2015: Trip #1 on the Thunderbird (1.5 Days)

5/21/15 - 5/22/15

Download the PDF here.

DWRRC – Trip 1, May 22, 2015

By Tom Hill

“Oh the world has seven wonders, or so the people say, some gardens and some towers, I guess you know them well, but now the greatest wonder, is in Uncle Sam’s fair land”, at San Clemente Island, Tommy Hill the Calico Man. I apologize to Woody Guthrie and to you all, it is so much fun to catch a bigger bass than our president, I just couldn’t help myself.

At this time, you probably, want to hear about the trip. As I remember it, the trip; included 13 people as follows: Bill Hammer, Roy, Luke, Tom Anderson, Tom Hill, Bob Wheeler, Hayden, Kevin (guest), Joe, Mike Trunk, Andy Woodfill, Ron Shrout.

This was the inaugural trip of the club on the Thunderbird and the air turned nostalgic when some of the Amigo crew, Mike Thompson, Conner, and 2nd skip Bob showed up. It was very nice to see and talk with them. The Thunderbird crew included Captain Jeff, cook and deckhand Goofy (the name fits) and deckhand (I don’t know his name). There were plenty of rod holder spaces, ample room in the bunkroom for people and gear storage, and generally the boat is comfortable and the food was good. The forward location and number of the heads (one on either side of the boat), increased slightly when some rude individuals simply peed on the stern deck rather than fight spray from the rough seas on the way out. (I wish I had thought of that).

Mike had a supply of perfect size greenbacks in storage for us, and we added more mackeral and nice size sardines at the bait docks. We also jigged up huge Spanish mackerel at the island (Tom Anderson even participated). The bait was literally perfect, unfortunately the yellowtail were not told and the sea lions were, and we had to fight with them all day. Mike and Andy toasted the morning with Coors lite.

We fished yellowtail most of the morning off China Point and Cove and backside east for little or no success. Ron Shrout caught one that was on the order of ten pounds, and it was the eventual jackpot winner. Mike Trunk lost one. The fish were up at times but simply would not bite, and sea lions moved in to ruin each location after a short while. Luke tried surface iron and caught a few bonita, and the sea lions helped him land one of them. At one of the last stops, Luke tried yoyo iron and hooked up what initially seemed to be a big yellowtail, however Mike Thompson had it right from the beginning (I think it’s a black). Luke eventually pulled up a black on the order of 100 lbs, a nice fish. It was released and swam back down. Mike and Andy commenced to drinking additional Coors light.

At mid- morning we went inshore somewhere in China Cove and fished Calicos with some success until the sea lions showed up to ruin what could have been a nice bite. Many nice fish were landed, particularly by Mike Trunk who taped one in the 5-6 lb range. We moved to pyramid reef and caught more nice bass despite the sea lions. Somewhere in here Joe caught a real nice bass which unseated Mike T. for the largest bass. Mike and Andy continued to drink Coors light.

We moved inside the lee and fished many bass and yellowtail locations with fair success for the bass and no success for yellowtail except for Ron who caught his second tail, a brute that weighed maybe 5 lbs. Mike T. pulled up a yellowtail head at one of the locations, courtesy of the sea lions. Mike and Andy continued to consume Coors light.

Late in the day we tried to move back into China Cove to fish yellows but it was too rough, so we moved back inside to what proved to be the best bass spot of the day, possibly little flower or fishhook. We fished well into dark, with many fish being taped. Luke taped one at 23 inches and became the leader, until Tom H. hooked a slightly shorter one but with a larger girth. Largest bass, just a tad over 7 lbs. Luke swore that boats at the west end could hear me whooping and hollering as I reeled the beast in, (well it was pretty exciting). Mike and Andy finished off the last of the 60 beers they brought on board and had to buy from the galley. Somewhere in here we all started drinking and that may be why fishing bass was so much fun at the last stop, however the bass, current, and sea lions conspired to let us reel in a lot of nice fish in nearly ideal conditions. What a great time. Mike Trunk found it so much fun, he jumped overboard for a swim (he later claimed he jumped in to save his $600 rod and reel, a plausible story). I suppose he will recover from the gaff wounds required to pull him back on deck.

Mike Thompson cooked steaks and Goofy put out a nice spread of salad, baked potatoes, bread, and marinated vegetables. Somehow, wine also found its way to the table.

Highlights of the trip:

The bait
Ron getting all the yellowtail and jackpot
Hayden & Tom’s backs recovered enough for fishing duties
Not having to visit Roy’s crack
Joe leading the bass derby for a while
Luke teaching Bob W. how to fish bass and Bob catching a lot of nice bass
Luke’s big black
Mike Trunks swimming episode
Tom Hill’s bass
Seeing the Amigo crew
Mike and Andy’s beer marathon

Luke’s prediction that someone will catch a 10 bass this year (if the bait holds, he may be right).

< 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