BRAID FIVE-DAY TRIP ON THE SHOGUN

I had the privilege of being the Chartermaster and fishing with the 27 passengers on the first Braid sponsored 5-Day trip on the Shogun which departed Thursday, September 1, 2005 (http://www.braidproducts.com/). Our Captain, Norm Kagawa, along with crew members Bruce Smith, Mike King, Mark Gillette, and newcomer Sean, loaded the tanks with lively sardines at the receivers and cruised past Point Loma around 1:30 that afternoon. Norm gave the safety seminar and I welcomed the passengers on board as well then described the Release Contest and the prize to be awarded. Dennis has sent along a Crystal Cube with a yellowfin tuna etched inside to be given to the person releasing the most game fish (2 lb. yellowtail did not qualify). Passengers were given colored tags with their numbers on them to give to a crew member when a fish was released. The contest was strictly volunteer. After a dinner, I gave every passenger a T-shirt and Slammer Jig (courtesy of Dennis Braid), something the passengers were not expecting. Dennis sent hats and T-shirts for crew members too. I really enjoy giving away Braid products. It’s like being Santa Claus.

Norm had us put the jigs out around 6:30 Friday morning just as Bill and Paul were making last call for breakfast. We spent the day working our way towards Cedros Island fishing Kelp paddies. Slow fishing prevailed but was peeked by a 5-way marlin hook-up. Four of us were on 30 pound line and lost our fish shortly after hook-up. Tristan managed to bring his fish to the boat on 40 pound line after fighting the fish about 20 minutes. We picked up 5 small yellowfin tuna plus 2 Dorado for the day and released 1 striped marlin.

The engines were quieted around 1:30 in the morning when we anchored up at Cedros in the area known as the “bush”. I made it on deck about 3:30 that morning to find the boat infested with small back storm petrels. They were under tackle boxes, inside tackle bags, swimming in the bait tanks and all over the decks. It was impossible to walk without stepping on them. Most of the birds departed at daybreak but I found one two days later under one of my tackle boxes. Understandable behavior since the seagulls swooped in to eat them when the crew would throw them off the boat. At daybreak, a wide-open yellowtail bite commenced. By noon, we had over 75 yellowtail from 15 to 25 pounds plus a few nice calico bass. The slammer jigs proved dynamite on both the yellowtail and calicos for those employing them. Most the fish were caught on bait as the sardines ensured an immediate hook-up either fly-lined or on dropper-loop. Many of the passengers were new to jig style fishing. Norm moved the boat around and we picked up another 80 or so fish that afternoon. We lost at least double what we caught in addition to releasing 27 fish. At 4:00 p.m. the boat was on the way to Guadalupe Island.

Sunday morning dawned with the Shogun arriving at Cinder Dome cove at Guadalupe Island. Paradise cove was crowded since that was where the Royal Star had good fishing the day before. In all, there were 8 boats within sight fishing the middle lee of the island. 40 pound test line with fluorocarbon leader was the only set-up to get bit. Typical of this island, soaking a sardine at least 200 feet from the boat was required. We picked up 5 yellowfin from 35 to 68 pounds for the day. We lost two of the 70 pound class fish to whitey. One was taken whole (head and all), the other came back as a head and tail only. Those fish were hooked on single-speed reels by anglers not accustomed to fishing large tuna. I believe both fish could have been boated if the anglers were using two-speed reels using a Braid harness and the proper technique. I managed two of the five fish at the island that day and I straight cranked both fish to the boat in less than five minutes, one of which ended up being the big fish for the trip – 68.2 lbs. We finished the day fishing close to the island for another 6 yellowtail, calico bass and one pinto bass caught on a surface jig by crewmember. Sean.

Our last morning found the Shogun 190 miles from home, northeast of Guadalupe Island, fishing kelp paddies again. Working our way north all day, we had beautiful weather with a slight chop to the water from a 15 knot breeze. Most the kelps came up dry or produced 2 pound yellowtail that were a nuisance. At 1 p.m., Norm said we have one more kelp ahead then we have to call it a trip. The baits went out and the rat yellowtail swarmed again, then the yellowfin charged. They were not huge but these 15 pound fish were feisty, some racing on the surface producing rooster tails reminiscent of Wahoo. Thirty minutes later, the passengers had sufficient tuna to feed their families and we headed home.

Just prior to the Prime Rib dinner, Norm gave the off-loading instructions then we announced the winner of the release contest. 53 keepers were released, 6 of those by Radu Cozlovschi who received the Crystal Tuna.

We arrived at 6 a.m. the next morning to unload a happy and tired group of anglers racing to sign up for next year’s trip. Jackpot was weighted up with Ricky Sato of LA winning first place for a 36-pound yellowfin tuna, and third place for a 28.4-pound yellowtail. Jim Hansen of Oceanside was second, for a 33-pound yellowfin

For more information on this trip, check out Mark Gillette’s reports on the Shogun’s website for September 1 to 6, 2005: http://www.shogunsportfishing.com/news/index.php