The front end of our two pronged approach served us well as we began the day successfully targeting "cactus" with plenty of variety. Prickly Pear, Cholla, Saguaro - the whole contingent provided a wealth of phenomenal table fare in addition to lively discourse and full participation on deck. Though Bluefin Tuna were primary on our list of desirables, even the diehards joined the mix when stacks of multi colored gems were perfectly bled, rinsed, and stashed in the professionally maintained, 30 degree RSW hold. When it comes to table fare it is impossible to top the quality of our two hour morning endeavor; a fact that everyone could attest to following a fresh caught lunch prepared by Chef Drew Rivera that easily scored ten out of ten by my admittedly biased standard.

Recognizing however that "Cactus" do not make the front page, or fill long range voyages with anglers eager to pit their skills against the ocean's apex predators, we struck forth to fulfill part two of the day's game plan dedicating the remainder of our effort to the offshore pursuit of swimming gold. Ideal conditions complimented the sojourn that carried us deep into traditional haunts until the day faded into a fruitless evening. Passive and becoming as the offshore grounds were we could not make it happen; the "middle" zone is just not ready - yet.

Offshore news of the day by far is the resurgence of bluefin in a new area to the south the rekindled optimism for upcoming weeks that the grounds still hold plenty of promise. All in all it appears that things have simply been slow to develop thus far consistent with just about everything on the west coast in general. It is going to be interesting to follow during upcoming weeks; for certain these bluefin are far from done. We are going to get more shots at them somewhere up the line; and likely even down the line. As cold as water temperatures are remaining all indications point to the offshore fish lingering in the lower precincts for awhile. We'll see. Right now I have to say that nothing we have experienced thus far favors predictions of any kind. I definitely have my gut feelings about the whole picture, but I am very reluctant to advance much based on the obvious.

So we head into the upcoming three day adventure poised to fish bluefin on the local grounds with Captain Brian "Gerbie" Sims in command. Time will tell if the robust quantity of Bluefin will finally find their courage and get with the program. For certain their is no shortage, and with plenty of time, and a solid bag of tricks to draw upon, look for Captain Sims' reports over the next few days to continue.

Photo today features a blast from the past I am very pleased to share. Royal Star alumni Jason Sweeny, who worked with us for almost three years in the early nineties, returned this voyage after an at least fifteen year hiatus to see if the skills he developed as a young man were still within. As it turned out even twelve years of law practice could not extinguish the spark; he held is own, to no one's surprise, and enjoyed the opportunity to make a voyage as an angler after all these years. I enjoyed it also as well as seeing Jason prosper in part from the life lessons acquired as a young man working with us on Royal Star.

And finally, a closing note of gratitude to "RD" who organized the annual "RJ Allen" voyage into a successful group of hearty, positive, fun loving anglers. We look forward to continuing the tradition in years to come.

Tim Ekstrom

Photo Here...