Pêcheuse

American Angler Dream Trip

2012-02-04T15:41:00.001-08:00

I arrived at Pt. Loma Sportfishing to board the American Angler (http://www.americananglersportfishing.com/fishing_reports.htm) at 5 a.m. on Wednesday, January 18th and found that I was number 15 in line out of 19 passengers. Some had been in line since before 2 a.m. in order to get a favorable tackle box spot. We each made our way up to Lori's office to make our final trip payment and receive our boarding pass. What a professional operation. Not only did we receive a boarding pass, but that pass was also a name badge and contained our Stateroom Number and our Fish Tag Number!

Boarding was well organized with crew members doing all the heavy lifting and assisting us in moving gear and clothing to our staterooms. For this trip, Brian Kiyohara was our Captain and we had a special guest appearance by Shawn Steward. Other crew members included Ray and Taro with Greg and Paul controlling the Galley (and they did a very nice job of it too).

Our Charter Master was Ben Frazier of Avet Reels. Ben brought jigs, bait makers and t-shirts for everyone. He also raffled off a couple reels as well as providing reels for the Cribbage Tournament winner and for the jackpot fish caught on the trip.

We settled in for the four days travel required to reach the Clarion Island Buffer zone, our fishing destination. The weather and seas were both cold and rough as we started our travels. The weather gradually warmed the further south we went but the seas remained confused. Along the way fishing tackle was assembled and most the guys enjoyed a cribbage tournament while others read books or watched DVD's on their personal DVD players.

We were thrilled to awake Sunday morning with the island on the horizon. Winds were still blowing 15 knots but the weather had warmed up considerably. Brian had us put out the trolling jigs while he determined where he wanted to anchor up for our best opportunity to catch big tuna. 47 wahoo hit the deck before the boat was anchored. Although most were small, more like large barracuda, we were pleased with our catch.

Ben caught the first and only cow this day - a nice 225 pound yellowfin tuna.

Monday found us at the rail early and it really paid off. 6 cows hit the deck including my 286 pound personal best tuna. But the real story of the day was Dynamo Dan's tuna that took a back-up rig then died and sank to the bottom of the ocean before noon.

Brian had a crew member hold Dan's rod all day to ensure the line didn't snap until we finished the fishing day and the anchor could be pulled to try to retrieve the line and Dan's rod and reel. After considerable winding of line onto the back-up rig, Dan's rod and reel finally surfaced. Another 600 yards remained to be wound back on Dan's reel before the line got heavy and Dan started to raise the dead tuna from the depths. What a surprise when the fish actually surfaced and weighed 312 pounds on the boat's scale. Even more surprising, this was Dan's first long range trip!

Tuesday dawned with 20 knots winds which made fishing less enjoyable. We began releasing fish under 200 lbs. as we were trophy hunting now. Randal landed a 255 that also required a back-up rig to subdue the fish.

Wednesday the winds finally began to subside. Glenn landed two cows, Ben caught another cow and Gaylan cut off a 200 pounder. I caught a 62 pound wahoo on a chunk baited on a 9/0 circle hook using 130# monofilament. What a beautiful fish.

As the days passed, the cows kept hitting the deck. Fishing was good, very good and not just for us. The Royal Star, Red Rooster III, and Excel were all within a quarter mile of each other and us. They were all having success landing cow tuna over 200 pounds with a couple 300 pounders being caught as well.

Just before dinner each night, Brian would have a fireside chat with us informing us of his decisions and reasons for the moves he made. He also told us the secrets of success for the lucky anglers that day and the scores made by the other boats.

I fished with a 50 foot top shot of 130# Berkley Big Game monofilament, topped with a 3 foot 130# Berkley fluorocarbon leader to either a Mustad 8/0 39942 circle hook or a Mustad 10/0 7691 hook. There was no need to drop down to lighter line as the fish bit the 130# just fine. I only used about a dozen sardines the entire trip as they usually caught a bird or a needle fish which were both a nuisance. I divided my time between fishing with salamis and chunks having equal success with both. My 286# tuna was on a salami and I had a 190# tuna that came on a chunk.

Saturday, our seventh and last full day of fishing, had another surprise in store for us. Ralph Mickkelsen caught his sixth 300 pounder, a 306 pound yellowfin hooked on the kite with a salami.

Brian let us fish a couple hours Sunday morning before calling it a trip. A couple more 200 pounders were caught then the last fish of the trip hit the deck at 320 pounds! Dennis Saylors joined the 300 pound club. What a way to finish the trip - 24 tuna over 200 pounds and 3 over 300 pounds.

We had calm seas for the first three days travel towards home before the last day got rough. We arrived at 6 am Thursday morning to crowds anxious to see our beautiful catch. And beautiful it was.

Fisherman’s Processing handled my fish for me and what an excellent job they did too. I took home some delicious tuna and wahoo. Seared ahi, sashimi and sushi followed.

Let's Talk Hook Up Trip

2011-09-30T11:21:00.001-07:00

Jumped on the Excel for a 6-day trip that was a light load of Let's Talk Hook-Up passengers. Including me, we had 23 anglers coming from as far as Chicago and Northern California to as local as two blocks from the landing in San Diego. I thought it was a good opportunity to view the operation now that it was under new ownership.

I arrived Fisherman's Landing at O'Dark 30. The Excel arrived at 6:30 am with a nice catch of mixed fish - yellowfin, dorado, and yellowtail - mostly small fish. The boat went off to the fuel dock and Jason Gross checked us in at the tackle shop just the same as Kathie and Betty used to do. No changes there.

Ingrid Poole was at the landing greeting passengers as well. She's still interested in the new owners having a successful operation. Boarding was done by the numbers as usual and our gear was quickly loaded on the boat and crew assisted carrying larger items to our staterooms. We were off to the bait receiver before noon.

Changes I did notice are that there is a satellite phone in the salon now and the price has dropped from $3 a minute to $2 a minute. The boat also offers Internet WiFi for $10 per day. I signed up on day one. My charge was $60 for the 6 day trip. Once you sign up, there doesn't appear to be a way to quit the service, however, you can delay signing up until later in the trip.

There is a terrific feature to the Internet service though and it was used extensively by crew and passengers. If you have an iPhone or iPad with FaceTime and you sign up for the Internet WiFi, you can make video phone calls free. Skype will work as well but it was a little jerky. I made two calls via FaceTime and was pleased. Internet service even worked in my Stateroom (Number 7).

Captain Mike Ramirez called us into the salon to give us our safety speech and let us know we were headed 120 miles south to an area the fleet had excellent success catching over 200 tuna per boat that morning. Crew for our trip was Jason Fleck assisted by Jake Phillips in the Galley, with deck hands Derrick, Bunde, Jake, Brandon and Steve Thompson. Steve is the former owner of the Tracer and long time captain in the fleet that lives most the year in Belize. Nice to catch up with Steve.

Pete Gray joined his charter group for the trip which included a very mellow and happy clientele. The Chicago contingent was dubbed the Chicago Seven, a group that has fished this trip for many years together sometimes swelling their numbers to 15. They enjoy their cocktails too - all day long. Great group of guys!

Chicago Seven!

We had two other ladies aboard - Liza (first timer) and Judy (experienced long ranger who brought her husband along). Liza came as a guest of Peter (owner of Safari West).

Saturday morning we hit the deck bright and early excited for our 200 tuna morning like the fleet enjoyed the day before. I chose to fish the Lazer Minnow jig when we first hit a stop. We trolled and trolled and trolled all day until we reached 150 miles south never encountering the mother lode. Good news though is that Liza caught her first ever yellowtail. first ever yellowfin tuna and first ever dorado! She was off to a good start.

We did manage a total of 31 yellowfin tuna (8 to 13 lbs.), 32 small dorados and a hand full of yellowtail for the day. I sent 3 yellowfin, 2 dorado and 2 yellowtail to the galley for us fish eaters and tagged one yellowfin for home. All came on the jig.

The weather was coming up so Mike pointed the bow towards Benitos for some yellowtail fun. Jason kept us stuffed as usual with bacon, eggs, and pumpkin pancakes for breakfast, homemade chocolate chip cookies for early snack, clam chowder for lunch, chicken wings late snack and a fabulous short ribs dinner.

Sunday morning was chilly tucked behind Benitos Island and the water was choppy. I bundled up and we started fishing about 6:30 in the morning. I like fishing yellowtail with a yoyo jig - the dorado colored Tady 4/0. It's my favorite!

I used my Talica 10 with Berkley's new ProSpec Ocean Blue Professional Grade monofilament in 40 pound test. The line is very supple, ties well and performed even better. It seems a bit stretchy but was just the thing to keep from busting off fast running yellows.

We had a decent day of catching 20 pound yellowtail managing 86 for the day. I caught 11 on my jig. I kept 5 and gave the rest away. Late afternoon, we headed to Cedros to fish the following day. By this time, the weather had smoothed out and was beautiful.

Monday we hit the decks early and were greeted with flat calm seas and sunny skies. Wow! It was gorgeous. And if that isn't enough, the fish were biting for everyone. I headed back to the bow (my favorite spot) and continued to throw my Tady 4/0 jig. After I caught 8 fish (helping other passengers fill their sacks), Jason requested 5 for the galley so I caught another 5 for him. Crew encouraged me to continue as there were several passengers that wanted more fish but weren't up to doing all the catching. My trusty jig kept going until I brought up fish number 21 on the same jig and Derrick cut it and the fish off with one swipe of the gaff. 20 fish on one jig is not bad though. I had to switch to a 6XJR to catch the next two fish.

Mike moved us to a shallow, big fish area and I threw out my only bait - a mackerel and nailed a 27.8 ounce yellowtail - my 23rd fish of the day. That was the only fish I tagged for myself that day.

The boat was at limits of yellowtail so everyone was happy and fulfilled. Captain Ramirez put us on a course south and west to a pocket of warm water exploring for tuna. We trolled all day in beautiful weather for 24 baby yellowfin tuna and 5 dorado. We encountered a huge pod of Pilot Whales and several schools of porpoise that entertained us on the warm sunny seas. Since the area seemed void of tuna, Captain Ramirez put us on a course for Jeronimo to fish Reds the following day.

Wednesday we awoke to another gorgeous day of flat calm seas and sunny skies. The weather couldn't be more perfect. I set up my rod with Kenji flies and baited up with sardines up in the bow. We fished shallow then to 280 feet and kept encountering the humbolt squid. They were thick and shut the bite off quickly.

We picked up a few fish for the morning. I caught 6 reds and two chocolate bass. I sent two reds to the galley for sashimi for snack. We broke down most our gear as Mike said we would troll for tuna on the way home but they were a no show again. Soon it was time to break the last of the gear down and let the crew scrub the boat.

Passengers settled into the salon for the afternoon and it was then that the TV was turned on for the first time in the trip. A couple of hunting games were played then a couple movies and it was dinner time. Jason prepared a fabulous dinner of salad, filet mignon with peppercorn sauce, gratin potatoes, asparagus, chili cheese bread and apple crisp a la mode! Great finish to a very fun trip!

Jason sold CD’s of all the photos he took on the trip. He even took some underwater shots with his GoPro of yellowtail and squid. Credit goes to Jason Fleck the photos and videos used here.

Jackpot winners were Joe Jazsa of Tinley Park, IL tied for first place with Pete Simokaitis of Orland Park, IL. Both men had 33.2-pound yellowtail. David Petruescu of La Mirada won third place for a 30.4-pound yellowtail.

Cabo Girls Trip

2011-09-18T13:56:00.001-07:00

Once again I had the privilege of being a guest on Linda William's II Success for a girls fishing trip out of Cabo San Lucas. Linda, Barbara, Susan and I caught the Friday morning Alaska Airlines flight to Cabo. A short two hours later, Captain Cubby (Kevin Pahl) picked us up at San Jose del Cabo Airport and drove us to the marina where Linda's beautiful 60 foot Hatteras is docked and where we would call home for the next six days.

Saturday morning we were up and ready when Cubby arrived at 7 am to get the boat ready for our fishing day. Antonio, his deck hand, arrived at the same time. Mike Powell joined the crew as well. Bait was loaded (10 pieces at $3 each), tackle readied, switch from shore power to generators, and whatever else it takes to get the boat ready.

We made a quick run to pick up the breakfast burritos, smoothies, etc. that we ordered for crew and passenger's breakfasts and then we were off. It was just after 8 am. As we rounded the cape heading for the Pacific side, we encountered flat calm seas. Our goal today was to catch dorado to take to Panchos for our dinner. Cubby trolled us around something he called the 1000 mile bank or spot until we picked up a nice beautiful dorado around noon.

Mission accomplished, Captain Cubby headed towards the Jaime Bank to look for tuna. We spent the rest the day trolling marlin lures and a little black and silver hoochie - which caught a couple small yellowfin tuna. It was a gorgeous day on the water and a beautiful evening when we returned to dock.

After cleaning up, we took our dorado (Mahi Mahi) to Panchos and they prepared it three different ways for us: blackened, grilled and breaded and served it with 6 different sauces. We stuffed ourselves and still had fish left for the next day's lunch.

Sunday morning was the same routine except that Annie Murphy joined us this day. She and her husband own and operate dinner cruise boats in Cabo. Annie and her husband are a delightfully entertaining couple to spend time with. Quite charming!

We departed the harbor around 8 am and trolled over the 1000 mile bank again. Afternoon, Cubby headed out to the Jaime Bank and out came the Yummee Flyer on the Kite. Now it got exciting. The bank was loaded with birds and dolphins - spinners, spotties and commons.

Cubby's kite set up is 7 feet of 300# mono crimped to two back to back 7691 hooks in 9/0 size slid inside a 7" Yummee. This is connected to a snap swivel connected to 100# spectra with a 1 1/2 ounce sliding sinker and a kite float above it.

As the Yummee was trolled, Antonio would yank the line causing the Yummee to skip across the water like a live flyer. As the Yummee hit the water, tuna would blow up on it usually inhaling the flyer and hooking themselves as well. We caught 9 yellowfin tuna at the bank this day and 8 were hooked on the Yummee Flyer and 1 on live bait. The tuna ranged from 30 to 70 pounds and Annie caught her personal best. We had a rotation going so we each caught two tuna except for Susan. She will be first up tomorrow.

We were late getting back to dock and we had tuna to process. Mexico prohibits filleting fish at sea so we had wait until we returned. Cubby and Antonio filleted the fish, while Linda, Susan, Barbara and I bagged and sealed the filets. It was 10 pm by the time we finished and the only place open for dinner was Solomon's on the boardwalk. It was delicious - I had the pecan chicken.

Monday morning we headed back out to the Jaime Bank. Mike joined us again. We still had flat calm seas, water temperatures at 85.3 degrees, air temperatures around 97 and high humidity. We drank lots of water or frozen bottles of Crystal Light. The trip to the bank takes around an hour - about 25 miles. We located the porpoise and out went the kite. 8 yellowfin tuna today (2 each for Linda, Susan, Barbara and me) and all of these were on the Yummee. The Yummee under the kite was the ticket. Other boats without the Yummee were struggling to get a bite. The tuna were on small 3 inch fry but there were loads of live flyers all around.

Tuesday Barbara left us to fly home to be with Hubby for his surgery on Thursday (which I was told went well). We missed you Barb.

We got a late start as our first stop was the fuel dock. We got out of the harbor about 9:30 am. The weather had come up on the Pacific side so we couldn't go back out to the Jaime Bank. We ended up trolling back in towards the Sea of Cortez until we got out of the rough seas. I made us some Poke out of the tuna we caught Monday and sliced up some sashimi for lunch. Nothing like fresh tuna.

We only caught one small dorado all day. It was still a beautiful day on the water. Water temperatures were warmer here - 87 degrees. We went to Nick San for dinner - sushi. It was wonderful and not crowded at all.

Wednesday was our last fishing day. Annie and her husband joined us as did Mike and Glenda Powell. Weather was still up on the Pacific side so back around to the inside.

Cubby and guys spent hours with the Gyros looking for fish and birds. We trolled the outer Gordo Bank and ended up on the inner - Punta Gordo. The porpoise were here - spinners, spotties and commons. Out went the Kite with the Yummee. We picked up a couple yellowfin. We even had a marlin on for a short time. One disheartening sight was a tuna pen being towed towards Cabo. Pretty far south for a pen boat.

I made some tuna tataki, sashimi and smoked fish pate for snacks/lunch. I also set out other leftovers and sandwich fixings. It was a beautiful day- clear skies, 98 degrees, water at 88 degrees.

It was just before six in the evening and we were trolling the Yummee close to two pangas when a 150 pound tuna blew up on the Yummee, and kept blowing out on it but just didn't get it. Just as Cubby said I think I'll make one more pass before heading to dock, it happened. A big boil and we were on. Susan was up so she strapped into her harness and started to work on the fish. 55 minutes later, the big tuna was still not yielding to her pressure. She asked me to take over. After 50 more minutes, I hadn't made significant progress either. This fish was easily over two hundred pounds and we only had 100 pound spectra with just a scant 7 feet of 300 pound mono connected to it. Not the stuff that allows the pressure needed to bring this fish in. Cubby was resistant to me tightening the drag so I didn't but I also knew that if the fish wasn't coming in, it was a lost cause. Time is a killer.

Sharing is what these trips are about and share I did. Linda took over. She really put the pressure to the fish and had it coming when the spectra parted. We never saw the fish.

It was dark and late when we got back to dock.

Another late dinner - 10:30 pm. After dinner, we stopped at the Jazz Bar before calling it a night. Charming husband and wife owners - husband plays the piano and wife sings. Nice way to end the trip.

It was with long faces Thursday morning that we packed, cleaned, did laundry then packed up the ice chests with tuna for the trip home. We were all able to upgrade to First Class so our bags were free to check as was our dinner and drink on the flight home. We thought we might get entertainment too as our attendant was chosen for American Idol and it was his last flight - but alas, he must have had stage fright.

It was a perfect trip - great weather, good fishing, wonderful company and truly a carefree vacation. Thanks again Linda for your friendship.

When Bluefin Bite!

2011-08-24T12:56:00.001-07:00

Jim Carlisle and I left Mission Viejo at 1 p.m. Saturday heading to San Diego for a 1.5 day L.A. Rod and Reel Club Charter on the Pacific Dawn. We picked up Roland Reesby in San Clemente on our way. Two and a half hours later we finally arrived at Fisherman's Landing in San Diego. We would have complained about the traffic, however, we found a parking in the lot and realized we had earned that spot.

The boat arrived early and Captain Pat Cavanaugh had us loaded, baited up and departing the point by 8:30 p.m. "We're headed long - the fish are down 140 miles south and they bit well today!" Pat informed us. No need to get up early as he said he's putting on his blinders until we get into the zone. Pat's crew included Jake, Moses, Man Dog (Mike), and Jeremy (another Fleck brother) in the galley.

Jeremy in the Galley

I set up my tackle. I brought 4 reel/rod combos: a Trinidad with 25# mono, two Talica 10's with 30# and 40# mono plus my Penn 12T with 50# mono. I topped each with Berkley Fluorocarbon and Mustad 92677 hooks in the 2/0 size. Some of our 16 passengers settled in for a long evening of card games while others read their Kindles or hit the bunks.

Top Bunk is Jim’s; Bottom Bunk is mine.

The next morning Jeremy served cantaloupe, omelets, hash brown potatoes and English Muffins for breakfast. Around 10 a.m. Pat had us put out the trolling jigs even though it was still another 30 to 60 minutes before we would reach our destination. After trolling a couple hours, we finally had a jig strike for a few fish - 20 pound yellowfin tunas. I picked up one tuna on bait.

Pat informed us that the fish had moved and the fleet was looking for them. We ended up traveling further south and fishing almost 150 miles from the landing.

Fishing was like it was many years ago - troll then get stopped on a jig strike and catch a few bait fish. Most of our fish were yellowfin tuna 18 to 25 pounds, however, we did pick up a few bluefin tuna and dorado as well.

Pat kept us fishing until 7:30 in the evening before starting up the line. At day's end, we had 78 yellowfin tuna (near limits), 16 bluefin tuna and about a dozen dorado. I was fortunate and caught two of the bluefin tuna and 10 yellowfin of which I sent one to the galley and gave away 4 others. Most my fish were on 30#. Jim had two bluefin and limits of yellowfin and Roland had a bluefin, a big dorado and limits of yellowfin.

The weather came up and the ride home was quite rough. The crew waited until Monday morning to fillet the fish, hoping the weather would ease up. Around 9 a.m. Monday, the fillet fest began. These guys are fast - they finished filleting all the fish in just two hours. Wow!

Jeremy kept us well fed during our trip with chocolate chip cookies mid morning, pork & beef or fish sandwiches for lunch, and pork loin or tuna for dinner Saturday.

Monday morning, Jeremy served us fried rice and eggs for breakfast and blueberry muffins mid morning. We finally reached the dock around noon. I didn't want to have to bag my fish when I got home and neither did Jim or Roland. I called Sean Sebring at Fisherman's Processing to see if they had crew available to bag and tag our fish. "Yes, bring it on over" said Sean.

Sean's staff had all our fish processed in less than an hour. They did a wonderful job and when we couldn't get all our fish in my 100 quart ice chest, Rosie made up a couple insulated boxes with ice for the rest. It was worth every penny we spent. Thanks Sean and Rosie. Several other club members brought their fish to Sean as well.

SO -

When Yellowfin Bite - I do canning and smoking. I canned a case of tuna and ended up with a couple cookie sheets full of smoked fish to share at a BBQ this week at my old job.

BUT -

When Bluefin Bite - I make seared bluefin tuna steaks and sushi!

And what was leftover?

Fortunately, I caught both yellowfin and bluefin tuna. Thanks Pat for going the distance for us!

Ghosts Elude us Again!

2011-07-30T10:07:00.001-07:00

Jack gave me the opportunity to fish with him again Friday. Yes, we took our beautiful mackerels out of the receiver and put them to work. And we worked them and worked them to no avail. The ghosts (aka white seabass) lived up to their reputation.

We had good tides -0.76' at 3:09 am and 4.06' at 9:28 am and 69.9 degree water. Unfortunately we had wind that continued to build to about 12 knots by noon creating quite a choppy sea with white caps. The sun eventually came out around noon but it failed to warm the air. It was a cold day on the water.

We fished the Salt Creek to Headlands area all morning and made one pass from the headlands to pipeline without a single bite for either of us. Thanks again Jack for giving it another try. At least we had the opportunity to try to find them.

Since there were no fish photos, I thought it interesting to document the wonderful process of loading Jack's boat on the trailer. Smooth operation!

Fishing the Pipe!

2011-07-27T10:30:00.001-07:00

Tuesday I got to go out fishing on Jack's Whaler again. The Tuesday Kayak Fishing group (including Tim and Wayne) were heading out to fish the Pipeline. We decided to make bait at the headlands before joining them.

Saddleback Mountain in the background.

When we first metered the bait, we stopped the boat to fish for them. The bait would just swim on through and not bite. Jack suggested we troll for them and that did the trick. Jack caught several before I got one to the boat. Then we had a couple times we both had 3 at time on our line. It only took us an hour to make over two dozen green backed mackerel. Much easier than last week when it took three of us two hours to get the job done.

We motored out to the pipeline and dropped a couple baits in Tim's bait tank. Wayne had made his own mackerel. Tim and Wayne wanted to fish for the threshers. Jack and I were fishing for those elusive white seabass.

Jack moved the boat out to the 70 foot depth just south of the southern most barber pole and put us in a drift. I threw out the chum bucket and pinned a mackerel on my 40 pound outfit with a 2 ounce slider.

The weather was beautiful - sunny skies with a slight breeze. The water had warmed up to 68 degrees and was cleaner than last week but it was still a murky green. Our tides were minimal - a 3.23 foot high tide at 8:03 am and a 2.50 foot low tide at 12:12 pm.

I wish I could say we caught something but we didn't unless you count the bait. I had two baits scarred indicating some kind of activity but no real bites. Jack didn’t have any better luck either. Around 1 pm, the bait showed up out on the pipeline. Jack called Tim to see if he had his receiver ready for some bait. The response was "yes" so I spent another 10 minutes making more bait - mostly mackerel but some sardines as well. We called it a day and delivered the bait into Tim's receiver. Jack’s bait tank is great as all the bait looked better than they did when we caught them.

At days end, Wayne had been the lucky one as he caught a beautiful 14 inch calico plus he had hooked and lost a thresher. Apparently the thresher conveniently tangled Tim's line with Wayne's line before busting off.

It was still a fun day on the water and I did enjoy making bait. Now I'm looking forward to next Tuesday's Kayak Fishing as the tides look better plus we already made bait!

Threshers Abound!

2011-07-23T13:28:00.001-07:00

Jack was generous enough to take Wayne and me out fishing in his Whaler on Friday. His 18 foot center console is just perfect for in-shore fishing off Dana Point. We departed the harbor before 8 am and headed towards the pipeline to make bait. Water was slightly warmer – 66 degrees.

I had bought a small Charkbait Chum Bucket at Hogan's to chum up some bait and hopefully the white seabass. Once we got to our bait making spot, I threw the bucket out. This was the first time I had used one and when it turned upside down in the water, I understood why the instructions said to drill holes in the top of the bucket.

Bait making was very slow again. I was using the Hayabusa Sabiki Size 10, (S-511E) which is $3.99 at Hogan's Bait and Tackle. Not sure what brand Wayne and Jack were using but my Sabiki definitely outfished theirs for green mackerel. The same thing occurred the previous trip.

We made a few mackerel at the pipe when my bait rig got slammed. I dropped down a mackerel on 40# Fluoro with a 2 ounce sliding sinker and hooked up immediately. The fish made a nice run then jumped - another Thresher Shark. It took several minutes to get it to the boat then it took off and jumped again. After a third jump, it came in - a nice 100 pounder! It was hooked in the pectoral fin. While we were deciding who would unhook the fish so I could release it, the fish took another run. I buttoned down the drag and broke him off. Now that was fun!

We moved to the headlands to try for bait and had a little better luck there. It might have been the time of day as I noticed the bait biting better around 10 in the mornings lately. Wayne caught the biggest mackerel I have ever seen - 17 inches long! Around 10 am we had enough bait and moved back to the pipeline to fish. Jack’s bait tank worked well. The only die off was a couple small baits that looked like small bonito.

Jack was sitting in the bow, his rod in the holder when he got hit and his line peeled off. Jack was getting spooled on 30 pound so he tightened his drag and Bamm! Fish gone! When he got his spectra back on the reel, his fluorocarbon had come apart at the connection. Jack re-rigged and was back fishing.

As we drifted, Jack had to keep moving the boat to avoid drifting into the Dana Pride that had just motored up and anchored in our drift line. They didn't do very well and moved to deeper water for a short time before heading south. The water had become a muddier green than when we started so we decided to slow troll back towards the headlands. Jack got hit again but it didn't last long. I got hit next and this was a big fish. He took a nice long run then skimmed across the surface just long enough for Wayne and I to get a glimpse of a really large thresher before he bit through my 40 pound fluorocarbon. If we were actually fishing for threshers, we would need to put some wire on to land the bigger ones.

Around 2:30 pm the tide went slack and we called it a day. A quick run into the harbor then clean up time. The boat clean-up went quickly with 3 to do the work. I drove Wayne back over to get his car at Dana Point Jet Ski and Kayak Center. We kept that big mackerel and our leftover bait for hoop netting when lobster season opens. We put the bait and the leftover chum bucket in Tim's freezer until he fills it with his catch from Alaska next month. Anyone got an extra freezer they don't mind me keeping bait in?

Thanks again Jack for your generosity! It was a great day on the water.

Fishing Jack’s Whaler!

2011-07-20T14:29:00.001-07:00

I met Jack yesterday morning at Dana Point Landing and we launched his 18 foot Boston Whaler and headed out of the harbor. We were on the water heading to the bait grounds by 8 am. The water was cooler than last week, just 65 degrees and glassy calm.

We headed towards the headlands and stopped short when we saw bait jumping. They were not anxious to jump on our Sabiki's but we coaxed them with bits of squid on our hooks. Eventually we caught 6 mackerel, 1 sardine and 6 spanish mackerel. We pinned baits on our dropper loops and dropped them down. We were fishing.

Area that I caught the Thresher

We slow trolled our baits as we travelled toward the pipeline. Once we arrived in the area, our bait began shuddering. I had a hit that lasted a few seconds then it just took my bait. I rebaited and dropped back in then got hit again. This time I saw a thresher shark jump. It was on my line. He jumped 4 times before I got him to the boat. He was foul hooked - right in his dorsal fin. He was a beautiful, shimmering iridescent pink. I pulled him close to the boat and Jack unhooked him. We watched him swim away.

We had porpoise around the entire day and the dolphin boat came by chasing dolphin. They were loaded with passengers, all on the bow watching the marine life ahead of them.

Suddenly Jack was hooked up. It was on a heavy fish! It acted like a big halibut - just a heavy weight swimming away. Suddenly it broke off. Bummer. That was a good fish. We fished until we were out of bait and then headed in. Unfortunately we didn’t connect with the white seabass as I had hoped. Last week Jack caught a 45 pounder off Dana and we were hoping to find them again. We cleaned up the boat and headed home. I was home around 3 pm.

Thanks Jack for a great day on the water. I can't wait to get back out there.

Shogun 1.5 Day Trip

2011-07-15T14:13:00.001-07:00

I reached Fisherman's Landing July 13th around 2 pm in order to get a parking place prior to the scheduled 7 pm departure on the Shogun. Parked next to me was Pat Cavanaugh. He advised me he was taking his boat, the Pacific Dawn, back up to Ventura as fishing is so bad for the 1 to 3 day trips out of San Diego. Pat usually fishes the Channel Islands in the winter and spring and San Diego in the summer. White seabass, barracuda and halibut are biting well off the central coast currently.

Fourteen of us boarded the Shogun including Harry, with whom I have fished on other trips. It was nice to fish with Harry again. One of our other passengers, Kim, was traveling with her father. She had never caught a tuna nor had she fished on a boat longer than 3/4 of a day. Her father had promised her this trip while she was fighting breast cancer. She was very excited to be on board and so was her father.

We made a quick stop at the bait receiver to top off the tanks and passed the Point about 8 pm. Bruce Smith (our Captain) gave the safety speech and told us about a new area 110 miles south. The spotter plane had spotted 5 schools of bluefin the day before in the area we were heading. I hit the sack early.

We started trolling at 6 am Thursday morning while Bill was still serving breakfast. The weather was overcast - a deep cloud cover - and misting. The water was a clear blue and 65 degrees. Seas were choppy with a few white caps. The winds were around 10 to 12 knots but they wouldn't stay that way.

We had one school of small bluefin boil up but wouldn't take a bait with a hook in it. After trolling another hour or so, we had another school of bluefin boil up and three fish were hooked and landed. These fish were all of 12 pounds each! The good part is that Kim caught her first tuna!! Congratulations Kim! We threw everything we had (including live squid) at the school before they left us.

The wind came up and the seas came up too. That was it for the day. We stopped on a dozen or so kelps and a total of two schools of bluefin for 3 small fish.

I had a bait picked up and dropped, but other than that, I just enjoyed chatting with Bruce and the crew. I am still in "Fishing" mode and really wishing for the "catching" karma to come back.

When I got off the Shogun Friday morning, I had a message from Ingrid Poole informing me that she had completed the sale of the Excel to Al Gross. He is an entrepreneur and long time Chartermaster/passenger on the boat. Ingrid said Al plans to keep the crew and continue to operate the boat out of Fisherman's Landing. I’m looking forward to meeting the new owner one day.

Kayak Tuesday 7-12-11

2011-07-15T13:32:00.001-07:00

Rumors of 50 pound white seabass being caught on kayaks fishing outside Dana Point Harbor creates in me an uncontrollable urge to go fishing. Jack, Wayne and I met at the harbor, launched our kayaks and peddled out of the harbor around 7 am on Tuesday. Along the way out, Wayne confirmed that a 45 pound white seabass had been caught on a kayak fishing next to him last week.

Overcast skies, 10 to 12 knot winds, and choppy 67 degree seas greeted us as we left the protection of the harbor. Current was running northeast at a quick clip.

Our first stop was to make some mackerel for bait. I caught a couple mackerel and a couple sardines and put them in my bait tank. Jack headed out to the pipeline. I looked for an area of bait and 60 feet of water. I pinned on a beautiful, lively mackerel and trolled him around looking for bait balls and the elusive seabass.

Bait balls were difficult to find until around 10 am, when the sun peeked out of the clouds, and then the bait just showed up. By that time, Wayne was on his way to join Jack at the pipeline to fish for calicos and sandbass. I continued to fish for the seabass around the headlands. I trolled that same little mackerel for 5 hours and covered 9.5 miles and my bait was still swimming with gusto! Other than bait, I caught nothing so I called it a day around noon.

When Wayne and Jack returned, Jack had a nice sandbass and Wayne said he had released a couple short calicos. Just another day of “Fishing.” Looking forward to getting back to catching fish one day.

Braid 8-Day 2011

2011-07-06T14:06:00.001-07:00

Early June 27th we boarded the Excel anxious to reach the rumored bluefin grounds. We loaded bait and cruised past the point at 10:30 am heading towards an area 240 miles south under the helm of Justin Fleck with Mike Ramirez as second. Jake Phillips was in charge of the Galley with Vince Otani assisting. Brandon, Derrick, Bundy, Kevin and Little Jimmy rounded out the crew.

Tuesday morning found us searching for the previously biting bluefin only to be disappointed. There were fish around but none interested in feeding. Justin kept the boat pointed south with Alijos Rocks as the destination. The rocks had been the promised land kicking out big yellowtail and yellowfin tuna up to 100 lbs. for other boats in the fleet. We would be there in the morning.

We slid into the area just as the RP was leaving. Two other boats would leave in another day or so. With the bluefin still suffering from lockjaw, the decision was made to spend our trip here. The water was 65 degrees with a screaming current - a current so strong that all the lines ended up in the same place a hundred yards behind the boat. The live sardines continued to tangle lines resulting in massive spectra tangles involving multiple anglers at the same time. If an angler was lucky enough to hook a fish, it had to be threaded through the tangles. Unfortunately, this situation never changed for the four days we spent at the rocks.

Yellowtail were plentiful (for most the passengers - me excluded) and ranged from 20 to 50 lbs. They preferred a live bait on a 3/0 J-hook, 40 pound fluorocarbon with 1.5 ounce sliding sinker. There were a couple jig fish and dropper loop but they were few and far between. The star angler was Roland Reesby who, after reaching his limit, single handedly hooked and handed enough fish to push a dozen anglers up to their limits of yellowtail.

Yellowfin tuna were finicky. Previous to our arrival, squid was the bait of choice so we made squid the first night. The next day, the fish preferred sardines or nothing at all. We made it through a full kite rotation which produced most of the tuna and Roland's jackpot fish. A couple tuna were hooked on flylined sardines but most were kite fish.

As the days passed, the water cooled off and so did the bite. Rough seas were predicted so Justin made the decision to move up the line towards Cedros. A revised weather forecast had the weather smoothing out after midnight so a decision was made to visit the bluefin grounds again. After spending an entire day (on calm seas) searching for biting fish, we headed towards Jeronimo with one 12 lb. bluefin in the hold that was caught on a trolling feather.

We finished the trip at Jeronimo catching Vermillion Rock Fish (Reds) and ling cod. We had near limits for all passengers before calling it a trip.

This was one of the slowest trips I've ever seen and I wasn't the only angler to feel this way. Only a few people caught a tuna which is usually abundant on this trip. There were a couple of standout catches - Roland had one and the Bailey's (Janet and Gordon), Steve and Kathy did as well. We all came home with fish, just not the tuna catch we have been spoiled with catching in previous years. There's always next year.

Jackpot winners were Roland Reesby with a 105.6 lb. yellowfin tuna. Second was Curt Wiesenhutter with a 96.3 and Roger Verduyn with a 92.9 lb. tuna.

Kayak Tuesday 6-21-11

2011-06-22T15:50:00.001-07:00

Tim, Jack, Wayne and I launched our kayaks and headed out of the harbor at 8 am yesterday. The water was a glassy 66.8 degrees and the air was close to the same, even though the skies were shrouded in a heavy cloud cover.

Leaving the Harbor

Tim and I had new GoPro Cameras to test out. Tim's camera was affixed to a pole and placed in a rod holder attached to his bait tank. Mine was loosely connected to my PFD so I could quickly grab it to take videos. As it turned out, Tim forgot to put the memory card in his GoPro so it was fortunate I had mine.

We peddled out to the headlands west of the red buoy and began fishing in 70 feet of water. On the way out, I caught a small mackerel and pinned it on my dropper loop. I fished 30 lb. Berkley Fluorocarbon and a Mustad 4/0 92677 hook. I also fished dead squid on the dropper loop. Wayne, Tim and Jack fished a combination of live sardines, mackerel and dead squid.

I tried casting a plastic swim bait and the Waxwing jig for a while with no success. At one point I saw the birds fire up over some porpoise and a school of bait. I peddled as fast as possible towards them but they moved out of range too quickly for me.

Fishing was horribly slow. A few bait snatchers was all I found. Apparently Jack and Wayne found the same. Tim was the star performer as he hooked two thresher sharks and due to fishing a steel leader, landed the second shark. This gave me the opportunity to test my GoPro to record Tim's catch. Wayne captured the still photos (while I was playing with the video camera.)

Tim’s Thresher

Around noon the sun finally came out and although the fish refused to bite, it was a nice day on the water. We returned to dock around 1:30 pm to clean up our gear and put our kayaks away. In 5 1/2 hours of fishing I had traveled a total of 9 miles and taken 14 new videos on my GoPro. Hopefully I’ll capture a video of one of my fish next time out.

Al’s Fisherman’s Pals and Gals

2011-05-31T14:18:00.001-07:00

Friday, May 13, 2011, 27 passengers boarded the Excel for Al's Fisherman's Pals and Gals first annual 15 day charter. Justin Fleck was our Captain with Mike Ramirez as his second. Crew on deck included Derrick, Rudy, Brandon, and Bundy. Chef Jason Fleck was in charge of the galley assisted by Chef in Training, Jake Phillips.

By 8:30 am, we had paid, boarded and departed dock for the bait receiver. While crew loaded bait, passengers organized tackle and got settled in their staterooms.

While at the receiver, Jason decided to cast a small plastic swim bait on 8 lb. test and landed a beautiful halibut. He made the passengers fish tacos with it the next day for lunch.

Jason’s Halibut

At 11:30 am, we departed the point. Justin called us to the galley for the safety seminar then Al Scow welcomed us and passed out gifts to all the passengers. Various tackle items (including 4 reels), fluorocarbon leader material, Mauraders, etc. were raffled off so that all passengers received gifts. Every passenger also received Cajun Gold Seasoning, a hand towel, 2 pound See's Candy Certificate and commemorative T-shirt. Al was extremely generous as most the giveaways came out of Al's own pocket. All the passengers were appreciative.

On board was Accurate rep, Gary Gillingham, who also provided a tackle pack for each angler. Thanks Gary.

Our destination was Hurricane Bank - a spot 1000 miles southwest of Point Loma. Travel time was occupied by putting reels on rods, making leaders, attending fishing seminars, reading and watching movies. I also spent one day teaching Luan how to make his own top shots and another morning Jason and I made Gingersnaps for passengers. The day before we reached the bank, we set our drags and did our last minute preparations.

Tuesday morning, four days after leaving San Diego, we arrived at the bank at 7:30 am. We trolled around the bank and began catching wahoo immediately. Soon, Justin anchored the boat and we continued to catch wahoo while putting up the kite. The first two kite fish were a wahoo and a 60 lb. tuna. I was up next and nailed a 217 lb. yellowfin tuna - just the luck of the draw. I was thrilled as I hadn't caught a cow for the last two years. My trip was made. The wahoo kept biting and at day's end we had over 100 wahoo.

Although no other sport boats were at the bank, we did encounter a shark longline boat from Costa Rica. They requested our junk fish to use as bait (rainbow runners, small tuna, dead skipjack, etc.) We took junk fish over to them and in return, they sent us two swordfish they had caught before arriving at the bank. What a special treat - swordfish steaks for dinner one night. I hadn't had swordfish in over 10 years. It was great mostly because Jason truly is the best when it comes to cooking fish.

Swordfish Transfer between boats.

The next couple days produced a 202 lb. cow for Jim Carlisle and a 247 pounder for Ted. The weather continued to be a bit choppy with 15 knot winds and the sharks began to gather. The sharks even took the wahoo. At one point they were so thick it was difficult to get a fish through them. Tim and I both had fish on the bow when a shark came through spooking our fish. Tim's fish headed to the stern and mine went under the boat to the starboard bow with the shark on it. I decided to let the sharks have my tuna in the hopes they would let Tim land his. In a heartbeat, there were over 20 brown sharks shredding my tuna. What a show! It worked too - Tim landed his fish - a nice 175 pounder that was caught on the Talica 50 he was testing for Shimano.

Big Al

Third day into the trip, I broke a front tooth accidently biting down on a toothpick. Luckily I brought my nightguard and I was able to use it to hold my tooth in place. This put a damper on the trip for me as I couldn't speak clearly or eat anything but soft foods for the rest the trip. With the Memorial Day Holiday, it would be the Wednesday after returning home – another two weeks – before getting any relief. Being at least two and a half days from any emergency medical or dental services is frustrating and frightening. For non emergencies (as was my case), one must wait until the end of the trip. Fear of having a health emergency, may cause me to abandon the longer trips in the future.

By Saturday, the weather improved and so did the early morning fishing. Before dark I hooked a tuna on a skipjack and was zipped off by another passenger. Everyone was hooked up so several fish were lost besides mine. I hooked another fish on a flylined sardine at 5 am which turned out to be a very mean 160 pound yellowfin that took me around the boat 5 times in my two hour battle to land it.

At first call for breakfast, most passengers went into the galley leaving the rail empty. I used the opportunity to float a puffer fish out on a balloon while everyone else was inside eating. At 8 am, the puffer got bit and Jim Carlisle just happened to be standing next to me. His sharp wit nailed me with "See you back here with your fish at 10 am." referring to my previous two hour battle. I told him to bite his tongue but it was too late - the curse was on me. At 10 am Jim found me at the bow still battling the fish. He just looked at this watch and smiled. After being drug around the boat 7 times for a total of 3 hours, the crew stuck 4 gaffs in my 249 pound yellowfin tuna. Another very mean fish. Great fish - not a personal best, but a great fish. By 11 am, I had been battered by two tuna for 2 hours and 3 hours consecutively - a total of 5 solid hours battling tuna in one morning. What a day!

The day continued when Chris landed a 201 and Luan got the big fish of the trip - a 252 on a top shot he made after I taught him how to make them. Several more big fish were landed just under the 200 pound mark. I sent a tuna to the galley for sushi and gave another away to another passenger.

Our last two days, the tuna and wahoo continued to bite. I caught fish on chunks, flylined sardines and mackerel. I gave another tuna to the galley and 4 tuna to other passengers. Jim got another cow - a 217 and Gary got a 206 but my favorite was Roland Reesby's first cow - a 204. Congratulations Roland.

Wahoo kept biting each day too so with tuna and wahoo both biting well, the boat was quickly filling its' holds. The two fresh wells were chugged by the fifth day and on the seventh and last day, with 184 yellowfin and 297 wahoo, the slammer was topped off.

Jason and Jake in the Galley were fabulous. Both are excellent handling passenger’s special orders with patience and humor. Jason had Jake handle the cooking one day as part of his training and did a fantastic job. Passengers were all impressed with Jake and we are all hopeful he gets the opportunity to be the second chef on the boat.

It was a good trip for all. As for me, this was one of my most fun trips. I tagged 8 tuna from 150 to 249 pounds and 15 wahoo. I caught fish on the kite, balloon, flylined baits and on chunks using sardines, live and dead flyers, skipjack, mackerel, and puffer fish. I fished my Penn 50SW with a 50 foot top shot of 130 pound big game monofilament with a 3 foot 130 lb. Berkley fluorocarbon leader using a Mustad 8/0 39943 hook for everything except the kite where I used the Mustad 7691 hooks instead.

The cows caught on the trip included:

Luan Pham 252

Jan Howard 249, 217

Ted Kamenecka 247

Jim Carlisle 217, 202

Gary Gillingham 206

Roland Reesby 204

Chris Perez 201

Several of the anglers who caught the big fish were not in the jackpot, so the jackpot winners are as follows:

Luan Pham

Jim Carlisle

Gary Gillingham

Luan, Jim and Gary

The trip up the line was a brutal 4.5 days heading into 20 knots of wind with up to a 10 foot swell with the boat sloshing in the trough. I spent most the travel time in my bunk and was grateful to be back on land.

View from my bunk.

We returned to dock on Memorial Day weekend so the landing was crowded with folks wanting to see the wonderful catch we brought back. Tim Boyer and Jack Voss came down to help by taking most of my wahoo and some tuna. Tim actually worked harder sorting fish than most the passengers that were on the trip. Thanks Tim! And Jack, thanks for watching my fish so they didn't grow feet. Fisherman's Processing handled my fish. I had them filet a 30 lb. wahoo and a 60 lb. tuna then I donated the rest charity. They did a fantastic job and the fish tasted great.

While my fish was being processed, Mike and I took Hillary and Sage to breakfast. I got reacquainted with the baby girl I missed on this trip. Jason had to help clean up the boat so he couldn't join us.

Sage

San Miguel Island

2011-05-06T07:46:00.001-07:00

Sunday, May 1st, I popped into my truck packed with rock cod gear and headed north. On my way, I picked up Jim Carlisle and Al Scow for our L A Rod & Reel Charter on the Pacific Dawn operating out of Ventura Sportfishing during the winter months. We arrived early to sign the manifest then we headed over to Andrea's for a fresh fish dinner (courtesy of Big Al). Thanks Al.

Captain Pat Cavanaugh brought the boat back to dock filled with rock fish - and he was excited that they were caught in shallow water. We boarded as soon as the boat was cleaned up and set up all our gear. We had a slight delay in departing due to a need to replace Man Dog as he had a serious hand infection requiring immediate attention. Get better soon Man Dog!! Whitney made a cameo appearance in the Galley before starting her summer on the American Angler. Opie also made a cameo. Regular deckhand, Jeremy, was assisted by Man Dog's replacement, Joe. Jim and I shared some wine then called it a night.

Monday morning found Jim, Al and me watching the sun come up as we idled close to San Miguel Island.

The weather was perfect - sunny and warm with a slight breeze. Pat decided to set us up in shallow water - as in less than 60 feet deep. Pat said "grab your bass gear guys and have fun!" I fished all day with leadheads and Gulp grubs. My first drop was a nice big Red! I had caught Mike's favorite fish to eat so my trip was already made!

We fished all day until we all had limits of rock fish which included a couple lings (Jim had one), reds, loads of big chuckleheads and Big Al had a nice Cabazon. I also picked up a big calico bass in the mix. Beautiful weather, calm seas and great fishing made for a perfect day on the water.

Now it's time to pack up for the next trip - Big Al's 15-Day Charter on the Excel called Fisherman's Pals and Gals departing May 13th. Wish us luck. Woo Hoo!

Islander Kayak Trip

2011-04-17T14:14:00.001-07:00

Friday, April 15th, Tim Boyer's Dana Point Jet Ski and Kayak Center (DPJSKC) sponsored a charter aboard the Islander, one of the long range vessels operating out of Fisherman's Landing in San Diego. There were fourteen of us assembling our gear and loading our kayaks for the drive to San Diego. Tim loaded 5 kayaks on his truck including my little Hobie Sportfish, the smallest kayak in Hobie's Mirage Drive line. Jim picked me up on the way and I loaded the rest of my gear in his vehicle.

When we arrived at the landing, we lined up our kayaks on the dock for the crew to load and put the rest of our gear on the deck and in our staterooms. Then it was time for dinner - a nice fish dinner at Mitch's Seafood.

When we returned from dinner, the kayaks were already loaded.

Around 9 pm, we pulled away from the dock and headed to the bait receivers. After loading bait, Captain John Conniff gave us the safety speech and informed us that the Navy had opened all San Clemente Island allowing us to fish the Pyramid Cove area. The island had been scheduled to be closed where we wanted to fish. John told us that when we got to the island they would anchor up and drop us in the water. He said to work our way down current. They would move the boat down current later to would pick us up.

After the Captain finished, Tim welcomed everyone on the charter and held a raffle for great prizes - Reel Cleaning Kits, Gift Cards to Bass Pro Shops, etc. plus DPJSKC hats, rod tethers and stickers for everyone. Thanks Tim!

I called it a night early. The ride was a little bumpy due to the 15 to 20 knot winds we headed into. I got up at 3:30 am and we were still traveling. There was a full moon out shining across the sea and the seas had smoothed out. I set up my kayak so it was ready to launch when we got to the island. Chef Rick had posted the menu for the day in the galley. He was up early and ready to serve a gourmet French Toast breakfast at 5:30 am.

Captain John got the anchor down in Pyramid Cove (San Clemente Island) about 6 am. The crew began launching the kayaks at 6:15 - before the sun was up. I was second in the water.

I peddled around until my bait tank was primed then came back to the boat for crew to load my tank with lively sardine. I took off and headed down current to fish. I started out fishing a sardine on a reverse dropper loop using 30# Berkley Big Game and a Mustad 3/0 offset hook (92677).

The water temperature was 61 degrees with calm, glassy seas. As soon as the sun came up, the air temperature rose quickly until it was a hot day requiring lots of sunscreen. What a change from last week's 30 degree air temps fishing at Santa Rosa Island. A bald eagle flew right over me. What a beautiful morning.

The bass fishing was slow. I only had a few bites from small bass - too small to get the hook in it's mouth. An hour or so after all the kayaks were in the water, I heard some screaming up current from me. I couldn't tell if someone was in trouble or if a trophy fish had been landed until a voice over the radio asked the crew to bring the skiff to pick up his 20 pound halibut. Tom said the halibut was too big for him to peddle it back to the big boat. Shortly after that, one of the divers surfaced close to me hoisting a halibut he had speared.

I switched over to halibut fishing and left the kelp line heading to the beach area. I bounced my sinker along the bottom, fishing in 15 feet of water slow trolling a sardine. I varied my speed from .3 to .8 mph. Suddenly it felt like I snagged the bottom. I spun my kayak around and looked down to see a halibut connected to my line. I took my time letting the halibut run when he wanted to while getting my gaff ready. I maneuvered my kayak so the halibut was on my right side and when the fish surfaced, I put the rod in my left hand and slowly lead the halibut into gaff range and with my right hand, stuck him with the gaff. A head shot at that. I set my rod down, grabbed the gaff with my left hand and used my right to open the game clip and slide it through the fish's gill up through its' mouth and closed the clip. I decided to take the fish back to the boat so it could be cooled down quickly preserving the quality.

Captain John came around in the skiff letting us know lunch would be served until 1 pm and that we should all be back on the boat by then as the boat was making a move around to the front side of the island. By this time the battery in my bait tank was dead (6 hours is not bad) so I would be fishing squid or plastics the rest the day. All the kayaks were loaded back on the boat and we had a short ride around the island.

The kayaks were launched again and we headed off. The front side of the island gets deep quickly and there weren't any flat sandy beaches to fish so back to bass fishing. The rest the afternoon I tried squid on a leadhead working my way down current. I succeeded in feeding the blue perch most of my bait. I caught one sheepshead, small junk fish but no bass. Jim did better – he’s a good bass fisherman.

Traveling down current, I encountered a huge bait ball of sardines that must have been a mile in diameter. The seals were chasing them around except for the albino seal I saw sitting on the shore.

The Captain moved the boat down current around 3 in the afternoon. By then, the wind had come up and so had the swell. By 6 pm, the swells were coming in sets and the seas became less friendly. I headed back to the boat calling it a day. I considered 12 hours on the water traveling 13 miles a full day.

I put my gear away, took a shower and we settled in for jackpot weigh-in and fish tales. I think Jacks tale was the best. Not only did Jack catch 5 rays, he had two on at once. Congratulations Jack! Jim lost a big fish to the kelp late in the day - he says it was either a big, big calico or a white seabass. Bummer. Tim brought back whitefish and sheepshead. Other anglers caught bass, whitefish and sheepshead too, but no one caught yellowtail or seabass this trip. Three halibuts were the big fish of the trip - Tom's weighed 20 lbs.; mine was second at 13 lbs. None of the halibut anglers were in the jackpot.

Time for dinner! Pour the wine! And here's the feast! Chef Rick does a great job, not only with the taste of the food but the presentation as well. Passengers gathered on the back deck for cigar smoking and reminiscing about the day until it was time to get some shuteye.

Sunday morning at 5:30 am, we unloaded the boat, packed up our vehicles and slipped out of the parking lot while Day at the Docks was getting set up. Another great trip goes in the books and I still have a fresh halibut dinner to look forward to. Jim does as well as I gave him half of my fish. Fish is always better fresh and when shared with friends.

The Islander is a quality operation with knowledgeable owners and crew and they are extremely proficient at handling the kayak mothership trips. I look forward to Dana Point Jet Ski and Kayak Center’s next charter on the Islander.

Kayak Tuesday 4-12-11

2011-04-13T11:21:00.001-07:00

Just read last week's report minus catching the mackerel, add wind and choppy seas and you have this week's report. Didn't see last week's report, you didn't miss anything as I didn't catch anything. This seems to be a habit lately.

There were about six of us heading out this morning. Most of us fished the beach first. The water was still cold - 58 to 59 degrees and green. It was an outgoing tide and I fished in as little water as 6 feet at times. After a couple hours dragging a squid around on a dropper loop, we headed out to the pipe. By this time the wind and swell had come up with a 1.3 mph current.

I metered fish and loads of bait but nothing wanted to bite for me. Tim and Jack had a little better luck each catching a sandbass and Wayne caught a 10 inch calico. I entertained myself with the wildlife above the water. I had a small bird swim over as if to hitch a ride. The pelicans are always putting on a show as well. Stand-up paddle boarders are interesting to watch too.

We headed in around one in the afternoon at which time the sun made an appearance. Perhaps when the water warms up, the fishing will improve.

Santa Rosa Island

2011-04-11T08:21:00.001-07:00

Los Angeles Rod and Reel Club had their first trip of the year on the Pacific Dawn now operating out of Ventura Sportfishing during the winter. We departed Friday April 8th around 9:30 in the evening heading into 15 to 20 knot winds. The predictions were for the wind to come down but increasing again Saturday afternoon – just the window needed for us to get out fishing. The winds did return in the afternoon Saturday and we returned to harbor with it blowing 30 knots. The following trip report and most of the photos courtesy of Jim Carlisle.

Man was it cold at Santa Rosa Island yesterday morning. 30 degrees wind chill at daylight…..Brrrrr.

One good halibut for Ger plus 37# and 23# white seabass. Rick caught the big one and shared it with Jan, Al, Roland and I so good eats tonight.

The 23 pounder was caught by 12 year old Nick which was cool to see. Lots of barracuda around in the cold water so good sign of things to come.

We made plenty of squid but the seabass and halibut wanted sardines….weird. They also didn’t bite until after breakfast well after a few of us froze our butts off fishing from the dark thru gray light when they are supposed to bite.

Rockfishing was way off though, maybe the wind did us in, but the quality surface fish made the day.

Another good trip with Pat, plus the great service of Man Dog Mike, Ryan Cavanaugh, and Jeremy Fleck on deck.

Nice day.

Kayak Tuesday 4-5-11

2011-04-08T08:51:00.001-07:00

It was a nice day on the water. What else can I say. The day was much like other Tuesdays but without any biters. I caught one beautiful little greenie (mackerel) which I quickly pinned on a hook and trolled around for 3 hours without a single hit. It was still alive when I took it off the hook. I also fished dead squid with the same results.

The interesting part of the day was the bait and bird action. I spent most the day within a square mile area of jumping bait - which looked like anchovies. Areas of bait would jump across the surface of the water sounding like rain showers all around me. Then the birds would chase the jumpers screeching as they dove for the bait. Interesting to watch.

I had a chance to try my new (larger) rudder and turbo fins that Tim installed for me last week. What a difference they make. Now I can turn on a dime and travel faster with less work. Sweet!

Kayak Tuesday 3-29-11

2011-03-30T09:49:00.001-07:00

Good weather with sun was predicted - finally. Unfortunately, the weather forecasters were wrong again. The sun tried to peek through the clouds but the clouds refused to let more than a few rays of the sun through and the wind breezed in around 10 am to chill the air. The water conditions were less than stellar as well - 59 degrees, dirty and green with the surface smooth then ruffling from the wind churning it into a moderate chop.

OK, so the conditions weren't great, but I still enjoyed the day on the water. There are always interesting things to watch while fishing. The pelicans flew in formation a few feet above the surface of the water silently heading over the horizon. The seagulls chased each other straight up in the sky screeching and (well it is mating season). Small bait fish occasionally skipped across the surface of the water possibly being chased by something below the surface.

Porpoise lazily arched over the surface gradually moving along the coast. Not like previous weeks when they chased bait non-stop all day long. One sea lion swam around as if searching for his friends - coming right under my kayak at one point - unannounced - causing me to take a huge breath. I even had a bee hitchhike a ride for a while, resting his wings until a breeze carried him away.

Fishing? Well that is just what it was for me - fishing. Nothing even on the meter except a few small fish along the bottom just out of the harbor in about 35 feet of water. I had plenty of small fish eating the bait off my 7/0 circle hook but nothing large enough to take the hook so I moved to deeper water and found a meter with nothing on it. Six kayakers fished frozen squid, plastics, live sardines and jigs. Tim had 6 small fish (using a 2/0 hook) - sand bass, calico and rockfish. Warren caught a small sting ray and Jack had a sand bass. Nothing big enough to keep.

We returned to harbor early - just four and a half hours on the water traveling six and a half miles this Tuesday.

After cleaning up my kayak, I had Tim do a kayak upgrade - adding a larger rudder and turbo fins on my peddles. I also signed up for Tim's Kayak Mothership Charter departing April 15th on the Islander fishing San Clemente Island. Can't wait for that trip. If you are adventuresome enough, join me! There are still a couple spots available. Give Tim a call at (949) 661-4947.

Kayak & Hoop Netting 3-15-11

2011-03-16T12:44:00.001-07:00

First daylight savings time kayak trip so it seemed early and rather dark when we hit the water. The overcast and slightly foggy weather contributed to the dark feeling.

William and I were first to leave the harbor. Tim, Warren, Jack and a couple others followed. The water was 58 degrees and absolutely filthy - muddy looking with lots of debris on the surface including wood sticks and small logs. This was very discouraging.

We headed out for a mile or so to 85 feet of water with only slightly better water, however, we metered bait but no fish out there. Plenty of bait everywhere including big clouds of bait from surface to the bottom showing up on the meters. Birds and seals chasing bait today but the porpoise were absent. Interesting seeing so much bait out here but finding none in the receiver (the bait rolled over due to the Tsunami). Fortunately we still had frozen squid for bait.

I fished the reverse dropper loop with 30 lb. fluorocarbon connected to 20 lb. Spiderwire Ultra Cast, and a 6/0 Mustad circle hook. I covered 6 miles in my travels along the pipeline for mostly nothing this day.

I worked my way back in to 60 feet of water and connected with a small thresher shark. This 5 footer spun me around in my kayak three times then raced off a hundred feet or so on the surface then back to spin me again. We continued this process a few more times while I called in Tim to help with the release. I brought the pretty little shark to the surface and Tim released him for me. We thought about a photo but only after the fish had been released. Oh well.

I pulled my kayak out of the water at noon - earlier than usual. I cleaned it up and raced home to pack for another fishing event - hoop netting for lobster.

I packed up my lobster gear, made a run to Trader Joe's for the night's picnic dinner on board Jason's Trophy skiff, and drove to San Diego. I parked at Fisherman's Landing where the skiff was tied up to the dock next to the Excel. We loaded my gear and the food and drinks on the boat then baited the nets - 10 total. We used sardines and some bonito that Bob Hoose had given us. A messy affair at best – shoving dead bait into bait tubes.

Once the nets were baited and loaded on the boat, we headed to the harbor area in front of the Hilton Hotel.

Rudy and Brandon joined us. Around 5:30 pm we set the nets then spent the next hour eating dinner and fishing (we fished in between each pull of the nets).

Using our bass gear, we fished plastics, Gulps, dead sardines and squid (leftover from my kayak fishing). The lizard fish were on the chew! We all caught them. I caught a small halibut (released), Jason caught a nice spotty and Brandon got a nice sculpin but mostly lizard fish.

We began pulling nets just before dark and made a pull every 30 to 45 minutes until midnight for a total of 7 pulls. I pulled the nets first then we rotated between Jason, Brandon and me. We brought up blue crabs, an octopus, sting rays, big sculpin and one lobster for the entire evening. That’s fishing.

At least it was a nice night on the water and we had fun.

Kayak Tuesday 3-1-11

2011-03-01T15:59:00.001-08:00

Arriving at the harbor, I noticed the porpoise and birds were working an area of bait and it was only 7 am. I thought this was a sign of good things to come.

Warren was already there when I arrived and Wayne showed up shortly after, followed by Tim, Jack and William. We set up and launched the kayaks and headed out of the harbor. The water was a cool 57 degrees and an onshore breeze was blowing over it providing a chill to the air. The sun was out but clouds were racing to provide a filter to the sun's warmth. I looked down into the water and saw a muddy green color. This wasn't going to be like last week!

We fished the pipeline again. I fished close to Jack for most the day as he had forgotten his gaff and was sure he would need mine. At one point, the clouds parted and the wind ceased and we were surrounded by porpoise chasing bait. Unfortunately, it only lasted about 15 minutes and that was the best part of the day. Jack and I were not getting bit but we kept at it.

Porpoise Pushing Bait

Tim seemed to do well as he caught 6 sandbass two of them on the way out to very deep water. He also caught a couple sand dabs. William fished in shallower water and said he caught all five of his fish first thing in the morning. I don't know how the others fared as I came in early - around 1 pm.

I fished the same set up as last week, dropper loop with dead squid but only caught a couple short sandbass for the entire day. I caught those on the way back to the harbor in 30 feet of water. I guess the fish were in shallow. At least I got my exercise - 7.6 miles of peddling.

Next week is Fred Hall Tackle Show in Long Beach (March 9 to 13) so no Kayak Tuesday until after the show. Hope to see you all there. Look for me in the Berkley Booth.

Kayak Tuesday 2-21-11

2011-02-23T14:22:00.001-08:00

The predicted rain was avoided again and the Kayak Tuesday group launched their kayaks out of Dana Point in 41 degree weather under sunny skies. We peddled out of the harbor just before 8 am and split directions. Tim, Jack and I headed to the pipeline while the others fished closer inshore - not sure where as I couldn't see them.

I decided to fish the dropper loop with dead squid (thanks Tim for the bait). I was using my Revo Inshore spooled with 20 lb. Spiderwire Ultra Cast with a short dropper loop made with Berkley 20 lb. fluorocarbon and a 6/0 circle hook. I put the reel on a 6' Berkley Cherrywood Premium Graphite rod rated 10 - 25 lbs. I started fishing in 70 feet of water. Tim went out to deeper water and Jack was fishing in 64 feet of water. Jack started with a 1.5 ounce leadhead with squid pinned on it.

Our water temperature was 59 degrees and we had a 4 to 5 knot off-shore breeze that felt like it was blowing off the snow capped mountains, however, the sun was bright with only the hint of clouds on the horizon. We were even able to see Catalina Island in the distance. There was a lot of life everywhere I looked - pelicans flying in formation, porpoise chasing bait schools and birds diving around the porpoise.

It wasn't even 30 minutes before I heard Jack yell. I looked over in time to see him land a nice 19 inch calico. He barely dropped his bait back in the water and he was hooked up again. He called over to me and said to come on over. I started peddling his way and before I could get there, I was nailed by a nice sandbass. I released it and was quickly nailed again. I decided I might as well keep this one for a lunch. I rebaited and dropped back down and was nailed again. These sandbass were ravenous - but then again, we were fishing with squid.

Jack kept hooking calicos and sandbass until he snagged something on the bottom and lost his leadhead. He switched to a 3/4 ounce leadhead and still hooked fish but it was a little slower as it took a little longer to reach the bottom. We were fishing in 64 to 67 feet of water at that point and the breeze was just right for a nice drift.

Around 9:30 am I was drifting over what appeared to be a hard bottom area watching a blank screen on my fish finder when I got nailed and my line started to peel out. I knew this wasn't a bass so I kept my kayak pointed towards the fish so I could follow if necessary. Then there was the occasional head shake and dead weight on my line. After a couple minutes of reeling and line going back out, there was the broad flat body of a halibut coming to the surface. I grabbed my gaff and brought the fish close to the boat and gaffed him. Jack peddled over and helped me get him on the game clip before I removed the hook (love those circle hooks). Jack helped me measure my halibut - just over 28 inches. Nice! Then I let the game clip slip back in the water being sure it was securely fastened to my kayak.

I rebaited and decided to call Mike. Just as I was telling him I caught dinner, I was bit again and told him I would call him back. My line was peeling off and I was trying to get my new iPhone into a waterproof pocket without dropping it. When I finally called Mike back, it was to tell him that it had been a small stingray on my line. It gave me a few minutes of fun until I had to cut it off to keep it from cutting the tether to my game clip.

I caught more sandbass, a cabazon and finally an 18 inch calico. Tim caught a couple nice calicos for his dinner (18 and 19 inches), plus sandbass and rockfish (released). One of the other guys caught a 24 inch halibut, another hooked a thresher shark but it busted off and Jack hooked into something that peeled off 200 yards of spectra before it busted off.

We headed back to dock around 2 pm. We were thoroughly satisfied with our day of fishing. The weather was cool but sunny, the seas were calm, the fish were biting and it was all shared with good friends. It was a spectacular day on the water.

I carefully filleted the halibut giving half to Tim (as he did provide the bait) and cleaned the calico and a couple sandbass (Princess and Willie want fresh fish too) . The day wasn’t over yet as the best was yet to come – dinner. We had fish and chips (halibut coated in Panko Flakes and fried potatoes) accompanied by sautéed zucchini with parmesan. It was a thoroughly wonderful day!

976-KayakJan 2-16-11

2011-02-16T13:01:00.001-08:00

Tuesday's fishing group met at DP Kayak Center to set up gear and launch our kayaks. There were six of us this week even though rain was predicted for the day. It usually takes me about 45 minutes to an hour to get everything set up and in the water.

I store my kayak at the Kayak Center and store all my gear at home. Once I get my kayak off its rack, everything needs to be secured or tethered to the kayak (i.e. fish finder, install battery below deck, rod holders, bait tank, nets, gaff, paddle, peddles, seat, tackle, rods) then I get dressed (waterproof top, waders, PFD, jacket, hat, sunglasses, marine radio, Spot Satellite messenger, and camera) - whew! Then I slide the kayak in the water, install the peddles, lower the rudder, turn on the fish finder, zero out the trip calculator, start the bait tank then I climb in. I have to peddle around a couple minutes to prime the bait tank then I'm ready to go buy bait at the receiver.

Today was different as Tim Boyer had some live squid in his receiver that he shared with all of us. I peddled over to Tim's receiver and he put a scoop of squid in my tank. This was the first time I fished out of my kayak using live squid for bait. What a special treat this was.

Candy Bait

It was around 8 am by the time we peddled out of the harbor. We passed two Customs and Immigration boats coming into the harbor. Curious - until I read the paper the next day and learned they apprehended 18 illegals on a boat 5 miles outside of the harbor.

I followed Tim out to the pipeline a couple miles off shore. It was cloudy and cool but the water was glassy calm and 59 degrees.

We decided to fish deeper than last week. We started in 75 feet of water venturing out to 95 feet deep. I fished a dropper loop using 20# fluorocarbon with 2 ounces of lead and a Mustad 92677 3/0 hook.

Everything loves squid - even critters too small to swallow a whole squid. I pulled up lizard fish, baby octopus and small perch.

Finally I was slammed hard and brought up a 14 inch calico bass. Tim and Jack both caught calico bass that measured 18 inches but I was still happy with mine.

We fished until 1:30 pm. By that time I had traveled 7 miles in 5 1/2 hours on the water. As I was cleaning up my gear, it began raining. By the time I finished cleaning up, the sun was out. I filleted my fish then called Mike to tell him we were having fresh Calico Bass for dinner!

Nice day on the water!

976-KayakJan 2-8-11

2011-02-09T07:58:00.001-08:00

Yes, I finally got back out on my kayak. Why did I wait a year - it's called "safety." My schedule just didn't mesh with my kayak fishing friends last year. We fish outside of the harbor and usually a few miles from the harbor. I feel it is important from a safety perspective to fish with a friend in case something goes wrong. So rather than go out alone, I just didn't go out fishing on my kayak.

What was great about this kayak fishing trip is that it was with a regular Tuesday Retirees Kayak Fishing Group that was started by Tim Boyer, owner of Dana Point Jet Ski and Kayak Center. There were 9 kayakers on the water and this was a cool day, misting rain, with water conditions a little rough and a water temperature of 59º!

We were all on the water by 8 am and on our way to an area referred to as the pipeline (because there is a pipeline running along the coast off-shore). Apparently there have been big bass caught there. It is a mile or so southwest of the entrance to Dana Point Harbor. It took a half hour to get to the area traveling at 3 mph.

Kayak Fishing the Pipeline in February

Fishing was slow (I only had two short bites) fishing a Gulp Jerk Shad. Tim caught a short sculpin and Jack caught a short calico both on dead squid. I heard that a legal sand bass and a legal calico were also caught by one of the anglers but I didn't actually see them. The current was pulling north at 1.5 mph which required constant peddling to stay in the area.

I called it a day around 1 pm. My fish finder said I had traveled 6 miles during the day. I cleaned up my kayak and put it back on its rack and was home by 2 pm. Nice!

This was the first time I wore my waders and Hobie waterproof top that I purchased a year ago for just these conditions. Sure glad I did because they kept me dry and warm.

I'm already looking forward to next week. Weather forecasters are predicting rain for next Tuesday, but I'm hoping they are wrong.

Thanksgiving 2010

2010-12-14T09:55:00.001-08:00

Our annual Braid Products 16 day trip began on the boat Thanksgiving day with a traditional turkey dinner prepared by Chef Jason Fleck. Sixteen of the seventeen passengers plus friends and family joined the celebration. Even Ingrid Poole joined the festivities. Al Scow gave Thanks with a lovely short story and dinner was served. What a wonderful way to get acquainted and begin our annual Excel trip.

Early Friday morning crew arrived, non-passengers departed the boat, milk and produce deliveries were loaded and formal check-in was completed before 6:30 am. We were at the bait receiver by 7 am loading a combination of healthy sardines and mackerel. We cleared the point by 9:30 and headed south.

Crew traveling with us this trip included Captain Justin Fleck, Second Captain Mike Ramirez with Joel Fleck, Jeff Bunde, Derrick and Rudy on deck. Galley crew was headed up by Jim assisted by Brandon (who by trips end was known as Frodo). Jason Fleck, Excel's regular Chef, was home awaiting the birth of his first child, daughter Sage Elizabeth.

Weather for our departure was unusually cool for this time of year and actually continued for the majority of the trip. Staterooms were barely 61 degrees for the first three days as the boat has air conditioning but not heat. Blankets were at a premium.

Captain Fleck gathered us all in the galley for the safety seminar and informed us we were headed to Hurricane Bank, a four day ride south. Trip regulars Al Scow, Ralph Mikkelsen, Andy Marcum, Basil Pappas, Steve Lindsey, Bob Kelley, Bergie, Ken Cirks, James Hassan, and Dennis Braid were joined by newcomers Kim Hasselbalch, Roland Reesby, Kil Song, Shin Song (a Korean TV Fishing Star) Shin's cameraman, Lee, and Dennis Braid's cameraman, Tom Pollard.

Dennis brought along his cameraman to shoot footage for one or more episodes of the Outdoor Channel's Monster Fish series. Shin had his cameraman filming for his own programs to be shown in Korea. Shin also owns a tackle store in his home town. Both cameramen were quite professional and never interfered with the fishing. I found it interesting one afternoon to find them comparing camera information on the back deck.

Four days travel were crammed with putting reels on rods, eating, making leaders, fishing seminars, eating, reading, watching fishing videos, playing Wii Tennis and bowling, and more eating. We not only ate breakfast, lunch and dinner but were served mid-morning and mid afternoon snacks as well. We were really ready to work it all off when we reached the bank at 3:15 am Tuesday morning. We were greeted with choppy seas and the bank lived up to its' name blowing 25 knots.

Justin gave the bank a quick check and quickly got the anchor down. I fished a sardine on a sinker rig using 130# Big Game mono top shot with a 130# Berkley Aqua Blue Fluorocarbon leader crimped to the new Mustad 39942 BLN 8/0 hooks (3x Strong). Having lost a big fish the previous year from two straightened hooks, the 3x with its' thicker diameter wire gave me confidence I wouldn't have had otherwise. This was my “go to rig” for most the trip adding a sinker in the morning or when the birds became a nuisance. A similar outfit in 100# was used during the middle of the day with a Mustad 39943 BLN 7/0 4x hook. For this 100# rig, I was testing a new Penn 12 VSX which I loaded with 400 yards of Power Pro red spectra, a 20 yard 100# Big Game top shot and a 100# Berkley fluorocarbon leader.

It didn't take long until some smaller tuna showed up ready to bite. I sent my first two to the galley for the fish eating contingent on the boat (which included me). The first couple Wahoo were also donated by generous passengers. Fishing was pretty steady then the skipjack showed up. We quickly switched to our big bait rigs - a 10/0 7691 hook on 200# leader crimped to 130# mono. James Hassan scored big with a 256 lb. yellowfin. What a beautiful fish. I fished a small yellowfin tuna on my big bait rig and also caught a nice tuna although not nearly as big. Mine was estimated at 185 lbs.

We continued using a variety of baits and catching some tuna and many nice big brown sharks. A big white tip was also in the mix of sharks caught that day. At days' end, we had tagged 22 tuna (I had 5) and 6 Wahoo. Although the tuna were nice ones, we failed to capture any more cows this day. I was able to land 3 nice tuna from 80 to 120 lbs. on the new Penn 12 VSX and it performed very well.

Wednesday we fished the bank until noon for 1 tuna and 5 wahoo before taking off for Clarion. Shin Song also caught a big tuna that weighed in at 258 lbs. which was the only tuna of the day.

We spent the next four and a half days fishing the buffer zone of Clarion Island. We had to check in with the camp the first day and were issued our wrist bands allowing us to fish the buffer zone then we were off chasing porpoise schools. Fishing was quite good for 50 to 187 lb. tuna. In the four days around Clarion, we caught over 185 tuna and enjoyed beautiful weather in the 80 degree range.

During our time around the Island, Miss Sage Elizabeth Fleck arrived in good health on the morning of December 4th immensely pleasing her parents, Jason and Hillary Fleck. Congratulations to the new parents!

With over 200 quality tuna in the hold, we had the opportunity to invest a little time in pursuit of a trophy tuna over 300 lbs. We traveled a day and a half to reach the promised land affectionately called the 300# bank (actually named the Lusitania Bank). A short detour first lead us to Mag Bay for bait making. A midnight to 2:30 am bait making ordeal resulted in about 200 mackerel to add to our bait supply. We were on the fishing grounds by 9:30 am the morning of the 8th. The weather was warm with calm seas and crystal clear waters. By 10 am, we started seeing big tuna boils all around the boat - mostly a distance away. Everyone fished hard trying 100# line, small hooks, fluorocarbon, short top shots, chunks, sardines hooked in a variety of ways, balloons, kite, sinkers, etc. These fish would not bite a bait with a hook in it. Just at sundown, Kim hooked and landed a 181 lb. tuna, his personal best.

The next morning we tried it all again. Roland finally hooked one but pulled the hook at color. Before traveling up to the ridge, Justin tried a drift and Rudy hooked and handed a nice 160 lb. tuna to Ralph and that was the end of the trophy hunt.

The Captain charted a course for home that included a couple stops for yellowtail and stops around Colonet for rock cod. The weather and waters turned cold for the trip home and blankets were again appreciated in our bunks.

Dennis Braid held a drawing for giveaways most every night of the trip and we also had the famous wine tasting event. This year we had eight contestants with only four tasters tasting all 32 bottles of wine. The last evening was Prime Rib dinner served by Captain Fleck and award night for the wine tasting and Jackpots.

Ken Cirks won the High Roller Jackpot and thrust all his winnings into Captain Fleck's hands for the crew. Nice job Ken. The wine contest was apparently no contest at all as Basil won for the best bottle (Chateaux St. Jean) and best four bottles for tackle and a couple pairs of Maui Jim sunglasses. Nice going Basil! The boat jackpot was also settled up with Shin Song taking first place with his 258 lb. fish, James Hassan taking second place with a 256 lb. tuna and Ken Cirks taking third with a 187 lb. tuna. Congratulations guys!

Shin brought a banner advertising some Korean Tackle and asked each passenger and crew member to sign their name on the banner. Shin informed us he plans to hang it in his tackle store commemorating the trip. I thought this was a very nice gesture on his part.

There was just one other jackpot to settle up and that was a weigh in on the dock scales. Dennis Braid bet $500 that Kim would weigh over 300 lbs. at the end of our trip. Walking around the dock barefoot with a big grin on his face, Kim was barking at Dennis "I told you so! I'm only 297 lbs. so get in the tackle shop and get me one of your Braid Harnesses to settle up!"

At last, our fish was sorted and shipped off to processors then we said our fond farewells. Another Thanksgiving trip is in our memory banks.

Turd Cirkus 2010

2010-09-18T14:40:00.001-07:00

The day before this year's trip departed we learned Turd would be sans Cirkus. Disappointing and difficult for the boat but the remaining 16 passengers would have a fish catching trip as good as it gets.

A great load of bait was picked up at the receiver and we cleared the point by 11:05 am.

Captain Justin Fleck gave the safety seminar and said we were heading directly to Alijos Rocks bypassing the short range fleet fishing tuna 37 miles from the point. Crew for our trip included second Captain Mike Ramirez, Chef Jason Fleck assisted by Jake Fleck. Crew on deck included Derrick, Josh, and Renee.

Our first and second day would be spent traveling, eating, rigging tackle, playing cards, and eating again. Chartermaster Tim Turis gave away a variety of tackle donated by Mustad Hooks, Longfin Tackle, Fisherman's Landing, etc.

Dawn of the third day we spotted the familiar peaks on the horizon announcing we had arrived at the Rocks.

Justin trolled around the first hour where Tim caught the first Wahoo and sent it directly to the Galley. Jason turned it into a fantastic Wahoo Caesar Salad for lunch.

Once the anchor was set, we began fishing for yellowfin tuna and Wahoo. Conditions were ideal! We had a strong current running off the stern, water temp of 72.8 and nearly every bait was a swimmer. We caught 97 yellowfin most of which were 40 to 75 lbs.

Bruce caught the largest fish of the day - his kite fish weighed 133 lbs.

I had a spectacular day catching a dozen yellowfin tuna from 40 to 75 pounds and one nice Wahoo on mono.

I sent my first tuna to the galley for sushi.

We had a total of 10 Wahoo the first day and 8 dorado plus 6 yellowtail to go with our tuna. What a great day of catching. It was the best fishing I have ever seen at Alijos Rocks.

The next day fishing slowed a little but was still good. We caught another 45 yellowfin, 30 Wahoo, 14 dorado and 1 yellowtail before we took off at 3:30 pm towards the beach. Most the fish came on 40# line with fluorocarbon leaders. There were many Talicas on board that performed very well on these fish. I love my Talicas but I also like my Penn 12 T's - at least I did until the dog spring went out on one while on a fish. That reel will be going to Cal's to fix. I fished the new Mustad Offset Circle Hook (R39941BLN) exclusively on this trip. They performed very well.

Monday morning we arrived early at Abreojos and found green, cold water. We caught bonito and small barracuda before we took off for Cedros. We travelled all day and arrived around 6:30 pm at the south end of the island. After dinner it was bait making time and squid was the target species - something different for a long range trip. Oh we usually make bait but not market squid. Squid was needed if we were going to have a shot at the white seabass the next morning.

Next morning I was up early and on deck fishing by 3:30 am. By 4 am there were half dozen of us fishing dropper loops baited with squid and that's when the fish showed up. It wasn't very long before everyone was bit and Justin made an announcement to the rest of the passengers that the fish were biting. Yellowtail arrived first then an occasional white seabass. The yellowtail were all quality fish - 30 pounders. The white seabass were all over 28 lbs.

By 5:30 am the white seabass were gone and an hour later so were the yellowtail.

I caught plenty of yellowtail but no white seabass. The seabass were selective. Tom and Jim Carlisle each caught two; Al Scow caught one; Bubbles caught three and Jesse caught one that was mutilated by a sea lion (which still contained enough meat for fish tacos one night).

We put 9 white seabass and 114 yellowtail on the boat before moving to Benitos where we experienced a spectacular sundown bite on big calico bass all due to the tank of squid. What a great way to end a trip.

Justin informed us the weather was up off shore so we were going to hug the coast all the way home to avoid being beat up. We were all so thankful he chose to do so as we experienced a wonderful ride home - slow and smooth - with an early arrival.

Jackpot was weighed up after sorting fish. Bruce had first place with his 133 lb. yellowfin and his son, Jesse, had second place with a 69.7 lb. yellowfin and Bergie was third with his 65.5 lb. tuna.

Alaskan Adventure!

2010-08-24T12:33:00.001-07:00

August 16th Dan Felger, Al Scow, Ed Seymour, Basil Pappas and I arrived in Sitka, Alaska for five days of fishing with Outbound Alaska Charters. We met for dinner in our hotel, the Westmark, and planned the next days' schedule. We agreed to meet for breakfast at 5:30 am and be down on the dock at 6:00 am. We reset our watches (an hour back for Sitka time) and called it a night.

Tuesday morning Herb Tennell, owner/operator of Outbound Alaska Charters, met us at the dock and we boarded Micah, his 30 foot skiff.

We were excited when Herb told us we were going to make the long run to fish for larger king and silver salmon. We squeezed into the cabin bench seats (feeling like sardines) and settled in for the trip to the open ocean fishing grounds 50 miles down the coast.

Technorati Tags: Dan Felger,Max,Ed Seymour

Traveling at 27 knots, the two hour trip is a kidney pounder even in calm seas.

Alaska doesn't have the most comfortable fishing conditions but this was summer and we still faced rough seas, rain, and 55 degree temperatures. Four layers of clothing, wool socks and gloves plus foul weather gear are a requirement. And for a woman, there's the added discomfort of 10 to 12 hour fishing days in a boat without restroom facilities - a well trained bladder is a must. Only rugged anglers fish in Alaska, however, for those that do, the rewards are great.

Our path south meandered through pine studded islands on waters sprinkled with sea otters crunching on crustaceans.

Young eagles soar over the forests and seas searching for food. One morning we spotted a deer at waters' edge on our path out to sea.

We were told of bears, but failed to see any.

It took an hour to reach the open ocean and another hour to reach the fishing grounds. Along the way we frequently viewed whales frolicking in the cold Pacific Ocean.

Herb set up on his favorite spot and had Max, his deckhand, kick over the anchor.

The rods had already been set up and baited with cut plug herring. Herb gave us a refresher course on "mooching", a process of working your bait through the water column to attract salmon. We were fortunate that our first day included sun and reasonably calm seas.

We fished hard for 6 hours and were rewarded with 5 king salmon (limits - 1 fish per day per person with a max of 3 per year), 3 lingcod, and 24 silver salmon (just 6 fish shy of limits).

Technorati Tags: Ed Seymour,Jan Howard,Al Scow,Basil Pappas,Dan Felger

Back at dock, we cleaned up and met for drinks in the hotel to celebrate our first days' catch. We decided to take the shuttle to the Channel Club for dinner - a good choice. My fresh halibut with lemon beurre blanc sauce was a show stopper.

Overnight the seas had come up and on day two we faced 25 knot winds. Halibut fishing was our goal but Herbs favorite halibut spot wasn't possible in rough seas. A closer ocean spot was chosen and the halibut baits (salmon guts) were dropped to the bottom.

To be successful at halibut fishing, Herb advised, you need to devote a day to the effort. Once baits are dropped, you wait for the scent to attract the fish. First come the yelloweye, then small halibut and if you're are lucky, the big 'buts arrive. After two hours we only had a couple yelloweye and the seas seemed to be getting worse. The pitching seas and constant pounding in an aluminum boat was more than the group could endure for an entire day. At 11:00 am we asked for relief. Not wishing to give up, Herb took us to a calmer area between the islands and set us up for salmon. This salvaged the day because we put 5 more king salmon and two silvers on board. Land sure felt good under our feet at the end of this fishing day.

We split up for dinner. While Ed and Al went for pizza, Basil, Dan and I opted for our favorite, sushi and sake. Just as our salmon hand rolls arrived, Herb and his family came in. It seems it's their favorite too. It was great meeting his wife, Holly, his 3 year old son, Hunter, and his 1 year old baby girl, Brook. I was fascinated to see Hunter in his miniature XtraTufs.

Day Three - same morning routine with us on dock around 6 am. We were apprehensive about the weather. As it turned out, the winds and seas were coming down and we were making the run to the famed halibut grounds.

Rough seas pushed our travel time to two and a half hours in barely endurable seas. Salmon guts were once again sent to the bottom.

After a couple hours, small halibut (referred to as chickens) showed up. These were released in hopes the bigger models would show up. Shortly, we were rewarded with a couple 30 pound fish. We caught silvers in between the halibut bites and watched colorful puffins bob around the boat. Then Dan pulled in a 50 pound halibut. A nice fish too.

Suddenly my rod got hammered. I grabbed the rod and started winding. We were in 300 feet of water on a Shimano TLD30II reel spooled with 130 pound spectra with a 300# mono leader tied to a Mustad 13/0 Circle hook. This fish wasn't going anywhere but up. When my fish surfaced, in not more than 5 seconds, Herb whacked the fish in the head, stuck a gaff in it and yanked it on board. There lay 180 pound halibut at my feet. What a toad!

Technorati Tags: Herb Tennell,Jan Howard,Max

Next, Ed's rod went off and Herb yanked over a 160 pound fish. We were limited out at one halibut per day per person.

Technorati Tags: Basil Pappas,Jan Howard,Ed Seymour,Dan Felger,Al Scow

Fortunately the seas had come down and our trek back only took 2 1/4 hours - still uncomfortable but not as bad as the day before plus we had the excitement of our day's catch to discuss. Happily, drinks were on me this night.

Max filleted or cleaned our fish each day on the way back to dock. Watching him wrestle with the big halibuts this day was amusing. What a struggle to singlehandedly flip a 180 pound slimy fish with no handles so he could fillet both sides.

Friday we were put on Herb's other boat, Yager, with Captain Steve Runnion. Yager is smaller (26 feet) but Steve is great to fish with as well.

Unfortunately, Steve has no deckhand so he had to do it all himself. It was incredible how he could manage docking/undocking, anchoring/raising anchor and all the deckhand duties as well as run the boat. Impressive. Steve informed us the wind had come down to 10 knots with scattered rain. Welcome news. The Yager is a little slower than Micah so we settled in for the 2.5 hour trip back to the salmon grounds. Once there, we fished hard - thankful we had warm gloves to keep our hands warm in the 55 degree temps with winds coming off the snow capped mountains. We caught 4 kings including Basil's 45 pound trophy.

This fish took him around the boat 3 times and refused to come to the boat for 45 minutes before Steve netted it.

We rounded out the catch with another 14 silver salmon and 1 yelloweye. Fishing was a bit slower so it took us 7 hours to get the job done. Basil was happy to buy drinks this night.

Last day! Back to the salmon grounds. Steve told us we were going to have to endure 0 knot winds gusting to 2 knots in the afternoon. YES! After we meandered through the islands, we met a calm sea and sun - a gift for our last day. We were fishing by 8:30 am. An occasional fish came through but it was slow. Just after noon, the switch turned on and the fish arrived hungry. During one point we had 3 fish going. Since I wasn't hooked up, I cleared the rods and helped Dan and Al get around the motors in the stern. Basil's fish came up first so I grabbed the net and scooped up his fish. Then both Dan and Al's fish came to the boat at the same time so I netted Al's fish while Steve got Dan's. By 2:30 we had 25 silvers, 2 halibut and our last king salmon for full limits and what a last fish - a 36 pound king for Dan.

A fun and successful day.

Back at dock, Steve cleaned our fish and turned over another two totes full of fish to his processor, Absolute Fresh) They do a great job! And if you run out of your own fish after you are home, you can order more and have it shipped to your home.

We all met in the bar at 6 pm so Dan could buy drinks to celebrate his 36 pounder. Thanks Dan. Dinner was undecided so based on our servers recommendation, we walked a couple blocks to Van Winkle's for dinner and to celebrate the end of a successful trip.

We flew home Sunday. Absolute Fresh delivered our fish to the airport. We each took home four boxes of vacuum-sealed frozen salmon, halibut, lingcod, and yelloweye rockfish.

The reward!

SCI Kicks Out Limits of Bass!

2010-08-11T13:58:00.001-07:00

Jim Carlisle and I arrived at Fisherman's Landing early Monday afternoon and found parking immediately. This was not a good omen! Open parking spaces in the middle of August means that off-shore fishing is so slow that boats aren't filling their spots. We were heading out on the Pacific Dawn on Joe Schlater's 1.5 day charter. The Pacific Dawn was one of only two boats heading out that night.

Captain Pat Cavanaugh polled the passengers to determine if the group wanted to head 120 miles off-shore chasing bluefin or albacore in the hopes the fish would finally begin to bite or fish for calico bass at San Clemente Island. We were not optimistic that we would be the lucky boat to land a tuna so we chose SCI over a long boat ride. We picked up a load of anchovies and sardines and departed the bait receivers by 11 pm.

Pat was our Captain with Dustin as second; Whitney anchored the galley with Man Dog (Mike), and Mo on deck. There were 19 passengers most of whom have fished together on this Charter for years. Jim and I were new to the group.

I woke up around 4:30 am Tuesday morning to the smell of fresh brewed coffee. We were just sliding into Pyramid Cove and the squid boat was just finishing a wrap. Pat positioned the Pacific Dawn beside the squid boat and they passed over a few scoops of live squid.

We began fishing in the cove then gradually worked our way up the back side of Clemente eventually finding good conditions at the West end of the island. With good conditions came suicidal calicos. Most of my fish came on the anchovies but sardines, surface irons and Sluggos worked well too.

Afternoon snack consisted of Teriyaki smoked salmon collars, albacore paté, elk meat sticks, and pork sausage (courtesy of Joe and his hunting successes). By late afternoon, we had limits of calicos and needed to find another species to fish. The Navy had closed the east end of the Island in the afternoon so Pat took us around to the front side to look for some yellowtail or seabass.

Dustin had his 8-year old son (Cameron) on the boat. He was a delight and definitely knows his way around the boat. I found him pinning a squid on a hook for a passenger afraid to do it himself. One point during the day, Dustin and Cameron went on top of the wheelhouse to look for bird schools and breaking fish.

As we traveled around the west end, we could see one of the military's training areas which looked like a replica of an Afghan village. The island has had a lot of development since I was there last.

Pat checked out cove after cove. We picked up a few more calicos but no game fish. As we were traveling, Whitney cooked up Pork Loin roast with a lobster cream sauce. It was first call for dinner just after sundown. Amazing what Whitney can do with two hot plates and a grill. I hit the bunk by 9 pm and slept right through the night to the gentle rock of the boat.

I awoke this morning around 4 am to the sounds of hard rock and the crew filleting fish on deck. ETA to dock a little after 6 am. We packed up our gear and paid tips and tabs. I was home before 8 am. By all counts this was a great trip - great crew, clean and comfortable boat, flat calm seas, biting fish, good food, and good friends. There is a twinge of disappointment with the lack of tuna but that is not something the Captain or crew can control.

Success II Fishing

2010-08-07T14:32:00.001-07:00

I got an invitation to fish with Linda and John on their boat the Success II this week and I jumped at the opportunity. I drove to San Diego Wednesday morning to board their boat which was moved from Cabo this spring. Captain Cubby Pahl, his son Tyler and second captain Chris had just arrived. Linda, John and Vince (John's golfing buddy) were there a few minutes later. We left dock under unusually sunny skies for the coast this year and headed to the bait receiver. Cubby loaded about 15 small scoops of big, beautiful anchovies into the bait tanks and we were on our way.

La Jolla was rumored to still have some big white seabass so if we wanted to try for those we needed to make some squid - the small market squid not the big humbolt squid. To my surprise, we had to catch them during the daylight hours in about 70 feet of water. I started with the usual small, single, weighted squid jig. When that didn't work, I switched to the chain style of tiny squid jigs that we use at the Channel Islands. Instead of jigging the entire water column that I normally do, I had to drop the jig to the bottom and let it rest there a minute or so then start winding. If I felt any weight at all, there was a squid; if not, I would drop back down. These squid were lethargic and provided no resistance at all. We had to really work at it to get 25 to 30 pieces of squid. Once it got dark, I tried making squid again, but it was useless.

Cubby anchored up in about 80 feet of water then we set up all the rods. Two 40 lb. outfits with white jigs baited with squid were set out on the side rod holders. One 40 lb. outfit was set up in the port stern rod holder with a small balloon tied 20 feet up from the hook and baited with a squid (similar to our balloon fishing for tuna). Another 40 lb. outfit with a flylined squid was set in the starboard stern rod holder. Linda fished a flylined squid and I fished a squid with a small sliding sinker. John, the perfect host, made a pitcher of margaritas, a couple of rum and cokes and served us on deck.

The ocean was a nice 66 degrees and smooth as glass. As the sun went down, the marine layer dropped in creating a suffocating blackness offshore that felt like it would swallow us. Fortunately we had the shoreline lights to comfort us plus the dim lights on three skiffs closer to shore and the boat just upwind from us - whose captain is a friend of Cubby's.

Around 9 pm, we had a delicious dinner of BBQ ribs, caesar salad, macaroni salad, and French bread while floating on flat calm seas. After dinner, we all went back out on deck and actively fished (we took the rods out of the holders and held them) waiting for a bite. By midnight, the boat next to us had two white seabass at about 40 lbs. each so they pulled anchor and headed home. Those fish were caught on the balloon rigs.

By 2 am all the guys were asleep either on the fly bridge or in the salon; just Linda and me left on deck. Loads of fish fry flitted around on the surface under the lights. Eventually the squid floated but still didn't want to bite. I only managed to catch 4 squid all night. Without a single bite and dawn breaking, Linda and I dozed on deck. About 5 am we went inside and lay down to catch a few minutes sleep. At 5:30 Cubby woke us and said we missed it. One of the rods went off 5 minutes after we went inside. After a 20 minute fight, he landed a 47.9 lb. white seabass and what a beauty it was!

We fished hard for another couple hours then Cubby moved the boat to the Del Mar area and we fished for calico bass. It was very good calico fishing - not huge fish but good fishing with all fish released. If we cast into or right next to the kelp, the calicos jumped out of the water to ambush the bait. If we cast away from the kelp, we hooked mackerel or small barracuda. We didn't keep count, but we must have caught 50 to 75 calico bass for the morning.

We called it a day around noon and headed to the barn. Cubby slid the boat back into its' slip and tied her up. We packed up our gear and Cubby filleted the seabass while the local captains came to watch. The fish was a female with immature eggs. Linda and John insisted we all take home some seabass. We can't wait to taste ours. Linda and John's generosity is incredible and so appreciated especially by me. Thanks my friends and to Cubby Pahl for providing us with a great time on the water.

Great Fishing in Alaskan Weather!

2010-07-06T16:17:00.001-07:00

We departed San Diego early on June 27th for our annual Braid charter on the Excel. Dennis Braid was on board to greet regulars Don Burnside, Jim Kastorff, Sean and Holly Mullins, Steve and Kathy, Roland Reesby, Kim, Janet and Gorden Bailey plus some new passengers.

After picking up a nice load of bait, we headed off-shore in search of biting bluefin tuna. Seas were calm but the skies were heavily overcast. Justin Fleck was at the helm assisted by Mike Ramirez; crew on deck were Brandon, Joel, Josh and Jeff and galley Chef Jason Fleck was assisted by Vince Otani. Spirits were high as we shuffled around the deck setting up our tackle.

Tackle seminar the next morning was followed by sliding into a school of biting bluefin. The school stayed with us for a couple hours during which time we landed over 100 bluefin, 18 albacore and 1 yellowfin tuna (my fish). Captain Fleck decided to drift for the night and do it all over again the next day. Unfortunately the bite fell off as the weather came up in the afternoon. We still managed to land another 57 bluefin, 15 albacore and 2 yellowtail.

We spent the next day looking for kelps in 15 - 20 knot winds. Still no sun - just heavy overcast. Only one yellowtail to show for the day. Justin decided to head the boat to the ridge. We bounced around all night and found ourselves on the 23 in the morning fishing in rough seas. We didn't care though because the yellowtail were on the chew and they were quality 20 to 40 pound fish. We had over 200 yellowtail by 10 a.m. Justin had a crew fish off before we headed to Alijos Rocks. First crew member to put a yellowtail on deck would win. The catch - it had to be gaffed by one of the female passengers! I am proud to say that Jason and I won the contest!

We arrived at the rocks around 5 a.m. and anchored up. The weather started coming down and the fish started to show. A double sardine rig on the kite produced most of the fish. We had a full kite rotation at the rocks. The biggest fish came on the Yummie flyer (hooked by Jason) and landed by Sean Mullins - 110 pound yellowfin. I had excellent fishing on the bobber balloon. I sent a couple big fish to the galley and took home 3 others the biggest of which was 84 pounds. There were a few fly lined bait fish but not many. We ended the day with 43 nice yellowfin and 11 yellowtail for the day.

Justin decided to get us out of the rough weather for a day so he took us to Benitos for a day fishing for Yellowtail, Calico Bass, and Reds. It was a fun day of fishing in flat calm seas but it was still cold and overcast.

The weather was predicted to come down so we headed back off shore for bluefin. The fish boiled up and made quite a show but we only landed a half dozen before it was time to put our tackle away and head home.

Great trip, wonderful friends but strange weather. We never saw the sun and it was so cold I thought I was fishing in Alaska but I will take that over rough seas and non-biting fish. I'm already looking forward to next year.

San Miguel Island Reds!

2010-05-05T15:01:00.001-07:00

What a great day of fishing! Al, Jim and I got the Ventura early Sunday evening before the Pacific Dawn returned from the day's fishing. We ate seafood at Andrea's in Ventura Harbor then waited for the boat to return.

Dustin brought the boat in late because they had rough weather and a very late departure the night before. The faces of the departing passengers confirmed the rough weather encountered. Fortunately for us, the weather had come down for our trip.

The owner and our regular Captain was hunting on Santa Rosa Island so Dustin was our Captain and Opie was his second supported on deck by ManDog, Kenny, Tanner and Whitney in the Galley. This was our last LARRC charter trip in Ventura for this year and we had a full boat of 16 passengers including Al Scow, Jim Carlisle, Justin Fleck, Dave Permut, Eric Rogger, Chas Shoemaker, Ted & David Feit, Vince & Kathy Shriver, Michael Dickter, Arnie Stein and Andy McDonald.

We boarded the boat around 9 p.m., signed in, rigged tackle then sat down for the safety speech and a bottle of wine. We chatted, laughed and a few played cards as we departed the harbor. I called it a night around eleven.

We awoke to calm seas at San Miguel Island and began fishing in shallow water with leadheads and plastics before dawn. The fishing improved with sunrise and we just kept filling our sacks as the morning progressed. Since we were fishing in shallow water, we were catching one fish at a time - big chuckles, reds, small lings, etc.

Late morning, Dustin decided to make a move to deeper water (300 feet) for a couple drifts. He suggested using two hook gagnions or jigs with one fly. The Reds (Vermillion Rock Fish) were really were hungry. They just climbed on the hooks as soon as we hit bottom. Suddenly we had limits of Reds so it was back to the shallows for catch and release then an early departure for home.

Whitney offered fish or chicken burritos, hamburgers, fish burgers or fish plates. All fish was fresh caught that day. I had the fish burger (which was delicious) then hit the bunk for a 4 hour nap while crew processed our catch.

The seas were so calm, we arrived back to the harbor early and were on our way home by 7 p.m. I was home by 9:15.

Of course the best part of the trip was the sashimi and steamed Red for dinner the next night.

Winter Reds on the Dawn

2010-04-13T14:20:00.001-07:00

Los Angeles Rod and Reel Club's first charter on the Pacific Dawn took place April 10th. Captain Pat Cavanaugh gave us the safety seminar and said we would head to Santa Rosa to try for squid and seabass (if the squid show). The squid didn't show but the early departure allowed us to get a full eight hours sleep before daybreak. Around four in the morning, Dustin started the engines and we headed to San Miguel for rock fishing.

Kenny (Apollo's chef) started the coffee and bacon which encouraged anglers to give up their warm bunks. Fried rice and eggs were a delicious start to the day. By the time we finished breakfast, Pat had us set up for shallow water fishing. Man Dog (Mike) and Opie were on deck ready to pluck fish off our line for us.

The first couple drops were less than productive so Pat took us out to deeper water. Still no luck. Captain Cavanaugh moved the boat from spot to spot without finding the usual clouds of fish and wondered if there had been another earthquake. After returning home, I learned that there had indeed been a 4.5 aftershock in Mexicali. Fortunately by late morning the fish returned and were hungry.

Jim and Tom Carlisle were having a good day and so was Kenji. They were catching beautiful reds while I was catching Kenji Bass (salmon groupers). I had promised to bring two reds home - one to steam and the other for sashimi. It was noon and I still hadn't fulfilled that promise. I was beginning to barter for a red when I finally caught one. Thank heaven. I finally caught a total of 4 reds while Jim had a full limit of reds! Kenji would have taken jackpot with a big lingcod but he wasn't in the jackpot.

Kenny made fish burgers for lunch (which were fabulous), then we hit the bunks for the six hour ride to the dock. It was beautiful weather the entire day and we were lucky to get out between storms.

The best part was the fresh fish the next day - red sashimi and a steamed red.

Cabo in February!

2010-02-24T15:29:00.001-08:00

An opportunity to join the girls for 3 days of fishing with Linda on her Hatteras was accepted in a heartbeat. I met up with Linda and Terry at the airport for the flight to Cabo. Susan was waiting for us (from an earlier flight) when we landed. Capt. Cubby's enthusiastic personality heightened our excitement as he chauffeured us to II Success residing on K-Dock.

Dinner at Solomon's (always a taste treat) was a celebration of things to come.

A big, bright sun rose over the eastern side of the harbor Saturday morning promising a beautiful day on the water. Cubby and Antonio arrived at 7 a.m. and got the boat ready to fish. We left dock around 8 a.m. checking in with the Harbor Master on the way out. Cubby set the boat on a course for Jaime Bank on the Pacific side.

Working with a couple other boats, Cubby located an area of common dolphins holding small yellowfin tuna. Unfortunately, these tuna were not in the mood to chew. Gradually the wind came up making it difficult to locate bird or tuna schools. After working the area for a couple hours, Cubby made the call to fish the beach. This was the perfect call - calmer waters and fish. We caught a few junk fish (skipjack, green jacks, trigger fish) and a couple makos - small but delicious.

Enforcement of Mexican fishing regulations changed a couple months ago so that the "no filleting fish at sea" requirement was being strictly enforced. If you are caught with filleted fish on board, the penalty is confiscation of any or all fishing rods, reels, or tackle on board! Needless to say, our fish was filleted when we returned to dock. Cubby and Antonio cleaned the boat while we enjoyed hot showers.

If you've never eaten at Los Golondrinos you don't know what you are missing. This famous Cabo restaurant has its' menu on a large chalk board.

We ordered the Surf & Turf for two which was large enough to feed all four of us. The platter included two whole lobsters, grilled mahi, two small racks of BBQ ribs, carne asada and came with soup and salad for all. We walked back to the boat and settled in for a chick flick -“Love Happens.”

We headed out Sunday morning at 8 a.m. again. The wind was still howling so Capt. Cubby headed inside the gulf along the coast towards San Jose Del Cabo and Los Frailles. Water temperature was 72º with light wind chop. We trolled all morning for nothing. As we got within sight of Los Frailes we angled starboard towards the inner Gordo Bank. As far as the eye could see, humpback whales were breaching - hundreds of humpbacks. What a beautiful sight! It was as if we had wandered into the training grounds for humpback whale breaching.

We fished the inner edge of the Gordo until late in the day. We baited one striped marlin until it sunk out. We trolled, jigged, and fished live bait resulting in one red bottom fish, 1 skipjack, 2 whitefish, 1 nice amberjack (snagged on a jig) and 1 small pargo. I can only claim the troll caught skippy.

There were porpoise jumping, frigates flying, and whales breaching all day to entertain us. It was a fun day on the water plus we added a few good eating fish to the trip's catch. Antonio is a great deckhand and between him and Cubby, the rods were always ready and baited up with beautiful cabbies.

Terry was new to fishing really only having fished once before with Linda and Cubby a couple years ago for calicos at San Clemente Island. I enjoyed seeing the excitement on her face when she landed fish. Susan slept all the first day and most the second day due to the rough weather and sleep inducing sea sick meds. I gave her some Scopace pills to try instead which got her out on deck fishing. We got back to dock at 6:30 p.m. and had a late dinner at Mi Casa - authentic Mexican food. The Carnitas were delicious.

We fished the outer Gordo Bank our last day. The wind backed off, the seas smoothed out and the clouds disappeared as did most but not all of the humpbacks. We spotted a jumper (striped marlin) skipping across the horizon and a manta ray leaped across the surface close to the boat. After working the surface area a while, we set up to drift for bottom fish. Susan started the day with a nice grouper. Shortly after Linda caught one as well. Late in the day I caught a nice Pargo - my first. We fished dropper loops with strips of squid in 150 feet of water. We ended the day with limits of whitefish, various red rockfish, two groupers and one pargo. A good way to end the trip.

Cubby and Antonio cleaned and processed the catch then we packed up some fillets to take to Panchos for our dinner. We had breaded grouper and pargo fingers, grilled or blackened mako and amberjack. It was all fabulous! It was great with the various sauces it was served with or just plain. We headed back to the boat for a nightcap and another chick flick and plans to sleep in. We were taking the late flight home the next day. We hated to see the trip end but we headed home with some great photos and delicious fish to help us remember the good times.

Humboldts!

2010-02-04T10:49:00.001-08:00

A delightful call from Tim Boyer jolted me out of my winter doldrums. "Want to go squid fishing tonight?" "Why not?" The Dana Point Sportboats each had been catching 300 to 500 Humboldt squid a night for nearly a week now.

I quickly gathered up some squid jigs, threw together a couple rods and reels, and packed up my Grundens (foul weather gear). My fifteen minute drive to the Harbor was interrupted by a stop at Trader Joe's for sandwiches and snacks for the evening plus a quick stop at Hogan's Bait & Tackle to get my 2010 Fishing License.

When Tim closed the shop (Dana Point Jet Ski & Kayak Center) at 5:00 pm, Maurice had joined us and Tim’s Striper was loaded and ready to launch. A momentary glitch in lowering the outdrive threatened to cancel our trip but a quick diagnosis and reconnecting a loose wire had us back in the water and on our way.

In the length of time it took me to put on my Grundens, we were on the squid grounds. Tim shut down the engine at 5:30 pm with Catalina Island still silhouetted on the horizon by the remnants of the day’s setting sun. We were in about 300 feet of 60 degree water on flat calm seas about a mile outside of Dana Point Harbor.

We dropped our squid jigs (size large) down a couple hundred feet and Tim connected first - and this was his first Humboldt squid ever!

Tim’s first Humboldt!

Maurice was next and this was his first Humboldt as well. How exciting is this? I love seeing the thrill of first timers. Then they each got their first blast from a squid with ink - all part of the fun. By 6:30 pm we had filled a huge garbage can with 20 to 30 lb. squid and decided we had enough.

We sat down for a glass of wine to celebrate and listened to the passengers on the Dana Pride still hooting and hollering as they connected with squid. Shortly after that we heard the Captain say "We've got over 500 on board so we're done." We decided to clean the squid before going back in. It took us an hour to clean them all and wash down the boat.

The weather was so great that Tim suggested we have dinner out here under the stars and sliver of a moon before heading in. It was a great decision as was his suggestion to go squidding in the first place.

We passed the Dana Pride on our way into the harbor. They were anchored outside the harbor in shallow enough water to escape the voracious squid while cleaning their passengers catch. With 500 squid, they had a long evening ahead of them. After cleaning up the boat and gear, we split up the catch and were on our way home by 9:00 pm.

Fishing 14 out of 16 Days!

2010-01-05T15:25:00.001-08:00

Unusual but true. Normally we travel eight or more days on our annual Thanksgiving 16 day trip targeting cow tuna and wahoo with an occasional chance for reds on the way home. Actually this trip was more like a 10 day and an 8 day trip back-to-back. We fished down the ridge to cow town; spent a few days there until it was evident the cows had escaped the long range fleets’ corral; then fished back up the ridge finishing the last morning catching reds.

Highlights of the trip were Al Scow’s 331 lb. yellowfin and James Hassen’s 317 lb. cow. Species captured during the trip included wahoo, yellowfin tuna, yellowtail, calico bass, halibut, vermillion rockfish, grouper, striped marlin, mako shark, dorado, squid, mackerel, and other unnamed sea creatures. Weather was a little rough the first couple days in cow town then smoothed out for the rest of the trip.

Ten passengers including Brandon Hayward (Western Outdoor News) and Bob Hoose (Berkley) joining regulars Al Scow, Tim Turis, Ken Cirks, Andy Marcum, Tom Carlisle, Dennis Braid, Basil Pappas, and me. We shared experiences that included fishing personal bests and heartbreaks in lost fish, gourmet meals, wine tasting, poker games and comradery. Five fish over 300 lbs. were hooked with only two landed. Three fish were lost: one when the spectra parted and two due to straightened hooks - Tim’s fish (lost at color and was well over 300 lbs.) and my fish.

My trip boils down to a short, sad tale. I hooked a fish on the kite on a 50W (drags set at 22 lbs.) with 600 yards of 200# spectra, 25 feet of 300# Momoi and 3 feet of 200# Fluorocarbon Leader crimped to two Eagle Claw 9/0 hooks (black). The fish peeled off 500 yards of line in seconds so I called for the back-up. A newer crewmember grabbed my rod and tried to stop the fish by putting a huge bend in the rod. They never got the back-up to the rail before the fish was gone and two straightened hooks came back. I spent the next two and a half days on the kite without a single bite. Even the cards refused to give me a single winning hand at solitaire. It's the pitts paying your dues in cow town!

View Full Album

Bill Poole Memorial

2010-01-02T13:35:00.001-08:00

November 23rd the fleet and friends say goodbye to the Admiral of Long Rang Sportfishing.

In-Shore Fun!

2009-11-16T08:43:00.001-08:00

I got an opportunity to fish with Tim Boyer on his 26 foot Striper along with his son Chris and friend Jack (Thanks Tim). We launched at Dana Point Harbor around 8:30 Friday morning. The launch ramp is across from Dana Point Jet Ski and Kayak Center which Tim owns and operates. We picked up a half scoop of well cured sardines first then headed out of the harbor towards the power plant.

Weather was cool and overcast with water temps of 62 degrees. It was a short 15 minute trip to the fishing grounds. We set up our halibut rigs while Tim put the boat in place for a drift. We were in 20 to 30 feet of water. Gradually the sky cleared and we had full sun.

Tim

Jack and Tim

Tim hooked up first on something that took a long fast run and broke his 65 lb. spectra. We never saw the fish. Jack hooked up next on a sandbass which he released. We made several long drifts occasionally bringing back raked baits.

Tim pulled out fixins for some great make-your-own sandwiches. As Jack was eating his pastrami sandwich, Chris yelled, “Jack, you’re bit!” Jack put down his sandwich and landed a halibut just short of legal. Jack rebaited and set his rod in the holder and grabbed his sandwich. Again Chris yelled, “Jack, you’re bit!” Another short halibut.

Jack with his first Halibut

Jack's Second Halibut

Chris

Chris measuring his halibut

Chris with his halibut

I threw some loose change overboard (to appease Neptune) in an effort to get bit. Chris got bit next and he landed and released a short halibut. Tim hooked up next and caught the only legal halibut of the day.

I was truly enjoying just being on the water which was fortunate. It was late in the afternoon without a hooked fish when I got bit. It was heavy, big enough to require a gaff. We were sure it was a nice halibut - until it got to the surface and we saw the tail. A big, beautiful Skate!

Skate

It was after 3 pm when we headed back to the harbor. We found the calm waters we fished in were not what we would encounter going back up the line. Chop and spray all the way, but who cares. We had a good day on the water.