2017: Trip #8 on the Fortune (2.5 Day)

DWRRC

Trip # 8

Fortune - Fishermans Landing

Scribe: Parks

Fortune two and a half day, Fisherman's Landing San Diego.

Everyone on board early, left the dock about 6:30 p.m. 45 minutes to load bait. Then we sat at the bait dock until 1:30 a.m., we got word the fish were only 30 miles from port.

We encountered the first large Paddy at 9 a.m. . It was dry. We found six additional dry paddies before we decided to abandon the area. At 12:30 we arrived at the 43, there was a spot of bluefin that popped up, they look like the large models. They acted just like bluefin tuna, just seemed like we needed a Chinese fire drill to get the big gear ready. Trolled kite with yummy flyer. Towards Clemente, No Love.

On to Clemente, to try for yellowtail and Calico Bass. Again no love on the yellowtail , they just did not want to cooperate. At 5:15 we started fishing calicos near the East End of the island, had a real good bite on the wonderful bait that we've been saving all day long. Bill P ended up with the biggest Calico of the day at 5.4 pounds, and that turned out to be our jackpot fish for a day of tuna fishing. All of the trophy holders for this year were on this trip and heckling each other as usual. It was a fun day. Had a great dinner with lots of camaraderie.

On day two, we woke up on desperation Reef at about 4 a.m., and started fishing Flat Falls,with heavy gear. Murphy was the first to hook up and fought that Bluefin for 20 minutes before the crew decided that it was probably a rock.( big swells, with lots of wind. )Many laughs where had , he was a good sport. Good training for the real tuna in the fog week. We fished desperation reef for small Bluefin in the 15 pound range. We put 8 Bluefin on by about noon. The highlight of that morning was Tim with his 92 pound bluefin that he truly mastered on 30 pound line, gitting it in in just around 30 minutes. Nice job Tim. We left desperation Reef around 2, headed for Pyramid Cove to try to fish yellowtail. First stop produced nothing. Second stop at the East End Pinnacles produced a very good yellowtail bite on fish between 15 and 25 lb. Probably a 3 to 1 casualty on those fish because they really liked to head into the bottom structure. We ended up with Seventeen very nice quality yellowtail. Jackpot of the day went to Tim with his 92 pound bluefin tuna. Again finished off the evening with a nice steak dinner, done up by Chef Paul, while we were sitting in the cove. After dinner we started to motor home and pulled into San Diego Harbor right around 4 a.m. for a 5 a.m. offload. That's the trip

PARKS

< 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