed away.
Wednesday, April 23rd,
there are funeral
services for Jorge in
Ensenada.
Red Rooster III – Fishing Trip Date of Trip: Tuesday, March 11th, Thursday – Thursday, March 27th On March 11, 2008, I set out for a fishing trip I had been looking forward for a very long time, and my expectations were met far beyond what I had hoped for, maybe except for the fact that I did not catch a 300 pound tuna. Looking back on the trip, there were three important life lessons that I observed throughout the trip and now plan to integrate into my life. Effort I have never seen a person put so much effort into hoping that we would hit “the big fish” action. Captain Andy Cates never lost sight of his goal to make sure that we had some decent fishing. Although the trip started out a little rocky, with unstable weather and water conditions, as well as a run-in with sharks, Captain Cates never once gave up on his mission. If possible, he really would give it his best 200% effort. As part of the trip, we went from the Hurricane Bank to Clarion to San Benedicto, and lastly to Soccoro. After several days of looking for a decent catch, on the last day we finally hit a school of big tuna. Captain Cates taught me never to lose hope because your efforts will eventually pay off. The service provided by the deckhands – Fernando, Joe, Tom, and Nick - on the Red Rooster, was razor sharp. Theirs was the kind of service one might only expect to be provided at a five-star hotel. Again, the effort they put into their jobs to make everyone happy was noticeable. They scratched everyone’s backs. Lastly, who would have thought you could get first-rate food on a fishing boat? The ship’s galley service, provided by Steve and Jose, was a perfect “10;” they nourished us day and night. I was amazed that Jose remembered that I liked my eggs over easy every time I ordered them. He also remembered how I liked my steak; that’s the kind of effort and service I like to see and will remember long after my trip. Manner/Behavior The second theme I gained from the trip is the importance of manners/behavior. Several awards were handed out for the size of fish that were caught on the trip, but I think the best award was the “manner” trophy. Whoever thought of this idea was very clever! Although most of us took this trip for the “big fish” action, we also went to enjoy ourselves and to relax. Even still, sometimes we got caught up in the heat of the moment when we were in the middle of the “action” and forgot our manners. The manners trophy was an indirect way of making sure we remembered our manners – which we sometimes tend to forget in “the moment.” It was a great idea to make sure that all the fishermen on board were on their best behaviors, so that everyone enjoyed their fishing vacation. Sharing Mother always said to share with others and apparently there were others who got the same advice as children and listened to their mothers as well. We had Bill sharing his home-grown and hand-picked avocados and “Big Tuna” Bill Ghiselin sharing his mouth watering homemade cookies. Roger shared his years of knowledge and expertise of fishing gear care- I learned so much from him. For most of us, this was the first time meeting, but this didn’t hinder folks from sharing their goods, whether food or knowledge. In the end, this 16-day fishing trip was not just about the “big catch” but it was also about very important life lessons that everyone should try to apply to their ordinary lives. I learned not to give up, even though things may look grim. I learned that there is always hope. I learned that no matter what kind of situation you’re in, manners are still important. And most importantly, even if you don’t know someone very well, sharing what you have can lead to lifetime friendships. I will always remember this fishing trip and the incredible people on board who taught me wonderful qualities that everyone should apply in their every-day lives. Sincerely,
Jin Sung Chang March 27th, 2008 CAPTAIN: ANDY CATES DATE OF TRIP: TUESDAY, MARCH 11TH THURSDAY, MARCH 27TH LENGTH OF TRIP: 16/13 DAYS AREAS FISHED: HURRICANE BANK, CLARION, SAN BENITO, & SOCCORO FISH COUNT: 45 CAUGHT OVER 100 IBS, 7 CAUGHT OVER 200 IBS & 70 WAHOO 1st PLACE JACKPOT 239.9 IBS YELLOWFIN TUNA CAUGHT BY JOE CHO OF FONTANA 2ND PLACE JACKPOT 224.6 IBS YELLOWFIN TUNA CAUGHT BY ROSS WHEELER OF WICHITA 3RD PLACE JACKPOT 221.3 IBS YELLOWFIN TUNA CAUGHT BY SEUNG WON CHA OF LOS ANGELES
218.7 LBS CAUGHT BY WILTON LEE BULL OF BONSALL 215.1 LBS CAUGHT BY BEN KITA OF LOS ANGELES 209.5 LBS CAUGHT BY DON ROLSTAD OF BONITA 200.1 LBS CAUGHT BY ART GREEN OF NEWPORT BEACH 58.5 LBS WAHOO CAUGHT ON TROLLING BY JIN CHANG OF LOS ANGELES
March 26th, 2008 Red RoosterIII ETA is 9:30-10 am Thursday. Drop by the landing and checkout their catch. March 23rd, 2008 Good afternoon folks. We are on our way to Cabo San Lucas to drop off the fly -home passengers. After a tough battle with bad weather and scratch fishing , a little each place ended up with high points at various places .With the best wahoo fishing outside the guys got a sample of the fast pace action that the legendary wahoo can produce. Eating the trolling lures, Catchy Tackle Lures and the bait on the light finesse 27# wire leaders. With a taste of bigger tuna to go with that fish up to 200 pounds anchor style fishing. The inner Islands brought a little here and a little there with a couple of stand out days bringing in some quality fish. Some days long and uneventful, other days with good action and trophies to go with. Top fish for the trip met the mark of 240 pounds with Joseph Cho with a 240, Seung Cha with a 225, Lee Bull with a 228, Ross wheeler with a 215, Ben Kita 221. Art Green 207 and 45 other tuna over 100 pounds up to 195. Not a lot for the entire trip but enough for everyone to have a chance at a big fish and some guys succeed. With 70 wahoo spread around our 15 anglers everyone got a chance to get a few of those as well before the weather came up. The weather the last 3 days has been great and really helped things out as far as moral and the overall trip. I want to thank Accurate reels Catchy Tackle ,Five Star fish processing . Black Water and Seagar flourocarbon for there contributions and of course our main line sponsor IZORLINE for the great giveaways and trophies that will be handed out for Lunker award and sportsmans award. Rod and Reel radio will have more details about the trip as well and Bill will be on tonight and next Sunday. Thanks again Andy Cates March 20th, 2008 Good evening folks. I was hoping for a better report but it just isn't so. Yesterday was a complete loss with heavy winds and poor conditions. Sign of small fish but nearly impossible to work. Today was not much better with less wind but still a pain. Choppy confused seas that seem to have everything down. Not good for the Buffer Zone at Clarion. We did manage to land 5 fish from 100 to 120 pounds and one lucky angler won a Five star fish processing certificate for the first fish over 100 pounds for the day. The weather has been a huge factor for us. We are hoping it comes down tonight and we have at least good working conditions for tomorrow. We will report then Andy Cates March17th, 2008 Good morning folks. The weather came up and the wahoo fishing declined. Unfortunately not much on the anchor, for the most of the day we had 9 wahoo and only 3 tuna. We drove around late afternoon and picked up 7 more wahoo but saw no sign of tuna and caught only sharks in the afternoon and evening. Big fish for the day was a 215 caught by Ross Wheeler on the kite. We are going to give it half a day and if it is still poor work our way inside and start looking for something to catch. This is not going to do it. Andy Cates March 15th, 2008 Good evening folks. Our first day brought decent wahoo fishing and just a few tuna to go with them. Good conditions and sign of tuna , the sharks look to be a big problem for us , at least today. We did not get in here until mid morning so maybe we missed a shot on tuna. We will find out tomorrow. With the amount of life today we are hoping the sharks back off and give us chance to fish. We ended the day with 5 tuna from 80 to 175 pounds and 40 wahoo. The wahoo definitely saved us but that won't last so we need the tuna to get on the bite. We will report again tomorrow Andy Cates March 14th, 2008 Good evening folks. Another day of travel today . With that we did a wahoo seminar and got rigged up for tomorrow. We will be at the Bank in the morning and hoping for a nice greeting from some hungry wahoo and tuna. The bank has had a long rest and the prospect of a few bingo stops on wahoo look good. We will find out tomorrow. It does seem like the wahoo fishing has been holding up down here and with a long rest it could be good. More important is the tuna and only time will tell. . We will report again tomorrow and have reports on our first day at the Bank Andy Cates March 13th, 2008 Good evening folks. Another day of travel and a seminar on fishing tuna. We decided to have daily Jack Pots on the trip and will be winning two Seeker rods and certificates from Five Star fish processing for catch of the day. We will spread it out so there is a J.P every other day. The weather is better today and starting to warm up. With one more day of travel the guys are getting excited in hopes of Wahoo and big tuna . We will report again tomorrow. Andy Cates March 12th, 2008 Good morning folks. We left yesterday on a 16 day fly home from Cabo long range fishing trip. Sponsored by Izorline and Rod and Reel radio. So far the weather is nice and the bait looks good. We are headed to the outside in hopes of some wahoo action after the long rest the Bank has had. With any luck the tuna will be on the bite and we can sit it out. If not other options are available like Clarion that offered our Jack pot fish last trip and explosive action offshore style in the Buffer Zone. With any luck we will be able to use our Catchy Tackle lures to start the trip off on some wahoo action. Lets hope it works out. Andy Cates
WE HELD THE RAFFLE
DRAWING AT 2:00 PM
SUNDAY
THE RAFFLE TICKET
SALES TOTALED
$2956.00. I PUT IN
THE DIFFERENCE THAT
MADE IT $3,000.00.
THAT'S IN ADDITION
TO THE $1,000.00
YOU COLLECTED ON
THE BOAT FOR A GRAND
TOTAL OF $4,000.00
LINDA WILL GET THE
MONEY TO JORGE'S
FAMILY.
THE WINNERS WERE:
1 STEVE EMMERT
- JERRYS POLE
2 SCOTTY POMEROY
- 1 80 REEL
3 JOHN STURDIVANT -
1 80 REEL
4 STEVE WOLFE - THE
L&M CUSTOM ROD
I CALLED EACH ONE
FROM THE SHOW, TOLD
THEM THEY HAD WON
AND CONGRATULATED
THEM.
# 4 WAS AT THE SHOW
AND PICKED UP HIS
POLE
# 3 JOHN STURDIVANT
HAD A FRIEND AT THE
SHOW WHO PICKED UP
HIS REEL AND STEVE
EMMERT # 1 POLE AND
WOULD TAKE THEM UP
NORTH.
# 2 SCOTTY POMEROY
WILL PICKUP HIS REEL
FROM LINDA AT THE
RR OFFICE
SPECIAL THANKS TO ALL THAT HELPED MAKE IT POSSIBLE: LINDA, RALPH COX, TOM REYNOLDS, JULIO, THEY DID A GREAT JOB OF SHAKING THE JUG AND MIXING THE TICKETS. LINDA EVEN SOLD $40.00 TO FRANK.
THAT'S ALL FOR NOW.
ALL THE BEST
JOHN
CAPTAIN: ANDY CATES DATE OF TRIP: SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9TH SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 24TH 2008 LENGTH OF TRIP: 15 DAYS AREAS FISHED: HURRICANE BANK, & CLARION FISH COUNT: 69 CAUGHT OVER 100 IBS, 8 CAUGHT OVER 200 IBS & 42 WAHOO 1st PLACE JACKPOT 285.7 IBS YELLOWFIN TUNA CAUGHT BY MARK MOFFAT OF SAN DIEGO 2ND PLACE JACKPOT 245.4 IBS YELLOWFIN TUNA CAUGHT BY JOHN LOFTUS OF IRVINE 3RD PLACE JACKPOT 235.2 IBS YELLOWFIN TUNA CAUGHT BY JOHN AVILES OF TRACY Additional 200lb. fish 234.4 CAUGHT BY ALLAN BABASHOFF OF MONTEBELLO 233.9 CAUGHT BY JOHN AVILES OF TRACY 213.7 CAUGHT BY RICHARD ROSE OF MANHATTAN BEACH 203.8 CAUGHT BY RICHARD ROSE OF MANHATTAN BEACH 201.5 CAUGHT BY RICHARD ROSE OF MANHATTAN BEACH
Feb. 21st, 2008 Good morning folks. We finished off good yesterday with a great show on Black porpoise and some big fish to go with it. 15 tuna for the day. Three over 200, biggest fish caught by Mark Moffet a 281 that was retrieved in the skiff. Allen Babashof with a 234 and Rich Rose with another cow going 213. The dozen other fish were 150 to 193 pounds and an incredible show on the stops. Very similar to the explosive action of the Mag bay fishery only it was out here at the Island. With the time spent out here It looks to me like there are good possibilities of big fish to come for trips coming up. It is a lot of work and you do have to be patient but the chances are there. We are on our way home and so far the weather is nice, lets hope it continues. Andy Cates Feb. 20th, 2008 Good morning folks. Not much to report for yesterday. The fish never really showed until late afternoon. They also were reluctant to bite. With only 4 bites for the day and ending up with 3 tuna I would say it was tough. We had visions of much better after the first day here. Today is our last day and we are hoping it is good to finish up on. Biggest fish yesterday was a 195 caught by Gary Grimaud. Andy Cates Feb. 19th, 2008 Good morning folks. Yesterday the offshore scene was looking up. Nice areas of black porpoise and fish to go with them. We got in there a little late and picked off a school that stuck with us for a little while. We ended up with 14 fish over 100 pounds including a 234 caught by John Loftus ,a 225 by John Aives and one right at 200 by Rich Rose. A couple others in the high hundreds up to 190 as well. With a start of 50 pounders and then turning into big fish, it was good action and today we are looking for more. The weather seems to be coming down all the time and looks good for today Andy Cates Feb. 18th, 2008 Good morning folk. We left the Bank yesterday afternoon with very little to show for. With only 8 wahoo and no tuna by 300 in the afternoon it was time to leave. It is all about timing out here and we were off by a few days. We are headed into the Island in hopes of offshore action . It won't take much to out do yesterday . The weather has improved all night and now we have less than 10 knots and mild seas. We will report again tomorrow Andy Cates Feb. 17th, 2008 Good morning folks Yesterday the wind was up but not that bad. It was actually soothing after the first couple of days. slow here again with 7 tuna and 9 wahoo. We trolled around a little and were ready to go in and try the Island when we hooked a kite fish. It only amounted to a few fish but better than nothing. Nothing over 200 today 140 to 180 so hopefully today can get lucky and get a couple chances. On that note lets just hope this fish stars to bite. Andy Cates Feb. 16th, 2008 Good morning folks. Another tough day with a couple of short moves for 10 fish over 100 pounds including a 221 caught by John Stardivant and a 216 caught by Rich Rose. Both fish were on the chunk , fishing 135 pound and a Mustad circle hook. The other fish for the day were on sardine or Squid on the kite. For the most part we need something to change. This fish shows well it just won't bite. The conditions are plenty good they just need to settle back down. Andy Cates Feb. 15th, 2008 Good morning folks. Yesterday we had a long hot afternoon with very little on the better size fish. With a good show during the day it kept our hopes up but very few bites. Good conditions all day, they just were not biting. We finished with 11 tuna from 140 to 185 pounds, still no chances at 200 pounders but hopefully today. No wahoo today, so hopefully they move back in as well. Andy Cates Feb. 14th, 2008 Good morning folks. Yesterday started with the wahoo action and gave guys a chance to loosen up a little. After one short anchor job we were up looking around again and picked up a 150 pound tuna on the troll. It looks like Gary Grimaud is a strong contender for the troll J.P. We got the anchor down about 330 when we finally saw some sign of tuna and picked until dark. 10 tuna and 16 wahoo for our first day. We are hoping to stay anchored today and pick to gather up more tuna and hopefully scratch at this wahoo on the anchor. We will report again tomorrow. Andy Cates Feb. 12th, 2008 Good morning folks. Yesterday we spent rigging up and doing a seminar. Tuna fishing was the topic and all the techniques for the Bank. We are going to start outside and take it day by day. Arrival is tomorrow morning. Those of you that are waiting to sign up for the March 16 day fly home from Cabo now is the time. With fisheries throughout the chain including recent visits to Socorro island with great relations with the camp and Navy. We may even find ourselves in there this trip. With the anchor style fishing at the bank with chances of both wahoo and tuna, to the offshore fishing style off the islands inside the options are here and the fact of fishing your way into Cabo leaving Socorro or San Benedicto the last morning. That's the reality of prospects for this chain, now we just have to hope for fish that want to bite. Look through the latest Melton International catalog for some of the terminal tackle we are using. The wahoo rigs have included wire size from 27# to 60 # for bait and 69 pound for the bombs and Catchy tackle jigs. We will report again tomorrow night after our first day at the Bank. Feb. 10th, 2008 Good morning folks. We left yesterday with some of the best weather we have had in weeks. Lets just hope we can keep it around for a few days. After a nice load of bait we proceed south on the outside track to either the bank or the Island. Reports sound decent with good weather to go with decent scratch fishing. Wahoo and tuna are on the menu and the prospects look good. Loftus and Martin are out with us and already some great raffles to get things started. With more travel time ahead we will report tomorrow . Andy Cates CAPTAIN: JOHN GRABOWSKI DATE OF TRIP: SATURDAY, JANUARY 19TH SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 3RD 2008 LENGTH OF TRIP: 15 DAYS AREAS FISHED: HURRICANE BANK, & OFFSHORE FISH COUNT: 148 WAHOO, YELLOWFIN TUNA 98 16 CAUGHT OVER 170 IBS 1st PLACE JACKPOT 196.4 IBS YELLOWFIN TUNA CAUGHT BY DAVID DUDLEY OF EL CAJON 2ND PLACE JACKPOT 194.2 IBS YELLOWFIN TUNA CAUGHT BY DAN FITZGERALD OF CORONADO 3RD PLACE JACKPOT 192.7 IBS YELLOWFIN TUNA CAUGHT BY CAROL THOMPSON OF ISSAQUAH TROLLING JACKPOT 51.4 IBS WAHOO CAUGHT BY STEVE ELLIOT OF REDWOOD CITY
Feb. 2nd, 2008 This trip we have seen some good fishing and some scratch fishing, we had flat cam sea's for the ride down to the fishing grounds and lots of wind while we where on the grounds and definitely unfavorable weather during our ride home. None of which we can control but just work at putting the best trip together possible with what we are given to work with, all in all we put together a very nice catch of fish and dealt with the weather the best we could. The wind and seas are still very much a factor in our ride up the coast, not as bad as last night but we are still bucking into 18-22 knots of wind and 6-8 foot seas. Our ETA to San Diego as of right now is looking like 1100 hours at the dock, that could change for the worse if this wind and sea condition picks up throughout the night. WE are all praying the does not happen, if the winds back off it's possible to make port 1015-1030 hours but it's very hard to predict at this point. WE will go with 1100 hours ETA and hope we get a little break over the next18 hours of traveling and get their a bit earlier. I will call H&M Landing early in the morning with our exact arrival time, you can call the landing (619) 222-1144 by 0730 for our arrival time, we are very much looking forward to seeing everyone tomorrow. One more tome I would like to thank Mustad and Son Hook Company for all the wonderful Mustad products they provided to all the guests on board this trip, we have some great Mustad success story's from this trip. Also thanks to Bluewater Tackle and San Diego Fly Shops for their very generous donation of all the raffle prizes that everyone on board benefited from, it truly add a special touch to the trip. Last but certainly not least I would like to thank Jack Nilsen and Accurate Fishing Products for the Accurate Twin Drag 50 reels that he had on board for everyone to use, it's always a pleasure to have such a fine product at our disposal while fishing the big Yellowfin. John Grabowski and the Crew of the Red Rooster III Feb. 2nd, 2008 Our weather has taken an even worst turn with 25-30 knots of wind all night long and step close together seas. Our forward progress has been slowed dramatically due to these very unfavorable sea conditions, at this time our ETA is very uncertain. PLEASE check back this evening around 5:00 PM and I will try to have an accurate ETA at that time, it will be directly related to what this weather does throughout the course of the day. PLEASE CHECK BACK. Crew of the Red Rooter III Feb. 1st, 2008 The wind has been blowing 20-25 knots our entire trip up the coast to this point, pretty uncomfortable ride home to this point. We stopped at Alijos Rocks for an hour and a half this morning just to let everyone get outside for a Little while, no sign of fish while we where there. Water conditions at Alijos where 63.0 water temperature very clean blue with northeast current, LOTS OF WIND. Our ETA into San Diego Sunday February 3, 2008 as of now is 9:00 AM but you should check the web site Saturday evening for any changes. The weather is forecasted for basically more of the same and we need to see what type speed we can make throughout the night and during the day tomorrow, we will send an update in tomorrow afternoon. Crew of the Red Rooster III Jan. 30th, 2008 The weather picked up over the night and we had 20-22 knots of wind all day which made for very tough working conditions. We saw the same sign of fish today as we have been seeing but it was wild and hard to stay with, the weather was a big factor in our day's end total. We ended the day with nine fish once again from 170- 197 pounds, absolutely beautiful grade yellowfin tuna. At dark we prepared the vessel for traveling, battened down the hatches and put her on course for home. We will report as we make our way home, for those of you who are going to meet the boat Sunday I will post an ETA Friday and an update on Saturday. Please stay tuned. John Grabowski and the Crew of the Red Rooster III Jan. 29th, 2008 We had good sign of heavy fish today from 1100 hours until dark, the fish are a little reluctant to bite but the grade is outstanding. We landed nine fish today 185 to 201 and had that many more opportunities that for one reason or another did not make it on the deck. We are staying put for our last day of fishing in this zone before we start heading north tomorrow after sun down, the prospects are excellent for a big finish if this fish bites even a little bit through out the day. We had a steady 15 to 18 knots of wind today that did play a factor in the loss of a few heavy fish right at color because of the boat rolling around and the line breaking or hooks pulling but that's part of the deal. Our wind seemed to back off considerably at sun down today and we are hoping for a little less wind tomorrow, this should give us a better shot at landing this beautiful grade fish with better sea conditions. Crew of the Red Rooster III Jan. 28th, 2008 The weather was at it's worst yesterday around dinner time with winds of 25-30 knots accompanied by a very steep short confused sea, even on the anchor it was a very uncomfortable night. Around midnight the winds began to subside and started to come around from the Northwest to the normal northeasterly direction, by daylight the forecaster's prediction of 10 knots out of the northeast where a reality and a welcomed sight. Very good fishing conditions around the bank today with a steady northwesterly flow, we had very good life around the boat from midnight on with tons of 10-30 pound yellowfin and skipjack getting under the lights and being caught at will all night long ( plenty of chunks). Once again we had sensational wahoo fishing on the anchor for the better part of the morning using live sardines, bombs and jigs, they where even being a pain to deal with on the kite baits. Much to our surprise and disappointment we had very little sign of the better grade tuna around today. Ben Travis did however land a 160 pound kite fish just after daylight and that was it by noon on the bigger tune. At lunch we pulled the anchor and left the bank heading back to the original area where we started the trip in hopes of a few shots at that beautiful grade fish, we will report back with the results of our next move. Crew of the Red Rooster III
Jan. 27th, 2008 The weather forecast for more of the same good weather like we had yesterday was completely wrong, we experienced wind and rain all day today making for very poor fishing conditions. The tide was 180 degrees from what it has been and the fishing followed suit, very poor fishing all day long was the direct result of poor current and the adverse weather conditions. WE did however see sign of that bigger tuna we have been catching so our plan is to stay over night in this area hoping for another drastic change, this time in our favor. What a difference a day makes. Crew of the Red Rooster III Jan. 26th, 2008 Today was very good fishing from daylight until 1400 hours and then it was over, our current died and so did the fishing. We had very good fishing under the kites and balloons using live flying fish and a 7691 Mustad hook, we missed very few fish today on the flying baits, we also had good fish on the chunk and live sardine. The majority of the fish are 110 to 130 pounds with the better fish being 185 to 195. Our big fish of the day was caught by Carol Thompson and is estimated at 207 pounds, that is the same Carol Thompson who did such a fine job yesterday on a fish we estimated at 195 pounds and the connection let go right at gaff. Mike Thompson landed a 190 just minutes before Carol boated her trophy Yellowfin, the Thompson's had a great morning. The wahoo fishing on the anchor was just outstanding, all application's seemed to be successful for those who targeted the wahoo but live bait and a wire leader was the most productive. The weather has become down right balmy with just 5 knots of breeze, a tropical sky and scattered rain, the forecast is for more of the same weather conditions tomorrow. We will report back tomorrow with a written picture of how our day went. Crew of the Red Rooster III Jan. 25th, 2008 We had a little more wind today then the past couple of days, 15-18 knots and it made for tougher fishing conditions. The sign of tuna was good in the morning however it was pretty reluctant to bite, we had a very good show on the good grade fish up until 1400 hours when it all but it disappeared. Eleven tuna and thirty wahoo for the day, the Yellowfin ranged from 100 to 168 pounds. Billy Casper Jr. caught the 168 using a Mustad 3/0 Hoodlum Ringed hook on a Super Seeker 6470 H rod and Avet two speed reel. The big heart break of the day was a fish right at two-hundred pounds that was one pull from gaff, the mono to fluorocarbon knot broke. The angler on that very tough fish was Carol Thompson who was using a 3/0 Mustad Hoodlum hook as well and the hook never failed, a 3/0 hook is rather small for this big gear but we have not had a problem so far and I'm sure it helped us get bit in this scratchy fishing condition today. We are going to give this another day and hope this tuna starts to respond to what we are offering a little bit better, we will let you know how it works out tomorrow. Crew of the Red Rooster III Jan. 24th, 2008 We started our trip out with pretty good tuna fishing yesterday on 35-50 pound tuna with a 130 and a 170 pounder being the big fish of the day. Weather was very nice and the sign of fish pretty good. Today the grade of fish improved, we landed 19 tuna 100 to 130 pounds and four other fish going 160,180,197 and a 200 pounds. Weather once again was very pleasant with 12-15 knots of wind and partly overcast skies, forecast for tomorrow is calling for more of the same. The first two days of fishing have went pretty good and we have a nice start to the trip, we are hoping to continue to scratch and put a little aboard every day. We will report back tomorrow night, wish us luck. Crew of the Red Rooster III Jan. 22nd, 2008 We spent our last day of travel getting the finishing touches done to our tuna gear and rigging wahoo tackle for the fishing day's ahead, our weather continues to be expellant. The lucky winners of our raffle today where Carol Thompson - Accurate Twin Drag Boss Magnum Reel, Bill Bransletter - Avet Pro-EX 30/ 2 SPEED REEL, Mike Thompson - Seeker Rod Blank, David Vanvoorhis - Cal Star Rod Blank, Glenn Kerr - 50% off Five Star Fishy Processing. Thanks once again to the generosity of all these sponsors and congratulations to the lucky winners. We are arriving at daylight to our first fishing destination and are hoping for some luck of our own. Crew of the Red Rooster III Jan. 21st, 2008 Today is our second full day of traveling and our weather continues to be flat calm with a slight breeze out of the west, our air temperature is just beginning to warm up 75 miles southwest of Alijos rocks. We had another seminar this morning covering all aspects of tuna fishing with live bait, chunks, skipjack and the heavy jigs. By day's end everyone on board should have the proper top shots and leaders on all their tuna gear, we will be covering wahoo fishing and the remaining aspects of this style big game fishing tomorrow on our final day of travel. Today's raffle included more Mustad Hook Products, Pelagic jackets and sweatshirts, Larry Cofe products reel service certificates, Bluewater tackle jackets and sweat shirts and Five Star fish processing sweat shirts and T-shirts. We are going to be giving the Accurate 870C reel, Avet Pro-EX 30 reel, Calstar 6460 blank, Seeker 6465 XXH blank and 50% off fish processing with Five Star Fish processors away at tomorrow's seminar along with more Mustad hook products. These guests are getting well supplied by this great group of sponsors and are very appreciative of everything they have and will receive this trip. Everyone on board would like to thank all these generous companies for there donation's to this trip and we would like to give a special thanks to Mustad and Son USA, Bluewater Tackle/ San Diego Fly Shop and Accurate Fishing Products for their sponsorship of this trip. We will report back on our final day of travel and then starting sending what we hope will be action packed reports of good fishing and great weather, time will tell. (We are fully aware that is alot to ask for and would be best case scenario). Wish us luck. Crew of the Red Rooster III Jan. 20th, 2008 We departed Saturday January 19, 2008 on the 15 Day Mustad Hooks and Bluewater Tackle/ San Diego Fly Shops sponsored trip. Our bait looks very good and we are traveling down the coast in extremely good weather. This is a very good group of anglers and we are all hoping for good timing and continued good weather for the next two weeks, time will tell. We had our safety talk once we departed San Diego and our first seminar covering jackpot rules, trolling rotations, kite and balloon fishing on Sunday morning. We also gave a tackle bag to each guest with Mustad products including mustad activate, hoodlum ringed hooks, demond circle hooks and assortment of sizes of 7691 forged hooks, also the 16/0, 18/0, 20/0 circle hooks for fishing squid under the kite. More raffle prizes by multiple sponsors will be given out in the next few days on the ride south that I will mention in the next few posts. We want to thank Mustad and Bluewater Tackle for their incredible generosity this trip with all the giveaway's and raffle product for this great group of fisherman. We will report in again tomorrow as we continue our transit down the Baja coast. Crew of the Red Rooster III
CAPTAIN: ANDY CATES DATE OF TRIP: FRIDAY, JANUARY 4TH SATURDAY, JANUARY 19TH 2008 LENGTH OF TRIP: 15 DAYS AREAS FISHED: HURRICANE BANK, CLARION ISLAND FISH COUNT: 85 YELLOWFIN, 75 WAHOO 6 CAUGHT OVER 200 IBS 1 CAUGHT OVER 300 IBS 1st PLACE JACKPOT 307.6 YELLOWFIN TUNA CAUGHT BY SONNY JONES OF SANTA ANA 2ND PLACE JACKPOT 239.5 YELLOWFIN TUNA CAUGHT BY MIKE BUTLER OF SONOMA 3RD PLACE JACKPOT 233.7 YELLOWFIN TUNA CAUGHT BY ART GREEN OF NEWPORT BEACH 227.8 CAUGHT BY HENRY MAZE 216.6 CAUGHT BY ART GREEN 215.5 CAUGHT BY MARK DENNIS
Jan. 15th, 2008 Good morning folks. Yesterday we ended up with 18 tuna and 18 wahoo. It was decent action between the two with a chance at a couple of big ones as well. Top fish for the day was a 201 in the afternoon on a fly lined sardine. Very few kite bites with the chunks being the big focus for the bigger fish. So far this morning we have one bigger fish, a 216 and 4 other tuna. The wahoo have not woken up yet and we are eager to get another shot at them. Hopefully soon. We will report again tomorrow Andy Cates Jan. 14th, 2008 Good morning folks. Yesterday was another tough day with only 3 tuna up to 130 pounds. The wahoo kept us alive with 17 for the day. This place has certainly done this before and will do it again. With very little sign of tuna throughout the day's far today It has been better, we even had a chance at a big cow but the connection slipped out. This afternoon we have 16 tuna and 18 wahoo. Anchored up all day getting the wahoo mostly on sardine. Biggest fish so far is around 175 pounds and the overall grade is a bit smaller than the other day. Mostly 80 to 140 pound fish. Any improvement is good. With one more day we are hoping things break loose tomorrow. Andy Cates Jan. 13th, 2008 Good afternoon folks. Yesterday things took a turn for the worse. A few fish in the morning up to 160 pounds and then 13 wahoo for the rest of the day. With our limited options we are stuck and today is even worse. 17 wahoo and just one 90 pound tuna so far. Things can change but right now its not looking good. If it is poor again tomorrow we will head back into Clarion for the last day. Andy Cates Jan. 12th, 2008 Good morning folks. Yesterday we picked most of the day, just a slow one at a time pick with occasionally 3 on at once. They never seemed to really settle in. The chunk has taken some of the bigger fish and also the skip jack for bait. Sonny Jones was the top dog yesterday with a 298 on a skip jack. One of the biggest fish I have seen out at the Bank. So there are chances on Super Cows out here you have to be very lucky. We picked off a couple other cows throughout the day and ended with 25 tuna and 3 wahoo. If we can continue to scratch like that the next 4 days we will end up alright, But doing it is a different story. Lots of time at the rail. So far this morning just 4 fish up to 160 pounds . Andy Cates Jan. 11th, 2008 Good morning folks. Yesterday we sat on the anchor and fished. What a concept, I think they call it "old school" fishing. I would not say they were biting but we did catch 15 tuna and 6 wahoo. Biggest fish was 216 on the balloon with squid. Conditions are uphill current and that makes things a little tough. So far this morning 6 tuna and 1 wahoo, biggest fish 225. Same conditions here again current into the wind. Nice. We will report again tomorrow Andy Cates Jan. 10th, 2008 Good morning folks. The phone has been down and reports were not able to get out. There really has not been much to report on this end. We started out on the beach, with the New moon we were hoping for good sign and responding fish, not the case 4 fish on the anchor, one nice fish around 230 pounds another at 150 and a couple of smaller grade. Before lunch we pulled the anchor and proceeded to drive around the rest of the day. Very little sign with no bite. We left Clarion yesterday with even worse results. Although the Inspection at the camp went well the fishing did not. No sign off the island with the exception of a few single fish marks on Black porpoise. With the bird sign close to the island it looked as if all the fish were up tight to the beach. But who knows . I wouldn't write it off we had very good fish last year in the Buffer zone so maybe after this moon phase. Out to the bank we go. We will be there this morning at 830 and hopeful after miles of leg work start our trip. Andy Cates Jan. 6th, 2008 Good afternoon folks. We have had a great ride down with no rain or wind. We were surprised with that after the forecast when we left. The bait looks good and we will be fishing tomorrow with what looks to be good weather. Hopefully the weather stays decent so we can get a good look tomorrow. A seminar yesterday and raffle from Catchy Tackle and Pelagic Clothing was great, everyone enjoyed the bonus items from hats to Jackets. Thanks guys. We will report tomorrow on our first day of fishing. Andy Cates
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