JapanRon
09-08-2007, 10:25 AM
Headed Out For Some Island Fishing!
Hi there guys, First Posting Got Accidently Deleted !!
Thursday 08/23
Went on a K of C Anglers Club overnight charter trip out of Dana Wharf Sportfishing. Fished the Fury for an overnighter with 25 club members to San Clemente for the usual targets. Departure was Wednesday evening at 10pm with a return at 7:30pm Thursday. Rick Doesburg was the skipper, with Skip Driggers as 2nd ticket/relief, while Mike and Sean were doing deck duties, and last but not least ….. deckie Matt doing both decking and crossing-guard duties this trip. Galley duties were shared. Plenty of fishin’ room as the boat is certified for 65 anglers. (See boat details for full specs)
Note: Countdown: September 22nd will be the second FREE FISHING DAY this year for everyone in California. It would be a great day to get a non-angler out on the water while saving a little cash!
Target Species:Yellowtail and Bass
Short Report- Thursday 08/23
On fish landed, our 25 anglers (22 adults and 3 youngsters) caught 3 Yellowtail to 18 pounds, 1 Sculpin, 1 Barracuda, 85 Calico Bass … with many, many real whoppers 6~7lbs, 16 Bonito to 4lbs, 17 Sheephead, 17 Whitefish, lots of Halfmoon and a few assorted Rockfish. Smallish Calicos could be caught at almost every cast ……. of plastic swimbaits anyways.
Finbait consisted of quality medium-sized Anchovies (3-inches) and good-sized Sardines…… in good condition from a cursory glance. (Sorry, I didn’t take extra care in checking out the bait.) And ….the crew, putting out the extra effort at dark-thirty, did manage to braile some live Squid. Excellent effort guys!! We had the ammo.
Estimated Travel Time: 5 hours to San Clemente Islands’ Pyramid Cove and at the end of the trip 5 hours on the return from the island to Dana Harbor.
Time Check: Left the dock at 10pm, baited up, and got to the island at about 2am. Most started fishing the ‘gray’ which was probably around 5:30am. The Batray King …. started earlier!!
Most of us fished a good 9 hours out of the total time (22 hours) on the water. Excellent. A couple of guys trolled during our motoring to various spots around the island but came up empty on anything spectacular. A number of fish were caught by these guys upon circling a prospective place to drop the hook.
Pulled the hook for the last time at 2:30pm to head back to the barn, setting up the bumpers at our 7:30pm target. Right on the money. Leaving Dana at 8pm, I was back home in Lakewood at exactly 9pm …………at 65mph!! Awesome!
(Please widen your view to fit monitor if word-wrap looks off)
08/23 Jackpot
Last Call ………………....Winner!
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Yellowtail
Way to go on catching the jackpot fish Jim! A Yellowtail, caught by Jim Herrera, was the winner today. The near 18-lb fish was caught on a bait setup!! Little surprise there ….. as the bait tends to get the Yellowtail and the bigger fish to boot.
Long Report
Travel
50 Miles Out …………………………………………….Pyramid Cove & Frontside
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At the Landing
Dana Wharf Line
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Old Times
As I hadn’t been out of this harbor in quite a while, it was kind of fun to get to the landing a little early (for me early is 4 or 5 hours) and check out where this and that was located. Found the landing easily … and got in the right gratis parking area for their patrons …….. with a little clarification and a pass provided at the office.
Spent a little time fly fishing over at the little park across the way from the landing….. for Nada !!! Talked to some tubers that had just gotten out of the water. They did ok for 2 hours fishing.
The Line
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Boarding the Boat
Boarded the boat at 9:20pm, after the skipper/crew and our chartermaster had a little pre-boarding pow-wow, and then did the sign in thing right away. Crew was super-polite and efficient … on getting checked in and questions answered. Then there was the check for fishing licenses … these guys were serious …. when asked a second time (I wrongly assumed it was visible) , I kinda felt like I was in the wrong line at Ellis Island I was also given a number …. but it was quickly explained that this was just for the bag and galley. Whew !! j/k Really upbeat crew.
It took very little time to stow gear, find a bunk, and be ready for the trip out. Translation= head for the galley to play cards. Looking at all the gear …. I thought 60 guys must have brought everything they owned but nope it was just our 25!! After finishing the head-count, we got our safety message and quick confirmation of what we had decided to do from the skipper as he announced there would be a further meeting in the galley. Cast off to head for the bait receiver 100 meters away.
Bait
With our departure at night, and being distracted in the galley, I didn’t get my usual bait-up shots. For what it’s worth, the bait barge was but a stones throw away! We got a mix of Anchovies and Sardines. No idea if the dines were cured or not but they lasted the trip so …..
Bait Receiver and Boat
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Nice Dines!…………………….… Clemente Squid
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Angler’s Meeting
Ok ….. all ready to play cards …… nope …… we have an anlgers meeting headed by Skip the 2nd ticket. The 2nd ticket ?? …. you know …. the lucky guy that gets to stay up, while everyone else has gone to sleepytown …. and drive the boat all night!
On the meeting: Again, safety on the boat was reiterated as being of everyone’s number-one concern besides having fun. Areas to watch footing and sundry cautions as well locations to be potentially fished, the gear to use, and what way of fishing was doing the best on recent trips were covered. Had a little question and answer period to settle any doubts on do’s and don’ts. Being a club charter, the crew had a great laziefaire attitude towards guys like me that wanted to use light tackle, fish plastics, target whatever, even use braid was Oked ….. as long as it was acceptable to the group. No worry to me, I’m pretty heavy, so it would take a couple of guys to throw me over the side anyways!
The Days Fishing
Having played cards straight through from night till morning ….. it wasn’t hard to stir, go out on deck and make out a number of shapes already at the rail. The Batray King was providing the action on his third Batray of the morning. Gotta give him credit … we were told that it was pretty much the ‘Devilfish During the Dark’, and sure enough he went for ‘em!! Couldn’t have seen a happier angler!
Happy anglers was what we saw for the rest of the day.
With details below, a summary of the days fishing can only be put into a single word … well …. a single hyphenated word …. Most-Excellent!
Grazing in the Pasture
Moo-moos This Trip
Moo!!……………………………….................. Mooo
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Nice Boat!!
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Round-Up
Fishing Along the Island
1st
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2nd
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3rd
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4th
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3 Rounds
1st Part
Round 1 With the overcast morning sky reluctantly lightening up at bit, we see that a couple of other moo-moos were grazing in the Pyramid Cove pasture. We gave it a try while still at anchor with what would be our standard setups for the day. That is … Anchovies on the dropper loop setup, Sardines on either a Carolina rig with a 1/4oz sliding-egg sinker or fly-lined, and of course the iron and leadhead/plastics.
If I remember correctly, we were catching mostly cookie-cutter, dink Calicos with a few legals in the mix. Then …. After going thru 3 colors … I got my first fish or should I say hit and run …. on a 4-inch, Kalin with green metalflake body/black back. Using a 12lb-test fluorocarbon leader was not the reason for the fish busting off. The tiny swivel made of fine wire cut through the knot (double-wrapped over the eyelet) connecting it to the main line. Bye !!
We made two short moves to other spots in the cove before we decided that the yellows were not on the chew there and moved (stopping here and there) to the front of the island. Pretty sure that colder and or dirty~er water cinched the decision. Sorry Rick if memory doesn’t serve!!
2nd Part
Round 2 In a nutshell, we spent most of our fishing time moving from spot to spot picking up fish here and there. Lots of nice looking water with ledges and kelp streamer fences surrounding the more tempting dark water. Those fishing bait were just killing the big Calicos while my plastics were just getting the leftovers ….. or so it seemed! Ha ha A number of spots held more than just one species in numbers so it was interesting to see just what came up on the dropper loop and plastics!!
Yellows were busting out of casting range pretty regularly but they weren’t worth chasing … as I suspect that’s about all you’d be doing!! The usual Bass splashes in the matted kelp made for tempting targets too. The dogs were pretty thick from the get-go and took a number of fish … including one of mine on the very last cast of the day ………. on the boat.
3rd Part
Round 3 As is often the case, we must have pretty much decided that the place we would end the day should be sat on to see what develops. And …. It was one of the spots we had previously fished with moderate results. One thing cool about ocean-fishing is that when the current changes … chances are that one’s fortunes will change too! Sometimes good sometimes …. Anywho, that was a good call as the fishing …. er …. catching was best at that last spot. Left the island on a bright note!!
Finding no further words to describe our catching/action’ fish after fish’ may sound strange but … we simply had non-stop action and things just kinda melted into one experience.
Gallery
Beauties of the Trip
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Fish & Anglers
Jimmy’s YT ……...........…Mike’s YT ……………........Rich’s YT …………..........Calicos!
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Roger’s Fish ………..More Calicos ……… Skip & Winning Fish …........... Mike and Deckie!
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Other
Jim’s Fish ……………………………...........White Roof ……………………….........................Cute Birdie
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Let Them Know
The photos above are just a sample of the fish and things of interest, at least to me, on this trip. Note: If you see a friend in the pictures, let them know they can copy the photo off the report. Directions: Click the right button with the ‘cursor’ on the picture, then click on ‘save picture as’, next choose where they wish to copy the picture, and lastly click ‘save’. Later, they can edit and print the picture at their leisure with a simple photo-editing program that comes with Microsoft Windows.
Plastics Only Fishin’
Plastics Large and Small
4-inch Kalin’s, Jerk-its, FT’s & BH Models ..5-inch Models
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Day’s Results
Target Species
Yellowtail
I hooked the first Yellowtail that I lost … in the early morning …….at Pyramid Cove. Yes, on plastic!! Why did I lose it …. A thin-wire swivel cut though the main-line knot.
I caught bass after bass just …. nothing really big on my 4” swimbaits. Most colors worked but whatever in green seemed to be the ticket. With the areas we were fishing, being fairly shallow and having lots of kelp and structure, I soon abandoned the ¾ oz leadheads, did well on the ½ oz heads, but went to the ¼ oz swimmer heads in an attempt to keep the swimbait up on top as long as possible. Seems to go over the kelp strands a little better too … depending on how they’re laid down. Still no big fish!!
OK … big fish, big bait … Right !! NOT !! I pulled out some bigger baits I had been saving for just such an occasion and began to chunk the 5~6-inch Fish Traps and a couple of Big Hammers. (To me … six inches is BIG!!) Ahem … Ok, so after about an hour of trading off colors, retrieves, leader lb-tests and finally a round of begging, threatening, and crying …….
I gave up and went back to my smaller offerings and dink-land. Some …. Days Grrrrrrrr!!!
Last cast of the day, I hooked what I think was a small Yellowtail….. not a Bonito. After getting fishy near the boat, fishy made a run right under the boat then ……that ominous, un-real loading-up of the rod ….. slow, steady pull told me percentages were high that fishy was grabbed by a Sealion ….. that’s maybe 10 cranks from the boat and that’s right under the boat. My rod was loaded precariously and line was then heading for the land of ‘spooled’. I free-spooled for a few seconds hoping fishy would make a break for it on his or her own but I felt no tail beats (or otherwise) so considering the Ambassaduer 6500 C reel and 15lb-test line … stopping capability, I committed ‘thumb-on-spooliside’ and broke off the fish……… as we were pull out!! Yes, On plastics!
Cuda
Fished for the creatures a short time on the more open water stops but caught none. Threw the ol’ reliable red leadhead and clear w/red metalflake 4” Balms a minimum of 15 times a major stop. Thought the bonies would have attacked!!
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Bonito
Yes, I caught one Bonito and was able to avoid some others and Mackerel as I wanted to catch that one Barracuda, a Yellowtail, and Calicos. Boneheads literally strip the tails off ones plastics leaving only the leadhead and body of the swimbait. They love those Blams!!
Calico Bass
Yes, caught more fish than I could count. Sometimes 6, 7, 8 casts in a row … all resulting in a bass is good fishing! Got good a slacking the smaller fish. No real big fish for me.
Fishing the Plastics
Figuring any yellows would be pretty skittish on the rubber, I concentrated on making long-distance casts, and fishing the fall with 12lb-test fluorocarbon, lite leadheads, and 4-inch swimbaits when fishing for them. Both yt hook-ups were way out!! I spent a lot of time searching the water and water column carefully fishing the fall and not going after a quick-reaction bite.
Fished the Barracuda with a straight cast and fast, top-water retrieve for a few ruined Blams. Slowed down then ………..nada!!
Seems like we had to adjust our fishing to the structure we were fishing for Calicos. Ya Think?? What I mean is that …. it didn’t seem like the fish were reacting to the bait as I might have thought. After a bit of chumming you usually expect fish to come up the water column a bit but this was not the case …. In my experience.
Tiring of the smaller bass, I went ahead and began to throw larger (to me) 5~6-inch FT’s and BH’s in a variety of colors …… for nada! Fished the bigger baits for a single decent sized fish! Went back to the smaller stuff in two moves encompassing a little over an hour.
Thursday Out There
Lunar! ………………………………………………Tides
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UV Alert!
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Thursday’s Conditions
Fishing Grounds: Had little boat traffic today. Saw about 3 moo-moos and 4 Pbers. All in all, the water was calm and weather gave us June-gloom all day long!!
Wild Creatures: Saw a few Sealions steal Yellowtail. Cormorants, Terns, and Seagulls were around …….. especially when it was time to clean fish.
Asides
An Aside:
I was struck by the way this crew worked together. It didn’t seem like anyone (other than actually operating the boat) had just one job or did only one thing to the exclusion of other jobs. Members of the crew appeared to do whatever was needed to be done …. then and there.
Maybe it was decided but if it was it was a pretty seamless operation. Sure gave one the impression that there would be assistance …. whatever the need.
Another Aside:
With 5~6 in our group playing cards all night, 1 took a chance to take a break and check out the crew hauling out the high-intensity lights and the braile nets in hopes of scoring on the Squid. Although a big-time float did not occur … the crew managed enough of the squirters to make things interesting ……. if we ran into some solid Yellowtail signs.
Simply looking down into the clear water to 20 or 30 feet, it was fascinating to see the various creatures that were attracted to the light and those that were attracted to the creatures that were attracted to the light! Soooooo no really large fish appeared but ….. there sure were a lot of different shapes, swimming different patterns at different depths. If you have a chance, and can manage to stay out of the way of the guys getting the Squid, check out what comes swimming nearby.
Last Aside:
I noticed an interesting placard displayed for the patrons attention. It was … in essence … a notice indicating that anglers were both liable for their actions and also accepted responsibility for their actions on board. Don’t know how binding the device actually might be but ……… it was an excellent guide to the expected behavior on the boat by both the crew and fellow anglers!! Bravo !
The Boat
The Fury
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Overview
The Fury is a boat that is available for trips ranging from ¾-day ~ 2-days. She is rated/licensed for Inshore (IN), Coastal Local (CL), Coastal Amended (CA), and Off-Shore (OS). I guess she'll go just about where-ever to return within the chartered 2 days !!
The Fury is a wooden boat of classic design. 65 feet in length, having a 22 foot wide beam, a hull depth of a tad over 5 feet, and a freeboard (rail top to water at the stern) of about 10~11 feet. Her giddy-up is supplied by a pair of new, recently installed Cummings which push the vessel at a respectable 9~11 knots.
Did I mention she is immaculately maintained. All wood-work …. interior and exterior, showed attention to detail, deck treatment gave good traction, with no ‘slick’ spots, and well marked stairs, steps and solid handrails. Illumination was excellent with high-intensity overheads (separate lights for floating Squid) and illumination at deck level.
I can’t say how she rides in rougher water, but ….. on our return with the usual 1.5~2 foot wind-waves and 2~3 foot swells that we had, we experienced a moderately dry ride …….. not bone-dry mind you.
Clean Fishing Area
Walkway …………………....Stern!!
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What’s What
On the comfort level, she gets great marks for the spacious, one-step-up galley. Although there’s only 4 tables, the area will seat 25+ adults easily and that’s not including the 4 counter seats. 40 anglers could hang in the galley if you included ‘standing room only’.
Roomy Galley
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Other
The bunk room is divided into two compartments …. which sleep a total of 49 anglers. Some guys said the bunks were a little narrow and or cramped. Initially checked the bunks and they were clean, made-up neatly, and ship-shape.
There is also a small upper-deck with benches easily seating 5~6 people at a time and provided additional storage space. Might want to stretch out here for a snooze. Good spot for stuff you might want to be extra-careful of keeping out of the weather but handy too.
Small Sundeck
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Layout
Her walkways’ width is excellent and there is a way-above-average amount of open space at the stern. Her main bait-tank layout is simple and the trays are designed for 180 access. The forward bait-tank is compact and simple with super easy access.
Interestingly there were rail numbers and color sections on the boat but I didn’t make a note of the numbers or sequence. Sorry ‘bout that! I understand they do regular open-party trips too but don’t know the details. Nor do I know if they rotate fishing spots.
There is plenty of slots in the rod-racks and one specific shelf unit meant to stow anglers tackle-boxes, small coolers, etc.
Gear Stowage
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Fish Quality Assurance
Of special note: The Fury has a large freezer unit on deck which works wonders in keeping fish in their best condition awaiting the filet knife. On the down-side, this freezer takes up some much needed storage space that might otherwise be used to stow all the stuff a a full load of anglers might haul on board. The boat does need more storage space from what I saw … BUT … there was enough for our 25 anglers and we didn’t ask about additional space!
Roomy Freezer
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The Crew
Of special note is the crew of the Fury. Regular readers know I exclusively haunt ½ and ¾-day moo-moos and am accustomed to that culture. I must say …. what a different experience I and my group had with the Fury’s crew. These guys ….. all these guys …… were accessible any time, took the time to answer questions, worked with us on whatever was brought up, were at your side before you even knew you might want assistance for even the smallest thing… total heads-up operation. Didn’t know this was the regular thing but I was surprised to learn that one of the decks is responsible for ‘a kind of’ night watch’ …. making sure anglers were safe and sound. I was shocked …. we don’t even have any heavy drinkers in the club that might be considered a risk!! Ha ha ha
Gotta thank the entire crew from skipper …. Rick, 2nd ticket Skip, Decks … Mike, Sean, and Matt for the class experience. An experience I suspect that all their patrons enjoy ….. and show it by returning to fish with them again and again as regulars. I hope our club will strongly consider the Fury again for future …….. abiet few and far between O/N island trips. Thanks
Crew Roster
Skipper- Rick ………..2nd Ticket- Skip …………………...1st Deck- Mike
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Deck- Sean ………………………… Deck- Matt
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Dana Harbor In Sight
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Home Again
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A Great Day
Although I might not have done these overnight deals (rode the Liberty and SD boats a number of times) much in the last 10 years, I must say that the guys on the Fury set a standard of service, attention, and under-lying respect shown towards the patron that, in my mind, is !! I know it was at the forefront with the guys working the Fury.
JapanRon
Hi there guys, First Posting Got Accidently Deleted !!
Thursday 08/23
Went on a K of C Anglers Club overnight charter trip out of Dana Wharf Sportfishing. Fished the Fury for an overnighter with 25 club members to San Clemente for the usual targets. Departure was Wednesday evening at 10pm with a return at 7:30pm Thursday. Rick Doesburg was the skipper, with Skip Driggers as 2nd ticket/relief, while Mike and Sean were doing deck duties, and last but not least ….. deckie Matt doing both decking and crossing-guard duties this trip. Galley duties were shared. Plenty of fishin’ room as the boat is certified for 65 anglers. (See boat details for full specs)
Note: Countdown: September 22nd will be the second FREE FISHING DAY this year for everyone in California. It would be a great day to get a non-angler out on the water while saving a little cash!
Target Species:Yellowtail and Bass
Short Report- Thursday 08/23
On fish landed, our 25 anglers (22 adults and 3 youngsters) caught 3 Yellowtail to 18 pounds, 1 Sculpin, 1 Barracuda, 85 Calico Bass … with many, many real whoppers 6~7lbs, 16 Bonito to 4lbs, 17 Sheephead, 17 Whitefish, lots of Halfmoon and a few assorted Rockfish. Smallish Calicos could be caught at almost every cast ……. of plastic swimbaits anyways.
Finbait consisted of quality medium-sized Anchovies (3-inches) and good-sized Sardines…… in good condition from a cursory glance. (Sorry, I didn’t take extra care in checking out the bait.) And ….the crew, putting out the extra effort at dark-thirty, did manage to braile some live Squid. Excellent effort guys!! We had the ammo.
Estimated Travel Time: 5 hours to San Clemente Islands’ Pyramid Cove and at the end of the trip 5 hours on the return from the island to Dana Harbor.
Time Check: Left the dock at 10pm, baited up, and got to the island at about 2am. Most started fishing the ‘gray’ which was probably around 5:30am. The Batray King …. started earlier!!
Most of us fished a good 9 hours out of the total time (22 hours) on the water. Excellent. A couple of guys trolled during our motoring to various spots around the island but came up empty on anything spectacular. A number of fish were caught by these guys upon circling a prospective place to drop the hook.
Pulled the hook for the last time at 2:30pm to head back to the barn, setting up the bumpers at our 7:30pm target. Right on the money. Leaving Dana at 8pm, I was back home in Lakewood at exactly 9pm …………at 65mph!! Awesome!
(Please widen your view to fit monitor if word-wrap looks off)
08/23 Jackpot
Last Call ………………....Winner!
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Yellowtail
Way to go on catching the jackpot fish Jim! A Yellowtail, caught by Jim Herrera, was the winner today. The near 18-lb fish was caught on a bait setup!! Little surprise there ….. as the bait tends to get the Yellowtail and the bigger fish to boot.
Long Report
Travel
50 Miles Out …………………………………………….Pyramid Cove & Frontside
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At the Landing
Dana Wharf Line
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Old Times
As I hadn’t been out of this harbor in quite a while, it was kind of fun to get to the landing a little early (for me early is 4 or 5 hours) and check out where this and that was located. Found the landing easily … and got in the right gratis parking area for their patrons …….. with a little clarification and a pass provided at the office.
Spent a little time fly fishing over at the little park across the way from the landing….. for Nada !!! Talked to some tubers that had just gotten out of the water. They did ok for 2 hours fishing.
The Line
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Boarding the Boat
Boarded the boat at 9:20pm, after the skipper/crew and our chartermaster had a little pre-boarding pow-wow, and then did the sign in thing right away. Crew was super-polite and efficient … on getting checked in and questions answered. Then there was the check for fishing licenses … these guys were serious …. when asked a second time (I wrongly assumed it was visible) , I kinda felt like I was in the wrong line at Ellis Island I was also given a number …. but it was quickly explained that this was just for the bag and galley. Whew !! j/k Really upbeat crew.
It took very little time to stow gear, find a bunk, and be ready for the trip out. Translation= head for the galley to play cards. Looking at all the gear …. I thought 60 guys must have brought everything they owned but nope it was just our 25!! After finishing the head-count, we got our safety message and quick confirmation of what we had decided to do from the skipper as he announced there would be a further meeting in the galley. Cast off to head for the bait receiver 100 meters away.
Bait
With our departure at night, and being distracted in the galley, I didn’t get my usual bait-up shots. For what it’s worth, the bait barge was but a stones throw away! We got a mix of Anchovies and Sardines. No idea if the dines were cured or not but they lasted the trip so …..
Bait Receiver and Boat
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Nice Dines!…………………….… Clemente Squid
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Angler’s Meeting
Ok ….. all ready to play cards …… nope …… we have an anlgers meeting headed by Skip the 2nd ticket. The 2nd ticket ?? …. you know …. the lucky guy that gets to stay up, while everyone else has gone to sleepytown …. and drive the boat all night!
On the meeting: Again, safety on the boat was reiterated as being of everyone’s number-one concern besides having fun. Areas to watch footing and sundry cautions as well locations to be potentially fished, the gear to use, and what way of fishing was doing the best on recent trips were covered. Had a little question and answer period to settle any doubts on do’s and don’ts. Being a club charter, the crew had a great laziefaire attitude towards guys like me that wanted to use light tackle, fish plastics, target whatever, even use braid was Oked ….. as long as it was acceptable to the group. No worry to me, I’m pretty heavy, so it would take a couple of guys to throw me over the side anyways!
The Days Fishing
Having played cards straight through from night till morning ….. it wasn’t hard to stir, go out on deck and make out a number of shapes already at the rail. The Batray King was providing the action on his third Batray of the morning. Gotta give him credit … we were told that it was pretty much the ‘Devilfish During the Dark’, and sure enough he went for ‘em!! Couldn’t have seen a happier angler!
Happy anglers was what we saw for the rest of the day.
With details below, a summary of the days fishing can only be put into a single word … well …. a single hyphenated word …. Most-Excellent!
Grazing in the Pasture
Moo-moos This Trip
Moo!!……………………………….................. Mooo
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Nice Boat!!
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Round-Up
Fishing Along the Island
1st
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2nd
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3rd
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4th
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3 Rounds
1st Part
Round 1 With the overcast morning sky reluctantly lightening up at bit, we see that a couple of other moo-moos were grazing in the Pyramid Cove pasture. We gave it a try while still at anchor with what would be our standard setups for the day. That is … Anchovies on the dropper loop setup, Sardines on either a Carolina rig with a 1/4oz sliding-egg sinker or fly-lined, and of course the iron and leadhead/plastics.
If I remember correctly, we were catching mostly cookie-cutter, dink Calicos with a few legals in the mix. Then …. After going thru 3 colors … I got my first fish or should I say hit and run …. on a 4-inch, Kalin with green metalflake body/black back. Using a 12lb-test fluorocarbon leader was not the reason for the fish busting off. The tiny swivel made of fine wire cut through the knot (double-wrapped over the eyelet) connecting it to the main line. Bye !!
We made two short moves to other spots in the cove before we decided that the yellows were not on the chew there and moved (stopping here and there) to the front of the island. Pretty sure that colder and or dirty~er water cinched the decision. Sorry Rick if memory doesn’t serve!!
2nd Part
Round 2 In a nutshell, we spent most of our fishing time moving from spot to spot picking up fish here and there. Lots of nice looking water with ledges and kelp streamer fences surrounding the more tempting dark water. Those fishing bait were just killing the big Calicos while my plastics were just getting the leftovers ….. or so it seemed! Ha ha A number of spots held more than just one species in numbers so it was interesting to see just what came up on the dropper loop and plastics!!
Yellows were busting out of casting range pretty regularly but they weren’t worth chasing … as I suspect that’s about all you’d be doing!! The usual Bass splashes in the matted kelp made for tempting targets too. The dogs were pretty thick from the get-go and took a number of fish … including one of mine on the very last cast of the day ………. on the boat.
3rd Part
Round 3 As is often the case, we must have pretty much decided that the place we would end the day should be sat on to see what develops. And …. It was one of the spots we had previously fished with moderate results. One thing cool about ocean-fishing is that when the current changes … chances are that one’s fortunes will change too! Sometimes good sometimes …. Anywho, that was a good call as the fishing …. er …. catching was best at that last spot. Left the island on a bright note!!
Finding no further words to describe our catching/action’ fish after fish’ may sound strange but … we simply had non-stop action and things just kinda melted into one experience.
Gallery
Beauties of the Trip
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Fish & Anglers
Jimmy’s YT ……...........…Mike’s YT ……………........Rich’s YT …………..........Calicos!
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Roger’s Fish ………..More Calicos ……… Skip & Winning Fish …........... Mike and Deckie!
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Other
Jim’s Fish ……………………………...........White Roof ……………………….........................Cute Birdie
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Let Them Know
The photos above are just a sample of the fish and things of interest, at least to me, on this trip. Note: If you see a friend in the pictures, let them know they can copy the photo off the report. Directions: Click the right button with the ‘cursor’ on the picture, then click on ‘save picture as’, next choose where they wish to copy the picture, and lastly click ‘save’. Later, they can edit and print the picture at their leisure with a simple photo-editing program that comes with Microsoft Windows.
Plastics Only Fishin’
Plastics Large and Small
4-inch Kalin’s, Jerk-its, FT’s & BH Models ..5-inch Models
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Day’s Results
Target Species
Yellowtail
I hooked the first Yellowtail that I lost … in the early morning …….at Pyramid Cove. Yes, on plastic!! Why did I lose it …. A thin-wire swivel cut though the main-line knot.
I caught bass after bass just …. nothing really big on my 4” swimbaits. Most colors worked but whatever in green seemed to be the ticket. With the areas we were fishing, being fairly shallow and having lots of kelp and structure, I soon abandoned the ¾ oz leadheads, did well on the ½ oz heads, but went to the ¼ oz swimmer heads in an attempt to keep the swimbait up on top as long as possible. Seems to go over the kelp strands a little better too … depending on how they’re laid down. Still no big fish!!
OK … big fish, big bait … Right !! NOT !! I pulled out some bigger baits I had been saving for just such an occasion and began to chunk the 5~6-inch Fish Traps and a couple of Big Hammers. (To me … six inches is BIG!!) Ahem … Ok, so after about an hour of trading off colors, retrieves, leader lb-tests and finally a round of begging, threatening, and crying …….
I gave up and went back to my smaller offerings and dink-land. Some …. Days Grrrrrrrr!!!
Last cast of the day, I hooked what I think was a small Yellowtail….. not a Bonito. After getting fishy near the boat, fishy made a run right under the boat then ……that ominous, un-real loading-up of the rod ….. slow, steady pull told me percentages were high that fishy was grabbed by a Sealion ….. that’s maybe 10 cranks from the boat and that’s right under the boat. My rod was loaded precariously and line was then heading for the land of ‘spooled’. I free-spooled for a few seconds hoping fishy would make a break for it on his or her own but I felt no tail beats (or otherwise) so considering the Ambassaduer 6500 C reel and 15lb-test line … stopping capability, I committed ‘thumb-on-spooliside’ and broke off the fish……… as we were pull out!! Yes, On plastics!
Cuda
Fished for the creatures a short time on the more open water stops but caught none. Threw the ol’ reliable red leadhead and clear w/red metalflake 4” Balms a minimum of 15 times a major stop. Thought the bonies would have attacked!!
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Bonito
Yes, I caught one Bonito and was able to avoid some others and Mackerel as I wanted to catch that one Barracuda, a Yellowtail, and Calicos. Boneheads literally strip the tails off ones plastics leaving only the leadhead and body of the swimbait. They love those Blams!!
Calico Bass
Yes, caught more fish than I could count. Sometimes 6, 7, 8 casts in a row … all resulting in a bass is good fishing! Got good a slacking the smaller fish. No real big fish for me.
Fishing the Plastics
Figuring any yellows would be pretty skittish on the rubber, I concentrated on making long-distance casts, and fishing the fall with 12lb-test fluorocarbon, lite leadheads, and 4-inch swimbaits when fishing for them. Both yt hook-ups were way out!! I spent a lot of time searching the water and water column carefully fishing the fall and not going after a quick-reaction bite.
Fished the Barracuda with a straight cast and fast, top-water retrieve for a few ruined Blams. Slowed down then ………..nada!!
Seems like we had to adjust our fishing to the structure we were fishing for Calicos. Ya Think?? What I mean is that …. it didn’t seem like the fish were reacting to the bait as I might have thought. After a bit of chumming you usually expect fish to come up the water column a bit but this was not the case …. In my experience.
Tiring of the smaller bass, I went ahead and began to throw larger (to me) 5~6-inch FT’s and BH’s in a variety of colors …… for nada! Fished the bigger baits for a single decent sized fish! Went back to the smaller stuff in two moves encompassing a little over an hour.
Thursday Out There
Lunar! ………………………………………………Tides
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UV Alert!
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Thursday’s Conditions
Fishing Grounds: Had little boat traffic today. Saw about 3 moo-moos and 4 Pbers. All in all, the water was calm and weather gave us June-gloom all day long!!
Wild Creatures: Saw a few Sealions steal Yellowtail. Cormorants, Terns, and Seagulls were around …….. especially when it was time to clean fish.
Asides
An Aside:
I was struck by the way this crew worked together. It didn’t seem like anyone (other than actually operating the boat) had just one job or did only one thing to the exclusion of other jobs. Members of the crew appeared to do whatever was needed to be done …. then and there.
Maybe it was decided but if it was it was a pretty seamless operation. Sure gave one the impression that there would be assistance …. whatever the need.
Another Aside:
With 5~6 in our group playing cards all night, 1 took a chance to take a break and check out the crew hauling out the high-intensity lights and the braile nets in hopes of scoring on the Squid. Although a big-time float did not occur … the crew managed enough of the squirters to make things interesting ……. if we ran into some solid Yellowtail signs.
Simply looking down into the clear water to 20 or 30 feet, it was fascinating to see the various creatures that were attracted to the light and those that were attracted to the creatures that were attracted to the light! Soooooo no really large fish appeared but ….. there sure were a lot of different shapes, swimming different patterns at different depths. If you have a chance, and can manage to stay out of the way of the guys getting the Squid, check out what comes swimming nearby.
Last Aside:
I noticed an interesting placard displayed for the patrons attention. It was … in essence … a notice indicating that anglers were both liable for their actions and also accepted responsibility for their actions on board. Don’t know how binding the device actually might be but ……… it was an excellent guide to the expected behavior on the boat by both the crew and fellow anglers!! Bravo !
The Boat
The Fury
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Overview
The Fury is a boat that is available for trips ranging from ¾-day ~ 2-days. She is rated/licensed for Inshore (IN), Coastal Local (CL), Coastal Amended (CA), and Off-Shore (OS). I guess she'll go just about where-ever to return within the chartered 2 days !!
The Fury is a wooden boat of classic design. 65 feet in length, having a 22 foot wide beam, a hull depth of a tad over 5 feet, and a freeboard (rail top to water at the stern) of about 10~11 feet. Her giddy-up is supplied by a pair of new, recently installed Cummings which push the vessel at a respectable 9~11 knots.
Did I mention she is immaculately maintained. All wood-work …. interior and exterior, showed attention to detail, deck treatment gave good traction, with no ‘slick’ spots, and well marked stairs, steps and solid handrails. Illumination was excellent with high-intensity overheads (separate lights for floating Squid) and illumination at deck level.
I can’t say how she rides in rougher water, but ….. on our return with the usual 1.5~2 foot wind-waves and 2~3 foot swells that we had, we experienced a moderately dry ride …….. not bone-dry mind you.
Clean Fishing Area
Walkway …………………....Stern!!
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What’s What
On the comfort level, she gets great marks for the spacious, one-step-up galley. Although there’s only 4 tables, the area will seat 25+ adults easily and that’s not including the 4 counter seats. 40 anglers could hang in the galley if you included ‘standing room only’.
Roomy Galley
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Other
The bunk room is divided into two compartments …. which sleep a total of 49 anglers. Some guys said the bunks were a little narrow and or cramped. Initially checked the bunks and they were clean, made-up neatly, and ship-shape.
There is also a small upper-deck with benches easily seating 5~6 people at a time and provided additional storage space. Might want to stretch out here for a snooze. Good spot for stuff you might want to be extra-careful of keeping out of the weather but handy too.
Small Sundeck
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Layout
Her walkways’ width is excellent and there is a way-above-average amount of open space at the stern. Her main bait-tank layout is simple and the trays are designed for 180 access. The forward bait-tank is compact and simple with super easy access.
Interestingly there were rail numbers and color sections on the boat but I didn’t make a note of the numbers or sequence. Sorry ‘bout that! I understand they do regular open-party trips too but don’t know the details. Nor do I know if they rotate fishing spots.
There is plenty of slots in the rod-racks and one specific shelf unit meant to stow anglers tackle-boxes, small coolers, etc.
Gear Stowage
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Fish Quality Assurance
Of special note: The Fury has a large freezer unit on deck which works wonders in keeping fish in their best condition awaiting the filet knife. On the down-side, this freezer takes up some much needed storage space that might otherwise be used to stow all the stuff a a full load of anglers might haul on board. The boat does need more storage space from what I saw … BUT … there was enough for our 25 anglers and we didn’t ask about additional space!
Roomy Freezer
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The Crew
Of special note is the crew of the Fury. Regular readers know I exclusively haunt ½ and ¾-day moo-moos and am accustomed to that culture. I must say …. what a different experience I and my group had with the Fury’s crew. These guys ….. all these guys …… were accessible any time, took the time to answer questions, worked with us on whatever was brought up, were at your side before you even knew you might want assistance for even the smallest thing… total heads-up operation. Didn’t know this was the regular thing but I was surprised to learn that one of the decks is responsible for ‘a kind of’ night watch’ …. making sure anglers were safe and sound. I was shocked …. we don’t even have any heavy drinkers in the club that might be considered a risk!! Ha ha ha
Gotta thank the entire crew from skipper …. Rick, 2nd ticket Skip, Decks … Mike, Sean, and Matt for the class experience. An experience I suspect that all their patrons enjoy ….. and show it by returning to fish with them again and again as regulars. I hope our club will strongly consider the Fury again for future …….. abiet few and far between O/N island trips. Thanks
Crew Roster
Skipper- Rick ………..2nd Ticket- Skip …………………...1st Deck- Mike
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Deck- Sean ………………………… Deck- Matt
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Dana Harbor In Sight
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Home Again
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A Great Day
Although I might not have done these overnight deals (rode the Liberty and SD boats a number of times) much in the last 10 years, I must say that the guys on the Fury set a standard of service, attention, and under-lying respect shown towards the patron that, in my mind, is !! I know it was at the forefront with the guys working the Fury.
JapanRon