Fishing the Islander

July 30, 2006 at 9:00 p.m., both Dennis Braid and I boarded the Islander along with 20 other anglers for the second annual Braid Products Charter. The Islander (http://www.islandersportfishing.com/) is a beautiful 88 by 24 foot long-range vessel owned by Shane Slaughter and John Conniff. Shane ran our 3.5 day trip assisted by Carl, Matt, Alex, and Greg on deck and Paul and Brian in the Galley.

We left the bait receiver around 11:15 p.m. headed west 110 miles to just below the Cortez Bank. Captain Shane informed us that the Mexican Seiners had pushed the albacore up into U.S. waters where the seiners are not allowed to fish. With the seiners out of the picture, the long range fleet headed west. Shane gave a safety seminar and Dennis gave everyone a couple of jigs and discussed proper tackle techniques for the trip. Weather predictions were for 10 knots of wind and calm seas.

Trolling gear went out around 6:30 a.m. Monday morning. Winds were at 15 knots and building. A stop on a small kelp around 9 a.m. produced a couple dorado and 15 to 20 yellowtail. Trolling rotations changed every 30 minutes as Shane chased and circled on non-biting albacore schools. Just before sundown, we coaxed 21 albacore in the 20 pound range to bite. Dennis and I sent our small albacores to the galley for dinners. After dinner the crew put out the sea anchor and a few passengers had fun fishing for squid.

Tuesday morning the winds were blowing 20 knots and it was cool and overcast. The water temperature was 74.2 degrees. The seas were rough requiring one hand holding your rod and the other hand on a rail just to remain standing. The ocean was boiling with white caps as far as we could see making it difficult for the crew to spot albacore schools. Five albacore were snagged on troll early in the morning then nothing for hours. Around noon, Shane headed east, southeast looking for kelp paddies. The further south we went, the better the weather.

Now this may not sound like a fun trip at this point, however, catching fish isn’t the only thing that makes a trip fun. In slow fishing times, passengers shared fishing tips and practiced knots. Some anglers caught up on sleep, read books or played cards. Passengers also took the opportunity to obtain tips and advice from the legend himself, Dennis Braid. Fishing tales at the rail are always a part of the fun and the ones Dennis tells are no exception.

Chef Paul’s food was exceptional for a sport boat. Seasonings leaned towards spicy, Asian flavors. Fresh cut fruit and cereals were already out by 5:00 a.m. with cooked breakfasts served around 6:00 a.m. Paul baked fresh muffins or coffee cake for mid-morning snacks (something other sport boats have abandoned.) Afternoon snacks included hot wings, however, not the pre-packaged kind. Paul made his own sauce from a variety of fresh peppers and seasonings. Dinners included fresh baked bread every night (typical for most sport boats) and main courses of sautéed chicken breasts with fresh tomatilla sauce or flank steak with a mushroom Madeira sauce.

Wednesday dawned with calm seas and warmer weather. We were 126 miles south of Point Loma and 50 miles off shore from San Martine Island. Shane had taken us to an area untouched recently by sport boats and the area contained lots of kelps holding fish. The yellowtail and dorado varied in size from 5 to 30 pounds. There was plenty of action all day long providing fish for everyone’s freezer. Dennis tested the new Penn Torque reel on a kelp paddy yellowtail using 40 pound line. Great free spool right out of the box.




Shane called it a trip at dark and turned the engines up and headed north. We had 26 albacore, 153 yellowtail and 56 dorado in the hold with over 100 fish released during the trip. The Crystal Tuna went to Jerry from Arizona for releasing the most fish during the trip. Dennis gave everyone T-shirts after dinner and Shane informed us of the off loading procedures. ETA Thursday morning was 8:30 a.m.



Off loading of gear and fish went smoothly and everyone vowed to meet back next year on the third annual Braid Charter on the Islander.