Dorado on the Striper!

I got an invite to fish with Tim and Karen Boyer on their Striper yesterday and I jumped at the chance.  Kayak Mike joined us too.  We met up at 6 am and found the bait had rolled during the night so we had to line up at the receiver to buy more.  Fortunately the line was nothing like last week.

We headed out of Dana Point Harbor around 6:30 am and tried for mackerel just outside the harbor.  We managed 2 mackerel and 1 bonito.  They just were not biting so we headed south, southwest trolling all the way.

An hour or so out, we encountered a long straight line of common dolphins puddling and playing.  I thought there must be a temperature break they were along but the meter only showed a .5 degree difference.  We spent some time in the area but never metered anything so we traveled on searching for kelps or breaking fish. 

Kelps were sparse - just a scrap here and there with nothing around.  During our journey we were treated to a whale show.  We saw several whales including one minke whale and a blue whale.  

We kept going and got into some beautiful 73 degree blue water off Oceanside.  We had another Striper call us in to their small paddy to let us share their good luck.  They had a couple dorado and a couple yellowfin tuna.  Unfortunately, that was all there was so we headed off to find our own kelp.

We did find our own kelp!  A large kelp with a couple seagulls sitting on it.  Tim shut down the boat and as we drifted dorado came rushing the boat.  Karen and I got picked up but the dorado just mouthed the bait and we couldn't get the hook in them.  We kept at it trying different things.  I put a 3 ounce torpedo sinker on and drifted a sardine out.  After a long soak, a 13.5 lb. dorado took the bait - hook and all.  Finally we had a fish on the boat and dinner for all.

As we continued to fish, a Luhrs Yacht Named "Lil Luck" out of Oceanside drove their boat right over our lines cutting us off from our kelp and nearly hitting us in the process.  The captain never asked if we would share the kelp - he just assumed it was his for the taking.  It was a total lack of sportsmanship and an ugly display of greed.  It was all over then so we headed home.

We had been fishing off Oceanside so the ride home took an hour or so but it was a pleasant trip.  The weather had been beautiful the entire day and we were all thankful we had a fish to take home and share for dinner.

We unloaded the boat then I filleted the dorado while Tim and Mike cleaned the boat.  I think I got the best of the deal. 

Michelle made sure we had our Red Solo Cup of cheer to help with the tasks at hand.  Thanks again Tim for the opportunity to fish with you and good luck next week in Alasla.

Kayak Dream come True!

Wednesday morning Tim, Jack, Wayne, Mike and I met at launched our kayaks from Dana Point Jet Ski and Kayak Center.  We got in a long line at the bait receiver at 8 a.m.  Jimmy Decker was in line next to us and his clients included Paul Varenchik, a fellow Los Angeles Rod and Reel Club member.  Small world.

An hour later Jack and I got our bait, sardines.  The others decided to go outside the harbor and jig for mackerel.  We all headed straight out from the harbor around 9 a.m.  I thought we were going out to the barber poles to fish and look for kelps and bird schools.  Wrong!  Oh we checked out the kelps along the way but they were dry.  When the bottom dropped below 250 feet, my fish finder was useless.

Tim and Jack kept going and going.  Finally Wayne told me that Tim had some coordinates he was heading for and we were heading much further.  After 2 hours of peddling we were over 5 miles off shore.  A short distance north of us was a gathering of more than 30 boats, private and sport boats.  Even the Sum Fun out of Dana Point Harbor was here.

We saw a man in a yellow shirt hooked up pulling on a tuna.  I watched him for 30 minutes then realized he didn't know what he was doing.  I flylined a sardine and Wayne and Tim were fishing a mackerel.  We knew we were in the right place because we could hear when someone on the sport boat hooked up.

We kept changing baits and working the area.  I was fishing a Talica 10II with 30# Berkley mono and a 3 foot piece of 30# Berkley Fluorocarbon with a #2 Mustad 92677 hook.  After fishing several nose hooked baits, I decided to butt hook a bait and send it down.  The bait raced straight down and was bit instantly.  The way the fish pulled, I knew I had hooked a tuna.  I thanked God for the bite and prayed that I land my fish.  I set my rod on my knee and put the reel in low and cranked occasionally adjusting my kayak so the fish stayed to my left.  10 to 12 minutes later, I sunk a gaff in a 28 lb. yellowfin tuna.  My prayer was answered - it was a dream come true.

I shared the rest of my sardines with Jack and Wayne but they didn't prove useful.  Around 1:30 p.m. we headed towards the landing.  Tim was trolling a mackerel and got bit by an 18 lb. yellowfin tuna.  

Tim put his fish head first in the bait tank.  Mine was too large for that.  Jack and Tim were concerned that a sea lion or shark might grab my tuna if I drug it in the water on the game clip so Jack helped my lay it across my bait tank.  Jack had a gunny sack that we put over the fish and I poured water on the fish several times during our 2 1/2 hour trip back to dock.

Even though Jack has a motor and could have been back at dock long before me, he stayed with me in case my knees gave out.  Thanks Jack!  Tim got back before us and had his crew ready to pull me and my kayak out of the water when I got back in. It was a good thing too because my legs were so tired I couldn't stand up on my own at first.  Michelle made sure my kayak and all my gear was brought up next to the shop and that I was handed a Red Solo Cup of cheer to celebrate.  Michelle is great!  She takes care of all customers as if they were here favorite!

My fish finder registered that I had traveled 15.5 miles.  Incredible considering one knee is artificial and the other needs replacing. 

I cleaned up my gear and kayak then filleted my fish and went home.  I didn't get home until 6:30 p.m.  It was my most exciting day on my kayak.  It's incredible that we these fish so close to Dana Point Harbor. 

Kayak Fishing 7-7-15

Jack, Wayne, Mike and I decided to fish the pipeline.  We picked up a load of big sardines before leaving the harbor.  It took half an hour or more to get there due to the southwest wind and choppy seas.  We fished dropper loops and sliding sinkers but with the fast drift, we were fishing the entire water column.

We fished hard but the fish just were not biting.  The wind increased the chop as the morning pressed on.  With no fish biting and rough seas, I decided to head to the beach to fish.  When I got there around 11 am, the beach was rough too and the wind just kept pushing me into the breakwater.  At that point, Mike and I went inside the harbor to fish for a while before calling it a day.  Another flat zero for me but I loved the time on the water and I got 5.5 miles of exercise.

Bluefin Hunt!

Met up with Tim, Jack, Mike and Eddy at Dana Point Harbor to go chasing bluefin tuna yesterday on Tim's Striper.  We picked up a mix of sardines and mackerel at the receiver and were out of the harbor by 6:30 am.  Tim pointed the boat west, southwest.  

Around 7:30, we found an area alive with birds and dolphin everywhere you looked. We decided to fish one of the many scraps of kelp in the area.  It wasn't long until Jack hooked into a fish on a flylined mackerel.  The fish pulled hard and ran straight out.  As Jack got the fish close to the boat, we could see it was a nice yellowtail.  Just then that fish spotted a kelp and raced into it.  Jack just drug the kelp to the boat and Eddy gaffed it and the kelp.  A 20 pound yellowtail on the boat!  Nice start to the day.

We were sure this was going to be a catching day.  We worked the area for another hour or so then decided to head south where bluefin were caught the day before.  We trolled and trolled and looked for kelps.  We worked all the way down to Oceanside and back to the original area we fished in the morning.  That area had changed.  Kelps, birds and dolphin were gone now.  Around 3 pm we called it a day and headed in.

Although we didn't catch anything else, it was a beautiful day on the water.  Calm seas with water temps from 68.4 to 72 degrees.  Mostly overcast skies but warm air temperatures.  A very nice day to be on the water.