Rail Time Fun!

I got the opportunity to join Jeff's Rail Time two-day charter departing May 8th.  Jeff, Jim, Steve, Miguel, Brian and I met at the Fish Camp for dinner at 4:30.  After a nice fish dinner, we drove a short block to Peter's Landing in Huntington Harbor to board the Rail Time.  Captain Gary and crew members Andy and Jake welcomed us as we loaded our gear, selected bunks and settled in for a bumpy ride to the island.

Around midnight I awoke to the bright lights on the squid boat.  The crew was loading live squid by passing a scoop net between boats in very rough waters.  Miracle workers, they were.  Gary tucked the boat into a calm cove and we slept until 4 a.m. when he revved the engines and pulled anchor to reposition down the backside of Catalina Island to fish for white seabass.

It was 6:30 a.m. before we got a bite.  Jeff landed a white seabass then hooked and handed a second one to Miguel for his first ever seabass.  We moved up and down the island in choppy seas all day.  During our travels, Steve caught two seabass and fed another one to the sea lion.  Jake caught a small seabass too.  Early afternoon, Gary put us on some yellowtail that were up on the surface.  Four nice ones were landed by Steve, Jeff, Brian and Miguel.

Captain Gary Adams

We had some good action on small calicos, barracuda, and spotfin croaker.  Gary moved us back to our starting point for the day and Jim caught a seabass and so did Brian.  As for me, I sucked all day.  I caught a baby seabass, barracuda, calico bass, a leopard shark and got spooled on what we believe was a black seabass.  Plenty of action but no keepers.

Day one ended with 7 white seabass, 4 yellowtail, lots of calicos and loads of fun.  

Andy kept us well fed with breakfast sandwiches, lunch hamburgers and a lasagna dinner.  Miguel brought a couple bottles of a nice Pinot Noir to share.  Exhaustion from rough seas, mellow from wine and full from dinner sent us all into a deep sleep for the night.

Day two began at 4 a.m. again but this time the seas were calm.  Just after daylight, I hooked a white seabass.  Steve landed a fish then Jim landed another one that was the big one until Miguel landed a 41 pounder.  What a beauty.  Finally, I landed my second seabass for the trip.  Gary took us from cove to cove all day in calm seas and sunny skies looking for some biting game fish.  Other than a few calicos, they weren't cooperating.  We called is a trip and returned to dock by 5:30. 

We unloaded gear, split up the fish and headed home.  Everyone got two white seabass, half a yellowtail, ribs and collars from seabass and yellowtail.  That's what I call a spectacular trip.  Rail Time trips are the best!