Braid 4-Day on the Searcher 8/12 to 8/16

I don’t know how Art manages to make this a great trip year after year but he does. This year Owner/Captain Art Taylor ordered up four days of flat calm weather, put us on some biting tuna and delivered us to an all night bite on 30 to 40 pound yellowtail with a special appearance from Whitey.

We departed at noon last Tuesday on the annual Braid sponsored 4-Day trip on the Searcher with 27 passengers on-board. Passengers were pleased with the Slammer Jigs and T-shirts Dennis Braid sent for every passenger. Captain Taylor was at the helm assisted by loyal and capable crew members Kevin, Aaron, Kenny, Joe, Dustin and Galley Chef Chuck. It was a pleasure to have lunch served while the crew loaded bait. As we left the receivers with a nice load of cured sardines, Captain Art checked with the other boats in the code group. The fleet was fishing close to home so Art decided we would be fishing before sundown as the fish were only thirty miles from Point Loma. Most the boats had between 50 and 100 fish on board for the day. Art recommended we rig up our gear with 25 lb. line and 2/0 hooks.

We raced out to the tackle area on deck and worked quickly to get all our gear ready for the anticipated bite. If you haven’t been on the Searcher this year, you will be surprised at all the tackle space that’s available since the area was remodeled. There was plenty of room for all the tackle boxes. Around 6:30 the trolling jigs went out. Unfortunately for us, the fish had gone down by then. It’s been a morning bite so Captain Taylor said we would drift for the night and try to catch the morning bite.

We awoke to the sound of the engines starting as Art moved the boat to a position over a school of bluefin. The first bite was just at daybreak. Not a big fish but it was a bluefin. The school drifted with us for a couple hours as we picked away at fish that weighed 12 to 15 lbs. with an occasional larger yellowfin hitting the deck. After the bite slowed, I grabbed the little bass rod spooled with 12 lb. test that I had borrowed from John at the landing and threw out a sardine. Naturally it wasn’t one of the little bluefin that bit. It was a 23.8 lb. yellowfin that I had fun fighting using my thumbs for drags as the little reel just wasn’t made for tuna.

We pulled 25 bluefin and 9 yellowfin out of the school before they quit biting. We trolled around for another couple hours and picked up 3 baby albacore before Art said we were headed to Guadalupe Island – a 180 mile move. Art said to keep the trolling jigs out as we were still fishing - only now we were fishing kelps. The water was a deep blue and 71 degrees – perfect. Late in the day we found a large area of porpoise that produced another 5 yellowfin tuna. Just before sundown a nice kelp gave up 21 yellowtail and 7 dorado.

We arrived at the North end of the island at 9:30 the next morning. A quick check of the area then Captain Taylor put the anchor down close to pilot rock. The yellowtail boiled up and started biting right away. Flylining a sardine on 40 lb. was the ticket. These fish were all 25 to 40 lbs. with most over 30 lbs. The bite slowed after a couple hours so we looked around further north towards the windward side. We picked up a few slugs before moving back the Pilot Rock for the night. I decided to try my small Avet 2-speed reel spooled with 30 lb. line. It worked great and I landed a 33 lb. yellowtail on it. We caught a few big calico bass when the boat swung a little closer to the island kelp beds.

I handed off a couple fish to passengers that hadn't caught a fish yet - one to a young kid and the other to a gentleman from Alaska.

By sundown we had 90 of these big yellowtail and one 30 lb. yellowfin tuna for the day. Just after dinner, the crew caught and slabbed out some scad mackerel. Art said it was time to switch to the dropper loop with 16 ounces of weight. Everyone dropped a slab down and the fish began to bite. With 20 to 25 lines close together, massive tangles were inevitable. These home guard yellowtail were smart and managed to wrap themselves in multiple lines. The crew spent hours cutting lines and gear off the hooked fish requiring much rerigging to get a bait back in the water. Thirty more of these big fish were landed along with a 200 lb. black seabass (released) before the boat ran out of sinkers and everyone went to bed. Kevin told me that the white shark had made an appearance as well. Twenty-year old Janelle Ross (fishing with her parents and twin sister) caught and released the black seabass.

I had chosen to hit the bunk early so I got up early and found the deck empty. I still had sinkers in my tackle box. With the boat (and crewmember) to myself, I dropped a bait down on a 60 lb. dropper loop rig. As soon as my weight hit the bottom, I was bit. I managed 5 fish before most the other passengers awoke.

We switched to flylining baits at daybreak and that’s when whitey showed up looking for breakfast. As a yellowtail reached the surface close to the starboard gate, Whitey came out of the water parallel to the rail, dorsal fins high, mouth open and gulped down the yellowtail whole leaving us all stunned as he disappeared leaving a wake of churning water. With the crystal clear water, we were able to see him hanging below the boat waiting for us to bring in a fish for him to pick off. We all fed Whitey this morning, some of us more than others. I fed him 5 fish before we left for home around 9:30 a.m. In all, we caught 161 of these beautiful home guard yellows. Jackpot winners were Gary Holpuch of Golden Shores, AZ won first place for a 40.8-pound yellowtail, Greg Locke of San Diego tied with Ron Servis of Escondido for second place. Both men had 40-pound yellowtail.

My thanks to Art and his crew for another fun trip. I also want to thank Dennis Braid for sending me as his representative on this sponsored trip. Dennis was on the East Coast filming a show during which he caught a 629 lb. bluefin tuna.

Dennis Braid's 629 lb. Bluefin Tuna