American Angler Dream Trip

I arrived at Pt. Loma Sportfishing to board the American Angler (http://www.americananglersportfishing.com/fishing_reports.htm) at 5 a.m. on Wednesday, January 18th and found that I was number 15 in line out of 19 passengers. Some had been in line since before 2 a.m. in order to get a favorable tackle box spot. We each made our way up to Lori's office to make our final trip payment and receive our boarding pass. What a professional operation. Not only did we receive a boarding pass, but that pass was also a name badge and contained our Stateroom Number and our Fish Tag Number!

Boarding was well organized with crew members doing all the heavy lifting and assisting us in moving gear and clothing to our staterooms. For this trip, Brian Kiyohara was our Captain and we had a special guest appearance by Shawn Steward. Other crew members included Ray and Taro with Greg and Paul controlling the Galley (and they did a very nice job of it too).

Our Charter Master was Ben Frazier of Avet Reels. Ben brought jigs, bait makers and t-shirts for everyone. He also raffled off a couple reels as well as providing reels for the Cribbage Tournament winner and for the jackpot fish caught on the trip.

We settled in for the four days travel required to reach the Clarion Island Buffer zone, our fishing destination. The weather and seas were both cold and rough as we started our travels. The weather gradually warmed the further south we went but the seas remained confused. Along the way fishing tackle was assembled and most the guys enjoyed a cribbage tournament while others read books or watched DVD's on their personal DVD players.

We were thrilled to awake Sunday morning with the island on the horizon. Winds were still blowing 15 knots but the weather had warmed up considerably. Brian had us put out the trolling jigs while he determined where he wanted to anchor up for our best opportunity to catch big tuna. 47 wahoo hit the deck before the boat was anchored. Although most were small, more like large barracuda, we were pleased with our catch.

Ben caught the first and only cow this day - a nice 225 pound yellowfin tuna.

Monday found us at the rail early and it really paid off. 6 cows hit the deck including my 286 pound personal best tuna. But the real story of the day was Dynamo Dan's tuna that took a back-up rig then died and sank to the bottom of the ocean before noon.

Brian had a crew member hold Dan's rod all day to ensure the line didn't snap until we finished the fishing day and the anchor could be pulled to try to retrieve the line and Dan's rod and reel. After considerable winding of line onto the back-up rig, Dan's rod and reel finally surfaced. Another 600 yards remained to be wound back on Dan's reel before the line got heavy and Dan started to raise the dead tuna from the depths. What a surprise when the fish actually surfaced and weighed 312 pounds on the boat's scale. Even more surprising, this was Dan's first long range trip!

Tuesday dawned with 20 knots winds which made fishing less enjoyable. We began releasing fish under 200 lbs. as we were trophy hunting now. Randal landed a 255 that also required a back-up rig to subdue the fish.

Wednesday the winds finally began to subside. Glenn landed two cows, Ben caught another cow and Gaylan cut off a 200 pounder. I caught a 62 pound wahoo on a chunk baited on a 9/0 circle hook using 130# monofilament. What a beautiful fish.

As the days passed, the cows kept hitting the deck. Fishing was good, very good and not just for us. The Royal Star, Red Rooster III, and Excel were all within a quarter mile of each other and us. They were all having success landing cow tuna over 200 pounds with a couple 300 pounders being caught as well.

Just before dinner each night, Brian would have a fireside chat with us informing us of his decisions and reasons for the moves he made. He also told us the secrets of success for the lucky anglers that day and the scores made by the other boats.

I fished with a 50 foot top shot of 130# Berkley Big Game monofilament, topped with a 3 foot 130# Berkley fluorocarbon leader to either a Mustad 8/0 39942 circle hook or a Mustad 10/0 7691 hook. There was no need to drop down to lighter line as the fish bit the 130# just fine. I only used about a dozen sardines the entire trip as they usually caught a bird or a needle fish which were both a nuisance. I divided my time between fishing with salamis and chunks having equal success with both. My 286# tuna was on a salami and I had a 190# tuna that came on a chunk.

Saturday, our seventh and last full day of fishing, had another surprise in store for us. Ralph Mickkelsen caught his sixth 300 pounder, a 306 pound yellowfin hooked on the kite with a salami.

Brian let us fish a couple hours Sunday morning before calling it a trip. A couple more 200 pounders were caught then the last fish of the trip hit the deck at 320 pounds! Dennis Saylors joined the 300 pound club. What a way to finish the trip - 24 tuna over 200 pounds and 3 over 300 pounds.

We had calm seas for the first three days travel towards home before the last day got rough. We arrived at 6 am Thursday morning to crowds anxious to see our beautiful catch. And beautiful it was.

Fisherman’s Processing handled my fish for me and what an excellent job they did too.  I took home some delicious tuna and wahoo.  Seared ahi, sashimi and sushi followed.