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ffunluving
07-13-2007, 07:13 PM
Greetings Fishermen and women. This was my first overnight saltwater trip and first time on the Freedom. Got to the landing and only 18 reservations...ah a good start. At 10:00, there were 41 people on the boat...oh well at least I get to fish.

Wondered what it would be like to sleep on the boat...not bad once you fall asleep. Next morning the sound of the motor shutting down wakes me. Jump into my boots and ready to fish.

Wow, it's really windy. The captain told us we're after yellow tail today and they haven't been biting until late morning. Well, he was right. First few stops result in one farmed yt and a fly-lined halibut being the only fish boated.

We are hooking up quite regularily with sea lions. The fin bait is nice sized, but very lethargic (only had about three runners all day) and every other cast the bait is bitten in half. This continued throughout the day. We would only stay at each place for an hour at most before the number of hungry sea lions would force us to relocate.

Started getting a few more bites about 9:00 and finally there's a yt flopping on the deck. Here's a brief summation of what occurs at each stop for the rest of the day. Drop anchor, within about 10 minutes a small flurry of bites resulting in two yt on the boat and one being munched by a sea lion. Then nothing. Crank up the anchor.

Here's a pix of today's total catch of 15 yt. Not much size which was disappointing as I understand San Clemente often produces some old guard.

http://fishingnetwork.net/images/tmp2/fish40

Fortunately, the wind died somewhat at about 11:00. I landed my first yt soon after. It was a double hook up with the guy next to me getting hit at the exact same time. We both managed to land our fish (the only ones at that stop). I also got lucky at out last stop of the day with another yt a little larger than the first. I was #6 for the day so here's a pix of my fish.

http://fishingnetwork.net/images/tmp2/myfish50.jpg

I also caught a 15-inch calico and 27-inch barracuda. I think there were two barris caught and 40 calicos. Most on the smaller side, but a few over three-lbs. All the yt were caught on fly lined fin bait. Most of the calicos were caught on lead head and squid.

Not quite the type of production I hoped for, but it was a pretty good group of people on the boat and I was fortunate to bring fish home when most didn't catch any.

Have to give the Freedom crew a big thumbs up as the captain kept moving and trying to put us on fish. The deckhands were all over the place untangling lines and gaffing fish. Here's a pix for those of you who haven't seen the boat.

http://fishingnetwork.net/images/tmp2/freedom50.jpg

Hope to get out there again soon and file another report. Best of luck to all of you.

WalePescado
07-13-2007, 07:22 PM
I've fished the Freedom once and they put way too many people on that boat, especially for an island trip. If you do anything other than dropper loop fishing, it is a clusterf&*k on that boat. You *might* get away with it on an offshore trip as it is a decent sized boat, but you need to pray for a something-other-than-stern-first drift.

Glad to see you got a couple 'tails anyhow! Congrats on the first one (and two).

P.S.
You DID eat the heart right? 8)

4g63power
07-13-2007, 07:26 PM
good job on the tails...i bet you were stoked

ThanksKK
07-13-2007, 08:10 PM
are there enuf beds for 41 people? (never been on an overnighter). what part of the island were you fishing?

JapanRon
07-13-2007, 10:03 PM
Hi ffunluving,

Nice report and congrats on the fishys.

thanks, enjoyed the read.

JapanRon

halo16
07-13-2007, 10:35 PM
Wow 2 yellows on your first overnight when the boat had that many people, Good going!

I think the max load the freedom takes is 42, so you had a full boat.
I agree with WalePescado, that the freedom packs them in and wont go unless theres usually over 25 people, they rarely go with an open party lite load, it seems..

Good going I hear the seals at Clemente have been a big problem lately with the fin bait in action and no squid. So good going it took some boat and anglers effort.

seanboi
07-14-2007, 12:02 AM
great job on the fish!!!! that is an excellant boat last time i went on it i got 1 yellow 10 calicos and a ling.

halijedi
07-14-2007, 12:02 AM
Nice going out there. I haven't fished the Freedom in ages. Is Tommy and his wife still running the boat?

Custard
07-14-2007, 12:32 AM
nice fishing with you :D

thanks for the pictures BTW

got one little baby :wink:
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e372/Custard09/yeller1.jpg

plumbertom
07-14-2007, 08:43 AM
My experiance on the Freedom has always been positive even taking into consideration the number anglers that are on board.
It's a good sized boat and unless you are intent on fishing off the stern there is plenty of room.
A good captian and crew that works hard make a lot of diference on a crowded trip. The proper attitude by experanced party boaters that are willing to advise and guide the greenbacks helps also.
Short of spending the extra money for a limited load trip the Freedom offers a good value.

ffunluving
07-15-2007, 08:08 PM
Hey Guys....They had 48 on the Freedom today, so I guess there isn't a limit although I think it only has 42 bunks. On one hand, it's difficult to fish with that many. When someone hooks up everyone wants to cast over his shoulder. Plus, you always get a few who don't follow their lines. On the other hand, the boat owner is trying to make $$$.

I agree with Plumbertom that the crew really tries to keep things running smoothly. When you hook up, they follow you and move people when necessary and cut lines. I had several lines wrapped on mine and still got the fish in.

Yes, Tom is still there, although his wife wasn't on this trip. I think the other captain's name was Woody. They moved around alot to try and find fish. Conditions were not ideal, bait was lethargic and swamped with seals. I was really fortunate to boat two.

This was my first overnight on the Freedom, but not my first yt so I didn't eat the hearts. Have to admit, I couldn't be convinced to do that when I did catch my first.

I think anyone who pays $120 and doesn't catch fish is going to be unhappy no matter how many on the boat or how hard the crew works. I've been going out for awhile on 3/4 and 1/2 boats, so I've seen different crews and captains. I would go out on the Freedom again as they really tried to find fish and help rig tackle or whatever so we could catch them.

Hey Gus, great meeting you and I'll see you on the 3/4 soon. Good job on the yt too.

Here's the fish pix that somehow didin't make it in last post...

http://fishingnetwork.net/images/tmp2/allfish.jpg