2023 TRIP REPORTS
2021 Trip Reports
Trip #8 Thunderbird 2.5 day Departure Sept 26th Return Sept 29th AM Trip 8, Our last trip of the year. What a good to great trip with consistent fishing that largely stayed that way. Day 1: We left the bait barge around 10:30 and headed south. At 4:30 AM we stopped and 10-14 of us started dropping without any results. I quit around 5:00 AM and went back to bed. There were many boats around us but largely in the distance. At 6:30, grey light, there were fishing coming through at 150ft. With 80% of the group fishing there we had no bites. At 7:00 we started looking elsewhere. 8:10, one bite on the troll but came undone. Around 8:30 one fish was boated, a blue shark by Cory? but it wasn't tuna. We were fishing in shallower water. Patrick brought up a white fish. Around 9:00, the BF decided to commence their work day. We soon had 3 fish hanging with me recalling it be Cory, Bill and Al to be bit first. The fishing was a continual pick with flurries of 3-5 fish hanging until 5:00, when Hayden turned on the strobe light, signifying cocktail time. Actually, I believe Hayden turned on the light a little after 4:00, following a fight with a fish for 20 minutes only to lose at the boat. The fishing was really nice and consistent with some folks crushing it. I only managed to get one in and just couldn’t get things going again. I did have an exciting bite on the retrieve, hooking a marlin on 30lbs test, which lasted about 6 seconds. High achievers included Cory with 6-8, likely 8, Al and Noah with 5 perhaps more, Oscar, Kyle, Roy and Bill with 3-4. I recall some slow fishing after 5:00 where a couple were hooked, I think. In any event, we finished the day with 53 BFT and 2 YF. Cory won the pool and the patch with a standout 79lbs fish. Most of the fish were in the 25-40lbs range. ¾ of the bait was pretty weak with ¼ being from a previous trip, that was exceptional. By end of day, the remaining bait was terrible. Jeff, without hesitation, headed back to port to replenish. The next morning, we woke up in the same area, or so I believe, with fresh, lively bait albeit a bit small but surely a game changer for day 2. Day 2: 6:00 started dropping on a bait ball with 12 or so fishing but nothing happened. 7:45-8:30, scattered fish with BF boated. Smaller grade fish with the biggest maybe 25lbs. Again, we were in shallow water with many, many boats in sight. 10:00-12:00, we made two stops. First stop boated 9BF. Next stop 8BF and 15 YF. Moved a bit and the consistent pick continued. By 2:30 the day 2 count was BF22 and 53YF. We left at 3:20 with 24BF and 56YF and began moving north. A little after 4:00 the American Angler passed us off a biting school with a consistent bite that lasted until dark. We ended the day with 46BF and 57YT. Fishing was consistent all day long with many more fish caught than on day 1. I did much better boating 6. Cory must have had 10. The same folks as the day before did really well. The pool fish went to Romeo with a 40 lber, Patrick took the patch with a 38 lber. What struck me the most on this trip, for whatever reason, was the delight on everyone’s face as they were hooked up. There was much joy on the faces of Ron, Hayden, Steve, John, Jeffy, etc. As for humor, we only got one joke out Tommy…it was his left handed punch line joke…if you know, you know, so I won’t spoil it as…we will hear it again! The smile on Tommy’s face was better, much better, than his joke but again, it was a trip of happy moments. Patrick provided quality entertainment, and I say that kindly, as he almost missed the last call for dinner while trying to see how many times he could walk a BF around the boat. After he lost count, he finally ended his 30+ minute battle with a beautiful, cookie cutter fish. I believe that was our last fish, with Patrick not wanting to end a day of stellar catching. I look forward to seeing everyone at the picnic.
Trip #7 Thunderbird 1.5 day Departure Sept 14th Return Sept 16th AM I know that the arrival to the landing indicates the start of our trips, but I would like to take a minute to mention that it really starts with emails from the charter master. Usually this is Luke or Roy. It’s nice to get info on things like the weather, what’s been biting, what to bring, and our destination options. It helps for deciding on what rig up for when getting ready for the trip. So, we are thankful for that. Pre gaming dockside is always such a big part of the total trip experience. And this time was no exception. The usual early arrivals were Hayden, Ryan, Jeffy, Gary, Tony, Roy, Cory, John, Steve, Andy S, and me, somewhere in the middle. The rest would arrive throughout the afternoon without anyone arriving too late. This is when time is passed with topics ranging from family, sports, food, health…. You name it. And of course, fishing! It’s great getting to talk to members that you know well and a good opportunity to get acquainted with a newer member that maybe you haven’t had the opportunity to fish with until now. I got to know Cory S and Brian D. The dockside gathering is always full limits of camaraderie and good times! After everyone broke away in various dining destinations, it was time to board the Thunderbird. It was in later conversation that I heard Goofy mention that we take way too long to get this accomplished. I for one don’t care if it takes too long because I appreciate that it gets done in a orderly and calm fashion. Well somewhat calm! We arrived at the bait receiver to load up on some great bait. Maybe some of the best bait I’ve seen in a while. This would prove to be beneficial later. Although, I guess it never hurts to have quality bait! Of course, this is the time that everyone starts to rig up. Our game plan options were somewhat limited. The resent wind and lack of reports out west of SCI and Tanner Bank didn’t sound really promising. Captain Jeff just returned from down south with some success on BF for the overnight open party trip. So that’s where we would be headed. We departed the bait receiver at 10:00 pm and were told we would to be in the zone at 2:00 AM! So after rigging up for fly line, sinker rigs, and deep water jigs, that didn’t leave a whole lot of time for some sippin and bull shittin but we managed to squeeze it in. The ride down was absolutely beautiful with a nice gentle roll. We arrived right at 2:00 AM and of course this time of night means metering fish deep and dropping your choice of knife jigs, flat falls, or sinker rigs. It didn’t take long for Jeff to start broadcasting “fish at 180 to 240”! At 2:20 AM Saif and Cody were bit on the knife jigs and successfully landed their 30lb to 40lb bf. The funny thing is, these were the two guys to jump on the trip when two very last-minute spots opened. They must have known something! Good for them! At 2:30 we were on the hunt again with Jeff metering fish here and there, but it was a little slow. At about 4 o’clock and the same depths, we had some bitters! Saif and Ryan got things going, Saif on a knife jig and Ryan on a polka dot red rip roller. The bite continued to about 5:30 and the anglers that I know that had success were Saif with 3….and if you haven’t figured it out yet, he’s a very good angler, Kevin, Brian U, and Gary, I apologize for those that I left out. By 6 o’clock we had 15 Blue fin all about 30 to 40 lbs. I was told by Captain Chris that we were at the 141 off La. Jolla/ Carlsbad area. Now it’s gray light and on the prowl. We can turn our focus to fly line, sinker rigs, and smaller colt snipers. All fine by me! It didn’t take long to find BFT that wanted to get with it. “Biter” “Fresh one” were being yelled with frequency! This might of been one of the best surface BFT bites I have seen. I mentioned the quality of our bait and it sure paid off. It was not time for a long soak. If you didn’t get a bite right away, change to a lively one and get bit. Seems like most bites came on 25 to 30lb with some getting bit on 40lb. Everyone had the chance to pull on a fish and of course there were some hot sticks. Saif, BJ, and Ryan. Good on Ryan for hooking and handing two fish to Junior angler, Lucas, who did a fantastic job fighting and landing the fish. This will prove to be good karma for Ryan later in the day. Like earlier all the fish were in that 25 to 40lb range. Hayden did a great job hanging in there with a bigger grade but unfortunately as it was in the death circle, and it came in contact with the bottom of the boat and broke free. Heartbreaker for sure but Hayden you did great. Of course, it’s All hands-on deck by the crew and they were on their game. At about 8 o’clock it was limits for members and crew and time to stop fishing. Jeff called in the Freedom to take over the bite and as we were pulling away, it didn’t take long to hear them yelling “biter”! So now it’s 8 o’clock and we are good on BFT, and we need to decide on a game plan for the rest of the day. Our two choices were head down south for some YFT, which there has been some decent reports but heavy boat traffic, or head west and hope for some yellowtail and calico at SCI. Roy called everyone in the galley for a hands up vote and it was determined that we were off to the island. We arrived at SCI at 11:00 AM and started looking around the east end backside. The island, weather, and conversation were awesome! The fishing? Well, it didn’t pan out so well. Jeff tried various spots tight to the island and conditions seemed ok, but the results were minimal. Every time Jeff dropped the hook the sea lions were grey hounding towards the boat. We picked at some calico’s, but they never really got with it. Hayden did catch one smaller YT which seems to me he does this with regularity when things are slow! After Jeff expressed his distain of the island, I believe his words were, “I hate this f…ing island”! We were off to find some tuna. He said we had room for a couple more but if we get into them then we were going to have to catch and release. It wasn’t too long until we spotted some jumpers not too far from the east end of the island. They looked to be bigger models and I believe there were four hooked. One broke off, one was released, and two were landed. Great job from Tony and Ryan! Tony’s weighed in at 81lbs and Ryan’s, fly lining on 50 lb , weighed 93lbs! So Ryan’s good karma for handing off fish earlier paid off with JP and the patch. With Hayden’s official happy hour light glowing it was time for various adult beverages, breaking down gear, and Goofy’s pork chop and mashed potato dinner. It was an excellent trip with a great BF bite, a great group of fishermen, and crew. It was also especially nice to have Jeffy back on board and in good health. He still couldn’t pull on fish, but he was there to support and be a big help. And for Mike C, keep your eye out for dragon fly’s. You never know where they might show up! One last thing. If you aren’t too keen on being the scribe, I suggest you go to the sign-up meeting! Tight lines, Chris L
Trip #6: Boat: Thunderbird 2.5 day Departs: Tuesday August 29th Fishing: August 30th & 31st Returns: September 1st am Intro The extra limited load blue supermoon, that's what I'm calling this one. We were all informed beforehand that 2 members could not make it. Then at the last minute, we had an additional 2 more who couldn't make it. 50% off any of the spots and still no takers, I couldn't believe that. Looks like we're going with 19, sweet! I'm curious how this blue supermoon will appear on Wednesday night. Looks like the next one won't be until next August, and the next super blue moon won't be until 2037. Interesting fact: blue supermoons take place on an average of 10 years apart, but it could be more or less. Departure and arrival When you think you left early, leave earlier… Made our way to the Longfin for some tackle supplies and Krispy Kreme donuts for the club snack. The old man and I arrived at Newport landing at 3:30 p.m. It wasn't easy finding a parking spot due to street sweeping on Wednesday. Dropped off the gear and finally found one tucked away on Coronado St. We got humbled by how many members were already lined up, about 13. I believe Hayden was first in line and remember from my previous trip last season as a guest, this to be the same. Speaking of Hayden, my dad reminded him he is on every club trip this year. Then Luke said yeah, maybe he'll finally catch something. To be continued later… To kill time we had some food/spirits, rigged up a few things and conversated. While rigging up under the palm trees, my dad felt something land on him. I checked it out and noticed a nice little bird crap on him, awesome start haha. I talked to Bill about his 5 topic write-up, aka "DWRRC tough love." Excellent information and written up perfectly, good work Bill! Fishing gameplan Around 7 p.m., a 2-day charter was off-boarding and you could tell right off the bat they had tuff fishing. Word had it that it was mainly due to less-than-ideal weather conditions and beat up bait. Shortly after, we all gathered around and Luke went over all the intel he had gathered from Jeff regarding the fishing options. Since hurricane Hilary decided to recently butt in, the bluefin bite was spotty and for the most part we scratched that off the list. Our best options were to head down south and hit Kelps for small Dorado (5-8lb average) or head straight to Cortes bank for good grade yellowtail with a side of small bluefin being there too. We were informed there could be some rolly conditions after passing Clemente to Cortes, but it should be fishable. We all decided to meet in the middle and go to Cortes for day one and for those who did not have Mexican fishing licenses to purchase a single for day 2. Reports of good grade 50-90 fish days at Cortes made the vote easy. Luke mentioned with the good grade Yellowtail at Cortes someone could have a solid chance to break this year's leaderboards. Another reason we decided to fish Cortes on day 1 was due to bait quality. We were all informed that the bait on the previous trip did not hold well, and most died off. We all had sabiki rigs in case we needed to make bait since we would load the bait tanks on the light side. Boarding, anglers, and crew We started boarding around 8:30 with small groups going down at a time, bunks only. Shortly after, we went down in small groups for rods and tackle. Once a small group put their gear away, another one was whistled to come down. I don't know who whistled the groups to come down, but dang they had the volume turned up on that thing. I overheard Tom was the one who came up with this idea for onboarding, thanks Tom! In a perfect world, all other landings would do it this way, IMO. Since we had an "extra limited load," we could keep 9 rods on deck this time around. Once we got on board, it was time for Goofies lifeless galley speech. On this trip he had decided to paint his toenails green for us, adorable. Those who wanted in on jackpot anted up, 17 participated. As far as the Anglers on board, we had Bill, Gary, Steve Sturm, Bob, Justin, Murphy, Luke, Hayden, Steve-guest, Tom, Tony, Craig, John, Ron Rudrud, Cory Steinwand, Mike Higa, Mike Harris, Paul Morgan, Bryce-guest. For the crew members we had captain Jeffy running the boat, Steve as the second, Goofers in the kitchen, on deck Carmelo, Collin, and Jose. After baiting up light and leaving the harbor, we saw a tonnage of microbait/dolphins just outside the harbor. Private boaters reported bluefin gorging on the microbait during the day and they had bites on surface jigs. Jeff made it clear we were not joining that zoo of a program, good call. Seeing that had us fired up and almost everyone rigged up a jig on a heavy rod in case we marked something along the way. During rigging, I couldn't help but notice some unique tackle bags/boxes. I found an awesome aftermarket improvement on a little roller nomad bag, skateboard wheels! This one is amusing, there was a jig from the crew dubbed "Barbie" hanging in the gallery. After rigging up, I found a mountain of snacks in the galley, pastry galore. Now I know everyone reads their emails cause this time there was almost a shortage of fruit. Fishing day 1 Shortly after passing the south end of Nicolas parallel to our location, the weather picked up a hair. Myself and a few others rolled out of the bunks. We arrived at Cortes Bank at approximately 7:25 a.m. and dropped anchor in about 100 feet of water. Goofy had fresh coffee brewed and his original breakfast burritos. As expected, the weather was rolly upon arrival but it was fishable. Our only 3 neighbors already on anchor were the Excalibur, Poseidon, and Top gun 80. The bait held up well and looked like some of the best bait I've seen in a while. Jeff was marking scattered fish, so things were looking on the up and up. A handful of us, including myself, started off with yo-yo jigs. After about 10 minutes on anchor, I could hear some flyline hookups in the stern. Of course Hayden was hooked up, that's right Luke… Right after those hookups a batch of fish swam under the boat, my dad and I hooked into fish on the jigs. Bonito for me and the right kind for him, yellowtail! After these 2 fish, the yo-yo bite dried up and flylining was the ticket for the most part. The grade of fish was around the 20lb mark and almost every bite came on the long soak. Hayden was on fire from the get-go, and I also kept hearing a spinner screaming. I finally looked over and it was Mike Harris with his treasured spinning setup. Bite was steady, and I also saw a few large football bluefin coming over the rail. Another person who was consistently hooked up was a guest angler, Bryce. I told him You're always hooked up what's the deal. He replied, well I've only been fishing 20lb so I'm paying for it lol. Steady bite then turned into a flare up for about 30 minutes and a smaller batch of yellowtail (12-14lb grade) came up into the chum in the starboard corner. We ditched the long soak and were fishing baits for only about 30 seconds. Captain Jeff saw what was going on and landed 3 fish in 10 minutes. I noticed sneaky Paul on the port side staying at it with the yo-yo jig and he was rewarded with his persistence, 4 nice yellows! While all this was happening, I spotted a dorado on the deck. How the heck did that guy end up out here, lmao. Well, that was fun back to the long soak… Saw a few more bites on the long soak and I believe I took one of the last ones before we pulled anchor due to low activity. My bait was way out there, and after the hookup I could tell this was a larger yellow. Loaded rod and big tail beats, Carmelo was standing by to gaff it. Looked big once he gaffed it, even bigger on deck. We pulled anchor at about 1 p.m. and Bill told me he would measure it. Now we were off to the deeper water for some cod drifts in long beach-colored water, remarks from Jeff. Now was the time to get your burger order in, nothing beats a boat burger! The first spot was kinda dry and short-lived. The second spot was much better, big reds coming over the rail in about 300ft. The classic double dropper loop was working fine, as were the heavy jigs, as long as they weren't scoped out. The third spot we hit was almost identical to the second spot. After putting some cod in the bags, we ventured off the bank a little after 3 p.m. to search for kelps or other pelagics. Nightfall hit, swing and a miss there. At the end of the day, Jeff informed us we would be heading south to do some kelping on day 2. The day one dinner Goofy made lasagna mac/cheese served with salad and Texas toast on the side. No dinner for me as I ate and pastry snacked too much throughout the day, but I heard it was really good. Since we weren't on the bluefin program, we all looked forward to a good night's sleep. Hit the deck before heading down to the bunks to check out the blue supermoon. Much brighter but looked like any other supermoon, too much visual hype on this one. Day 1 fish count: 61 yellowtail 56 vermillion 22 misc. rockfish 14 bonito 6 bluefin 1 dorado 1 sheepshead Jackpot/patch honors on day 1: This scriber, 33lb yellowtail Fishing day 2 Day two we woke up to flat calm weather and overcast. Paul and I put out our trollers, hopeful for a lucky strike. Another breakfast burrito and coffee to start off the calm morning. No biters on the first kelp we came across in the morning. Shortly after, Bill informed me that my troller was dragging a small dorado. Even with a light drag set, no line came off the reel. While the boat was moving I reeled it in and noticed my spectra/mono was all twisted up. The spectra was so twisted it snapped, I decided to retire that reel for the trip. About 30 minutes later, we came across our second kelp. 3 small Dorados were bounced on board, little to be had in this zone. About an hour later, we finally got some intel from another boat up north. They were fishing a kelp loaded with Dorado. We were all optimistic, but Jeff wasn't buying it. Got to the kelp around 11:30 a.m. and of course, a private boater was practically anchored on the kelp. Nearby we saw the Pacifica, which we assumed was our intel source. This kelp was loaded with 5-8lb Dorado (Jeff yelled out 15lb old glory grade) and the bite was steady for all of us. After the first pass, we hit it again to clear out our small fish syndrome. We started making our way up the line towards the south end of Clemente. I put a fresh reel on the troller and sent it out. Time for another boat burger, along with some appetizing smoked yellowtail that Gary brought on board. About 25 miles from Clemente, second captain Steve marked a school of tuna 60 feet below the boat. As I wound in the troller, I felt something hit it. It didn't stick but I kept the same retrieve and it got hit again, small football yellowfin on board. 17 miles away from the island, we hit a kelp and landed a few more small Dorado. Once we got to the island, we anchored up on the backside of China Point. Jeff marked a nice school of yellows but only some small Calicos were landed. As soon as the engines fired up, Justin and Mike Harris hooked up on yellows. Both were landed and very close in size but Justins edged it out. By this time, it was almost dark so we pulled anchor and we went a few miles west to try for bluefin. For dinner Goofy made Tri-tip, scallop potatoes and a salad on the side, delicious. 11 other boats were in this zone but we only stopped once for a couple scattered marks. Low on time, Jeff decided to check out Mackerel Bank on the way home. Most of us poured some cocktails and broke down our gear leaving one heavy setup rigged just in case. Once we passed through the uninhabited bank, it was time to wrap it up and get a nap in before arriving at the dock at 4 a.m. Day 2 fish count: 141 dorado 13 calico bass 2 yellowtail 1 yellowfin Jackpot/patch honors on day 2: Justin Becker, 17lb yellowtail Trip highlights For my first trip as a new club member, it was cool to get better acquainted with other members. The amount of knowledge and experience as a group is unmatched. As an added bonus, Bill informed me that my yellowtail is currently in the lead as this year's largest. I look forward to future trips and shooting the breeze with more members, tight lines!
Trip #5: Boat: Thunderbird 2 day Departs: Thursday August 10th Fishing: August 11th & 12th Returns: August 12 pm Trip 5 began with a wonderful surprise visit at the dock by the one and only Jeff Hinrichs. Jeffy looked great and it was awesome to hear that he will be fishing with us soon. All the best to you Jeffy! The voyage heading out was smooth and our bait was some of the best I have ever fished with. We headed towards a zone on the back side of San Clemente Island and started to patrol the area around 4:30am. There was heavy boat pressure and we counted 57 boats parked in this area. The bluefin were squirrely. They would respond to the chum and then disappear. We started to get bites around 6:30am on the fly lined sardines and sinker rigs. The quality of bluefin was outstanding with 60-100lb models coming out of the water. I was fortunate to land a bluefin on 80lb test on the sinker rig. It was stick and move fishing for a while. We continued to pick isolated fish for parts of the morning and a little bit into the afternoon. Ryan and Bill caught 100lb class fish on the fly line. We also had some casualties. Jeff tried hard, including a move out west to get out of the parking lot, but we could not find willing schools. We continued the hunt the rest of the day and it was tough fishing. The weather was world class though. Before you know it, it was dinner time with Goofy serving us his signature bacon wrapped pork loin. That evening, Captain Chris continued to box the same area we fished throughout the day looking to get the nighttime bite started. Late into the night we were able to hook standout fish. Luke connected with a 90lb class fish brought up on a 7-minute fight. The night was capped by Junior Angler Kitt Lockwood hooking a 93lb bluefin. Congratulations Kitt! The face of joy on that kid will be ingrained on me. It validated our decision to invite junior anglers on our trips. We ended the day with 13 nice grade bluefin and 2 yellowfin. Jackpot honors went to Jim Bertella on a 110lb bluefin caught that morning. The man is simply a terminator... Just past midnight, Capt. Chris decided to make a big move and run towards San Nicolas Island. This area had been productive on Trip 4 and it was worth a shot. We pushed within 18 miles of the island and could not find what we wanted. Chris made the U-turn and pointed towards the zone we had previously fished for most of the trip. Around 2am, we found the right school. Those who paid their dues at the rail scored. Most of the fish were caught between 150ft-360ft. Heavy knife jigs were the ticket. Several standout fish were picked in this stop with guest angler Saif Liswi pulling out a 142 pounder and this was the jackpot fish for the day. Yours truly also got on the action with two fish. This bite continued into the early morning. This would be the last bluefin bite of the day. We ended with 13 bluefin. Paul Casillas obtained a patch for his 74lb fish. Well done, Paul! Jeff made the call to hit the yellowtail spots on the Clemente West End and front side. Hayden connected with a nice sized yellowtail. We also made the traditional calico bass stop with a decent bite and fun for all. The bonita also made an appearance. The return trip was made under spectacular weather and glassy conditions. What a treat. Overall, we had a great group and even though the volume did not materialize, we got standout fish. As always, there were valuable lessons to be learned. I truly treasure these trips and appreciate all of you. Until next time, tight lines.... Ed
Trip #4: Boat: Thunderbird 2 day Departs: Thursday July 20th Fishing: July 21st & 22nd Returns: July 22nd pm (Note: the assigned Scribe had to cancel, a replacement was not assigned, and this is from memory without the benefit of notes.) We departed on Thursday, July 20th for our 2-dayer with high expectations. The fishing had been good and the weather looked good as well. The group gathered like usual with some getting there before noon, others just after noon, and bulk around 4 or 5 PM. The group consisted of: Luke Burson / Bill Parks / Ron Shrout / Jim Bertella / Bob Wheeler / Brian Drazba James Harris / Tom Hill / Paul Casillas / Jake Chutney / Ed Chutney / Oscar Ochoa Hayden Claisse / Paul Morgan / Michael Harris / Cory Reinmiller / Ellanie Reinmiller Gary Thompson / Pastor Dave / Kevin Kom /Mike Barton / Dan Schumacher / Jeff Allen Oscar's guest Jeff would be our Captain with Steve as the Second, Goofy and crew on deck. As we loaded bait everyone geared up for bigger fish in the dark. The bait looked good but the focus was on heavy gear, heavy jigs, and the anticipation of bigger fish. It was a smooth ride to the area north of SCI towards San Nicholas Island. It was not a secret where the fish were the day before. In the dark, it was easy to count over twenty boats. It seems we were a little late to the party, some boats that got them got them earlier in the night. We did get one small shot at fish in the dark landing a couple. They were school-size fish, they liked the “sinker bait rig” which was a sign of things to come. Jeff started looking and I really do not know exactly how long it was before he found a school that wanted to stay with the boat and bite our bait. It was good fishing. You had two choices to get a bite: 1) find a good swimming bait that went out and down, or 2) use the sinker rig down about 150’. It turns out the sinker rig was pretty automatic……at least for Jim Bertella. The flyline baits were getting bit on 25#, 30# and 40#. We did some severe damage on that school of fish, made a move and Jeff found another that played the same as the first. Jim continued to put on a clinic with his sinker rig. Some others tried it with success. After a few hours of catching ~100 BF all around 25#s, we had our 2-day limit. There was a stand-out 57# BF caught on that “Jim Bertella” special, congrats Jim. Bill had another standout he hooked on lighter line that took him around the boat many times and unfortunately, it picked up some loose flylined spectra that when trying to untangle things the wrong line got cut. Bill handled it like a pro but he was disappointed. We had our 2-day limits on the boat so we headed to San Nicholas Island to finish the day. (For those on upcoming trips, how good was Jim Bertella’s sinker rig?? He got close to 40 bites, not all stuck, and many bit the sinker. Jim was high with close to ~15 BF……something to think about. With fame comes responsibility, feel free to ask Jim questions about his rig, his hook, his leader, his sinker, his depth markings, how he holds his mouth, the color of his socks and if he wears boxers or briefs……..it all plays into his success.) At Nic we started drifting for halibut and we caught two…….I only wish I knew who caught them. One was just legal and the other was bigger….hopefully the pictures will tell a better tale. We then went coding and it was good. Everyone got as many as they wanted including some 2-day limits. We ended the day anchored at San Nicholas where Goofy and Carmelo served what I think was the best dinner we have had on the Thunderbird – Pork tenderloin with scalloped potatoes. All agreed that it was excellent. Day 1 Jackpot / Patch – Jim Bertella, Bluefin Tuna 57# About 2 AM we started for Tanner Bank to target Yellowtail. We got there just as the Shogun was getting there. We anchored next to each other, close enough to hear their group every time they hooked a fish. We had great current but there just was not a large volume of YT. There might have been as many Bonito as YT. We worked hard to get 10 fish, all on flylined baits. We had 4 that were in the mid-20s’ with Paul Morgan getting the largest. At 11:30 AM it was time to head for home. Day 2 Jackpot / Patch – Paul Morgan, YT 25# It was an excellent trip with outstanding weather. Now for the highlight of the trip, as part of our new program of bringing a junior angler on all trips, having Cory Reinmiller’s daughter, Ellaine on the boat catching her first tuna was special. She was a good addition to the group and was the last person fishing Friday night on anchor catching whitefish after whitefish. She handled the BF just fine and was a pleasure to fish next to at the rail. Sometimes we make changes that work, this one, bringing junior anglers is working GREAT! Your anonymous scribe
Trip #3: Boat: Thunderbird 1.5 day Departs: Thursday July 7th Fishing: July 8th Returns: July 9th am “ Limits are a secret blessing, and bounty can be a curse. ” Twyla Thorpe* Well, Trip 3 was pretty epic. We struggled to fill the boat with members, so had 6 guests on board. We certainly got our value out of this trip with Boat limits of Bluefin and calico with a great mix of high-grade YellowTail. We also had our fun with Bonita, Barracuda and sand bass rounding out the trip. We started fishing at 4 AM, for some of us 4 AM came quick as the Newport Deck Party had clouded our brains a bit. We started 15 miles Southwest of San Clemente Island droppping knife jigs and flat falls with both Captain Jeff and David (guest of Chris) each landing a 30-40# grade BFT. We fished there for some time, but no other action followed. You could hear the frustration in Jeff’s voice over the boat loud speaker to “roll em up”. From 5 to 8:30 we went on a boat ride, with Jeff apologizing that nothing is worth stopping for. He spent quality time in the tuna grounds looking in familiar spots and doing all he could to find the schools. However, optimism was soon in the air as Jeff announced that one of his buddies, a 6-pack Captain of the Blackfish, turned him onto a bite and he was going to meet up and see what we find. So, 6-packs, by names sake, have 6 people aboard. The bait tank matches that small load. Our Thunderbird holds 25+ people, and the bait tank of the Thunderbird matches that number too, so off Scuba goes and starts chumming this school and the BITE IS ON! My guest, Alex Norkus, had a rough night with the rollers, so he was in bed trying to feel better. I landed one then found his bunk and rolled him out of bed saying “you can miss this bite!”. Before he could even take a leak, I handed him a live rod and he was off to catch his first Blue Fin and first “real” pelagic! Thanks to the Thunderbird Crew for helping the tenderfoot throughout the trip. So based on the grade of fish we were pulling on 30-40#, a 30# set up was the magic set-up. Brian broke off 3 times with 25# and moved up. Everyone communicated and helped drag 80 Bluefin over the rail from 8:30 to around 9:45. Many caught 2 or more and Jeff rightly called off the catching (not the fishing) at 9:45. Brandon boated the lone Yellowtail on that stop, but more YT was in our future! The Crew was pretty psyched, as you can imagine, and there was a rumor that we were headed back to the Newport Harbor happy with our fill. That rumor went sideways as Jeff looked to motor us close to SCI and put us on YT and Calico to finish out the trip. As we motored, the talk of the boat was set-ups…”what are you rigging up”. What weight? Dropper loop? Yo Yo? Small flat Fall? Colt Sniper? We all tied up our favorites and went to SCI to see what we could drag into the boat. Early lunch came and Goofy did his best to not smile while we recommended the quests ask Goofy for Provolone cheese and spicey mustard on their burgers. Those jokes never get old…… to us. After lunch we had a few Calico Bass stops with Luke, Brian and Bill bringing on some nice sized Calicos. We had plenty of keeper sized Calicos on these stops, as well as some fun Bonita and Barracuda mixed in. Everyone enjoyed a strong bite. Tommy’s Grandson, Ari, joined the trip and bagged a trifecta; he caught Calicos, YT and Bluefin. Not bad for a 11 year-old-ish junior angler. He did a great job working the boat, taking some schooling and learning on his first overnight trip. Hats off to Luke, Bill and others who really mentored Ari as Tommy tended to his bag limits (Actually Tom was a great, attentive Grand Dad and should be very proud!). Around 4 PM the hunt was on for Yellowtail. We worked the SCI “hot spots” and were very successful. Of note, Mike Harris pulled out 2 very nice Yellows, around 25#, even fighting them on those silly spinners! Jeff moved us in and out of these spots and we ended up with 20 on board by the time we headed home. Of note, we saw so much boiling action from the YT but few bites. The fish are out there fellas. The great thing about this trip was the quantity, quality and action we had for a 1.5 day. Great work by Jeff to put us on fish and this group landed them! It was a special trip and one I will not soon forget…great memories. Thanks DWRRC! Steve Richard won Jack Pot with a 41.8# BFT Bill Parks earns patch with 35# BFT at tape. Though this was close with many of these fish being in that same weight class. Twyla Thorpe: Twyla Tharp is one of America's most important contemporary dance choreographers. Since graduating from Barnard College in 1963, she has choreographed more than 125 dances, five Hollywood movies, directed and choreographed two Broadway shows, written two books, and received numerous awards.
Trip #2: Boat: Thunderbird 2 day Departs: Thursday June 22nd Fishing: June 23rd & June 24th There were days leading up to the trip when I was wondering if we were going to get off the dock. At one point at about a week out the Windy app was forecasting 25+ knot winds, not the best conditions. As we got closer to the 23rd things improved some but it was still going to be challenging. It was decided by the Club, and Jeff that Bluefin fishing wasn’t going to be a very enjoyable experience. We decided instead to head to SCI and fish the Yellowtail, Calico Bass, Bonita, and occasional Sheep Head. This decision I was greatly in favor of as I wasn’t particularly interested in fighting a triple digit fish on a rolling deck with a bad back. I arrived at the dock around 3:00 PM to find the usual suspects already holding down the fort. I’m sure Hayden had arrived first then was followed by Luke, Bill, Tommy, Mike, Gary, Roy, Ron, and Jeff. I was the tenth to arrive. Not too long after I got there, a couple of us made our way over to Great Mex for some dinner and a Cadillac Margarita. They make an excellent Cadillac by the way. As we neared 6:30 most of the members and guests had arrived. Due to lack of club member participation we had a large number of guests on the trip, six in total. Thank you to those club members who rallied some friends to make this trip a go. I would like to thank one guest, Michael Yunich who CNC’s custom surface irons and brought a big bag of jigs he was handing out to members and guests. His gesture was beyond generous. We boarded in our usual orderly fashion and headed to the barge to load up on bait. Jeff made the call to wait for the wind and swell to die down before leaving the harbor. The ride over was bit sporty, but nothing too harsh. Several of us woke up around 5:00 and headed out on deck in hopes of a grey light bite. We were blessed with some live squid, but not a lot of it. This turned out not to be a big deal as the fish weren’t in the mood for the candy. I and several others pinned a squid on the dropper loop in the hopes of a grey light White Sea Bass, or Yellowtail. As it turned out Bill Parks was the only angler to hook a fish. He made pretty quick work of getting his fish to the boat only to have his line part very close to gaff. Oscar and his son Romeo got to work and put a few Sheephead in the bags, but other than that it was a slow start. Jeff decided it was time to pull the hook and get looking around. We worked both kelp lines up toward the point and inside the bay for no love. I suspect with the way the wind had been blowing that the water temp on the backside was low compared to the front. We eventually moved around the east end and started working our way west up the front of the island. Around 8:00 Jeff put us on a school that wanted to bite and we put on 10 Yellowtail that weighed in around 8-9lbs in quick order. I myself had a good little run and went 3 for 5 hooked on the Yellowtail, lost one to the reef, and another on a pulled hook. Chris May put on a bit of a clinic hooking one Yellowtail after another. Romeo our guest angler and his dad Oscar both got Yellowtail on the Colt Snipers. Around 9:00 the bite started to shutoff and the final count for the stop was 29 Yellowtail, 38 Bonita, and 1 Baracuda. We spent the next hour working around the front of the east end, but couldn’t get them going again. It was tough conditions as we had wind against current all morning. At 10:30 we moved to the kelp at the very east end. The current and wind were finally moving in the same direction. Unfortunately the current was a little too fast at over one knot. We caught a few Calico, but no Yellowtail. If there was a little less current it could have been great bass fishing. From 11:30 to 2:00 we worked the front side of the island and were able to land a few more Yellowtail until the whisker wall moved in and completely shut down the bite. 2:45 to 4:00 we continued to catch bass and put on a few Yellowtail. We had gone through most of the bait so we needed to make a decision. We could spend the night battling the wind and seas and try for the trophy Bluefin, and head for the barn in the morning, or make a run back to Newport for more bait. The club decided the later was the better option. The jack pot was weighed and Roy and I were too close to call on the balance scale so we went to the tape measure. Unfortunately for me the tape measure rarely shows me any love and the patch went to Roy. Roy’s fish 9.2lb, Jeff’s 9lbs, and mine 8.56lb. I went from too close to tell, to third place. We might need to find a Yellowtail formula vs. a Yellowfin formula. Of course had I won I’d be all for the current system. Saturday morning we were back in the cove. To the surprise to many on the boat, including myself, several of the guests decided to get off the boat while we were back in Newport for bait. The fishing was far from epic, but it wasn’t bad either. Possibly these guys might not be hardcore enough for membership in our club? The trip back over to the island was surprisingly smooth given the amount of wind. We tried the grey light bite again with both Sardine and Squid. Neither worked, and we really caught no fish to speak of. We worked our way around the east end again to fish the south end of the front of the island. We were able to locate the Yellowtail again and the bite was a plunker. I personally was really struggling and couldn’t get a bait to swim. We had stronger wind against the current again, which wasn’t helping matters. On a positive note two of the guests that didn’t get off the boat caught their first Yellowtail which is always a pleasure to see. 2:30 we moved in tight for a great Calico bite. I was able to knock Tony Beall out of first place for the year’s biggest Calico with a 6.8lb fish. My glory was very short lived as Luke landed a 7.9lb Calico about 10 minutes later, which turned out to be the Jack Pot fish. This was some of the best bass fishing we’ve had at the island for some time. We ended up putting together a decent day and ended up with trip totals of 49 Yellowtail, 38 Bonita, 1 Slime Stick, 5 Calico Bass, 13 Sheephead, and 1 Whitefish. We’ve all had better trips with the club, but as of writing this, things are looking up. The Yellowfin have started to move into our zone and the bigger grade Bluefin are being taken in US waters. I am really looking forward to fishing trip 4 with some great friends.
Trip #1: Boat: Thunderbird 2 day Departs: Thursday June 8th Fishing: June 9th & 10 th It’s finally here. The kickoff to the DWRRC 2023 fishing season. Two promising days of fishing adventures aboard the Thunderbird. Jeff Markland and Chris at the helm, Goofy in the galley, Steve, Colin and Beck keeping us all in line, ready at the bait tanks, helping with tangles and on the gaff when the action starts. I love fishing with this club and on the Thunderbird. To begin this adventure, I secured a Primo parking spot at the end of Adams Street. Not as good as Tom Hill's front parking spot on Adams Street, but I will take it any trip. It is good to be on Balboa peninsula at the landing. A glorious sunny day after all the May gray and June gloom we have been having. It was great to meet and greet longtime friends from the DWRRC fishing family. One of the first people I encountered was Gary (New Eyes) Thompson. Now showing without glasses sporting 20 / 20 vision. I do believe he might be wondering why he did not do this sooner. A few $$$$ to Gary, however he now needs sunglasses as the world is so much clearer and brighter. It’s always good to say hi to Hayden. Rumor has it Hayden was in line before 10 AM. I say hello to Ryan, the Beall’s, Tom Hill and Bill who was our charter master and. I’ve never heard Bills phone ring so much. I need to send huge a shout out to Newport Landing for making this trip possible by filling several openings we had on trip one. This trip was in jeopardy of being cancelled. Thank you to all who made this possible and thank you to the anglers who joined us on this trip. And to the club members that helped fill these spots. It was a good mix of anglers that fit in well with the club. I secured a spot on the rail, set up my chair and joined the group in the shade. Lots of catching up, rigging going on, decisions on setting up the big stuff, jokes. More members were making their way in as I took a walk pier to pier. Dang, my feet dislike walking on concrete. A very clear day to see Catalina and up the coast to Palos Verdes. Upon my return, I caught up with Patrick T and Justin to share a few of their beers and jokes with them. Thank you guys. We had a special guest join us on this trip. Mike Thompson. He had with him one of our junior anglers, Jason, his grandson. Another junior angler was Morgan Clay. I looked up and noticed the Thunderbird was in. The crew was busy readying for the first DWRRC trip of the 2023 season. Many made their way for their favorite pre boarding dinner. Some for Mexican food. Justin and I did Thai. Muy Bueno. As time neared to depart, we did the orderly bunk assignment and getting gear on board. It seemed we were on our way in no time and at the bait receiver well before 9. Tanked up on good quality and size of Sardines. There was also limited live squid for pre gray fishing on day one and two. It was a smooth ride out. I sat around chit chatting and sampling bourbon until late. During a conversation with Mike Thompson, he talked about when he was running fishing trips. It was not about catching the biggest fish. It was all about making sure his customers had a great trip. A good rule to live by. Time for shuteye. Cortez was our destination for day 1. Day 1 At Cortez around 6 AM. Pretty much overcast and cool all day long. The Thunderbird was the only boat on the Cortez Bank. Before I made it up top, talk was that New Eyes Thompson already had two on board working on a third one. I do believe he may give us a run for the money going forward. Way to go Gary. We fished Cortez for most of the morning putting on a fine showing of Yellow Tail. Finned bait, yoyo and surface irons were doing the most to capture. Stop One yielded 6 YT. A few more stops yielded 24 more YT. Many anglers were getting in on the action. There were a few in the group that were hot in catching more than one. I do believe Gary now has 20 / 20 Fish Ray vision. Jim Bertella was a hot stick. Junior angler Morgan was doing well for himself. Captain Chris was doing his part to hook up and hand off. When we moved to shallower water (60 feet), more than one of us was rocked by some larger grade fish. Just could not get the fish to turn. If you could get a sardine to swim away from the boat, odds are you were going to get bit or have some very nervous fast swimming bait. I saw Mike Thompson on more than one fish of these a few he handed off to Jason. Then I witnessed a once in a lifetime event. Mike asked Jeff to tie Fluro on to his rig. I did not check if he was using a circle hook. This was a good decision as he got bit shortly after that. Unfortunately, this was a larger grade fish that eventually made its way to the depths and the dreaded rocks. on the starboard bow, I hooked my only YT to be gaffed. Scrambled egg Sumo Jr. about halfway up on the retrieve, 30 lb. line, gaffed on the port corner on the rail. I will say a decision I made last year to change out the less than optimal factory treble hooks on my colt snipers to quality single hooks was a less than optimal decision. I lost a few on the drop and had a few long line releases on the retrieve after short lived hooks up. One that I was sure I would land, let loose after several seconds on the line. Mike T pointed out after witnessing this, "It sucks to be you". Not totally as I did get bit, however I did thank Mike for pointing this out. It is so cool when we are on a bite and the crew really gets into it yelling FISH ON THE BOW!!!!! FRESH ONE!!! CRASHING FISH UNDER THE BIRDS!!!! ANOTHER ONE!!!!! THAT ONES ON YOUR BAIT!!!! Especially Jeff. He is like a kid at Christmas. His enthusiasm is contagious and gets the rest of us fired up. Action slowed on the yellow tail so we geared up and moved for some rock fish. This was a great stop for quality fish being brought up on some long drifts. I tried to talk Tony to put his reel in low gear during the long retrieve when pulling up twin quality fish. He refused and cranked them up slowly in high gear. Way to go Tony. After a few very productive drifts, we had our fill and looked around for a few more cooperative yellow tail. We had one hit and miss on the YT. That was the cue for heading to SCI in search of the elusive Blue Fin Tuna. A bit of bourbon may have been shared during this trek. A few stories surfaced. One story Tommy shared was about a member nick named Sawzall. I spoke with Charlie Uhl late last year and he told me of this nick name bestowed upon him. After the journey from Cortez to SCI, Jeff said he saw no activity of Blue Fin on the way to SCI and into BFT waters. Nada. Squat. Zilch. Nothing. The decision was made to head into the island in search of some fishy action. Where we eventually settled in for dinner and fishing in the cove. Dinner on Friday was a treat. Tri Tip that was medium to medium rare, very tender and tasty. Accompanied by a side of scallop potatoes, salad and dinner rolls. Thank you Goofy and crew for a delicious dinner. Yes, there was even a wide selection of red wine being offered. After dinner, Tommy casts the inevitable question, Hey Goofy, Hayden was wondering if there are Klondike Bars for dessert? Goofy went off asking is that the best we can do with the same lame question. Hayden then offered, Hey Goofy, Tommy wants to know if there are Klondike Bars for dessert. Goofy allowed us to trade dirty dishes and silverware in exchange for a Klondike Bar. For those interested, after dinner drinks consisted of bourbon supplied by Patrick T. and some pretty good jokes by many. Many fished late into the evening in hopes of picking up a Yellow Tail, WSB or anything else wandering close by. Tom Hill did manage to catch a barracuda as did another. Most used Squid on a dropper loop or slider. When I attempted to use fin bait, Captain Chris asked me why I was fishing for Sea Lions. I switched to Squid. The sea dogs were merciless grabbing squid off the bottom resulting in more than one excited angler to curse the dogs once it became apparent what was on the other end of the line. Notable quote of the day from Hayden. Jeff, Get the F out of my way. The Junior anglers are very good fishermen. I missed the play by play that Gary gave when a fish handed off was overtaken by a sea lion. It was said to be an epic tale. Day 1 tally 34 Yellow Tail (several weighing in the mid-twenties) 1 Sheep Head A few white fish. One very sizable one. Reds for all who wanted to play. Day 1 Jackpot went to this scribe. I am grateful for two-speed reels. Day 2 started in the cove pre light. Squid on Dropper loops. No action to speak of. We then headed towards China Point about 6 AM. The weather was pretty much the same as day 1. Overcast, a bit warmer with brief filtered sunshine throughout the day. Dare I say the finned bait on day two was in very good shape and live squid was available for those wanting to use it. We were amongst the Amigo, Fury, El Dorado and a few private boats. And the yellow tail were playing. Yells went out, hook up. Fresh one. Another One. Fish on the bow. Crashing behind the boat. The action kept up for a good while and we made a good showing. However, the dogs were ever present. Jeff moved off to find some willing fish and to get a brief reprieve from the sea lions. We found some bonito. Bill seemed to have their number. Or they had his. One was bonito hooked on the troll. More yellow tail were located and the game was on again. Fresh one. Fish on the bow. Fish under the birds. All in all, a good day of fishing. Tony landed the first sizeable Calico of the season. 4 pounds 10 ounces. Day 2 tally was: 38 Yellow Tail 6 Bonito 1 white fish 1 legal sized catch and release Calico (Tony Beall). Bill Parks took honors for big fish. As the trip was coming to an end, during our trip back to Newport, Jeff Spotted crashing blue fin. Some very sizable fish were showing. Jeff put us in position for those still rigged to make various offerings. Blue fin being Blue Fin, ignored everything thrown their way and disappeared. It is still exciting to see these beasts crash the surface. Awesome It was a smooth ride back in. We were back at the dock by 6:30 PM. Gear back to our vehicles, fish picked up. All said so longs, see you next trip and so on. Getting off the peninsula was a breeze compared to years past. This was a great kick off trip for the 2023 fishing season. Thank you to the club officers that once again keep this experience going forward. And to the crew of the Thunderbird. The Anglers: Ryan Burson, Patrick Beall, Patrick Thunyakij, Bruce Granse, Tony Beall, Bill Parks, Jim Bertella, Justin Becker Tom Hill, Gary Thompson, Hayden Claisse, Jeff Hinrichs – Scribe, Jeff Granse (BGg), MikeThompson, Joe Gigante Saif Liswi, Richard Meyer, Jeffry Rice, Ion Danes, Kevin Piero, Christopher Pratt, Ken Diaz Junior Anglers: Jason T (Mike T) and Morgan Clay.
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