Big Bluefin or Bust on the Ranger 85

I received an email from Fumio Ogoshi on December 10, 2021.  His email said, “Hello anglers!  Just wanted to see if any of you would be interested in doing a 2-day charter on the Ranger 85 next fall.  My buddy, Jake Hensley is the Captain and he’s one of the nicest persons I’ve met and fished with.  I am contemplating 9/22-24 (new moon) or 10/6-8 (full moon).  Plan is for BFT or bust, limited to about 12.”  I responded “yes” immediately.

I felt honored to have the opportunity to fish on Fumio’s charter with him and his friends who are all expert anglers.  I knew I could learn much from them. 

It was a long winter and summer awaiting the trip’s departure.  Eventually the 10/6 departure date rolled around and the big bluefin arrived as well.  The passenger manifest was firmed up and included Chartermaster Fumio Ogoshi, Steve Chuang, Adel Rajab, David Dang, Butch Brown, David Yoon, Whitney Uyeda, Rodney Aoto, Marshall Bubel, Tyler Burnett, Al (Butch’s friend) and me. 

It was my first time on the Ranger 85, however, I knew the Captain/Owner, Jake Hensley, from his crew days on the Excel.  He was an excellent deck hand and one of my favorites.  The Ranger 85 operates out of H & M Landing in San Diego.  Our captain was anxious to reach the fishing grounds in the dark so he suggested we arrive at the landing by 6 pm  for an early departure.  This was a benefit to us since the tuna had been biting jigs in the dark.

 

Steve offered to drive.  I suggested we take my truck because I take a lot of big tackle, however, Steve amazed me when he managed to get all my tackle in his car as well as his gear.  We left Orange County around 2:30 pm and arrived at the landing around 5 pm.  We were lucky to find a parking space at the far end of the landing lots. Fumio and several other anglers arrived about the same time.

We used carts from the landing to carry our gear to the boat.  Jake was on the boat and said we could load early.  

By 6:30 pm we were all on the boat and on our way to the bait receiver.  Jake held the safety seminar on the bow of the boat while crew loaded some beautiful sardines.  Our Captain also informed us that our crew for the trip included Mike Nickerson (aka Mandogg) whom I had fished with on the Excel and Pacific Dawn.  Definitely a great addition.  Jimmy, Sam and Don rounded out the deck crew and Paul was our galley chef. 

The galley was filled with a variety of goodies that were brought on board by the anglers.  Plenty of snacks for the trip some of which made a nice dinner for those that hadn’t eaten yet.  Jake advised we get to bed early because we would be fishing in a few hours.  I took his advice and hit the bunk.

 

I got up at 3 am when I heard the engines turn down.  Fumio had informed us before the trip that the bluefin had been biting 300 to 500 gram Jiggerz knife Jigs.  Unfortunately, I didn’t own one.  Fumio offered to loan me one.  (Thank you very much Fumio.)  I put it on my Penn 20 VISX with 130-pound Fluorocarbon and a 150# Fluorocarbon leader.  Hopefully the fish would bite right away because I wasn’t looking forward to dropping a jig down 100 to 450 feet and fast winding it up over and over again.  Unfortunately, that was not the case.  They did not bite for me!

The Ranger 85 is a comfortable boat with lots of rail space and a large bow area which is great for those like me who enjoy fishing the bow.  I heard someone hook up but couldn’t see who.  It was Butch and he had hooked his fish on a knife jig and he landed his fish in quick order.  Butch put a couple of 60-pound class bluefin on the boat before anyone else got bit.

Night turned to grey light then daylight and we continued to fish. Everyone was on deck and fishing hard.  Captain Jake would let us know what depth he was metering the fish and we would drop our jigs up and down through that depth.  When the fish were no longer on the meter, Jake would move the boat until he found another school of bluefin.  This pattern was repeated throughout the trip hooking a fish here and there landing some and unintentionally releasing others.

Marshall and Tyler put a couple fish on the deck then I lost track of who caught what and when.  Steve had injured his back a couple days before the trip and said he would need to hand off his fish for someone else to land for him.  The first fish he hooked, he handed to me.  I was happy I managed to land it for him.  I decided to try a drop shot sardine sinker rig on 80-pound fluorocarbon.  I dropped the bait down to around 200 feet and got bit. I started to pull on the fish then the fish bit off the hook and sinker.

I rerigged and dropped a sardine back down and hooked up immediately. That fish nearly spooled me before it stopped running. I managed to get half my line back on the reel using my harness for leverage.  Then the fish hunkered down and loaded up my rod until it shattered the gimbal making harness fishing impossible.  Using the rail to put pressure on the fish worked until the 2/0 Mutu hook broke, and he freed himself.  Based on the tail beat and the amount of pressure the fish exerted on me, I believe that fish was in the very large category.  Jimmy, the deck hand assisting me, was more upset than I was because he was sure it was a very big fish.   

Just then I heard my name being called.  Steve had hooked another bluefin. I ran up the rail and Steve handed me his rod.  I managed to get the fish to color before it spit the hook.  I was not having a lucky day losing three fish in a row.  That was the sum total of my angling opportunities for the day.

With sundown came a delicious prime rib dinner prepared by Chef Paul.  It was great to relax for a while enjoying a wonderful meal.  Thanks Paul.  After dinner we were back on deck dropping our jigs again.

 

I put away the bait rig and grabbed the jig.  I figured I would try jigging for a while but knew I couldn’t keep it up too long because I was exhausted.  After half an hour, I headed to my bunk.  Before I could get to sleep, Steve came down and said the fish were biting.  I went back on deck and grabbed my jig outfit and dropped it down.  My luck had not changed.  I don’t know how or why but I kept jigging all night long.  At my age, I didn’t think I could do it.  I surprised myself. 

Mandogg was at the helm at night, and he seemed to really enjoy it.  He would put us on a school of bluefin then race down on deck and help us, or drop a jig himself.  It was fun for me to get to fish with him again.

Around 1 am, Rodney hooked a big fish and when it hit the deck, it taped out to 198 pounds.  That was the biggest fish of the trip so far.  It wasn’t long before I heard someone yell “Rodney’s bit again!”  I glanced to the bow and sure enough, Rodney was pulling on another big fish.  That fish taped out at 190 pounds.  Rodney caught those fish on different jigs.  Fumio told me that the fish didn’t seem to be keyed in on any particular jig or color.

 

By 3 am, I had been up 24 hours fishing.  Steve decided to go to sleep.  Around 3:30 am my luck changed.  I finally got bit and landed a 60-pound bluefin. I was ecstatic.  I wouldn’t go home skunked.  Happily, I was rewarded for my tenacity – a quality advantageous for anglers.

With adrenalin in my system, there was no way I could get to sleep now so I kept fishing.  I dropped down and got bit again.  This one was a wild kamikaze that raced out then back towards me then straight up the port side to the bow.  A couple crew members grabbed gaffs and stuck him.  The fish gave the crew quite the shaking when the gaffs went in.  That fish was hooked and landed in less than 5 minutes thanks to the fast-moving crew.

The fish seemed to be biting better the second day, not only for me, but for others too.  I was very happy when Fumio finally landed a big bluefin that taped out at 190 pounds! 

By 10:30 am, Jake called it a trip.  We had lunch while crew pulled our fish out of the hold.  We ended up with 7 fish from 100 to 198 pounds.  Mine was the smallest of the seven.  We had another 21 fish from 40 to 70 pounds.  I think everyone caught one or more fish on the trip.  Truly a special charter!

Our crew had their work cut out for them.  Not an easy job to get all those fish filleted before we returned to dock.

 

It was nap time for our 8-hour ride home.  We had calm seas during the entire trip, including the ride home.  This was a blessing for everyone, especially those susceptible to seasickness.

 

It was a great trip with some really good anglers.  We all told Fumio we would love to do it again next year.  Jake went above and beyond in every way.  Thank you, Jake!  Your crew did a great job as well.  A special thanks to Mandogg for all his help on the trip.  It was like old times. 

We arrived back at dock around 6:30 pm.  It was Saturday night, and the landing was very busy.  Fortunately, we found carts to transport our gear and fish to our cars.  Steve and I barely had room in our ice chests for the fillets from our 3 fish.  We were back in Orange County by 9 pm looking forward to enjoying some fresh bluefin tuna.

The day after the trip, I prepared some sashimi for dinner.  I was very surprised at how good the bluefin tasted.  Then I realized it was from the Kamikaze fish.  It hadn’t been on the line long enough to develop any acids in the meat.

A huge thanks to you Fumio for including this me on your charter.  You did a fantastic job as Chartermaster and that is not an easy job.  A special thanks for the loan of a jig too.  Without that, I wouldn’t have caught a fish.  I look forward to fishing with you again!