In-Shore Fun!

I got an opportunity to fish with Tim Boyer on his 26 foot Striper along with his son Chris and friend Jack (Thanks Tim). We launched at Dana Point Harbor around 8:30 Friday morning. The launch ramp is across from Dana Point Jet Ski and Kayak Center which Tim owns and operates. We picked up a half scoop of well cured sardines first then headed out of the harbor towards the power plant.

Weather was cool and overcast with water temps of 62 degrees. It was a short 15 minute trip to the fishing grounds. We set up our halibut rigs while Tim put the boat in place for a drift. We were in 20 to 30 feet of water. Gradually the sky cleared and we had full sun.

Tim

Jack and Tim

Tim hooked up first on something that took a long fast run and broke his 65 lb. spectra. We never saw the fish. Jack hooked up next on a sandbass which he released. We made several long drifts occasionally bringing back raked baits.

Tim pulled out fixins for some great make-your-own sandwiches. As Jack was eating his pastrami sandwich, Chris yelled, “Jack, you’re bit!” Jack put down his sandwich and landed a halibut just short of legal. Jack rebaited and set his rod in the holder and grabbed his sandwich. Again Chris yelled, “Jack, you’re bit!” Another short halibut.

Jack with his first Halibut

Jack's Second Halibut

Chris

Chris measuring his halibut

Chris with his halibut

I threw some loose change overboard (to appease Neptune) in an effort to get bit. Chris got bit next and he landed and released a short halibut. Tim hooked up next and caught the only legal halibut of the day.

I was truly enjoying just being on the water which was fortunate. It was late in the afternoon without a hooked fish when I got bit. It was heavy, big enough to require a gaff. We were sure it was a nice halibut - until it got to the surface and we saw the tail. A big, beautiful Skate!

Skate

It was after 3 pm when we headed back to the harbor. We found the calm waters we fished in were not what we would encounter going back up the line. Chop and spray all the way, but who cares. We had a good day on the water.

East Coast Fishing

Jim Carlisle and I departed Long Beach around noon on October 3rd aboard a Jet Blue flight bound for New York. Basil Pappas picked us up at Kennedy Airport when our flight arrived. It was a short drive to Harrington Park, a beautiful rural community with wild turkey’s roaming the streets and houses nestled in tall trees already dressed in fall colors. We were Basil’s house guests.

Wild Turkeys

Basil knew Jim and I would be hungry after a 5 hour flight that no longer serves food so he had fresh white and red king salmon and bluefin tuna sashimi plus sushi rolls ready for us. What a feast and great beginning to our trip.

Sashimi and Sushi Dinner

Sunday we spent the day in the shop at BHP Tackle making top shots for the Thanksgiving 16-day trip. I brought my 130 lb. Big Game and Berkley 180 lb. spectra to make top shots for Bob Hoose and me. I spooled off the line (and retained my nickname of “Spool Girl”) and cut the spectra, Jim pulled the spectra loops and fed the mono into the spectra and Basil served the mono to spectra connections. We finished 50 Top Shots then helped Basil with some of his orders.

Weather off shore was changing every few hours vacillating between a go or no-go for the BHP Charter on the Canyon Runner (http://www.canyonrunner.com/). At 8 am Monday morning we got the call that the trip was a go. We quickly packed up and left for Point Pleasant, about an hour drive south. We picked up our order from Joe Leone’s Italian Deli and Catering located a few blocks from Clark’s Landing where the Canyon Runner is docked. The Two day’s food order was enough food to feed a dozen instead of the three anglers plus Captain and mate. The food smelled fabulous and turned out to be better than it smelled.

When we arrived, Captain Mark and mate Pete were preparing the 60 foot Ritchie Howell for our trip – chopping butter fish for chum, thawing the bait (bunker fish, squid and sardines) filling the hold with ice, setting up rods and reels, etc.

The 60' Ritchie Howell - Canyon Runner

We loaded our gear and food and settled in for the 90 mile trip to the Lindenkohl Canyon where we would be fishing. Basil introduced Jim and me to Captain Mark and his mate, Pete. A quick safety speech and we were off.

Basil and Jim loading gear

It’s a short trip from landing to open water with beautiful homes lining the route.

We settled into the deep, soft sofas in the salon. When we reached the harbor entrance, the Captain kicked up the engines to 29 knots and made the 90 mile trip in 3 short hours. Captain Mark spent plenty of time looking around the area charting the temperature breaks that ran 68 to 71 degrees. Once he selected the best spot, we anchored up then the work began.

Jim, Captain Mark and Basil

Two rods were set up for swordfish, one on each stern corner. The rods were Penn 70’s with 20 foot 400 lb. leaders with a large circle hook to the bait and a weight and strobe light at the top of the leader. One rod was baited with a bunker fish and dropped down 220 feet and the other had squid for bait and was dropped down to 160 feet. A couple rods were set up on the out riggers with a variety of set ups – weights, balloons, sardines, squid, ling and flylined on a balloon – all dead baits. Just after the rods were set up, we had a sword come through and bat at a couple of our baits but swam off without taking a bait.

The weather conditions deteriorated with the wind coming up to 28 knots. The anchor started to drag and had to be reset. Although the conditions were less than ideal, there were fish around. The flat panel TV in the salon faced the cockpit and displayed the screen of the fish finder. Periodically through the night the meter showed fish coming through at 60 feet or deeper. We quickly grabbed one of the rods set up with a large silver slammer jig and dropped it down to the fish. We picked off 5 yellowfin this way in the 20 to 30 lb. range on the jigs and caught a 65 to 70 lb. yellowfin on one of the outriggers baited with a dead sardine. We fished all night taking little cat naps when the meter was blank.

Mark and Pete worked constantly all night checking and changing baits. I have never seen crew work harder. At daybreak, I think the Captain was much more disappointed than Jim and I that we hadn’t caught a swordfish. The weather was coming down and smoothed out to flat calm conditions for the morning.

Mark moved the boat to a soft bottom area to fish for Tilefish. Our setups were Penn Torque 300’s on a Penn Rod rigged with 65 lb. spectra and a two hook gagnion baited with squid and 24 ounces of lead to reach down 650 feet to the bottom.

On one of my first drops, I got bit by a heavy fish. I just got the fish off the bottom when the spectra parted. Jim and Basil put a couple fish on the boat then I got bit again. This fish was not as big as the first but definitely a good fish. It took a while to bring the fish up and when it reached the surface both Mark and Pete exclaimed “Holy S#!t.” My first tilefish weighed in at 26 lbs. They are a beautiful fish that apparently burrow in the mud and ambush lobsters for food.

Captain Mark with my first tilefish

Area Fished

Captain Mark kept us out fishing until 1 pm before heading back to dock. We managed to catch 6 tilefish before heading in. We had some lunch (deli salads, frittatas, etc.) then settled into those sofas to get some sleep.

Mark and Pete filleted and bagged our tunas and tilefish for us on the dock then we thanked them and said “goodbye.”

Pete

We decided to have some of our deli food to go with our fresh tilefish for dinner. I sautéed the fish in clarified butter and I swear it tasted like the lobsters they feed on only sweeter and more tender. Delicious!!

Sauteed Tilefish

Jim and I flew home the next morning. We agreed that we are both grateful to have been invited to participate on the BHP Charter and that we had a fun trip. To show my appreciation, I made a quilt for Basil and embroidered a couple T-shirts for his girls. Thanks again Basil.

Basil's girls - Alexa and Maya

Turd Cirkus 2009

Fabulous trip! Good friends, good fishing, good food, good crew and good weather!

Twenty-one good friends boarded the Excel September 9th for the second annual Turd Cirkus (Cirks/Turis) charter. Tim Turis, Ken Cirks (chartermasters) were joined by Dan Felger, Ralph Mickelsen, Al Scow, Jack Carlisle, Jim Carlisle, Tom Carlisle, Don Burnside, Joe Schlater, Bergie, Tom Trainer, Chas Shoemaker, and me. Our expert crew consisted of Captains Justin Fleck and Mike Ramirez, deck crew of Brandon, Derrick, Josh and Rudy. Galley Chef Jason Fleck was assisted by Vince Otani.

First night after dinner we sang Happy Birthday to Don Burnside who was celebrating his 74th Birthday. Captain Fleck gave us the next day’s plan and instructions for rigging. A quick stop for yellowtail and rockfish for the galley in the late afternoon. Then we would be on our way to the Ridge to fish small tuna the following day.

Thursday afternoon we stopped close to Benitos and caught 6 or 7 yellowtail and half a dozen reds for the galley. My first drop for reds using a 3 hook gagnion with Kenji flies produced a big red on one fly and a big yellowtail on another fly.



Friday we arrived at the Uncle Sam Bank around 11 am. We fished the 13 fathom spot for 10 to 30 lb. yellowfin tuna and small yellowtail. We checked out the rest of the bank and came back to the 13 to finish the day on tuna. The tuna were biting so well that the fly fishermen on board broke out the fly rods. Tom and Jim Carlisle, Tom Trainer and even Jason were catching yellowfin tuna on the fly rods. They claimed it was the best day of saltwater fly fishing they ever had. We had over a hundred tuna tagged for the day and at least as many released.



Jason with a tuna on the fly rod.



Tom with a fly rod tuna.

As evening came, Justin anchored up the boat on the ridge setting us up for yellowtail at night.

I was just getting up at 3:20 am Saturday morning when Kenny came to tell me that they were biting full speed. Every drop produced a yellowtail. They bit dropper loops with sardines for bait or the yo yo jig. Great fishing! Captain Fleck woke the rest of the passengers so they could catch their limit as well. Easy pickings on 20 lb. yellows.



We had a visit from a whale shark - a very large one. Jason decided to go in the water to photograph him and took my camera to do the job. We only wish we had a person in the water for perspective. Notice the yellowtail around.




Whale Shark.

We caught 97 yellowtail before Justin moved offshore to look for kelps.

Tim with a nice jig fish yellowtail.

Tim and Kenny on the bow.

Captain Justin looking for kelps.

Late afternoon we hit one kelp for 13 dorado. A voracious 30 lb. dorado inhaled my bait and Kenny’s at the same time. We fought the fish side by side then sent the bull to the galley for Chef Jason to turn into Ceviche.


Our voracious dorado.

Joe with a nice dorado.

81 year old Jack with a nice dodo.

Sunday morning we awoke with Alijos Rocks on the horizon. What a sight.

Alijos Rocks.

After trolling around an hour for wahoo without success, Justin anchored the Excel and put out the Yummie Flyer on a helium balloon. First up – Ken Cirks followed by me then Tim Turis. All three of us hooked and landed nice 70 lb. class yellowfin tuna. The next two fish hooked on the flyer were fought by Ralph and Jack but were lost when the brown sharks arrived. There were many, many sharks making it impossible to fish tuna or anything in the stern of the boat.


Kenny's Alijos Rocks Yellowfin.


Mike gaffing my fish.

Tim pulling on his tuna.

Tim's Yellowfin.

Jim's Wahoo.

One of Kenny's Wahoo.

Ralph with a nice wahoo.

Don with a giant wahoo caught on the troll.

One of Jason's dinner creations.

I fished the bow and for a while we were able to hook wahoo until the sharks moved to the bow. We managed 35 wahoo before taking off back to the ridge.

Monday was Game Day. Jason decorated the galley with Chargers banners and baked a special cake to celebrate the anticipated Charger’s win.

The morning found us back on the Uncle Sam Bank fishing for yellowfin. We caught 20 before it was time to head for home.

We broke down gear, napped or watched movies for the rest of the day. Jason put out brats, hot dogs, chili and Ceviche for the tailgate party. Good times were had by all.


Tail Gate Party!

Ralph waiting for the trolling jigs to go off.

One of our sunrises.

Crew with Brownie & Ice Cream Dinners.

The great sushi spread created by Chef Jason.

Tuesday morning we awoke to rougher weather. Most everyone spent the day catching up on sleep. We were traveling slower than hoped so our ETA Wednesday morning was 7:15. Justin gave the “dock arrival” speech and Tim recapped the trip and thanked everyone for coming on the charter. With so many friends on this trip, saying “goodbye” was difficult for all.

Boat Limits of Albacore!!

We departed the evening of August 22nd on our annual Los Angeles Rod and Reel Club 1.5 day trip aboard the Pacific Dawn. Spirits were high as the 16 club members boarded, signed in and set up tackle for the following day’s fishing. Captain Pat Cavanaugh informed us that we were heading to an area of big albacore that popped up down around 85 miles. Second Captain, Dustin, took the night driving shift. Opie and Jordan were on deck this trip.

We traveled all night in flat calm seas. I was up early playing solitaire when Whitney started breakfast. She managed to wake the passengers by funneling the smell of coffee and fresh cooked bacon into the bunk rooms. Eggs to order for breakfast were being served just when the boat took a left turn. Pat got word that the fish were on a temperature break 20 miles closer than our destination.

We got into the area just after breakfast and picked off a few albacore before we found a school of bluefin and albacore. This school stayed with us for 3.5 hours and produced 30 bluefin from 30 to 60 lbs. Jim Carlisle caught the 60 lb. bluefin on 50 lb. spooled on a Trinidad. I caught 3 of the 40 lb. bluefin one of which I sent to the galley.

Jim's JP Bluefin

We had drifted several miles so Pat moved the boat back up to our starting point where the bulk of the Sportfishing fleet was working the area. Before we got there, we hit a kelp for 20 big Dorado. Pat drove away from the biting Dorado not wanting to waste precious time while the albacore were still biting. When we got back to the area, we found a school of biting albacore. We quickly finished filling the boat. The hold was full and we had full boat limits of 5 albacore per person (including crew). Pat called it a trip early and said dinner would be served at 6:30 pm.

A short crew fish-off took place while the passengers broke down gear and poured cocktails.

The seas were flat calm and the weather was balmy – perfect to drift in for dinner. Whitney made everyone a delicious seared bluefin dinner while the crew started the fish filleting task. Once dinner was finished, I went to bed.

Whitney preparing bluefin

The crew finished filleting 105 albacore, 30 bluefin, 5 yellowfin, and 20 Dorado at 12:30 p.m. – a long night for the crew.

We pulled into dock at 6 am the next morning. We paid tabs before unloading gear and fish. Jim and I had Fisherman’s Landing Canning bag and seal our bluefin fillets. Good quality bags, vacuum sealed fish that keeps for months frozen. We were on the road early and I was home by 8:30 am.

This was a perfect trip with quality fish that left us all with a big job when we got home. I canned 4 cases of albacore then smoked all the albacore and bluefin bellies and canned those (3 cases). Two days work but had bluefin sashimi to look forward to each night.

Canned Albacore

Bellies Smoking

Smoked Tuna Bellies

Searcher Fun!

Twenty-Seven anglers departed on the annual Braid Products 4-Day trip aboard the Searcher. Art Taylor was at the helm supported by crew members Kevin, Kenny, Aaron, Cole, and Andrew. Charles anchored the galley. I handed out Braid t-shirts and jigs when Celia checked the passengers in. Art rushed out to the bait receiver and loaded bait while the last two anglers were shuttled out by skiff. Art was in a hurry and the “G” word was being whispered as our destination. Shortly after leaving the point, we heard the engines pull back and I knew our destination had changed and we would not be waking up at Guadalupe Island.

Captain Taylor informed us that the fleet had good fishing on big albacore and bluefin tuna just 90 miles from Point Loma. Instead of racing to Guadalupe Island, we would take our time traveling and wake up in the albacore/bluefin zone the next morning.

We spent the afternoon with a safety and tackle seminar and rigging gear. I helped passengers with line connections and knot tying lessons. Energy was high with the excitement higher. Several passengers had never been on a trip longer than two days.

I thought I would be alone when I got up the next morning at 3:30 a.m. Not so! At least 5 others were already on deck. What an anxious group. Art had told us we wouldn’t begin fishing until daybreak which was around 5:30 a.m.

Water temps were 68 degrees with overcast skies and we had 15 knots of wind to start the day. We trolled around for a couple hours before Art announced that we were coming upon a breezer so pull the trolling jigs in. As we got closer we heard Art say “Oh my goodness, this is a really big school of bluefin! Get a bait in the water now!” Needless to say, we did. This school stayed with us for three and a half hours during which time we landed 58 bluefin and lost our share as well. These tuna were all 40 to 55 lbs. each. My first fish went to the Galley and was large enough to make a seared Ahi dinner for everyone plus a tuna melt lunch the next day for everyone.

Roy with a Bluefin Tuna on the Slammer Jig

I fished 30 lb. Berkley Big Game mono with Berkley 30 lb. Aqua Blue fluorocarbon and a Mustad 92677 ringed hook in 1/0 size. This was a perfect combination for me. The other successful set-up was the small slammer jigs with treble hooks. Several passengers were begging for more jigs when someone cut them off.

When the bite finally stopped, there were three seiners in the area along with two helicopters and one spotter plane. Sad to see and of course the bluefin went down and weren’t seen the next few days. Captain Taylor informed us we were on a course for Guadalupe Island and would be there in the morning.



We awoke to flat calm seas and the dim outline of that mysterious island that attracts great white sharks to feast on the trophy yellowtail and yellowfin tuna around the island. The American Angler and the Q105 were already anchored at the South end and the Intrepid was searching for fish further south. Art said “no trolling” as we were looking for the black porpoise to fish the tuna they hold. We fished the porpoise all day and caught two big yellowtail and 32 big yellowfin tuna at the island before heading back off shore. The yellowfin were 50 to 60 lbs. each and the yellowtail were 32 pounds each. I had one of the yellowtail and five of the yellowfin all caught on flylined sardines. One of my yellowfin was caught on the new Mustad circle hooks I was testing.


Guadalupe Island

Bluefin Belly Sashimi at snack time

Yellowfin Tuna on new Mustad Circle Hook

Yellowtail on Braid Slammer Jig

Back off shore for our last day. This was the best day of fishing for the group. We had over 200 mixed fish landed fishing kelp paddies. Most the fish came from one kelp. There were 20 lb. yellowfin tuna, Dorado and yellowtail. I had planned to release all my fish this day but Art suggested I donate the fish to the anglers that were having a tuff trip instead – which I was happy to do. We ended the trip with a flourish and everyone had plenty of fish to take home.

Mola Mola

Last Night's Dinner

Jackpot fish from the trip were the yellowfin from Guadalupe Island weighing in at 55, 58 and 60 lbs. Tim took first place. I think we are all looking forward to next year’s trip.

Jackpot Winners

Braid 3.5 day trip on the Islander

Davis Choate and I shared Chartermaster duties on this year’s Islander trip. It was great to fish with David again. I arrived early afternoon and David was already at the landing. We put the tackle giveaways on board. We opened the box and checked out what we would be handing out - each angler got some Braid tackle, the new hand wipes and a T shirt.

We had a very light load, only 14 of us. We departed around 8:30 p.m. Shane came down and gave the safety and tackle seminar during the bait loading. Since we have 3 full days to fish, he stated we would be trying an area out west on the 1st day, looking for albies working with the Vagabond.

The Islander is a nice older wood boat, comfortable galley, good showers, only two heads but never a long wait on this trip. The owners, Shane Slaughter and John Coniff do a great job operating and maintaining the boat. They have an ice machine, cups, and a soda fountain so sodas are included in the price. Rick and Gringo handled the galley and prepared great meals, including morning and afternoon snacks.

Monday morning I was up before gray light. Shortly after, the crew set out some trolling rods. It didn't take long before Shane ordered a chum circle, so our journey out west seemed like it might work out. We saw fish, but most of it wouldn't react. It was a long day, fair weather, looked at lots of spots but only 4 albacore to show for our efforts.

I landed the first fish and donated the albacore to the galley so we had albacore enchiladas for dinner. The chef, Rick, used to own and operate eight Mexican restaurants in Arizona so he knows how to fix a nice Mexican meal.

Albacore filets ready to star in Rick's enchiladas

Ken pulling on another fish - he was on fire!

Tuesday found us fishing kelps southeast of Monday’s fishing area. We awoke to bluefin under the boat, but only one bit, so we went trolling and searching for kelps. We got on a bluefin breezer early thanks to Greg up on the roof. Greg, or Killer (as Shane calls him), John and Jack are good crew members, always willing to help, always looking for kelps and fish. The bluefin showed better than they bit, fish were on the smaller side but I was lucky and landed one about 35 pounds.

We stayed busy throughout the day on kelps. Each time we would drift away from the kelps, the bluefin would get on us. So from time to time we picked a few bluefin. David got one about 43 lbs. and I followed up with a 42 pounder. Neither one of us was in the jackpot though being Chartermasters. What a variety we caught this day, catching bluefin tuna, albacore, dorado and yellowtail. The majority of the bluefin were smaller grade, but all other fish were nice sized. The albacore were 20-28 lbs., dodos 12-18 lbs., and yellows 14-25lbs. with the largest going 37 pounds!

Curtis and me with our Bluefin Tunas

Gaffing a yellowtail

The smallest of the kelp paddy yellowtail

Fish ready to be carved up

The Filleting process

Wednesday morning, we awoke with more bluefin around the boat but no biters today. We pulled the sea anchor and proceeded to another great variety filled day of yellowtail, bluefin, albacore and dorado. Harry got the 37 pound yellow, and he also landed a 44 pound bluefin to take the JP.

One of the big kelps holding fish

Great group of anglers, very pleasant to spend a trip with, and most said they will return next year. Some of these guys have made this trip 9 years running. Shane is a pleasure to fish with, as is John Coniff. I sure hope Dennis asks David and me to chartermaster this trip next year as well - we had a blast.

Five Days of Catching!

We departed on the Braid 5-day aboard the Excel July 17th with the fish down and predictions of 4 days of rough weather. This was music to my ears. Why? Because every time we leave dock with the fish biting in calm seas, things just have to change and they do. The reverse is true as well.

Justin Fleck skippered the Excel assisted by Mike Ramirez. Jason Fleck skippered the Galley assisted by Jim and on deck were Derrick, Rudy, Joel (another Fleck brother) and Mike’s nephew, Victor, on his first (and perhaps last) trip. Victor is 13 and learned that Uncle Mike’s job is more work than fun.

After loading up with gigantic sardines (nothing small in the receivers) we headed southwest towards the albacore grounds. The required safety seminar covered the basics and Derrick’s tackle seminar gave us the recommended set ups. Justin said we would be on the fishing grounds at daybreak.

We awoke to 20 knot winds and rough seas with 68 degree waters. Trollers put out their jigs at 5:30 a.m. Being on the first trolling team, I was up early. We got a jig strike fairly soon. My jig wasn’t bit but I did get a bait fish on the first stop which went to the galley (as did my second fish). We had stops for 1 to 6 fish all day long ending with 78 albacore for 21 anglers. When my trolling rotation came up again, I was trolling with Joe Simmons and Pat Gallagher. Joe has been nicknamed “Black Cloud.” I learned why. We trolled for an hour and a half until Justin fired us and brought up another trolling team. The next team lasted 90 seconds before getting bit.

Joe Simmons, Pat Gallagher and me - Black Cloud Trolling Team

The weather forecast was revised and winds were predicted to decrease to 10 knots or less. Justin decided to go exploring to a new area with a defined temperature break. The next morning we passed the north end of Guadalupe Island (the fleet doesn’t have permits yet to fish the island) looking for kelps and breaking fish. Late afternoon we found scattered schools of 40 to 50 lb. bluefin in 68 degree water. The winds had backed off to less than 10 knots. Jason caught a bluefin and needed another for sushi. I managed 4 bluefin for the day and gave one to the galley for sushi. We picked up 24 bluefin for the day.

Waiting for the troll jigs to sing.

The squid were all around the boat after dinner so a few of us had fun catching them. Justin, Jason, and Joel were all out fishing for squid along with Pat Gallagher, Joe Ludlow and me. They were right on the surface and catching was easy. We filled the handwells, one bait tank and a quarter of the kill box before calling it a night.

The next morning Derrick and I were soaking a squid before daybreak. A ball of miniature bait (no longer than 2 inches) surrounded the stern of the boat. As we watched, they fired off flashes of light like fireflies. It was an incredible light show. Justin said they are called “noseeums” because you “no see them” during the daylight hours. I wish I had thought to take a video.

Justin called in a couple other boats to help us locate the fish in the new area. This worked out great as the Royal Star and Indy found fat albacore 15 miles from where we started the morning. By 1:30 in the afternoon, we only had 3 bluefin so we joined the Star and Indy. We ended the day with 97 albacore caught on stops for 1 to 25 fish. Justin said we could fish this area again tomorrow. We would have to leave by 1 p.m. for home though.

Kill Box filled with Albacore

Joe Simmons on a fish

Me pulling on an albacore


Rudy holding Dennis Skinner's Albacore with a thumbs up by Mike

My roommate, Joe Ludlow with a nice albie

Capt. Fleck holding Pat Gallagher's bluefin tuna

Ryan's Bluefin Miles with his bluefin

Janet Gorden with a nice bluefin. Robert Zane with his JP fish.

Jason holding one of my bluefin tunas

Joel Fleck holding Jason's bluefin

Second Captain Mike filleting a fish for sushi

Jason and Jim's sushi spread

Everyone's hooked up!

Another fish for me

At daybreak, we began trolling and almost immediately we stopped on a sonar mark of biting bluefin. Two hours later, we had boated 95 bluefin 30 to 60 lbs. It was the best bluefin bite I have seen in over 8 years. You could cast a bait off the port stern and get an instant bite. I fished 30 lb. Berkley Big Game with a 3 foot piece of 30 lb. Berkley Aqua Blue Fluorocarbon. I had better luck on the 30 lb. Aqua fluorocarbon than I did on 25 lb. clear. I caught 7 bluefin and had another 4 cut off by anglers not following their lines. After the bluefin quit biting, we had a few troll stops for another 25 albacore (I had 3 of these trolling a black and purple Braid Little Speedy). What a great way to end the trip. We were 180 miles from Pt. Loma traveling home in flat calm seas.

Albacore on the Braid Little Speedy

Mike's nephew, Victor, hard at work

Our Captain enjoying the bite

Janet Bailey with another albacore

Jackpot honors went to Robert Zane with a 42.4 lb. bluefin, Miles Yamaguchi with a 41.2 lb. bluefin and Lyle Burkhart with a 40.8 lb. bluefin tuna.

Robert Zane, Miles Yamaguchi and Lyle Burkhart