Ranger 85 - Reds and Bobber Balloon Blues!

Fumio Ogoshi organized a 2 1/2-day fishing charter on the Ranger 85 with his good friend Jake Hensley, Owner and Captain of the Ranger 85.  I was fortunate enough to be invited to join a talented group of anglers that included Adel Rajab, David Dang, Steve Chuang, Keith Maruya, Keif Adler, Whitney Uyeda, Warren Yan, Garett Tsukada, Ned Mitrovic, Joe Trevino and Dan Trevino. 

Steve picked me up around 3 pm Thursday, October 10th for the drive to H & M Landing in San Diego.  We arrived around 5 pm.  We were very lucky and found a parking space in the landing parking lot.  We grabbed a dock cart and filled it with our fishing tackle then lined up along with the other anglers waiting to board.  We all signed the manifest and received our number for the trip.  This number would be used to tag our fish and keep track of our trip expenses.  My number was “3”.  By 8 pm, we were all on board, gear stowed and on our way to the bait receiver.

 

Jake gave us the safety speech then let us know the plans for the trip.  Big bluefin were on the menu, of course, and possibly reds as well.  We would start fishing at the Tanner or Cortez bank for smaller bluefin in the morning using lighter line (20, 25 or 30 pound test) and a number 2 hook. From there we might check out Cherry Banks looking for reds always on the lookout for the big bluefin.  Hopefully the big bluefin will pop up somewhere so we can jig fish for them Friday night.  I set up my tackle accordingly and hit the bunk.

We arrived at the banks about 6 in the morning and Jake started looking around for schools of bluefin.  We stopped on several schools but the fish didn’t bite.  Jake decided to head to Cherry Bank and fish for reds hoping the bluefin would be in the biting mood later in the day.

I used a two hook gagnion with feathers baited with squid strips and fished in the bow.  Jake set us up to fish in 300 plus feet of water.  We needed 16-ounce sinkers to reach the bottom.  The first few drops came up dry for me.  Eventually, I dropped in the right spot and brought up 4 reds, 4 starry rockfish plus others.  Cherry Bank turned out to be a gold mine.  We ended up with two-day limits of reds plus a variety of other rock fish including several cow cod and goldeneye (which had to be released).  Steve and I caught and released both goldeneye and cow cod.

 

We drove around searching for the bluefin ending up back at Tanner Bank in the afternoon.  Those fishing the 20- and 25-pound line managed a couple 15 pound bluefin and a couple 30 to 40 pound bluefin.  Jake came over and told me it was OK to fish the clear bobber balloon for the tuna.  He knew that I had fished using balloons on the Excel which is where I first met Jake.  I hadn’t used balloons to catch bluefin before but Jake assured me that they work for bluefin the same way they do for yellowfin. I'm surprised I actually brought balloons and rubber bands with me.

I set up my balloon outfit by rubber banding a 17-inch clear balloon about 10 to 12 feet above the hook.  I nose hooked a sardine then let the wind catch the balloon and toss the sardine out to follow.  The wind took the sardine away from the boat like the kite or helium balloon saving the sardine from exhausting itself swimming out to the bite zone.  The balloon did work but not on the target species.  I hooked and landed 3 large bonito.  I wasn’t the only one catching bonito either. 

We put away the light gear and got ready for the nighttime jigging then went in for a dinner of beef tips while Jake started the search for big bluefin.  Maryann did a great job in the galley making sure we were properly fed and ready for tuna battles. 

 

I decided to hit the bunk and get up when I heard the engines turn down.  I got up a couple times during the night with the boat still moving.  The galley and salon were filled with sleeping anglers also waiting for the engines to turn down.  Unfortunately, the bluefin never showed.

Saturday morning the wind had come up a bit but it was still fishable.  We were back on the Tanner Bank when we started our fishing day.  Jake drove around until he found a good school of fish and anchored the boat.  Little by little the fish started to bite for those fishing 20- and 25-pound line with belly hooked sardines on small hooks.  Adel, Fumio and Whitney seemed to be the lucky ones but they are just excellent anglers that know how to pick a bait and present it properly. 

 

It was a slow but steady bite and I eventually landed one on 40 pound line.  Watching others fight fish on 20 pound, frequently losing the fish in the end, made me stick with the heavier line.  I decided to try the bobber balloon again with crew member Paul assisting me bait up and deploy my balloon.  I managed to hook and land 4 fish around 40 pounds each using the balloon.  Others had success as well with the belly hooked baits with our final tally of 54 bluefin for the day – just shy of two day limits. 

While most of us fished for the tuna, Sheepie demonstrated how he got his nickname by landing 5 sheepshead in a row fishing the bottom.

Jake decided to use our last hour of fishing to try for the bigger bluefin again.  Unfortunately, it was not to be this trip.  Even though the big guys didn’t show, we had a spectacular trip with a quality catch of bluefin and rock cod for everyone. 

Maryann served us a steak dinner with all the trimmings and ice cream drumsticks for dessert. We broke down our gear after dinner while crew pulled the fish out of the hold and organized them by our numbers.  Once the fish were out, we moved to the bow for photos.  It was impressive the amount of fish on deck.  Crew took our requests for fish processing then got to work.  It took them until 2 in the morning to finish fish filleting and cleaning up the boat.

 

I was up by 4 am Sunday morning packing up my stateroom (named Bluefin) and bringing my stuff up on deck.  Around 5 am, Jake announced it was time to pay for our fish processing, food and fuel charges as we would be tied up at the dock by 5:30.

 

Steve and I shared a dock cart and got all our gear offloaded and up the ramp into our car.  Then we took the cart back to collect our fish.  I bought a couple bags of ice to keep the fish cold.  When we received our fish fillets, we realized we had a problem.  There wasn’t enough room in the car for all our fish.  We tried putting the fish in our ice chests, but they wouldn’t fit.   I managed to get my rockfish and 3 tunas in my ice chest, but no ice would fit.  Steve got 1 tuna and his rockfish in his bag and half a bag of ice.  We had to give away 4 tunas!

 

We said goodbye to our fellow anglers and headed north.  I was home by 7:30 am Sunday morning.  I cleaned up and put away my tackle, processed a few fillets for myself then called Shig to pick up the rest to share with his family.

Thanks, Fumio, for inviting me to join your group of friends on this charter.  You organized a great charter.  The crew were helpful and Captain Jake worked as hard as any captain I’ve seen.  It was a very enjoyable fishing experience.