Five BFT and four YT for three on the RT!

Cathy, Jim and I met up at Peter’s Landing August 20, 2024, around 5 pm.  Andy helped us load all our gear and food on the Rail Time.  We stowed our gear and put the food away.   Just the three of us for our Captain Gary and Second Captain Andy to manage.  Jake would have been with us if he hadn’t injured his shoulder. 

Gary informed us that his plan was to head straight to San Clemente Island to make flyers and squid then we would fish yellows in the morning until the wind abated then go offshore to fish bluefin tuna.  Tackle recommendations were: 40-to-60-pound dropper loop outfits to fish yellowtail and 130 pound outfits for chasing bluefin.

We set up our tackle as recommended on the way to the bait receiver, then we sat down to enjoy a pizza dinner courtesy of Cathy.  After loading a nice batch of sardines, Gary kicked up the engines and pointed the bow towards Clemente.  It was a little bumpy but not as bad as we expected with the wind forecasts we had been watching.

I hit the bunk early and slept off and on through what was a tough night for Gary and Andy.  Making flyers was very difficult.  Fewer flyers around perhaps because the sport boats learned the secret of catching bluefin by fly lining a live flyer.  After catching enough flyers, Gary went to work scooping squid which also proved difficult.  It took all night to get enough squid to fill the bow tank which meant no sleep for Gary.

When we awoke pre-dawn the next morning, we were anchored in a calm cove surrounded by boats – sport boats, squid seiners and squid light boats.  The bright lights were blinding.  It was like waking up in Sci-Fi movie.  Gary had already deployed our dropper loop outfits.  We just needed to find our own. 

 

My rod was starboard side and went off first.  The fish made a nice run out then came back towards the boat then headed to the bow.  I put the reel in low and pulled as hard as I could.  I could barely get a half crank then I'd lose two cranks of line to the fish.  Gary said let me try (which I’m always happy to do.  I fish with the attitude its us against the fish – whatever it takes.)  Gary pulled and pulled but the fish wouldn’t budge.  Gary looked at me and said, “this is a black and its at least 200 pounds!”  Gary tried to break the fish off but that just wasn’t going to happen because it was 60-pound Big Game monofilament.  We cut the line.

I’m not sure who hooked the next fish but Jim landed his beautiful yellowtail while Cathy got to pull on a black seabass.  Once she managed to get rid of her black she was rewarded with a nice yellowtail.  I hooked another yellowtail and everything was going great then it got a burst of energy and headed away from the boat and managed to wrap itself in the anchor line of John’s boat (Gary’s friend).  We had to cut the line again (good old 60 pound!)  We later learned that when John pulled his anchor, the fish was still attached and alive.  They released it because they had plenty of yellowtail on board already.  I did manage to land one yellowtail before we headed offshore that morning.

When the bite abated, we put our yellowtail gear away and got down our bluefin outfits.  We rounded the east end of the island and headed offshore searching for schools of bluefin.  We finally had time for coffee.

When Gary found the first school of fish, he had Andy rig Cathy and Jim up on boat gear with a live flyer.  He had them drop back the flyers into the school as he pulled the motors out of gear. Once the boat came to a stop, he put a live flyer and a helium balloon on my outfit and sent it out.  We sat on that school until it left us without the courtesy of a bite.  Gary found us another school and Andy set us up with the same outfits.  It wasn’t very long before Jim and Cathy were hooked up.  While they were fighting their fish, Gary set out another fly lined live flyer and it got bit.  Even though it was Gary’s rod without a gimbal, I went ahead and pulled on that fish (with substantial help from Gary.)  That rod was much too big for my hands to hold let alone stabilize so I could fight the fish.  But with Gary’s help, the fish finally hit the deck.  Jim had landed his first then Cathy landed hers just after mine.  They were all about 120 to 140 pounds each. 

 

Andy went ahead and fileted the yellowtail rather than drop the big tunas on top of them.  Next he trimmed the fins, tails and heads off the tunas and put them in the hold.  Once the fish were settled and the deck cleaned up, Gary went on the hunt for another school.  We wanted one more fish.

It wasn’t long before Gary found a nice school of big ones and Cathy and Jim sent back the live flyers.  I would have preferred to flyline a live flyer but it was too late so I was back up on the helium balloon.  Cathy and Jim hooked up again.  I was on the bow watching them fight their fish when I noticed my balloon slowly going down.  At first, I thought it was losing air but soon realized it was bit and started winding like crazy.  Finally, I hooked a fish on my gear so I could properly fight the fish.

We had three fish hooked and only two crew to help.  I found myself in my harness, hooked to a fish and all alone in the stern while Gary and Andy were helping Cathy and Jim in the bow.  Gary said let me know if you need help which I didn’t need for quite a while.  My fish took three runs straight away from the boat peeling off about 300 yards of line then just stopped moving.  I sat in my harness and just kept winding for about 15 minutes until the fish was close to the boat and straight down.  Part of that time Cathy came around with her fish so we got to pull on fish side by side for a while. Then my fish wanted to head to the bow where it would lose its life.

Jim and Cathy were able to handle their fish long enough for Gary and Andy to get a gaff in my fish, move it to the stern and pull it through the back gate.  That was a gift for me to be able to pull on a fish in my harness one more time.  I know my age is against me being able to pull on big tuna much longer if at all.

All three fish we hooked from this school were very strong and mean fish.  Cathy was being beat up by her fish which was not only strong and mean but the biggest of the three.  When she landed hers, it measured out at 207.  Mine measured out at 141 and Jim’s released fish looked a lot like Cathy’s.

 

We had all the fish we wanted to take home so we headed into the cove for a peaceful dinner and a good night’s sleep.  We feasted on BBQ Ribs, mac and cheese, beans, coleslaw and ice cream bars for dinner then settled into our bunks for some much-needed sleep. 

I awoke around midnight to the weird glow of light boats scooping squid again but managed to go back to sleep until 4 am.  It was quiet and the chaos of squidding was over for that night.  Boats around us were already fishing.  Jim and Cathy got up around daybreak and that’s when we heard the other boats hooking fish.  Gary and Andy were still enjoying their much-needed sleep when I hooked another big yellowtail.  Jim hooked up too.  Gary was still trying to wake up when he realized we were fighting fish.  Unfortunately, my fish busted my line.  Jim landed his fish and we took off to find a place with less traffic. 

Gary tried a few coves and realized the conditions had changed and the wind was coming up as predicted.  With the poor conditions and lots of fish for Andy to process, we decided to head in early.  We helped Andy by bagging the filets as he cut the fish.  We made it back to the dock by 3:30 pm and I made it home by 5 pm. 

What a great trip!  5 bluefin tuna and 4 yellowtail for three of us.  We ended up with lots of fish filets for everyone including Andy's town of Winchester.  A huge thanks to Gary and Andy.  There were only three of us but I’m sure we were a handful to take care of.  You couldn’t find better captains to take you fishing.

Thanks again Cathy for arranging this trip and for being such a good friend.