SPIKEANUT
09-03-2009, 09:28 AM
I've been looking at the reports and they have been fantastic of late, so decided to go out on my first overnighter out of Fisherman's Landing in SD, aboard the Prowler. Got to the landing at about 9pm, Tuesday night, with a depart time of 10pm. 17 Passengers, perfect! Hit the bait boat for a quick load and off we were, to travel bout 60-70 miles south.
The plan for the day was to troll in between paddy stops, basically, the usual for SD trips. Started the troll at about 7am, a little later expected. Went about 45 minutes on the troll for nadda, but then pulled up to a nice sized paddy. The first paddy went WFO for about 15 minutes for YT, but the small kind, ranging 5-10lbs. Had 2 hits, landed 1 in the 6lb range. Left that paddy with 12 YT on the boat.
We trolled for another 45 minutes or so, and was double hook-up on the troll right next to a smaller sized paddy. This one went WFO for a good 20 minutes, on YF and Skipjack, in the 15-20lb range. Plenty of YF just free swimming under the boat. It was awesome just seeing them chase all the bait fish everywhere. This stop produced about 25-30 fish total, YF and Skippys.
We left that paddy with the fish still biting. The Captain said there was a huge paddy a few clicks away that had great meter marks from the day before, so we made the gamble. Well it paid off. The next paddy, it was just pure pandemonium. The moment we pulled up to the paddy, we had 10 instant hook-ups. It was ridiculous. All YF, and Skippys, with an occasional dodo. That paddy produced for a good hour, just non-stop. We would drift away and have to reposition about three times to get back to the paddy, but it was just WFO everytime we went back to it. It was bloody decks everywhere! It could not have been any better....or so I thought.
We hit a couple more smaller paddys for the occasional YT/YF. At around 1430, Captain said we were going to make our last stop at a decent sized paddy. Put the trolling gear away as we inched up on it. As soon as everyone rigged up and baited, all hell broke loose. It was a Dodo patch, and they were HUNGRY! You could see 3-4 dodo's all chasing one bait, it was ridiculous. They were hitting anything and everything that was thrown out. It was about 1600 when we pulled away. We were already an hour late back to the docks, but couldn't leave with THAT many Dodo's still biting.
We pulled into the Point at 2130, with the next load of passengers waiting impatiently for their 10pm ship-off. All in all, it was a Legend...wait for it...dary trip.
Also, I just want to point out, the crew on the Prowler were top notched. Even with so many hook-ups, there was always a deckie right next to you for the gaff. They were outstanding. The captain was great too. He was even out there helping with the gaff, and even tying on hooks, and baiting for some. Just outstanding...I don't have one negative thing to say. On the first stop, there was some mis-communication between one of the deckies and a fisherman, and for some reason or another, his pole ended in the water. There was a bunch of crossing lines, so that may be it, but I'm not exactly sure. Anyways, the captain wanted to speak with him at the end of the trip, and told the guy he would buy him a new set-up, regardless of who was at fault. He had a decent setup, Penn 535, and an Ugly stick, so bout $150 or so, but I quite impressed with how things were handled. If you guys want an overnighter, the Prowler is the one to be on, the Captain does not waste any time in putting you on the fish.
For our 17 passengers, here was our count: 41 Yellowfin Tuna, 12 Skipjack Tuna, 34 Dorado, 23 California Yellowtail.
And of course, here is some fish porn.
The plan for the day was to troll in between paddy stops, basically, the usual for SD trips. Started the troll at about 7am, a little later expected. Went about 45 minutes on the troll for nadda, but then pulled up to a nice sized paddy. The first paddy went WFO for about 15 minutes for YT, but the small kind, ranging 5-10lbs. Had 2 hits, landed 1 in the 6lb range. Left that paddy with 12 YT on the boat.
We trolled for another 45 minutes or so, and was double hook-up on the troll right next to a smaller sized paddy. This one went WFO for a good 20 minutes, on YF and Skipjack, in the 15-20lb range. Plenty of YF just free swimming under the boat. It was awesome just seeing them chase all the bait fish everywhere. This stop produced about 25-30 fish total, YF and Skippys.
We left that paddy with the fish still biting. The Captain said there was a huge paddy a few clicks away that had great meter marks from the day before, so we made the gamble. Well it paid off. The next paddy, it was just pure pandemonium. The moment we pulled up to the paddy, we had 10 instant hook-ups. It was ridiculous. All YF, and Skippys, with an occasional dodo. That paddy produced for a good hour, just non-stop. We would drift away and have to reposition about three times to get back to the paddy, but it was just WFO everytime we went back to it. It was bloody decks everywhere! It could not have been any better....or so I thought.
We hit a couple more smaller paddys for the occasional YT/YF. At around 1430, Captain said we were going to make our last stop at a decent sized paddy. Put the trolling gear away as we inched up on it. As soon as everyone rigged up and baited, all hell broke loose. It was a Dodo patch, and they were HUNGRY! You could see 3-4 dodo's all chasing one bait, it was ridiculous. They were hitting anything and everything that was thrown out. It was about 1600 when we pulled away. We were already an hour late back to the docks, but couldn't leave with THAT many Dodo's still biting.
We pulled into the Point at 2130, with the next load of passengers waiting impatiently for their 10pm ship-off. All in all, it was a Legend...wait for it...dary trip.
Also, I just want to point out, the crew on the Prowler were top notched. Even with so many hook-ups, there was always a deckie right next to you for the gaff. They were outstanding. The captain was great too. He was even out there helping with the gaff, and even tying on hooks, and baiting for some. Just outstanding...I don't have one negative thing to say. On the first stop, there was some mis-communication between one of the deckies and a fisherman, and for some reason or another, his pole ended in the water. There was a bunch of crossing lines, so that may be it, but I'm not exactly sure. Anyways, the captain wanted to speak with him at the end of the trip, and told the guy he would buy him a new set-up, regardless of who was at fault. He had a decent setup, Penn 535, and an Ugly stick, so bout $150 or so, but I quite impressed with how things were handled. If you guys want an overnighter, the Prowler is the one to be on, the Captain does not waste any time in putting you on the fish.
For our 17 passengers, here was our count: 41 Yellowfin Tuna, 12 Skipjack Tuna, 34 Dorado, 23 California Yellowtail.
And of course, here is some fish porn.