2021 Trip Reports

DWRRC Trip #9 Report Final Trip of 2022: Thunderbird 2 day, October 6-8, 2022 by Ron The final trip of the year and the weather has finally cooperated. Seven days ago it looked breezy blowing 10 to 20 knots but daily it started to improve. Then on game day NOAA said it was under 10 all the way up and down the coast all the way out to and including SCI. This was to be the forecast for the next two days. Wow, what a change. Thank You! Well by 6:30 Thursday evening all 22 members and guest were here ready and eagerly waiting to get on the boat. Their gear was lined up in order of arrival some of which arrived early afternoon but most came between 5:00 to 6:30pm. It’s fun to see guys put their reels on, greet one another with a friendly hand shake, talk about how they’re doing, have dinner together, and talk about what they expect from the trip. It’s amazing how fast the 3 to 5 hours goes while waiting for the boat to come in when you’re together with friends. The members and guest on the trips are our club president Luke, club secretary Ryan, club treasury (me) Ron (we have club a quorum) Michael Harris, Ian Parker, Hayden Claisse, Tom Hill, Kevin Kom, Bruce Granse, Jim Bertella, Nick Burson, Bryan Upcraft, Steve Lenker, John Lenker, Steve Strum, Justin Becker. The guests are: Matt Eckstrom, Nigel Parker, Sean Edward, David Weeks, Bob Raschke. Thank you, for joining and filling out our trip. If my notes serve me correctly, we boarded the boat around 8:30pm in an orderly fashion and started to put hooks on, gearing up for the next day's battle with whatever fish that wanted to commit suicide. Goofy gave his galley speech at 9:00 on our way to the bait receiver and at about 9:10 we started to load up with hopefully cured sardines. At about 10:30 we were underway to the backside of SCI with an ETA of about 4:00am. Jeff announced that they’ve been catching YFT and BFT 30+ pounds so be ready sometime after sunrise. BTW the crew for our trip is Captain Jeff, Steve (second skipper), Goofy (cook and backup deck hand), Carmelo, and young deckhand Collin. The first stop was at 4:30 by Steve where he metered fish around 240 and 8 guys dropped down but nobody wanted to play. The next stop was around 5:30 and it seemed like we could see a little grey but again the fish didn’t want to bite. Jeff metered fish for a few stops after sunrise but no go. Then we spotted dolphin around 7:30 and then it was game on. Several YFT were caught between 25 and 40 pounds on the fly line and sinker rig. Yours truly caught one on the fly line on a simi long soak right after I said maybe I should be fishing with 30# and not 40# line but I still got caught! About 8:45 we had another stop and picked up another 6 YFT, all good grade fish in that 30-to-40-pound range. Now here comes the fun around 10:00am, Ryan decides to rig up with 80# line on 8oz sinker with heavy rod and reel and lets out big ugh and said “I’m on a big fish”. That was an understatement, because over the next 1.45 hours he did a masterful job of fighting and landing a 253-pound BFT. This writeup can’t do or explain how well Ryan did in fighting that fish. It took him around the boat several times, past other anglers fishing without tangles and under the boat. I’m just thankful I didn’t hook that fish because I hooked a 35# BFT right after he hooked his in the same area. My notes show around 1:00 we got some fresh bait from the Fury. Thank you very much: we could tell the difference when that bait came up. We really needed that. For several hours we drove around seeing formers and out of the water jumpers, but they would sink out by the time we would get close to them. Jeff was metering fish in the 300 to 380 range, but they wouldn’t bite. We drove around again looking for signs of life but nothing was found, so about 6-7:30pm we started Goofy’s Tri-Tip dinner along with wine before and after dinner. Then shortly after dinner almost everyone started to rig from the nighttime tuna jigging. From about 10 to 11, two small BFT were caught by Luke and Ryan. Then for some reason a small BFT decided to hit Ryan’s and Luke’s jig at the same time, which proved interesting. Then things got really interesting. I’m not sure about the order of things happening, but Nick caught a 195 BFT and landed it in 15 minutes, talk about a suicidal fish. Then Justin lands a 185# BFT but his takes 1-hour 15 minutes and he did a great job. I think both of these fish are personal bests. Way to go Nick and Justin! Then Ryan lands another big boy, but it was done after midnight so it counts in day #2 JP, and it’s a 180# BFT and it took him about 10 minutes. GREAT JOB GUY! As far as I know the only heart break was Matt when he was on a big fish for a few minutes and his spectra separated, sorry Matt. The morning of the 2nd day started off at 6 but grey light was closer to 6:40 and almost everyone was up and ready to do battle. Jeff announced we would look around but stared toward SCI and look for YT in the direction of China Point and Pyramid. About 9, Jeff said there’s YT but they’re just not biting so at 9:45 we looked at another location where Luke hooks and lands what turns out to be the only YT for the trip. Around 10:30 we move to the front side making out first stop at Little Flower where the conditions are very good with 73 degree water but no fish. 11 we decide to start looking for kelp paddies. Porpoise and some signs of life to where we can catch Dorados, YT or more YFT. I believe a few more YFT we caught as well as the only 2 Dorados by Mike Harris and Bryan Upcraft. Jeff kept looking but nothing was found so we called it a trip and a season for the 2022 DWRRC fishing club. The final count for the final trip of the year: 39 Yellowfin Tuna to about 50 pounds (Jeff said 60) 8 Bluefin Tuna to 253 (Thanks to the Burson’s that caught 5 of them) 2 Dorado 1 Yellowtail Jackpot honors go to Ryan Burson for the 253 BFT on day one, and 180* BFT day two Scribe note: This being my first write up after being in the club for almost 40 years wasn’t that bad; I might consider doing it again in the next 40 years. Who knows! Ron

DWRRC Trip #8 Report: Thunderbird 1.5 day, September 22-23, 2022 by Anonymous This trip was the most unique trip of 2022, over half were guests! It seems like it would have an "open party" feel but that turned out not to be true. When Jeff arrived it was discussed where to go and a decision was made to start at SCI and maybe fish the BF Friday night. That day Jeff had pretty good YT fishing at SCI. We loaded bait, it was questionable, and off we went. The ocean was nice so the ride to the island was easy. We started in the Cove for not much, made a couple of moves in the area, and decided to check out some spots on the leeward side. This produced a few YT on yo-yo jigs, dropper loops, and a few flylining. The next move was up the island to where the Apollo was getting a few. This was a better stop and more YT were caught. We then made a big move to the "9" off the west end and that proved to be a good call. We put on another 30-plus YT. Mostly flylining, some on heavy 50# line, others on surface iron, and a few on dropper loops. Many boats joined us, then the current backed off and the fishing slowed. Jeff then made a move to the Runway area but it did not produce. Next was a big move all the way down to Eel Point and that was the hot stop of the day. Another 40 or so YT were caught and at times the fishing was simply outstanding. We started to run out of bait but we had enough YT. We ended with 83 YT, average size was 20# with a standout by John Lenker at 27#s. Our next option was to try for BF. We worked out way off the backside of SCI hoping to find BF but did not find any. It was now almost dark and we kept working toward the west end and then out to where the entire fleet was fishing. We counted 18 boats and nobody was doing much. Jeff finally found a school and in the first 5 minutes we had 3 hook-ups....Tom Hill, guest Tom Navlan and Bill Parks. All three hit the deck pretty quickly. Bill's was the biggest (Patch/JB winner) at about 45#s, Tom Navian's was next at about 40# and then Tommy Hill with 20#er. We kept trying but that was it..........a few more schools but nothing stuck. The weather was great, the bait was far better than we expected and the YT fishing was really good! It is rumored that two of the crustier, older, grumpy, long-time members might have accounted for 30% of the YT. Just a rumor but Gary Thompson was keeping score because he had a little more time than the others so he might be able to verify the rumor to be true. Anonymous Scribe

Trip 7 Report: Thunderbird 2 day, September 9-10, 2022 Unfortunately our trip was cancelled due to a Hurricane! Some Local Media coverage Tropical Storm Kay reaches San Diego County with high winds, high temperatures and the promise of heavy rain Hurricane Kay lashes Baja, headed very close to Southern California

Trip 6 Report: Thunderbird 2 day, August 25-27, 2022 As we were approaching this trip the fish counts had been something we all dream about. Limit style fishing on kelp paddy dorado and mixed yellowfin down near/south of the border, steady dorado fishing in our northern local zone and reports of some pretty good bluefin fishing out west behind SCI. Arriving at the dock the usual activities were happening, catching up with friends we haven’t seen in a while, drinking beers and getting leaders and tackle prepared. When jeff arrived at the dock he informed us that the bite down south had moved too close to the Coronado Islands and going that far south would hinder our chances to come back up north and get a night bite on bluefin. With that being said, we opted to stay north and fish the more local dorado in the morning and see where the day went from there. Day 1: We did not have to motor very fair after picking up bait. Our night captain was Chris for this trip and he got us into the zone around 2 or 3 in the morning and shut the motors off while we all slept and waited for day light to start looking for the right paddy. It did not take very long to find the first kelp paddy with jumpers all over it. On our first drift past it we were able to pick off a couple fish. We continued to do this a few times and chase open water schools of dorado. Around 10am we had 30+ dorado in the fish hold and slowly but surely started making our way north west while stopping on the few paddies that we saw on the way up and there were 4 “San Diego 10 pounders” that we pulled off one of them. As we made our way up the front side of the island, we started to get our tuna gear ready for the night bite with sheer excitement because jeff had let us know that the boats out there the night before had some pretty good scores on fish from 70-160 pounds. While rigging goofy was cooking up some burgers in the galley beers were being had and naps were being taken getting ready for a long night. We arrived on scene right on time with about an hour or so before dark and Jeff was doing his thing in the wheelhouse figuring out where these fish were and let me tell you it did not take long. We had stopped on a couple school before dark that didn’t bite, but shortly after dinner and now the sun down Jeff found some very eager fish. Around 8pm these fish decided to let their guard down. “BITERRRRRR” as the first fish was hooked for the rest of the night, we had fish hanging. When we moved, we only had to idle for a few minutes at the most before Chris or jeff found another big school. For the entire night we hear them over the PA “They or on us 180-240.” By the time midnight came we had our limits for day one on 70–160-pound fish. Oscar Ochoa and a guest Taylor Rodriguez put on a clinic that night landing 9 fish each helping us out for our daily limit. Another stand out fish was caught by Ian Parkers 83 year old father Nigel. He was at the rail all day and night and he was able to land a beautiful butterball of a bluefin on 50 pound test to boot! As the clock struck midnight the daily jack pot however went to Tim hill on a 100 plus pound fish. Day 2: Day 1 essentially ran right into day two as we were still fishing at midnight. It was the same story as we kept fishing into the night. The crowd was thinning out on the deck as it got later into the night but the fishing remained pretty much full speed. The last stop of the night Bill parks who I had spoke with earlier in the day was saying “it’s been a while since I’ve pulled in a big one.” Well, he did just that and boated a 200 pound bluefin on 60 pound test! With fish all over the deck and the fish hold completely stacked we had to leave them biting and the boys on deck Brian and Jose went to work and started filleting the fish into the sunrise and beyond as we made our way into the island. A lot of us slept in that morning due to a late night of dropping and winding. When the boys were done filleting fish, we started catching calico bass and other island critters before the first school of yellows swam through. They were biting our nearly dead bait and a few guys getting some on surface irons. At about 12:30 jeff let us know that it was time to head home. When the dust finally settled our final fish count was 38 Dorado, 17 Yellowtail, and 76 Bluefin tuna from 50-200 pounds. This was a very memorable trip for me and getting to share the experience with this group is very special. I always look forward to these trips to share time with my dad whether we catch fish or not but this trip provided memories for a lifetime getting to pull on these fish so close to home with a great group of guys. Jake Chutney Day 1 Jackpot: Tom Hill Day 2 Jackpot: Bill parks

Trip 5 Report: Thunderbird 2.5 day, August 9-11, 2022 This trip was the Club's only 2 1/2 dayer and it fished in the middle of the week. And who would have guessed that it would be the first trip to fill during the sign-ups? It was also a trip with all members. The groups included the following: Roy Patterson, Steve Strum, Stewart Finley, Riley Dyer, BJ Dyer, Mike Castillo, Brian Wynne, Brandon Lockwood, Paul Casillas, Mike Higa, Paul Morgan, Nick Burson, Bill Parks, Murphy Parks, Ron Shrout, Jeff Stephens, Jeff Hinrichs, Hayden Claisse, Steve Lenker, John Lenker, Michael Harris and your scribe - Luke Burson. This trip was the first time we departed on a Tuesday night and that created a new wrinkle for all. Wednesdays are street cleaning days so everyone had to park on specific sides of the street or risk being towed. It worked out fine but made parking a bigger challenge. And yes the usual suspects were there for breakfast to be in line first. Hayden of course followed by Brian Wynn, Jeff Henrichs, and a few others. Again it looked like we were departing on a 10-day long-range trip. The Thunderbird returned a little early because they had a stellar trip fishing Dorado off kelps. Our plan was to try and do a repeat. We would be going south to start the day looking for kelps and dorado. It was a smooth ride in calm weather. Our first kelp was spotted at 6:45 AM but nobody was home. It did get everyone up and ready to fish. At 7:00 AM Nick spots a patty that the crew missed but again nobody was home but there was another close by. This one broke the ice with Steve S getting the first dorado followed by Stewart F getting the second. Paul C did a masterful job of hook and release except he never saw the fish. Bill also got bit on his "pattened" sinker rig but again the dorado got away. We were on to find the next patty and it did not take long......7:45 we found one holding fish. We hit it 4 times for 6 YT, 8 Dorado, and 3 BF. The BF were nice fish.....pushing 30#s. This patty also had a breezer of tuna nearby but they simply breezed right on by. This patty produced a lot of action for all. Kelps were getting harder to find and the ones we did find were empty. Right around 11 AM a monster kelp was found and on 2 passes it produced 12 YT, 5 Dorado. Then things went dry.....and dryer. Jeff decided to make a 35-mile move. While traveling a few guys trolled and two small Dorado were caught but nothing else. Then a significant patty was spotted right at 3 PM. That one turned out to make the move a good call. We got well quickly putting the finishing touches on the day. Our total for day 1 was 68 YT, 30 Dorado, 3 BFT, and 7 YFT. A decision was made to not cut the fish that night so the JP / Patch winner would not be known until the next night. The three BFT were bigger than all the other fish. Day 2 started at 5:00 AM with the boat moving toward the east. We did not find a kelp until 8:00 AM. This kelp only produced Dorado for Nick B and Mike H. There was an odd occurrence after those fish were landed. Steve L decided he wanted a picture so he borrowed a fish. I have never thought about a picture with someone else fish before, still wondering about that one. At 10:30 AM we were in an area with a few kelps but they produced little, just 2 Dorado. Jeff marked lots of YT on one of the patties but they were not interested. A short time later another kelp that yielded 2 more Dorado and a larger YT, maybe JP / Patch contender. Then it finally happened just after 1:00 PM a kelp with fish that wanted to go for about 10 minutes. During that time we landed 25 YT, for a few minutes it was WFO. As the day went on we found a few more kelps with both dorado and YT. We ended the day with 14 Dorado and 64 YT. Day two turned out to be pretty windy and at times a bit uncomfortable. The two-day total was 180 gamefish. Like most trips some guys were hot and others struggled. Here is a recap by angler without naming names of total fish caught: 20, 16, 16, 14, 13, 13, 12, 11, 10, 10, 10, 9, 8, 8, 8, 7, 7, 6, 5, 5, 4, and 3. Yes, there are 22 numbers and the total seems to exceed the 180 gamefish count kept track of in the galley. Hey, we are anglers.......truth and reality rarely meet! Now for the JP / Patch winners: Day 1 was a ~28# BFT caught by Brandon L who narrowly beat out Roy P (probably was an honest 30# fish before being fileted, all the BF were gill and guts before going into the fish hold). Day 2 was a hefty YT caught by Paul M who narrowly beat out me (by the way it was not taped or weight because there was a monster caught earlier in the year) Congrats to both Brandon and Paul. Guys with lots of fish share with others as the fish for both days were cut on the way home. The crew cut all the way back \ to the dock pulling an all-nighter on deck. It was a fun trip with lots of action and lots of fish! Scribe Luke

Trip 4 Report: Thunderbird 2 day, July 28-29, 2022 With bleak reports from San Clemente Isle and the tuna grounds, the group as a whole(with 7 guests filling in), opted to chance the" not so great" weather forecast and head to the infamous Cortez Bank. That option was really what Capt Jeff was recommending, fore he had been there recently and had seen masses of Yellowtail that didn't want to bite. Arrived about 7am to the bank after a pretty bumpy ride into the weather. Again, seeing lots of fish, the first stop yielded only one Yellowtail, for Paul Morgan, landing a nice 25lb Yellowtail on the yoyo iron. Michael landed a nice coffee grinder fish on a slow troll into the next drift, followed by an attack of 10lb plus Bonito, fun but not what our crowd of "fish snobs", as Capt Jeff called us, wanted to sack. We continued this routine, for the remainder of the day, with the group landing 13 out of a probable 30 hookups. Fair numbers for the quality of fish we encountered on that rugged terrain.. Captains Chris and Jeff put on a clinic on the surface Iron, landing 5 of the 13. Impressive, although the sonar showing the approaching mass of fish, in their wheel house, is pretty helpful. At one point Jeff was announcing over the PA, that he was seeing the biggest volume of Yellowtail he had ever seen, in one school, at Cortez, we stopped on that school, and no love!! Jeff's comment was about the "year of dissapointment". Lots of fish showing, very few bites. The weather turned out to be very fishable, better than forecast. A couple quick drifts for Reds, and we were on our way elsewhere. I don't think Hayden's drinking light ever appeared, but that didn't seem to matter much, the adult beverages seemed ample, before, during, and after the indulgent teriyaki chicken breast, white rice and broccoli dinner(pretty sure that was the same basic dinner as on the last trip.) But most all were ready and anxious to get up during the dark hours to fish flat falls and knife jigs in hopes of a big Bluefin. The JP went to Brian Wynne for a Yellowtail right at 30lbs. Day 2 After motoring from Cortez, thru the evening to the North, looking for Bluefin that were absent, for a night bite, we were off on an "audible", by Capt Jeff, to the Butterfly Bank, motoring from 5pm to 4am.( We are pretty fortunate to only be charged $30 for a fuel surcharge, with $6 diesel) Waking to nearly flat calm seas on the Butterfly Bank, with the intention of a kelp patty search. The first patty encountered, was right at the Mexico border, the bite went stupid, and so did the anglers. Wide open pandemonium. Lots of saw-offs, tangles and 'fishermen' with blinders. Dodos, Yellowtail, and even a peanut YellowfinTuna. 2nd patty. One Yellowtail for Jeff Hinrichs, better quality, close to 20lbs. 3rd stop went wide for Yellowtail. Huge volume of Yellowtail, quality fish, mostly 12 to 16lbs, (San Diego fleet calling these fish 15 to 30lbs.) Time to head for the barn, with 80 miles to travel. Everyone is happy, left em biting. Final score for day 2: 129 Yellowtail, 7 Dorado,1 YellowfinTuna. Ron shrout gets JP with a 20lb Yellowtail, edging out Jeff H for the honors. Bill Parks

Trip 3 Report: Thunderbird 1.5 day, July 8th, 2022 I was really looking forward to trip three since returning from trip two. This is a 1 ½ day trip returning in the wee hours of Saturday morning. Getting off the peninsula at that time will be a breeze. During trip two, Paul Morgan encouraged me to learn how to tie the FG knot after I had an RP knot fail on a black sea bass. I was up until 1:30 AM Thursday morning working on new knots. Upon arrival at Newport Landing in the 1 PM hour timeframe I found myself close to the front of the line on the rail. Low and behold, Hayden was cooling his heels in the shade. It was great to see Chris Jr and Elijah all the way in from Texas. Upon unloading my precious cargo, I discovered I had left my CPAP at home. DOH! Ahh, a golden opportunity for a round trip home, to give Chloe another hug and kiss and to drive to a coveted fishing trip for the second time in one day. Nirvana. As I was heading home, I saw Luke and someone I did not recognize unloading gear. It was Ryan with a lot more facial hair than I last saw him. Montana has done him good. With my CPAP securely in tow, upon my return to the peninsula, I only made one pass to secure a parking space in what seemed like another county. The crowd had grown with the usual early arrivals and more. Stuart made a guest appearance and was mingling. Luke was making the rounds gathering bounty for our fuel needs. Groups of friends were finding each other and the comedy show of throwing barbs and insults was just getting under way. Justin introduced us to Ian’s dad Nigel who joined us as a guest. What a delightful gentleman. Quick and witty and as it turned out, quite a capable angler. I overheard conversation that the fish now seemed bigger than several years past, where the tackle was straight mono that was typically 15 pound, with 20 pound being the largest line used. I had a flashback of fishing with Charlie Uhl and 15 lb. pink Ande. Within a few moment, Chris Jr produced a spool of pink Ande. Wow man. Not too many years ago I was using all mono with fluoro leader. What turned the tide for me to upgrade to better gear and spectra was an unfortunate encounter with California’s finest DFG A-Hole. A 20 minute last minute outing at the end of the day and forgetting to mash the barb on a fly resulted in a $500 fine. My Bad. I don’t know why that set me off. I still love to fly fish. And I now have much better saltwater gear. Thank you, DFG A-Hole. Stories were shared with beers and friendships that have been forged over the years continue to grow. Many made way to find a meal before the journey this evening. It was good to get reacquainted with those I had not fished with since last year. Justin and Ian introduced me to Mint Leaf Thai Cuisine. Pretty good curry. Who knew? As the day grew later, the Thunderbird materialized in the harbor, docked, disgorged its anglers and made way for fuel. As the Thunderbird returned, all seemed to stay close and a bit anxious to be aboard and underway. As the time grew closer to depart, Luke gathered intel from Jeff. Some spots a bit too windy, too far for our trip, no fish and so on. It was decided to pick the Goldilocks location of just right. At San Clemente Island. SCI has an area with willing Yellow Tail. It was an area that a few days earlier was about 2 miles wide that has dwindled in size and is now about a mile wide. There was talk of procuring squid on the journey, unfortunately, that did not pan out. Boarding for bunks was quick and orderly. As was the new and improved process for boarding with gear. Thank you Tom Hill for making this recommendation. Chris Lund graciously offered help with my 9 foot Shimano Teramar rig. A gentle reminder that I made it to Hogans a few hours before he did when Luke told us it was for Sale. After all were aboard, most were busy rigging readying for the early morning activities close at hand or getting ready for a short night sleep. Off to get bait at 9:15 At the receiver some were getting an early start on the action. I saw a few bass brought up and I am sure there were more. The bait consisted of sardines with a mix in size, most in the larger model sizes with a few mackerel thrown in. Seemed to be in very good condition. This is a plus for the bait burning bunch we are. We all gathered in the Galley for Goofy’s safety briefing and gave him our full attention and respected what he was saying. After all this is for the safety and wellbeing of all of us. After that was over, back to the shit show. Jeff gave us the low down on the next day target. What to rig for. Dropper loop, fly line, light slider. No BFT action anticipated on this trip. While we were getting bait, I thought I heard Mike C. said he got picked up by a BFT. Under way at 10:50 After finishing rigging for 20 to 50 lb. set ups, it was off to bed for this scribe. 4:30 First stop Outside Lost Poin Squid lamp overboard. Chris was overseeing activities. It did not take long. Sea dogs present and accounted for. No squid. One flying fish netted after collision with side of boat. Trying to get the flyers without a bang on the noggin is an exercise in futility. Those things are wired spooked. Any movement from above and they are out of there in less than a heartbeat. Several anglers offered finned bait and frozen squid. Small nibblers, a few non yellow tail, sea lions and not much else. No mud marlins on the squid. After what seemed like hours (it wasn’t that long), we pulled anchor and headed in direction of China point. Time to retie and be ready for dropper loop, fly line, slider and iron. Been there, done that. We made a few more stops. Still hounded by the dogs, water color/clarity off, wind and current not quite ideal. Jeff was looking to put us on a spot that would allow us to fish for more than a short while. Somewhere in all of this action breakfast plates and burritos were served, snacks and coffee were going around. Thank you Goofy, breakfast was muy bueno. At one of our stops, sharp eye Mike C pointed out a bald eagle circling one of the outcroppings. Somewhere along the way, willing yellow tail were encountered. Thing are looking up. Many nice calicos made it to the deck. Many released with sore lips, a few stayed aboard. Bonito, barracuda, calicos, sheep head, white fish. The Yellow tail action was difficult. Many hooked, many lost to the sea dogs and structure. Goofy announced melon in the galley. I am not sure who the contributor was. Yummy. More yellow tail and our guest Nigel showed us how to hook and land a few. He went 2 for 4. Bill Parks was able to get one past the sea lions. Steve Strum put two on board. tJeff kept moving up and down the island where allowed. I heard names like Flower Point, Church Rock, China Point, Lost Point, BFE. We tried several spots. Back and forth as options were limited. We saw crashing fish. Some were yellows, some bonitos. More hookups, more heartbreak. We were catching fish, some nice calicos, mix of bonito, barracuda, sheep head, white fish. .Goofy served lunch sometime in here. Special of the day. Pastrami burger. Belly buster and goooooooood. This was a two stop burger. Thank you Goofy. Throughout the day it seemed like we passed the Amigo at least twenty times. We saw the Islander kayakers out and about. I am not sure I would want to be out there in a kayak with multitude of sea lions in the water. Especially if I caught a fish. A sea lion could easily ruin your day in a kayak. Jeff put us in close to the island in a few spots. Real close. And a few shallower spots. During one of his maneuvers for the right position to drop anchor, he told us to hold up. He looked back and saw 22 baits in the water, over the bull horn, he asked with dismay in his voice, “What are you doing?” 2 PM the call went out for meat snacks in the galley. Later in the day, Jeff put us on frigging awesome Calico spots. The calico fishing was the best I have experienced in the past four or five years. Beautiful fish with deep coloring. Several nice sized fish were caught. I was looking around and saw BJ bringing a sizable brute in from the shallows. Then Bill Parks masterfully landed the leading contender on frozen squid. Measured 21 ¾ X 15½ . What a beaut. Nice fish, nice fish. Beautiful colors. Congratulations Bill. We continued to fish into the evening and through dinner time. And continued. Frozen squid was the ticket with a well placed cast. Earlier on this last stop, a few leopard sharks were hooked. Luke hooked into a larger one that had him running around the stern for a bit. Steve Strum brought in a baby moray eel. I did not see it, however I am sure like all moray eel pulled out of the water, it was pissed. I heard rumor a few lobsters showed on the bow. Dinner was nutritious and delicious as always, served with a variety of red wines shared with friends Kudos to Goofy and those that assist with the meals. Klondike bars made an appearance and quickly disappeared. All in all a very good fishing trip Yes, we were dogged by the sea lions. Gary said he went 0 for 3. Chris Jr. mentioned 0 for 2. I am sure others were mugged by the dogs. The calico fishing did make for a memorable trip. As I have said in the past, I feel very blessed and fortunate to be a part of this unique club. Being on the water with this group of anglers is what make these trips for me. Catching fish is icing on the cake. Catching a yellow tail, tuna or big Calico. Orgasmic. Halibut would be good too. Nigel Parker won the Jackpot with the largest fish Bill Parks was the patch winner and now has the largest Calico for the year to date. Close to 8 pounds. We headed home and were back in the harbor between 4 and 5. We all managed to find our vehicles, pick up our gear and fish, say good byes, see ya next trip and head on out Chris Jr and Elijah were making a local stop then driving back to Texas. I am beyond those days of driving like that. I need my less than beauty sleep. I am so looking forward to the next adventure. I want to thank the DWRRC officers, charter master, crew of the Thunderbird and all who make these trips possible. And the group of great people to enjoy this with Your humble scribe, Jeffy The Anglers Gary Thompson John Lenker Chris Lund Bill Parks Jeff Hinrichs Ryan Burson Luke Burson Hayden Claisse Steve Lenker Chris Ramsey JR Mike Castillo Murphy Parks Elijah Ulrich Mike Higa Andy Woodhill Jeff Stephens Steve Strum Justin Becker Nigel Parker Ian Parker BJ Dyer Tom Waller Thunderbird Crew Jeff, Chris, Steve, Goofy and ????

Trip 2 Report: Thunderbird 2 day, June 23-25, 2022 Scribe - Justin “There are some days I take my violin (rod and reel) out and it feels dreadful, like nothing is responding, and I want to sell it and get rid of it. And the next day suddenly the skies open up and the sound (bite) is glorious again. So it's like a relationship: There are good days and bad days.” — Joshua Bell, Violinist and Composer I found a good quote to start off reviewing a very unique DWRRC trip #2. As we arrived, we had zero idea where we were headed and waited for our fearless leaders to help us find where the fish were biting. We followed the fishing reports earlier in the week, we expected high Yellowtail counts and a good bite. The Blue Fin had not gotten far enough North to warrant a trip South, so we agreed on Santa Barbara and Saint Nick. Loading was painless and we all got tied up as we headed out to the Islands. Knowing there was not any Tuna fishing (evening activities) the whiskey came out, but nothing too over-the-top, just some good BS and excitement for the morning. We started out early, setting alarms for 4:45 AM knowing the gray morning bite had been good for Sea Bass….Santa Barbara had some wind and rough times, but nothing severe. So, we put the time in and well…nothing. Bryan caught a white fish that went into his bag soley to capture the biggest fish…this is how the morning went. Jeff certainly did his part and looked high and low for biters, but there were no takers in that fine morning. With 3 Mikes on the boat (Mike Harris and 2 guests, Mike Klepper and Mike Vas, both guests of Paul Morgan), it was easy to just call everyone Mike and get through the trip. Paul explained that he only hangs with Mike’s as he struggles with name recall. The banter in the kitchen was high as Goofy and Gary were on many topics throughout the trip. One memorable conversation was about ladders, so when the fish don’t bite, you tend to pull out any available topic for conversation. In one stop, with zero fish from the stop, we got the “wind em up” from Jeff. Gary reels in his “naked” hook and catches a white fish. That too went in the bag, just in case! At 9 AM, the decision was to bail on Santa Barbara Island. We opted to take the 3-hour ride over to San Clemente and see if our luck could change. It also set us up well to fish Day #2. We motored off with the majority of the group getting a nap in or discussing ladders in the galley. That afternoon we stopped at a few Calico grounds on the North side of the Island, we had some luck with some Calico getting through the Sea Lions, but it was not fun fighting those dogs throughout the afternoon. We fished through dusk and that too was fruitless. Tony came up with the FISH OF THE DAY, a 4# Calico. That, my friends, was it…a few white fish, some small Calico and Tony’s winner. Goofy served up some good dinner, and banter about NOT moving his salad bowl. TriTip, Baked Potato and a properly placed salad made for a satisfying filling meal. Wine was shared, and a chosen few were rewarded Klondike Bars. We passed a few more bottles of the drink of choice and began to wonder what Day #2 had in store. My decision was to head to the bunk early and pray for a new, better day. Most did the same as we woke up the sound of…… DAY #2 Fish On! Yellow Tail on the boat at 4:45 AM by Chris, the night Captain. The call to the group went out and everyone scrambled to get a line in the water. We had live squid on the boat and most fished dropper, egg sinker or lead head. The deckhands were busy pulling in more squid as the heavy squid light attracted a ton of bait. They netted 4-5 scoops of squid and had that ready for a new day of action. 5 AM- Chris brings his second YT on board 5:30 Nick brings in a nice 30# YT 5:50 Bill drags in a big Yellow, which eventually contended for the fish of the day. 6:10 Roy pulls on and delivers the fish of the day! A super fat 40# or so Yellow! This stop was pretty good with the group picking off a good sized YT here and there. We also seemed to connect on some large Black Sea Bass, as many guys got broken off. I was lucky enough to land an 80# black Sea Bass that we struggled to bring back down into the sea. Scuba (the deckhand that helped me with the Black Sea Bass) asked that I loosen the line so he could work. He used the 10’ push pole to push the fish below, trying to get the air to escape from its body cavity. He did this 4-5 times but the fish rolled over, showing its white belly…defeated. So, Scuba grabbed a filet knife, jumped the rail and stabbed the BSB in the side, allowing the air to escape…..finally the big guy found his way. Interestingly, Scuba kept the hook and line in, waited for the fish to be 300 feet out and yanked the line free. As Scuba said “even people can get stabbed and live to tell about it”, so we think the same for the BSB. Finally, the bite slowed and Jeff called us to reel em up. That is when Nick struck again and had another hanging…..That stop from 5-8 AM was a great start to an awesome day on the water. 10 AM stop, Nick could not be stopped, he outfished the whole boat! On this stop we had Bonita, Calico and an occasional Baracuda. 11 AM to noon-ish was a great YT bite with the group doubling the YT fish count. Nick, Bryan, Pat Kelly (my guest), Jimmy, Mike Harris and many more scored on this stop. Paul “pull-the-hook” Morgan had 5 pulled hooks on the day. Certainly not normal for such a strong fisherman! He will seek his comeuppance on the next outing! We headed to Calico fish for the end of the trip and that too had a decent mix of Yellows. It was fun watching the stern fill with elbows, trying to get the best spot to throw baits into the shore…many good-sized Calico! The call came at 1:45 PM that we must head home, but all had a great time and felt like we got our revenge on the fishing gods. All caught fish (as there were many bonita, Calico, white and Rock fish caught throughout the second day). My favorite memory of this trip was Romeo, the son of Oscar Ochoa. Oscar has done and continues to raise a great boy. At 11 years old the kid can FISH! and knows his rail side manners. Romeo landed a yellow as well, and had a great time learning from the many experienced anglers on the boat. He was very observant and did a great job of being part of the action, but not getting in the way….at 15 he will take every trip patch and jackpot, mark my word! Winners: Day #1 – Tony- 4# Calico (At least he caught one and got it through the Dog Gauntlet) Day #2 - Roy – Congrats to Roy in beating out Bill by ¼ inch “girth” of the fish…that was a fat one! Fisherman of the trip- Nick Burson. Not only did he outfish his “old man”, but he outfished the entire boat with 4 nice YT and a bunch of other catch and release. 21 total Yellows caught…..not bad for a ¾ day haul! Respectfully submitted….Justin