Tunaslam
07-08-2012, 03:11 PM
Fishing on the Aztec, out of Seaforth Landing on a 1.5-Day trip: that left Friday night on 07-06-12, returning Sunday morning at 8am. I left my office in San Bernardino at 3:45 pm, arriving Mission Bay at 5:45pm. The boat’s departure time was 8pm. Captain Mikey expected a light load and we left on time with 16 anglers.
I woke up late at 5:30 am to the smell of fresh brewing Coffee and Bacon on the grill, sweet. It was already after grey light and Captain Mikey announced the trolling rotation. Cook John’o built up our appetite with, the aroma stimulating our hunger sensors. Breakfast consisted of a choice of Bacon, Eggs, and Cheese Burritos, or just Bacon or Sausage, Eggs and Toast. I asked Johno if he could prepare a Sausage, Cheese, and Bacon Omelet, and he accommodated me, yum, yum!
It was already blowing 10 knots, with light popcorn on the horizon; fortunately the seas were only 1+ feet. We had traveled down over 90 miles and it was time to find the right Kelp Paddy to fill the sacks with Yellowtail. We trolled for about 1.5 hours before second ticket Matt spotted a big Paddy, amazingly some 1 mile away. It sure pays to have good eyes on the water?
As we approached the big Kelp Paddy, Captain Mikey announced holy mackerel, this Kelp is loaded, use the heavy line! It was absolutely pandemonium; every bait in the water was instantly inhaled. I started with 30 lb. test, was bit immediately, put the small Yellowtail on the boat. Tossed another bait, same drill, put a second fish on the boat, then I got cut off. Grabbed the 50 lb. outfit, hooked the fish, and again got cut off. You looked down in the water, the Tails were everywhere.
I passed Mike who was putting fish after fish on the boat with the Iron, so I tossed my jig and didn’t even get 30 feet deep, when I was bit. I brought the fish in and bounced the fish over the rail. Most of the Yellowtail were between 6 and 10 pounds, with a few reaching 12 pounds. It was a total frenzy for about 20 minutes. Captain Mikey went back to the Kelp Paddy for a second shot at the fish. He announced there were lots of fish on the meter, go get them. The bite was very much reduced with another ten Yellowtail boated. One more pass to the Paddy produced a couple more Tails and that was it. The final count for this bite was 55 Tails, yee ha! The gang with the results:
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i394/tunaslam/Aztec/100_2214640x480.jpg
My good friend Rick with a decent sized Yellowtail:
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i394/tunaslam/Aztec/100_2215640x480.jpg
I didn’t get a picture of my limit of Tails, as the biggest was maybe 8 pounds. I also release a couple of 6 pounders.
It was now 9:30am; we were about 100 miles down. Wind was now between 12 and 15 knots. Mother wind just won’t give us a break? The reports were that the Bluefin Tuna were being caught between 150 and 180 miles down, too far for us. At the end of the day, the First String on a 3 day trip at 150+ miles had caught 21 Bluefin, the best count we heard of.
Captain Mikey stated that so far most of the Kelp Paddies being fished yielded few Yellowtail. Water temps ranged between 62.54 and 64 degrees. We worked our way down to 115 miles before heading north. We scratched up another dozen Yellowtail off 3 or 4 Kelp Paddies, before turning north. SAC provided an airplane spotter plane to those who were members, including the Aztec. The spotter plane set us up on a kelp, which yielded a couple of more Tails. The plane announced that the better sign of Kelp Paddies were in the 90 to 100 mile range. It was time to head north. Winds were now approaching 20 knots, and the uphill track was a challenge.
Charlie had the Jackpot Yellowtail so far:
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i394/tunaslam/Aztec/100_2216640x480.jpg
Cook Johno announced lunch was on. Many choices of Sandwiches, however, I chose a double Cheeseburger and yeah it was sensational, huge burger paddies, fresh Lettuce, Tomatoes, Cheese, Mayo, Mustard and Ketchup, wow.
We trolled and trolled. We stopped on a few Kelp Paddies here and there, maybe adding one or two Yellowtail to the count. At about 3pm Nick and I both got slammed on the next Kelp Paddy we stopped on. My Tail was only six pounds, which I released, one of five I released, after putting five in the sack. Nick had hooked a big’n, and it fought real hard. A great Gaff by Matt and Nick put this Jackpot fish on the boat:
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i394/tunaslam/Aztec/100_2218640x480.jpg
The weather was unrelenting, blow, blow, and blow. Seas were building and spotting Kelp was very difficult. We scratched out limits on the Yellowtail; however, despite a few good readings on the Bluefin, none were caught. It was a very long afternoon in rough seas, then the sun set and it was over, darn.
Cook Johno served up a fantastic Top Sirloin dinner, cooked medium rare to perfection, including Carrots, Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Salad. Desert was Chocolate Chip Ice Cream.
The crew of Matt, Nathan and Mike worked their tails off to provide excellent service to all, kudos guys, you did a great job! Thanks so much Captain Mikey for a great adventure, despite windy conditions. Hope we find the Tuna on the chew and the seas calm on our next adventure together.
Hook up!
Cory
I woke up late at 5:30 am to the smell of fresh brewing Coffee and Bacon on the grill, sweet. It was already after grey light and Captain Mikey announced the trolling rotation. Cook John’o built up our appetite with, the aroma stimulating our hunger sensors. Breakfast consisted of a choice of Bacon, Eggs, and Cheese Burritos, or just Bacon or Sausage, Eggs and Toast. I asked Johno if he could prepare a Sausage, Cheese, and Bacon Omelet, and he accommodated me, yum, yum!
It was already blowing 10 knots, with light popcorn on the horizon; fortunately the seas were only 1+ feet. We had traveled down over 90 miles and it was time to find the right Kelp Paddy to fill the sacks with Yellowtail. We trolled for about 1.5 hours before second ticket Matt spotted a big Paddy, amazingly some 1 mile away. It sure pays to have good eyes on the water?
As we approached the big Kelp Paddy, Captain Mikey announced holy mackerel, this Kelp is loaded, use the heavy line! It was absolutely pandemonium; every bait in the water was instantly inhaled. I started with 30 lb. test, was bit immediately, put the small Yellowtail on the boat. Tossed another bait, same drill, put a second fish on the boat, then I got cut off. Grabbed the 50 lb. outfit, hooked the fish, and again got cut off. You looked down in the water, the Tails were everywhere.
I passed Mike who was putting fish after fish on the boat with the Iron, so I tossed my jig and didn’t even get 30 feet deep, when I was bit. I brought the fish in and bounced the fish over the rail. Most of the Yellowtail were between 6 and 10 pounds, with a few reaching 12 pounds. It was a total frenzy for about 20 minutes. Captain Mikey went back to the Kelp Paddy for a second shot at the fish. He announced there were lots of fish on the meter, go get them. The bite was very much reduced with another ten Yellowtail boated. One more pass to the Paddy produced a couple more Tails and that was it. The final count for this bite was 55 Tails, yee ha! The gang with the results:
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i394/tunaslam/Aztec/100_2214640x480.jpg
My good friend Rick with a decent sized Yellowtail:
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i394/tunaslam/Aztec/100_2215640x480.jpg
I didn’t get a picture of my limit of Tails, as the biggest was maybe 8 pounds. I also release a couple of 6 pounders.
It was now 9:30am; we were about 100 miles down. Wind was now between 12 and 15 knots. Mother wind just won’t give us a break? The reports were that the Bluefin Tuna were being caught between 150 and 180 miles down, too far for us. At the end of the day, the First String on a 3 day trip at 150+ miles had caught 21 Bluefin, the best count we heard of.
Captain Mikey stated that so far most of the Kelp Paddies being fished yielded few Yellowtail. Water temps ranged between 62.54 and 64 degrees. We worked our way down to 115 miles before heading north. We scratched up another dozen Yellowtail off 3 or 4 Kelp Paddies, before turning north. SAC provided an airplane spotter plane to those who were members, including the Aztec. The spotter plane set us up on a kelp, which yielded a couple of more Tails. The plane announced that the better sign of Kelp Paddies were in the 90 to 100 mile range. It was time to head north. Winds were now approaching 20 knots, and the uphill track was a challenge.
Charlie had the Jackpot Yellowtail so far:
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i394/tunaslam/Aztec/100_2216640x480.jpg
Cook Johno announced lunch was on. Many choices of Sandwiches, however, I chose a double Cheeseburger and yeah it was sensational, huge burger paddies, fresh Lettuce, Tomatoes, Cheese, Mayo, Mustard and Ketchup, wow.
We trolled and trolled. We stopped on a few Kelp Paddies here and there, maybe adding one or two Yellowtail to the count. At about 3pm Nick and I both got slammed on the next Kelp Paddy we stopped on. My Tail was only six pounds, which I released, one of five I released, after putting five in the sack. Nick had hooked a big’n, and it fought real hard. A great Gaff by Matt and Nick put this Jackpot fish on the boat:
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i394/tunaslam/Aztec/100_2218640x480.jpg
The weather was unrelenting, blow, blow, and blow. Seas were building and spotting Kelp was very difficult. We scratched out limits on the Yellowtail; however, despite a few good readings on the Bluefin, none were caught. It was a very long afternoon in rough seas, then the sun set and it was over, darn.
Cook Johno served up a fantastic Top Sirloin dinner, cooked medium rare to perfection, including Carrots, Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Salad. Desert was Chocolate Chip Ice Cream.
The crew of Matt, Nathan and Mike worked their tails off to provide excellent service to all, kudos guys, you did a great job! Thanks so much Captain Mikey for a great adventure, despite windy conditions. Hope we find the Tuna on the chew and the seas calm on our next adventure together.
Hook up!
Cory