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2018: Trip 7 Thunderbird (1.5 day)
DWRRC Trip Repor
Trip #7- 8/23-8/25- 1-1/2 Day Trip
Scribe- Gary T.
NOTE- This is a long report so you might get two beers in hand.
Club Participants- Brian W., Andy W., Tom H., Gary T., Paul C., Tony B., Steve L., Bill P., Bill H., Tom A., Ron S., Joe S., Ron H., Luke B., Ron R., Tim S., and Stewart F. (sort of- more later)
Crew- Jeff, Brian, Ricardo, Steve, Goofy
This trip actually started on Aug 18th when Luke sent out his first pre-trip update. I think we all appreciate the effort in the Club leadership keeping all of us apprised as best as possible of what we may expect or to look to for an upcoming trip. With providing weather and wind forecast updates, fishing conditions and what fish are where as best as can be ascertained, and recommended tackle and equipment to bring, we all benefit from these updates. As such, I think we all should thank them for providing such a valuable benefit to all of us in the club so we can always be best prepared. (Even if some of us hate fishing with flat falls….but who could that be?????)
The Scribe arrived at Davey’s Locker at 2:35pm on 8/23 with Tony B. in tow, and some of the usual suspects were already there- Luke B., Brian W. and Ron H. Joe S., Steve L., and Tom H. followed with everyone else filtering in, EXCEPT Stewart F. By 7:00pm, and still no Stewart who was number 3 on the bunk sign up list, a little anxiety set in. Was Stewart OK? Did something happen to him? Or was it just everyone wanted their bunk? In any event, Luke finally made positive contact with him and determined that Stewart had forgotten that he was on this trip! So, we ended up going one short with 16.
One little note here about early arriving- the scenery. The whale watch boats can, at times, carry some real “talent”. It is always useful to observe that “talent” as they embark and disembark those boats. We must ensure that we maintain all of our skills at the highest level, and observe for new innovations in “fishing”, if you all know what I mean…..
During the waiting period, the usual things we all do took place. The rigging table was in full operation with Luke and Brian holding class, reels were put on rods, lots of small talk, BS talk, sea stories, and the usual shuck and jiving going on, dinner treks here and there, beer drinking, and the highly anticipated wait for Goofy’s arrival. We always anticipate lots of words of wisdom when Goofy arrives with his galley supplies, and this trip was no exception. We all gathered around him at his 6:25pm arrival and engaged in the usual discourse- what do you know, when will the boat be here, where are we going to fish, what’s for dinner, etc.. When it was all said and done, nothing was resolved as usual.
At one point the manifest signup sheet had to be put on hold because Bill H, dropped the pen through a crack in the wood planks on the pier, and we had to wait for him to find a new one. I hear he targeted that pen drop as if he was casting a mackerel into a hole in a rock chasing a bass. Anyway, we dodged a bullet there when he got a new pen. Can’t leave the dock without a completed manifest.
Finally, the boat arrived around 7:30pm and the anticipated wait for Jeff to come up and give us a quick rundown on the “plan” came and went. Jeff was not on the boat! Brian had run the previous trip, and Jeff snuck down to the boat from the other gangway. As we still figured he would come up at some point to fill us in, we eagerly awaited. As we waited, we finally drug Andy and Tom H. out of the bar who had been hustling a couple of blonds from what we were told. I cannot confirm the truth of this though. Anyway, Jeff never came up and at 8:45pm, he hollered at us to load up. We were all wondering now what was up. We loaded up and left the dock at 9:00pm.
The bait at the receiver was pretty decent with a mix of good size sardine and smaller sardine. A few mackerel mixed in. We loaded 3 tanks full and left the harbor at 10:30pm. And still no word from Jeff on the “plan”. Finally, Jeff comes on the PA and says he has no idea what we are going to do. The weather is up on the outside so the outer banks were off the table, the fish south are too far, and the Navy has San Clemente Island all jacked up all day (or so the schedule said). Soooo…. the “plan” was to try the large Bluefin on the backside of SCI first thing in the morning, watch the wind, and then go from there. And with that we all headed to bed for the ride out, which turned out to be not too bad. We went around the west end and then down the backside of the island looking for fish.
We arrived over our first school of fish at 4:45am on 8/24, a few miles off the backside of the island, about the middle of the island. Most everyone was up and flat falls were flying everywhere, grinding, winding and giving it our all (yes even me- for 10 minutes). However, no bites, the fish disappeared and we went on the hunt again. Shortly thereafter our second stop on fish produced more of the same. So we continued in search mode. Weather so far was ok, but we were anticipating the wind at any time. At 5:45am, we stopped on another school. Same deal, same result. On the move again and at 6:25, another school and ditto.
Between stops, lots of weird discussion and witty banter took place in the galley, with Goofy expounding more words of wisdom, and then showing us what he keeps on top of the CLs in the beer cooler. Mike Trunk would be pleased……We can tell by now as the morning went on, and the wind starting to come up as expected, that Jeff was most likely up in the wheelhouse wondering WTF do I do now? In the meantime, we all chowed down on Goofy’s chorizo, egg and potato burritos for breakfast. At 7:30am, we stopped on another spot of fish, and got our first bite! Tom H’s sea chicken. After quite a fight, the sea chicken was on board. We didn’t keep it because Goofy said we already had enough chicken for lunch later. We continued our seek and destroy mission, working our way around to the east end of the island, while talking shop talk about reels in the galley and anxiously awaiting the next opportunity.
By 9:30 am, Jeff finally had enough and learned that the front side of the island would be available to fish as the Navy had apparently cancelled the closures. So off we went to check things out. We arrived at the corner spot at Pyramid after a short run and after a quick look, Jeff decided to give it a try.
As the anchor was settling back, the stern exploded with yellowtail and it was game on! These fish wanted to bite, and they did for about 20 minutes real well. And they put on one of the best shows we have seen in a while. Finally, the sea lions showed up and the fish got a bit spooked and slowed down. We picked away for a while before it finally died off. When the dust settled, we had 23 yellows in the RSW. I also was 4 for 5 on the sea pigeons so take that Tom H.! The conditions were perfect for this spot with the current running strong and in the right direction, and it paid off.
At 10:50am, we were on the move headed off the island looking for some yellowfin tuna that Jeff had said the purse seiners had been fishing for a couple of days. After a while searching with no luck, Jeff decided we should head back to the island and look for more yellows. Weather was flat calm at the moment but that would change later in the day.
We stopped briefly at the “Slide” spot for one yellow and a couple of barracuda, and at 12:45pm were on the move again up the island in search mode. The sun was out, winds were calm, and it was getting hot. Perfect front side conditions.
Next stop was the “Red Bluff” area above Steve’s Point. We had a decent hit on the yellows putting 14 down in the RSW along with a couple barracuda and a few bonito caught. Again, perfect current conditions, but the sea lions were a problem as usual. Once back on the move again, we had a good lunch of Goofy’s chicken burgers with cheese and all the trimmings on the burgers.
We ran all the way to Gold Bluff where the Outrider had decent yellowtail fishing in the morning. However, it was for nada, and the wind was now coming up, blowing down the island creating a wind against the current situation which can be problematic. At 2:35pm, we were on the move again back down the island, and the wind was following us all the way. We stopped at the “Sailboat Wreck” below Steve’s Point for 3 quick yellows until the sea lions set in. We put on more yellow before we blew out of there.
Our next stop was at Purse Seine Rock sometime after 3:00pm I believe. By this time, the wind was blowing pretty good down the island with an uphill current, and we were laying sideways to the wind because of it. But it didn’t matter. The yellows showed right away and were eating everything. Surface irons and fly lined baits were getting bit. And then it was the same deal when the sea lions showed up. But the pick bite was steady and lasted a lot longer. When it was all said and done, we put 35 more yellows into the RSW. We finally left Purse Seine Rock at 7:00pm and continued down the island.
We tried one bass spot after we left Purse Seine rock, but no bites. Conditions were too difficult to fish properly, plus we had pretty much blown through all of our big baits fishing the yellows. Ron H. still has the target on his back. We rolled into one more bass spot in tight in calm water to try and have a nice dinner.
Cocktail hour for the most part began around 7:30pm., much later than usual. We miss Hayden’s cocktail alarm system. Hurry back Hayden! Goofy, again, served up a great dinner of pork chop steaks, au gratin potatoes, salad, rolls, and Klondike bars for desert. Very filling after a long day of fishing hard.
We must give credit to Andy W. and Tony B. here. Well after dark, while everyone else is breaking down gear, eating dinner, drinking libations, cleaning up, and getting ready for the ride home and a night’s rest, those two were still at the rail bass fishing. Even Luke finally said it was time to quit, but not those two!
After dinner, and around 9:30pm or so, the crew and Luke settled the jackpot/patch and the crew set about cleaning fish. And Tony and Andy were still fishing. True dedication I must say.
The lucky jackpot/patch winner turned out to be yours truly the Scribe. I got lucky again, in spite of not wearing my dilapidated shoes and lucky pants with the holes and seams torn out. Maybe I should get some new shirts now?
We left for home at 10:15pm and with a smooth ride home, we arrived at the dock around 4:10am Sat. morning. We all unloaded from the boat, hustled for our vehicles, loaded up our gear and fish, said our goodbyes and any final insults, and headed home looking forward to the next trip.
All in all, given the weather outlook when we left the dock, and the uncertainty of the island, we can honestly say that some one was looking out for the DWRRC on this trip. I think we really did pull a rabbit out of the hat. For the last several weeks, there hadn’t been any yellows on the front side of the island, and now, it was loaded. Jeff believes a new batch has moved in, and coupled with lite fishing pressure recently due to everyone fishing the outer banks or the backside, we got in on the ground floor. Bass fishing wasn’t very good, but we really never targeted them due to the conditions and the fact that the yellows were biting.
Final Trip Score- 76 yellowtail and a handful of barracuda, bonito and bass kept. A quick note here- I did not take note during the trip of how many each person caught, but I believe a couple of high liners had 6 or 7 fish.
Some observations-
Sea Lions- The sea lions were being their normal obnoxious selves on every spot as usual. However, I do not believe we lost a fish to them. They picked at our baits and spooked the yellows as usual, but were disinterested in eating them. Not sure why at times they are like this, but we benefited by it on this trip. However, if they had not been around at all, I think we could have doubled our fish count. Those fish were very eager to bite on 3 spots, but as soon as the dogs moved in on the spot after 10 or 15 minutes, the spooked yellows would back off to a pick.
Yellows Biting After 3:00pm- Now this may sound strange, but that last bite we had at Purse Seine Rock, which was our best overall bite, all came after 3:30pm and lasted until the sun went behind the island. It is very unusual for this to occur as for some reason, the front side yellowtail fishing is always very slow by that time in the afternoon. When we returned Sat, I asked my brother what he thought of that because I had never seen a bite that late. He said it was extremely rare and he had only seen that happen once in all his years fishing the island. So, I guess we experienced a bit of history as well as some good karma on this trip.
Epic Battle of the Day- No doubt the epic battle of the day was Andy W. and the Blue Heron. It was the classic surface iron attack as the Blue Heron decided it was time to take on Andy’s jig. It was an EPIC struggle as the Blue Heron and Andy battled for supremacy, but in the end, Andy slayed the day. However, in recognition of the Blue Heron’s heroic effort, it was decided that it must be set free to live and fight another day.
Final Observation- For those of us that will be fishing the next trip on the Thunderbird, it will be the last club trip on this boat. As you all are aware, my brother Wiggy and his partners in crime have purchased another boat and the T-Bird is up for sale. We have had a good 3 (4???) years on the T-Bird and certainly look forward to fishing the new boat next season. As of Sat, 8/25, the boat was enroute from Homer, AK, had crossed the Gulf of Alaska, and was in Ketchikan, AK headed south. It should be in Newport within the next 10 days. After it arrives, much work will be performed to set it up for SoCal fishing as it was a halibut and salmon boat before. I for one am looking forward to watching the outfitting of this new boat.
And that ends my report for Trip #7. Signing off.
Gary T.
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Trip #8: Boat: Thunderbird 2 day Departs: Thursday October 3rd Fishing: October 4th, 5th Returns: October 5th pm Arriving at the dock a little later than I usually like to, the typical group as one would expect was all there. At this point I am starting to think that Hayden secretly lives at the landing, and only comes out of the shadows every couple weeks to fish with the club. It was overcast and on the cool side at the dock and I was beginning to regret only bringing shorts on the trip but figured with enough beer and maybe some stronger beverages I would find a way to stay warm throughout the trip. The fishing had either been wonderful or complete garbage the days prior, but everyone was hoping the optimistic that we would locate some hungry fish. After the standard, organized, boarding of the vessel we would call home for the next 2 days, we loaded up some great looking bait and off we went into the calm night. The plan was to head to Cherry Bank to hunt for the elusive bluefin. Our crew consisted of Carmello, Steve, and Jarid with Captains Jeff and Chris. It was my first trip without Goofy, and there was a calmness in the galley that felt very unfamiliar but also a feeling that something was missing. The forecast was absolutely wonderful with very little wind and a swell that was almost non-existent. After the guys all set their gear up, they disappeared one by one into their bunks. Day 1 - Friday Fishing began around 4am for some, with 2 bluefin being landed by Jim (81 lbs) and Ryan (87 lbs) just after 5am. Excitement was high with a couple of great grade fish coming over the rail, but we would soon lose that excitement. We continued to look for hungry schools, and look, and look…. We found several good schools swimming deep, but they would either disappear or avoid our bait like I avoid my mother-in-law. At about 1130 Captain Jeff decided it was time to take a break and drop deep for some taco meat. The rockfish grade was great with Luke pulling in the largest Salmon Grouper he had ever seen. It weighed in at 11 lbs, but I swear it looked bigger. We continued our taco quest until around 245 before resuming the look for the bluefin. We looked, and looked, and looked some more with zero success until dinner time. At this point, I figured if I wasn’t going to catch any fish I might as well catch a buzz. With a great dinner from Carmello consisting of chicken, rice, salad, the cocktails and conversations flowed into the evening until it was time to look yet again for these stupid fish. We looked, and looked, and looked some more. At some point only 4 were still standing. Jim, Cory, Ryan, and I were hanging out hoping to come across something to catch. We did our best to stay well hydrated, and that was about the only thing we were successful with late into the night. Of the 4, Ryan was the first to throw in the towel sometime around 2 or 230, I think... The remaining soldiers finally surrendered at about 315 and made our way to our bunks. Final count for the day was 2 bluefin and 52 rockfish. Day 2 – Saturday With a disappointing day 1 behind us, day 2 did not bring a change. We drove hundreds of miles looking, and looking, and looking. I think Captain Jeff was more disappointed than any of us. We sat around and ate what we could of the endless amounts of chips, which seemed to be the only snack option when people were shopping prior to the trip. On the upside, we had a great group of guys and some of the calmest seas that I have ever seen. Final count for day 2 was a big fat zero but I guess that’s the way fishing goes sometimes. We returned to a quiet dock, and disembarked with our snack size bags of rockfish, and headed home. Till next time, James Harris
Trip #7: Boat: Thunderbird 2.5 day Departs: Tuesday September 17th Fishing: September 18th, 19th Returns: September 20th am It all started on a pleasant Tuesday afternoon, Tuesday September 17th in fact. Tuesday is a fantastic day to get to the docks, because this Tuesday happened to be Taco Tuesday. Taco Tuesday is a great way to start anything of any importance, especially a fishing trip, two-dollar tacos and five-dollar margs to get things rocking while you’re still on land. This has been unscientifically proven to allow one’s sea legs to become accustomed to an imbalance of equilibrium, making for a smooth transition to the boat. We departed the dock around 8 pm with words of Tanner and Cortez slipping through the breeze and dancing upon our ears. Day 1 we arrived at Cortez bank around 5:30 am. After a night of getting rocked by large swells we awoke to a sea that was not all that happy to have us and not very willing to give up the fish. It was on the tougher side of things, but we still managed to scrape out a pretty good haul of fish. With a tally of 47 fish caught from good sized yellow tail to smaller blue fin from 20 lbs to the largest being 55 lbs caught by our Junior Angler Lucas Harris. Now, I believe, young Lucas learned a valuable life lesson on this trip, if you don’t gamble you can’t win. The next biggest fish, patch recipient, and pot was caught by Steve Sturm! Day 1 ended with a trip back to the bait barge because the bait was not great. Day 2 we arrived at Cortez bank around 5:50 am. As we were now a well-rested contingent of hardened sea slappers, everyone was extremely eager to get a line out. With rods in our hands and lines in the water, Bonita and small yellowtail began to come over the rail. After 3 hours of Bonita, El Capitan, Jeffe, decided it was time to make a move to Tanner. And this was well received. We arrived to Tanner and it began to sprinkle which was nice. At Tanner we caught yellowtail and smaller bluefin. The night bite wasn’t very bitey, El Capitan made a great effort moving multiple times to try and get us on the fish to no avail. Mr. one cast one fish, Mike Castillo caught the biggest blue fin of the day receiving the patch and pot. Light lines, small hooks and bait that was less than willing to be sacrificed in the belly of monsters make for tough fishing but it’s always great to be out on the water. Adios Brandon Lockwood
Trip #6: Boat: Thunderbird 1.5 day Departs: Thursday September 5th Fishing: September 6th Returns: September 7th am Trip 6 kicked off as it routinely does the usual suspects being at the dock, possibly before sunrise for all I know. My dad and I arrived at the dock around 2pm on Thursday with almost no traffic on the peninsula due to school being back in session. The weather at the dock was beautiful but we knew there was some wind ahead on the Tanner and Cortez Banks but that was really the only option as that’s where the fish have been basically all summer. Captain Jeff told us he wasn’t sure where we were going to start but it was going to be a bumpy ride out. After getting bait we were headed west. When we woke up, I was informed that Jeff took us to the Tanner Bank and was looking for fish. We stopped on a couple spots of fish and eventually got the anchor down and tried to get a bite going with no luck. Around 9:00 AM, we made the hour and 20-minute run to the Cortez Bank. The fishing improved once we got there but it was still a grind and we were soon anchored up in about 150 feet of water. The next 3 and a half hours were classic plunker bite fishing. Light line, small hooks and a hot bait would be rewarded with bites. There was a good mix of bluefin and yellowtail biting and the weather really improved from the ride out and was better than forecasted, but still a bit breezy. The final count for the morning was 14 Bluefin (8-15lbs), 14 Yellowtail and 4 bonito. At 1:30PM, with the bite really slowing down Jeff decided it was time to make another move towards the northwest end of Clemente; that would not only put us closer to home but get us in position for an afternoon/night bite on some better grade bluefin. With that being said most of the boat went down to get some rest. After the nap it was time to enjoy some beers in the sun on the top deck of the boat. Things got interesting when Bruce spotted bigger tuna splashing nearby. The crew jumped into action, setting up the kite and sending out flyers, while others used fly lines and sinker rigs. There were some standout moments: Hung, Bruce’s guest, landed his first bluefin on a dropshot rig with 40lb test after a tough fight and Kevin Kom quickly pulled in a solid bluefin on a 50lb fly line. Last but certainly not least, Rico worked the flyer like a pro, and at one point, we had two bait fish and two kite fish going at the same time. We had a close call when two kite fish got tangled and broke one of the fish off but when the first fish was gaffed the braid of the broken off fish was wrapped around it. Jeff and Scuba Steve jumped into action to try and save it. Jeff wrapped the braid around his shoulder and hands, and Steve spliced the line back to the rod, letting us bring in the fish. Our junior angler Lucas was pumped after the catch. This description truly doesn’t do it justice and was one of the most impressive things I’ve seen done by a crew. After the heroic save, we went a perfect 5 for 5 on 70-130 lb fish. The kite fish were caught by Mike Barton, Ron Shrout and Lucas, our junior angler. With the sun starting to set and a few hours left to fish, Jeff kept the search going while guys were having Carmelo’s pork loin and mashed potatoes in the galley. He told us we were going to have to work hard at it as the fish they had been seeing in this area was in wolf packs. The first few stops were quick as the fish that were located kept on the move. Slowly but surely, Jeff started to work away from the fleet and it paid off on the first stop. At 9PM the boat stopped on a school that was from 270’- 400’ and just as my jig got to 400’ I was able to get the first bite of the night and was able to boat it, but not before it swam off the gaff at 50 miles an hour with my reel in free spool. Shortly after that fish hit the deck, my dad was engaged in battle with a bluefin of his own and was able to make quick work of it. Micheal Harris was the next to join the party and got one on a flat fall with a little flashback to 2016 nights. They do in fact still get bit. There were a few more hooked on that stop that found eventually their freedom due to various reasons. There were a few more stops, but no bites and at midnight it was time to turn the boat back towards Newport and get some much earned rest in flat calm seas. The final count for the trip was 23 Bluefin (8 from 75-130lbs), 14 Yellowtail and 4 Bonito. Jackpot went to Kevin Kom with his fly lined 80 pound bluefin. All in all, the fishing was tough but as always this group of guys always manages to put a good score of fish together. It is always a pleasure to fish with this club and create lifetime memories. It is a highlight of my summers and look forward to it for many years to come. Tight lines, Jake Chutney
Trip #5: Boat: Thunderbird 2.5 Day Departs: Tuesday August 20th Fishing: August 21st, 22nd Returns: August 23rd am
Trip #4: Boat: Thunderbird 2 day Departs: Thursday August 8th Fishing: August 9th & 10th Returns: August 10th PM “In every species of fish I’ve angled for, it is the ones that got away that thrill me the most”. — Ray Bergman: The late Ray Bergman was born in Nyack, New York in 1891 & died there in 1967. He wrote for "Outdoor Life" magazine for 26 years. I am not going to bore you with the same deck foreplay that usually starts these scribe histories. Yes, Hayden showed up before dawn. Yes, guys dropped their bags and went to their usual watering holes and dinner spots. What was unique is Paul forgot his tackle box. That, I would think, would be hard to do….but he did scurry home and get what ne needed. By the goodness of all on the deck, he was allowed to keep his place in line. Ian and I have “day jobs” so we did not show up to see the morning coffee being made at Newport Landing Restaurant. Instead we arrived at 6 PM. Getting a call from Roy asking if I’m still attending the trip was entertaining; glad he cared enough to make sure I was aboard! It was interesting that when we did arrive, all the gear was on board and bunks were taken. Now I know why you arrive early; my top bunk was not the best on board. Next time I will take conference calls while watching the Ferris Wheel! As I grabbed my bunk and dropped my tackle box, I noticed an earie tranquility on The Thunderbird. NO GOOFY! I am not an old DWRRC salty dog like the rest of this crew, but in my 3 years in the Club, Goofy has been a main-stay. Always there, always giving someone sh_t and certainly taking some too. That tranquil glow graced us the entire trip. We left at 7 PM, picked up bait and started off to Cortez Bank. There was some hints of wind, but we decided to brave the elements. We arrived at the Bank around 5:30 AM and Jeff rolled us into some deeper water. We started fishing around 6 AM to a nice bite of Blue Fin. We had at least 2 loaded up consistently on that stop, with schoolies of 25-40 pounds. We dragged in 52 BFT on that stop with a few Yellow Tail coming aboard as well. Jim (6) Brian (4), BJ (6) and Saif were pretty active with nice numbers and good quality. Andy and Ryan pulled in some nice Yellows. It was good to see that Ryan could still pull on fish. His back, for the most part, held up while fishing for Pelagics. Fly line was the set-up of choice on this stop, but Yoyos and drop shots were also successful. We moved off this part of the Bank and moved to shallow water as the bite seemed to taper off as we continued to fish that stop. There were some that thought we should stay….Captain Jeff made the right decision! At 8:30 we pulled up into more shallow waters at 120 feel and anchored. We were not alone, in looking around there were at least 10 other Sport Boats in the area sitting on the same shallow bank. We moved off that anchor around 11 AM. We had to move as the boat LIMITED OUT on Blue fin with 104 boated (that includes the 52 from the earlier spot). We also bagged 35+ Yellow Tail! What was great about that stop was the quality of fish and the ability to catch YT and BFT at the same spot. If you had a Drop Shot on or you were Yoyo-ing, or fly line you were hooking up! It was an epic morning bite and one for the record books. Saif bagged 16 fish (10 BFT /6 YT) BJ- 11 (9 BFT/2 YT), Jim- 13 (11BFT/2 YT) and Steve- 10 (8 BFT/2 YT). These 4 guys caught 50 of the 145 fish caught…well done guys. (NOTE: I’m sure I missed another Big Hitter on this list, so apologies if I missed someone…I was too busy wrestling my own catch!). Since everyone had smiles on their faces and a full fish hold, Jeff moved us to bottom fishing. The Bank always shines with Big Reds and a sprinkling of other cod mixed in. Jeff let the boat know that we were headed off to bottom fish and gear up for bite. Everyone has their “ultimate” bottom set-up. I like the double dropper loop with a bunch of squid, Saif showed on deck with a large Blue Fin knife Jig. As I looked at the different rigs, I catch Mike with a dildo strapped onto his line! What the hell is that? The “tail” was long and the head would make any porn star blush. It did catch fish, but Mikey was bummed that his tail got eaten off. The knife jig stole the show as Saif brought up some huge cod monsters from the deep. I was fishing next to Paul and, on the drop, he got nailed. He was fishing a Tranx 500, so coming up was not fun; but he pulled up 2 massive, beautiful reds that put a nice smile on his face! Unfortunately, Ryan did not have a smile on his face, the heavy swells and waves did a number on his back….not fun fighting those swells with a bad back. We made 2 different drifts and brought in some beautiful fish; Reds, Bocaccio, Vermillion, and a few Sheephead. I caught a huge White Fish that I was excited to cook up when I got home. Guys who wanted to “fill their sacks” had that opportunity and we made quick time to leave the swells and white capped waves. A third drift was not warranted. We headed to San Clemente (The Island, not the beach town) around 3 PM. Night fishing for Blue Fin was off the agenda with limits on the boat, so that offered up many options for the thirsty fisherman. Some started Happy hour early while others bunked down for a few hours. I decided to nap a bit and came up to quite a happy hour crew. It did not take long to join the party, Bourbon, tequilla and many wine bottles were found throughout the galley. Carmelo, standing in for Goofy, did an awesome job on dinner. We had baked chicken with a purple rice and salad. The salad was worth noting as it was a mixed green with tomatoes and cucumber…nice alternative to the bland head lettuce we usually see on these trips. No Goofy drama with this dinner. The dessert bars got handed out and no one had to beg….I’m sure some missed the banter. Day 1 JACKPOT Winner - Roy, who edged out Saif and BJ with a nice sized Blue Fin caught during the AM bite. Congrats Roy! We woke at Pyramid Cove with lines being wet around 6. This Scribe did not see the sun till 7ish, but no harm was done…no fish landed. Jeff moved us out of the Cove to hunt Yellow Tail. He stopped at Gold Beach where Hayden and Reilly caught 2 nice YT and we picked off a few Bonito and Calico. While at Gold Beach, Alex hooked a nice Yellow on his Yoyo and brought it to the rail, it was gaffed and “controlled” but as they moved it to the stern to lift it to the deck, the fish flipped off the gaffe and the jig! Go figure! Jeff did Alex right and gave him a Boat Yellow to make up for the gaffe (get it ha, ha). We left Gold beach and searched for other spots. We stopped on some Calico, stopped to fish YT, but never found a sweet spot till 11:30. Thunderbird pulled onto “Runway” and the spot lived up to its name. We fished there for 90 minutes and brought in18 yellows and missed many more than we bagged. All of these fish were of high grade 20-30#. I was pulling on a nice Yellow when my spool went off with a huge run…quite a fish! Then I hear Mike yelling from the top deck that I was on a seal…. my Jackpot lust was lost. We left Runway at 1 PM and started to head home. Bruce won the Jackpot and Fisherman of the Day. Congrats Bruce, great looking YT! As we were heading home I was chatting with Jake intently (as you do with Jake ) on the port side of the rail. We were into a good story intent in conversation when….Crash…on my head and 50% of Jake, a cooler was emptied from above deck! Ice cold water allowed us to sober up and laugh at the “accident”…still wondering if that was an accident or prank, but fun no matter! Our Junior Angler was Rowan, Ryan B’s girlfriend’s son. Great young man who was excited to be on his first overnight! He had some issues with waves and swells, but finally got his sea legs and enjoyed pulling in a few big fish. Great work by a future DWRRC Angler! What an epic fishing trip with great quality and a crazy consistent bite throughout the 2 days. Thanks to the folks who helped me Scribe, hard to keep up on such an action-packed trip. Dutifully submitted, Justin
