2019: Trip 8 Thunderbird (2 Day)

ThunderBird 2day trip#8

Anticipation has struck all anglers with high hopes of Tuna and possible yellowtail on this trip. As we waited there were all anglers telling stories of past fishing trips and what methods were effective the previous days. I was very informative on my lecture on how to get bit because I have been pre fishing the club trips and have been doing very well on the catching. The Thunderbird was coming in a little later then usual because the bite had been a later in the day kind of thing so we had lots of time to bond and touch.

GAME PLAN … Tuna south of point loma pretty much the same plan that has been so successful for the entire month. Yellowfin and Bluefin were pretty abundant if you found the right school to stick with the boat. We loaded some prime sardines from Newport Landing barge then we were off to Dana Point to fill the rest of the tanks with

more sardines. Now seeing some cured worms in the tank always makes me feel a little better about the outcome of the next day. 5:30am I wake up and put on my fishing outfit and stumble into the galley. There were only 3 anglers up (maybe a few more) awaiting the rising sun. I went into the wheelhouse only to find out we were barely out of San Diego and it would be a few hours until we hit the upper zone. We hit the zone and Jeff stops on a very small meter mark and they start chumming. Now most anglers were fishing 20# outfits because the Yellowfin

were small and line shy. I believe Bj gets the first real bite and it looks to be a bigger fish then those Yellowfin. Gary gets bit on a bird and yells like he hooked a whale or something. IT was pretty funny. I decided to go up to 25# test seeing Bj is in a battle. I get bit instantly and know this is a bigger fish too. We battled for quite some time until I landed a Beautiful 40lb Bluefin (first fish on the deck)hahaha.. Bj pulled the hook but that happens when we fish light line for big fish. We traveled all over the place for not much luck until we see a whale with fish on it. I think we landed 1 yellowfin but they put on quite the show. Anyhow it was getting into the afternoon hours and Jeff sees a nice breezer ahead..We throw bait and they respond well to the chum and I hook up again this time on 30# because that battle on the single speed is tough. I landed another nice one (this was how it was for me for most of the day). I believe we move on to another school and they Responded very well for us. This is where I lost count of who got

what and so on because I was literally hooked up all afternoon so I couldn’t keep track of the chaos of what was going on. Anyhow we drifted for hours on this school hooking up fish after fish loosing fish after fish. Hot anglers were of course Ryan,Roy,Ron and myself.. They each landed 4 and I landed 11. Our final count was 36 Bluefin and 2 Yellowfin Ryan won day 1 jp with a beautiful 58 lb bluefin and I came in second again with a 52 lber.. All fish were 35 to 58 lb beauties with 2 smallet yellowfin.

Day 2 …………Tanner bank

We tried tanner for anything and it just didn’t have anything on it …

Rockfishing time. We did some drifts for rockfish and filled up the sacks. We had 4 lingcod come aboard 2 by Brian 1by Ryan and 1 by John..JP went to Brian Upcraft with a 25lb lingcod .. There is really not much to write about day 2. We dropped baits and jigs to the bottom if it got heavy you had a fish..thats it

J.R

< 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