Graylight August Blues

Date:  August 11-12, 2025

Anglers:  Cathy and Matt Needleman, Steve and Jeff Chuang, Fumio Ogoshi and Jan Howard

Boat and Crew:  Greylight owned and operated by Captain Shawn Stewart with Sam as second captain and deckhand.

Trip:  Two days fishing the Channel Islands, specifically Santa Barbara Island (SBI), and offshore.

Fish Count:  5 white seabass, 1 yellowtail, 8 bluefin tuna, 3 calico bass plus the following released fish:  2 black seabass, 3 whitefish, 2 blue perch, 2 baby sea urchins and 2 brittle starfish.

The Graylight starts its charters departing dock between 3:00 am and 4:00 am so I chose to go up the day before the trip and stay at the Channel Islands Hampton Inn the night before the trip.  I made the 120-mile trip from my home in just under 3 hours and checked in early.  Cathy, Matt and I enjoyed dinner at Brophy Brothers in Ventura Harbor before calling it a night.

At 3:30 am Monday morning we all met up at Channel Islands Landing, signed the manifest and boarded the Graylight.  Shawn gave us the safety speech and said we were headed to SBI.  He recommended setting up a 40-pound dropper loop rod and a 25- and 30-pound outfit – one with a half-ounce sliding sinker and the other with a leadhead.  As we headed out, Sam made sure we were set up properly. 

Cathy and I settled into bean bags on deck for the 3 hour trip to SBI.  The guys curled up in the V-Bunk down below.

When the engines turned down, I knew we were at SBI.  When I stood up, I saw a bucket of fresh dead squid being handed over the rail to Sam.   We were at the island along with many other boats.  The weather was cold and overcast but the sea wasn’t too bad.  It wasn’t calm by any means but fishable.

Shawn selected a spot and dropped the anchor.  I deployed my dropper loop as did a couple others.  Sliding sinkers and leadhead rigs were also being used.  It wasn’t very long until Matt hooked up and landed a beautiful big white seabass.  I don’t know whether Matt or Cathy was happier. 

Shortly after Matt landed his fish, Cathy landed her own white seabass.  This made me very happy as our chartermaster and her son both had landed fish.  This is as it should be!

Jeff hooked up to a big fish that took him around the boat eventually breaking his line.  Shawn believes it was a big yellowtail but we can’t know for sure.  All the fish had been hooked on leadheads so I switched over to one and hooked up immediately.  I fought the fish around the boat bringing it to color on the port stern only to hear Sam say, “oh no” so I knew it was a black seabass that had to be released.

Cathy landed another seabass while Jeff and Fumio landed fish of their own before the bite shut off.  Shawn took us to a couple other spots around the island looking for some yellowtail or calicos.  A couple calicos were landed and Shawn was able to hook one yellowtail on a jig but almost lost it to a big sealion.  Fortunately, Shawn was too fast for him.  Other than that, the island was dead so we headed offshore.

Sam set up several popper outfits as did Cathy, Matt and Fumio.  I set up a 40-pound outfit with a #2 hook so I could drop a bait back if we found the fish.  Jeff did the same. 

We didn’t need to travel far before Shawn and Sam found foaming schools of bluefin tuna.  Unfortunately, every time we got close, the school dropped out.  We chased schools of fish all afternoon until Sam hooked one fish on a popper and handed it off to me.   I had to put my entire body into it to pull on that fish because it was on a 10-foot rod with a single speed reel.  Eventually I landed it. 

We chased the fish a while longer then it was time to head in.  On our way back, Sam processed our fish while we rested.

We got in late, around 6:30 pm.  Shawn said to be at the boat at 3:00 am the next morning so we could be on the seabass grounds early.  The plan was to fish SBI then come in early the next day, so Sam broke down all the bluefin gear. 

Sam brought our bags of filets up top at the landing and we split them up, then headed to Ralphs for ice to keep our fish cold.  I decided to skip dinner and just head to my room so I could get a shower and go to bed early.

Tuesday morning at 3 am we met at the landing and boarded the boat.  A quick stop at the receiver for some nice sardines and we were off to SBI.  We took our same spots for the long ride and when we awoke, we were receiving another bucket of fresh dead squid.  Shawn anchored us in close to the same spot as the previous day. 

I looked around and there were more boats here than from the previous day.  There were even boats up here from our local landings.  Our weather was still cold but the sea was rougher than the previous day.  We were bobbing around like a cork.  Conditions had changed and the fish either weren’t here or weren’t in a biting mode, so Shawn took us looking for yellowtail or bass around the island. 

Steve hooked up and we were thrilled.  It was a big one and it fought hard.  After pulling on it a while, to save his back, Steve handed his fish to Sam to bring in.  Sam pulled hard and got the fish to the boat.   It was a beautiful purple colored black seabass with big white spots.  Next Steve added a blue perch to his catch.  Steve was really on a roll now.  He landed a whitefish that was hooked in the side then landed another he hooked in the butt and refused to see where he hooked his third whitefish. 

Fishing picked up from there when Fumio caught a blue perch on a fluke and Jeff caught a baby sea urchin.  

Not to be outdone, I caught a baby sea urchin and two brittle starfish.  It was about this time when Shawn got some intel on the location of the bluefin tuna and we were off chasing foamers offshore again.

We set up our gear for bluefin and Sam tied the poppers back on the rods.  The seas were calmer offshore, and it was easier to spot the fish schools than it was yesterday.  Sam cast his popper into one of the first schools we approached and hooked a bluefin.  As the schools came round to the stern, Jeff dropped back a bait and hooked a fish too.  Sam fought his fish for a while then it broke off.  Jeff landed his fish, then we were off again.

The next school we hit, I dropped back a big sardine and got bit.  I was on 40-pound line with a number 2 hook.  I was pleased when I landed my 25-30# bluefin. 

At days end, we had 7 bluefin tuna on board!  Jeff and Cathy had landed two each; Fumio, Sam and I landed one each.  Not bad for a day that we were just going to fish around the island.

We were back to dock by 6:15 p.m.  We unloaded our gear, split up the bags of tuna (leaving some for Shawn), grabbed some more ice and headed home.  I was home by 8:30 pm.

What a wonderful trip!  Many thanks to Cathy for making us guests on her charter and thanks to Shawn and Sam for their fishing expertise and positive attitude.  And I’m thankful for my fellow anglers who are always there to help me when I need it.   I look forward to next year’s trips.

Another great thing about fishing with this group is the sharing of all the fish no matter who catches it.  That means I got to take home tuna and some white seabass (which I didn’t catch).

The after-trip benefits are the meals we make from our catch.  I made seared bluefin for the first night’s dinner.  It was great.  Sam filleted the fish differently than others do in that he left the belly meat attached to the lower loins of the fish. I made bluefin poke for the second night’s dinner and seabass ceviche for another night.  Future nights will feature sashimi, BBQed collars and bluefin pepper steak.