News

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.

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.

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.

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.

Please check the schedule link for our remaining 2007 trips AND our 2008 schedule! Our successful summer 5-day trips are back, as well as a new "fish down-fly back" trip in December, 2008.

HOT NEWS FLASH FROM AUG 21!

Our Guadalupe Island permits came today! After five months of red tape and lots of hoops to jump through, the permits were issued to our Mexican representative, Juan Caro. Juan has worked very hard in conjunction with Bob Fletcher President of SAC to meet all the new requirements for applying and receiving permits this year. Our permit now is valid for two years. Hopefully the groundwork has been laid so we can obtain these permits, and any others necessary, in the future.

4-Day Braid Charter

Skipper Art Taylor docked his Searcher after a four-day Braid Chartered trip. The boat’s 19 anglers got off at Fisherman’s Landing August 18. Charter mistress Jan Howard recalled rough waters the first day with good albacore fishing, but the next day they bit real well.

“Art was just great,” said Jan. “After those first two days of fishing albacore, the next morning we headed up to fish the kelps.”

Angler Stanford Parks of Oxnard said, “The Searcher is a five-star outfit. I’m going to sign up for next year’s trip, I didn’t know you could have so much fun!”

Joe Valle of El Monte took first place with a 41-pound albacore. Joe used a Mustad 3/0 hook on 25-pound Berkeley Big Game line, a Penn reel and a Seeker rod.

Don Culbertson of Sylmar was second for a 40.4-pound longfin and Mike Collins of Lompoc took third with a 38.6-pound albie.

“I slipped the first day out and pulled my hamstring,” said Collins.

“I caught one fish then spent the rest of the first day in my bunk. But it didn’t matter; I still had a great trip. What phenomenal albacore fishing!”

Three fat albies swept the Searcher jackpot.

“Everybody got their quota early,” said Skipper Taylor. “The fish we’ve seen all season long are finally biting, we’re all very grateful.”

On her second trip, Pamela Bies of Whittier won first place aboard the Searcher on a three-day trip with 22 anglers. Aaron Remy was the skipper. He said his best fishing came at about 80 miles, near the Butterfly Bank, inside the Cortes Bank.

“The best bite was from about eight in the morning to about one p.m.,” he said at Fisherman’s Landing August 14. “We saw lots of fish and some big bait balls.”

Pamela won for her 34-pound albacore. She got it with a sardine on a 4/0 hook, 25-pound fluorocarbon leader and 40-pound line on an Accurate-modified Penn 500 reel and a six and a half-foot Fenwick rod.

“He took me up to the bow and back, and across the stern,” she said. “I can’t wait to get home and show it off.”

Pamela’s dad Gary Heilgeist of Whittier won second place, for a 33.6-pound albie. John Avitia of Kingman, AZ won third place, for a 33.2-pound albacore.