TEAM 57 on board the Condor!

[sansou]

July 19 I jumped on the Condor (Fisherman's landing) for a 1.5 dayer.

Accompanying me were 7 guys from Arizona, some of which were totally
new to fishing, and others had never tuna-fished before.

I brought a total of 12 tuna setups for these guys, which was a particular pain in the butt the week prior as I had to get a few re-spooled and lubed up (some of these setups had not seen action in a very long time), and made a hook & weight packet for everyone except my buddy Scott (whom some of you on FNN have fished with before).

All in all it was a tough tuna bite for our boat.

90% of the fish came by way of jig-troll strikes. We ended up with only 23 passengers, but had a final albie count of approx 33, and a smattering of bluefin, yellowfin and a quick one time flurry of baby dorados. Everyone on the boat got at least one fish, which was nice.

I had a great time throughout the day coaching by buddy's father-in-law and father during the trip, in a desperate attempt to get them to experience a live-bait fish, as opposed to a jig fish. I fished a bit toward the end, and never got a strike at all on the yo-yo despite changing up colors and what-not.

I ended up with one solid albie on the slide with my new Kencor 800QNZ
setup w/Avet SX (Thank you Kencor pro-staff for introducing this to
me and for the hookup!!). Jackpot was a monsterous 46lber (on the
digi), and quite a few other jig fish in the 40s. I'm not so sure fluoro
would have made a difference on this trip, as nearly all bait fish were on the slide.

The usual colors worked for the jig-troll (but keep them jigs smallish), and as far as fishing the slide (which this boat encourages, unlike some others!!) the usual albie colors worked....though I did see one guy nail one on a bright green & red 6 inch plastic.

I would heartily reccomend the Condor, as the captain (Scott Meisel)
and his crew are truly professionals that embrace the concept of
friendly "customer service", and leave the tired old "macho crap" to other
boats in the fleet. I always reserve staterooms where possible, and
while their stateroom is a bit small, the advantage is that it is above deck
and super convenient to access during the day.

Hopefully ya'll out there get a better shot at the BFT and YFT than I
did this week. I think I won't be out in the big blue until Aug 16
weekend.

Bluefin "Dan": it was a pleasure fishing with you! See you around!

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[City Dad]

All in all it was a tough tuna bite for our boat.

...but the up-shot is they weren't in Arizona. Jokes! (I kid because I love.)

How'd the first timers do on the pitching deck? Any sea-sickness? A heck of a way to break in the newcomers - with a tuna... it'll ruin 'em for anything else (and they'll never come to appreciate a wide-open tilapia bite.)

So, sashimi? BBQ? Tuna salad?

[chris]

nice report and pictures. That new kencor looks great. a deckie on the city of long beach has a really nice kencor jig stick.I think i'm going to try to get one

[Ricky-Ray]

Dang 12 tuna setups....you are a tackle ho. Oh wait I think I have that many too. I guess that makes me a tackle ho too....hahaha

Nice report and pics. Those are some nice size looking chickens.

[BluefinDan]

Thank you Sansou, I enjoyed the trip as well. It was just like a lake out there, about 108 south of Pt. Loma. ALso met Wayne, 'Got Wasabi' screen name who posts on another bloody site (HA HA HA).

I got a small Albie about 18 lbs on the slide using a swim bait. My bigger albie ,32# and the yellowfin 30# were on the troll using a small jet head Mean Joe Green.

Thanks for the Gatorade, it helped the cramps I got in my arm after that troll albie.

The deck hands are very professional and courteous, skillfull when we got tangles.

DANNO

[mstr fish]

Thanks Sansou for your report. Me and a couple of friends are debating on a 1.5 or 2day this Sunday. This will be my first tuna trip. Have any advice? If I can just get one it will be well worth it..........................fish

[BluefinDan]

Use about 6 - feet of flourocarbon, pound test equal to your main line pound test. I have listend to the talk radio and flourocarbon does make a difference !!

1/0 & 2/0 hooks, I use Mustad 9174, 'J' hooks, trolling I recommend theZuchini ( Lawn Chair ) In the bright or sunny/cloudy sorta day, and the Mean Joe Green in the Gray, early morning. The shorter lures were working better than the biggar ones for Albacore.

Dark lures/feathers such as black purple in the gray and bright collors in the cloudy/sun like 2 to 5 PM.

DANNO

[Trout Nine]

Congrats on the Albacore..Nice report and pics WTG!
TROUT NINE

[olfishergal]

Those Albacore look good to me. Can't wait for the local action to improve. This is still June weather if you ask me......:My Two Cents: We should fish together sometime Rich..........OFG

[JapanRon]

Hi sansou,

Wow quite the effort and responsibility !! I wouldn't do it !! Kudos to you !!

Great report and detail .... thank you much !!

JapanRon

[MikeW]

Nice job. At least everyone got at least one. I was out on the Pacific Dawn on the 18th and 19th and it was exactly the same. We had several jig strikes with all four or five jigs being bit at the same time or when winding them in. Acouple of bait or swim bait fish on the slide and very few bait fish after stopping.

[Troutman65]

Sansou, Great job on getting the 12 sets ups ready.


Thanks for the report.



TM65

[Wingnut]

You're a great host Rich! Well done on the catch, excellent report & pics. :cool:

[Fisherman57]

Good job out there Rich!...

Must be nice to take off and go Albie fishing whenever ya want! LOL!

Perfect example of TEAM 57 spirit helping the guys with their sets up's and bringing the extra rigs.
Kudo's my man!

Interesting pics of the sardines boiling and gourging themselves on the Dorado roe.
Looks like some fine bait in that tank!



Dana

[Ambassadorhawg]

The Condor is THE MOST comfortable boat to fish on in the under 100' legnth category. Very wide between the gally and rail, easy to pass by somebody fishing at the rail midship.
I use to fish on that thing on the San Miguel Island trips back when it was based in Santa Barbara. I miss those days...

[Captain Boracho]

rich laying the smack down on those albies! if you would have caught one while in a yak, i would be able to die a happy man tonight!

[troutdog]

Way to go Rich, your reports and other member's feedback should help me put one on the deck next week! Thanks for the cool reports and pics, see you on the water...I am still laughing from your stories last week at the Vine:ROFL:


TD

[Granny Fish]

Great report Rich. Love the pictures.

[ironshrimp]

O'doyle Rules!!!

[sansou]

Thank you all for the kind words.

I'm hopeful the albie bite will hold on long enough until I get back to Cali, if not, oh well. C'est la vie....there's always late summer do-do & YFT.

Sometime beginning the second week of August, depending on the bite (and water temps) I'll post in the Rendezvous if any of you want to jump on an overnighter during the week (Prowler??).....if you are short gear, I probably can help....you don't really need much to tuna fish.

See ya'll at LEGENDS II !!! In the meantime, get out there and fly-line that chovie!!!

[diamondbear]

Sansou , thanks for the heads up on the tough albie bite happening now as iam giong on a company trip next weekend . [ I have no choice I have to go , company buisness ] Nice mix of fish , good job // db