Braid 8-Day 2011

Early June 27th we boarded the Excel anxious to reach the rumored bluefin grounds. We loaded bait and cruised past the point at 10:30 am heading towards an area 240 miles south under the helm of Justin Fleck with Mike Ramirez as second. Jake Phillips was in charge of the Galley with Vince Otani assisting. Brandon, Derrick, Bundy, Kevin and Little Jimmy rounded out the crew.

Tuesday morning found us searching for the previously biting bluefin only to be disappointed. There were fish around but none interested in feeding. Justin kept the boat pointed south with Alijos Rocks as the destination. The rocks had been the promised land kicking out big yellowtail and yellowfin tuna up to 100 lbs. for other boats in the fleet. We would be there in the morning.

We slid into the area just as the RP was leaving. Two other boats would leave in another day or so. With the bluefin still suffering from lockjaw, the decision was made to spend our trip here. The water was 65 degrees with a screaming current - a current so strong that all the lines ended up in the same place a hundred yards behind the boat. The live sardines continued to tangle lines resulting in massive spectra tangles involving multiple anglers at the same time. If an angler was lucky enough to hook a fish, it had to be threaded through the tangles. Unfortunately, this situation never changed for the four days we spent at the rocks.

Yellowtail were plentiful (for most the passengers - me excluded) and ranged from 20 to 50 lbs. They preferred a live bait on a 3/0 J-hook, 40 pound fluorocarbon with 1.5 ounce sliding sinker. There were a couple jig fish and dropper loop but they were few and far between. The star angler was Roland Reesby who, after reaching his limit, single handedly hooked and handed enough fish to push a dozen anglers up to their limits of yellowtail.

Yellowfin tuna were finicky. Previous to our arrival, squid was the bait of choice so we made squid the first night. The next day, the fish preferred sardines or nothing at all. We made it through a full kite rotation which produced most of the tuna and Roland's jackpot fish. A couple tuna were hooked on flylined sardines but most were kite fish.

 

As the days passed, the water cooled off and so did the bite. Rough seas were predicted so Justin made the decision to move up the line towards Cedros. A revised weather forecast had the weather smoothing out after midnight so a decision was made to visit the bluefin grounds again. After spending an entire day (on calm seas) searching for biting fish, we headed towards Jeronimo with one 12 lb. bluefin in the hold that was caught on a trolling feather.

We finished the trip at Jeronimo catching Vermillion Rock Fish (Reds) and ling cod. We had near limits for all passengers before calling it a trip.

This was one of the slowest trips I've ever seen and I wasn't the only angler to feel this way. Only a few people caught a tuna which is usually abundant on this trip. There were a couple of standout catches - Roland had one and the Bailey's (Janet and Gordon), Steve and Kathy did as well. We all came home with fish, just not the tuna catch we have been spoiled with catching in previous years. There's always next year.

Jackpot winners were Roland Reesby with a 105.6 lb. yellowfin tuna.  Second was Curt Wiesenhutter with a 96.3 and Roger Verduyn with a 92.9 lb. tuna.