One more bendo and screaming drag for 2014!

Yup, gotta scratch the itch.  I went shore fishing with my buddy and hooked up some huge Shovelnose shark.  I used my Fin Nor Lethal 100 for the frst time to see how it'll perform.  Luckily, I hooked to a monster Shovelnose.  After this hookup, I'm sold on the LT 100. A solid reel with strong drag. A reel that could handle big boys that swim the ocean. I can't wait to take it offshore next season.  Happy New Year!

My Fin Nor Lethal 100 & Daiwa Beef Stick combo hooked to a nice Shovelnose Shark

My friend Mike's hookup also with a nice Shovelnose.

2014 Surf Fishing Sessions

Well this year, when not offshore fishing, I thought I'd resurrect my love for surf fishing.  It's been awhile since I've hit the surf.  So I dusted off my light surf gears, and started hitting the surf again.  It turned out to be one of the best season for surf fishing as the Bonitos were coming in and were willing to play. It was so much fun that I hit the surf as much as I can.  There were times when my jig was getting hit on the drop.  Truly a phenomenal season!  My old Berkley Air IM7 Salmon/Steelhead rod, a veteran of countless surf hookups continued to deliver.  I even bought a used Temple Fork Outfitter Salmon/Steelhead rod from another surf angler that's lure rated at 1oz to gain more distance when casting heavier micro jigs. It too got bent many times.  Some of the best 2014 surf fishing hookups I shot on video here in Southern California.  Enjoy, hope you like it, and thanks for visiting my blog!

 

Late August 2-Day Trip On-board the Ultra

The fishing season continued to heat up as the month of August rolled in.  Even wahoos have reached our local waters which is really quite extraordinary.  I had a 2-day window that I can break away from work in late August.  I scrambled to find a boat with available open spots, and luckily I found a spot on the Ultra out of 22nd Street Landing in San Pedro.  I've never fished on this boat before so I did some checking on the internet.  The Ultra is a 50 footer with the capacity for 10 anglers.  It was just recently refurbished in 2013; it's a nice and clean boat. 

On this trip, I decided to bring my Shimano Blue Rose 140gm short jigging rod.  I think the last time I used this rod was over 4 years ago and caught a Yellowtail with it. I paired it with the Shimano Biomaster 8000PG.  The Blue Rose and Biomaster combo turned out to be my hot stick on this trip.  It was just so fun using that awesome short Blue Rose jig stick!  In addition, I also brought along my new Shimano 10000SW Spheros. 

Shimano Blue Rose

 Shimano Biomaster 8000PG

Shimano Spheros

On the night of our trip, the only live bait available was anchovies.  We filled the bait tanks with them, but lots of them rolled by morning.  Yup, the demand for live bait was so high due the terrific fishing season that the anchovies didn't have time to cure at the bait barge, and they're already getting scooped up by the sportfishing fleet.  Using anchovy for bait means using lighter line and smaller hooks so they can swim out and away from the boat easier.  On this trip, we ran across many paddies that were only holding rat Yellowtails.  Most of the tuna we caught on this trip were metered tuna.  We chummed them up and once they surfaced it was non-stop hookups, and boils all over.  A couple of folks fishing with 15lb leaders got bit fast and consistently. I tried throwing a popper, and only got hit once but didn’t connect. Tried metal jigs-nada!  I did had some success with the Flatfall jig in sardine and saury color pattern. At first I was using the bigger size flatfall jigs, no takers. Decided to tie on the smaller size, and it worked pretty well. There was one stop where we had the most hookups of the trip. A hammerhead shark was ever present, and bit one of the angler’s tuna in half. To sum it up, it was surely an awesome trip. It was a blast to fish with an amazing group of anglers on a nice boat. My hat’s off to skipper Jacob Moreno and the crew of the Ultra, they did an outstanding job! We had an older gentleman on-board in his 80’s and the crew took the time to hookup some fish and handed it off to him and stayed with him till the fish was gaffed. He had a blast!  I sure would fish on this boat again, and one that I'd add on my list of favorites.

I took these pics after the first day of fishing.  Unfortunately these are the only pics I took on this trip as my camera died on me.

 Some videos I took with my GoPro on this trip.

This is one of the best screaming drag I captured on video.   The sound of the Shimano Biomaster 8000PG is music to my ears!  This small tuna got me fooled into thinking that I was hooked to a bigger fish. The little devil could sure pull some heavy drag! 

My hot combo on this trip in action!

Shot of the Spheros in action when the tuna bit the Flat Fall jig.  Sweet reel!

Late July 2014 Overnight Offshore Yellowfin Tuna Trip On-board the Voyager

After reading reports of anglers getting into the tuna and yellowtail bite even on ¾ day to overnight trips, I decided to go on an overnight trip on-board the Voyager.  I brought along three setups: Accurate Boss Magnum 665H  lefty loaded with 40lb leader for trolling, Accurate SR20 with 30lb mono leader for medium heavy, and the Van Staal VM150 with 25lbs leader for my light setup.

Plan was to head south and fish mexican waters.  Got the trollers out.  Not even a jig strike the majority of the morning.  I was getting worried.  It might be one of those days!   Todd, the skipper of the Voyager decided to head north in US waters. It turned out to be a very wise decision. Found some small paddies here and there that were holding some yellowtails, and that got my spirits up a bit.  We started metering tuna, we chummed them up, and we started getting bites.  My first tuna hit my light gear setup with 25lb P-Line copolymer leader.  The small Van Staal VM 150 spinning reel was screaming.  Afraid that I might get spooled, I started increasing the drag, and then pop!  I thought the hook pulled off. Instead, the tuna busted my 25lb leader. That must’ve been a bigger model. Sucks!  I grabbed my 30lb outfit, but the sardine was having problems dragging that 30lb leader and I ended up not getting bit. Decided to stick with my light setup and crossed my fingers. Hooked and fought another tuna, this time I got it done!  So for the reminder of the trip, that VM150 and my Major Craft Giant Killing Hiramasa PE 3-6 rod was my hot stick. That small Van Staal VM150 sure can put some hurt on fish.  I love it!  This trip turned out be an awesome overnight trip!  It was fun to share the rail with a bunch of highly motivated anglers, and also made new friends. Todd, the skipper of the Voyager, and his crew did an outstanding job. I sure would fish on that boat again.

Thanks for reading, and hope you liked my report.   Hit the "Join this site" button to subscribe to my blog and keep up with my fishing adventures. Fish on bros!

Some awesome videos I took on this trip. That VM150 is a suweet reel!  The small reel that can!

This one's a feisty rat ninja Yellowtail that eluded the gaff!

Late June 2014 White Seabass (aka the Ghost) Hunt

Yup, I admit, I've been lazy and been procrastinating to update my blog with my offshore fishing trips and surf fishing sessions this year.  So I'll try my best to catch up.  This year  has been truly  a phenomenal year for fishing in our waters.  Can't resist going on trips when you always see the awesome fishing reports coming from anglers.  In late June I was fortunate to get an invite from the Dillon Street Tuna Club on a 2-day trip to hunt for the elusive White Seabass (WSB) on-board the Fortune.  As always, WSB fishing is a hit and miss affair.  So it's good to have an open mind and prepare yourself either to get skunked, or if the stars aligned, get into a hot bite.  The last time I got into a WSB bite was back in 2001.  Yup, ages ago!  Just shows you why anglers call them "ghost."

On this trip I was able to test the new Shimano Butterfly Flat Fall jig.  I picked up a couple in squid pattern for this trip.  All I can say is this jig is very effective and will catch fish.  Surely a jig to add into your arsenal.  

On the first morning of the trip, things didn't look good, as we didn't get any live squid to come up the night before.  We had some live squid on-board but not much, and the WSB was also a no-show.  On the second night, the squid finally came up in full force when we put out the underwater flood lights out.  We had more than enough live squid to last us for the remainder of the trip.  The captain also decided to move to another island, and we all agreed.  At gray light the following day, we were in position and ready to go get some!  The captain started metering fish on his fishfinder, and in a drop of a hat, we were on one of the best WSB bite I've experienced.  One full hour of non-stop hookups.  I was pinning on a live squid on the flat fall jig and dropping it.  A couple of yoyos, and I was  hooked up.  Everyone was hooked up!  Total chaos! After the hour had passed, the bite switch turned off, and they were gone, like ghosts.  We moved around and started fishing for other deep dwellers like lingcod.  To sum it up, this was another awesome trip to add to the books.  It was indeed a pleasure to  share the rail again with my friends from Dillon Street Tuna Club, ("Fish or Die").  Many thanks to Captain Bruce and the crew of the Fortune.  One of the best sportfishing op in SoCal!

Thanks for reading, and hope you liked my report.   Hit the "Join this site" button to subscribe to my blog and keep up with my fishing adventures. Fish on bros!

 

 

 

First Trip in 2014 - Coronado Islands Yellowtails

At last, after over seven months of being landlocked, I finally got the time to get on the water to go get some.  I've been reading reports that Yellowtail fishing was starting to heat up since April.  It's hard to to keep your level of anticipation low,when you see pictures and reports of nice hookups on fishing forums.  Come May, the intensity of Yellowtail hookup reports is just to hard to bear anymore.  I got to get into the action instead of just being a bystander and internet angler.  So I checked my favorite 4-pack sportfishing ops in San Diego - Seasons Sportfishing.  Sure enough, they had a full day open party trip with two slots open for May 24 fishing for Yellowtails at the Coronado Islands Mexico.  I immediately contacted Jamie and got on the trip.  Going into prep mode for this trip, I remembered that I still have the Quantum Cabo 60 PTS reel that's been sitting on the shelf that has never been fished.  I found some leftover 80lb Daiwa Boat Braid I had laying around, and I immediately spooled it on.  I paired the Cabo 60 with my Major Craft Giant Killing Hiramasa rated at PE 3-6.  I wanted to really test this rod with a more hard pulling fish.  The only fish this rod had caught so far was a 40lb halibut I caught last year while fishing for White Seabass.  I also brought along my Stella 18000SW which I paired with my Ocean Revolution Stealth PE-5 rod, just in case I'll need a bigger reel with more line capacity. 

Before we left the docks, we found out that the bait receivers only had live anchovies.  This means we have to catch our own sardines or macks if we want our chances of hooking some nice Yellowtails to increase   On the way to the Coronado Islands, we passed by alot of kelp in the water. 

At the islands, we saw lots of bait breaching the surface and also bait balls below.  I started to worry that the tails will be less interested in our offerings since there are lots on the menu available to them.   Duane took out the sabiki jigs, and we started catching some live baits.  Baits of choice were sardines and macks.  It didn't took long and we've had enough live bait in the tanks.

The plan for this trip was slow trolling nose hooked sardines and macks.  We wanted to cover as much area around the islands as the Yellowtails were scattered and also due to the abundance of bait in the water.  My first hookup for the day ended up in disaster as my PR knot slipped just as the fish was boatside.  This is the first PR  knot failure I've experienced after so many years of using it and hooking up big fish.  It was all my fault.  Normally I'd tie at least 4-6 inches of PR knot connection.  Not sure what I was thinking when I tied just 1.5 inches of PR knot connection.  That was a big Yellowtail lost.  A mossback!  Bummer!

I also lost several fish after this first one.  Mostly due to hook not reaching and setting in the Yellowtail's mouth even after a 4-count.   Some of the macks we used were just big.  Finally in the afternoon, I got one that stuck!  To top it off, I had the hookup with my Cabo 60 PTS reel and MC Giant Killing Hiramasa rod.  I was stoked!  This was another huge Yellowtail, this time it's not getting away.   The fish did pinned me against the boat a couple a times as it surged to get away from the gaff.  We finally got it on the boat.  Another mossback!  So happy to feel that adrenaline rush again from the screaming reel, the pull of a strong fish, and that rod bending from the pressure.  Just what every angler craves for on every fishing trip.

 

 First trip is in the books for 2014!  The Cabo 60 PTS performed as advertised.  A solid reel with strong drag!  I love the Major Craft Giant Killing Hiramasa, it's an awesome rod and I can't wait to get it bent again. Once again Capt Duane of Seasons Sportfishing worked extra hard.  Seasons don't hesitate to burn more fuel and stay longer to get you on fish.  They're an outstanding charter ops and I highly recommend them.   Another good news is I have another trip lined up this June hunting for the elusive White Seabass - the "Ghost".  Last year, I ended up hooking a nice Halibut instead of the ghost.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this time around I hook one.   Hope you like my report.  Hit the "Join this site" button to subscribe to my blog.  Fish on bros!

Quantum Cabo 60 PTsD

I picked up Quantum's new Cabo 60 PTsD reel. It is a handsome reel!  The action is very smooth compared to the old Quantum Cabo PT.  The drag is real strong and quite impressive. It's equipped with a sealed dual drag, over and under.  Compared to the previous Cabo PT, the new PTsD is equipped with carbon fiber drag washers, and the drag washer under the spool is larger.  Just one full turn of the drag knob from zero drag setting and you can feel the drag bite.  The new Cabo is equipped with automatic bail closure with a rail screwed at the base of the reel body.  Converting it to manual bail is easy, just remove the rail.  The Quantum Cabo PTsD has the same size as the Shimano Stella SW 8000PG but heavier.  This reel just feels so solid! The handle is nice and solid, and I particularly like the handle knob.  I can't wait to take it out next year, casting jigs and lures for tunas, yellowtails, and dorados.   An awesome reel with a reasonable price!

Specs:

Gear Ratio: 4.9:1

Max Drag: 45Lbs

Weight: 24oz

Line Capacity:  320Yds of 50Lb Spectra

Rockcod Season Opener

I hopped on a full day trip with Seasons Sportfishing out of San Diego, deep dropping for rockfish and lingcod.  It's indeed an early rockod  season opener trip.  We left the dock at about 5:30 AM. We used dropper looped live squid with 12oz torpedo sinkers to get to the rocks and holes where the reds and lings live. I used my old but reliable Quantum Cabo PT 80 spinning reel paired with the short Van Staal 500gm jigging rod. We had a steady pick of nice reds and lings all day. Dropping up to 400 feet and cranking up these fatty critters is a workout. But the delicious fillets you'll end up with is worth every crank of the reel. By 2PM we decided to call it day, as the wind and current started to pick up. We were having a hard time to get the 120z sinkers to the bottom.  Another successful trip in the books, everyone had a blast.  What a way to start the rockcod season!

2.5 Day Yellowfin Tuna Fishing at Puerto Vallarta Mexico On-board the Maximus

Finally, the time has arrived after waiting for months; my first trip ever to get a shot at bigger YFT. Mixed emotions of excitement, anxiety, nervousness, and awe set in as we went underway on the hunt for the famous PV YFTs. This will be the first time I'll be doing the railrodding technique and would probably be fishing conventional gears the whole time. The gears on the Maximus were all right-hand retrieve ATD-50's. I brought along a lefty DPX2 DAWG 50, and a lefty ATD-12 just to give me a bit of comfort. I also brought along some heavy spinning setups for popping and casting jigs. Total anglers on-board was 7.

Day1:

The first day was spent trolling and fishing with live cabalitos. We only had one hit on the troll which didn't stick, and it most likely was a wahoo based on the bite marks on the Marauder. I did get a hookup with a nice dodo on a spinning setup, and my cousin did also hookup to a very nice bull. Hooray! The skunkiness feeling is gone! Towards the afternoon, they put the kite out with double rigged live cabalitos. That worked well. First hit on the kite was a marlin but during the fight it was able to shake off the hook. The next hit was a big YFT. I saw that big YFT jumped in the air and attacked the surface splashing cabalitos. That's when it really dawned on me the enormous size of the fish we're going after. My main goal was to land some and I decided stick with conventional gears if that's the tool I need to get some. At the end of the day, we had 2 dodos and 1 nice YFT on-board. When darkness set-in, the crew rigged the squid lights and we started jigging for juvenile humboldt squid we'll be using as bait the next day. 

Day 2:

This day turned out to be a fantastic day despite the rains. Once we got to the spot, we started flylining squid and at the same time we had the kite out. We started hooking up, and the crew handed me the kite rod that had a YFT on. Yup a righty ATD-50 on a rail rod! With adrenaline pumping, I grabbed the rod and started the fight. I was really having a hard time with it even with the aid of the rail. Determined, I stuck with it. The awesome crew of the Maximus did helped me alot, especially when the need to move fast around the boat came. Finally, I got the fish to color and at gaff, and we got the fish on-board. I was stoked, happy, and at the same time humbled by the fight I just experienced. I've lost some fish, one the leader broke off from the hook, another the fish just missing the hook even after letting it run a bit before setting the hook. I hooked up a slob YFT this time on my lefty Accurate DPX2 50 DAWG reel clamped to the Maximus' Saltydog rail rod.  I was doing much better during the fight, and it did't take long at all when I had the fish to color.   This is is my personal best YFT I've landed so far!  The crew of the Maximus did an outstanding job getting the fish on-board. My ATD-12 paired with my short Tunamax Parabolique acid rod wrapped by Jim performed flawlessly! My wife used it on the rail and she got her first big YFT! Keith was with her the whole time coaching her. My hat's off to Keith and his crew, truly one of the best! Everyone was looking at that rod and can't believe she landed a big fish with it. Especially that nice bendo! My cousin Ver also managed to land a couple of nice YFT on-board. To top it off, this was his first mutli-day trip! I'm quite sure he's now hooked into fishing for life! To sum it up, I've learned alot from this trip, and most important of all made new friends. Again, my hat's off to Capt Keith and the crew of the Maximus, they're a well oiled machine! They've taught us alot. Surely I'll be back to fish the Maximus again in the future!

The awesome Captain and crew of the Maximus!

Pics of our hookups!

My hookup using a right-hand retrieve Accurate ATD-50.  Yikes! I'm a left-hand retrieve!  I sucked it up and got it done eventually.  Yup I need more rail time fishing conventional reel to get used to it!

How a huge tuna pulls line at strike!  Pure power! This is an Accurate ATD-12 reel. 

Cow YFT over the rail!

Dorado!