Tunaslam
07-23-2015, 07:32 AM
First time fishing with Mark on his 18’Kencraft, as yet unnamed. Mark picked me up at my house in Diamond Bar Wednesday morning at 3:30 am, 7-22-15. I met Mark through the Ride Sharing forum, as I was looking for a ride for the day. My apologies to Mike and I think Doug for invites for Thursday fishing, as I am spent!
So we locked and loaded my gear and quickly headed south, Launching at Dana Point at 4:30 am. The line for bait was already 15 boats deep, and after a 40 minute wait picked up some large Sardines and a Mackerel mix.
Our beginning destination was some 7 miles offshore, being that it was barely grey light we idled out. We trolled through a big school of porpoise for nada. Besides spotting some enormous Blue Whales, we didn’t see any early signs of Tuna. We headed further south toward the Domes and came upon a few boats that had been stopped quite some time. Sure enough several fishermen had bent rods.
We watched a Parker duo land Tuna. We asked if that was their first fish and they said heck no, we have ten on board, and it was only 8am. We could not buy a bite and witnessed several other hook ups. After more than an hour with no more activity, we continued down to the Domes. We joined several fleets of boats to slow troll and make long soaks on fly lined baits. Once again we were outside the candy store and drooling, as numerous anglers were pulling on fish.
OK, we both got short bit and pulled in mangled baits. This only continued our frustration. What were we doing wrong, nothing, just not our day? We did more slow trolling, now left with only large Mackerel. We headed north to join a few more packs of boats, with a hookup here and there. We had boils several times around the boat and near our baits, but no solid bites.
We finally called it at 1:10 pm as the wind was coming up. While entering the harbor Mark got a call from his friends on the water and said they were wide open just 7 miles off the harbor. We also heard a few shout outs claiming wide open fishing going on in a similar area.
Ok, we did the crazy thing, bought more bait and headed back out. Sure enough the wide open bite had died. More shout outs of great fishing was made on the radio. The numbers that were given were only a mile away, so off we went. Yep, we saw some hookups on a number of boats. Setup a drift in what we thought was a good placement, only to have several boats move in front of us.
This day was getting to both of us. Finally at 3:30 pm I got bit. In a short time I landed a 15 pound Yellowfin Tuna.
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i394/tunaslam/100_4148%201024x597_zpsi11fz0nw.jpg
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i394/tunaslam/100_4149%201024x634_zpseyhbaepi.jpg
Tired of soaking baits, as boredom set in, and little more activity near us, we again called it a day at 4:30 pm. On the trailer at 5:30 pm and then facing the heavy weekday traffic home. Yikes, we made it to my house at 7pm. What a day, as Mama said there would be days like this.
Thanks so much for the invite Mark, we gave it our all, even twice today. Such is the life of a fisherman. We’ll get them next time. Enjoyed your company and hope to fish with you again soon.
Hook up! Cory
So we locked and loaded my gear and quickly headed south, Launching at Dana Point at 4:30 am. The line for bait was already 15 boats deep, and after a 40 minute wait picked up some large Sardines and a Mackerel mix.
Our beginning destination was some 7 miles offshore, being that it was barely grey light we idled out. We trolled through a big school of porpoise for nada. Besides spotting some enormous Blue Whales, we didn’t see any early signs of Tuna. We headed further south toward the Domes and came upon a few boats that had been stopped quite some time. Sure enough several fishermen had bent rods.
We watched a Parker duo land Tuna. We asked if that was their first fish and they said heck no, we have ten on board, and it was only 8am. We could not buy a bite and witnessed several other hook ups. After more than an hour with no more activity, we continued down to the Domes. We joined several fleets of boats to slow troll and make long soaks on fly lined baits. Once again we were outside the candy store and drooling, as numerous anglers were pulling on fish.
OK, we both got short bit and pulled in mangled baits. This only continued our frustration. What were we doing wrong, nothing, just not our day? We did more slow trolling, now left with only large Mackerel. We headed north to join a few more packs of boats, with a hookup here and there. We had boils several times around the boat and near our baits, but no solid bites.
We finally called it at 1:10 pm as the wind was coming up. While entering the harbor Mark got a call from his friends on the water and said they were wide open just 7 miles off the harbor. We also heard a few shout outs claiming wide open fishing going on in a similar area.
Ok, we did the crazy thing, bought more bait and headed back out. Sure enough the wide open bite had died. More shout outs of great fishing was made on the radio. The numbers that were given were only a mile away, so off we went. Yep, we saw some hookups on a number of boats. Setup a drift in what we thought was a good placement, only to have several boats move in front of us.
This day was getting to both of us. Finally at 3:30 pm I got bit. In a short time I landed a 15 pound Yellowfin Tuna.
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i394/tunaslam/100_4148%201024x597_zpsi11fz0nw.jpg
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i394/tunaslam/100_4149%201024x634_zpseyhbaepi.jpg
Tired of soaking baits, as boredom set in, and little more activity near us, we again called it a day at 4:30 pm. On the trailer at 5:30 pm and then facing the heavy weekday traffic home. Yikes, we made it to my house at 7pm. What a day, as Mama said there would be days like this.
Thanks so much for the invite Mark, we gave it our all, even twice today. Such is the life of a fisherman. We’ll get them next time. Enjoyed your company and hope to fish with you again soon.
Hook up! Cory