American Angler Tackle Buster Trip!

I left November 10th on the American Angler expecting to head directly to Guadalupe Island.  Captain Ray took us to check-in at Ensenada then headed back towards the Sixty Mile Bank where the yellowfin and bluefin have been biting.  As it turned out, this was a great decision on his part.

Ray's crew included Rocko, Austin, Patrick, Josh (Galley Chef) assisted by Nick.  I always enjoy trips on the American Angler.  The entire American Angler family makes each passenger feel that they are their favorite.

There were 22 other anglers on this trip and all but 3 were new to the boat.  Some had never done a long range trip and a few had never caught a tuna.

We spent 3 days fishing the yellowfin and bluefin before heading to Guadalupe Island for a couple days fishing trophy yellows and yellowfin tuna.  How was our fishing?  There were huge successes and big failures.  There were more tackle failures on this trip than I've seen before.

The yellowfin tuna were in the 30 pound range and required fishing with a short 30 pound fluorocarbon leader tied to spectra.  The bluefin were 50 to 60 pounds and wouldn't bite line heavier than 40 pound.  Bigger bluefin were in the mix which accounted for some heavy heartbreaks.  We managed to land 262 yellowfin tuna and 48 bluefin tuna in 3 days which was about 20 percent of what we hooked. I sent a couple fish to the galley and kept 2 bluefin and 10 yellowfin.

The heartbreaks primarily came when someone hooked a big bluefin on 30 or 40 pound line and would lose the fish at color after an hour battle either to pulled hooks or spectra breaks.  In my case, I had a kite fish I fought on 200 pound leader tied directly to 130 pound spectra break my spectra at color after 1 hour and 20 minutes.   Ray says the fish was well over 300 pounds and probably over 350.  It was the heaviest fish I've fought.  I may not have landed the fish, but another passenger captured a video of the fish underwater for me. 

My Fish Lost at Color!

After that, I grabbed my 80 pound outfit and dropped a sardine down 300 feet on a sinker rig and got bit again.  This time the fish bit through the line.  It felt like another big fish. Humbling!  If something could go wrong it did.

We spent the next two days at Guadalupe Island.  The wind was howling.  We fished the weather side and picked up 3 yellowfin in the 125 pound range the first day,  These fish were on the big black porpoise.  Ray handed me another kite fish hooked on the boat gear.  It popped off after 5 minutes when it either bit off both hooks on a double trouble sardine leader or was eaten by a shark.  We also landed 3 yellowtail in the 35 pound range.  We lost many fish as well. All these fish were stronger than your average yellowtail and yellowfin tuna.  We could only guess it's because they need to out swim the Great Whites. 

Our last day of fishing, we ended up doing a 360 tour of the island looking for biting fish.  We picked up 13 yellowtail during the day. Many more were lost to the rocky landscape below.  I had a big yellowtail drag my spectra across the rocks and break free taking my jig with him.

It was time to call it a trip and Ray said we have 15 more minutes of day light so make the most of it.  So we did.  It was a spectacular sundowner.  The tuna wanted to bite and we all hooked up then two Great Whites joined the party.  Out of 15 to 20 fish hooked, 6 were landed.  At one point a big white breached on the surface and grabbed another tuna.  It was heartbreak but also exciting to see these magnificent creatures.

We had good weather for almost the entire trip and the fishing was great even if the catching wasn't.  I paid a lot of dues this trip.  I have had spectacular fishing all year so it was my turn. Unfortunately, my hands have made it more difficult to fish.  My arthritis keeps me from being able to grip my rod and reel very well in order to cast and baiting a hook is very difficult.  One hand can't hold the bait properly and the other can't hold the hook properly to bait the hook.  I fear my fishing days are numbered.