Ranger 85 - Reds and Bobber Balloon Blues!

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

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

 

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

 

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

Rail Time A-Team on Fire again!

As Jeff’s September charter on the Rail Time approached, windy weather threatened to cancel the trip.  Originally, we were scheduled to leave Tuesday evening, then departure moved to Wednesday and finally the weather calmed down enough to depart Thursday evening and fish Friday – just one day of fishing instead of two. 

Photo courtesy of Carl (A-Team's Friend)  Taken of us Fishing 9-13-24

Jeff , Jim, Cathy, Steve and I met up at 5:30 pm, boarded the Rail Time and put away our gear.  We were fortunate to have Captains Gary, Andy and Jake (better known as the A-Team) for this trip. 

Gary said the only game fish around were the bluefin out by Santa Barbara Island.  Catalina and San Clemente had been dead for days so Gary said we would spend the night at Catalina to make flyers for  bluefin then head to the bluefin grounds in the morning.   

We made a stop at the bait receiver for a tank of sardines to go along with flyers for bait.  As we traveled to the island, we set up our tackle for the big bluefin, then enjoyed a Pizza dinner (thanks to Jeff).  After dinner, I settled in my bunk to watch the sun go down.

 

Around 3:30 the next morning, I heard the engines start and realized we were on our way to the bluefin grounds.  I went back to sleep until 5:30. When I got up, it was still dark.  Jim was the only other one up.  Everyone else enjoyed the calm seas to catch up on some sleep.

The weather was overcast with no wind.  Gary found the fish around 8 am and had Jake get us set up to drop flyers back on a school of fish.  Jim and Cathy were up first on the drop back.  Once their fish were deployed, Gary let me drop a dead flyer down 100 feet on a sinker rig.  There wasn’t enough wind to fly a helium balloon. 

 

Jim got bit first.  It only took him about 15 minutes to land his fish.  What a beautiful fish!  Once it settled down, it taped out at 172 pounds.  Congratulations Jim!  We were all excited to see a fish on deck so early.  With only one day to fish, this was a great start. 

 

We kept working hard trying to get a bite.  Even though the fish were around, they just weren’t biting.

Around 10, the wind finally came up enough for Gary to put me up on the balloon.  I was on the bow watching my balloon when I heard someone say Cathy’s bit.  Gary said “The fish are here.  Get ready Jan, you’re going to get a bite!” 

Cathy was still fighting her fish when I saw a splash and the balloon started to go down.  I started winding like crazy then the line came tight – I had a fish on.  My fish headed straight away from the boat and stayed on the surface until I got it close to the boat then it went down at the bow and started circling.  When I got it to the surface, it reversed directions to avoid the gaff but crew got it as it came back around.  My fish wasn’t a mean one so I was able land it in about 20 minutes.

 

Cathy wasn’t as lucky as she had hooked a mean fish but she prevailed and landed a nice fish, estimated to be 170 pounds.  It wasn’t long until Cathy hooked another fish and two more after that, two of which she released.  Cathy was on fire!  Way to go Cathy.

 

Sheepie hooked a fish while Cathy was still fighting her first fish.  He also hooked a mean fish that drug him around the boat until he was exhausted.  Steve asked Jeff to relieve him for a moment and while Jeff helped, the fish chewed through the line!  We also lost a couple fish on the balloon when the flyer got mangled by a smaller tuna or a short bite. 

 

Then the smaller fish came through and Gary said throw out your 40-pound outfit!  Jeff did and hooked a fish and fought it to color before releasing it.  It looked well over 100 pounds.  Even though the fish escaped, the joy of the fight didn’t get away.  Jeff was jubilant from the experience.  Then Gary hooked a fish on 40-pound as well and he landed his fish demonstrating how the pros do it! From then on, it was fun and chaos. 

 

The next fish Jeff hooked was a big one.  Fortunately, he was using heavier gear and he landed that one.  It taped out at 170 pounds.  I hooked a second fish on the balloon and landed it too.  It looked like a 140 pounder. 

By 3 pm, we had 5 big fish and 3 smaller fish in the hold.  More fish than we needed so it was time to head home.  On the way, Gary gave our remaining live flyers to a friend who hadn’t been as lucky as we had been.  Apparently these bluefin are so smart that they won’t bite an artificial or dead flying fish.  They only bite the live flyers.  I wonder why?  Is it how they look; lack of movement; perhaps the way a live flyer smells or a combination of things.  Whatever it is, the live flyer is key to getting a bite.

Andy and Jake processed our fish on the way back to dock.  We arrived back around 6:30 and offloaded our gear then Jake brought a wheelbarrow full of filets (the Meat Wagon as Jeff called it) to the parking lot for us to share.  I think we sent half our catch home with Andy to feed his hometown of Winchester. 

 

As always, thanks to Jeff for everything!  And special thanks to the A-Team (Gary, Jake and Andy) for making it possible to catch these beautiful fish.  I am grateful as these trips are dreams come true for me.  Thanks. As Jim put it, “Great boat, the best crew, wonderful fishing and great friends!”

The days after the trip are special as well.  We get to enjoy our catch and share it with family and friends.

Jeff's Sashimi

Seared Furikake Tuna (Recipe from Guy Fieri)

Jim's Tuna Burger

Steve's Creation