I don't follow the Stardust fish counts posted on this board very often but I do check the Stardust counts posted on sportfishingreport.com just about everyday. However, I want to start off by saying that in no way am I knocking this board (or website) or the Stardust for that matter. I follow this website regularly and the Stardust is a great boat! But one unfortunate trend I have noticed is that fish counts posted on sportfishingreport.com for the morning and afternoon runs for most given days are far too similar to be realistic. It's almost as if the fish count is filled out for the morning run, copied and pasted for the afternoon run, then maybe tweaked a tiny bit. Let's face it, there are no landings on this coast that report accurate fish counts. I'm not even sure if it is even possible. But, I almost have to laugh sometimes at the Stardust report because it appears so fabricated. If someone at the landing is going to go out of their way to report the fish count, at least make an attempt to make it "look" accurate.

Ranger,
I read over the stuff at Sportfishingreport.com and it looked about the same as what is reported here and I'm sure what is reported on the phone for sea landing. By law sportfishing boats are required to fill out a form every day indicating the number and species of fish caught, where they were caught, etc. This is the same info that is reported in the fish count. I would encourage you to take a trip on the Stardust and compare for yourself the number of fish taken vs. what is reported. I've been dozens of times and never seen any discrepancy. I'm sure that sometimes the report is not accurate to the exact exact number of fish, but it is certainly not being fabricated on the Stardust in any way.

Swimbait, I understand what you are saying and I really enjoy the Stardust and crew. I have been on the Stardust many times but have never really corroborated the fish count with my trip. I do know a friend who recently went on a Stardust twilight trip where many rockfish were reported caught but not one rockfish was observed by my friend during the trip. My friend is a good fisherman and I do trust his observations. I will post on this board next time I see a suspicious fish report on sportfishingreport.com, which by the way is a great website, because you can see what the fish count is for each boat/trip for each landing everyday. By the way, take a look at yesterday's fish count. Do you really think that a thresher shark (a rare party boat catch), was caught on both the morning and afternoon runs yesterday?

I wouldn't doubt it. I saw 5 hooked and 3 boated a few years ago up off Naples on the Seahawk.

Dear Ranger and others,
Thank you for your comments - they are very helpful to us in order to improve our business. Please continue to provide us feedback on your concerns.

With regard to the fish count validity, if you are referring to this board where the counts are posted, they are NOT posted by a Stardust or Sea Landing employee. Some of our most valued customers take time to do the postings. Although we appreciate that, we cannot confirm those numbers.

If there is ever any question about this subject, Jason reports the fish count after every trip directly to Sea Landing, which in turn reports this information to the Santa Barbara News Press. These are accurate numbers and can be confirmed by our log books.

Regarding the Thresher Shark, please look at our "GuestBook" on the www.stardustsportfishing.com website and you will see there is a thank you note from the woman that caught it. She even wrote us an email to thank us. I am offended that you or anyone would think we would actually waste our time and reputation on posting something as rare as that.

If you ever have any questions, please feel free to call Jason or myself at home at 805-684-4741. Our business is your business and we value your comments.

Donya Diamond

I only use calfishing.com to check the Stardust reports, and I have been looking at every AM, PM, and Twilight report for the past three months. I have found no duplication within the daily reports regarding numbers or even species. Also, the fact that the fish per angler ratio is often under three (not impressive when the fish are small) provides an additional appearance of truthfulness. The problem seems to be with the other site.

I think I need to clarify things a bit here. This website (calfishing) posts daily totals for the Stardust but generally does not segregate the AM and PM trips. The "other" website I was referring to does segregate the two trips. I'm guessing that there are two possibilities here... either the Stardust is incorrectly reporting each half day run (which you wouldn't notice because this website only posts the daily total) or the "other" website is taking the daily total and splitting it into two different parts (AM and PM). The latter seems more plausible and would explain why the daily counts for the AM and PM runs appear so similar on the "other" website.

that could very well be. I think sometimes when you call in for the fish report they don't always seperate it into counts for morning and afternoon. Maybe sportfishingreport is trying to give a split report each day but that info is not always available to them so they are splitting it themselves. Something to ask them I suppose. Either way I think the count is accurate for the full day.

Fair enough... I think that a friendly inquiry to sportfishingreport is in order.

Well I dont know what got this started. I love fishing with Jason and love his crew. I thought it might help to post his fish counts. I either call the landing or use information from Biteson.com. I assume they get the information from Sea landing. One would think if I was going to report false counts I would beef up the numbers and type of fish caught. I apologize if the information is not helpful. Just trying to show my appreciation for a quality skipper and his crew.

Howard

You are doing a great job, Howard, and your effort is appreciated and informative. Your effort is also well deserved by a fine boat and skipper. The original post was made by somebody who is evidently not very familiar with your reports, and also likely not very familiar with the Stardust and Jason and his crew. For example, poster Ranger incorrectly stated that you typically did not separate AM and PM reports. Simply not true!

Everyone is supportive of you and the integrity of the Stardust operation. Keep up the good work and try to forget this whole nasty episode.

Bob

Thank you for the kind words

There is nothing "nasty" about this thread except for what was posted by sirfishalot. From the very beginning, I said that I don't follow this board very often. However, you are quite wrong in insinuating that I am not very familiar with Jason and his crew. How many times do I have to state in this thread that I am a big fan of the Stardust and its crew???

Before you guys started to jump on this thread like sharks on a whale carcass, Swimbait and I had already come to a plausible conclusion for my original posting. I am now convinced that the website I've been following (sportfishingreport.com) has during numerous occasions in the past, taken the daily fish count for the Stardust (and other 1/2 day boats) and split it in half to creat an AM and PM session. If you want a recent example, look at yesterday's posting for the Speed Twin out of CISCO's in Oxnard.

Speed Twin 1/2 Day AM
32 anglers 19 Barracuda 33 Rockfish 4 Whitefish 12 Sculpin 2 Sheephead 4 Sole

Speed Twin 1/2 Day PM
32 anglers 19 Barracuda 34 Rockfish 4 Whitefish 12 Sculpin 2 Sheephead 5 Sole

Notice anything "fishy"?

My biggest mistake was not posting this obvious misreporting of information, but choosing which website to do so.

Ranger,

Thank you for your latest reply. This should close the matter as a simply a misunderstanding among well-intentioned people. Unfortunately, sirfishalot was out of line in getting personal. Maybe his personal attack was merely a reflection of the depth of his support for the Stardust operation and people.

Maybe some good has come from this. The Stardust "family" and Howard learned of the extent of the personal support that they have earned, and we have all learned to be suspicious of the counts at another website.

PS: I would not criticize anyone's spelling on these boards. Most of us likely type such messages quickly because we have other things to do such as work, school, fishing, and preparing for more fishing, and we are among fisherfolk friends on these boards and do not expect to be graded on spelling and typos. It is the content that counts.

PPS: The previous was a self-serving PS from a poor speller.

Howard, I never meant to invalidate what you faithfully report on this board (See Post #14). You're doing a fine job!

look man i fish almost twice a week on the boat and for the last few weeks all we have been catching is rockfish, and lots of them nothing else is biting right so we have been fishing the four mile, the arm pit and the oil rigs. The fish counts are very consistent because of the fact that they are rock fish and not bass or any other top water speices. And further more, next time befor jumping all over the boats web site and talking ##### you come out your self. your probly some middel aged computer nerd that sits around and dosen't even fish...............................

sirfishalot, here's a word of advice for you. Next time you decide to go flame someone, you might want to at least check your spelling... it will make you sound much more credible.