East Coast Adventure

Date:  Saturday September 26 to Friday October 2, 2026

Anglers:  Cathy Needleman and Jan Howard 

Boat and Crew:  Joe Diorio Guide and owner; boat fished was a  Reef Runner.   Captains:  Carter for day 1; Joe and Andrew for day 2 and Snacks for day 3. 

Trip:  One week travel to New Haven, Connecticut with Three days fishing for striped bass (commonly referred to as stripers.)

Catch:  Day 1 we caught approximately 13 stripers up to 40 pounds; Day 2 Cathy caught at least 6 large stripers with one weighing 42 to 48 pounds; and I caught a few smaller fish; Day 3 we were skunked.

Trip Details:  Cathy and I met at LAX for a 6 am flight to Connecticut through Atlanta.  Our flight was uneventful and arrived on time at Bradley International Airport, CT.  We picked up a rental car and drove an hour and a half, in the dark and pouring rain of a nor’easter, arriving at our rental unit in New Haven around 9:30 pm.  The electronic door lock was uncooperative, requiring the owner to come out in the dark and rain to let us in.  The accommodations were comfortable and included two bedrooms, living room with big screen TV, study, one bath and a full kitchen. 

We were very excited especially Cathy.  Catching stripers have been on her bucket list for quite some time.  Last year we traveled to Nashville with the hope of catching stripers but a storm came through just before our arrival loading the rivers with logs and muddy water.  Our guide felt it was too dangerous to take two old ladies out on a raging river to catch stripers so he took us to a calm lake to catch 12 inch hybrids.

We unpacked then headed out looking for something open for dinner.  The storm caused restaurants to close early due to power outages.  We managed to grab a Little Caesar’s pizza and purchase milk, water and cereal at Sam’s convenience store a block away from our rental unit.  Our unit was on the ground floor and there was another unit above us.  We finished the day unpacking and settling into our home for the week.

Sunday we did a little shopping but spent most the day watching movies while waiting out the storm. Our guide phoned to say we had to cancel fishing on Monday due to the storm and rescheduled that day’s fishing for Thursday.  We had a nice dinner at Waterfront Café next to the landing then went back to our rental to watch another movie.  Around 9 pm, the storm knocked out all our power. Thank heaven our phones have a flashlight built in because we had no idea where and what furniture we might trip over.  All we could do was go to sleep.  At 1:30 in the morning, all the lights went on when the power came on.  So much for a good night’s sleep. 

Monday arrived with another set of inconveniences.  During the day, furniture was moved out of the unit above us making plenty of noise.  The owner sold the house that our rental unit was in and the new owner decided to move in before the end of our trip.  Not only did the new owner move in but the owner has two children around 3 and 5 years of age.  The kids ran back and forth across the floor above us all day.  The highlight of the day was a spectacular dinner at the Oyster Café in Mystic.  I had a delicious seared tuna with amazing flavors which rivaled dishes I’ve had at 3-star Michelin restaurants in France.

Tuesday morning at 6 am we met Carter at Thames Marina and boarded the Reef Runner, a 28 foot center console skiff.  I sat on the back deck and Cathy sat next to the captain for the 30-minute ride to the fishing grounds.  The weather was overcast and cool but the waters were calm.  Carter set us up with 30-pound, 2-foot fluoro leaders with a circle hook tied on and baited with a live eel.  Carter had to change the spinners to right hand reel for both of us.  Carter told us where to cast and said to slowly reel the eel back in then repeat until a fish grabs it.  Carter would cast and retrieve a top water plug which the stripers loved.  Sometimes he hooked a fish and other times the fish followed the plug in so we could hook them. 

It wasn’t long before both Cathy and I hooked a fish.  I found it difficult to pull on these fish as the rod was quite thin and the bail on the reel hit my knuckles each time I turned the handle.  The fish pulled hard.  They would take a long run then a couple shorter ones sometimes changing from right to left before the captain could leader the fish and unhook it.  Carter set the fish in our laps for a photo then released it back into the water.  You can keep one fish a day, however we released everything.  We fished until noon managing around 13 fish including another double hook up as our last fish of the day.

The new owners apparently finished moving in while we were fishing.  The toddlers were in full out running mode when we got back.  We cleaned up and went to dinner expecting the kids to be asleep when we returned.  We were wrong.  We could barely hear our movie due to the pounding feet on our ceiling.  Cathy finally called the owner at 10 pm and asked her to ask the new owners to quiet down the kids.  That helped some, however, I suspect one of the kids was ADHD and that one was still walking around at 3 am.

Wednesday we met Joe and Andrew at the landing at 5 am.  Another 30 minute trip to the fishing area.  Not much current this day.  Slower fishing.  I was tired and sore so I let Andrew do most my casting reserving my strength for pulling on fish.  Fish didn’t bite until 7 am.  The bite was slower but the fish were generally larger.  I landed 1 big striper, 2 medium and 1 small fish. Cathy was on fire though.  She landed at least 6 large stripers including a 42 to 48 pounder.  We fished until noon.  What a great experience.  These fish are beautiful and really put up a fight.  I wish we had something like this to catch just 30 minutes from land.

Joe said Snacks would meet us at 11:30 Thursday morning for our last day of fishing.  We thanked and said goodbye to Joe and Andrew.  After cleaning up, we went to dinner at Daniel Parker’s then finished the evening with another movie.

Thursday morning we went to the Broken Yolk Café for breakfast.  The restaurant is run by Dee who not only runs the restaurant, cooks the meals but is entertaining as well.  She greeted us by telling us to select our coffee mug from among a couple dozen different types.  The walls inside are covered with a variety of memorabilia to entertain us when Dee was busy with other guests.  The food was great and the experience worth the detour. 

We met Snacks at 11:30 for our final day of fishing.  The weather was beautiful – sunny, calm winds and no current.  Captain Snacks covered much water trying spot after spot without a single bite.  Snacks said the morning  had been great with many larger fish biting, however, the afternoon was quite different.  We all understand when this occurs.  Snacks was more upset than we were that he couldn’t put us on biting fish.   We called it a day around 3:30.

We went back to the Waterfront Café for dinner then packed up for our flight home the next day. 

Much thanks goes to Joe and his captains for helping us cross striper fishing off Cathy’s bucket list in spectacular fashion.  Joe was very professional and knowledgeable about striper fishing and taught his captains well too.  We also appreciate all Joe’s restaurant recommendations.  All were delicious and even entertaining. 

I love being with Cathy when she accomplishes one of her goals.  Thanks Cathy for bringing me along. 

 

Endeavor Expedition #3

Date:  August 4 to 6, 2026

Anglers:  Whitney Uyeda (Chartermaster), Shannon Gallagher, Ban Deloviar, Shaun Willhite, Jason Uyeda, Dea-noh Uyeda, Rodney Aoto, Fumio Ogoshi, Dan Clause, Glenn Cantello, Kevin Sherry, Keith Maruya, Steve Chuang, David Dang, Cathy Needleman, and Jan Howard

Boat and Crew:  Endeavor, owned and operated by Tucker McCombs; Joseph (second captain) with Joey and Ethan on deck and Rob in the galley

Trip:  Two days fishing Santa Rosa Island and offshore

Catch:  33 halibut, 38 white seabass, 4 yellowtail, 4 yellowfin tuna, 84 bluefin tuna, 1 lingcod, 1 sheepshead, several reds and miscellaneous rockfish

Trip Details:  Steve, Keith and I planned to ride together.  Steve offered to drive so we met up at my house for the trip.  There were 8 or 9 of our group already at the landing when we arrived around 8 pm.  We signed the manifest, unloaded our gear then Steve parked the car.  The boat had already come in and unloaded from its previous trip and was at the fuel dock refueling.  Around 9 pm, the boat was back in its slip and Tucker invited us on board.

Whitney had informed us that the OG’s (old guys) were to board first and select their bunks before YG’s.  Cathy and I qualified as one of the four OG’s so as we started down the plank to the boat, Whitney grabbed our heavy gear and took it down for us.  Thanks, Whitney.   We selected bunks close to the starboard bunkroom door so we would have fresh air while sleeping.

Tucker gathered everyone on the back desk and gave us the safety speech, informed us we would be fishing Santa Rosa Island for halibut and seabass and we should set up dropper loop outfits for the morning.  After setting up my tackle, I settled into my bunk for the night.  The rest of the passengers were treated to a very generous raffle with prizes provided by Whitney, Shannon and others.  When I got up the next morning, Whitney gave me my raffle prizes which included Spam (which I like) and lots of plastics, leadheads, an Aftco dry bag, jigs etc. 

We fished for halibut first in the morning with everyone getting in on the action.  I can't believe I caught 3 myself with one of those being a larger fish.  When the action slowed, we had 33 halibut on board. 

Tucker moved the boat around the island until he found the seabass.  They bit so well everyone got in on the action.  I was very lucky to catch 4 of my own.  We had 38 seabass on board when Tucker asked us if we wanted to go fish for bluefin tuna.  What?  We weren’t expecting that.  Tucker said we could get to the bluefin grounds in time to night fish with jigs.  A vote was taken and tuna fishing won.  Tucker suggested we get our gear set up, take a nap,  have dinner then it would be time to fish.

I hadn’t brought any tuna gear.  No tuna rods, no jigs, no reels with depths marked on the line – nothing.  Tucker said the boat had enough jigs for everyone and crew would set us up.  All we needed was a reel with at least 65 pound spectra and they would spool it with enough 100-pound mono for shock absorption then tie on the jig.  I grabbed my Penn Torque 2 speed, stripped the line off down to the spectra and crew set me up with a knife jig.  As Tucker advised, I headed to my bunk for a nice long nap.  Travel to the tuna grounds would be several hours.

When I awoke, Rob was finishing up preparing our dinner – pot roast, mashed potatoes, veggies, salad, ice cream and brownies.  The pot roast diner was delicious and provided much needed nourishment for the night that awaited us.

When full darkness was upon us, Tucker found a school of 30-to-50-pound bluefin tuna somewhere offshore between Santa Barbara Island and San Nickolas Island.  The calm traveling seas had given way to wind and swells that rocked the boat tossing us older, smaller or lighter folks around like ping pong balls.  However, that didn’t keep us from joining the chaos of casting a jig out and letting it drop down 300 feet then winding as fast as possible till the jig broke the surface or had attracted the reaction bite of a bluefin tuna stopping the jig. If the jig reaches the surface, you repeat the action until you hook a fish.  When you succeeded in hooking one, you had a real fight on your hands trying to bring the fish in.  These fish would drag you up and down the rail requiring you to weave your line over and under other anglers, trying not to cut them off or vice versa and trying not to fall down.

I tried a couple casts then watched instead of fishing. I was concerned about being able to fish and stand up.  I watched anglers hooking fish after fish some landing 4 to 7 fish.  The first school of fish eventually quit biting so Tucker found another one.  These fish reacted the same way so I decided it was time to try.  I asked Tucker to hook me a fish to pull on.  It took him about one minute to hand me a fish.  I managed to bring that fish in without falling down, then the adrenaline hit me.  Now I had to hook one of my own.  It took a few tries before I succeeded.  I landed my fourth bluefin just as we reached two-day boat limits and the school was handed over to the Amigo. I still can’t believe I managed to land 4 at my age. 

Tucker said we were heading to SBI to fish for yellowtail in the morning.  It was 2 am when my head hit the pillow. 

The engines turned down indicating it was time to get up and fish. We had managed only 3 hours of sleep until time to fish again.  I don’t know how the crew does it. Fishing was slow this day with 4 yellowtail being caught before we tried for rockfish.  I fished the bow so I don’t know how many or what kind of rockfish were caught.  I caught 1 red and two starry rockfish before my line broke and I lost all my gear.  I took that as a hint that it was time to break down my gear and rest.  We only fished another half hour before calling it a trip and heading back to dock – a 4 plus hour trip.

Crew pulled all the fish out of the hold and lined them up by number.  Tucker and Joseph fileted all the tuna first with crew bagging the filets.  They managed to finish just before we got back to the harbor.  

When we arrived we realized we had a problem getting all our fish in our ice chests.   Steve didn't take any tuna home (he didn’t even fish for them), but I took 3 and Keith took two home.  Everyone had a similar problem.  This trip was equivalent to an excellent long range 10-day trip in terms of fish caught.  I doubt this kind of trip will ever happen again.  Definitely one for the books

We took final group photos, said our goodbyes and headed home.  We stopped to drop off most of my fish with Shig for his family before getting home. 

 

Many thanks to Whitney for putting together a great group of fishermen, all of which are accomplished, fun, kind and considerate.  Of course, the stars were Tucker (who can’t leave biting fish anywhere), Rob for feeding us well and Tucker’s wonderful crew.  Also, much appreciation for the generous donations of tackle.  Until next year!  

Graylight Adventure!

Date:  July 21 and 22, 2026

Anglers:  Cathy Needleman, Jeff and Steve Chuang, Jason Fleck and Jan Howard

Boat and Crew:  Graylight owned and operated by  Shawn Stewart, Second Captain Sam and Julian on deck

Trip:  Twp Days fishing Santa Rosa and Santa Cruz Islands

Catch:  24 white seabass, 2 halibut, 6 yellowtail, 20 rockfish, 5 bonito, 5 plus calico bass and released sheepshead and whitefish.

Trip Details:

We all checked in to the Hampton Inn Channel Islands Hotel Monday evening prior to our 3:30 am Tuesday morning departure from Channel Islands Harbor.  We signed the manifest, boarded the Graylight, stowed our tackle and food then settled in for the 2 hour ride to Santa Rosa Island.  Shawn planned to stop along the way for fresh squid.   

Cathy and I chose bean bags on deck to settle in for the ride while the guys slept in the v-bunk down below.  Shawn woke me when we got to the island and had me move so they could retrieve the buckets of squid being handed over from a light boat  We were almost to the fishing grounds so I stayed up. 

The weather was surprisingly warm and the seas flat calm.  We started fishing on one side of the island then when that slowed down we went around to the other side and finished catching our limit of white seabass for the boat plus 2 halibut, 14 calicos and released many other fish as well.  We caught fish on 40-pound dropper loops, sliding sinkers and leadheads.  Everyone got in on the action including the crew.

We were so busy catching fish, we neglected to eat our lunch until the catching slowed.  Cathy brought deli sandwiches for us all and they were delicious.  Chowder agreed as he made sure he was available for any scraps. 

Sam and Julien processed our fish on the way back to dock while the rest of us rested.  We got back around 4:30, grabbed our ice chests out of our cars and met Sam at the top of the landing where he handed us bags and bags of filets.  Not everyone wanted their equal share of filets, so we gave the extra to Jason who was quite happy to take the filets until he realized his ice chests were inadequate.  Ultimately, he bought a couple more ice chests to handle the excess.  

We all made our way to Ralphs to load up on ice to properly chill and preserve our catch.  When we got to our hotel, we had to bring our ice chests full of fish into our room.  My ice chest had wheels but I could barely pull my ice chest to my room.

We cleaned up and met at 6:00 pm at the Trade Winds for dinner.  We enjoyed our dinner reminiscing about the day. Thanks Sheepie for picked up the tab for dinner.  Pleasantly exhausted, we turned in for the night and set our alarms so we would be at the boat by 3:45 in the morning.

We checked out of our room before heading to the landing the next morning.  When we boarded the boat, Shawn let us know the weather had changed and the predicted 40 knots of wind would keep us from fishing where we fished the previous day. We were fine with that as we did not want to keep any more fish.  We planned to catch and release our fish and hopefully get in early.

We had a wonderful day casting the A-Rig, jigs and fishing the normal gear.  Jason caught two at a time on the A-Rig.  We also spent an hour or so fishing for reds and we managed to catch our limit.  So much for our catch and release day.  We ended up catching 6 yellowtail, a sheepshead, 20 rockfish, 5 bonito and more calico bass.  We decided to call it a trip early to beat the weather and hopefully get home early.

Sam and Julian processed fish again on our way to dock.  The trip back was bumpy.  It was good that we headed in early.

What a great trip.  Not only did we catch lots of fish but we had lots of fun too.  Many thanks to Shawn, Sam and Julian.  What a superb team on the Graylight.  I really enjoyed the trip and the chance to have Jason and Shawn reminisce about previous trips.  It brought back many memories for me as well. 

Cathy, you deserve my greatest thanks for organizing and inviting us to share this wonderful adventure with you.