Fishing Reports
RED ROOSTER
III
Boat Launching
One month into dry dock
The Red Rooster III has passed the yearly
USCG bottom side inspection. The ABS five
year
inspection includes an ultrasound test of
the entire structure from main deck to
keel. The Red Rooster III passed all
corrosion tests. These tests keep the
Rooster sound and one of the safest boats to
be aboard.
The interior has been redone with a new wet
bar. This area now has a filtered chilled
water
dispenser and new ice machine. With the new
salon cushions and carpet there will be the
impression of a new galley. Last year
project in the heads will be complete with
refinished showers to go with the granite
and tile.
Lots of painting, new decks on the upper and
lower decks will refresh the exterior.
We are looking forward to getting the Red
Rooster III back into the water and starting
the 2012 season.
CAPTAIN: ANDY CATES
DATE OF TRIP:
LENGTH OF TRIP: 15 DAYS
AREAS FISHED: CLARION ISLAND
HURRICANE BANK
TRIP/CHARTER MASTERS: TRIP
4W12—LOFTUS/MARTIN TRIP
FISH COUNT: 226 YELLOWFIN TUNA
176 WAHOO 17 OVER 200LBS
1st
PLACE JACKPOT 291.0 LB YELLOWFIN TUNA JIM
BALLARD OF SAN JOSE, CA
2ND
PLACE JACKPOT 273.8 LB YELLOWFIN TUNA
BUTCH OLDENKAMP OF BAKERSFIELD, CA
3RD
PLACE JACKPOT 243.0 LBS LB YELLOWFIN
TUNA BOB MICHENER OF OXNARD, CA
TROLLING JACKPOT: 47.8 lb WAHOO RON HIRAO
OF HUNTINGTON BEACH, CA.
228 & 214 Rich Gallimore
226.8 AL Babashoff
226 Irish Kane
224.6 Phillip Gary
223 Phil Lisi
221 Tom Jackson
216 Butch Oldenkamp
211.6 Charles Tanaka
208 Jim Ballard
202.8 Dan Pope
201 Pete Fallini
201Larry Martin
March 25, 2012
Good evening folks, It
looks like we may make it in before the
storm. Right now we have 20 knots of wind
from the southeast. The wind is at our back.
Nice. We will be in the Bay tonight and at
the dock at 630 in the morning . See you
then.
Andy Cates
Captain Margarita pours
again! Flat calm weather and Margarita's.
What a great day. Just look at all the hot
action. We are a little ahead of schedule
trying to get to the bay before the storm
moves in. So far so good.
Andy Cates
March 22, 2012
Good morning folks.
Yesterday was our last day of fishing. What
a classic day at the Bank. A couple of cows
in the morning , wahoo fishing until the
afternoon and nice tuna fishing until dark
with another cow added in. We finished it
off and now have great weather going up the
line.
It looks like 18 to
20 fish over 200, plenty of wahoo and plenty
of decent size tuna . Really a nice trip.
Plenty of room to move around. With only one
other boat around we pretty much had the run
of the place. That's the beauty of winter
long trips.
Less boats. Wahoo
and big tuna.
I posted some more
pictures of the guys. Dan Pope got this 228
on a squid on the kite. Nice weather in the
background. Got to love it!
Andy Cates
March 21, 2012
Good morning folks.
Yesterday we
scratched almost all day. Starting in the
morning with a 236 and a 209. Allan Babashof
pulled in a 240 late morning on the kite and
Larry Martin with an evening 213. Also on
the kite. We had other nice fish up to 190
pounds with enough to keep guys at the rail
all day.
So far this morning
Pete Fallini landed a 210 using a live Skip
Jack and Dan Pope with a nice fish about 190
pounds. We are going to be here untill dark
and then take off for home. We are not
expecting a great ride home. We are too far
from home to leave tomorrow morning. We will
stay on schedule as long as the weather
permits.
We will report again
tonight.
Andy Cates
March 20, 2012
Good morning folks.
We scratched
yesterday and ended up with around 20 decent
fish. One fish bigger 226 caught by Butch
Oldenkamp. All in all the day worked out .
We were hoping for a little better action,
but isn't that always the case.
This morning we were
in position for the gray bite and landed a
236 and a 219 . Also a fish real close to
the mark a 198 caught by Pete Fallini. Rich
Galamore picked up the 236 and Irish Kane
the 219. Irish on a Skip Jack, Rich on a
flyer.
Pete also on a Skip
Jack. A dozen other mixed fish for the
morning and now we sit .Conditions are funky
right now . we are hoping the afternoon
brings in some more bites.
Andy Cates
March 18, 2012
Good evening folks. The
grade on the fish got smaller. With only a
few decent fish, biggest being 150 pounds.
We took off. With the report from the Bank
we decided to go out and join the Royal
Polaris and see if we can get in on some of
the action.
The ride out is nice
and will be on scene at 9:00 in the morning.
It gives us a full day and the best fishing
is in the evening anyway.
We will report again
tomorrow.
Andy Cates
March 17, 2012
Good evening folks
We missed on the
morning shot today. We had no current all
morning untill about 2:00 in the afternoon.
We started hooking fish and lasted until
dark. Only one stand out fish right at 200
pounds. Most fish were 60 to 90 pounds with
about 8 fish 90 to 120 pounds. We are hoping
for the better grade to hit us tomorrow
morning. Each day has been different and a
lot depending on the current. When we have
the good westerly current the fish show. The
bigger fish are unpredictable and we get
bites at various times.
Hoping to get
started early tomorrow
Andy Cates
March 16, 2012
Good morning folks.
Yesterday was a nice
surprise with a kick off of big fish. We
ended the day with 8 fish from 209 to 266.
44 tuna total . Half of which are that
smaller grade. Although 8 cows is a nice way
to start. Bob Michiner had a celebrating
moment with his 50th fish over 200 pounds on
the Red Rooster 3. He was pretty stoked.
Butch Oldenkamp. Had the toad of the
day at 266. Tom Jackson with a 215, Rich
Gillmore with a 217, Irish Kane with his
first over 200, a 209.Charles Tanaka with a
216. Philip Lisi with a 229, Phil Gary 214.
Really a nice first day of fishing.
So far today only a
few fish. Jim Ballard hit in big this
morning with a 277.
As we sit here and
wait you get the feeling that your next bite
may be a big one. We have had bites on
sardine, squid and the mackerel for big
fish.
The weather is fine.
Kind of like last trip. Just windy enough to
kind of irritate a person . And rolling
around. None the less we are happy to be
here and have an opportunity to fish these
water's.
We will report again
tomorrow
Andy Cates
March 14, 2012
Good evening folks.
Well, we finished
all our seminars and giveaway's. Now we are
ready to try for fish.
We will be on the
grounds first thing in the morning. Starting
to get a little breeze down here. Not bad
though pretty nice weather all the way down
Hopefully we have an encouraging report
tomorrow. Hopefully we can report. It's up
to the satellites
Andy Cates
March 13, 2012
Good morning folks. Not
much to report. Nice weather so far and
making good speed down the coast. A seminar
this morning and a raffle to make the time
go by. The day will be spent rigging up the
tuna gear. Lot's of action at the tackle
table.
Larry brought out an
electric smoker machine. Yesterday we made
smoked Salmon and today smoked Tuna. The
Salmon was incredible. I had no idea how
good fresh smoked fish is. Now we know. What
a treat. We will continue the smoking
process the next couple of days. It really
is fun trying to get it right.
The whole boat has
that smoked fish smell. The whole outside of
the boat , not the inside.
Another day of
travel and another seminar tomorrow.
Andy Cates
March 11, 2012
Good evening folks. We
just left and heading down on a 15 day ride
home long range trip. The day went smooth
with a nice load of bait and now calm seas.
Nice to be back out after the hustle bustle
of the Fred Hall show. It was nice to see
everyone at the show. Thanks for the support
at the Red Rooster booth. Tom Reynold's was
a big help with a lot of his time helping
out. Not to mention the rest of the guys .
Thanks again Hopefully our satellite
situation will allow us to stay posted . It
has been an issue lately. Solar Flares?
Really?
Anyway we are on our
way
Andy Cates
Larry Brown and
David Choate were chartermasters on the Red
Rooster III trip that arrived February 26 at
H&M Landing after 16 days in the southern
zone, fishing for giant yellowfin tuna and
wahoo. Fishing was good, better than the
breeze and seas, said anglers, and a baker’s
dozen tuna over 200 pounds, or cows, were
caught along with all the fish they wanted.
Brown had three for himself, at 200, 209 and
220.4 pounds.
Andy Cates
skippered the trip. He said he had 24
anglers who fished hard in water holding at
75 degrees. He also noted the approach of
spring in the islands.
“We had an
awesome show on jumping humpback whales,” he
remarked to dock reporter Bill Roecker.
Valene Garrison
fished with her hubby John Whitley. The
couple are from Half Moon Bay. Valene’s
weighed 257.2 pounds and won first place.
She said it fought for 35 minutes and took
her around the boat twice. It was her second
cow and best fish ever.
A salami mackerel
on a 10/0 Mustad 7691 hook proved fatal to
the tuna, and she pulled it in with
130-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon, 130-pound
Line One spectra backing on an Accurate ATD
50 topless reel and a Calstar 760 H rod.
John Dixon of
Redondo Beach roped a 237 and a 232-pound
tuna, his first cows ever. He said they came
on mackerel baited on 9/0 7691 hooks on
130-pound Seaguar Premier fluorocarbon and
130-pound Tuffline spectra on an Accurate
ATD 50 reel and a Phenix 3X seven-foot rod.
They bigger one won second place and came
aboard in 35 minutes, said Dixon.
Martin “Papa”
Gomez of El Monte won third place for his
227.4-pounder. His 14-year-old daughter
Monica was there to see it all. She said she
was surprised to see that tuna had red blood
and not blue, as she has assumed was common
to all fish. Gomez got his winner with a
salami on a 9/0 Mustad 7691 hook. He used
130-pound pink Yo-Zuri leader, 130-pound
blue Izorline and 130-pound Line One spectra
on a Penn 50 reel and a Calstar 7465 H rod
Greg Winfree had
to fly home early, and wasn’t at the dock,
but he caught three cows: 205, 209 and 209
pounds.
Chris Minnick of
Pasadena took a 208.6 and a 199.4-pound
tuna. He said he used mackerel on a 10/0
Gamakatsu hook on 130-pound Seaguar Premier
fluorocarbon and 130-pound Line One spectra,
with an Accurate ATD 50 reel and a super
Seeker 2 x 4 rod. Chris said his fish came
to the boat in 15 minutes.
Ben Kita of LA
has numerous 300-pound tuna to his credit,
all on the Rooster. On this trip he produced
a 206.4-pounder, it was discovered at the
end of the weigh-in.
CAPTAIN: ANDY CATES
DATE OF TRIP: Friday, February 10 to Sunday, February 26, 2012
LENGTH OF TRIP: 16 DAYS
AREAS FISHED: CLARION ISLAND
TRIP/CHARTER MASTERS: TRIP 3w12—Larry Brown & David Choate
FISH COUNT:
286 YELLOWFIN TUNA 91 WAHOO 15 PARGO 1 BIGEYE and some GROUPER &
RED SNAPPER
13 OVER 200LBS
1st PLACE JACKPOT 257.2 LB YELLOWFIN TUNA Valene Garrison, Half
Moon Bay, Ca.
2ND PLACE JACKPOT 237 LB YELLOWFIN TUNA John Dixon, Redondo
Beach, Ca
3RD PLACE JACKPOT 227.2 LB YELLOWFIN TUNA Martin Gomez Sr., El
Monte, CA
TROLLING JACKPOT: 46 lb WAHOO Martin Gomez, Jr. El Monte, Ca.
REMARKS:
232 LB CAUGHT BY John Dixon
226.8 LB CAUGHT BY Richard Karron
220.4 LB CAUGHT BY Larry Brown
209.8 LB CAUGHT BY Greg Winfree
209.2 LB CAUGHT BY Greg Winfree
208.6 LB CAUGHT BY Chris Minnick
208 LB CAUGHT BY Larry Brown
206.4 LB CAUGHT BY Ben Kita
205 LB CAUGHT BY Greg Winfree
200 LB CAUGHT BY Larry Brown Feb. 25, 2012
Choppy weather and a down hill current
have conspired against us. Our ETA as of now is 11:00, but we
hope to make up some time this afternoon and tonight so that we
can make it in before that.
Wish us luck.
RR III
Feb. 24, 2012
ETA @ 8:30 AM SUNDAY
We are still heading north enjoying the
great weather here outside the ridge. There are lots of jumbo
kelps with sigh of yellowtail on them. Most of the fish are
small but we did drive by a couple of kelps with better size
fish. It was too much to resist so we stopped on one kelp and
threw a 7x at it, but didn't get any bites. We put the blinders
back on and are on once again on course. Everybody is enjoying
the sunshine and flat seas, hopefully it holds up another day or
two.
I'm including a couple of bonus pictures
taken by Larry Brown of one of John Dixon's big fish and one of
the stock grade fish that Richard muscled up.
RR III
Feb. 23, 2012
We have just left Cabo San Lucas on
route to San Diego. We dropped off half of our passengers who
wanted take advantage of the fly home option on this 16/13 trip.
Weather reports look positive for the weekend and we are hopeful
for a smooth ride home. An ETA will be posted when the boat gets
closer to San Diego. Rolling up.
RR III crew
Feb. 22, 2012
Good morning folks. We finally have
reception and are able to send E-mail's. The Trip went well and
now we are on our way to Cabo. The weather is nice and so far so
good.
We spent the trip at the Island . We
found fish from 60 pounds up to 236 pounds. The bigger fish came
in the morning right at daylight. We managed to hook one to
three nice size fish each morning. The afternoon found mostly
the smaller grade of tuna being 60 to 100 pounds. We had three
days in which the squid on the kite brought fish over 100 pounds
and up to 220 pounds.
Conditions changed and moved us up the
Island for similar fishing with the Bigger fish once again in
the morning . As the trip went on the sign of fish got better we
picked at decent size fish untill the end. An estimate of 12
fish at or over 200 pounds and quite a few nice fish in the mid
to high hundreds.
It was a trip in which you had to be in
the water when the big fish swam by. If you casted out after
they were hooked or caught you were too late.
I am going to send some pictures of the
people that got lucky and hooked and landed some of the nicer
size tuna.
I want to thank Larry Brown and David
Choate for there help in putting the trip together.
We hope to see you all again next year
Andy Cates
Friday, February 17,
2012 6:00 AM
The Red Rooster III is
unable to send reports by satellite e mail.
REPORTED BY PHONE
February 14……21
yellowfin tuna, in the 80 lb class. About 15 wahoo.
February 15……50
yellowfin tuna, 15 over 100 lb. one over 200 lbs.
February 16…..52
yellowfin tuna. 3 over 200 lb., 209, 215, 220 lbs
February 17…..3 over
200 lbs., 209, 220, 236 lbs.
Steady fishing. Nice
weather. Smaller 50 to 80 lb mixed in throughout the day with
A few larger tuna now
and then.
All is well.
Captain Andy Cates and
crew of the Red Rooster III
Feb. 13, 2012
Good evening folks
Looks like tomorrow morning we will get
started. Unfortunately we won't get in there in time for bait. We
will just have to make do . The weather is nice and we are anxious
to start fishing. Hopefully we have a decent report tomorrow night.
Andy Cates
Feb. 12, 2012
Good morning folks.
We are getting rigged up today after a tuna
seminar. We had a great raffle yesterday and I wanted to thank the
sponsors for there great products Accurate reels Avet Reels Pheonix
rods Body Glove wetsuits Big Hammer swim baits Izorline Sportsman's
seafood Okuma Invisa swivel Knot 2Kinky wire Best Fishing Tackle
HighTides tackle Long Range sportfishing "fishing Book"
AFTCO
Owner Hooks
Baja Fish Gear
Fisherman's Processing
5 star fish processing
Chuck Byron Art
Sportfishing Magazine
Western Outdoor News
Fisherman's Landing Tackle
MDRA
The weather is much better today and warming
up.
Hopefully we get a trend of nice weather for
days to come.
Feb. 11, 2012
Good morning folks. We left yesterday and
are headed down on a 16 day fly home trip. The weather is not great
and sure glad we are going down and not coming up in this.
The appealing part of a fly -home. You don't
have to ride up in this. Anyway, just getting started today. We have
some boat rigging to do and a quick seminar this morning.
So far everything is running good and the
bait looks good.
We will report again tomorrow
Andy Cates
February 3, 2013
Rooster
Rallies 19
John
Grabowski docked Red Rooster III at H&M Landing February 3 after
the 15-day Bluefin Jim & Pelagic charter with 19 anglers. Sonny
Jones chartermastered the Pelagic side of the trip, which
produced 18 tuna over 200 pounds. One of those was just a meal
away from 300 pounds. About 100 wahoo were also caught, mostly
while tuna fishing.
“They bit
from three AM until dark just about every day,” remarked Sonny.
“At night we used heavy gear.”
The star
of the trip was second-time long ranger Scott Harper of
Camarillo, who caught the winner, a 293.6-pounder, on a double
squid bait on Mustad 20/0 circle hooks under the kite with the
boat’s kite rig. That rig uses 130-pound Izorline, an Accurate
ATD 80 reel (they call it “The Tractor” aboard), and a Seeker
6463 XXXH rod.
“My best
fish before this trip was a 160-pounder,” Scott told dock
reporter Bill Roecker. “I got him in 15 minutes on that rig. It
was a pleasure to fish with the legend John Grabowski.”
Scott also
caught two other cows, at 270 and 252 pounds. With that pair he
used another outfit: a salami mackerel on a 9/0 Mustad 7691
hook, 130-pound pink Yo-Zuri fluorocarbon, 130-pound Line One
spectra, a Penn 50 reel and a Calstar 6455 XXXH rod.
Bill House
of Rogersville AL won second place for a 274-pound tuna, and he
also had fish of 230 and 217 pounds. He fished mackerel on 10/0
Mustad 7691 hooks tied to 130-pound Seaguar Premier
fluorocarbon, 130-pound Line One spectra, an Avet 50 reel and a
Super Seeker 6463 XXXH rod. He got the big one in 50 minutes.
Jack
Thrush of Millbrae won third place for his 254.9-pound
yellowfin, and also had tuna of 211 and 202 pounds. He said he
got the big one in 40 minutes, and fished sardines on a 5/0
ringed Owner Super Mutu hook tied to 130-pound Blackwater
fluorocarbon and 130-pound Line One spectra. He used an Accurate
ATD 50 reel and a Calstar 770 XXXH rod.
Sonny
Jones of Santa Ana bagged a nice 240-pound tuna after taking a
skiff ride to catch the fish, which came up tail-snagged and
dead after a mile and a half chase. Sonny pinned a mackerel on a
10/0 Mustad 7691 hook tied to 130-pound Momoi and 130-pound Line
One spectra backing on a Tiagra 50 W reel and a Calstar Baby
Boomer rod.
Hector
Lopez of San Diego caught a 229-pound tuna with a salami on the
kite. The big bait was on a 10/0 7691 hook, 130-pound Izorline
and 130-pound Izorline spectra on a Penn 50 reel treated by Cal
Sheets and a Calstar 770 XH rod.
Mike
Berkman of LA bagged a 215 in 15 minutes. He baited a salami on
a 10/0 7691 hook, and used 130-pound Izorline, 130-pound Line
One spectra, a Talica 50 reel and a Super Seeker 1 X 3 rod.
David
Malmberg of Leucadia picked off a 212-pounder with a mackerel on
a 10/0 7691 hook and 130-pound Izorline and 130-pound Line One
spectra. He used an Avet 50 reel and a Calstar 7455 XXH rod.
Ray
Broders of Pt. Townsend, WA pulled in a 211 and a 209-pounder.
He fished with sardines on ringed 5/0 Owner Super Mutu hooks. He
used 100-pound Seaguar Premier fluorocarbon, 130-pound Line One
spectra, a Cal Sheets-treated Penn 50 reel and a rod he
described as “…a generic six-footer.”
Bill
Campbell of Placentia spent a sweaty half-hour getting his
206.6-pound tuna on a sardine pinned to a 5/0 Owner Gorilla
hook. He fished with 130-pound Seaguar Premier fluorocarbon,
130-pound Line One spectra on an Accurate ATD 30 reel and a
Super Seeker 2 X 4 rod.
Paul
Lepore of Dana Point whacked a 204-pound tuna with a salami on a
10/0 7691 hook.
“It was a
30-second fish,” he said. He used 130-pound Yo-Zuri
fluorocarbon, 130-pound Line One spectra on an Accurate 50
(Paul’s an Accurate pro-staffer) and a Calstar 770 XXXH rod
wrapped by Fisherman‘s Supply of Lawndale.
Robbie
Thill of Anaheim rounded up the cow catchers with a 202-pound
yellowfin, the last one weighed. He said it bit a sardine on a
5/0 ringed Super Mutu hook on 100-pound Seaguar Premier
fluorocarbon and 100-pound Power Pro spectra. He fished with a
Penn VSX 30 reel and a Super Seeker 1 X 3 rod.
“My best
fish before this one was a 30-pound albacore,” he said.
The
trolling jackpot was won by Bob Michener of Oxnard, for a
56.4-pound wahoo.
Robbie
Thill of Anaheim rounded up the cow catchers with a 202-pound
yellowfin, the last one weighed. He said it bit a sardine on a
5/0 ringed Super Mutu hook on 100-pound Seaguar Premier
fluorocarbon and 100-pound Power Pro spectra. He fished with a
Penn VSX 30 reel and a Super Seeker 1 X 3 rod.
“My best
fish before this one was a 30-pound albacore,” he said.
The
trolling jackpot was won by Bob Michener of Oxnard, for a
56.4-pound wahoo.
CAPTAIN: JOHN GRABOWSKI
DATE OF TRIP: THURSDAY, JANUARY 19TH-
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 3RD, 2012
LENGTH OF TRIP: 15 DAYS
AREAS FISHED:
LOWER TUNA GROUNDS
TRIP/CHARTER MASTERS: 2W12—Bluefinjim.com/PELAGIC
GEAR CHARTER
FISH COUNT: 285 YELLOWFIN TUNA, 96
WAHOO, 3 YELLOWTAIL
19 YELLOWFIN TUNA OVER 200LBS
1st PLACE JACKPOT 293.6 LBS
YELLOWFIN TUNA CAUGHT BY SCOTT HARPER OF SANTA ROSA VALLEY, CA
2ND PLACE JACKPOT 274.0 LBS
YELLOWFIN TUNA CAUGHT BY BILL HOUSE OF ROGERSVILLE, AL
3RD PLACE JACKPOT 254.9 LBS
YELLOWFIN TUNA CAUGHT BY JACK THRUSH OF MILLBRAE, CA
REMARKS:
TROLLING
JACKPOT 56.4 WAHOO CAUGHT BY BOB MICHENER OF OXNARD, CA
270,
252.6
Scott Harper
240.2
Sonny Jones
230,
217.8
Bill House
229.2
Hector Lopez
215.6, 211.8
Mike Berkman
212.2
David Malmberg
211.2 202
Jack Thrush
211,
209.2
Ray Broders
206.6
Bill Campbell
204.6
Paul LePore
202
Robbie Thill
Feb. 2, 2012
Last leg of our journey as we travel up from
just below Ensenada in very nice weather, it's cold up here compared
to where we are coming from in the tropics. The crew of the Red
Rooster III would like to express our sincere gratitude to Bluefin
Jim Cassy and Sonny Jones of Pelagic fish gear for all the great
raffle and giveaway's this trip, it is never expected but much
appreciated. We would like to also thank all of the wonderful
passengers this trip that made the entire trip a pleasure to work.
We will see everyone coming down to the unloading tomorrow early in
the AM. Good night and thanks for following the reports from aboard
the Red Rooster III.
John G. and the Crew of the Red Rooster III
Feb. 2, 2012
We had beautiful traveling weather the first
two days coming from the grounds to Cedros Island. We spent the
entire day at the Island yesterday for some action on small grade
yellowtail which we released and a hand full of good grade
yellowtail which we tagged and put on top of our existing catch.
After breaking down the remaining tackle and having dinner in the
flat calm lee of the Island we started the last leg of our trip
home. We will be tying up at Lee Palm Sportfishing at 7:00 A.M. and
Begin taking the tackle and personal gear off the boat, we should
start unloading our catch at approximately 7:30 AM. Lee Palm's
office will be open between 7:30 -8:00 AM tomorrow if you need to
contact them for any reason.
A couple of picture's I'm sending along
today are of two terminal gear products that work very well for us
during the trip. One is a set of three Captain Jimmy's wahoo bombs
that fished well, produced good fish and held up to the test of
wahoo fishing. Owner and designer Jim Kokesh was on board this trip
and caught a very nice limit of wahoo fishing these bombs.
The other picture is the NEW Mustad Demon
Perfect Circle Offset 4X Strong hooks ( 39943BLN). Prior to this
trip Captain Andy Cates told me the Red Rooster III had found "The
Right Hook" for fishing giant Yellowfin Tuna with live bait, it is
the Mustad 6/0 ringed 4X strong Demon circle hook, he went on to
describe how perfect the hook was for hooking the live bait with out
killing it and that he has seen zero failures with the hook. We
fished the 6/0 ringed 4X Strong with the 100 and 130 pound test all
trip and saw those exact same results. WE also made our double
sardine kite leaders with the 7/0 and 8/0 4X strong non ringed hooks
and they worked to perfection on "The Big Gear." WE did not do much
helium balloon fishing this trip but the same 7/0 and 8/0 size 4X
strong will be the go to hook for the 150 pound application under
the balloons. Mustad nailed it when they designed this hook for our
live bait fishing application for Big Fish.
John G. and the Crew of the Red Rooster III
Jan. 30, 2012
We spent yesterday's morning bite cutting
off everything we hooked looking for two more good ones that we
could fit in our last fish hold, Hector Lopez and Bob Michener had
the best two fish and that's the ones we took to finish off the tuna
portion of our trip. I must mention and highly commend the
sportsmanship of Bill House, he cut off a 230 pound fish yesterday
morning due to the fact he already had two good ones in the hold,
leaving room for someone else to have the opportunity to put a duce
or better aboard. We spent the rest of the day targeting a few more
wahoo and at dark started heading up the line to take advantage of a
weather window right now that is just perfect. Flat calm seas
traveling north this morning makes our decision to leave the grounds
seem to be a good one. We have some time and are gearing up to fish
Cedros Island on the way home for a few yellowtail to fill in the
cracks between the catch on board. We will continue to report our
days activities and results as we work our way back to San Diego.
The pictures today are of Hector Lopez and a
beautiful 237 pound Yellowfin he captured while Kite fishing
yesterday morning just after daylight, congratulations Hector. Also
I have been saving a couple of pictures for the ride home of Ray
Borders. Ray spent most of the daylight hours each day fishing with
his Accurate 50 size spinning reel matched to a Calstar spinning rod
designed I believe specifically for this high quality spinning reel.
Ray had the reel filled with spectra and used a top shot of 100
fluorocarbon line, he had some epic 1-2 hour battles on tough 90-150
pound Yellowfin tuna and the gear held up flawlessly. All of us on
board where highly impressed with the amount of pressure Ray could
put on the fish and the tackle without a failure. Ray is 6' 6" tall
and has been an Alaskan commercial fisherman his entire life and
fishes extremely well, he truly put that Accurate spinning reel and
Calstar rod to the test.
John G. and the Crew of the Red Rooster III
Jan. 29, 2012
Every day during the daylight hours has had
one consistency, that no two days have been the same as far as fish
sign or fishing conditions. The nights have been our most valued
time of the day by far, up until yesterday afternoon. Extremely good
sign on Vacca all day with good steady fishing current and a
legitimate shot for a "Good One" basiclly all day long. We made the
most of the golden opportunity with an epic afternoon of Vacca
fishing by hooking and landing a 298, 285,277, 243,222, 211 and a
207. This along with very good fishing for 120-180 pound fish and
excellent light wire bait fishing for wahoo made for a day that no
one aboard will forget any time soon. We are getting very close and
have room for maybe two more good ones in our fish storage tanks,
along with a little more skin to fill in the cracks. We are waiting
to see what today has to offers as I type this report, obviously in
great anticipation at another shot at a good one or two.
The pictures today are of Mike Burkman with
a mid day 243 kite fish. Scott Harper and the Red Rooster III crew
with Scott's 298 at Sundown flying a squid under the kite. Jack
Thrush and the crew with a 285 from the kite in the afternoon. Long
time Red Rooster III passenger Dave Malmberg and a 222 pound Kite
fish. Last but not least is Daniel Bliss with his first Solo light
wire finesse wahoo, I must say Daniel was elated to master the art
of light wire fishing for wahoo.
John G. and the Crew of the Red Rooster III
Jan. 28, 2012
It is Saturday morning and to be quite
honest I'm not sure where I left off on the updates from the last
report, the days are starting to blend together. We continue to have
excellent fishing and fantastic weather as you can see by the
pictures we have sent along with today's report. We still have three
day's of fishing and we are trying to be very selective on what is
being put in the last hold, looking for more "GOOD ONES".
Our picture's today are of Bob Brower of
Hixson Tennessee pulling on one of his better fish from yesterday
(note the weather:). Mike Butler with a mid day 180 pound kite fish.
Jack Thrush with a 207 pound fish right at daylight and Ray Broders
with one of his two 200 pounders in the last twenty four hours,
along with a few more fish waiting for a ride back to San Diego. We
will continue to report on our progress as all of us aboard the Red
Rooster III enjoy this great fishing and weather.
Crew of the Red Rooster III
Jan. 27, 2012
We had a very good day of quality Yellowfin
Tuna fishing today with a good shot of cows to go along with the
100-190 pound grade we have been catching. We have sent along a few
photos of part of the mornings big fish. Bill House and his 225 and
277, Scott Harper with a 270 and Sonny Jones and a 220 he caught
after taking a ride in the skiff. Mike Burkman not shown also had a
220. Very good weather, actually at times yesterday the weather was
to good as we struggled to keep the kites up and fly with the big
baits. Things are coming along very nicely, everyone is having a
wonderful fishing experience and we are praying that this great
trophy Yellowfin Tuna fishing holds for the remainder of our time
down here on the grounds. We will report back with more updates
tomorrow.
Crew of the Red Rooster III
Jan. 26, 2012
Another very good day of Yellowfin Tuna
fishing today along with a few Wahoo to keep everyone on their toes.
We have sent along a photo of Red Rooster III regular Bob Michener
and crew member Nick from today's action. The 15-18 knots of wind we
have had the past two days has backed off to a light 8-10 knots and
we are enjoying beautiful weather and excellent fishing conditions.
We have a lot of fishing time remaining and we are all hoping for
continued success as the trip progresses. It appears everyone is
having a great time as we work at making this a trip to remember. We
will report back later and keep you up to date on our progress as
things develop.
Crew of the Red Rooster III
Jan. 25, 2012
We are starting our third day of fishing
this morning, the fishing to this point has been very good on the
mid range 90-190 pound Yellowfin Tuna. Our Largest Yellowfin Tuna SO
FAR is 247 pounds caught by Scott Harper, he was baiting a large
mackerel at the time he hooked the fish. I would say their is a very
good chance at a trophy Yellowfin Tuna right now if conditions
continue to stay as they are, we have a very nice start to the trip
and will continue to keep you updated. Our weather has been a bit
breezy but very comfortable fishing conditions. WE will report as
the satallite service allows.
Crew of the Red Rooster III
Jan. 24, 2012
Good fishing today on mid range fish for us,
basically 70 to 130 pound fish made up the bulk of our catch today.
Bill Cambell had the largest Yellowfin of the day for us and it was
approximately 185 pounds. Great day, very nice start to the trip.
Our weather was perfect kite flying weather today, which was very
successful for us in the afternoon. WE will be around here in the
morning and are hoping for similar good luck with a few shots at the
bigger fish. WE have sent along a few photos today of Art Cabllero
with a nice Wahoo and Paul Lapore with one of his Mid range tuna.
Crew of the Red Rooster III
Jan. 23, 2012
Still rolling down in very nice traveling
weather at dark this afternoon, 5-10 knots NW wind and very little
seas. We moved our bait around to make room for fish tomorrow and it
appears we have a very nice load of sardines, everything is living
extremely well at this time. We will be arriving tomorrow morning to
our first destination hoping to get the trip started, we will report
back with updates daily provided we continue to have satellite phone
service on the fishing grounds.
We have included a few pictures of the final
tackle preparations around the boat before we arrive on the grounds.
Crew of the Red Rooster III
Jan 21, 2012
We are still headed south in 15-18 knots of
wind but very little sea state. It has been a nice ride down to this
point, the weather and water temperature are beginning to warm as we
travel south. We have spent two hours each day having seminars
preparing for the fishing Adventure a head, tomorrow will be the
final of four seminars and will include wahoo fishing along with the
final instructions on skiff fishing, deploying of the back up rods
and general safety around the deck while engaged in fishing. The
group and crew have been working diligently for the past two and a
half days preparing for what battles may lay a head, we are ALL
extremely excited to start the fishing part of the trip the day
after tomorrow.
Bluefin Jim and Sonny Jones our charter
masters from Longfin Tackle store and Pelagic Fish Gear had a
wonderful raffle this morning and EVERYONE was winner. The grand
prize winners were Art Coballero who won a Shimano Talica 20 reel,
Bill House who won a Shimano Tere rod and Mike Butler who won a
custom wrapped Calstar 770 XXH rod. We would truly like to thank the
Manufactures of these great products that made this special event
possible. A very special thanks to Mark Mills at Shimano Reels.
Additional thanks to Calstar rods, Lead Masters Wahoo Bombs, Salas
jigs, Z-Man flyers, Sato Crimps, Pelagic Wear, Accurate Reels, Lake
Irvine, Longfin tackle, Izorline, and Mustad Hook Products. We hope
to put all this wonderful gear to good use!
We will try to report daily.
John G. and the RR3 crew
Jan. 19, 2012
We are headed south on our Bluefin
Jim/Pelagic 15 day trip. We put a nice load of sardines on the boat
and managed to clear the point a little early. Headed down, we will
report daily as long as we have satellite reception. Wish us luck.
