Jan 2006:

Dear Fishermen and Friends:

  A healthy and happy New Year to one and all.  It’s that time again to book your trips for the upcoming season.  So far this winter we have received a break from the pounding rain of last year  and are getting an early jump on boat projects for the upcoming season.  People are already calling in with requests for dates for the upcoming season so don’t delay getting back to me as soon as possible.

  Now to the important business of what this season holds in store for us.  I spoke with a biologist from the Monterey Bay Aquarium who believes we have at least another 7 years of cooler water ahead of us.  This translates to continued albacore and possibly bluefin fishing.  They thought the warm water that showed up last fall was an anomaly from unusual trade winds in the spring.  Hopefully we will have a nice long albacore season ahead of us.

  Something different this year was basing our prices at fuel being $2 a gallon.  We raised our daily price by $200.  The new prices are M-F, $3200, S-S $3700, as long as fuel doesn’t go above $2 a gallon there will be no fuel surcharge.  Island prices are the same as last year.  One thing I highly recommend, if at all possible book a multi-day trip, even if it’s a 1-½ day trip.  The last several years most of the better fishing has taken place in the late afternoon and at 75+ miles.  That is nearly impossible to make a decent catch with those conditions.

  In June and October I am offering a discounted rate on trips, especially 1-½ and 2-day trips.  The best albacore fishing last year was in June.  Please contact me direct for those prices.

  In terms of the boat, we are giving her a facelift this year.  We are painting the entire boat along with new doors for galley entrance, aft head, and shower.  We are also working on getting a salmon chiller for the fish hold.  Greg Hibbs believes he almost has the bugs worked out of the new ones so they don’t fail.  If this is the case we are going to redo the fish hold to ensure your catch come out as sushi grade.

  I look forward to seeing all of you again and making up for last season by “putting the wood” to them this year.  Please stop by and see me at the Fred Hall show in LB in March.  I’ll be on Lets Talk hookup on April 23rd, so please call in with your questions.

In case you misplaced them, the office phone is 858-270-4013, and my email is MVGALLILEAN@aol.com.

Harlan Berk
Owner Operator