Rail Time Season Opener!

Date:  May 11 – 13, 2026

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

Boat and Crew:  Rail Time owned and operated by Gary Adams with Jake and Eric as crew

Trip:  Two days fishing San Clemente Island

Catch:  10 yellowtail, 1 halibut, 12-15 calico bass plus many released fish including blue perch, sheepshead, whitefish, bonito, barracuda, 2 leopard sharks, Spanish mackerel and calico bass.

Trip Details:  The 2026 fishing season officially started with our departure at 8:30 pm May 11^th on the Rail Time.  The late departure was due to weather (trip moved up one day) and our Chartermaster’s evening return from an overseas business trip. 

Gary had us set up a dropper loop outfit and tweeker (25#, small hook) outfit for the morning.  Seas were a bit choppy leaving the harbor.  Weather was predicted to calm down over night.  Our first stop was at the bait receiver for a tank of sardines.  We were happy the sardines were available as recent information indicated both sardines and squid were hard to come by.  When I got up the next morning, we were at San Clemente Island and our second bait tank was filled with live squid.   

One by one we made our way to the rail grabbing coffee, bagels, etc. as we passed through the galley.  We fished our dropper loops at the first couple stops around the island hoping to find the seabass.  As we would soon learn, the seabass either were not at the island or were not in an eating mood.  Fortunately, the calico bass were plentiful and healthy so I decided to keep a couple and release the rest.   As the day progressed, others kept a couple bass to take home as well and Jeff landed our only halibut of the trip.

The weather was overcast but not cold and the seas were relatively calm.  In some coves we found decent currents and others no current at all.  By afternoon, we were all fishing our tweeker outfits or leadheads searching for yellowtail.  Jim was first to find the yellowtail and then he was second to find them. By days end, Cathy had landed  2 yellowtail, Jeff 1, Rick 1, Steve 1, Gary 1 and Jim landing a total of 4.  My contribution for the day was 1 leopard shark, released! 

Gary anchored us in a calm cove for our dinner of ribs and chicken followed by a birthday celebration for Jeff.  Happy Birthday Jeff! 

Day two was a repeat of day 1 without the yellowtail and halibut.  We fished until we ran out of bait around 2:30 pm.  Jake and Eric processed our fish and cleaned the boat while the rest of us slept or watched movies. 

This was a great start to the season.  Thanks to Cathy for dinner and breakfast, Steve for lunch, Jim for ice cream and snacks, Rick for pizzas and Jeff for snacks and organizing the trip.  As usual, Gary was great and Jake and Eric were wonderful handling deck duties.  Thanks guys.  I’m already looking forward to the next trip.