2014: Trip #2 on the Fortune (2 Day Trip)

6/13/2014 - 6/14/2014

Download the PDF of the trip here.

Fishing aboard the Fortune, we departed 22nd Street Landing at around 6:30pm. The wind was a bit brisk at about 10-12 knots and the question on many minds was, “Where are we headed?” The reports from the military on the availability of San Clemente had been sketchy, so there wasn’t really a clear plan for what our destination would be or what we were after. With the wind on top of that, there was some anticipation of a bumpy second day.

First off, we pulled up to the bait receiver and proceeded to load scoops of anchovies into the tanks. Man, those were some small baits! I think I’ve seen bigger chovies on a pizza. With the fin bait lacking in size, broke out the sabiki rigs and started making larger bait tied up to the receiver. We made over 200 pieces of mackerel and tomcod in about an hour. No squid! So off we went and Capt. Bruce pulled us into the gallery to tell us our target was San Clemente. His plan was to play the odds on making squid at West Cove and use the small open area around SCI until the military kicked us out.

Friday Morning - We made a few (emphasis on very few) pieces of respectable squid with the crowder but they were just not there in the numbers we needed. So we moved just off, “Wyne” to try our luck on the WSB, however they must have had other plans because the only

fish to show were 6 - 8 sizable bat-rays and one 50 – 60 lb black sea bass landed by Bill Parks.

Moving down a little farther, we pulled into the kelp and started to pull on some Calicos. It was a fairly decent stop with consistent action on squid, mackerel and plastics. Ryan and Nick Burson took turns out doing each other on the biggest fish with Ryan finally producing the big bass of the trip at 7lbs (22.25 x 14) according to the tape. That finished the morning and with lunch approaching Capt. Bruce announced that we were going to get 5 scoops of the squid from the Thunderbird.

With reinforcements, we took another shot at the kelp in the hopes that there might be some cruising exotics. Once again, there was a pretty decent flow of bass with a couple of notable firsts for Bob Wheeler. He caught his first bass on plastics, had his first epic spectra backlash that required cutting the line free and using his fly rod, caught his first sport-fishing vessel by the radio antenna, wrapping the fly just short of the tip top. After that and a few more bass over the rail, Capt. Bruce announced we would make a run at rock cod before setting up for the night.

Rock cod was very successful producing a number of large reds and most notably the day 1 jackpot by Tommy Hill with a 17lb “ling-asaurus”. Luke Burson’s 14lb ling made a good place for second along with his most talked about catch of the day. I’m guessing that he hooked a sea cucumber but after decompression got a hold of it, it was the size of a cantaloupe, colored orangish-brown and its stomach was turned inside out. There was no denying what the resulted looked like and we dubbed it the, “External Vagina”.

We finished up Friday on the anchor near the barracks to try the WSB again…no takers. I would like to take this opportunity to thank, “The Bait Makers” who braved the rail at 2am to produce a good supply of regular greenbacks and Spanish mackerel.

Saturday started with a jackpot for day two. Bryan Upcraft pulled an 11lb halibut with his first cast of the morning! Beautiful fish! With the rest of us hoping for more halibut or WSB, we tried a bit longer before moving down the way to look for any possible Yellow’s. Not finding much sign, we settled below Mayo to start day to of “Bass Armageddon”. The bite was wide open with frequent fish in the 4 – 6 range. We switched to dead frozen squid to preserve the premium live squid and the mackerel but that didn’t matter to the bass. Everything was

working! Plastics in any color, iron and of course dead squid were all producing, “a-bass-a-cast”. My particular favorite was using dead squid on weed-less heads which still produced a number of larger bass.

We finished Saturday with another stop that happened to put us on some very eager Sheephead. For those of us desiring to pull on heavier fish, they provided an excellent opportunity. I myself, kept several as they are a favorite of the family. Overall, it was good trip. We didn’t get into the WSB that we’d hoped for but the weather never became the factor we feared. The ride back to 22nd street was a bit longer than usual but then it also afforded a good nap.

Paul

< Older Post Newer Post >

Latest Posts

Two men on a boat deck hold a large fish on a cloudy day.

2026: Trip 7 - Thunderbird 2 Day

By Michelle Burson • October 7, 2026

Trip #7: Boat: Thunderbird 2 day Departs: Thursday, September 24th Fishing: September 25th and 26th Returns: September 26th pm Why can’t we be friends? Cast of Characters: 1. Bryan Upcraft 2. Ryan Burson 3. Tony Beall 4. James Harris 5. Oscar Ochoa 6. Luke Burson 7. Mike Allen 8. Mike Higa 9. Tom Hill 10. Paul Morgan 11. Frank Monzon 12. Bill Parks 13. Shelby guest of Tom Hill 14. Rick F guest of Frank Monzon 15. Jimmy guest of James Harris 16. Mike L guest of Mike Allen 17. Chris N guest of Paul Morgan 18. Lucas N guest of Alex Arthur 19. Mark G guest of Mike Higa 20. Saif Liswi 21. John Simmons guest of Frank Monzon 22. Chet Prak guest of Frank Monzon 23. Patrick Thunyakij Thunderbird Crew: Capt. Chris May, Capt. Steve Raby, Goofy, Jared, and Austin