Graylight Pre-season Trip

Date:  April 14, 2026

Anglers:  Jim Carlisle and Jan Howard

Boat and Crew:  Graylight owned and operated by Captain Shawn Steward and second Captain Sam.

Trip:  One day fishing Anacapa Island

Fish Catch:  20 rockfish, 2 halibut and 1 lingcod

Trip Details:  Cathy Needleman booked this trip for the April 1 rockfish season opener inviting our normal group of Jeff and Steve Chang, Fumio Ogoshi, Jim Carlisle, Matt Needleman and me to join her.  Unfortunately, Jeff, Steve, and Fumio were unavailable, so Cathy suggested I invite Jason Fleck.  Jason was excited to join us.  As the date for the trip approached, Cathy realized the trip date conflicted with Passover and neither she nor Matt would be available. Rather than cancel the trip, Cathy insisted the three of us go anyway and made me trip coordinator.

Our next issue was the weather.  The closer we got to the trip date, the worse the weather got.  While Shawn was studying the weather to determine if we would be able to make it out, his Captain for this trip, Sam, fractured his foot so the trip was rescheduled for April 14.  Unfortunately, then Jason was unable to get off work.  That left a two-pack - Jim and me.

As the new date approached, the weather fluctuated until Shawn said he thought we could make it out and said to be at the boat by 5 am.  Jim and I left his house the day before around 1:30 in the afternoon and made it to Oxnard in time to check in to the Hampton Inn before 4 pm.  After checking-in, we headed out to pick up sandwiches for us and the crew.  Jim brought breakfast burritos for everyone from home.  While we were eating dinner at Sea Fresh, Shawn texted saying we would leave at 6 am instead of 5 in order for the winds to come down a little. 

Tuesday morning, April 14th, we loaded our gear in the car, checked out of the hotel and met the boat and crew at Channel Islands Sportfishing.  We signed in, boarded the boat then we were off.  Jim and I settled ourselves down below in the forward V-Bunk for the ride.  The trip was a little bumpy but not too bad and 45 minutes later we were at the east end of Anacapa Island. 

We spent the first couple hours looking for mackerel for bait.  We picked up a couple of large mackerel but not the size nor quantity we wanted.  Shawn said the bait receiver is empty and the bait guys have had a hard time locating any sardines or squid.  Weather was too rough to go to most of the rockfish spots so we fished around the east end of the island in calm water.  It was like being in the eye of a hurricane.

Sam set us up with their new electric reals, a couple hooks with frozen squid and we made a few drops in spots from 300 to 600 feet.  We managed to catch 6 reds, some bankies and widow rockfish to round out our bag limits.  Next Shawn set us up on a deep lingcod spot.  Jim and I both hooked a ling.  I sure was glad I was using an electric reel because that ling fought all the way up.  Just after I landed mine, Jim lost his at the surface as it was just gripping the bait and not hooked. 

We had plenty of fish to take home at this point so it was time to explore.  Shawn and Sam had been wanting to try for black cod.  Jim and I were eager to accommodate as we had fished for black cod in Alaska and loved fishing for and eating them.  Our first drop fell short as there wasn’t enough line to reach the bottom at 1,800 feet.  Shawn moved us around to a couple other spots shallower – 900 to 1,300 feet.  We tried squid and strips of mackerel.  We caught a couple of rockfish but no blackcod.  Perhaps we’ll get to fish for them again next trip.  Sam said he’ll try to get more info from the commercial guys about how they are catching them. 

We did a little more bait fishing and put a few in the tank. Next we checked out the halibut spot and as soon as Jim got his bait to the bottom, he hooked a big halibut and landed it in short order.  I just couldn’t hook one of my own so when Shawn hooked one on a leadhead and split tail fluke, he handed it to me to reel in.   

 

Around 3:30 pm, we called it a trip.  Weather was beautiful and even a bit warm by then.  Sam made quick work of fileting our catch and cleaning the boat before we got back to dock.  We unloaded our gear and grabbed our ice chests out of the car while Sam brought the fish to the top of the landing.  We split the fish up and Jim grabbed some ice for us and iced down our fish while I changed into cooler clothes for the drive home.

 

Graylight is a great sportfishing operation.  Everyone is professional, knowledgeable and have positive attitudes even when weather, bait or fishing is less than ideal.   Much thanks to Shawn and his second Captain, Sam, for a wonderful trip!  And many, many thanks to Cathy for sending us on this trip.  We are very grateful.

 

Rail Time end of Season

Date:  October 7 to 10, 2025

Anglers:  Cathy and Matt Needleman, Jeff and Steve Chuang, Jim Carlisle and Jan Howard

Boat and Crew:  Rail Time owned and operated by Captain Gary Adams and second Captain and crew Jack Armstrong.

Trip:  Two days fishing Tanner Bank and San Clemente Island.

Fish Catch:  17 Bluefin Tuna 15 to 25 pounds, 3 Yellowtail to 30+ pounds, 1 Sheepshead, 1 Fantail Sole, and 5 Calico Bass

Trip Details:  Cathy, Matt and I arrived first at Peter's Landing and moved our tackle through the gate placing it on the dock adjacent to the boat for easy loading.  Our new Crew member, Jack arrived next.  He looked familiar but I couldn’t place him at first. Eventually I realized he was Jenny Armstrong’s son.  Jenny is a friend from my early fishing days when we were both involved in United Anglers and Fred Hall Shows. 

By 5 PM, all anglers and crew were on board motoring towards the bait receiver.   Gary and Jack loaded us up with some great sardines.  

Unfortunately, there were no squid in the receiver so Gary said we would make our own when we got to San Clements Island.  Gary recommended we get our gear ready for fishing in the morning.  He told us to set up our 25 pound tackle with a quarter once slider and a number 2 hook to start the day.

Once we got our gear set up, we settled inside for dinner.  Courtesy of Jeff, we had fresh pizza for dinner.  

Our seas were bumpy so I crawled into my bunk for the ride.  Once we made it to the island, Gary and Jack made squid.  Apparently, it was difficult to get the squid to float due to the full moon.  Fortunately, they captured enough for the next day (so I was told as I slept right through it.)

Gary was up a little after 4 am making coffee and checking out the bait before he started the engines and pointed the bow towards Tanner Bank.  Gradually, a couple of us crawled out of our bunks and stumbled towards the coffee maker.  Others took advantage of the travel time to catch up on their sleep.  I find it interesting how comfortable it is fishing with this group – always respectful and looking out for each other.  Very, very family like.

We arrived at the bank around 8 am.  There were several other sport boats already lined up along the bank fishing. John (Gary’s friend on the Soria) was there too.  Gary anchored up close to John and we cast out our squids. The weather was improving and continued to improve until eventually it became a beautiful day.

It wasn’t long before we started hooking small bluefin.  At first the tuna wanted squid but as the day progressed and the seas calmed, the tuna started eating the sardines. We would catch a fish here and there. No barn burner but a decent plunker bite.

We fished the bank until we had limits of bluefin for the boat.  The bluefin were slightly larger than they were on our last trip but not by much.  These fish were 15 to 25 pounders and very fatty presumably because they had been feasting on squid.  Everybody caught at least one bluefin.  Sheepie had a limit of whitefish (released) to go with his bluefin.  Bottom fishing produced a couple of sheepshead to go along with the whitefish.  Jeff was our star angler hooking and landing 6 bluefin himself.  Cathy and Matt caught 2 bluefin each, Jim caught 3 and released 1, and I caught 3 and released a couple myself. 

Gary checked out the bank for yellowtail before heading back to San Clemente Island.  We arrived at the island just before sundown.  We had just enough time to cast a few baits for yellowtail before settling down for dinner.  Sheepie caught a Fantail Sole (identified by Professor Fumio after the trip.)  

The yellowtail however, were a no-show but that didn’t keep us from enjoying a delicious BBQ ribs and chicken dinner courtesy of Cathy.

After dinner, Gary and Jack made squid while the rest of us headed to bed to rest from a successful day of fishing in beautiful weather.  The squid cooperated by floating which allowed Gary and Jack to get a good night’s rest too.

Friday morning we all managed to be on deck early.  

Gary had our dropper loops deployed so we could grab our coffee on our way to the rail.  Jim hooked up almost immediately and when it hit the deck, it looked like it was a 30 to 35 pound yellowtail.  What a beautiful fish.  Sheepie hooked one on the bow and after struggling to get his rod out of the holder, the hook pulled.  Matt hooked one next and landed his shortly thereafter.  Another beautiful yellowtail.  A couple more were hooked and lost before the bite shut off around 7 am.

Gary checked out cove after cove around the island.  In the process, we picked up five nice calico bass and released more than we kept.  I managed to catch 3 keepers myself. 

Conditions got rougher as the day progressed, eventually producing the strong winds that had been predicted.  We ended up heading over to Catalina Island to look for fish.  Gary put us on a spot of yellowtail sharing the cove with many large, aggressive sealions.  Conditions were horrible -  wind against current.  As soon as we cast a sardine, a sealion bit it off or the sardine made a U-turn and headed away from the yellowtail.  Jeff was the only one who managed to catch a yellowtail before we called it a trip.

The seas were rough and getting rougher as we started back across the channel.  Jack filleted the tuna first then the yellowtail and bass.  I bagged fillets and Steve sealed them.  It was a three-hour crossing and we finished processing the fish just after we entered the harbor.  Jack did a fabulous job filleting our fish working in less than ideal conditions.  

Jack proved his worth on this trip.  He’s a great addition to Gary’s operation and we hope to see him on future trips.

Gary is incredible as a captain and boat owner and his crew are always professional.  Many thanks to Gary for another great trip.  Cathy, thanks so much for including us on your charters and for feeding us delicious ribs, chicken, and bagels.  And many thanks to my fellow anglers who fed us lunches, snacks and ice cream.  I am so appreciative of being able to fish with you all.  Many thanks for helping me when my hands fail me.

This was our last trip of the season fishing with Gary and it didn’t disappoint.  Until next year friends, have a safe winter! 

Rail Time in September!

Date:  September 16 – 18, 2025 

Anglers:  Cathy Needleman, Jeff and Steve Chuang, Jim Carlisle and Jan Howard

Boat and Crew:  Rail Time owned and operated by Captain Gary Adams and second Captain Jake. 

Trip:  Two days fishing San Clemente Island and offshore.

Fish Catch:  15 bluefin tuna 15 to 30 pounds, 6 yellowtail 25 to 30 pounds, 6 calico bass

Trip Details:

Weather was the most used word on this trip and in the days before the trip.  Weather predictions were for calm seas for the days up to the departure date when the predictions changed several times.  I thought my weather app was malfunctioning because one minute it showed 30 knot winds and the next it showed calm seas. 

 

We departed the landing around 5 pm stopping first for bait.  After loading some beautiful squid, Gary said we were heading to the bait receiver in San Pedro to pick up some live sardines because there were none here at the Long Beach Bait Barge.  After picking up our sardines, we headed to Catalina Island.

Gary suggested we set up our tackle with a 1/0 hook on 25# test line for the next morning.  After getting our tackle ready, we shared a sushi appetizer and pizza for dinner then I went to sleep.  I heard the engines turn off at 9 pm and back on at 1 am.  The ride was a bit bumpy all night.   When I got up the next morning at 5 am, Gary was still driving towards our first fishing spot.  We were somewhere southwest of San Clemente Island.

Around 10 am we reached an area containing several sport boats.  Gary’s friend John was in the area and suggested we use a quarter ounce sliding sinker on our 25-pound line and squid for bait.  Gary set us up close to John’s boat and we followed John’s suggestion, which proved successful.  After putting half dozen small bluefin on board we decided to release everything under 25 pounds.

The word “weather” came up when it started sprinkling while we pulled on our tuna and when the wind started to blow.  We didn’t complain about being rocked around because we knew the Seakeeper kept us from being rocked like the boats around us were.

After we reached our bluefin limit of 14 fish, plus releasing at least twice that many, we searched the bank for something else that wanted to bite.  Weather was still a bit rough and no other fish wanted to bite so at 2 pm we headed back to fish San Clemente Island.

Back at the island, we enjoyed a nice little sheepshead bite at sundown.  We had to wait for the military to finish their training exercises before we could anchor for the night in Pyramid Cove.  When they let us in, Gary parked us right on top of a squid nest.  Great spot to start the morning.

Once in the cove, we enjoyed a BBQ Ribs and Chicken dinner.  As usual, I went to sleep early.  Jeff told me the next morning that the squid eventually floated so Gary was able to scoop the squid without using the crowder.

Weather during the night was unusual.  We had 50 knot winds with waves slapping the side of the boat and rain. 

 

6 am the next morning, we gradually left our bunks and hit the deck. It was cloudy and misty.

Cathy started the day pulling on a big yellowtail.  We all grabbed our 30-to-40-pound outfits and cast out a squid.  We all got bit.  I was using my 12T spooled with 40-pound fluorocarbon.  My fish made a 100 yard run straight offshore, stopped then repeated the action twice more exactly like a black seabass does.  I just hung onto my rod and occasionally got a wind on my reel, then the fish would run a shorter distance each time now. 

I usually hand off my blacks to a crew member to let them break it off but everyone was busy either pulling on a fish, gaffing a fish or trying to get Jeff’s fish off John’s anchor line.  Pulling on my fish was good exercise for me anyway.  Eventually my fish tired out and changed color from black to yellow.  It was just another 30-pound yellowtail like the other 5 lying on the deck.

 

By 7 am the bite was over.  Gary started looking around for more hungry fish.  We picked up a few calico bass releasing most of them keeping just enough for 1 meal each.  Around 1 pm we started towards home looking for schools of fish while we processed the fish in the hold.

 

Another great (although unusual) trip in the books with my fishing family.  Thanks to everyone for everything you do and all the help you give me.  Of course Gary and Jake are the best at what they do and such great attitudes no matter what the fishing gods throw at them.  And Cathy - you know how special I think you are.  Once again, thanks for your generosity.