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07-24-2013, 09:34 AM
First tuna of the year for the Kolomono and it was a toad - 50 pounder! We also caught 4 nice yellowtail. Could have caught lots more with better bait!
http://fishinghotpage.com/images/tmp/bft1.jpg
Long story - My girlfriend and I left Shelter Island Sunday night around 10:30. We stopped at the bait barge and bought a scoop of some of the worst, beat-up sardines I have ever seen. I can normally put a full scoop in the main tank and that would be fine but for these I turned both tanks on and divided them between the two. The weather was flat calm and we cruised down to the tuna pens, some 50 miles south of San Diego. We arrived shortly after 1 am so I put the light on and set the alarm for 5:30. Morning came and we had drifted about 1/2 mile away. I cruised up and set up next to the Tribute. Half of our bait was already dead but I figured I would make the best with what I have. Things were on the slow side, the Tribute would hang one every 20 mins or so and I saw one or two private boats get lucky. I started chunking our dead baits which attracted a couple of small blue sharks so I started feeding them and watching them eat just to pass the time. Then my rod gets a run, not very fast like a tuna so I immediately think shark. I set the hook and it start coming towards the boat so I tell Tarra don't worry about the gaff, it's just a shark. Just then the fish makes a huge run under the boat and I'm thinking maybe not a shark! Then the battle was on, I put the Saltiga two speed to work and the beast was up to the boat in a few minutes. Here was the fun part, I stick it with my old bamboo gaff and it flips out and breaks the gaff! It cracks about 3/4 of the way down but doesn't completely break off, the bamboo fibers were still holding together. Now the fish is freaking out and water is spraying everywhere. Somehow I managed to pull the gaff straight up and get the fish over the side, big cheers coming from the Tribute next to me. It's now 9am and not much else is happening. There were only about a dozen live baits left so I decided to go looking for paddys and hopefully find some yellowtail or possibly more bait! I put some trolling gear out and we were off. It didn't take long and Tarra spots a nice paddy with birds on it.
http://fishinghotpage.com/images/tmp/paddy1.jpg
We pulled up and you could look down and see yellowtail everywhere. Needless to say it was instant hookup on our baits. We boated three here and lost at least that many more. They were nice quality, from 15-18 pounds.
http://fishinghotpage.com/images/tmp/yt3.jpg
After a few lost fish we spooked the school but no matter anyway, we only had 3 live baits left. We set off to find another paddy and maybe hook something on the troll? The next paddy wasn't very far away. It was rather small and I wasn't going to stop, but when I drove past I could see yellows under it. We stopped and I threw out one of the last baits. It was instantly bit and the fourth yellow hit the deck.
http://fishinghotpage.com/images/tmp/yt4.jpg
I throw out the last sardine and as soon as it hits the water it rolls over and dies. The yellows wanted nothing to do with the dead bait so we headed home, it was only 10:30 am! We trolled a few miles up the line and even found some porpoise but no love on the jigs. I reeled them in @ 45 miles and we cruised back to SD in beautiful summer weather. It was nice to get the first tuna on the Kolo this year, hopefully many more to come!
http://fishinghotpage.com/images/tmp/bft2.jpg
http://fishinghotpage.com/images/tmp/bft1.jpg
Long story - My girlfriend and I left Shelter Island Sunday night around 10:30. We stopped at the bait barge and bought a scoop of some of the worst, beat-up sardines I have ever seen. I can normally put a full scoop in the main tank and that would be fine but for these I turned both tanks on and divided them between the two. The weather was flat calm and we cruised down to the tuna pens, some 50 miles south of San Diego. We arrived shortly after 1 am so I put the light on and set the alarm for 5:30. Morning came and we had drifted about 1/2 mile away. I cruised up and set up next to the Tribute. Half of our bait was already dead but I figured I would make the best with what I have. Things were on the slow side, the Tribute would hang one every 20 mins or so and I saw one or two private boats get lucky. I started chunking our dead baits which attracted a couple of small blue sharks so I started feeding them and watching them eat just to pass the time. Then my rod gets a run, not very fast like a tuna so I immediately think shark. I set the hook and it start coming towards the boat so I tell Tarra don't worry about the gaff, it's just a shark. Just then the fish makes a huge run under the boat and I'm thinking maybe not a shark! Then the battle was on, I put the Saltiga two speed to work and the beast was up to the boat in a few minutes. Here was the fun part, I stick it with my old bamboo gaff and it flips out and breaks the gaff! It cracks about 3/4 of the way down but doesn't completely break off, the bamboo fibers were still holding together. Now the fish is freaking out and water is spraying everywhere. Somehow I managed to pull the gaff straight up and get the fish over the side, big cheers coming from the Tribute next to me. It's now 9am and not much else is happening. There were only about a dozen live baits left so I decided to go looking for paddys and hopefully find some yellowtail or possibly more bait! I put some trolling gear out and we were off. It didn't take long and Tarra spots a nice paddy with birds on it.
http://fishinghotpage.com/images/tmp/paddy1.jpg
We pulled up and you could look down and see yellowtail everywhere. Needless to say it was instant hookup on our baits. We boated three here and lost at least that many more. They were nice quality, from 15-18 pounds.
http://fishinghotpage.com/images/tmp/yt3.jpg
After a few lost fish we spooked the school but no matter anyway, we only had 3 live baits left. We set off to find another paddy and maybe hook something on the troll? The next paddy wasn't very far away. It was rather small and I wasn't going to stop, but when I drove past I could see yellows under it. We stopped and I threw out one of the last baits. It was instantly bit and the fourth yellow hit the deck.
http://fishinghotpage.com/images/tmp/yt4.jpg
I throw out the last sardine and as soon as it hits the water it rolls over and dies. The yellows wanted nothing to do with the dead bait so we headed home, it was only 10:30 am! We trolled a few miles up the line and even found some porpoise but no love on the jigs. I reeled them in @ 45 miles and we cruised back to SD in beautiful summer weather. It was nice to get the first tuna on the Kolo this year, hopefully many more to come!
http://fishinghotpage.com/images/tmp/bft2.jpg