2018: Trip 6 Thunderbird (2 day)
DWRRC Trip 6 2018 (Two Days
- Departure Thursday August 9, 9 PM
Fishing August 10th and 11th
Condensed version:
- 17 Anglers
- Tanner and SCI:
- 33 BFT
- 13 YT
- 1 Goat
- Bunch of Calico’s
- JP: Day 1 Jeff, Day 2 Cody.
Slightly longer rambling on version: (Beer required)
This is the much-anticipated trip following the larger-than-life trip 5 where personal best records were topped like the record heat wave records occurring all around us in Southern California.
Themes for this trip:
- Fish or get off the pot
- Lessons learned
- Snacks – Cheez-It
- Ronco
The line up was a cast of formidable anglers capable of catching fish in a single cast. Look up in the sky, It’s a bird, it’s a bait. Splat. It’s a bird.
Stewart, Steve S, B J, Bill (Parks), Ryan, Luke, Cody, Filling in for toe injured Roy – Brian W, Chris (Jr), Jeff, Paul C, Gary T, Ron Rudrud, Chris L, Super Mario, Andy (D & B Skelton Key) and Tim Schneider.
Guest angler for a second year was Gavin. That kid is now taller than Super Mario.
The crew was Captain Jeff at the helm, second Brian, Chris (AKA Goofy), Steve, Rico and youngster Walker.
The buzz leading up to the cast off was fast and furious. Luke and others peppering us with emails and texts of fishing conditions by the Thunderbird and others leading up to the day of departure.
Sea conditions were forecasted to be a rising swell due to storm activity further south. Swells to 10 feet with 10 to 35 knot winds. Don’t believe any of this, I made this stuff up. Gotta keep the fleet away.
Two days leading up to this trip, Luke sent out announcement to be at the dock and ready to board at 7 PM. All were to respond with, I will be there by 7 PM. That meant all gear in line, parked, fed, beered up, socialized, pottied, etc. All confirmed as requested.
Upon arrival I recognized a familiar pattern.
Brian W and Gary T front of the queue followed closely by Ryan, Luke and Bill.
This goes along with one of the themes for this trip. Fish or get off the pot. There is a distinct dedication that goes into being prepared and ready and being at the front of this line. These are the guys that make it there almost always without fail. Planning, dedication, instincts, knowledge and desire all go into being ready when that small window of opportunity presents itself out on the water. Yes, luck also plays into it, however these guys have the skills and make their own luck.
As the crowd gathered, greetings were made like a scene from Cheers when Norm showed up.
AN-DEEE. Beers passed out, greetings, questions about gear, trip 5, how many hooks on a flat fall is too many. Nobody knows.
The buzz was on and everyone was getting in a lather to be on the water.
This is one of the things I look forward to on these trips. The dynamics of this gathering at the dock with the different individuals all with a common thread. And a boat load of gear. I consider myself as being extremely fortunate to be part of this elite club. This camaraderie is a part of my life I am grateful for.
As seven o clock was looming, most went out to forage for a meal and returned, belly full of seafood or Mexican food and cerveza’s. As often occurs when we arrive for early departure, that hour comes and goes without sign of the boat.
Eerily, smoke from the Holy fire was a cloud that obscured the sun, and just stopped as if against an invisible wall just off the coast. It kept the weather a bit cooler and reminded us of where we live. In a desert prone to burning.
The Thunderbird rolled in after 8 and was in process of making a Southwest Airlines turn around in 40 minutes or less.
Jeff briefed us on action for the day and that we would be targeting Tanner and possible Cortes. He did not want to be too far away from SCI as big tuna was the word for late Friday afternoon. Tanner bank, light lines and small hooks. 20 lb. line with fluorocarbon. Football BFT to 15 pounds and Yellowtail to 20. Jeff said he had a good supply of cured sardines waiting for us. He was spot on the money about the bait. Then he said something along the lines of, we will catch fish, or not. He a funny guy.
A very high tide as we walked up hill onto the dock to board about 8:45 and pulled away from the dock as the galley was being restocked. As we were finding our coveted spots for tackle and rods, our attention was brought back to the local events as long walls of flame from the Holy fire were visible. A somber feeling. This brought words of how bad this fire really was and the deranged person who intentionally set this fire. A-hole.
Off to the bait store for three well stocked bait tanks of healthy looking sardines with a smattering of mackerel. As we left the bait receiver, it was difficult to notice we left the harbor as the seas were very flat. We will take it while we can. Goofy did the safety drill, and those of us still rigging completed our task at hand to be ready for the morning festivities. A less bouncy night of rest for all. Albeit a warm one.
Super Mario was trolling as we approached tanner bank and was on a quest to drink a boat load of beer in two days. 6:45 when the anchor dropped. Seas still very calm, warm and no breeze. Fish were to be caught, or not. Excellent bait. Lots of life, most swam away from the boat or were pulled away by the current.
When they were trying, Jeff M and second Brian K were on fire. Jeff was hooking and handing off BFT’s. Then I noticed they were using special sardines. What tank were these smaller bait coming from?
Slow action on the fish. Tough to get bit. Some went down to 15 lb. line. I heard number 4 hooks were the ticket. (Thank you Ron) I was surprised to land a nice fork tail with such a small hook. Lots of dog activity. Then the frigging shearwaters got worse and worse. Them buggers can dive. Nose hook, butt hook. They found the bait and got hooked. When the bird to fish ratio got ridiculous, Jeff pulled the hook and moved a short distance in hopes the dogs and birds would focus on the Freedom close by.
That slightly worked and was short lived.
All told, stop 1 yielded 21 BFT, 11 YT
Stop 2, 3 BFT and 2 YT and a goat.
One thing to note, for all the dog activity, we did not loose a hooked fish to the sea lions. A very welcome change. With Cortes out of the picture, the decision was then made to run to SCI for the late afternoon tuna activities. Time to rig for the SCI monsters and time for more slumber. I heard lunch was served.
Total count at this time.
24 BFT, 13 YT and 1 goat
Yours truly got that goat on a butt hooked sardine as we were ready to pull away. Bizarre.
Still calm seas and still warm.
Dinner was to be served at 5:30 to 6:00-ish to make sure were all fed before the evening activities commenced. Ham steaks, au gratin potatoes, salads and fix-ins. A fine wine selection also provided by club members.
Many of us for the first sitting as there were many who wanted to be on first on the rail when we started fishing the flat falls. After an hour or so, creeping up on twilight, no bites yet. Lots of metered fish. Gary switched to fishing bait, hoping to hook a smaller fish (you know, 80 or 90 pounds).
I stopped in the galley for a break and a mint Klondike Bar. Delicious. Thank you Goofy.
Back to the rail. We were in 1900 feet (meters?) of water. Jeff is calling out the schools and depth as they swam under us. It is now dark. Fish at 180 feet. Fish at 120 feet. There are some big fish in there.
I have no clue as to how deep my flat fall was. I bring it to the surface, let it out in with minimal drag, and thumb it to prevent backlash. As I was making my way along the port rail, Gary yelled from the galley, “Hey Jeffy, catch one”. Within a few short moments, my flat fall stops. I announce “I have hit bottom”. A little more movement, it stops again, “I have hit bottom” goes out again. Move the lever to strike, wind in the slack, and then it was holy sheep shit Batman, this might be a big tuna. As it was taking more line, my thoughts gravitated towards “This is going to take a while. A long, long while”. Then I heard Chris Jr announce, he hit bottom. Yes!! He was on. Two monsters of the SCI hanging. A while later, I heard something no one ever wants to hear. Chris was no longer on his fish. Then something about “Rico, you got some splaining to do”. I recall having to go over the bow once, then several trips bow to stern, port to starboard. Great job on all fellow anglers and crew to keep us untangled. Rico became my guide and amigo for the remainder of the battle. This was not a pretty sight as I attempted to use the gimbal in my fighting belt to control the twisting of the reel as I wound in. I did not think anything would fall down below my fat ass. However, the belt on my fighting belt did. This fish went slack more than once as it was swimming towards the boat. I would make some progress only to have this beast take more than I gained. Rico is pulling line in while I was reeling. Everyone was very supportive during this fight. Getting me to slow down, letting me know I had the best crew there is on this. This calmed me down. Chris thank you for the drink of water and pouring it on me. After being on this fish for what seems like an hour, about 60 feet off the port stern, this fish explodes on the surface. Slack line. Reel, reel, reel like crazy. Tight line again. Still there. Still not on mono yet. Get to mono, only to see it go back out and then some. Set a little more drag, and able to make headway. I told Rico he tied the Fluorocarbon top shot to the spectra on the previous trip I was on. He was now very nervous after hearing this bit of info and wanted to get to the top shot. Finally get to deep color. Making the final circles, then it was one last lift and on to the gaffs. Four gaffs and it was over the rail and on the deck. Wow. What a beautiful fish. A fish of a lifetime, in Southern California waters off of San Clemente Island. Wow. Frigging Wow!
This cow taped out at 219 pounds.
Jeff was back on the move as we drifted off the school during my battle.
The fish were located, and once again, the rails were lined with flat falls a falling.
I was done, however I was encouraged to try again. No, I was done. I stayed up until around midnight rails still lined with anglers. Chris L asked me to touch his reel as I was making a last round. Didn’t help.
2:30 AM. Super Mario was the only one still fishing.
First at Tanner, last at this time at SCI. He said the others had just gone to bed. I asked him what he was going to do if he hooked one. He said Luke told him to start yelling and someone would show up. Back to bed.
Commotion at 4 AM. When I went top side, Bill informed me I could go back to sleep.
While I slumbered I missed out on: Luke put on a clinic brining in a 200 pounder in at 35 minutes, Paul wrestle in a 140 pounder (he has practice), Brian W, B J, Stewart and Super Mario land some sizable BFT. Chris Jr was on again. He had the right gear, and the tackle was holding. This was a big fish. This tuna must have been Nemo-ish with one whacked out fin, as it was making ridiculously large circles. Deep color, precariously close to the boat on the circles. A few more circles to go to gaff. Then the worst happened. The fish went under the boat, got onto the screws and was gone. I was so heart broken for Chris. I could see and feel the disappointment and frustration. He did everything possible to boat this fish. This really sucks.
About 5:30-ish Cody and Gavin hooked up. This was to be the last hook up on BFT for this trip. Cody and Gavin were looping the boat and passing each other then settled into their perspective corners. Chris was doing everything to encourage Cody. Got into his line, nudging him with his foot and floated a pinched loaf past him at the rail. Fatherly love and encouragement.
These were going to be long battles as they both had identical rigs of 80 spectra and 80 lb. top shot. After several runs and painfully slow progress, Cody was first to boat after 2 ½ hours.
Another cow. Taped at 216 pounds. 2 hours 24 minutes longer than it took Cody to bring in a suicidal 232 pound cow on trip 5. Let’s see, that averages at 1 hour and 18 minutes per tuna. That’s about par. Pictures with the catch. Goofy was his co-holder. Let’s leave it at that.
I heard Chris say he was now going to be referred to as Cody’s dad.
Gavin brought his fish to the boat three hours after he started. That was an epic journey.
188 pound BFT. Pictures of Gavin with dad (Steve) and his catch. A proud moment for father and son.
This is the second trip in a row where personal best records were topped.
Luke - 200 pound BFT.
Jeffy - 219 pound BFT.
Gavin - 188 pound BFT.
Congratulations and well earned.
Now to the island in search of calicos. Kelp cutters in hand, we set anchor at the edge of a kelp forest with decent current, and quite a few willing participants on sardines, plastics and mackerel.
After a fair amount caught and released, the dogs pushed us to move.
Second stop not so many willing to play.
Third and final stop, jackpot. Fish boiling and a decent bite going on. Burning through bait fast.
Several nice keeper size to rail, let go to swim another day. Great stop for another great trip for DWRRC.
Pulled the hook and heading for home.
Fish count:
Day 1
25 BFT, 13 YT, 1 goat.
Jeffy, 219 lbs. BFT (Personal best – 1 hour 20 minutes to boat - line 100/100/180) JP day 1
Day 2
8 BFT
Cody, 216 lbs. (2 ½ hours – line 80/80) JP day 2
Luke, 200 lbs. (Personal best – 35 minutes – line 100/100/200)
Gavin, 188 lbs. (Personal Best – 3 hours – line 80/80)
Paul C, 140 lbs.
B J, 70 lbs. (10 minutes – line 100 mono)
Stewart, 85 lbs. (20 minutes – line 100/100)
Super Mario, 90 lbs. (Super stoked – 1st one on a flat fall)
Brian W, 95 pounds (or with adjustments and rounding up, 125 lbs. 😊)
A bunch of Calicos with sore lips.
Now for the Ronco moment. But wait, there’s more.
Several miles off of the island, the swell was picking up with the winds increasing.
Except for clear skies, it was starting to look like tuna conditions.
Jeff asked Rico if he wanted to catch a 200 pounder on the gummy flier?
Kite went up, gummy flier splashing.
Luke, Andy and Paul were ready with their surface irons.
A Western Outdoor News moment was occurring ahead of us.
½ mile ahead, several hundred yards long was a line of crashing tuna. Some of these were huge. Multiple explosions at the same time. This went on for several minutes. Crashing fish everywhere.
As we closed in, we could see flying fish were involved in this action.
A few crashed close by, but out of reach.
As we got closer, the action fizzled. The gummy had come loose from the kite and the irons were ignored. Time to head on in.
Lessons learned:
Set drags ahead of time with a scale. Check again if you suspect it has changed.
Line that is not frayed after several fish has lost all stretch and prone to breakage
Always keep one rod and reel ready on the way in.
Reach out. You will find a home for your surplus fish
Fish or get off the pot:
Split ring pliers, 280 pound split rings, 3 to 4 hours arranging the chandelier of top hooks on the flat fall until just right look and sound. Jingle jingle.
Listening to Hogan’s staff. 11-0 hooks made the difference for the flat fall.
Personally, I now have a Shimano Teramar TMC-90H (sorry, Chris L.) paired with a Shimano Trinidad 16 N (Toriums are on backorder) on a Tiburon seat with 50 pound red spectra. Wow, it is truly fun to fish for calicos this way.
Ryan, Gary and Ron H, your fish still hold top honors. Three more trips to go.
Thank you to all who have mentored me over the years.
It is truly appreciated to get me where I am. I have a long way to go.
See you on trip 9.
Jeffy
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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!
