Rail Time – Anglers’ Paradise!

My angling companions for our June 28^th two day trip included Cathy Needleman, Randy Sharon, Fumio Ogoshi,  Steve Chuang and Chartermaster Jeff Chuang.  Captain Gary was assisted by Jacob.  We headed directly to Catalina after boarding at 6:30 pm Monday evening.  A quick stop on the way for live squid from G Paul.  Gary had hoped to either scoop flyers or squid at Catalina. 

Catalina waters were loaded with some kind of jellyfish that looked like squid bodies with the heads bit off. Fumio found out after the trip that the headless squid looking things are called Pyrosoma Atianticum.  Fumio said “They are a species of colonial tunicate.  Each conical structure consists of thousands of individual tunicates (zooids) held together by a gelatinous mass.  Weird creatures!  Tunicates are related to salps, and they are both considered chordates because they have a notochord as larvae.”  Thanks for the education Fumio!

Catalina proved useless for bait so Gary headed on to San Clemente.  I woke up when we arrived and saw the boat surrounded by a large squid float that Gary and Jacob were scooping into our bait tanks.  After putting on board all the bait we needed, Gary anchored us in a cove and put out the dropper loops.

Around 3:30 am I awoke again just in time to see Gary put something in the hold.  It was a white seabass caught on my outfit that I call “The Gary Adams Special.”  He said he woke up to find the stern corner rods bent over and a huge kept paddy attached to the back of the boat.  He started clearing the kelp and when he grabbed my rod he realized it had a fish on it so he reeled it in.

I put my hat and jacket on then walked over to my rod (in the Starboard Stern side rod holder) just in time to see it get bit again.  It was another seabass. My rod kept getting bit and it was always in the same rod holder.  It was crazy.

By 4 am, the rest of my companions were up and pulling on fish.  The seabass were all 25 to 40 pounders.  It wasn’t long until the yellowtail woke up and joined the fun.  The yellowtail were in the same size category as the seabass.  By 6:00 am, we had a good catch in the hold and Gary asked if we would mind letting his friend take the alpha position (since he wasn’t catching seabass) and we said “no problem” as we were releasing everything by that time.

We moved around the island checking out different areas for a variety of fish including black seabass, white fish, calico bass, sheepshead, perch, and a small halibut.  It was a spectacular day.

Gary moved us into a cove and Jacob pulled the fish out of the hold to fillet.  We took photos of our catch which included 6 seabass and 9 yellowtail.  Steve, Jeff and Fumio helped Jacob process fish and I heated our dinner.  We had a delicious meal of Ziti pasta, Lemon Chicken, ribs and salad.  We all crashed early exhausted from pulling on fish.

                   

Wednesday morning I awoke at 2:30 am when Gary started the engines.  He was moving the boat to the cove we caught our fish from the previous day. I went back to sleep until 3:30 am when Gary put the  anchor down.  I got up and set the Gary Adams Special in its’ lucky rod holder.  It wasn’t 10 minutes until it got bit.  Another seabass.  The next two bites on that rod were a black seabass and a yellowtail. 

It was another spectacular morning of catching and releasing fish even though we were not parked on the alpha spot.  We kept another 6 seabass and two yellowtail for the day.  We spent the rest the day drifting on spots picking at yellowtail.  Mid day Sheepie served us some Ika Sashimi made fresh from the bait tank.  Delicious!  Around 2:30 in the afternoon, we headed for home.  Jacob pulled the fish out of the hold.  We took photos and helped process the fish.

We were back to dock about 5:40 pm.  After unloading our gear from the boat, Jacob brought up the fish and we split it all up.  Shig met the boat so I could give him a whole seabass and a bag of yellowtail filets.

I feel so fortunate to be included on these trips with friends who are fun and great anglers.  We all feel fortunate to be able to fish with Gary Adams on his boat the Rail Time.  Gary always has a positive attitude and makes everything more enjoyable plus, he’s one of the best Captains I’ve fished with.