Hello Anglers,

So, you don't want to do a 16 or 17 day trip if you can't fish the islands? Well, let me tell you how our day went and maybe you will change your mind. We did not catch any tiger sharks, any chopas, or any rainbow runners today like we would have if we had been at the islands. However we had a absolutely epic day of trophy yellowfin tuna fishing. Our day started offshore with wonderful weather fishing, schools of black porpoise and it did not take long before we found a spot that really wanted to bite. This was a spot to remember! We drifted on this spot of fish from 0700 until almost 1530 and kept one to three fish going most of the day. After the smoke of burning drags had cleared and the decks were scrubbed, we ended up with 24 fish for the day. We had one fish that taped at 303#, ten fish from 201-255#, seven fish from 170-197#, four fish from 130-150#, and two fish from 120-130#. This was as good as it gets fishing for big fish! Unfortunately, we also had some heartbreaking losses as well because of the hard fighting nature of these offshore tuna; these fish are just plain mean and there is no room for any mistakes! James McDaniels had the 303# that was caught on 80# Trilene Big Game line and a 8\0 Eagle Claw circle hook.. Although not the "fish of his lifetime", Ken Cirks had a fish that taped out at 255#, Ger Steinberg had fish that taped at 234 and 222, Grover Sinsley had a 225, Tom Howe had a 225, and Tim Turis had a 204 and a 205. Way to go boys! The boys did good today, but the star angler of the day was Braid Products Pro Staffer Jan Howard. Jan showed the boys how it is done and had an absolutely phenomenal day with three fish over two hundred pounds at 201, 202, and 220! Way to go Jan!! Let it be known that this has been a great beginning to the season , with big fish being caught on the lower banks, Hurricane bank, and the Puerto Vallarta area, we have just as many, if not more options to catch big fish on these longer trips. And although they are a nice option, we do not need the islands to have good yellowfin tuna fishing! With great weather and excellent conditions, we hope to lay the wood to these fish again tomorrow!Enjoy the pictures Reported by: Shawn Steward