Early Season Bluefin!

I had just finished packing for another Rail Time white seabass trip when I received Jeff’s text saying “Please bring a 100 lb. flat fall setup per person.  We might be fishing tuna on day one.”  Tuna?  It turns out the military closed the island so we couldn’t fish seabass there on day one.

Tuna fishing for me means packing my harness along with the heavy gear.  I managed to swap out a light setup for the heavy one and switch out a reel capable of handling tuna for one that couldn’t.  I added some knife jigs, flat falls, crimping equipment and a couple heavy top shots.  This was the easy part.  The hard part was that I could no longer carry everything to the boat in one trip now. 

We (Jeff, Steve, Jim, Tom, Fumio and I) met at Peter’s Landing at 6:30 pm to board the Rail Time for our two-day fishing adventure.  Jake and Andy (The “A” Team) joined us as crew for Gary.  After boarding and putting away gear, we set up our rods for tuna fishing.  One 100-pound outfit for jigging and an 80-pound outfit for sardine sinker fishing.  Gary suggested we try using a ringed hook and tying a piece of light line onto the ring and putting our sinker on the end of the light line.  The sinker hangs below the hook and doesn’t get tangled on the line like it does when using a rubber band to tie the sinker on.  He said anglers were having success setting up their sinker sardine rigs this way. 

We made a stop at the bait receiver and filled our tanks with big sardines.  Our next stop was Catalina Island for live flying fish.  It didn’t take long for Jake and Andy to get all we needed (about 15 live flyers).  From there we headed south to the area just above the border where the San Diego fleet has been catching bluefin tuna. I hit the bunk and enjoyed sleeping as we travelled in calm seas.

We arrived on the fishing grounds around 4 am.  I could see the lights form 15 or 20 other boats either sitting on a school of fish or driving around hoping to find the biting schools.  Gary slowed the engines and started our search for a school of bluefin.  By the time the sun was in the sky, Gary was still searching. We had plenty of time to have breakfast, apply sun screen and check drags.

Bluefin fishing can be frustrating if you let it.  Patience is a required trait because it can take hours driving around to find a school that will bite.  It’s even more difficult to get a bluefin to bite early in the season because the fish favor the micro baits they’ve been eating and are reluctant to bite other baits. 

We had been driving around for a couple hours before Gary stopped on a school.  I grabbed my sinker rig and dropped a sardine down 150 feet.  A couple live flyers were flylined and at least one other sinker rig was deployed.  We were patient and enjoyed the calm seas and nice weather.  We stayed for a while hoping the fish would swim through and bite our baits.  Eventually Gary decided to look around again. 

There seemed to be many schools of tuna around but they would go down when the boat got close.  Finally Gary found a school of smaller fish to stop on.  He advised us to use our 30 and 40 pound outfits.  Fumio, Steve and Jim hooked up, fought and each landed their 45-pound class bluefin tunas.  I, on the other hand, practiced my casting.

We were optimistic this was just the beginning especially when Jeff and Fumio hooked up.  Unfortunately, the fish they hooked proved to be too big for their 30-pound outfits.  Needless to say, we switched to at least 40-pound outfits.  We spent the rest the day chasing schools of fish but never got another bite.  Late afternoon Gary headed us towards San Clemente Island looking for fish as we traveled.

We reached the island at sundown and tried a couple drifts for seabass. No seabass but Fumio caught a small yellowtail.  I caught a whitefish.   Once it was dark, Gary headed up the backside of the island and set up for making squid.  We set up our gear for seabass fishing then had dinner:  ziti pasta, caper chicken, and salad followed by ice cream sandwiches.  We managed to finish a bottle of wine with dinner as well.

I went to bed right after dinner but awoke shortly after in time to witness Andy landing a seabass.  Andy and Jake had just finished filling the bait tanks with squid then Andy dropped down a dropper-loop rig and got bit.  We all set out our dropper-loop rigs and Jeff was the lucky angler to get bit before the school left us.  He landed his fish as well then the bite was over.  I went back to bed. 

I woke up a little before 4 am the next morning and checked the deck.  There were four dropper-loop rigs deployed including mine.  Gary was sleeping in the Galley so he could hear if one of the outfits got bit.  We were still anchored in the spot we got our squid. I got my coffee then changed my bait.  Unfortunately, the seabass didn't show.

We ended up spending the day driving around checking cove after cove for yellowtail and white seabass.  What we found were a few calico bass and one small yellowtail (released) that were willing to bite.  Gary checked the back side of the island first then the front for the same results.  Around 2 pm he decided to make a move to Catalina Island.  Catalina wasn’t any better so at 4 pm Gary called it a trip.

 

The good news is that we had great weather the entire trip, never hooked a soupfin shark, ray or black seabass and caught 5 quality fish to share.  There really isn’t any bad news, in my opinion, because when you love fishing you enjoy it all - even the slow days.

A big thanks to you Jeff, for putting these charters together.  I look forward to them all.  Of course, we are all grateful for Gary and his skill plus the “A Team” that cares for us and our fish.   It’s a winning combination.

 

Rail Time May/June

Cathy Needleman assembled a great group of anglers for our second trip of the season on the Rail Time which included Fumio, Jeff, Steve, Jim and me.  We had the A-Team of Andy and Jake on deck assisting our Captain Gary Adams. 

Weather was going to be bumpy going out but Gary said Nacho at the bait receiver had some live squid for us.  This was a big deal because crew would have had to make squid on the back side of Catalina in rough seas.  Instead, Gary tucked the boat in a cove on the front side of the island until the wind came down then headed over to San Clemente Island.

 It was still a bit bumpy in the morning while Gary searched for a spot to begin fishing.  It was overcast and cold so we waited to get up until we heard the anchor go down.  I grabbed coffee then put on sunscreen and checked my drags.

Fishing was a slow most the day however there were a few standout fish caught including a 44 pound white seabass and some very large sheepshead.  Just before sundown, we had a good bite on a variety of fish ending the day with 9 white seabass, 1 yellowtail and 4 big calico bass.  This doesn’t sound like much until you look at the photos. 

 

Gary took us into Pyramid Cove where Jake and Andy filleted our catch while we had dinner.  Cathy brought some delicious ribs, Jeff brought Rigatoni with chicken and mushrooms, I brought Asian coleslaw and wine.  Jim provided ice cream sandwiches for dessert.  I hit the bunk right after dinner

I woke up at 4:30 am when I heard the engines start up.   I had been so exhausted; I had slept through the entire night without waking up.  Very unusual for me on a boat.

Day two was a completely different day.  The wind had died down, the clouds were gone and the sun warmed the air.  It was a beautiful day.

 

Gary checked the spots that produced fish for us the previous day.  Unfortunately, the conditions had changed and the water was green and dirty.  As the day went on, we realized fishing would be slower than the previous day.  We finally ended up in the only cove Gary thought would produce fish for us.  As we fished, the military on the island conducted training exercises that consisted of shooting structures on the island from a couple helicopters. It was interesting to watch.

 

We fished 50# or 60# dropper loop rigs or 30# or 40# sliding sinker rigs.   Most of my fish came on the slow retrieve of the sliding sinker rig.  We had live squid for bait.  I used two squid.  Sometimes two live squid and sometimes 1 live and 1 fresh dead.  Fishing with live squid makes a great bait because most fish love them.  Fishing with live squid has its drawbacks though as the squid fight back as Fumio found out.

 

Although seabass were difficult to get to bite, we did manage to catch 5 for the day.  The real excitement was watching Fumio catch back to back big halibuts then Jeff, following his lead, caught a big one too.  We had a few big calico bass and 1 big yellowtail to round out day two’s catch.

 

Our expert crew (the “A Team”) did a great job filleting our fish and bagging the filets in a manner that made sharing the catch easier.  Jake and Andy are the greatest and Andy’s humor keeps us laughing.  It’s like having a couple of stand-up comics on board.  Gary, the premier expert on seabass and island fishing, came through again.  He just is the best!

 

Thanks again to my extremely kind and generous friend Cathy Needleman for including me on this trip.  She’s always a pleasure to fish with.

The trip isn't over when we return to dock.  It continues for another week as we feast on our catch.