2021: Trip 5 Thunderbird 2 Day
Trip 5 - Thunderbird - 2 Day, July 15-17, 2021
The Burson clan arrived at Newport Landing to find Hayden, Brian Wynne, Mario Sr and Mario Jr already waiting in line. I am fairly sure Hayden arrived before sunrise. Slowly but surely more members arrived, taking up there spots on the dock and settling in for the many hours wait until departure. The amount of gear piling up clearly indicates we are professionals. Comments overheard from passersby include “There must be some sort of competition going on” and “They must be heading out for a loooong time”. We could have easily been heading out for a 6 day trip with the amount of gear, and beer, brought. Gotta be prepared for anything!
With the summer sun blazing, it was a quick and easy decision to crack some cold beers to cool off. Parked in the shade of the Newport Landing building, we spent a few hours catching up with each others lives and talking about the trip to come. The Thunderbird arrived around 7:30 and as the passengers disembarked Luke went to talk to Jeff. There were a few options of where we could go, however ultimately it was decided we would head to the Cortes Bank for day 1. We quickly went through the order for bunk selection, boarded the boat , and began rigging gear. A few more beers were had, before one by one we headed to bed eager to start fishing in the morning. No need for an early wake up call, we would arrive in the zone around 7:30-8:00 am am the following morning.
Friday, day 1
With a rare opportunity to sleep in, most members were up by around 7 am. We still had a little ways to travel, so it was prime opportunity for those who drank a little too much the night before to double check their knot work.
Around 8:30 am we had our first bite, Yellowtail on the surface iron by Luke. Quickly, a few more were hung on yo-yo jigs and sardines. A few members seemed to have a little better luck than others, with four landing multiple fish. Between 8:30-10:00 there were 13 Yellowtail caught, with hot sticks being Michael H (3), Gary (2), Mario Jr (2) and Luke (2). For the next hour or so we tried a few more spots without success. It was not for a lack of effort, as many of us began to feel like we had cranked these jigs for what seemed like a distance of many miles. One more yellowtail was brought on board around 11:30 am, bringing out total to 14 fish for the day so far.
We made another move around noon and a few anglers were able to capitalize. Another 6 yellowtail were brought on board, these being a slightly larger grade from the ones caught earlier. While we were now up to 20 fish on the day, we did suffer quite a bit of casualties. It seemed like for every two fish landed there was one that was lost.
Jeff made the decision to switch gears and load us up on some rockfish. As Jeff made the move, we geared up to catch some tasty taco meat. Slabbed sardines were the bait, and it worked fairly well for all the rockfish you could want. We made roughly 6 drifts, each time being successful. With gunny sacks full, and everyone having more than enough rockfish to take home, it was back to searching for yellowtail. A move south was made, and we came across a breeze of fish. A few members were quick to hook up, however ultimately all of them succumbed to pulled hooks or broken line. There was one bonita caught, which seemed to put up a pretty good fight.
Now was the time for everyone’s favorite offshore activity…making bait. Sabiki rigs tied on, it ended up being the easiest bait making session I can remember. Literally every drop, just 10 feet under water, would load you up with 4-5 mackerel. We very quickly filled a tank, and were happy to have the extra bait for the next day. With mackerels loaded up, it was time to start heading towards San Clemente Island for day two.
Day 1 results:
- Yellowtail: 20
- Bonita: 1
- Rockfish: lots
Determining the big fish on the day required measuring 6 fish, all taping out between 24.45-26.29 lbs. Final results:
Day 1 big fish and patch winner: Brian Wynne, Yellowtail taped at 26.29 lbs.
Saturday, day 2
Very early morning for some, not so much for others.
We awoke at the island, with hopes of making squid. Mario Jr was up first, around 1:30-2 am (yes, you read that right). Myself and Luke were up around 3:30 to find Mario Jr netting squid one at a time, with about 25 sitting in the handwell. At 4 am, lines were in the water with dropper loop setups. One squid per person was the rule, as squid was limited. Not much action at this time, but we were hopeful that would soon change.
Around 5 am the squid decides to come up to the boat in a massive volume. Second-ticket Brian quickly got the crowder and, with the help of Mario Jr, went to work. Nets full of squid made its way over the rail and into the tank. There would be plenty of squid to use, now we just needed the fish to cooperate. The Freedom was called over and a few scoops were passed their way, and Karma would soon come our way.
5:30 am, first bite. Along the port side, starting in the bow, one by one we were getting bit. Having that line start ripping out is much better at waking you up than coffee. There were about 5 or 6 fish initially hooked and quick work was made to get them on deck. You didn’t know long the bite would last, and wanted to get on the board, then get another piece of squid back down as fast as possible. Thankfully the fish bit for more than just this first wave, and some lucky anglers were able to catch their first and drop back down to immediately hook up again. What a morning rush!
The bite lasted for about 40 minutes, where after the first initial hit there was a steady one to two fish hanging. Ultimately we ended up landing 19 yellowtail with the following anglers landing two each: Tommy, Brian W, Luke, Ryan, Nick and Michael H. By 8:30 we had almost matched our previous day’s fish count. Additionally, a rather large Black Seabass was caught by Bruce, which was successfully released to live its life.
We moved out to some kelp to fish some bass, and honestly it is not much to write about. We put the effort in, but had little bites. We tried without much cooperation from the fish.
Around 10 am, off China Point, we got back into some yellowtail. The key here was the mackerel we caught the day before. These were some meaner fish and they loved chomping on those mackerel. The anglers using lighter line ran into problems, as the structure below was one of the nastiest spots around the island. You really needed heavier gear to stop the fish from getting to the rocks, and to beat the seals. About 12 yellowtail were hooked, and half were lost to the rocks, failures or the giant seal hanging around. Those that were landed were quality fish, a few that would later be in competition for the largest of the day.
While heading around the south end of the island crashing tuna were spotted off shore. With a quick turn of the boat, hopes were high we would get into an epic bluefin bite. But, the bluefin had other ideas. The schools had been worked extensively by the 6-7 boats in the region and did not want to cooperate. As soon as we would get up to them, they would sink out. Huge breezers, huge foamers., crashing fish everywhere jumping fully out of the water. We chased the schools, trying to get one to stick. Jeff positioned us well many times, having schools literally swim to us and surround us. We were throwing all kinds of jigs, fly lining sardines/mackerels, sinker rig sets up, you name it. However they would just continue on their way, ignoring our hooked baits and jigs while occasionally chomping away at our chum. We did end up with 4 bluefin being landed, all in the 25-28 lb. range. Those that didn’t land one were frustrated and envious. That's bluefin fishing!
Those four anglers who landed a bluefin are: Jim, Brian W, Oscar and Ryan.
By now it was time for the trip to be called and for us to start heading back home. The crew cleaned the fish, while the passengers cleaned out the beers from their coolers.
Day 2 results:
- 25 yellowtail
- 4 bluefin
Determining the big fish for day 2 had us measure three Yellowtail and two Bluefin. The Yellowtail ranged from 23.25-29.44 lbs., while the Bluefin measured were close at 27.34 and 27.93 lbs. Final results:
Day 2 big fish and patch winner: Ryan Burson, Yellowtail taped at 29.44 lbs.
We got back to the dock around 7pm, and made record time getting unloaded. I think we were in the car heading home around 7:30. All in all, it was a great time on the water with a great group of Club members. It's always fun sharing stories, drinking good wine/beer/whiskey, and hearing Tommy stumble through his legendary jokes. And of course, catching a few fish helps.
Trip totals:
- 45 Yellowtail
- 4 Bluefin
- All the rockfish you could want
- Most of us also caught a decent buzz.
Those of you on trip 6, see you on the dock in 2 weeks.
- Nick Burson
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