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!