Though not the best biting fish that we have seen out here this season the quality is still the real draw. Beautiful, 70 – 150 pound class yellowfin are still abundant, real deal abundant, around the island. Scattered out along the edge for miles the incredible potential that we have seen out here all season is still strong. We started off on the right foot getting down to business in our first zone of choice passing the afternoon/evening picking steady at good ones. Between those and a handful of 30 pound class yellowtail the voyage began on a high note. Everyone had a shot, and a few anglers had banner afternoon's. As alway's seems to be the case a handful or two of angler's learned the hard way (against our advice) that attempting to land 80 – 150 pound class yellowfin tuna on smaller size two speed reels with 60# test in this arena is an exercise fraught with peril. The odds of success are somewhere in the neighborhood of 25 – 30 percent. Between the tax collector and the fact that the yellowfin tuna out here are determined and tough those smaller outfits get consistently ruined. It all seems great until an angler loses his/her second or third beautiful yellowfin in a row; then it sinks in. Once the tricked out little gear is racked and the adequate outfits with 80 and 100 are employed the catching begins. Such was the case again today. We had a few noble battles on the smaller outfits that yielded glory, but a little of that goes a long way. Very pleased with this beginning, and the sign that we have to work with, we settled in for the night eagerly anticipating the first full day tomorrow. Catching over the past several days has been up and down, so our optimism is tempered, but just to be here in company with this potential is reason enough to be stoked. The first photo of this voyage features long time Royal Star friend, and chartermaster extraordinaire, Brian Zimmeran who started his voyage right with a couple of these 80 – 100 pound class yellowfin. Always cheerful and upbeat Brian has headed up the annual Ventura County Anglers 10 day voyage for the better part of 15 years. We have shared so many epic experiences together on Royal Star that it would take a novel to do them justice. And at 81 years young Brian is just getting started. I look forward to many more to come. The dates of the new seven day voyage added yesterday are Monday December 26th - Monday January 2nd. If your are interested in kicking off the new year targeting beautiful Guadalupe Island yellowfin tuna give Tracy or Brian a call in the office. There is already a rapidly growing list so don't hesitate if you want to jump on. 619-224-4764!