Outrider Sportfishing May 20 to 22, 2018

Cathy Needleman invited Jim, Jeff and me to join her on her fishing charter aboard the Outrider.  Jeff had to work but Jim and I met Cathy at 22nd Landing to board the boat Sunday evening around 8:30 pm.  Our Captain and boat owner, Tucker, informed us that we would head to Catalina Island to try for white seabass and yellowtail.  Tucker's crew included Drew (second), Cody and Rafael in the Galley.  I headed to my bunk and heard the boat depart around 11 pm.

I got up Monday morning around 5:30 am after a very restless night.  Jim and Cathy were already fishing.  I had my cereal and coffee then joined them.  Tucker worked all around the island all day looking for biting fish.  Our weather was cold, windy and less than enjoyable.  We picked at a few small fish (calicos, sheepshead, whitefish) until late afternoon.

Around 3:30 pm, I hooked what I thought was a calico bass then it pulled towards the bow.  The fish got close to the anchor line then went straight away from the boat.  I thought it might be another black seabass when it turned around and came back close to the boat.  Tucker was right there and saw it was a white seabass and stuck it before it could take another run. 

Captain Tucker holding my Seabass

Thanks to Tucker's relentless work, I was able to land a 25 pound seabass just 8 weeks after having knee replacement surgery.  I am very thankful for Cathy's incredible generosity and the hard work of Tucker and his crew.  Obviously this made my trip.

We tried a couple more spots before Cathy suggested we all go to Avalon and have dinner at the Lobster Trap.  Dinner in town was just what we all needed after a long day of searching and fishing.

Tucker decided we would try San Clemente Island Tuesday.  We went to bed while the boat made a slow trek to Clemente.  Tuesday proved to be a tough fishing day as well.  Weather was still cool and misty but seas were calmer.  Mid morning the sun came out which was nice.  Unfortunately, it disappeared when we headed back towards dock. The only action we saw was a couple of legal calicos which we released. 

On the way back, Cody filleted the seabass.  Cathy was planning to fish with Brandon Wednesday and Thursday so she didn't want to take any fish home so Jim and I split it.

At the dock, crew helped us get our gear off the boat and to our cars.  First class service all the way around.  Raf did a great job with the food as well.  He made breakfast burritos or just eggs (for me), chicken salad, fried rice, steaks, pulled pork and lots of snacks - fruit, chips, hummus etc. 

I am very thankful my first trip back out was fishing with Jim and Cathy on the Outrider with Tucker and his crew.