Odium
10-14-2009, 09:29 AM
First time off shore!
Met up with the charter group over at Newport Landing. Everyone was chatting away and drinking away. This charter allows you to bring your own cooler and beers etc. At 9pm, we finally board the Amigo, pack away our gear, and grab out bunks.
Captain says we'll be fishing mushroom bank. We pick up some "medium"/large sardines(6-8 inchers) and matching sized mackerel for bait. Just about everyone rigs up for fly lining. I do the same and head for my bunk after I finished.
Sunday - FLAT FLAT FLAT!! I think someone said it was 1 foot swells every 20 seconds. I guess Vic's voodoo only works for inshore fishing.
I wake up for the grey light. A few lines are out in the water, but no fish want to play. About 30 minutes later, Captain tells us to pull out the trolling rods. And so we troll and troll and troll. . . annnnd trollllllll some more. Finally! HOOK UP!! Everyone starts rushing for their rods getting ready to fish the slide. But to everyone's disappointment the troller brings in a skipjack. 5 minutes later, no fresh bites. We pick up and start trolling again. . . .
Trolling, trolling, trolling. . . Second hook up!!!! Again, school of one. . . skipjack. . . . about one hour into the trip. . . Morale is dropping. . .
Out go the trollers again. Long troll. then HOOK UP!!!!! Sigh skipjack again. But on the slide, we get a few hits. I'm flylining a butt hooked sardine on the starboard stern corner and then the chartermaster comes and casts out right next to me. About 15 seconds later, i go BENDO!!! And so does the chartemaster. Our lines wrap, I lose tension on my fish and he spits the hook or just pops off. *F-Bomb* I reel back an empty hook, the chartermaster brings in a Blue fin. *Double F-Bomb* I look around the boat on the way back to the bait tank and see about 5 people on. I rebait and get back out there, but I don't get a second chance on this stop. This stop yeilded three albies and two blue fin. MOrale is up!
Out goes the trollers again and we get skipjack hook ups every 30-45 mins, but it's all schools of one. We knock on countless paddies, most are covered in tiny three to four inch bait fish; but no one wants to play. Finally its lunch time, filling our bellies calms the nerves a bit.
After lunch we troll and troll and troll. . . We spot a decent sized paddy compared and slide up on it. Chartermaster comes running out of the galley and bangs his head on the way out, none-the-less he still grabs a rod and goes bendo in about 20 seconds. The paddy produces two yellowtail and nothing else.
Again, same pattern of trolling for schools of one skipjack. The sun is going down and the captain tells us we are running out of daylight for today. We get another jigstrike on a skippy. Half of the anglers are tired of fishing the slide for nothing.
I grab my 20# setup 800XL & SX. I scoping the handwells and find a lively 4-5 sardine, butthook him and send him over the rail. My bait is ripping line off and I'm praying not to get skunked on day one. My bait stops for a second, i give my line a little tug, the bait starts running again, then i get hit hard!!! One . . . Two . . . Three. . . (possibly the longest three seconds of my life) Slap my reel in gear and raise my rod tip up; oh hell ya!! I'm on!!!!!! The fish rips line off my SX, I tighten up the drag a little more and he keeps ripping line off!!!!! I'm looking at the spool and its getting low, so i tightened up a bit more and the fish finally slows up. I start working him back in. Everyone is scrambling for their gear now, a few more people are getting hit. Deckhands are doing a good job keeping everyone on their fish. My fish luckily takes me up towards the bow and I have a ton of rail space all to myself. Takes me a good while to bring mine in and I swear the damn fish circled about fifteen times when he came up to deep color. But, I finally got him up and a nice 16-18 lb Blue Fin goes into my bag!! PHEW!!! NO SKUNK!!!! Then it hit me: OH ****, I JUST LANDED MY FIRST TUNA!!! I think I took too long on my fish, the bite was pretty much over by the time I got my next bait out.
That stop brings in about 12 fish and we all thank God and Poseiden and whoever else we can think of. Captain asks us if we want to fish SCI to fill the sacks or gamble offshore again. The guys vote for offshore again. Jackpot goes to one of the albies.
We grub on a delicious steak dinner and I'm quick to hit my bunk.
Monday - Same water conditions! FLAT FLAT FLAT!!
I wake up a little later today. I basically wake up because the captain says that he is marking some fish under the boat. I rush to get my socks and boots on, get out on deck and cast out a sardine. No one gets any love. So out go the trollers and we go for a nice two hour boat ride. We have a few scenic stops at some paddies. Like the day before, we knock and knock and knock, but no one answers. One guy does luck out and picks up a 7# yellowtail out of a paddy, but he wasn't in on the jackpot.
So we troll and troll and troll. We pick up some more single skippies here an there. Lunch passes us by and everyone is getting antsy; checking their watches and praying we land some quality fish before the captain starts heading back.
Soon after, I need to piss BAD, but I'm up on the trolling rotation. I'm sitting on the stern chatting and praying. Then the captain speeds up. Half of us are like CRAP!!!! Is he heading back in???? We check our watches and it's about our time limit. My heart sinks a bit. Then the captain comes over the PA and says he spotted a school of porpoises and he is going to catch up to them. We have one last chance. So we catch up and everyone on the trolling rotation is staring at their trolling rods. I'm staring and staring and staring, then I hear a clicker as line starts peeling off. -BEEP- it's not my rod. I grind my trolling rig back in and look at the angler who got the jigstrike, looks like he is having a hard time.
A few of the guys who have given up just lazy about the rails. I scramble for my 20#. Anyone else who saw that the angler was having a hard time scrambles for their gear too. Finally, a deckhand yells out, "It looks like the right kind!" then everyone wakes up and runs for their rods. I grab the first sardine I see in the handwells and launch him over the stern. I let him soak wayyyyy far back because the hooked up angler still hasnt brought his fish in. Turns out his drag was wayyyy too loose and he didn't bring the school into the boat. No one picked up on the slide. The angler lands a Yellow Fin and the captain guns it to catch up to the porpoises again.
Next set of trollers are up, I still need to piss but I don't want to miss the bite. Double jig strike and two fresh hook ups on the slide. Crap! No luck for me. Three of the fish come over the rail relatively quickly. One YFT, just does not want to cooperate and sits at color for a long *** time. Captain gets pissed!!!! The fish is finally landed. We are just about out of bait, captain says no trollers. He is going to stop in the middle of the porpoises and this is our last chance.
Everyone crowds the handwells!!! I have a good spot and I single out a sardine into an empty handwell. As soon as the boat slows, my sardine is butthooked and flies over the stern. He's ripping line off and then more and more people send lines out next to me. Then I hear, "FRESH ONE!" and I see a bendo to my left, followed by another to my right. And then two or three more hook ups. I look at my reel and I'm about to say "Where's mine at?" then my bait gets hit! Wait three seconds and toss my reel in gear and I'm on too!! My rod tip is up and I'm looking down range, what do i see? I see all the other bendos in the same direction and some of them are pointed directly at my rod tip. The two deckhands rush in between us and start guiding us out of a potential cluster ****.
My fish takes me up the port side to the bow and then back down the starboard side. He dawdles back and forth on the starboard side and finally takes me back to the port side. I'm not sure if it was my sunglasses or the shadow from the Amigo. But I never saw color on the fish. I was just working the fish in and then SPLASH! a YFT pops up on the surface. Freaking confused, I look to my left and right; no one is around, oh crap its mine. GAFF!!!! I free spool let out a little line and he lays flat. Just like Superman coming to rescue Lois Lane, a deckhand comes and gaffs my YFT in flash. 22-25 lb YFT goes into my sack!!
I grab my 25# and try for another. The guy next to me fishing 40# hooks up and he brings in the last fish of the trip. Fishing was slow this trip, those who fished hard or got lucky (me) brought home some fish, but more than a few anglers got skunked. However, I'll never forget this trip; I picked up two firsts!!
I'll post pictures when i get them.
Amigo - 2 Day
17 Anglers
18 Yellowfin Tuna, 15 Skip Jack, 9 Blue Fin Tuna, 5 Yellowtail, 3 Albacore.
Met up with the charter group over at Newport Landing. Everyone was chatting away and drinking away. This charter allows you to bring your own cooler and beers etc. At 9pm, we finally board the Amigo, pack away our gear, and grab out bunks.
Captain says we'll be fishing mushroom bank. We pick up some "medium"/large sardines(6-8 inchers) and matching sized mackerel for bait. Just about everyone rigs up for fly lining. I do the same and head for my bunk after I finished.
Sunday - FLAT FLAT FLAT!! I think someone said it was 1 foot swells every 20 seconds. I guess Vic's voodoo only works for inshore fishing.
I wake up for the grey light. A few lines are out in the water, but no fish want to play. About 30 minutes later, Captain tells us to pull out the trolling rods. And so we troll and troll and troll. . . annnnd trollllllll some more. Finally! HOOK UP!! Everyone starts rushing for their rods getting ready to fish the slide. But to everyone's disappointment the troller brings in a skipjack. 5 minutes later, no fresh bites. We pick up and start trolling again. . . .
Trolling, trolling, trolling. . . Second hook up!!!! Again, school of one. . . skipjack. . . . about one hour into the trip. . . Morale is dropping. . .
Out go the trollers again. Long troll. then HOOK UP!!!!! Sigh skipjack again. But on the slide, we get a few hits. I'm flylining a butt hooked sardine on the starboard stern corner and then the chartermaster comes and casts out right next to me. About 15 seconds later, i go BENDO!!! And so does the chartemaster. Our lines wrap, I lose tension on my fish and he spits the hook or just pops off. *F-Bomb* I reel back an empty hook, the chartermaster brings in a Blue fin. *Double F-Bomb* I look around the boat on the way back to the bait tank and see about 5 people on. I rebait and get back out there, but I don't get a second chance on this stop. This stop yeilded three albies and two blue fin. MOrale is up!
Out goes the trollers again and we get skipjack hook ups every 30-45 mins, but it's all schools of one. We knock on countless paddies, most are covered in tiny three to four inch bait fish; but no one wants to play. Finally its lunch time, filling our bellies calms the nerves a bit.
After lunch we troll and troll and troll. . . We spot a decent sized paddy compared and slide up on it. Chartermaster comes running out of the galley and bangs his head on the way out, none-the-less he still grabs a rod and goes bendo in about 20 seconds. The paddy produces two yellowtail and nothing else.
Again, same pattern of trolling for schools of one skipjack. The sun is going down and the captain tells us we are running out of daylight for today. We get another jigstrike on a skippy. Half of the anglers are tired of fishing the slide for nothing.
I grab my 20# setup 800XL & SX. I scoping the handwells and find a lively 4-5 sardine, butthook him and send him over the rail. My bait is ripping line off and I'm praying not to get skunked on day one. My bait stops for a second, i give my line a little tug, the bait starts running again, then i get hit hard!!! One . . . Two . . . Three. . . (possibly the longest three seconds of my life) Slap my reel in gear and raise my rod tip up; oh hell ya!! I'm on!!!!!! The fish rips line off my SX, I tighten up the drag a little more and he keeps ripping line off!!!!! I'm looking at the spool and its getting low, so i tightened up a bit more and the fish finally slows up. I start working him back in. Everyone is scrambling for their gear now, a few more people are getting hit. Deckhands are doing a good job keeping everyone on their fish. My fish luckily takes me up towards the bow and I have a ton of rail space all to myself. Takes me a good while to bring mine in and I swear the damn fish circled about fifteen times when he came up to deep color. But, I finally got him up and a nice 16-18 lb Blue Fin goes into my bag!! PHEW!!! NO SKUNK!!!! Then it hit me: OH ****, I JUST LANDED MY FIRST TUNA!!! I think I took too long on my fish, the bite was pretty much over by the time I got my next bait out.
That stop brings in about 12 fish and we all thank God and Poseiden and whoever else we can think of. Captain asks us if we want to fish SCI to fill the sacks or gamble offshore again. The guys vote for offshore again. Jackpot goes to one of the albies.
We grub on a delicious steak dinner and I'm quick to hit my bunk.
Monday - Same water conditions! FLAT FLAT FLAT!!
I wake up a little later today. I basically wake up because the captain says that he is marking some fish under the boat. I rush to get my socks and boots on, get out on deck and cast out a sardine. No one gets any love. So out go the trollers and we go for a nice two hour boat ride. We have a few scenic stops at some paddies. Like the day before, we knock and knock and knock, but no one answers. One guy does luck out and picks up a 7# yellowtail out of a paddy, but he wasn't in on the jackpot.
So we troll and troll and troll. We pick up some more single skippies here an there. Lunch passes us by and everyone is getting antsy; checking their watches and praying we land some quality fish before the captain starts heading back.
Soon after, I need to piss BAD, but I'm up on the trolling rotation. I'm sitting on the stern chatting and praying. Then the captain speeds up. Half of us are like CRAP!!!! Is he heading back in???? We check our watches and it's about our time limit. My heart sinks a bit. Then the captain comes over the PA and says he spotted a school of porpoises and he is going to catch up to them. We have one last chance. So we catch up and everyone on the trolling rotation is staring at their trolling rods. I'm staring and staring and staring, then I hear a clicker as line starts peeling off. -BEEP- it's not my rod. I grind my trolling rig back in and look at the angler who got the jigstrike, looks like he is having a hard time.
A few of the guys who have given up just lazy about the rails. I scramble for my 20#. Anyone else who saw that the angler was having a hard time scrambles for their gear too. Finally, a deckhand yells out, "It looks like the right kind!" then everyone wakes up and runs for their rods. I grab the first sardine I see in the handwells and launch him over the stern. I let him soak wayyyyy far back because the hooked up angler still hasnt brought his fish in. Turns out his drag was wayyyy too loose and he didn't bring the school into the boat. No one picked up on the slide. The angler lands a Yellow Fin and the captain guns it to catch up to the porpoises again.
Next set of trollers are up, I still need to piss but I don't want to miss the bite. Double jig strike and two fresh hook ups on the slide. Crap! No luck for me. Three of the fish come over the rail relatively quickly. One YFT, just does not want to cooperate and sits at color for a long *** time. Captain gets pissed!!!! The fish is finally landed. We are just about out of bait, captain says no trollers. He is going to stop in the middle of the porpoises and this is our last chance.
Everyone crowds the handwells!!! I have a good spot and I single out a sardine into an empty handwell. As soon as the boat slows, my sardine is butthooked and flies over the stern. He's ripping line off and then more and more people send lines out next to me. Then I hear, "FRESH ONE!" and I see a bendo to my left, followed by another to my right. And then two or three more hook ups. I look at my reel and I'm about to say "Where's mine at?" then my bait gets hit! Wait three seconds and toss my reel in gear and I'm on too!! My rod tip is up and I'm looking down range, what do i see? I see all the other bendos in the same direction and some of them are pointed directly at my rod tip. The two deckhands rush in between us and start guiding us out of a potential cluster ****.
My fish takes me up the port side to the bow and then back down the starboard side. He dawdles back and forth on the starboard side and finally takes me back to the port side. I'm not sure if it was my sunglasses or the shadow from the Amigo. But I never saw color on the fish. I was just working the fish in and then SPLASH! a YFT pops up on the surface. Freaking confused, I look to my left and right; no one is around, oh crap its mine. GAFF!!!! I free spool let out a little line and he lays flat. Just like Superman coming to rescue Lois Lane, a deckhand comes and gaffs my YFT in flash. 22-25 lb YFT goes into my sack!!
I grab my 25# and try for another. The guy next to me fishing 40# hooks up and he brings in the last fish of the trip. Fishing was slow this trip, those who fished hard or got lucky (me) brought home some fish, but more than a few anglers got skunked. However, I'll never forget this trip; I picked up two firsts!!
I'll post pictures when i get them.
Amigo - 2 Day
17 Anglers
18 Yellowfin Tuna, 15 Skip Jack, 9 Blue Fin Tuna, 5 Yellowtail, 3 Albacore.