2018 Trip Reports

Leaving home at 10:30 I figure I could perhaps be one of the early arrivals to the landing. Ha, who am I kidding? I arrived at Fisherman’s Landing with Ruddy and my guest Mark Gupton at 3:00 only to find most of the club already there. Brian Wynn gets the honors for first in line, followed by Mario and his dad. Mario is already fishing in the harbor-surprise surprise. Beers and BS are starting to flow, just another DWRRC trip. Bruce arrives at 4:30 and says we can board the boat at 5:30. After a scramble to find a spot for rods and tackle we’re all aboard itching to go. Tom Anderson calls me out and ask were my cooler is. I run to my truck to get it and Tom picks up a 30 pack of Coors Light, AKA Trunk’s breakfast. To everyone’s delight we are greeted by Chef Paul and he is setting up a sashimi feast. By 6:00 we are off to the bait receiver. The bait was a mixture of small to medium large sardines. The larger baits were in good shape, the smaller stuff not so good. Bruce calls us in to the galley to discuss where we would like to fish. We could head south for footballs and dodo’s or head up to the Cortez and maybe SCI for BFT. Bruce explains that the condition of bait is not good and that by the 2 nd day a lot of it could roll. A vote was held, 16-0 and off to Cortez for BFT we go. The plan was to target BFT day one and play it by ear day 2. The 11 hour ride north was a nice and we finally arrive to the grounds around 5:00 AM. Bruce is searching for a school of tuna but none to be found. The big set ups never leave the rack and we start the trolling rotation- yippee. The first jig strike is a rat YT caught by Mario Jr. on the condom bank. Yes that is correct – the condom bank. Everyone looks over their shoulder and is relieved that Trunk and Andy are not aboard, no need to sleep with one eye open. The morning is pretty slow, couple more jig strikes, mostly on skippies. Roy decides to keep one for sashimi. Rumor has it that he tells his friends it is the belly meet from his cow BFT. Mario is in typical form, trolling and throwing iron at the same time. By noon we head to the Cortez for some plunk fishing. The sun never comes out all day. Overcast and about 65 degrees, water temp about the same. We arrive at the Cortez around 2 and we plunk fish the remainder of the day. Rudy gets the first bait fish- about 15lb YT. Many nice quality bonito were caught. The most interesting catch of the day was from Brian Wynn- 8lb goat caught fly lining-WTF? Total for day one – 9 YT, 1 BFT, 1 barracuda, 1 goat, 20 bonito, and numerous skipjack. Jeremy wins JP with about a 20lb YT. I must say the BFT tuna caught was one of the most impressive of the year. It taped out to 10.6lbs caught by yours truly. By 6:00 we are well into happy hour and head south for YFT. Paul serves Chicken Presidente for dinner which paired well with the wine brought on board. Day two we are in Mexican waters off of Colonet searching for kelp paddies. The weather has warmed up; the water temp is 69, clear and blue. Breakfast was served- eggs benedict- Goofy take note. At 8:45 we hit the first paddy and it is WFO on small YT (24) and YFT (28). Between kelp paddies we continue the troll – Mark Gupton hooks the first dorado and we get a couple more on bait. 10:30 Paul serves fresh cinnamon rolls as we continuing trolling and searching for paddies. The weather had picked up and the boat is rolling. We find three more paddies that are loaded and by 12:45 we have Mexican boat limits. Fish were hungry and would bite anything thrown at them. This was a great opportunity to throw poppers and many did just that. Fish were hitting jigs, poppers, even dead bait; you name it-definitely an epic WFO bite. At 12:45 we start the troll again looking for more Dorado. I make a couple of observations during this time. 1. It is pretty quiet on the deck. There is no one running from the bow to the stern fishing two rods at the same time. Wait, where is Mario? Then I see him hanging over the rail chumming- poor little lamb. 2. I am truly impressed with the clubs enthusiasm to troll. This is evidence by Parks playing solitaire in the galley during his rotation and the lone trolling rods at the rail. The stern is not quite the same as when we fish calico. 3. Nepotism is rampant in the club, just look at the JP winners. 4. Don’t ask who the trip scroll is. We continue trolling back towards the barn for a couple more skippies and one YFT. The seas have lain down and it’s a nice smooth ride home. By 6:00 we are well into happy hour. The brown liquor is flowing and we enjoy our rib eyes with a nice wine pairing. JP for day two goes to Murphy for a nice 20lb Dorado. Total fish counts: Mexican Boat Limits on YFT, 14 Dorado and 20 YT. Overall it was a great trip. Quality not so good but the quantity was epic. Fish were hitting before your bait hit the water. Bruce and his crew did a great job putting us on fish and working out the tangles. As always Paul’s meals were superb.

Trip #8 on the Thunderbird - Ryan Burson,Roy Patterson,Luke Burson,Bob Wheeler,Andy Sienkiewich,Nick Burson,Alex Mesko,Charlie Sanchez,Stewart,Bryan Upcraft,Bill Parks,Tom Hill,Gary Thompson,Paul Casillas,Tony Beall,Mike Trunk, Andy Woodfill Welcome the newest member of the DWRRC! https://losangeles.cbslocal.com/video/3930676-fishermen-score-big-with-bluefin-tuna/

DWRRC Trip Repor Trip #7- 8/23-8/25- 1-1/2 Day Trip Scribe- Gary T. NOTE- This is a long report so you might get two beers in hand. Club Participants- Brian W., Andy W., Tom H., Gary T., Paul C., Tony B., Steve L., Bill P., Bill H., Tom A., Ron S., Joe S., Ron H., Luke B., Ron R., Tim S., and Stewart F. (sort of- more later) Crew- Jeff, Brian, Ricardo, Steve, Goofy This trip actually started on Aug 18th when Luke sent out his first pre-trip update. I think we all appreciate the effort in the Club leadership keeping all of us apprised as best as possible of what we may expect or to look to for an upcoming trip. With providing weather and wind forecast updates, fishing conditions and what fish are where as best as can be ascertained, and recommended tackle and equipment to bring, we all benefit from these updates. As such, I think we all should thank them for providing such a valuable benefit to all of us in the club so we can always be best prepared. (Even if some of us hate fishing with flat falls….but who could that be?????) The Scribe arrived at Davey’s Locker at 2:35pm on 8/23 with Tony B. in tow, and some of the usual suspects were already there- Luke B., Brian W. and Ron H. Joe S., Steve L., and Tom H. followed with everyone else filtering in, EXCEPT Stewart F. By 7:00pm, and still no Stewart who was number 3 on the bunk sign up list, a little anxiety set in. Was Stewart OK? Did something happen to him? Or was it just everyone wanted their bunk? In any event, Luke finally made positive contact with him and determined that Stewart had forgotten that he was on this trip! So, we ended up going one short with 16. One little note here about early arriving- the scenery. The whale watch boats can, at times, carry some real “talent”. It is always useful to observe that “talent” as they embark and disembark those boats. We must ensure that we maintain all of our skills at the highest level, and observe for new innovations in “fishing”, if you all know what I mean….. During the waiting period, the usual things we all do took place. The rigging table was in full operation with Luke and Brian holding class, reels were put on rods, lots of small talk, BS talk, sea stories, and the usual shuck and jiving going on, dinner treks here and there, beer drinking, and the highly anticipated wait for Goofy’s arrival. We always anticipate lots of words of wisdom when Goofy arrives with his galley supplies, and this trip was no exception. We all gathered around him at his 6:25pm arrival and engaged in the usual discourse- what do you know, when will the boat be here, where are we going to fish, what’s for dinner, etc.. When it was all said and done, nothing was resolved as usual. At one point the manifest signup sheet had to be put on hold because Bill H, dropped the pen through a crack in the wood planks on the pier, and we had to wait for him to find a new one. I hear he targeted that pen drop as if he was casting a mackerel into a hole in a rock chasing a bass. Anyway, we dodged a bullet there when he got a new pen. Can’t leave the dock without a completed manifest. Finally, the boat arrived around 7:30pm and the anticipated wait for Jeff to come up and give us a quick rundown on the “plan” came and went. Jeff was not on the boat! Brian had run the previous trip, and Jeff snuck down to the boat from the other gangway. As we still figured he would come up at some point to fill us in, we eagerly awaited. As we waited, we finally drug Andy and Tom H. out of the bar who had been hustling a couple of blonds from what we were told. I cannot confirm the truth of this though. Anyway, Jeff never came up and at 8:45pm, he hollered at us to load up. We were all wondering now what was up. We loaded up and left the dock at 9:00pm. The bait at the receiver was pretty decent with a mix of good size sardine and smaller sardine. A few mackerel mixed in. We loaded 3 tanks full and left the harbor at 10:30pm. And still no word from Jeff on the “plan”. Finally, Jeff comes on the PA and says he has no idea what we are going to do. The weather is up on the outside so the outer banks were off the table, the fish south are too far, and the Navy has San Clemente Island all jacked up all day (or so the schedule said). Soooo…. the “plan” was to try the large Bluefin on the backside of SCI first thing in the morning, watch the wind, and then go from there. And with that we all headed to bed for the ride out, which turned out to be not too bad. We went around the west end and then down the backside of the island looking for fish. We arrived over our first school of fish at 4:45am on 8/24, a few miles off the backside of the island, about the middle of the island. Most everyone was up and flat falls were flying everywhere, grinding, winding and giving it our all (yes even me- for 10 minutes). However, no bites, the fish disappeared and we went on the hunt again. Shortly thereafter our second stop on fish produced more of the same. So we continued in search mode. Weather so far was ok, but we were anticipating the wind at any time. At 5:45am, we stopped on another school. Same deal, same result. On the move again and at 6:25, another school and ditto. Between stops, lots of weird discussion and witty banter took place in the galley, with Goofy expounding more words of wisdom, and then showing us what he keeps on top of the CLs in the beer cooler. Mike Trunk would be pleased……We can tell by now as the morning went on, and the wind starting to come up as expected, that Jeff was most likely up in the wheelhouse wondering WTF do I do now? In the meantime, we all chowed down on Goofy’s chorizo, egg and potato burritos for breakfast. At 7:30am, we stopped on another spot of fish, and got our first bite! Tom H’s sea chicken. After quite a fight, the sea chicken was on board. We didn’t keep it because Goofy said we already had enough chicken for lunch later. We continued our seek and destroy mission, working our way around to the east end of the island, while talking shop talk about reels in the galley and anxiously awaiting the next opportunity. By 9:30 am, Jeff finally had enough and learned that the front side of the island would be available to fish as the Navy had apparently cancelled the closures. So off we went to check things out. We arrived at the corner spot at Pyramid after a short run and after a quick look, Jeff decided to give it a try. As the anchor was settling back, the stern exploded with yellowtail and it was game on! These fish wanted to bite, and they did for about 20 minutes real well. And they put on one of the best shows we have seen in a while. Finally, the sea lions showed up and the fish got a bit spooked and slowed down. We picked away for a while before it finally died off. When the dust settled, we had 23 yellows in the RSW. I also was 4 for 5 on the sea pigeons so take that Tom H.! The conditions were perfect for this spot with the current running strong and in the right direction, and it paid off. At 10:50am, we were on the move headed off the island looking for some yellowfin tuna that Jeff had said the purse seiners had been fishing for a couple of days. After a while searching with no luck, Jeff decided we should head back to the island and look for more yellows. Weather was flat calm at the moment but that would change later in the day. We stopped briefly at the “Slide” spot for one yellow and a couple of barracuda, and at 12:45pm were on the move again up the island in search mode. The sun was out, winds were calm, and it was getting hot. Perfect front side conditions. Next stop was the “Red Bluff” area above Steve’s Point. We had a decent hit on the yellows putting 14 down in the RSW along with a couple barracuda and a few bonito caught. Again, perfect current conditions, but the sea lions were a problem as usual. Once back on the move again, we had a good lunch of Goofy’s chicken burgers with cheese and all the trimmings on the burgers. We ran all the way to Gold Bluff where the Outrider had decent yellowtail fishing in the morning. However, it was for nada, and the wind was now coming up, blowing down the island creating a wind against the current situation which can be problematic. At 2:35pm, we were on the move again back down the island, and the wind was following us all the way. We stopped at the “Sailboat Wreck” below Steve’s Point for 3 quick yellows until the sea lions set in. We put on more yellow before we blew out of there. Our next stop was at Purse Seine Rock sometime after 3:00pm I believe. By this time, the wind was blowing pretty good down the island with an uphill current, and we were laying sideways to the wind because of it. But it didn’t matter. The yellows showed right away and were eating everything. Surface irons and fly lined baits were getting bit. And then it was the same deal when the sea lions showed up. But the pick bite was steady and lasted a lot longer. When it was all said and done, we put 35 more yellows into the RSW. We finally left Purse Seine Rock at 7:00pm and continued down the island. We tried one bass spot after we left Purse Seine rock, but no bites. Conditions were too difficult to fish properly, plus we had pretty much blown through all of our big baits fishing the yellows. Ron H. still has the target on his back. We rolled into one more bass spot in tight in calm water to try and have a nice dinner. Cocktail hour for the most part began around 7:30pm., much later than usual. We miss Hayden’s cocktail alarm system. Hurry back Hayden! Goofy, again, served up a great dinner of pork chop steaks, au gratin potatoes, salad, rolls, and Klondike bars for desert. Very filling after a long day of fishing hard. We must give credit to Andy W. and Tony B. here. Well after dark, while everyone else is breaking down gear, eating dinner, drinking libations, cleaning up, and getting ready for the ride home and a night’s rest, those two were still at the rail bass fishing. Even Luke finally said it was time to quit, but not those two! After dinner, and around 9:30pm or so, the crew and Luke settled the jackpot/patch and the crew set about cleaning fish. And Tony and Andy were still fishing. True dedication I must say. The lucky jackpot/patch winner turned out to be yours truly the Scribe. I got lucky again, in spite of not wearing my dilapidated shoes and lucky pants with the holes and seams torn out. Maybe I should get some new shirts now? We left for home at 10:15pm and with a smooth ride home, we arrived at the dock around 4:10am Sat. morning. We all unloaded from the boat, hustled for our vehicles, loaded up our gear and fish, said our goodbyes and any final insults, and headed home looking forward to the next trip. All in all, given the weather outlook when we left the dock, and the uncertainty of the island, we can honestly say that some one was looking out for the DWRRC on this trip. I think we really did pull a rabbit out of the hat. For the last several weeks, there hadn’t been any yellows on the front side of the island, and now, it was loaded. Jeff believes a new batch has moved in, and coupled with lite fishing pressure recently due to everyone fishing the outer banks or the backside, we got in on the ground floor. Bass fishing wasn’t very good, but we really never targeted them due to the conditions and the fact that the yellows were biting. Final Trip Score- 76 yellowtail and a handful of barracuda, bonito and bass kept. A quick note here- I did not take note during the trip of how many each person caught, but I believe a couple of high liners had 6 or 7 fish. Some observations- Sea Lions- The sea lions were being their normal obnoxious selves on every spot as usual. However, I do not believe we lost a fish to them. They picked at our baits and spooked the yellows as usual, but were disinterested in eating them. Not sure why at times they are like this, but we benefited by it on this trip. However, if they had not been around at all, I think we could have doubled our fish count. Those fish were very eager to bite on 3 spots, but as soon as the dogs moved in on the spot after 10 or 15 minutes, the spooked yellows would back off to a pick. Yellows Biting After 3:00pm- Now this may sound strange, but that last bite we had at Purse Seine Rock, which was our best overall bite, all came after 3:30pm and lasted until the sun went behind the island. It is very unusual for this to occur as for some reason, the front side yellowtail fishing is always very slow by that time in the afternoon. When we returned Sat, I asked my brother what he thought of that because I had never seen a bite that late. He said it was extremely rare and he had only seen that happen once in all his years fishing the island. So, I guess we experienced a bit of history as well as some good karma on this trip. Epic Battle of the Day- No doubt the epic battle of the day was Andy W. and the Blue Heron. It was the classic surface iron attack as the Blue Heron decided it was time to take on Andy’s jig. It was an EPIC struggle as the Blue Heron and Andy battled for supremacy, but in the end, Andy slayed the day. However, in recognition of the Blue Heron’s heroic effort, it was decided that it must be set free to live and fight another day. Final Observation- For those of us that will be fishing the next trip on the Thunderbird, it will be the last club trip on this boat. As you all are aware, my brother Wiggy and his partners in crime have purchased another boat and the T-Bird is up for sale. We have had a good 3 (4???) years on the T-Bird and certainly look forward to fishing the new boat next season. As of Sat, 8/25, the boat was enroute from Homer, AK, had crossed the Gulf of Alaska, and was in Ketchikan, AK headed south. It should be in Newport within the next 10 days. After it arrives, much work will be performed to set it up for SoCal fishing as it was a halibut and salmon boat before. I for one am looking forward to watching the outfitting of this new boat. And that ends my report for Trip #7. Signing off. Gary T.

DWRRC Trip 6 2018 (Two Days Departure Thursday August 9, 9 PM Fishing August 10th and 11th Condensed version: 17 Anglers Tanner and SCI: 33 BFT 13 YT 1 Goat Bunch of Calico’s JP: Day 1 Jeff, Day 2 Cody. Slightly longer rambling on version: (Beer required) This is the much-anticipated trip following the larger-than-life trip 5 where personal best records were topped like the record heat wave records occurring all around us in Southern California. Themes for this trip: Fish or get off the pot Lessons learned Snacks – Cheez-It Ronco The line up was a cast of formidable anglers capable of catching fish in a single cast. Look up in the sky, It’s a bird, it’s a bait. Splat. It’s a bird. Stewart, Steve S, B J, Bill (Parks), Ryan, Luke, Cody, Filling in for toe injured Roy – Brian W, Chris (Jr), Jeff, Paul C, Gary T, Ron Rudrud, Chris L, Super Mario, Andy (D & B Skelton Key) and Tim Schneider. Guest angler for a second year was Gavin. That kid is now taller than Super Mario. The crew was Captain Jeff at the helm, second Brian, Chris (AKA Goofy), Steve, Rico and youngster Walker. The buzz leading up to the cast off was fast and furious. Luke and others peppering us with emails and texts of fishing conditions by the Thunderbird and others leading up to the day of departure. Sea conditions were forecasted to be a rising swell due to storm activity further south. Swells to 10 feet with 10 to 35 knot winds. Don’t believe any of this, I made this stuff up. Gotta keep the fleet away. Two days leading up to this trip, Luke sent out announcement to be at the dock and ready to board at 7 PM. All were to respond with, I will be there by 7 PM. That meant all gear in line, parked, fed, beered up, socialized, pottied, etc. All confirmed as requested. Upon arrival I recognized a familiar pattern. Brian W and Gary T front of the queue followed closely by Ryan, Luke and Bill. This goes along with one of the themes for this trip. Fish or get off the pot. There is a distinct dedication that goes into being prepared and ready and being at the front of this line. These are the guys that make it there almost always without fail. Planning, dedication, instincts, knowledge and desire all go into being ready when that small window of opportunity presents itself out on the water. Yes, luck also plays into it, however these guys have the skills and make their own luck. As the crowd gathered, greetings were made like a scene from Cheers when Norm showed up. AN-DEEE. Beers passed out, greetings, questions about gear, trip 5, how many hooks on a flat fall is too many. Nobody knows. The buzz was on and everyone was getting in a lather to be on the water. This is one of the things I look forward to on these trips. The dynamics of this gathering at the dock with the different individuals all with a common thread. And a boat load of gear. I consider myself as being extremely fortunate to be part of this elite club. This camaraderie is a part of my life I am grateful for. As seven o clock was looming, most went out to forage for a meal and returned, belly full of seafood or Mexican food and cerveza’s. As often occurs when we arrive for early departure, that hour comes and goes without sign of the boat. Eerily, smoke from the Holy fire was a cloud that obscured the sun, and just stopped as if against an invisible wall just off the coast. It kept the weather a bit cooler and reminded us of where we live. In a desert prone to burning. The Thunderbird rolled in after 8 and was in process of making a Southwest Airlines turn around in 40 minutes or less. Jeff briefed us on action for the day and that we would be targeting Tanner and possible Cortes. He did not want to be too far away from SCI as big tuna was the word for late Friday afternoon. Tanner bank, light lines and small hooks. 20 lb. line with fluorocarbon. Football BFT to 15 pounds and Yellowtail to 20. Jeff said he had a good supply of cured sardines waiting for us. He was spot on the money about the bait. Then he said something along the lines of, we will catch fish, or not. He a funny guy. A very high tide as we walked up hill onto the dock to board about 8:45 and pulled away from the dock as the galley was being restocked. As we were finding our coveted spots for tackle and rods, our attention was brought back to the local events as long walls of flame from the Holy fire were visible. A somber feeling. This brought words of how bad this fire really was and the deranged person who intentionally set this fire. A-hole. Off to the bait store for three well stocked bait tanks of healthy looking sardines with a smattering of mackerel. As we left the bait receiver, it was difficult to notice we left the harbor as the seas were very flat. We will take it while we can. Goofy did the safety drill, and those of us still rigging completed our task at hand to be ready for the morning festivities. A less bouncy night of rest for all. Albeit a warm one. Super Mario was trolling as we approached tanner bank and was on a quest to drink a boat load of beer in two days. 6:45 when the anchor dropped. Seas still very calm, warm and no breeze. Fish were to be caught, or not. Excellent bait. Lots of life, most swam away from the boat or were pulled away by the current. When they were trying, Jeff M and second Brian K were on fire. Jeff was hooking and handing off BFT’s. Then I noticed they were using special sardines. What tank were these smaller bait coming from? Slow action on the fish. Tough to get bit. Some went down to 15 lb. line. I heard number 4 hooks were the ticket. (Thank you Ron) I was surprised to land a nice fork tail with such a small hook. Lots of dog activity. Then the frigging shearwaters got worse and worse. Them buggers can dive. Nose hook, butt hook. They found the bait and got hooked. When the bird to fish ratio got ridiculous, Jeff pulled the hook and moved a short distance in hopes the dogs and birds would focus on the Freedom close by. That slightly worked and was short lived. All told, stop 1 yielded 21 BFT, 11 YT Stop 2, 3 BFT and 2 YT and a goat. One thing to note, for all the dog activity, we did not loose a hooked fish to the sea lions. A very welcome change. With Cortes out of the picture, the decision was then made to run to SCI for the late afternoon tuna activities. Time to rig for the SCI monsters and time for more slumber. I heard lunch was served. Total count at this time. 24 BFT, 13 YT and 1 goat Yours truly got that goat on a butt hooked sardine as we were ready to pull away. Bizarre. Still calm seas and still warm. Dinner was to be served at 5:30 to 6:00-ish to make sure were all fed before the evening activities commenced. Ham steaks, au gratin potatoes, salads and fix-ins. A fine wine selection also provided by club members. Many of us for the first sitting as there were many who wanted to be on first on the rail when we started fishing the flat falls. After an hour or so, creeping up on twilight, no bites yet. Lots of metered fish. Gary switched to fishing bait, hoping to hook a smaller fish (you know, 80 or 90 pounds). I stopped in the galley for a break and a mint Klondike Bar. Delicious. Thank you Goofy. Back to the rail. We were in 1900 feet (meters?) of water. Jeff is calling out the schools and depth as they swam under us. It is now dark. Fish at 180 feet. Fish at 120 feet. There are some big fish in there. I have no clue as to how deep my flat fall was. I bring it to the surface, let it out in with minimal drag, and thumb it to prevent backlash. As I was making my way along the port rail, Gary yelled from the galley, “Hey Jeffy, catch one”. Within a few short moments, my flat fall stops. I announce “I have hit bottom”. A little more movement, it stops again, “I have hit bottom” goes out again. Move the lever to strike, wind in the slack, and then it was holy sheep shit Batman, this might be a big tuna. As it was taking more line, my thoughts gravitated towards “This is going to take a while. A long, long while”. Then I heard Chris Jr announce, he hit bottom. Yes!! He was on. Two monsters of the SCI hanging. A while later, I heard something no one ever wants to hear. Chris was no longer on his fish. Then something about “Rico, you got some splaining to do”. I recall having to go over the bow once, then several trips bow to stern, port to starboard. Great job on all fellow anglers and crew to keep us untangled. Rico became my guide and amigo for the remainder of the battle. This was not a pretty sight as I attempted to use the gimbal in my fighting belt to control the twisting of the reel as I wound in. I did not think anything would fall down below my fat ass. However, the belt on my fighting belt did. This fish went slack more than once as it was swimming towards the boat. I would make some progress only to have this beast take more than I gained. Rico is pulling line in while I was reeling. Everyone was very supportive during this fight. Getting me to slow down, letting me know I had the best crew there is on this. This calmed me down. Chris thank you for the drink of water and pouring it on me. After being on this fish for what seems like an hour, about 60 feet off the port stern, this fish explodes on the surface. Slack line. Reel, reel, reel like crazy. Tight line again. Still there. Still not on mono yet. Get to mono, only to see it go back out and then some. Set a little more drag, and able to make headway. I told Rico he tied the Fluorocarbon top shot to the spectra on the previous trip I was on. He was now very nervous after hearing this bit of info and wanted to get to the top shot. Finally get to deep color. Making the final circles, then it was one last lift and on to the gaffs. Four gaffs and it was over the rail and on the deck. Wow. What a beautiful fish. A fish of a lifetime, in Southern California waters off of San Clemente Island. Wow. Frigging Wow! This cow taped out at 219 pounds. Jeff was back on the move as we drifted off the school during my battle. The fish were located, and once again, the rails were lined with flat falls a falling. I was done, however I was encouraged to try again. No, I was done. I stayed up until around midnight rails still lined with anglers. Chris L asked me to touch his reel as I was making a last round. Didn’t help. 2:30 AM. Super Mario was the only one still fishing. First at Tanner, last at this time at SCI. He said the others had just gone to bed. I asked him what he was going to do if he hooked one. He said Luke told him to start yelling and someone would show up. Back to bed. Commotion at 4 AM. When I went top side, Bill informed me I could go back to sleep. While I slumbered I missed out on: Luke put on a clinic brining in a 200 pounder in at 35 minutes, Paul wrestle in a 140 pounder (he has practice), Brian W, B J, Stewart and Super Mario land some sizable BFT. Chris Jr was on again. He had the right gear, and the tackle was holding. This was a big fish. This tuna must have been Nemo-ish with one whacked out fin, as it was making ridiculously large circles. Deep color, precariously close to the boat on the circles. A few more circles to go to gaff. Then the worst happened. The fish went under the boat, got onto the screws and was gone. I was so heart broken for Chris. I could see and feel the disappointment and frustration. He did everything possible to boat this fish. This really sucks. About 5:30-ish Cody and Gavin hooked up. This was to be the last hook up on BFT for this trip. Cody and Gavin were looping the boat and passing each other then settled into their perspective corners. Chris was doing everything to encourage Cody. Got into his line, nudging him with his foot and floated a pinched loaf past him at the rail. Fatherly love and encouragement. These were going to be long battles as they both had identical rigs of 80 spectra and 80 lb. top shot. After several runs and painfully slow progress, Cody was first to boat after 2 ½ hours. Another cow. Taped at 216 pounds. 2 hours 24 minutes longer than it took Cody to bring in a suicidal 232 pound cow on trip 5. Let’s see, that averages at 1 hour and 18 minutes per tuna. That’s about par. Pictures with the catch. Goofy was his co-holder. Let’s leave it at that. I heard Chris say he was now going to be referred to as Cody’s dad. Gavin brought his fish to the boat three hours after he started. That was an epic journey. 188 pound BFT. Pictures of Gavin with dad (Steve) and his catch. A proud moment for father and son. This is the second trip in a row where personal best records were topped. Luke - 200 pound BFT. Jeffy - 219 pound BFT. Gavin - 188 pound BFT. Congratulations and well earned. Now to the island in search of calicos. Kelp cutters in hand, we set anchor at the edge of a kelp forest with decent current, and quite a few willing participants on sardines, plastics and mackerel. After a fair amount caught and released, the dogs pushed us to move. Second stop not so many willing to play. Third and final stop, jackpot. Fish boiling and a decent bite going on. Burning through bait fast. Several nice keeper size to rail, let go to swim another day. Great stop for another great trip for DWRRC. Pulled the hook and heading for home. Fish count: Day 1 25 BFT, 13 YT, 1 goat. Jeffy, 219 lbs. BFT (Personal best – 1 hour 20 minutes to boat - line 100/100/180) JP day 1 Day 2 8 BFT Cody, 216 lbs. (2 ½ hours – line 80/80) JP day 2 Luke, 200 lbs. (Personal best – 35 minutes – line 100/100/200) Gavin, 188 lbs. (Personal Best – 3 hours – line 80/80) Paul C, 140 lbs. B J, 70 lbs. (10 minutes – line 100 mono) Stewart, 85 lbs. (20 minutes – line 100/100) Super Mario, 90 lbs. (Super stoked – 1st one on a flat fall) Brian W, 95 pounds (or with adjustments and rounding up, 125 lbs. 😊) A bunch of Calicos with sore lips. Now for the Ronco moment. But wait, there’s more. Several miles off of the island, the swell was picking up with the winds increasing. Except for clear skies, it was starting to look like tuna conditions. Jeff asked Rico if he wanted to catch a 200 pounder on the gummy flier? Kite went up, gummy flier splashing. Luke, Andy and Paul were ready with their surface irons. A Western Outdoor News moment was occurring ahead of us. ½ mile ahead, several hundred yards long was a line of crashing tuna. Some of these were huge. Multiple explosions at the same time. This went on for several minutes. Crashing fish everywhere. As we closed in, we could see flying fish were involved in this action. A few crashed close by, but out of reach. As we got closer, the action fizzled. The gummy had come loose from the kite and the irons were ignored. Time to head on in. Lessons learned: Set drags ahead of time with a scale. Check again if you suspect it has changed. Line that is not frayed after several fish has lost all stretch and prone to breakage Always keep one rod and reel ready on the way in. Reach out. You will find a home for your surplus fish Fish or get off the pot: Split ring pliers, 280 pound split rings, 3 to 4 hours arranging the chandelier of top hooks on the flat fall until just right look and sound. Jingle jingle. Listening to Hogan’s staff. 11-0 hooks made the difference for the flat fall. Personally, I now have a Shimano Teramar TMC-90H (sorry, Chris L.) paired with a Shimano Trinidad 16 N (Toriums are on backorder) on a Tiburon seat with 50 pound red spectra. Wow, it is truly fun to fish for calicos this way. Ryan, Gary and Ron H, your fish still hold top honors. Three more trips to go. Thank you to all who have mentored me over the years. It is truly appreciated to get me where I am. I have a long way to go. See you on trip 9. Jeffy

Thunderbird 2 day (July 27 th -July 28 th ) Anglers: Roy, Paul, Cody, Luke, Ryan, Jeff, Ron H, Ron S, Brian, Tony, Bob, Ron R, Tom, BJ, Gary, Jeremy, and Chris jr. Crew: Jeff, Brian, Ricardo, Goofy, and new deckhand Cole Areas fished: SBI, one kelp in channel, Sci, and a few miles off the backside Day 1 We arrived at Davey’s locker with questions as to where we were going to fish because there was several spots and islands that were producing some gamefish. As we waited for the Thunderbird to arrive we had news that the white seabass had been caught in decent numbers at San Nick Island, so we were kind of thinking that might be an option, but we had not talked to Jeff as to what might be the game plan. Jeff arrived, and we discussed all options of this trip and we came up with a game plan of trying our luck at SBI and if it doesn’t pan out then we would make the trek to SCI to try for some trophy bass and possibly some big bluefin in the evening. We arrived at SBI around 4:00 am and most everyone was awake and trying for any kind of gamefish that would want to bite. We fished our butts off to no avail except for a few slimers one of which was kept by Roy who I believe was strategically trying to win the old chevron patch. The mackerel were in full effect as were the red crabs, so Jeff decided to move on to another spot. We set anchor along the kelp in hopes for a White seabass bite or some exotic species to spice up the morning lull. Well lucky Roy does it again and he hooks into what most believed to be a Yellowtail, and some thought it was a big mud Marlin. After about a 15 to 20 min battle Roy lands a beautiful SCI yellow estimated around 22lbs. We gave that spot some more time, but no more bites were to be had. Jeff wanted to try a different spot in the deeper ledge which has been known for yellowtail activity and as soon as he told us we were going to move the yellows started boiling right where he wanted to try. We set anchor on the fish in hopes to get something going but the fish had other plans and exited the area promptly. SBI is a very small island with not too many spots to fish so we had tried the whole side of the island in an hour or so. We tried a few more spots but the fish were a no show and it was getting pretty obvious the island was not biting for us today. We did get to witness a large sword fish tailing just off the island and also found out they don’t like jigs. Luke decided to throw a surface iron near the beast and scared the hell out of it, but it was cool to watch. We headed for island #2 which was SCI and had some great nap time ahead of us. As we traveled we came across a huge kelp patty and Jeff stopped the boat, so we could throw baits in hopes someone was home, but it was empty except for a sealion and some birds. We arrived at SCI around 12:00 and we were all rested up for the Bass fishing that was about to happen. Bass fishing in this club has come down to a science and I feel were the best bass club on the planet. Ricardo and Cole put out some primo baits and we threw them into the bull kelp on the backside kelp beds most all afternoon. The Calicos would play a little then go into hiding and come out and play some more but it was more hiding then playing. If you worked hard at it most were rewarded with at least a limit and a few 5lbers in the mix too. Brian W. being the calico record holder for the year was safe this day but there were a few close calls. It was getting later in the evening and Jeff got a call from Pat Cavanaugh who was out trolling for tuna that he started to see some activity and thought we should give it a try trolling the yummy flyer. We were heading out to the tuna grounds when Jeff metered a ton of bluefin and wanted to throw some bait to see what might happen. Well nothing happened, and we drove on. Once again Jeff metered more tuna and we threw baits to no avail. So, we would try tactic #2 and troll the flyer. We trolled for an hour and we had no sign of fish, so Jeff wanted to troll back to where he metered the big schools of non-biting tuna. As we were heading into the zone we had a huge blow out followed by another and one more but none of them ate the bait, it was all show and no go. It was getting dark and Jeff made the call of the century. We were going to drift on the schools of tuna throw bait and drop flat falls into the dark in hopes that we get something going. As the night grew longer most of us were tired but we would keep jigging as long as we could. Right around 8:30 we had a bite on the flat fall and I believe the lucky angler was Bob Wheeler. I dropped down and was bit pretty quick only to have a tackle failure and bust off. There were multiple bites going on now and I believe Capt. Brian hooked up, Roy, Tommy and Ryan were all hooked up at once. This was some crazy action as these fish were big girls. Roy had a fish that beat him up pretty bad, so he handed it off to his son Jeremy and Jeremy proceeded to hand it off to me then to Brian to finish her off. Tommy Hill was also engaged and getting a whooping so Goofy took over fallowed by Ricardo I believe. Ryan was battling his own fish from start to finish but was losing strength in trying to go over all the anglers but being the youngster, he is he landed it on his own. So here it goes Brian lands a beautiful 150+ bluefin, Bob lands a 90lb model, Ryan lands a monster 230+ pounder, Tom lands a 300lb monster. All these landed before the one Roy had hooked and has been handed off between 4 anglers. Roy’s fish finally comes aboard and it’s a beautiful 170lb bluefin. They say the young teens are the toughest and I have to say they are right. I have landed 300lb yellowfin that were not as tough as this s.o.b. We continued to land fish in the upper 100lb to lower 90lb range for the next few hours. Ryan gives Luke the hot jig to fish with and boy does it get bit. Luke gets hot and hooks 3 fish in a row, unfortunately they were all under 100lbs. In the mix of the battles my son Cody gets bit and lands a 230lb tuna in 6 mins. His fish was what we call a suicidal fish and came up right to the boat lights. Once they gaffed it the thing went crazy and broke a few gaffs and also broke the tuna spike, needless to say that thing was pretty green. This big tuna fishing was one for the record books and here’s the numbers with the anglers who landed them also with their personal bests recorded. 1.Roy, Jeremy and I 169lb personal best bluefin for all 2.Paul 156lb 3.cody 234lb personal best 4.Ryan 236 personal best 5.Tom 302 personal best and boat record (shit head) 6.Tony 50lb personal best 7.Bob 96lb personal best 8.Luke 65lb and 80lb 9.Ron H. 80lb personal best 10.Ron S. 50lb and 60lb 11.Brian W.147lb and 80lb personal best 12.Ron R. 50lb Tom Hill wins big fish honors but Ryan wins jackpot because his fish was landed on his own. Congratulations to all of you for really putting on a clinic on how fishing is done and for all the personal bests that occurred on this day 1 of our trip. I am so proud of all of you and how far this club has become, and I am very proud to be an angler in this club. ​ Day 2 We wake to being in a cove at SCI with the Saturday fleet in full effect. Some of us are already at the rail at o’dark thirty while most are sleeping due to the awesome fishing that had taken place only a mere few hours earlier. I was fast asleep so I’m not sure who landed some gamefish in the wee early mornings so if I forget you please don’t feel bad. Luke made an announcement that some yellowtail were biting and that we should get our butts up. I could only assume that he had Landed one before this and he sure as hell did. I stumbled out on to deck to see 2 Yellows on the deck and I think Luke, and Brian W had landed those. We all finally made it out on the deck and started to fish for gamefish. Ryan was next to hook up and he landed a Yellow in timely fashion. Gary was last to hook up and he landed a nice Yellow which was estimated around 40lbs by Jeff. If this yellow was as big as we think we would have a new leader on the yellowtail big fish honors, but we will have to wait to see. Jeff hooks what seems to be a halibut by the way it was acting and low and behold up pops a nice 25lb halibut which also is his personal best. As this spot dried up Gary weighs his yellow and it weighs 41lbs. That’s a monster fish and rounds of congrats are in the air. The Thunderbird is in big bass mode and why not being as this is a trip for the record books anyway. We try all the shallow water bass spots for some pretty good big bass fishing in hopes to knock big bad Brian off the leader boards. Well it didn’t take long and Ron H. nabbed the big bass honors from Brian with a beautiful 8lb beast. We fished for a bit and played with the leopard sharks for a bit then Jeff decided we should head home a little early to try to beat some traffic. Ha that Balboa traffic was horrid, and I arrived home later then when we usually arrive. Gary wins jackpot for day 2 and Ron is the new bass master. Thanks JR

Trip #4: 1.5 Day Boat/Landing: Fortune/22nd Street Landing Departed: July 5, 2018 Fishing: July 6, 2018 Captain Bruce Smith of the Fortune wanted everyone at 22nd Street landing for an early departure. The DWRRC guys all loaded up their gear: Ron Shrout Joe Stassi Steve Lenker Steve Sturm Stewart Finley Luke Burson Chris Ramsey Jr. Cody Kelly Brian Wynne Mike Trunk Bill Parks Tom Hill Tony Beall Jeff Hinricks Murphy Parks John L (Steve Lenker’s guest) Stewart guest Joe G (Mike Trunk’s Guest) We could see that the mackerel were pretty thick at the dock so the guys fished while the boat remained tied up and put 250 nice baits in the tanks. The Fortune cast off the dock lines at 5:30 p.m. Fifteen minutes later, the boat made a U-Turn and sped back to the landing for an emergency…we forgot to load three extra bags of ice to keep all our cocktails and beers cold for the next day and a half. Crisis avoided. Loaded up with 6 to 8-inch sardines at the bait receiver and began our trip across the channel. Bruce met everyone in the galley for his safety and fishing update. It was going to be windy and rough offshore – swells up to 11 feet and winds around 25. No way to fish Santa Barbara Island – so we’d have to seek shelter close to the local islands to be safe and comfortable. But there was some good news -- the squid had been thick and easy to make at Ben Weston and West Cove at Catalina. Bruce’s plan would be to make squid at Catalina and then head to San Clemente Island for the morning bite. The trip across the channel was a windy and bumpy but could have been worse. The crew made full tanks of squid at Ben Weston without any problem. Bruce decided that we’d stay anchored up at the Catalina squid grounds for the morning bite – rather than crossing the channel to San Clemente Island. The squid were thick at Catalina – but not the game fish. Guys fished from 2 a.mm to 5:30 at Ben Weston and all that were caught were three bay rays. With no gamefish biting, the decision was made to pull the anchor and head to SCI. Two hours later, after a relatively smooth trip across the channel we arrived at SCI and began looking for signs of fish. A nice breezer of yellows was spotted off the bow, but as we got close they sunk out. Nonetheless, Mike Trunk hooked and landed a beautiful big yellow of close to 30 pounds. No other biters so we went back on the hunt. Around 9 a.m. another smaller breezer was spotted. Luke Burson was throwing the surface iron off the bow and he hung a good one just as the school sunk out. Sadly, after a long fight the hook pulled and that one got away. Nobody else got bit. Around 10 am. Bruce anchored the boat in the point kelp area and we began a slow pick on mostly keeper calicos. Over the next couple hours, we had a decent calico bite with about 2-3 keepers all around. We made a short move right into the kelp forest and the calicos really went on the bite. Limit style calico fishing for the next two plus hours. Again, no real big fish – but mostly all keepers and nearly every cast was good for a bite whether you were fishing sardines, mackerel or squid. It was fun fishing. We left the fish biting when Bruce got a radio call from Greg Obymako that he had seen a good spot of yellowtail about 45 minutes from our location. It was a nice ride – the weather was around 78 degrees and the seas were flat. We had heard it was incredibly hot 115 degrees at home so we were pleased to be offshore. When we arrived, we pulled up very close to the island and as we did, it was like entering a furnace. You could feel a wall of hot air blowing down the back of the island the temperature soared nearly 20 degrees. Bruce tried setting the anchor twice in this area, but each time the anchor kept sliding and we couldn’t get anything going. With the uncomfortably hot weather, windy conditions and no biters, Bruce told us he was going to run back to Catalina in hopes of hooking some white sea bass. We anchored up off the West end Catalina and started soaking baits. It was pretty slow and the boat was swinging around on the anchor. A few “pier fish” were caught – bat rays, a shark and a few barracuda. But then, Murphy Parks gots bit and it looked like the right kind. 20 minutes later he landed a beautiful 30-pound yellowtail on squid. A few minutes later, Steve Lenker’s squid gets bit and he successfully landed a beautiful 30-pound class white seabass. No more bites so Bruce made the move back to the squid grounds at Ben Weston. Once again the crew plugged the tanks with live squid…but no more gamefish. As we all went to bed for the night, nobody knew who would win the patch for biggest fish – Mike, Murphy and Steve each had a legit contender. In the morning the announcement was made – Murphy Parks won the patch with his 30 pound yellowtail.

Mike Trunk WARNING: IF YOURE THIN SKINNED AND HAVE ZERO SENSE OF HUMOR – DO NOT READ THIS! THURSDAY 6/21 I arrived to the Newport Landing around 12:30pm. The weather was about 69 degrees. Unfortunately, not ONE member wanted to meet me at sunrise to honor Mike Pence for a sunrise prayer service (I was bummed about this). So, I did not make an effort to organize the event- I just prayed myself. Arrival times of each member are listed below: 1:35pm: Brian Wynn (he came with a complete arsenal of rods and reels- I believe he brought 9 rods and reels 2:20pm- Gary T. 2:45pm- Chris Lund 3:35pm- Tom Anderson 3:40pm- Ryan 3:46pm- Bill and Ron S. 3:49pm- Tommy 4:30pm- Ron R. and Tim Snider 4:45pm- Jeff H. 5:10pm- Andy W. 6:00pm- Bryan Upcraft 6:10pm- Bill Hammer 6:42pm- Cody Pre-trip facts: The bait was 6”-8” sardines Water temperature was 67 degrees in the Newport harbor Game plan prior to trip departure: We have shot at catching Yellowtail and Calico bass. Then we will run to the back of San Clemente Island for Yellowtail in West Cove. At this time, I asked Jeffrey Markland for an interview and he gave me a simple “We’re done here.” Contrary to the interview, he’s a great guy. We were at the bait receiver getting our bait from 9:20- 10:20pm Trip details: We arrived at San Clemente Island at 5:30am on Friday 6/22. At 5:54am Ryan cast a bait off his hook. Luke would not be proud of his boy. At 6:20am Ryan cast off another bait. At that moment I could only imagine how disappointed Luke would be when he found out this awful news. 7:00am NO FISH. At this time, we were treated to Goofy’s amazing breakfast burritos At 7:10am Tommy hooked the first Yellowtail/ sealion and it was a beautiful one! At 7:25 Ron S. hooked a Yellowtail. He ultimately lands his fish after a long battle at 7:40- TOUGH FISH at 24lbs! Markland takes Ryan’s rod and immediately hooks a 12lbs Yellowtail- StELLAR! At 8:00am we began going back to the backside of the island where The Thunderbird caught fish the day prior. Coors Lights are flowing for Andy and me, per usual. At 9:00am Spike caught a small Yellowtail on a jig At 9:20am we left for the frontside of the island because there weren’t any fish on the back- only boils At 10:00am Yellowtails started biting up to 34lbs and bass were also biting. If you throw bait towards the island you would catch an instant Bass. At this time, we were hand fed cheese and salami (like Kings) from Goofy. At 11:20am we had 48 total hooks 50 keeper Bass were released at 11:30am Below is a list of how many fish each member caught by 11:30: Jefe: 2 Yellowtail Spike: 4 Yellowtail Ryan: 4 Yellowtail Chris: 1 Yellowtail Andy: 3 Yellowtail Tom A: 3 Yellowtail Gary: 3 Yellowtail Tom H: 2 Yellowtail Cody: 3 Yellowtail Ron R: 3 Yellowtail Bryan U: 3 Yellowtail Ron S: 3 Yellowtail Brian W: 3 Yellowtail Tim: 3 Yellowtail Mike: 20 Yellowtail We left the backside of the island at 12:00pm. The front side of the island was sun and warm- ME LIKEY! At 12:30 pm began to fish Bass. Brian Wynn topped it with a 7.8 pounder. SO far, we had a lot of short Calico Bass but we had some good ones! At 1:50pm we went to get squid from The Ultra then went back down south for more Bass or hopefully some bigger Yellowtails on the dropper loop. We got two passes of squid at 2:50pm and now we were fishing in 8 ft. of water At 5:50pm We left the warm side of the island to the back of the island where the bigger fish on the bottom. Eggsinker and squid is what we were told were here. Bryan Wynn hooked a big Yellowtail (16lbs) at 6:10pm after farming a bigger one. 7:02 Ryan cleaned the deck with a fart. 7:45 Bill hooks a nice barracuda with salad. Dinner was served at 8:00pm we had Goofy’s favorite World-Famous tacos, beans and rice. At this time, I was COLD and DRUNK. It was way passed my bedtime. GOODNIGHT. The final fish count was 65 Yellowtail, Limits of Calico Bass. Bryan beat his best with a 7.8lbs of Calico Bass. LOOK BACK THOUGHTS: Gary’s short shorts- really? He chose to cut them that short. Gary’s tearful goodbye to land and not being able to see his cuddle buddy Tony for a few days. The old guys bitched about relevant music like their fathers did to them in 1942. Andy is not a beached whale. He is my roly poly snuggle buddy. If you think any less of him- I will come and find you! Crowded squid for the ¾ day trip- about at least 20 scoops I got the patch on Thursday for my Bay Bass at the receiver (I have never received that patch yet) Crew List Captain: Jeffrey 2nd Captain: Brain Cook: Chris Ashcroft aka Goofy Deckhand: Scuba Steve and Ricardo Luke isn’t coming because of supposed hernia. This means no problem for him to select better bait or rationing bait. He probably got the hernia from lifting all his gear from the trip. I also learned that it is much better to take a water bottle out of the trash and cut it in half for a wine glass than to use a clean Styrofoam cup from the Galley. The Styrofoam will ruin the composition and tannins in the wine. Thank you, Bill. I took a lot of pictured and Ryan will post most of them. The last scribe duty was a lot easier. BA BA BOOEY -Mike Trunk

June 8th - 9th Scribe : Chris Ramsey Jr Fortune 2 day This trip runs out of 22nd St Landing in San Pedro. For some of us it’s kind of a far drive so we try to plan our day accordingly. This one was a little different because Bruce already had the boat in the slip and ready all day which means if you were on time, you were already late. I was the last to arrive and the boat was already waiting on me so as soon as I got signed up and checked in we were off to hopefully make some squid at San Clemente island. We were pretty pumped up with the appearance of the elusive yellowtail and big calico bass in recent counts. Day 1 As I woke from what was a pretty good sleep I stumbled out on the deck with hopes of seeing some live squid glowing in the water. There wasn’t much to see except a very deep jag of squid being chased by the sealions. It took about an hour of patience by the crew, the few anglers trying to snag a piece at a time, then all of a sudden, the squid decided to float and do the thing squids do. We had bait and lots of it, so we were set for the entire trip and the crew even had extra, so they could use on future trips. As the sun was starting to rise the anglers started rolling out of their bunks and on to the deck. They were delighted to see all of the live squid and most started fishing with the ever so faithful dropper loop style of fishing. We fished for an hour or so before we had our first gamefish bite of the day. I was standing right next to the lucky angler who was hooked up to what seemed to be a really nice yellowtail. Then a school swam under the boat and three other anglers hooked up. We were anticipating some nice yellows to come aboard but every angler got their catch eaten by bobo the nasty sealion. Those anglers to get lucky enough to hook up on that spot were Mike, Luke, Andy and Mario who was using a jig on the bow. 0 for 4 is not a good ratio for this club for sure, so it was off to the next spot. Bruce marked a few game fish on the meter, so we dropped anchor and gave it a try. This spot was off, and what I mean by off was it sucked. We didn’t even get a bite, so Bruce thought we should drift it. Still didn’t matter, the fish had lockjaw. Off to the next spot somewhere on the frontside of the island. It would take about an hour to get there which was awesome for me because I was so tired I really needed a nap. Spot three on the frontside we found a cove which had some life in it. I found one of the only sardines that looked healthy and fly lined it out and got bit pretty quick. I managed to land a yellow which was also the first one landed this year for the club. After that we would land around 20 yellows on various baits. There was only one stand out fish and that was by Andy Woodfill. We caught several small bass and sheepshead and got to witness a wildlife show from the eagles swooping down and grabbing our released fish. It was getting later in the afternoon and Bruce wanted to try for bass on the boilers in the kelp. Another long run and were set up in the cove at boiler #2 and it was time to try to fish mackerel for bass. This was fun as we had numerous fish in the 5 to 6 lb. range, but we could never get that monster bass in the 8 to 10 lb. range. Brian got lucky on this trip because we know the big girls were lurking. We left that spot for a more comfortable spot away from the wind to finish off our day. This spot was strange because it produced 3 triggerfish 2 by Bonito Roy, and one by Mario. It was getting dark and we all were happy with the day of fishing for sure. Most of the yellows were in the 10 lb. range but some were a little bigger. Andy won the day 1 JP with a solid 20 plus lb. specimen. Dinner was awesome with a gigantic Flintstone style steak and all the fixin’s. Day 2 We started off at west cove with Bruce saying he saw some seabass on the meter. We tried for a few but there were no takers. The crew tried all night to make squid, but they were a no show. Luckily, we had made all that bait the night before, so we were doing very good on the live squid and bait wasn’t a problem. We drove along the front side in hopes of finding some life and that maybe the yellows were as hungry as the day before. We found a spot that looked promising and we dropped the hook. It wasn’t long before the yellows started hitting the deck once again. These were the school size fish in the 10 lb. range. These little guys were pulling pretty tough and we lost a few to the bull kelp and the anchor line but overall, we did a damn good job landing these feisty fish. Once it slowed down we could see a school of yellows puddling in the distance behind us, but they just never wanted to join our party. I think Bruce saw them too and wanted to go see what all the commotion was about. We pulled the hook and looked for them. Bruce stopped the boat on the meter marks and we fished slider rigs to try to entice the fish. Steve got bit followed by Ron. We got to watch the two of them fight their fish and hope we were next. Steve was the first at color and to our surprise his fish ended up being a nice white sea bass, which also took the JP. We all assumed Ron had one on too as these fish seem to school up. After a long tussle Ron landed a matching bookend seabass too. These fish were beautiful and were right at the 30 lb. mark. We also managed a few yellows and one very happy black seabass caught by the legend Mr. Tom Hill. Of course, we released the beast to hopefully make others. This seabass was estimated at 80 lbs. We took off to our final spot for the day in hopes of getting the big bass. We fished tight in the weeds but never got the big ones to go. We still had a great time watching them jump in the kelp and scar our baits. This trip was a good fishing trip and the food and friends were excellent…. Cheers J.R.