This is my first blog for sportfishingreport.com and I guess it's fitting that I talked to Frank LoPreste today. The Royal Polaris owner/operator is scheduled to run his boat on a 7-day trip that leaves this Saturday.

"I still love fishing, I love being on the boat," LoPreste told me. "I can't see that ever changing."

I know the feeling. Any trip on the RP is a good trip.

LoPreste said Billy Santiago strung together an excellent trip on the Royal Polaris trip that will be coming in Saturday morning. "They found lots of 20 to 30-pound yellowfin and 20 to 30-pound yellowtail on the Ridge and some wahoo, too," said LoPreste. "They also went out to the Rocks and got 60 yellowfin and a few more wahoo. It's looking really good."

Of course I've been following all the latest breaking news on my iPhone with the sportfishingreport.com app. The big news on the sportfishing scene has to be the bite around the Hidden Bank and the hope that more fish will move up the line, especially the ones with the long beak. At least that's what my old buddy Rod Halperin is hoping after having to move his first big money local marlin tournament of the season to Shelter Island this Monday and Tuesday. The move has sparked some interest from local marlin (as in San Diego) who are going to be headed that way anyways in the next few days. Why not plunk down $3000 and try to come away with some cash and glory? Rod said he'll be letting the boats go at 5 a.m. Monday morning after a drive-by start off the police docks and lines out won't be until 5 p.m. Boats will then have until 9 p.m. to make it back to the headquarters at the Marlin Club.

As for the Catalina Classic? "That's got to stay in Avalon, after all we can't have the Catalina Classic anywhere but Catalina," said Halperin. "The Classic is as much a party as a fishing tournament. I can move the grid some, but I won't move it any lower than the Mexican border. I have to make it so it's a fair competition and just hope some fish swim up here. They can move fast. I don't care if they are only around for a week -- as long as it's the right week."

For more info go to Catalina Classic.

On another front, stakeholders in the North Central Coast region of the MLPA have come to a single agreement on an array of closures. Buoyed by a strong resentment towards outside influence and an equally strong tribal presence in the talks, my sources tell me the locals say they have a plan they can live with. "We have some cowboys up here that are still saying it's a bunch of b.s. and don't want any part of it, and many of the tribes say it's a matter of sovereignty backed up by Federal law," said the source. "But state law says different and we think we have escaped major damage with this plan. The key is getting it through the BRTF meeting Oct. 25-27 in Fortuna without them making any changes. We need the support of every fisherman and fishing group in the state in the form of letters to the Blue Ribbon Task Force."

There's no doubt the BRTF loves to make changes. But for once the stakeholders are a unified group -- the local wouldn't have it any other way. You can send your comment in support of the proposal to MLPAComments@resources.ca.gov.

In a side note, word is a new commissioner could be appointed any day to the Fish and Game Commission, which ultimately approves any closures. Speaking of that, the commission meeting in October is slated as the second hearing on the South Coast plan, with possible adoption set for the commission meeting in December in Santa Barbara. Santa Barbara must be safe haven for the commission, since that's where they also enacted the Channel Island closures.

Finally, a word about this blog. I've teamed up with Chad Woods here at sportfishingreport.com because the news you care about doesn't come in weekly chunks, it happens right now and no on has been better than Chad at putting real data at your fingertips as soon as it becomes available. When it happens, I'll write about it. You can reach me at rich@sportfishingreport.com.

Rich Holland's Roundup