Hi friends. Normally, I don't like to glorify the crew unless I absolutely have to. It's just not how we roll. We prefer to let you all see for yourselves when riding the Supreme and allow our performance to do the all the talking. For example, Mark's epic gaff last year on Greg Koonce's 379.8 lb. Yellowfin tuna was a story that had to be told. So, I told you. That was too good of a story not to brag about the crew. For this evening's report, I'm going to begin by telling you each crew-members responsibility on deck for the day. Tommy - do what he does best, find fish and relief chum. Drew - gaff fish and deal with tangles. Myself - gaff fish and deal with tangles. Jed - gaff fish and deal with tangles. Mark - gaff fish and deal with tangles. Jeff - spike, de-hook, bleed, and staple tags. And let me tell you, that staple gun was firing fast and furious today.

It started out with Joe Beck landing a lunker of a Yellowtail on a jig early in the morning and from that point until around lunch time, it was a repeat of yesterday's fishing...slow. But as previously mentioned, Tommy did what he does best and put us in the zone where fish get frisky. Breezer after breezer after breezer yielded us quite a bounty and we stayed very busy all the way up until dark. Same grade of fish as yesterday with a small percentage being in the 12-15 lb. range. It was classic run 'n gun style fishing with most of the 'tails being captured with either a fly-lined sardine or a small sinker rig. When one spot dried up, it wasn't long before we were back on another spot of biting fish. It was a great day. We needed it, we worked for it, we got it. Great success.

Not forgotten in all of this chest-pounding of a report is Chef David Schooler. The action was red hot but not quite hot enough for us to require Chef Schooler to trade in his spatula for a stapler but his behind the scenes work in the galley during all of our action did not go unnoticed during any meal, especially dinner. Veal chops, creamy risotto, peas, and strawberry sundaes to finish off from what I hear, was five star in every sense of the word. Between Schooler, Jeff, and Barry, those are three dudes who know what they're doing when it comes to kicking out meals and doing it with a smile.

So that's all the gum-flapping I have for you this evening. We're making a move to gain some distance to home and weather permitting, hopefully have a few hours to locate some offshore species. Our weather is a little sloppy but nothing we haven't seen before. The Beck/Wagstaff boys are out. Tired, sore, fat, and happy. We'll report to you tomorrow, have a great night.

Richie and the Particularly Special Polaris Supreme crew.

P.S. Susan is great too. Can't forget about mama.

Saturday, June 25th, 2011

Good evening folks. We found ourselves in familiar territory early this morning at the Yellowtail grounds. It took us a couple hours of searching but a short time after breakfast; we were able to connect on a few schools. We were able to put some decent sized fish on the boat and stayed busy for a couple hours on 15-22 lb. fish. Yo-yo jigs seemed to be the hot ticket to capture these critters but a sliding-sinker rig wasn't a bad second option. Things seemed to change after a short while and the area lost its luster and just like that, we were back into search mode. The afternoon time was definitely lacking in production so we made the rounds, searching spot after spot only to come up with a few handfuls of Calico Bass. With less than stellar results for our afternoon, it seemed proper to get back down to where the best sign of fish was and we bombed back down a little closer to the morning area. Before we could make it back, we found a zone in the early evening time and were able to scratch away at some premium-sized 'tails for a couple hours before Seafood Alfredo plates were put on the table for dinner. All of the Yellow's landed were 30+ lbs. and we are currently in position to do battle with some beasts tomorrow.

No exciting stories today, just a lot of driving around and searching for sign of fish that are eluding the fleet right now. It's just a matter of time before conditions get right and the fish start to bite. Our weather is good, our morale is still high, and the folks are sun burnt but happy. With the offshore scene still sounding slow, we've decided to camp out here for the evening and give this place another go tomorrow. Take care and send us some luck.

Team Supreme

Friday, June 24th, 2011

Good evening, friends. Well, not quite a smashing debut to the Polaris Supreme's 2011 summer tuna season as our first full day dedicated to tuna fishing was a rather slow one. We decided to take a different approach as the scores from the boats in the area on Wednesday were quite unflattering. Rather than just bombing down to the traditional Bluefin area, we instead put on our Magellan caps with the hopes of finding something fresh and frisky. We ended up finding beautiful sea conditions in certain areas that are surely conducive to good tuna fishing, only to find that the tuna haven't quite made their way to this area. A lot of Common Dolphin have found this area but no tuna fish. Maybe in the future, this area will be a slam dunk, but for now, it's a miss in the "hit or miss" game.

From dusk until dawn, mast-men were unable to find any thrilling signs of life, so we continued to motor-on towards the Yellowtail grounds. We will arrive around 2330 hours this evening and we're going to get setup for an early morning meeting with some 'tails. We'll give this tuna thing a try at the latter portion of the trip so for now, it's time for some coastal chaos at the trusted Yellowtail coral. Our weather is decent. The troops are in good spirits, and we'll brief you on our activities tomorrow evening. Wish us luck.

Team Supreme

Thursday, June 23rd, 2011

Good evening folks. We are back, live from the M/V Polaris Supreme as we are making way on a southerly course to hopefully start off our 2011 fishing season with some action on Albacore and/or Bluefin tuna. The winter was kind to us all and we're ecstatic to be back out on the water, doing what we all love so much.

For the last month, the crew has been busy completing various tasks to maintain the safety and well-being of the vessel. First off, the new website is pretty Gucci, right? Tommy had been hard at work with the designing of the site when he wasn't with Jed and Mark diving into various maintenance/cosmetic projects. A lot of the projects were aspects of the vessel that most passengers will never see, deep inside the heart of the Supreme. Just know that the guys busted butt to maintain that all of the equipment and machinery are in proper working order. What were Captain Drew and myself up to? For superior performance and loyalty to the operation, we were given a paid vacation, all expenses paid, thanks Tommy. Yeah right. We were actually hitting the books per Coast Guard requirements that will be mandated Jan. 1, 2012. We completed 200 Ton Celestial Navigation, 200 Ton Upgrade, and Bridge Recourse Management courses and will soon be 200 Ton licensed captains for all oceans. Just another reminder that when you step foot on the Polaris Supreme or any long range vessel, you will be under the hand of some of the finest captains the world has to offer. Toot-toot. With all that said, the Supreme is running tip-top in all aspects of the vessel.

So that brings us to today. We departed this morning on the Joe Beck/Mal Wagstaff 5-day adventure with plenty of friends joining up with us. It's good to see so many of the folks again riding with us year after year and we're loaded with friendly faces, good food, and good bait. The reports have all sounded the same from the tuna grounds as boats are seeing plenty of fish with mixed results. We'll be there tomorrow to give it a shot and see for ourselves what these Bluefin waters have to offer us. Yellowtail fishing is always an option but we're hoping to do some work on some tuna before we make the run for those grounds.

That's it. Our sea conditions are gorgeous and we're going to get rested up for a full day of Bluefin/Albacore fishing tomorrow. It's good to be back, go time.

Richie and Team Supreme.

***P.S. I almost forgot. In our travels today, we saw a few handfuls of Bluefin schools and before we could finish the tackle seminar, a spot of breaking fish popped up and the seminar was quickly brought to an end. The mad scramble began from the galley and many of our anglers tossed out their 30 lb. outfits to attempt to entice a willing Bluefin. One problem. The fish were in the 80-120 lb. range. We successfully hooked one and as you can expect, 30 lb. test and about an 80+ lb. Bluefin on the line didn't end well. It would've been one thing to lose it right off the bat, but after an hour it was fought to deep color for just enough of a good look and a size estimate before the tuna swam to freedom. Heartbreaking but a good sign nonetheless. The best part about this story? We were in TRUE ONE DAY RANGE. To Garth and the gang; Bring your 50 lb. outfits. Very good sign and we're excited about future prospects in local waters. Susan is currently standing by the phone, give her a call and come join us.