Rail Time Escape

Needles chartered the Rail Time and invited Jeff, Jim, Brandon, Randy and me to join her.  We met at Peter’s Landing at 7:30 pm Sunday, September 6^th to board the boat.  Brett was our deckhand and Gary our Captain.

We departed around 8 pm and headed to the bait barge to pick up sardines.  After loading bait, we headed towards Catalina Island with the sun still in the sky behind a curtain of smoke from the wild fires in California. 

We set up our rods then I hit the bunk early.  I awoke sometime later to see Brett and Gary making flyers to use for the big bluefin the next day.  I went back to sleep and didn’t awake until the next morning when Gary started the coffee.  We were still traveling to the area on the back side of San Clements Island where the Pacific Dawn had landed 30 bluefin on Flat Falls the previous day.

Gary searched until long after daybreak before he found fish.  We set up on a couple schools  before finding one that wanted to bite.  Two rods with flylined live flying fish were deployed first then the live flyer under the helium balloon. 

The flylined baits got bit first.  Needles hooked one around 1:20 pm and Randy hooked another.  Randy landed his 90 pounder in less than an hour.  It took Needles 2 hours to land her 160# bluefin.  That fish was a mean one dragging her around the boat at least 25 times.

I hooked a fish on the helium balloon which turned out to be a very large hammerhead shark.  Brandon hooked another fish on a flylined live flyer and landed it fairly fast.  That was it for the day.

Gary moved the boat to Pyramid Cove for the night.  We fixed  our dinner which consisted of brisket, ribs and Asian Coleslaw along with some red wine.  I crashed by 9 pm and slept well.

I awoke the next morning at 3 am when Gary put on the coffee.  Gary moved the boat a short distance then he and Brett made more live flyers.  We moved back out to the fishing grounds and set up two flyers on helium balloons and two flylined flyers.  Jim and Jeff were the lucky anglers each landing a 160 pound bluefin.  

Finally by late morning, I hooked one on the helium balloon.  My fish was the same size as the others.  We had so much fish for 6 of us, we decided to release my fish.  Once I got it close Brett said let it make another round then I’ll cut it off.  He did that 3 times then the fish saw the big knife in his hands and peeled off 100 yards of line and I had to bring the fish back in again.

We put away the big gear and got out our 25 pound outfits and went looking for school sized tuna.  Unfortunately, they were not in a biting mood.  Jim hooked the only fish that would bite but on such light line, the fish escaped.  On our way back to dock, we rand across several schools of big fish.  Brett and Gary filleted 3 fish for Jeff, Jim, Randy and me to share.  Needles and Brandon took the other two fish.  Brandon planned to take them to the processor.

We got in around 6:00 pm and I made it home by 7:10 pm.  I unloaded the truck, put the fish in the refrigerator and waited until the next day to clean gear and process the fish.  There was so much fish, I called Shig and shared it with him.

I can’t say enough good things about Gary, Brett and the Rail Time.  It was wonderful to get away even for a short time.  Thanks Needles for the opportunity to escape.  I really needed it and I’m very appreciative.