2016: Trip #2 on the Fortune (2 Day)
TRIP TWO-REPORT
Scribe: Ron Henry (aka Fishhunter)
What: Two day trip aboard the fishing vessel Fortune
Who: Boat Crew-Bruce (the captain), Bob (the second ticket), Danny (the cook) the crew; Grant and Axel
Who else: DWRRC Members and guests: Roy Patterson, Luke Burson, Ryan Burson, Ron Shrout, Tony Beall, Gary Thompson, Rick Dyer, Mike Allen, Charlie Sanchez, Bill Parks, Dave Moritz, Ron Henry, Ron Rudrud, Bryan Upcraft, Tom Hill, Mike Trunk, Mike Trunk’s Guest Noah and Chris Ramsey Jr.
Where: 22nd Street Landing, San Pedro, CA
When: Departure: Thursday, June 9th at approximately 7:30pm, returning Saturday, June 11th at approximately 8:00pm
Destination: San Clemente Island
The offseason work on the boat looked great and the extra rod holders Bruce installed did not go without notice as all were used. I think there were still members who still had to double up. Go figure that this club would bring extra set ups.
The itinerary for this trip was that Bruce wanted to leave early, 6:00 pm.
All DWRRC members agreed to show up to accommodate the captain’s request, some even arriving early enough (including myself and car pool buddy Rick Dyer) to jump on the boat for a quick ride to the fuel dock to top off the tank. Upon our return the rest of the members jumped onboard. We were now ready. Almost.
One thing kept us from leaving on time, the cook was M.I.A. Bruce must have forgotten to tell him the departure time, or he forgot, or he got stuck in the store or possibly traffic. He was still out gathering the trip’s provisions. Six o’clock came and went as he arrived at the dock at 7:30.
The plus to the extra time allowed those that wanted to rig early get their various outfits rigged, others visited with one another and all got to listen to some good music compliments of Mike Trunk and his WIFI speaker.
After stowing the grub, lines were cast off and we were off to the bait barge where we loaded the trifecta of bait: Squid, Sardines and large Mackerel. While Bob and the crew loaded bait Bruce held court on the bow giving his well-rehearsed mandatory safety speech. Once that was out of the way the discussion turned to options for this trip.
After several options were discussed the plan was to head to LCI, North West Harbor at San Clemente, make squid to top off the tank and then off to Pyramid Cove.
Danny made some great Pepperoni and BBQ Chicken pizza on the way out. I over heard someone say it’s the best 9:00 pizza he’d ever had. Evidence to that comment was how quickly the pizza disappeared.
As it turned out the guys didn’t have to make squid as we met up with the bait boat, the Pamela Rose about 12:45 and by 1:15 we had gotten about 15 scopes. Why make it when you can get it.
We were now locked, loaded and headed to Pyramid Cove for a shot at the grey bite for White Sea Bass and Yellow Tail.
Friday morning came early as the anchor dropped about 3:15. As a handful of guys managed to roll out of their bunks, I believe Luke was the first to get a bait in the water.
We fished the cove until about 6:20 when we pulled the anchor and headed for more productive grounds without the furry knuckle heads. No sea bass for us this morning. The count when we left was sea lions four, DWRRC zero.
Danny offered breakfast for those who were ready. On the menu: bacon fried rice, eggs any style, toast and sausage or a breakfast burrito with potatoes, egg, cheese, bacon and sausage and lastly French Toast with eggs, bacon and sausage.
Mid-morning snack was a bread pudding with raspberry sauce and chocolate chips.
After a short run, Bruce set us up for drift where Gary quickly hooked up to a Yellow Tail only to lose it as it rubbed against the boat to avoid being eaten by the dogs. Tommy lands the first Yellow tail to hit the deck without being eaten.
A few more drifts resulted in some small Calicos and Blue Perch, not much else.
Now 11:30 and the count is Sea Lions seven DWRRC one.
Made a run to Boiler Rock #2, the spot that resulted in the epic stop last year aboard this very boat. Lots of small Calicos on the squid, a couple on plastics, a few Sheepshead and White Fish.
While the Calico bite started slow and resulted in a smaller grade, the bite started to turn.
Mike Trunk was the first to bring a measureable fish to the boat, the fish was 21” x 13” and he now was a marked man. Like last year the title changed hands quickly as Bryan landed a 20 ¾” x 14 ¾” bass putting the target on his back. Ron S. tried to take the title however he came up very short with his bass measuring in at 20 ¾” x 14 ½”. Other honorable mentions were Noah and Bill Parks.
Luke landed a small yellow to make the count Sea Lions seven, DWRRC two
Lunch menu consisted of your choice of a Burger served your way, a Burger with Pastrami or an Italian Sausage Sandwich with peppers and onions. All came with your choice of soup or salad.
Afternoon snack, chicken wings.
Headed up the lee side of the island where Bruce wanted to be back to North West Harbor by dark for another chance at Sea Bass.
Once there, with the hook set and waiting for dinner, Ryan managed to land a nice big Red and Charlie landed what appeared to be a nice 15# Halibut. Luke hooked into what everyone hoped was a large Yellow Tail and instead brought to the boat a large Mud Marlin. He was not the only angler to hook into the rays. No Sea Bass and no lost fish to the Sea Lions
Dinner was served: Tri Tip, soup, mashed potatoes, with carrots and green beans.
Dessert: Your choice of Carrot Cake or Chocolate Cake.
During dinner Bruce gathered all into the galley to discuss our options for Saturday. Stay at the island and look for Sea Bass, Yellow Tail and of course, Calicos or go to San Nicholas in hopes for Yellow Tail and Sea Bass. After putting it to a vote, the decision was to stay where we were.
The day’s activities were discussed and stories told while consuming the beverage of your choice, everything from water, to soda to beer or fine wine and spirits.
The crew got the squid to float and topped off the tank and filled the slammer replacing what we had used during the day’s fishing.
Saturday morning brought guys out on deck early to try the grey bite but there was no current. There was however several boats from the San Diego fleet in the same area.
Ryan did manage to land a yellow tail without the Sea Lions getting it. Tommy landed the second. I hooked up when Luke said get it in quick or lose it the dogs. No need to tell me twice, I go full drag and start cranking only to lose mine when my line broke above the knot, must have had a knick in the line.
Breakfast this morning consisted of Tri Tip hash with eggs or the traditional breakfast burrito.
Mid-morning snack was Breakfast Coffee Cake with Brown Sugar
Bruce made several moves throughout the morning resulting in small Calicos. The conditions were not in our favor. By 9:30 the wind is building out of the South East. Really? Where did this come from? It wasn’t on anyone’s weather report.
Charlie did land a small Yellow Tail, one Luke called a “Roman Polanski Yellow Tail”.
Yellow Tail count now stands at 4.1 Yellow Tail for the DWRRC and seven for the dogs
After a radio report, Bruce made a move to China Ridge to try and put us on the Yellow Tail.
We arrived at approximately 11:40 and found the wind had died down and the fish were biting….at least on the initial drift.
The first drift resulted in three Yellow Tails. Second drift resulted in nada same for the third drift.
At 1:00 Bruce makes a run out to deeper water, about 50 fathoms, to the ridge South of Desperation to put some fish in the bags.
First drift resulted in some Reds and a Grouper. Second, third and fourth drift, more of the same plus four ling cods.
With a sixty mile run back to the landing, Bruce called the trip at approximately 2:00.
While I believe a good time was had by all, and the food was excellent, it was not what most would call a spectacular trip with lots of Yellow Tail, large Calicos or even a Sea Bass being caught.
Isn’t that why they call it fishing and not catching?
The boat did manage to outperform the Sea Lions for the Yellow Tails, if only by the smallest of margins; final count DWRRC 7.1, Sea Lions 7.
Bryan Upcraft has the weight of the Calico target on his back while Ryan Burson has the Yellow Tail target on his.
Wishing all who go on the next trip, trip 2.5, flat seas and tight lines.
At the end of day one, Tommy Hill took the patch with his Yellow Tail estimated to be approximately 20#s.
Day two patch winner was Ryan with his Yellow Tail which taped out at 24 ¼” making it 27.5#s.
Big Yellow Tail so far for the 2016 season.
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Trip #5: Boat: Thunderbird 2.5 day Departs: Tuesday August 19th Fishing: August 20th, 21th Returns: August 22th am Thunderbird Crew: Jeff Markland- Captain Steve Raby- 2nd Captain Jose, Jared & Nate on deck Goofy in his usual form in the Galley The usual suspects, newer club members and a slew of guests began gathering for the upcoming 2.5-day venture on board the Thunderbird on Tuesday afternoon/evening, a lot of discussion occurred around where will we fish, what is our bait, are we going to fish for tuna, and more importantly, the weather. Forecast was for pretty breezy on the outer banks and tuna grounds with somewhat better at the island. Thursday weather looked much improved everywhere. As it turned out, the weather turned out nice the first day, and even nicer the second day. Also the good news was we would have sardines for bait. When the boat returned from the fuel dock around 7:30, I wandered down to the boat and sat with Jeff and discussed our “options”. There was about 2 scoops of live squid on the boat and the squid at San Clemente Island was available but by jigging. Also, the yellowtail fishing was hit or miss at best early in the cove, and then really nothing to catch the rest of the day unless the bass decided to bite. The tuna grounds were in range to do some night fishing between the days, and daytime fishing was producing smaller fish. The Tanner Bank had the 10-15 lb variety which was spotty, and inside toward SCI were bigger 30-35lb variety with some larger mixed in. Getting bites though would be hard. The Cortez Bank coughed up 100 yellowtail for Jeff a few days before. There was also some white sea bass caught at San Nicholas Island so that was an option. Soooo, one more time, what to do. Jeff decided he will decide when we leave the bait receiver as I said give it your best shot. The final decision, with the weather forecast improving, we would head to the Cortez Bank since there had been some yellowtail there a few days before. And off we went. Travel out was not too bad. Day 1- Arrived at the Cortez Bank around 7:45 am, fished a couple areas for nothing except some of the jumbo bonito, large mackerel and a few bottom dwellers. There was no sign of yellowtail. Where the F**k did they go? Around 10:00am, Jeff pulled the plug and we headed back inside to the tuna grounds, about 30 miles away. Weather was getting much nicer, We ended up picking at the BFT not long after we arrived in the area around 2:00pm and joined “the fleet”. We had one decent plunker drift for 16 BFT, and scratched up 9 more at sundown. As dark fell, we headed into the island to try for the early morning yellowtail fishing at the Lost Point area. Day 1 fish count- 25 BFT, 4 Bonito kept, a few misc bottom dwellers kept JP winner- Bronson Noggle (Cory Steinwand Guest)- 30 plus lb BFT, Patch winner Cory Steinwand- 30 plus lb BFT (it was very close) Day 2- had a few yellowtail bites in the dark and grey light at Lost Point, all nice fish. Headed out after grey light for yesterday’s tuna grounds. Flat calm weather. Worked the area with “the fleet” for a couple of hours and covering a lot of water. Jeff finally pulled the plug and decided to take a gamble and head to the Tanner Bank since there were tuna there a few days before. And the gamble certainly paid off. We were greeted with boiling fish in the chum circle when we arrived, boiling fish on the anchor and steady fishing on the 10-15 lb BFT the rest of the afternoon. We fished a couple deep spots for decent reds and other stuff, one nice ling cod and headed back to the area west of SCI toward San Nicholas Island for some night fishing. We had several stops on spots of fish, and got a few anywhere from 30 plus lbs up to 100lbs. Around midnight, we headed home. We were able to fish that long because by chance, the boat was not scheduled to run a ¾ day trip when we got in, so we got to fish longer. Arrived at the dock around 7:20am, unloaded and that was it. Day 2 fish count- 6 Yellowtail, 40 BFT, 1 Halibut, 2 Barracuda, 100 plus mixed Reds and Rockfish, 1 Ling Cod JP & Patch winner- Cory Steinwand- 102 lb BFT Trip total- 65 BFT, 6 Yellowtail, 1 Halibut, 4 Bonito, 100 plus mixed Reds/Rockfish, 1 Ling Cod The weather for the entire trip was good. Temperature cool both days but very nice. Very little wind to flat calm the entire 2 days. One thing that was troubling was the amount of casualties on these smaller tuna. Seems like most everyone liberated one or two, or more. (We won’t mention my luck!). Small hooks and light line with too much pressure and these little guys were hot! All in all a good time had by all and a very good group of guests on this trip as well. That’s it! Your Scribe- Gary Thompson
Trip #4: Boat: Thunderbird 2 day Departs: Thursday August 7th Fishing: August 8th, 9th Returns: August 9th pm Trip 4 started as usual with people arriving at Newport Landing at all hours of the day with anticipation of fishing. The preliminary reports from Gary Thompson were all too familiar to what we’ve seen this year. Bait was going to be an issue. And last but not least, was the fish seemed to pop up one day and then disappear the next. Nevertheless, everyone was ready to go. Friday morning saw us anchored at the usual cove off SCI. Weather was OK; fishable, but not a lot of fish. But the ones we caught were quality yellowtail and white sea bass. The sea lions provided ample entertainment …err I mean frustration. We hopped around to a few spots picking up the occasional calico but not much. Day 1 jackpot went to Alex Arthur (Justin Becker’s Guest) with the patch going to Nick Burson for some chunky YT’s Day 2 started much as it did Day 1 but the weather was worse than Day 1. We looked here and there with only 3 yellowtail to show for our efforts. Eventually, the Thunderbird turned towards offshore waters to try our luck at some bluefin. Unfortunately, the fish didn’t get the memo and we saw neither sign or had any bites. Mr, “Hey that’s my fish” Tom Hill was the lucky jackpot and patch winner for Day 2 with a 15# YT. So, there you have it, not a, “Hey you missed a great trip” kind ‘a trip but per usual, the members of our club all seemed to enjoy doing what we do. It’s not always about the fish; it’s about the people and the experience. LOL! Who am I kidding…we all want more fish. Until next time, step to the right/left and take up your slack.
Trip #3: Boat: Thunderbird 2 day Departs: Thursday July 24 Fishing: July 25 and 26 Returns: July 26 pm Trip 3 started as usual with people arriving at Newport Landing at all hours of the day and anticipation for fishing high. The preliminary reports from Gary Thompson were not great. Bait was going to be an issue. Anchovies were sick, too hot for squid, and no sardines. Nevertheless, everyone was ready to go. Due to some late cancellations (bummer), there were 21 passengers on the trip. Gary gave the pre-trip update before boarding with the news that we would make the ride down to Dana Wharf, where there were good sardines for bait. That was the good news. The bad news was that it was going to be a bumpy ride out and wind was going to be an issue, and we probably wouldn’t make it to San Clemente Island. Our initial destination would be Catalina. So, at 9pm off we went. Friday morning saw us anchored at China cove at Catalina. I haven’t been with the club long, but my understanding from some of the older members is that the club hasn’t fished Catalina in many years. I was up at 3:30ish and there were a few hearty souls trying to make squid bait. 2-3 at a time on squid jigs, and eventually we had a decent amount of squid to go along with the sardines. Possibly a good sign. Gradually all the fisherman got lines in the water, with most people dropping down by 5am, waiting for the fish to bite. Well, the yellowtail and white seabass were a no show. We did have a pretty incredible black seabass bite. A total of 6 were hooked, 3 broke off, and 3 were landed (all by Jim Bertella) and released. At 7:30 Captain Chris decided to make the move over to San Clemente Island. We looked for kelp patties and bluefin on the way. Again, fish were a no show (there’s a theme happening here). Made it to Clemente about 11:30. We spent the rest of the day fighting winds at Clemente. Most of the fishing was close to the island with catch and release calico fishing, although a few nice ones were kept. A few small yellowtail were caught on bait, and one on a surface iron. On any other trip these probably would have been released, but beggars can’t be choosers. Final count for day 1 was 9 yellowtail. Gary Thompson won jackpot. We anchored at Clemente for Friday night. Overnight the squid came up and we woke to plenty of squid in the bait tanks. We started fishing early Saturday morning by dropping down for yellowtail. Once again, the fish were a no show. It wasn’t for lack of trying. All the passengers dropped lines and were giving it the best effort. Enthusiasm remained high. A small halibut was caught, along with a few barracuda. At 7:30 we pulled anchor and started looking for bluefin. At 8, a small bluefin was caught on the troll by one of our guests. No other fish were willing to bite and we kept looking. No luck. At mid-morning, Chris set us up for some rockfishing drifts. Most of the fish caught were salmon grouper, but people at least had a shot to fill their bags. After the rockfishing, we were back on the troll. We covered a wide area of ground. I believe at one point we may have entered into Mexican waters. We saw no bluefin during the troll. Finally, we had to start heading back to the landing. As we were heading north, we saw one our first and last kelp patty. It would be our last stop for the trip. On the stop, one yellowtail was caught using a colt sniper. Like the yellowtail on day 1, it wasn’t big (generous to call it 8 pounds), but it was a keeper and the jackpot fish (sad but true). Final count for day 2 was 1 yellowtail, 1 bluefin on the troll, 1 halibut, and a couple of barracuda. Brian Drazba won jackpot. Despite the rough weather and challenging fishing conditions. Captain and crew were great as always. Never gave up. And I believe all club members and guests had a good time. We can’t always have great days and it just gets us ready for the next trip. Submitted respectfully, Brian Drazba
Trip #2: Boat: Thunderbird 2 day Departs: Thursday July 10th Fishing: July 11th and 12th Returns: July 12th pm Thunderbird Crew: Jeff Markland- Captain Steve Raby- 2nd Captain “Scuba” Steve, “Melo” Carmelo and Jarred on deck Goofy in his usual form in the Galley As the usual suspects, newer club members and a slew of guests began gathering for the upcoming 2-day venture on board the Thunderbird on Thursday afternoon/evening, a lot of discussion occurred around where will we fish, what is our bait, are we going to fish for tuna? As I was the one as club president that is supposed to have all the answers, I had only one…I have no f**king clue! And as everyone sauntered off to dinner, I sat there thinking based on the way things are fishing and bait wise, we could be in for a long two days. When the boat arrived around 6:45, I sauntered down to the boat and sat with Jeff and discussed our “options”. There was about 75 pieces of live squid on the boat and the squid at San Clemente Island was starting to phase out. Also, the yellowtail fishing was hit or miss at best early in the cove, and then really nothing to catch the rest of the day unless the bass decided to bite on our other bait...the long disappeared but now returned anchovies. There was, and still remains, no sardines in range of the landing bait haulers. The tuna grounds were in range to do some night fishing between the days, but without sardines, daytime fishing would be a waste. And there has not been any gamefish on the outer banks either. Soooo, what to do. Jeff thought it might be a huge gamble but he did suggest a 113 mile trek to Santa Rosa Island for white sea bass and halibut which have been biting. He mentioned that the Oxnard/Ventura boats have been snagging squid during the day up there so we should be able to get more and have plenty to fish with. So with everything as it was, we rolled the dice and that was the plan. And it turned out to be one good call when it was all said and done. We loaded up and departed about 8:30pm, stopping at the bait receiver to top off the anchovies and cleared the harbor around 9:30 pm. Day 1- Arrived at Santa Rosa Island around 7:30 am, fished several areas, picking all day long at WSB and Halibut and a few large barracuda mixed in most everywhere, with a pretty good little hit late in the day. We caught plenty of daylight squid, but when dark fell after dinner, the squid nest we were sitting over decided to float, so we loaded up. That evening, the decision was made to move about 30 miles closer to home for Day 2, so it would be off to San Nicholas Island to see if a WSB could be had, and fish for more halibut. We took off around 10:30pm and headed that way. Day 1 fish count- 14 WSB, 16 Halibut, 10 Barracuda JP winner- Jim Bertella- 26.1 lb Halibut, Patch winner Craig Steinwand- 26.2 lb Halibut (was not in jackpot but Halibut larger than Jim’s) Day 2- Arrived at San Nicholas Island at 3:30am down at the sand spit area to a screaming current. Flylining a dropper loop with 8 oz of weight in 60 feet of water. Basically no WSB to be found trying several areas, but did pick up more halibut. Went south of the island later in the morning and fished the deeps for a good amount of nice reds, other rockfish and one nice ling cod. Left for home around 11:30am since we were 73 miles away. Arrived at the dock at 6:30, and as usual, everyone piled off the boat and went home. Day 2 fish count 6 Halibut, 2 Barracuda, 100 plus mixed Reds/Rockfish, 1 Ling Cod JP & Patch winner- Mike Higa- 30 lb Halibut Trip total- 14 WSB, 22 Halibut, 12 Barracuda, 100 plus mixed Reds/Rockfish, 1 Ling Cod Note- Largest WSB was Chris Lund- 24.8 lbs The weather for the entire trip was good. Temperature cool both days but very nice. Very little wind to flat calm the entire 2 days. All the WSB were decent fish in the 18-24 lb. range, and several halibut were over 20 lbs up to 30 lbs. All in all a good time had by all and a very good group of guests on this trip as well. Goofy was his usual self and apparently there was quite a lot of fun going on in the galley after dinner on Day 1, after I had gone to bed. Lots of beverages consumed as I understand it. And I also learned a squid attacked and bit a certain club member who shall remain nameless in the lip and he bled like a stuck pig! And I have a copy of the video! That’s all folks! Your Scribe- Gary Thompson
Trip #1: Boat: Thunderbird 1.5 day Departs: Thursday June 26 Fishing: June 26 - June 28 Returns: June 28, AM “Your life does not get better by chance; it gets better by change.” — Jim Rohn. Well, on trip #1 we saw many changes to our normal DWRRC routine. We had zero Burson’s in attendance, Hayden was not the first in line, hell, he was not even on the trip! Our fearless Captain Jeff was subbed in by Captain Chris and lastly….no sardines. Wow, that is a lot of change for us men to handle. How did we survive? Quite well actually. The trip started off as normal, with many getting in line and finding ways to work off the 4-6 hours before we actually boarded the Thinderbird. Oscar had coaching duties which stifled his ability to join us, but Junior took his spot and was well looked after. On the dock, we were told that BFT were not within reach and would not be pursued, we would fish for Yellow Tail, do some bass fishing and do a few passes for bottom fish. We had a plan. We pushed off around 8 PM to San Clement Island. Chris parked us at Pyramid Cove where we woke to night fishing. Some were up around 4 AM, with Said catching a shark and a White Sea Bass, we also landed 3 Yellows early, before sunrise. The big bite happened just before and thru dawn with good sized Yellowtail (#30-#35) being landed. We lost very few as we were fishing heavier gear with dropper loop and squid. Paul landed 2 nice Yellows and Jim, as usual, could not be stopped with 5-7 Yellows already in the hole. At 7:20 AM we pulled up anchor with 35 YT and 1 WSB. It was strange not having Sardines on the boat, as many veered away from the small anchovy. Chris started off to the front of the Island, with a few stops sprinkled in. We picked off some white fish, sheepshead and an occasional barracuda. Around 9 AM, on the East End, Chris pulled us tight into a nice spot for Calico fishing. Some whoppers were caught; Bill bringing in a very nice bass with “cheat code” bait, Said also landed a nice Calico with Anchovy. This was a change, certainly, that we had to work with the smaller baits and match hook, line and strategy to get bit. We continued around the Island heading East with some stops throughout the morning, stops produced an assortment of White Fish, Barracuda a few Bonita, and a sprinkling of YT. At 12:30 we had 30 Yellows and the 1 WSB. At one stop we had good bass and YT fishing but 6 sealions on us, that halted the fun. Chris tried to pawn the sealions off to some private boats and return to the spot, but we never got the groove back. Spent some time, mid-day, looking to bottom fish. Chris made of few attempts at floating past some nice spots, but struggled to hit the pass, so after a few swings through the grounds we aborted the bottom. Reds and other rock fish were caught, but nothing consequential. As Ron noted, we spent much time “rigging and re-rigging” as we moved from dropper loop, yoyo, to weighted line and lightly weighted fly line using squid and anchovy. The afternoon was a science experiment, with many trying different options to land fish. Chris brought us to Eel Point, where the Amigo caught a bunch of WSB in the early Friday morning bite. We assumed the meandering Sea Bass would come back in the evening and we would be ready. Unfortunately, none were landed and we spent most of the time hoping for action. The evening excitement was Paul’s bat ray that stirred the crowd, expecting a WSB bite. We had some dinner (Costco Special) and drank some wine, but pretty tame evening all in all….scribe crashed at 9:15…out! We finished with 42 YT and 1 WSB. All the Yellows were of good quality running between 30-38 pounds….Paul won the Jackpot and the only badge available with a #38 Yellow Tail. Congrats Paul! With all the changes on this trip, we still managed to land some nice Yellows and enjoy some time on the water. A good first trip for a 1.5 day’r!
