Another view of tackle box area
This is the side with the ladder to the upper deck. The new ladder is yet to be added.
Bring a friend and win fabulous prizes!
Hey anglers!
It’s a new year and we’ve got a new program to encourage you to bring a new friend fishing.
Talk up the fun of fishing with your friends and family!
If you bring a new angler* aboard Searcher in 2008, we’ll thank you with a free gift on the day of departure. Gifts include certificates for Fisherman’s Landing Tackle Shop, Five Star Fish Processing, Guy Harvey fishing gear, Izorline products, Fish Trap Lures, Let’s Talk Hook-Up memberships, Zuker Lures, Braid Products and lunch at Point Loma Seafoods with Captain Art!
You’ll also be eligible to win a free Shimano rod and reel–AND a 3-day trip in 2009!
Each time you bring a new angler fishing with you, we’ll enter your name in a season-long raffle. Captain Art will draw the winner’s name for the grand prize on the last fishing trip for 2008.
Supporters:
- Fishermans Landing Tackle Shop–www.saltwatertackle.com –(619) 221-8506
- Five Star Processing–www.fivestarfishprocessing.com–(619) 299-9996
- Guy Harvey Shirts–www.guyharveyshirts.com –(888) 871-0110
- Izorline–www.izorline.com–(562) 531-6000
- Braid Products–www.braidproducts.com–(800) 716-4558
- Shimano–www.shimano.com–(949) 951-5003
- Let’s Talk Hook-up–www.hookup1090.com
- Point Loma Seafoods — www.pointlomaseafoods.com
- Zuker Lures–619-433-9979
Rules:
- One free gift per trip. Bring a new angler on more than one trip and receive a gift for each.
- One entry in the raffle per gift received.
- Offer good for 3-day trips or longer in 2008 only.
- You must mention the new angler at the time of reservation.
- *New angler must not already be on our existing mailing list.
- We reserve the right to end the giveaways at any time.
- Promotion for 2008 new anglers only.
Passports?
At this time, passports are not required on trips beginning and ending in San Diego. You will only need a government-issued photo ID, such as a driver’s license or a military ID. We’ll keep you informed of any changes, but this doesn’t seem likely to change soon.
Good Yellowfin Sign by Bill Roecker
Art Taylor docked his Searcher October 13 after a seven-day trip with 20 anglers. He tied up at Fisherman’s Landing and weighed the best of the catch. “We went to Guadalupe Island first,” said Art, “and found good sign of tuna there, in 70-degree water, though they didn’t bite very well. We spent our last half-day of fishing at Cedros Island and made a good catch of yellowtail there.”
In his blog October 11, Art wrote, “Yesterday we fished San Benito Island. We arrived there in the afternoon. We had a little action on good size yellowtail in various spots. There was a good sign of fish on all the spots but it didn’t want to bite all that well. “Today we fished the coast south of Cedros and Cedros Island itself. We had great fishing on 12-18 pound yellowtail on yo-yo irons and dropper loops. After lunch we moved up to the lee of Cedros and we had a good bite on those big yellows–25-35 pounds–late in the day. What a way to end our fishing season for 2007 with more of those great fish!”
Searcher winners had a wet homecoming Saturday morning. Joe Preciado of Imperial Beach won first place for a 73.6-pound yellowfin, a tuna he caught with a sardine on a 4/0 ringed Super Mutu hook and 40-pound Big Game line. He said he used a TLD 30 reel and a Sabre 1771-C rod. Mas Kaneko of LA won second place for a 68-pound tuna, and Dale Bunting of Cambria took third place for a 65.8-pound Guadalupe Island yellowfin tuna.
Searcher Finds Skinnies by Bill Roecker
Art Taylor docked his Searcher October 6 after a seven-day trip with 19 anglers. He was thwarted in reaching Alijos Rocks by tropical depression Julia,, so he fished offshore kelps, The Ridge and Cedros Island, where his anglers got over five dozen big yellowtail.
He also found some wahoo and dorado, and wrote this on October 3:
“We decided to stay on the Ridge today. We figured since we came all this way to try for wahoo we might as well put in the time to try and catch a few. We got lucky and caught 12 wahoo before we had to leave. For most everyone that caught one, it was their first wahoo. Even though we didn’t get everyone a wahoo we were at least in the right zone and had opportunity to catch one.”
We traveled north the rest of the day with no luck finding something floating, so we are in position to be at Cedros Island tomorrow morning to try for those nice, big yellowtail to finish the trip.”
At the Fisherman’s Landing dock, Art weighed the biggest wahoo caught on bait or cast jigs. Trolled fish are not eligible. Two brothers took both ends of the jackpot.
Ballanti Brothers Score: Don and Bob Ballanti have Mike Jimenez bookended in the Searcher jackpot.
Don Ballanti of El Cerrito won first place for a 46.8-pound wahoo. Hed said the ‘skin took his Burns Bomb in blue and silver. He fished 50-pound Big Game line, a Tiburon ST 12-2 reel and a Calstar 700 M rod.
Mike Jimenez of LA won second place for a 44.4-pounder, and Don’s brother Bob Ballanti won third place for a 41.8-pound wahoo.
New Sponsor in 2008! GUY HARVEY
An August 5-day trip will now be sponsored by GuyHarveyShirts.com in 2008. Each passenger will receive a nice assortment of Guy Harvey designed shirts.
Join us for some great summer and enjoy some top-quality fishing shirts too!
DATES: August 24-29, 2008. Reservations available through the Searcher office.
619-226-2403
reservations@searchersportfishing.com
976-TUNA Open by Bill Roecker
Searcher arrived at Fisherman’s Landing September 12 under owner-skipper Art Taylor’s hand, after a five-day 976-TUNA open charter.
“We fished albacore for a day,” said Art, “and then went down to Cedros Island, where we fished at the South End and up near the North End on the lee side.”
In his blog, Art wrote, “We made it to Cedros Island and caught some mackerel for bait last night. We fished the south end of the island in the morning and caught a few good-grade yellowtail. We left there mid-morning and moved up the lee to try a spot or two. The report from the day before was favorable so we made a move.
“We arrived at a spot where we have done really well in the past and had excellent fishing for mixed grade yellowtail. Most of the fish are in the 20-pound range with a few smaller. The primary method used was flyline mackerel or sardine with 30 or 40 pound test line. There were a few fish caught on dropper loops on the bottom.”
Tim James of Westminster won first place for a 37.8-pound albacore. He said he got it with a sardine on a 2/0 Flyliner hook, 25-pound Ande line on a Daiwa 40 reel and a Calstar 870 rod.
Tim’s brother Chuck James of LaPine, OR won second place for a 30.7-pounder, and John Wilmore of Temecula won third place for a 30-pound longfin.
Friend to all Fishermen, Philip Friedman of 976-TUNA, Needs Help!
Philip’s brother-in-law has a brain tumor. To help, read below. If you can help with a monetary donation, thank you! Let me know and I’ll send you a Searcher t-shirt!
Christian had his fourth brain surgery on August 28th, 2007 in San Jose, Costa Rica. Since that time his condition has deteriorated to the point where he still has not eaten since August 28th, is in severe pain and now has meningitis.The meningitis may have been prevented as we had the following advice from Cedar Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles.
"It seems like the fluid draining from the wound is CSF (cerebro spinal fluid) in Spanish (liquido cefalo raquidio). Probably when the nurse removed the drain, she didn’t put a stitch or even if she did there is still drainage. This is very dangerous because if he gets an infection he will develop meningitis. I recommend for the doctor to recheck the wound and tried to close with a stitch hopefully that will stop the fluid."
Christian Back in the Hospital
The preceding advice was not followed and Christian and he was discharged from the hospital with no instructions on how to care for him. He has now been readmitted to Hospital San Juan de Dios as he became non responsive. He is talking a bit and still can recognize loved ones. They are treating the meningitis but seem very pessimistic. The following advice is from Cedar Sinai in Los Angeles.
"They shouldn’t be so negative about it– meningitis is dangerous but with appropriate care he can be ok. They should do cultures of the cerebrospinal fluid and give them IV antibiotics to treat.
Please keep me informed."
Christian to go home again soon
Doctors at San Juan Dios Hospital say he could die at any time or he could hang on for a few months; no one knows for sure. They plan on sending him home to die shortly.
If you would like to help Christian, the need is greater than ever.
The Christian Rodriguez Fund
2655 W. Carson St.
Torrance, CA 90503
Current needs:
An orthopedic bed for his home
A nurse to administer antibiotics and watch over him
Purchase all of his meds as well as all other medical needs including bandages, morphine, and every other medical needs.
Help to pay for day to day living expenses
Help to pay for clothing and schooling for his children and so much more
If you can help take away some of the tremendous pressure on this family, it would be deeply appreciated by all of us.
Searcher Gets Near-Limits by Bill Roecker
Art Taylor brought his Searcher in to Fisherman’s Landing August 31 after a five-day trip that visited the albacore grounds and Guadalupe Island.
“We got near-limits of albacore,” said Art, “and then we went down to Guadalupe to try for some bigger fish.”
Taylor said his anglers had a fish going much of the time at the island, but between the losses from the light tackle the anglers used to draw strikes and the tuna that were eaten by sharks the catch was smaller than it might have been otherwise.
Bill Zemba of Castaic won first place for a 44-pound yellowfin and tied for third place for a 38.4-pound albie.
He said he bagged the yellowfin with a sardine on a 2/0 ringed Super Mutu hook on 40-pound Big Game line, with a 50-pound Seaguar leader. He used a Torium 20 reel and a six and a half-foot Calstar rod.
Roger Ulinder of Mission Viejo won second place for a 40.8-pound albacore, and Doug Nance of San Diego tied with Bill Zemba for third with 38.4-pound yellowfin.
Searcher Finds Longfin by Bill Roecker
Art Taylor docked his 95-foot Searcher August 26 after a five-day trip with 21 passengers. They found some good albacore fishing on the last couple days of their trip.
John Coughlan of Long Beach won the jackpot for his 38-pound longfin. He said he took it with a sardine on a 2/0 Mustad hook and 25-pound Ande line. He used a Newell 332 reel and a six-foot Truline rod.
Searcher winners found some plump albacore that wanted sardines.
Bob Schiffmacher of Yorba Linda won second place for a 36-pounder, and Herb Steinberg of Santa Monica was third, for a 35.8-pound albacore.