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View Full Version : Fishing aboard the Toronado Pierpoint’s best! Hah, yeah right



Ifishtoolittle
08-31-2009, 08:59 PM
Well I went aboard the Toronado on the 29th for yellowtail fishing at Cortez Bank, but little did I know it would the sh!tiest trip I’ve ever been on. Arrived at pierpoint with my Uncle and friends for what we thought would be an epic trip. Waited for the boat from 8PM to 10PM and FINALLY was able to board at 11PM. For those of you reading you can already tell how bad the trip was. Now all I had to do was endure the 10 hour boat ride to Cortez Bank. Finally we arrived there at 9 in the morning started the day off with a WFO Bonita bite for about 2 hours. These were big suckas to from 5-10lbs at least. While fish the surface some guys went down deep with a 6/0 live bait hook and a 6oz sinker for yellows. Some turned up with rockfish while one guy hooked up on a nice WSB. Landed it and looked to be 50lbs the problem though was that it was his first time fishing and got a little instruction from his buddy who touched his rod *ouch and the guy hooked up was in the jackpot. Long story short he didn’t take jackpot. My uncle though hooked up on what we all believe to be a WSB due to his major bendo, but tangled with a bunch of @$$holes who wouldn’t move and lost it. Fished the bank for another 2 hrs for rockfish and hey the Lucanus jig worked got me 4 rockfish no bait. After that the captain thought it was a good idea to troll for 6 hrs and basically used up all our fishing time. Here’s the heart breaking part he was heading home the whole time while trolling. WTF! Anyways the trip was as good as the cost $150 for the 1 ½ dayer. (Got a special discount with 976tuna and large party booking) Got home at 4AM with my limit of rockfish 3 boners, and my uncle he had 1 boner and several rockfish.
Here are the pics, and sorry for the language the trip just really sucked. We only really fished Cortez Bank for about 4 hours and had to pay $20 for my uncle and I to use the fish hold.
http://i661.photobucket.com/albums/uu337/Ifishtoolittle/IMG_2300.jpg
Don’t know if you see this, but the Captain didn’t troll by all this kelp it was at least a mile wide!
http://i661.photobucket.com/albums/uu337/Ifishtoolittle/IMG_2298.jpg
The one Bluefin that took 4 deckhands to reel in, those guys were crazy had 70 yds of line out.
http://i661.photobucket.com/albums/uu337/Ifishtoolittle/IMG_2302.jpg
My uncle with his big sculpin! LOL!
http://i661.photobucket.com/albums/uu337/Ifishtoolittle/IMG_2304.jpg
Big boner.
http://i661.photobucket.com/albums/uu337/Ifishtoolittle/IMG_2305.jpg
The size Dines’ being used
http://i661.photobucket.com/albums/uu337/Ifishtoolittle/IMG_2306.jpg
My 3 boners.
http://i661.photobucket.com/albums/uu337/Ifishtoolittle/IMG_2307.jpg
50lb WSB picture does no justice it was pretty damn big.
http://i661.photobucket.com/albums/uu337/Ifishtoolittle/IMG_2309.jpg
One more pic of the Bluefin.
No pics of the rockfish just starries, bocs, sculpin., and a few goats.
One more thing I recommend for any one looking into a 1 ½ dayer just go to san diego you will definitely get more fish and better service.
-Ifishtoolittle

THROWBACK RANGER
08-31-2009, 09:30 PM
i think that mile long stretch of kelp was the high spot! your right, you do fish too little!!!!

JapanRon
08-31-2009, 09:50 PM
Hi Ifishtoolittle,

I don't fish the offshore or multi-day trips so I'll have to ask.

1) What's your definition of touch ?
2) Is the jackpot like IGFA rules where you can't touch (brush, be hit by, etc.) rod or reel of the angler fighting a record fish ? I reallllly doubt it ! but ....
3) Again clueless on the multi-day trips so .....when you 'had to pay $20 for my uncle and I to use the fish hold' What's wrong with lettin' 'em set the sacks for a day? Isn't that how the Toro promotes their overall fish quality assurance program?

Read lots of reports of good trips recently ...... interesting to hear of the tougher trips too. Better luck next time.

JapanRon

Ifishtoolittle
08-31-2009, 09:54 PM
Hi Ifishtoolittle,

I don't fish the offshore or multi-day trips so I'll have to ask.

1) What's your definition of touch ?
2) Is the jackpot like IGFA rules where you can't touch (brush, be hit by, etc.) rod or reel of the angler fighting a record fish ? I reallllly doubt it ! but ....
3) Again clueless on the multi-day trips so .....when you 'had to pay $20 for my uncle and I to use the fish hold' What's wrong with lettin' 'em set the sacks for a day? Isn't that how the Toro promotes their overall fish quality assurance program?

Read lots of reports of good trips recently ...... interesting to hear of the tougher trips too. Better luck next time.

JapanRon

Well like his friend made a few cranks on the guy's reel so yeah that should disqualifiy him for that fish in the Jackpot.

For #3 LOL, bu seriously the fish were in the sun for several hours we didn't want to spoil them any longer, but I'm not sure if it made any difference in putting the fish in the hold. The fish tasted a little old when I ate it today.

Ifishtoolittle
08-31-2009, 09:56 PM
i think that mile long stretch of kelp was the high spot! your right, you do fish too little!!!!

LOL the name is supposed to be ironic because of late I have been fishing a lot. Seriously the captain is a DUMB@$$ he didn't bother to troll by that massive streach of kelp, but he trolled by these patties the size of a bike. WTF!

ghetto dad
08-31-2009, 10:17 PM
Sorry about your trip man.....the disqualification was legit....each angler must hook and land their own fish, only assistance is to be from a crew member

BTW, our 1 1/2 Day cortez/offshore trips are only $140 per person...until further notice....give us a try if youd like.....

GD

Ifishtoolittle
08-31-2009, 10:20 PM
Sorry about your trip man.....the disqualification was legit....each angler must hook and land their own fish, only assistance is to be from a crew member

BTW, our 1 1/2 Day cortez/offshore trips are only $140 per person...until further notice....give us a try if youd like.....

GD

$140 wow that's cool, but unfortunately this was my last trip of the year.

victor101
08-31-2009, 10:34 PM
Sorry about the bad trip...


LOL the name is supposed to be ironic because of late I have been fishing a lot. Seriously the captain is a DUMB@$$ he didn't bother to troll by that massive streach of kelp, but he trolled by these patties the size of a bike. WTF!

lmao...you didnt understand his comment....

Ifishtoolittle
08-31-2009, 10:37 PM
Sorry about the bad trip...



lmao...you didnt understand his comment....

I don't know then, can you or Throwback Ranger explain?

victor101
08-31-2009, 10:46 PM
I don't know then, can you or Throwback Ranger explain?

There are "high spots" where there is structure 3' under the surface... picture a bunch of underwater mountains...What Thorwback Ranger is saying is that maybe thats why you didnt troll around that big kelp...could of been a high spot.

Ifishtoolittle
08-31-2009, 10:52 PM
There are "high spots" where there is structure 3' under the surface... picture a bunch of underwater mountains...What Thorwback Ranger is saying is that maybe thats why you didnt troll around that big kelp...could of been a high spot.

Yeah I guess, but if the captain did we would have at least had something hit the trollers. BTW I did see the Dreamer at the "high spots"

Normalfellow
09-01-2009, 08:47 AM
Yeah I guess, but if the captain did we would have at least had something hit the trollers. BTW I did see the Dreamer at the "high spots"



First off, sorry you had a bad trip bro but there are a few things you have to understand. The "big long kelp" that you saw was not a patty, its the kelp growing from the highspot like a few other members have been saying.....

if you fished for 4 hours and not that many quality fish are going over the rails (yellowtail, yellowfin, bluefin, wsb) then with all that has been going on the last 2 weeks, i would have gone offshore trolling too.

Captain was looking for the tunas that have been around and tried to fill your sack with quality fish, and if he finds a school which they have in the past, EVERYONE would have taken home some tuna.

i think you just really fish too little to see whats going out there right now.... if you want a better trip san diego is a far better choice, but be ready to spend 300-700 bucks per trip. if you dont have the money and you are looking for a bargain, then go on the toronado

sansou
09-01-2009, 09:44 AM
Sorry to hear about the crummy trip on the Toronado, and your dad losing his fish because some donkey wouldn't move. That's frustrating. The deckhand didn't help with this???

Are you serious when you said that the boat charges you $20 to use the fish hold?????? That's plain cheesy.

You really owe it to yourself to try out Ghetto Dad's landing. That way, if you have a complaint, you can go and see Ghetto Dad and bug the heck out of him. He loves that.....LOL!

calico killer kevin
09-01-2009, 02:09 PM
Hey, you didn't have a great trip this time. Keep your head up and look forward to next time.

A few things to remember:
NEVER, EVER villify a boat without taking it up with the captain or deckhands first.
Don't criticize the way a captain decides to fish. He has more experience than any party boat angler could imagine.
If there's a "corner anchor" and the deckhands don't notice, take it upon yourself to run his ***** over.
Tuna fishing from LA is always a gamble.

That being said, if you had any complaints, you should've mentioned it to the deckhands or captain. Be tactful though because angry deckhands can be a b!tch. If you thought the captain should've hit that kelp, you should've asked why he didn't. I'm sure he would've to you that it was the "high spot". Underwater structure that catches kelp.

YT trips are almost always islands in the morning for WSB or YT and after that is usually scratching at calicos, bonies, or rockfishing. That's how it goes. The "******" captain decided to put out a few extra miles to go find the tuna that have been sporadically popping up and trolling is a good way to find them. It's a gamble. If you hit the WFO crashing tuna, you would've been the happiest ****** ever. This time you didn't get that.

I do agree though that making you pay for the hold was absolute BS though.

Fish a little more and slander a little less.

apcrew45
09-01-2009, 04:15 PM
Well to say the least I'm sorry about your bad trip. It happens to a lot of people, and for the price you paid I wouldn't be complaining very much. The owner of the boat Donny puts on great deals out there and the captains Rick and Ray are one of the bests in our local fleets. Rick is a great Tuna Cap and Ray is one of the best local island guys.

I frequent trips on the Toro about once every 2 weeks, and the deckhands Everisto and James are the best from all the boats I have been on and that is why If i choose to go local I ride the Toro.

About the kelp which was not trolled by, if its the high spot then its the high spot if not then James was probably on top of the boat sitting down with a pair of binoculars and looking for fish boiling or birds crashing.

The loss of the fish was probably due to the lack of elbows used, lack of communication and, the lack of calling the deckhands. If I were hooked up with something big knowing its almost shoulder to shoulder the first thing I would do is scream for the deckhand and have control on the fish then start screaming out over or under.

Please do not bag on the crew or the boat if you did not have a good time, I have been on long rides where we had maybe one fish per rod and everyone had a blast.

Fishing is fishing, I heard the banks have been dry all week long and that's why they went looking for tuna today and they found them. Hopefully they'll come back with a few fish per rod.

apcrew45
09-01-2009, 04:19 PM
And about the hold I do not understand why you would want rockfish to be put in the hold, do you ask them to put your fish in the hold when your fishing 1/2 days or 3/4 days?
Deckhands don't make much money and whenever they find a way to do so they will, and why not they deserve it. They put your fish in the hold after they are cleaned anyways and anytime you catch an exotic it will be stapled and sent into the hold.

Ifishtoolittle
09-01-2009, 08:26 PM
All I have to say is this the deckhands did their job, but I guess when it comes to bonita to them it's just trash fish. For the issue about the fish hold well I caught my rockfish at 2PM and were not cleaned until about 10PM then they were sent to the fish hold. Now I just have a fridge full of semi-fresh fish. For the captain I just saying if you troll for 6 hours wouldn't it be a good idea to at least have everybody on board fill their sacks with fish whether it's an exotic or not? All I have to say is this trip really disappointed me, and for me when I fish I usually don't get a :Skunk:. I'm sorry if my opinions of the boat has offended anyone, but that would be the first and last time I will ever ride on that boat.

DrewRanch
09-02-2009, 01:06 AM
Don’t know if you see this, but the Captain didn’t troll by all this kelp it was at least a mile wide!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was probaly Bishop Rock.

daveg456
09-02-2009, 07:26 AM
All I have to say is this the deckhands did their job, but I guess when it comes to bonita to them it's just trash fish. For the issue about the fish hold well I caught my rockfish at 2PM and were not cleaned until about 10PM then they were sent to the fish hold. Now I just have a fridge full of semi-fresh fish. For the captain I just saying if you troll for 6 hours wouldn't it be a good idea to at least have everybody on board fill their sacks with fish whether it's an exotic or not? All I have to say is this trip really disappointed me, and for me when I fish I usually don't get a :Skunk:. I'm sorry if my opinions of the boat has offended anyone, but that would be the first and last time I will ever ride on that boat.

If you didn't like trolling for 6 hours then don't ever go tuna fishing. As someone said, you really do need to fish more and know what tuna fishing entails before you go off and criticize the captain for trolling. It's tuna fishing, that's what you do.

But the fish hold deal sucks. On a 1.5 day or even a 1 day, all tuna, bonito, dorado, etc. should be put in the hold immediately. Rockfish, bass, sheephead, etc. can go in the gunny sack but any tuna type fish needs to be bled and cooled down immediately. If you've ever cleaned an albacore right after you bring it in, you can feel how hot it's internal temperature gets. Combine that with fish guts and decomposing baitfish in the stomach and you have no chance for good fillets let alone sashimi.

hung380
09-02-2009, 12:35 PM
20 bucks to use the fish hold? That is just plain sad, can't clean your own fish, cant bring a cooler, I guess your SOL. LOL
I hate rockfish thats been sittin around getting baked in the sun for hours. That just doesnt make sense when you go fishing to bring home fresh fish and end up bringing home semi cooked half rotten fish. Hey, every dollar adds up for them so vote with your wallet.

Liteliner
09-02-2009, 01:10 PM
To bad you had a bad trip but you shouldnt rip the crew if the fish werent biting.... :LOL: Tuna fishing is all about trolling til you find some fish mainly.

I had my first Toronado trip earlier this year and I thought the crew and the boat itself were awesome. The galley cook was always willing to cook something up for passengers. They iced the few albacore that were caught that day right after the stops and it was free..... Very few fish caught but the boat and crew still won me over and I will be riding this boat on any local trips from now on... Heres my report from the TORO trip....

http://fishingnetwork.net/forum4/showthread.php?t=36379 :Cool:

Liteliner
09-02-2009, 01:10 PM
20 bucks to use the fish hold? That is just plain sad, can't clean your own fish, cant bring a cooler, I guess your SOL. LOL
I hate rockfish thats been sittin around getting baked in the sun for hours. That just doesnt make sense when you go fishing to bring home fresh fish and end up bringing home semi cooked half rotten fish. Hey, every dollar adds up for them so vote with your wallet.

Your the rockfish king bro...

hung380
09-02-2009, 02:25 PM
Your the rockfish king bro...
Your the troll king bro...:-) I kid, dont be mad.