DjRich
08-11-2008, 11:47 PM
This is a late report from an Angler's Choice 5-day trip aboard the "Intrepid", July 27-Aug 1.
The Boat left on time from Point Loma sportfishing at 11am. We loaded the tanks with primarily sardines with a few chovies mixed in. We did the usual safety speech in the galley and were instructed to get our gear ready as we will fish in the local zone in the afternoon. Unfortunately, the bite at Cedros and Guadalupe were on the downswing, so we were informed we may or may not fish the islands this trip. With the recent reports, the kelp fishing offshore was much better then the island anyway, along with the decent grade of yellows on the kelps, which were the same 15-25 pound class fish that have been biting at cedros for the past few weeks before this trip.
We started the afternoon trolling at about 4 pm. The local zone happened to be in the 30 to 40 mile range. We had scattered jig strikes of bluefin, yellowfin, and albacore with yellowtail, and dorado on kelps this first afternoon, but no big hits. I got lucky and landed 2 slug albacore off a troll stop. After the afternoon of fishing, the captain informed us we were going to make a move about 80 miles south to do more paddy hopping and hopefully find some more of the good grade albacore.
http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o212/DjTropik/intrepid072.jpg
First fish of the trip.
Day one had grease calm seas with very little wind. This made spotting kelps a breeze. This area had a tremendous amount of kelps, but most were dry. The kelps that were holding fish had primarily yellowtail up to about 35 pounds, along with some nice dorado pushing 25 pounds. We also had scattered jigstrikes of yellowtail and dorado, and had a really good ripper bite on yellowfin tuna right before dark, we probably threw on 16 yellowfin or so on this stop. This was a day full of fish pulling with anything under 10 pounds released. We were told that we were going to make another move further south about 40 miles in search of more kelps and hopefully tuna that havent been touched yet.
http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o212/DjTropik/intrepid020.jpg
http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o212/DjTropik/intrepid046.jpg
Day two had more of the same. The weather was not as good as yesterday, but was still very comfortable. This area had fewer kelps, but I would say 80 percent of the kelps were holding beautiful grade yellowtail and dorado. During one of the wide open yellowtail stops, I managed to pull out a lone yellowfin out of the bunch. Spots of jumping bluefin were in the area, but no biters. Another similar day, lots of yellows and dorado. We're going to make a move west and work our way north and fish the next day in search of tuna.
http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o212/DjTropik/intrepid038.jpg
http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o212/DjTropik/intrepid023.jpg
one lone yellowfin out of a kelp loaded with yellowtail
Day three...a broken record. Tremendous yellowtail and Dorado fishing. Weather was Still great.
http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o212/DjTropik/intrepid054.jpg
kelp paddy dorado on the light line and long rod...
Day four we were back in the one day zone...Still lots of life in the area. We had scattered jig strikes on the same fish as we did at the begining of the trip, along with one ripper afternoon bite on big albacore. We had our fill on the yellows, so we opted to fish paddies with dorado on them while looking for tuna. We never got into another tuna stop. Once the sun went down, we were treated to a filet mignon and lobster dinner. Our ETA was 6am to point loma.
http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o212/DjTropik/intrepid074.jpg
Back at the dock as we unloaded the catch, the Jackpot fish were weighed and I got lucky...
http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o212/DjTropik/intrepid075-1.jpg
40.6 pounds for first place..
If you have never been on the Intrepid, I would highly recommend it. The boat is beautiful, the crew is excellent, the food was unbelievable. A traditional 5 day trip you would fish for about 3 days. The decision of the captain to fish offshore for the full 5 days instead of sacrificing 2 days of travel time to fish the island gave an oppurtunity for the anglers to pull on a lot of fish which is always fun. I ended up with limits of yellowtail for 5 days, 4 dorado, 4 albacore, and 1 yellowfin. I didnt want to go home...
http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o212/DjTropik/intrepid070.jpg
Rich
The Boat left on time from Point Loma sportfishing at 11am. We loaded the tanks with primarily sardines with a few chovies mixed in. We did the usual safety speech in the galley and were instructed to get our gear ready as we will fish in the local zone in the afternoon. Unfortunately, the bite at Cedros and Guadalupe were on the downswing, so we were informed we may or may not fish the islands this trip. With the recent reports, the kelp fishing offshore was much better then the island anyway, along with the decent grade of yellows on the kelps, which were the same 15-25 pound class fish that have been biting at cedros for the past few weeks before this trip.
We started the afternoon trolling at about 4 pm. The local zone happened to be in the 30 to 40 mile range. We had scattered jig strikes of bluefin, yellowfin, and albacore with yellowtail, and dorado on kelps this first afternoon, but no big hits. I got lucky and landed 2 slug albacore off a troll stop. After the afternoon of fishing, the captain informed us we were going to make a move about 80 miles south to do more paddy hopping and hopefully find some more of the good grade albacore.
http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o212/DjTropik/intrepid072.jpg
First fish of the trip.
Day one had grease calm seas with very little wind. This made spotting kelps a breeze. This area had a tremendous amount of kelps, but most were dry. The kelps that were holding fish had primarily yellowtail up to about 35 pounds, along with some nice dorado pushing 25 pounds. We also had scattered jigstrikes of yellowtail and dorado, and had a really good ripper bite on yellowfin tuna right before dark, we probably threw on 16 yellowfin or so on this stop. This was a day full of fish pulling with anything under 10 pounds released. We were told that we were going to make another move further south about 40 miles in search of more kelps and hopefully tuna that havent been touched yet.
http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o212/DjTropik/intrepid020.jpg
http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o212/DjTropik/intrepid046.jpg
Day two had more of the same. The weather was not as good as yesterday, but was still very comfortable. This area had fewer kelps, but I would say 80 percent of the kelps were holding beautiful grade yellowtail and dorado. During one of the wide open yellowtail stops, I managed to pull out a lone yellowfin out of the bunch. Spots of jumping bluefin were in the area, but no biters. Another similar day, lots of yellows and dorado. We're going to make a move west and work our way north and fish the next day in search of tuna.
http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o212/DjTropik/intrepid038.jpg
http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o212/DjTropik/intrepid023.jpg
one lone yellowfin out of a kelp loaded with yellowtail
Day three...a broken record. Tremendous yellowtail and Dorado fishing. Weather was Still great.
http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o212/DjTropik/intrepid054.jpg
kelp paddy dorado on the light line and long rod...
Day four we were back in the one day zone...Still lots of life in the area. We had scattered jig strikes on the same fish as we did at the begining of the trip, along with one ripper afternoon bite on big albacore. We had our fill on the yellows, so we opted to fish paddies with dorado on them while looking for tuna. We never got into another tuna stop. Once the sun went down, we were treated to a filet mignon and lobster dinner. Our ETA was 6am to point loma.
http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o212/DjTropik/intrepid074.jpg
Back at the dock as we unloaded the catch, the Jackpot fish were weighed and I got lucky...
http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o212/DjTropik/intrepid075-1.jpg
40.6 pounds for first place..
If you have never been on the Intrepid, I would highly recommend it. The boat is beautiful, the crew is excellent, the food was unbelievable. A traditional 5 day trip you would fish for about 3 days. The decision of the captain to fish offshore for the full 5 days instead of sacrificing 2 days of travel time to fish the island gave an oppurtunity for the anglers to pull on a lot of fish which is always fun. I ended up with limits of yellowtail for 5 days, 4 dorado, 4 albacore, and 1 yellowfin. I didnt want to go home...
http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o212/DjTropik/intrepid070.jpg
Rich