Rail Time Fishing October 2020

Jeff, Steve, Brian, Mark and I boarded the Rail Time around 7:30 pm Wednesday.  Gary Adams (the boat owner and captain) had Mitch and Jacob crewing for him on this trip.  We put away the food then set up our gear.  Gary said we were heading to an area in the center of a triangle  formed by Catalina, San Clemente and San Nicolas Islands.  

It’s the area that big bluefin, yellowfin and smaller bluefin had been caught by the fleet during the previous days.  We stopped at the bait receiver and loaded up on sardines.  Gary and crew would make flyers at Catalina while we slept.  As soon as had my Flat Fall and kite rigs ready, I went to bed.

It was a rough ride out so I didn’t sleep well at all.  It was early morning when we arrived to the fishing area and still dark.  When I got up, Gary had my Flat Fall deployed on the bow using the boat action to move the jig.  We fished until after daylight.  There were many fish crossing the screen of the fish finder but none biting.  Once the fish left, Gary started looking around again. 

Gary moved to an area away from the fleet and found schools of yellowfin tuna under porpoise.  We stopped on several schools of fish and only managed to land two tiny yellowfin that were released. Stopping on the school and fishing baits wasn’t working so Gary said drop down to 30 pound test and a small hook (like a Number 2 Mutu) and get ready to drop your sardine back when I tell you to. Jeff and Steve hooked up first and landed a couple of 40 pound yellowfin.  Eventually I hooked one and landed it reasonably fast.  It was another 40 pounder.  We followed this plan all afternoon hooking one or two fish each time we hit the school ending the day with eight 40 to 45 pound yellowfin tuna.  I caught two, Jeff caught two, Steve caught three and Jacob caught one. 

We fished until dark then Gary headed to Northwest Harbor on the west end of Clemente.  We put dinner in the oven, freshened up and checked all our gear so it would be ready in the morning.

Dinner was great.  Jeff had picked up Ziti, lemon caper chicken breasts and salad from Maggianos and I brought some red wine.  Our meal scenario for breakfasts and lunches was Danish and fruit for breakfast, sliders or tuna croissant sandwiches for lunch.  I brought the tuna salad, croissants, Danish and cookies (Breakfast cookies and Dark Chocolate Chip/Toffee cookies).  Everyone brought something including meats, cheeses, chips and fruit.

Gary was up early the next morning and put the coffee on.  Once he checked bait and the boat, he started the engines and headed back to the fishing grounds.  Since it was a couple hour trip, I went back to bed and got up when I saw the lights from the other boats.

Gary and crew scanned the horizon for fish.  It was another beautiful day but very hot.  Just like the previous day.  

Unlike the previous day, there were no fish.  They disappeared.  Around noon, Gary said we are going into the island and fish for yellowtail.  Again, he recommended 30 pound test line and a small hook. We ended up in an area close to San Clemente Island with a dozen or so other boats fishing yellowtail.

Gary anchored up and we began fishing.  We caught lots of bonito first which Brian kept for lobster bait.  Sea lions were a real problem making it difficult to get a bait away from the boat.  Our bait wasn’t great so you needed a perfect bait.  Jeff hooked a yellowtail first.  Eventually everyone caught at least one.  We ended up with 8 yellowtail before we  had to leave at 3:30 pm.  It was another great trip, as always, on the Rail Time.  Gary seems to have an Ace up his sleeve every time the fish do their disappearing act.

We got back to dock about 7 pm and I was home by 8 pm.  Once our gear was loaded in our vehicles, the fish came up.   We split them up. Mark didn’t want any so I ended up with 2 yellowtail and 2 yellowfin tuna.  Saturday morning, Shig came over so I could give him a tuna and a yellowtail.  He brought me a bottle of Sake and a bag of fresh Yuzu from his daughter’s tree as a thankyou for the fish.  He said he was having his daughter over for dinner to share the fish.  Apparently his wife and daughter prefer yellowfin tuna over bluefin so they were very happy.

As always, I am sincerely grateful to Jeff for including me in these Charters. I love fishing with all the anglers Jeff brings along especially since they all are much better anglers than I am so I can learn from them too.