Tunaslam
05-27-2013, 06:30 PM
Fishing on the Aztec, out of Seaforth Landing on a 2.5-Day trip: that left Friday night on 05-24-13. I left my office in San Bernardino at 2:20 pm, arriving Mission Bay at 4:35pm. The weather was very pleasant for late afternoon, scattered clouds and a light breeze. It was a very special way to start the Holiday weekend. Scheduled departure time was 5:30 and last call for boarding was at 5:25pm.
The expectations for some fun fishing were enhanced by the recent fish counts of offshore Kelp Paddy Yellowtail being caught. We were all excited when Captain Mikey said day one of the trip was going to be spent entirely offshore looking for Tuna and Tails, well mostly Tails? There have been no reports of any Tuna within range, as nothing has been seen north of 200 miles recently. Even worse was a wall of cold water down below 100 miles that would discourage any Tuna from heading north?
Day 2 would depend on day 1 fishing, however, we were hoping for limits of Tails and we would augment our catch with some tasty fish taco meat. The ride out was very nice, considering we were heading southwest some 70 miles below San Diego.
Day One 05-25-13:
At grey light Captain Mikey began trolling Tuna feathers, while cook Johno built up our appetite with Bacon, Sausage and home fried potatoes on the grill, the aroma stimulating our hunger sensors. Breakfast consisted of a choice of Breakfast Burritos, or a Breakfast platter of Bacon or Sausage, Eggs, Potatoes and Toast.
When we arrived at the starting destination the water temps were ideal reaching 64.2 degrees, with a deep blue color. I was up at 4:30 am and the smell of hot coffee brewing was sensational. Grey light was at 5am and full light at 5:30 am. Winds were out of the North East at 6 to 8 knots, about what was expected. We found small Kelps, medium Kelps and large Kelps, all not holding. We got a couple of open water jig strikes on small and decent sized Bonito up to six pounds. Otherwise the morning was uneventful.
At 11am, Mother wind decided to play havoc with the party. The popcorn turned to solid white caps, with 12 to 15 knots prevailing. We found finding Kelp Paddies a bit more onerous. Just before noon, the call of Hookup was bellowed out. Probably another Bonito strike, no these were our first signs of Yellowtail. We landed two and the exotic skunk was off!
Cook Johno served up some mighty fine double Cheeseburgers for lunch. Also served were fresh Pineapple, Watermelon, Honey Dew Melons and Cantaloupe as a refreshing treat. At 2:20 pm, a sweet looking Kelp was approached. Darn another dry Kelp, as all our baits or iron were ignored. Just about the time we were going to begin again looking for more kelp’s, the sound of hookup rang out! Holy smokes there are Yellowtail everywhere. Every bait in the water was bit. It was utter chaos, oh so much fun and what we have been waiting for?
We managed to land 14 Yellowtail out of probably 25 hookups. The smaller Tails go completely squirrelly when close to the boat. I lost one to the props, as did many others and the usual breakoffs and unbuttons. I went 2 for three, with the biggest being maybe 8 pounds, however, good for the jackpot.
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i394/tunaslam/bth_100_2559680x510_zps69cc862a.jpg
Some of the gang with their Yellowtail:
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i394/tunaslam/bth_100_2556680x510_zps7e9aec9d.jpg
At 4pm, cook Johno setup a fantastic potato bar. Chili, shredded cheese, sour cream, green onions, and Jalapenos as condiments, yum yum!
Captain Mikey and crew worked their butts off looking for and finding more kelp’s in crappy conditions. There were just no more holding? We looked until dark and called it a day with Johno calling for dinner at 8pm. Pork Tenderloin, with a Caesars Salad, Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Broccoli, and Cauliflower. I skipped desert, yet I heard it was great.
Day Two 05-26-13:
The plan was to anchor up near Todo Santos Island and take a look at the conditions for possible Yellowtail action in the early morning. For some reason the Mexican Navy wanted no part of us coming close to the island? We spent the night cruising south towards Isolete. Captain Mikey set us up in the shallows for some Lingcod action. Unfortunately there was no current, and we scratched out a few Reds, Coppers and a couple of Lingcod.
Johno got the day started off right with his patented Captain Crunch French Toast, served with breakfast Sausage, and more slices of Honey Dew Melon and Cantaloupe.
Captain Mikey ran out towards the deeper water to take advantage of the early morning calm conditions. We started in a little over400 feet of water. The fishing was slow and those fish that were caught coughed up lots of red crabs. We made a number of drifts in the deeper water, with a some decent results on the Reds, Three Spots, Starries, a few Lingcod and assorted other Rockfish. Here are a couple of happy anglers with some big Reds, up to nine pounds:
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i394/tunaslam/100_2564680x510_zps3b1cb922.jpg
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i394/tunaslam/100_2562680x510_zps27d35401.jpg
Mother wind again ruined the party, kicking up to over 10 knots, then 12 and on to over 15. Forget the deep water, you just could not get down and hold any bottom, no matter the size weight. We moved into a bit shallower water at just under 200 feet. While moving inside lunch was on, how about tasty Philly Cheese sandwiches, oh boy were they ever big and filling, served with a cold pasta salad.
Even the shallow water fishing proved challenging to keep a weight on the bottom. The wind and the current were working together to create enormous scope out. If you played your cards right, you hit bottom and got bit instantly, or you released line at an ever increasing rate until you felt you were trolling. The Reds, Lings and other Rockfish kept biting, despite the poor fishing conditions.
At 4pm, Johno set out a bowl of Nachos, with melted cheese, cilantro, salsa, jalapenos, and sour cream, very tasty!
Junior was king of the Lingcod, catching five:
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i394/tunaslam/100_2568680x510_zps4a57f58e.jpg
More Lings and Reds:
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i394/tunaslam/100_2565680x510_zpseb3f1184.jpg
Quite a few quality Johnny Bass were caught:
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i394/tunaslam/100_2569680x510_zpse2504524.jpg
We worked as much of the reef as possible, catching numerous fish on each drift, thus scratching out a decent day of fishing. Some thoughts were made to move in shallower and possibly fish for Calico Bass and Whitefish or other critters, however, anchoring up in these windy conditions and large swells didn’t prove worthwhile. Therefore we worked the outer ridge as long as it kept producing and it sure did.
At 7:45 pm Captain Mikey said it was time to call it a trip. We were 94 miles from home, and would be heading directly up swell into 15+ knot winds, strong current and heavy seas. Surprisingly it was not as bad as it looked.
A fabulous way to end the trip as dinner consisted of Tri-Tip Steak, Salad, Baked Beans, Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Corn on the Cob, with desert being a Red Velvet Chocolate Bundt Cake.
We docked at 7am. The crew of Jimmy, Mike, and Travis worked their tails off to provide excellent service to all, kudos guys, you did a great job! Thanks so much Captain Mikey for a fun adventure and safe passage home. Hope the seas calm, and both the Tuna and Tails are on the chew soon!
Hook up!
Cory
The expectations for some fun fishing were enhanced by the recent fish counts of offshore Kelp Paddy Yellowtail being caught. We were all excited when Captain Mikey said day one of the trip was going to be spent entirely offshore looking for Tuna and Tails, well mostly Tails? There have been no reports of any Tuna within range, as nothing has been seen north of 200 miles recently. Even worse was a wall of cold water down below 100 miles that would discourage any Tuna from heading north?
Day 2 would depend on day 1 fishing, however, we were hoping for limits of Tails and we would augment our catch with some tasty fish taco meat. The ride out was very nice, considering we were heading southwest some 70 miles below San Diego.
Day One 05-25-13:
At grey light Captain Mikey began trolling Tuna feathers, while cook Johno built up our appetite with Bacon, Sausage and home fried potatoes on the grill, the aroma stimulating our hunger sensors. Breakfast consisted of a choice of Breakfast Burritos, or a Breakfast platter of Bacon or Sausage, Eggs, Potatoes and Toast.
When we arrived at the starting destination the water temps were ideal reaching 64.2 degrees, with a deep blue color. I was up at 4:30 am and the smell of hot coffee brewing was sensational. Grey light was at 5am and full light at 5:30 am. Winds were out of the North East at 6 to 8 knots, about what was expected. We found small Kelps, medium Kelps and large Kelps, all not holding. We got a couple of open water jig strikes on small and decent sized Bonito up to six pounds. Otherwise the morning was uneventful.
At 11am, Mother wind decided to play havoc with the party. The popcorn turned to solid white caps, with 12 to 15 knots prevailing. We found finding Kelp Paddies a bit more onerous. Just before noon, the call of Hookup was bellowed out. Probably another Bonito strike, no these were our first signs of Yellowtail. We landed two and the exotic skunk was off!
Cook Johno served up some mighty fine double Cheeseburgers for lunch. Also served were fresh Pineapple, Watermelon, Honey Dew Melons and Cantaloupe as a refreshing treat. At 2:20 pm, a sweet looking Kelp was approached. Darn another dry Kelp, as all our baits or iron were ignored. Just about the time we were going to begin again looking for more kelp’s, the sound of hookup rang out! Holy smokes there are Yellowtail everywhere. Every bait in the water was bit. It was utter chaos, oh so much fun and what we have been waiting for?
We managed to land 14 Yellowtail out of probably 25 hookups. The smaller Tails go completely squirrelly when close to the boat. I lost one to the props, as did many others and the usual breakoffs and unbuttons. I went 2 for three, with the biggest being maybe 8 pounds, however, good for the jackpot.
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i394/tunaslam/bth_100_2559680x510_zps69cc862a.jpg
Some of the gang with their Yellowtail:
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i394/tunaslam/bth_100_2556680x510_zps7e9aec9d.jpg
At 4pm, cook Johno setup a fantastic potato bar. Chili, shredded cheese, sour cream, green onions, and Jalapenos as condiments, yum yum!
Captain Mikey and crew worked their butts off looking for and finding more kelp’s in crappy conditions. There were just no more holding? We looked until dark and called it a day with Johno calling for dinner at 8pm. Pork Tenderloin, with a Caesars Salad, Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Broccoli, and Cauliflower. I skipped desert, yet I heard it was great.
Day Two 05-26-13:
The plan was to anchor up near Todo Santos Island and take a look at the conditions for possible Yellowtail action in the early morning. For some reason the Mexican Navy wanted no part of us coming close to the island? We spent the night cruising south towards Isolete. Captain Mikey set us up in the shallows for some Lingcod action. Unfortunately there was no current, and we scratched out a few Reds, Coppers and a couple of Lingcod.
Johno got the day started off right with his patented Captain Crunch French Toast, served with breakfast Sausage, and more slices of Honey Dew Melon and Cantaloupe.
Captain Mikey ran out towards the deeper water to take advantage of the early morning calm conditions. We started in a little over400 feet of water. The fishing was slow and those fish that were caught coughed up lots of red crabs. We made a number of drifts in the deeper water, with a some decent results on the Reds, Three Spots, Starries, a few Lingcod and assorted other Rockfish. Here are a couple of happy anglers with some big Reds, up to nine pounds:
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i394/tunaslam/100_2564680x510_zps3b1cb922.jpg
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i394/tunaslam/100_2562680x510_zps27d35401.jpg
Mother wind again ruined the party, kicking up to over 10 knots, then 12 and on to over 15. Forget the deep water, you just could not get down and hold any bottom, no matter the size weight. We moved into a bit shallower water at just under 200 feet. While moving inside lunch was on, how about tasty Philly Cheese sandwiches, oh boy were they ever big and filling, served with a cold pasta salad.
Even the shallow water fishing proved challenging to keep a weight on the bottom. The wind and the current were working together to create enormous scope out. If you played your cards right, you hit bottom and got bit instantly, or you released line at an ever increasing rate until you felt you were trolling. The Reds, Lings and other Rockfish kept biting, despite the poor fishing conditions.
At 4pm, Johno set out a bowl of Nachos, with melted cheese, cilantro, salsa, jalapenos, and sour cream, very tasty!
Junior was king of the Lingcod, catching five:
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i394/tunaslam/100_2568680x510_zps4a57f58e.jpg
More Lings and Reds:
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i394/tunaslam/100_2565680x510_zpseb3f1184.jpg
Quite a few quality Johnny Bass were caught:
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i394/tunaslam/100_2569680x510_zpse2504524.jpg
We worked as much of the reef as possible, catching numerous fish on each drift, thus scratching out a decent day of fishing. Some thoughts were made to move in shallower and possibly fish for Calico Bass and Whitefish or other critters, however, anchoring up in these windy conditions and large swells didn’t prove worthwhile. Therefore we worked the outer ridge as long as it kept producing and it sure did.
At 7:45 pm Captain Mikey said it was time to call it a trip. We were 94 miles from home, and would be heading directly up swell into 15+ knot winds, strong current and heavy seas. Surprisingly it was not as bad as it looked.
A fabulous way to end the trip as dinner consisted of Tri-Tip Steak, Salad, Baked Beans, Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Corn on the Cob, with desert being a Red Velvet Chocolate Bundt Cake.
We docked at 7am. The crew of Jimmy, Mike, and Travis worked their tails off to provide excellent service to all, kudos guys, you did a great job! Thanks so much Captain Mikey for a fun adventure and safe passage home. Hope the seas calm, and both the Tuna and Tails are on the chew soon!
Hook up!
Cory