Part 1-Rpt-10-28-13 Once upon a 10 day trip aboard the Royal Polaris!
10 Day Trip-October 18th through the 28th on the Royal Polaris!
Oct.-17, The Night before departure!
After planning for at least 60 days, and packing for the last two weekends, the time for departure finally arrived. The truck was loaded to the hilt with tackle boxes, rods and reels, suitcases, one each for fishing and non-fishing attire, some wine, both Red and White, and some JD for celebration, and all the necessary medicine to be taken. I brought one very large cooler for the fish that I would bring home; the rest was going to the San Diego Food Bank or other charity available at the dock.
The wife made us some Lemon Martinis, and dinner was left over Chile Verde Mexican food, etc. I managed to stay awake until 10 pm, knowing it would be a restless sleep given my level of excitement. The alarm was set for 4am, with a planned departure to San Diego from my home in Diamond Bar some 100 miles away at just before 6am. Sign in was supposed to be at 8am.
Day 1-Departure Oct.-18th
Sure enough I awoke at 3am, tossed and turned and got up at 3:30 am. Made coffee, checked the latest weather forecast for the week ahead. I checked the various fishing websites for the latest reports. AllCoast Sportfishing, Bloody Decks, 976-Tuna, etc. I heated up some sausage and a bowl of Raisin Bran for Breakfast. Showered and loaded my toiletries in my suitcase. Last minute watering, kissed the wife goodbye, and was off at 5:55 am.
Traffic was not yet too bad. Hit a bit at the 405 and 5 intersection and again in San Juan Capistrano and Del Mar. I still arrived to Fisherman’s Landing at 7:30 am. Got the perfect parking spot, grabbed a cart and unloaded all my gear. If all 32 passengers brought similar gear, we’ll sink the boat? Maybe half did?
A deck hand helped me unload my gear so they could use the cart for others while we waited for sign in. The Royal Polaris had just returned from their previous trip and were unloading fish. Jackpot was a 51 pound Bluefin Tuna, with second and third 50 pound Bluefin. They had an issue with weather and they only got down as far south as Alejos Rocks, and the bite was poor. Biggest of the four Wahoo caught was 47 pounds. It was definitely a slow trip by long range standards?
Many people asked if I was going with anyone on the trip, no! I generally find it easy to make new friends with fishermen. I called the wife and said I had not recognized anyone yet. She said don’t worry someone will recognize you. Sure enough, Bill, Gene and several others remembered fishing with me on other trips and this made it a good start to renew old acquaintances, as well as find new ones.
The call to sign in was made at 9am. Boat boarding was scheduled for 10:30 am. There was a frenzy of activity when the call came to board. Very efficiently done! Where to start, grabbed my rods first, placed one in the center pool holder for all passengers, one per passenger, then placed all my extra gear in the over load area. That done I went back for my suitcases (Duffle Bags) and took them to my cabin #16 shared with Sean.
Should of placed my tackle boxes first, as all normal spots were already gone, so they went on the deck somewhere with a bunch of others. These boats can never set aside enough space for tackle boxes? Did a once around on deck for anything I forgot, yep my boots. Brand new Tuff boots, glad I left them in the plastic as there were at least a half dozen on deck. Note to self, mark my boots with my name. Another once around; and there was my jacket sitting on another tackle box, yikes my bad.
Ok one more trek around the deck, oops where are my sinkers and Marauder Lures? I had put them in a heavy duty cloth grocery bag, actually doubled to hold the weight. There they were covered by someone’s sweatshirt? Whew that was nervous time. Poured myself a Bloody Mary to relax and take it all in. Called the wife and a few fishing buddies who all wished me good luck and a safe trip.
The call to depart came at 11:30, a three minute warning. Get on the boat now! Off we went to the bait receiver. The crew loaded bait, big sardines, for several hours. The first call for lunch came. Meat sauce pasta with Italian Sausage, very tasty and all were hungry. Cleared the Point at 1:30 pm. Then there was a call to the galley for our initial game plan and safety summary.
According to Captain Frank LoPreste the Bluefin Tuna being caught were now averaging only 20 pounds and were not in our game plan. Apparently most of the big boys had left town? We would be driving all night and all morning on Saturday to arrive at Conas Rock to fish Yellowtail. Then we would continue on to the ridge the next day.
The weather was fabulous, and we all spent time rigging gear. One of the passengers broke out a bottle of Spanish Red wine and offered me a glass. Oh yeah that hit the spot. The call for dinner was made at 6:30 pm. A nice salad, rice and Wahoo caught on a previous trip, covered in some fruit sauce. Oh wow if you have never tasted Wahoo, it is to die for. I skipped desert, a choice of Pumpkin or Apple Pie.
Lights out for me at 8pm totally exhausted! Up at midnight for a piss break and being wide awake read a book for an hour before going back to sleep at 1:30 am. Up at 5:45 am. Sean my roommate was already up, and I never hurt a peep all night?
Day-2 Saturday-Oct. 19
Oh that fresh aroma of coffee brewing in the sea air, too cool! The seas were as flat as a pancake. However by 9am there was popcorn and then lots of capping soon after with a 1 to 2 foot wind chop. The call for breakfast was made at 6:30 am, serving toast, hashed brown potatoes, Bacon and Eggs. A call to the galley came at 8:30 am for a summary of fishing techniques for yellowtail. Iron, fly line, sliding sinker, and dropper loop fishing were discussed. Also how to hook a bait three different ways, nose, butt, and the neckline.
We were 49 miles from our first destination, Coneas, scheduled arrival at 12:30 pm. The call for lunch came at noon, the menu including Cole slaw and Turkey Sandwiches. Good timing, as we were all fired up to get our lines wet. Unfortunately the wind was now howling, blowing a steady 20 knots with gusts much higher. We tried a drift but that was useless, way too much scope out. Several attempts to anchor up finally resulted in a good hook set.
There were boils in the stern and words we were all looking forward were hailed “hook up” or fresh one! The first few fish were hung on the iron, and then the bait fishermen found some success. It was a slow pick for most of us. I cranked and cranked the iron for nothing but one small bump. So I switched to live bait, using Sardines. With the wind I started with 40 pound line and a 1oz chrome sinker. Cast after cast and no biters.
There were perhaps a dozen fish on the boat right now, all over 20 pounds and up to 30 pounds. Most were caught on the iron. Tired of cranking many resorted to bait fishing and more hook ups were realized. I was definitely snake bit. Got picked up and few times and dropped. An hour into fishing I was still without a solid hook set.
I started to panic and threw out my 30 pound outfit. A big mistake, as I got picked up and it turned into a good hook up. Finally I could holler fresh one! The big yellowtail took me for a ride and I was soon rocked, darn? Went back to 40 pound, and achieved another hook up. A good fight, then the fish decided to go under the boat. I got assistance from the crew, but a quick run back to the stern and around the corner and someone with the iron caught my line and the fish was lost.
Re-tied and it wasn’t too long before I hooked another fish. I got rocked again, and twice more. I temporarily switched to 50 pound and could not get bit. Went back to 40 and lost two more to the rocks. At this time I was 0 for 5 and feeling pretty down. One angler was having good success on the iron. So I used my jig stick with 50 pound on it and a tight drag. Second cast I was on! Yee ha! I put all the pressure I could on the fish to get him off the bottom. A few minutes later the skunk was over, a solid 22 pounder!
Angler Steve and crew Terrence with a nice Yellowtail:
Angler Al and crew Daryl with a Yellowtail:
Angler Chen with his first ever Yellowtail caught:
Captain Frank LoPreste (middle), angler Willie (right) with Yellowtail:
Angler Bob with crew Mike with Yellowtail:
A couple of casts later and game on again, landing another 20+ pounder. Maybe a half hour later I put on a third as the bite had really slowed down! So I saved the day with three quality Yellowtail. The boat scored 60 total, with an equal or more amount of losses. High stick was five, all on the iron. Most of the Yellowtail were over 20 pounds, really didn’t see any fewer than 20, with quite a few in the 25 pound range, with maybe five approaching 30 pounds.
The bite died around 4:30 pm and Captain Frank said he would look around, wind them up. After about 20 minutes he called it and set a course for Turtle Bay, guess we weren’t stopping at Cedros, as the bay is below the Island? Funny this is my third long range trip and I have yet to fish Cedros Island? We would be arriving Turtle Bay at 5am and we were asked to rig up the Sabiki Rigs to hopefully make bait.
Despite the howling wind and 4 to 5 foot seas our ride was only a bit rocky from side to side, but virtually no up and down motion. Most everyone enjoyed a beer, a glass of wine or a shot of Tequila or Whiskey and talked about the ones that got away. Many took a shower or a short nap. The crew put the Clemson and Florida State game on. No contest unfortunately. My USC Trojans lost to our primary Notre Dame for the second year in a row, darn.
The call for dinner came at 6:30 pm. Tonight’s menu started with a salad, then a good sized New York Steak, cooked medium rare, Mashed Potatoes and Vegetables. Desert was Vanilla Cookie and Brownie Ice Cream and Chocolate Sauce.
Could not hold my eyes open past 8pm and hit the sack. Most others did to. This time I woke up at midnight, but rolled over and went back to sleep. Up at 4:30 am very refreshed!
Day 3- Sunday-Oct. 20
The coffee was again very aromatic and tasty. A selection of fruit and cereal was already out. The Captain announced at 5am as we slowed down and looked around for bait marks to be ready to make bait. After 20 minutes or so he told us to relax the meter was not displaying much of anything. At 5:45 am he stated that there were a few Yellowtail marks on the bottom. He instructed us to use iron or a dropper loop, as the bottom was 200 feet deep.
Nothing happened and the call for breakfast was made. French toast served with Breakfast sausage. Very good! We had barely finished breakfast when the Captain said the meter was lit up and a good jag of Yellowtail just swam under the boat, as we were drifting. As long as it took for the first iron to hit bottom the sound of hook up rang out! As it was still somewhat dark (grey light), I chose my dropper loop outfit and was bit within seconds of hitting the bottom. A nice fish, took a couple of short runs and I nearly straight grinded him to the boat. A solid 18 to 20 pound Tail.
Dropped down a fresh bait and it was instant hook up. I looked up and down the rail and nearly half the boat was hooked up at once. I landed my second Yellowtail in short order. Two fish on the deck and it was not yet 7am? What a difference a day makes!
My first and second Yellowtail in Turtle Bay in the background:
Angler Bill with a Yellowtail:
There were calm seas with just a hint of a breeze and no swell. My next bait did not get bit, and several anglers were getting bit well on the iron so I switched over. My jig never made to the bottom as I was bit half way down. This was bit bigger fish and pulled real hard. I was sweating when I hollered deep color. Oh yeah this was a solid 25 pound Yellowtail. The bite slowed and my next ten casts of the iron were unrewarded.
There were still a few fish being hooked and the Bill right next to me had just hit bottom with his dropper loop outfit and got bit. So back to the dropper loop outfit I went. Put four fish in a row on before losing my first fish in a tangle. Too bad as it was a bigger fish, figures?
On my next hookup the handle on my TLD 20 broke. Quite a hassle to land this fish, and got a little assistance from the crew as I was scrapping my finger badly against the side of the real when winding. So I donated this fish to the galley as a thank you for the crew’s help. The bite died and we made a short move and found some more biters. At 10:30 Captain Frank said wind them up we are out of here with full limits for the day. I ended the morning 11 for 13, what an improvement from the previous day? I donated some fish and had my first two day’s limit in the fish hold.
A short seminar of our next area of fishing was made in 20 minutes. We were headed to Alejos Rocks, as the water temps had risen two degrees since we left the dock. No boats had fished there in the last five days. After 2pm we would put in the trollers and start looking for kelp paddies where the water was expected to rise above the current temperature of 69.75 degrees. We were told to relax for the next several hours.
I headed to the showers and wow did that feel good. The call for lunch came at high noon. Today’s entry Chicken Burritos served with rice and refried beans, sour cream and salsa! Yum yum, they were excellent and we had all worked up an appetite. We watched some Sunday football, with the only game we could connect to being the Dallas Cowboy’s versus the Philadelphia Eagles. Watched it until the fourth quarter and not being competitive I took a short nap.
The Captain announced that team one could begin trolling. The crew would look for Kelp Paddies or breaking fish. Over the next 4 hours we passed a number of Kelp Paddies, one very large one, however none were holding any fish. The trolling rigs were bit several times by small Skipjack Tuna. About 5pm the Captain said that we had just entered some warmer water, up two degrees, so the area could be more promising? The next two troll fish were 10 pound Dorado! However, we only passed a few more small kelp paddies and they were dry.
We watched the Sunday night football game with undefeated Denver versus the Indianapolis Colts. Quite a game and every now and then the mighty must fall? Dinner was announced at 6:45. Tonight’s entry included salad, large Boneless Pork Chops, (more like Pork Tenderloin) smothered in a tasty Tomato and onion sauce, rice and Zucchini. Desert was Chocolate Cheese Cake.
I managed to stay up until 9:30 pm before crashing. I woke up at 4:30 am.
Day 4-Monday-Oct. 21
We should be at the Rocks soon. Plan is to anchor up and use dropper loops for the big Yellowtail and possible Grouper that hang out near this reef. Then with clear daylight we would begin a trolling rotation. We anchored up near the rocks and it wasn’t too long before the Yellowtail started biting the dropper loop outfits. There were at least a dozen yellowtail landed up to 40 pounds, most averaging over 25. I never got bit. It was breezy out, maybe 10 to 12 knots of wind, which remained at that level most of the day.
Alejos Rocks:
The call for breakfast came early, just past 6am. Toast, eggs, home fried potatoes mixed with cheese and Portuguese sausage. We pulled anchor and began trolling for Wahoo, up down and around the rocks. About 20 minutes later we heard those magic sounds of hook up! Jigs only in the water until all the trolling rigs were in. Then you could throw bait. There was one bait fish caught and one troll fish landed.
Angler Paul with the trip’s largest Yellowtail, 35 pounds fully bled:
Can’t remember angler name with one of the first Wahoo’s caught:
Another 20 minutes and we got a triple hook up on the troll. There were several fish hooked on the iron, not for me. Two more tosses of the iron and I grabbed my bait stick with a wire leader. Soaked the bait for several minutes and got bit about 75 yards from the boat. Gad these Wahoo can fly as the fish was up the side of the boat in a flash. Then he made a run straight out from the boat, turned right, then changed directions and went left. Run, run, run! Finally got the Wahoo to the boat and just as they went to gaff him, the hook pulled. Just one more foot was all I needed, bummer.
Continued to troll and in about ten minutes another hook up. I threw the iron and got hammered close to the boat. Kept cranking the reel handle and he never made much of a run. He must have been stunned? Hollered for gaff, and one more crank of the reel and they stuck him. Yee ha, I was on the board with a Wahoo in the bag. What a thrill!
Here I am with crew Darren and my first Wahoo caught:
We trolled for another 30 minutes with no more signs of fish. Captain decided to anchor up on a meter mark. I jigged for a while; there was one hook up on the iron. Then a few bait fish were hooked and then I was bit on the bait. Holy smokes, the fish took off and I had to run for the bow, as you could hear the zing of the line through the water. The Wahoo stopped and changed directions, charging the boat, then turned right next to it. Then the fish slid up the side of the boat as I wound in line as fast as possible. Close enough as the deck hand managed a good gaff!
My second Wahoo caught:
After all that action we managed to land a dozen Wahoo out of three times that many hook ups. The Captain decided to head away from the rocks to a reef some 20 miles away. The trolling rigs were put out; however, there were no biters all the way. We reached the reef and made a drift, hoping for more Wahoo or some Yellowfin Tuna to show up. Not to be! Several anglers dropped down with one pound weights to the bottom some 300 feet away. One angler got hooked up to a nice fish; it turned out to be a 50 pound Grouper. Then a second Grouper was landed at about 25 pounds. We drifted over the reef for some 20 minutes and caught three more Grouper from 20 to 35 pounds. We also caught Potinas, Red Rockfish, and some big Starries, Whitefish and a big Sheephead.
Angler Bobby with a huge Potinas (left), angler unknown (middle) with a Baja Grouper, and crew Terrence (right):
I managed to learn about 2/3’s of the names of everyone on the boat, maybe?
Two more Baja Grouper caught:
Angler Bill with a Baja Grouper:
Angler Stan with a Baja Grouper:
Another Potinas held by crew Darren:
My roommate Sean with crew Terrence and a Baja Grouper:
The call for lunch came and it was yesterday’s donated Yellowtail. Wow was it tasty, served on a bed of white rice and covered with a Cilantro butter white sauce.
With no signs of Tuna or Wahoo we headed back to Alijos Rocks. When we reached the Rocks, we almost immediately got a Wahoo bite. We hooked a few more as we drifted closer to the rocks. I got a bit hard on a Sardine used for bait. I thought it was a Wahoo, as my line screamed out. Every time I gained some line the fish took another long run, time after time this happened. I said to myself this can’t be a Wahoo they don’t fight that hard after their initial fast run? As I fought the fish hard it rose to the surface and the Captain upstairs hollered out that I was fighting a Yellowfin Tuna. It took some more effort but the crew finally gaffed it. It looked to be a little over 30 pounds, what a mean Tuna he was?
My 36 pound Yellowfin Tuna:
A second Tuna was landed and several small Yellowtail. We had to move out away from the rocks, as we were getting too close. We set up on another drift and a lot more Tuna were hooked. Unfortunately the sharks moved in and many fish were lost to the sharks. Also since we were drifting in only 90 feet of water, any fish sounding (going down) often found the rocks and cut you off. I got sharked twice and rocked twice on nice fish. Some anglers got spooled on bigger fish. Our loss ratio was nearly 95 %. We only landed a few more Tuna, one more Wahoo and smaller Yellowtail, with a few to 15 pounds. We ended the day with 20 Wahoo, 7 Yellowfin Tuna, 5 Grouper and 20 Yellowtail kept, with dozen’s released.
Back to trolling until dark with one more big Wahoo caught. I caught quality not quantity today. We are now headed to Magdalena Bay, some 190 miles southeast of, where we will spend most of tomorrow trolling and looking for kelp paddies holding fish, most likely Dorado.
Dinner tonight was roast chicken, salad, sweet bread, baked potatoes, and Brussel Sprouts. We had Carrot Cake for desert. I haven’t mentioned any snacks as I usually skipped them, yet at 10 am and 4pm some good stuff was served.
Baja Sunset:
Its 8:30 pm and it is time for a bed, after a very long day.
Day 5- Tuesday, Oct. 22
I woke up at 4:45 am after a good night’s sleep. Breakfast consists of Denver style Scrambled Eggs and Hashed Browns. Captain said we had not yet reached the desired warm water area we are fishing today off Mag Bay. The wind and seas remained similar as the day before, some white caps and 2 to 3 foot swells.
We trolled and trolled, drove by Kelp Paddy after Paddy for nothing. We caught several Wahoo in the open water on trolling rigs, some small skipjack, a Dorado and a small Striped Marlin released. The call for snacks was announced and this time I could not resist, my favorite, Lox and Bagel. Tasty Salmon, cream cheese, capers, tomatoes, diced red onion on a toasted Bagel, oh yeah outstanding.
A small Striped Marlin hooked on the troll by angler Ron:
We continued to do more trolling for little to nothing. Lunch was a humongous cheese burger with tater tots. We were just finishing lunch when another kelp paddy was spotted. As we pulled up on it Dorado were jumping near it. I got bit and dropped and then got bit again and dropped. We picked up half a dozen to 17 pounds. It was quickly over.
Angler Dave with a Dorado:
Angler Bill (left), Dave and Gene (right) with Dorado:
Angler Gene with his Dorado:
Angler Mike with crew Terrence and a Dorado:
Not long after that we came up on a school of porpoise that were holding tuna. Unfortunately most were footballs under 10 pounds. I released one around five pounds. About 10 were kept in the 8 to 12 pound range. We moved on towards Mag Bay with our arrival time near 9pm where we would make bait. It was now 3pm and snacks were cheese balls and chocolate mousse pie.
At 4:30 pm we came across a dead seal and there Dorado under it. I managed to catch a 12 pounder with a dozen caught up to 20 pounds. We added one more Wahoo on the troll, a total of four for the day. It was a very slow day of fishing day. We also caught 23 Dorado and 11 Yellowfin Tuna to 12 pounds.
My 12 pound Dorado:
Dinner tonight was filet of Rockfish, rice and green beans. Desert was black cherry or strawberry cheese cake ice cream.
Our plan for the evening was to make bait in Mag Bay and if we did it early enough, no later than 1am, we would head for the Potato Bank where there were reports of 70+ pound Tuna. We arrived at Mag Bay at 10:30 and immediately found the Mackerel for bait. It was an enormous mass of bait and we made all we needed in about an hour. Off to the Potato Bank we went. Everyone began rigging up their bigger gear for possible Tuna to over 200 pounds, known as Cows!
It was way after midnight before I fell asleep, having taken a short nap before arriving in the Bay. Up at 5am and received the news that we had turned north, away from the Potato Bank as the water was too warm, over 85 degrees. Mag Bay was 80 degrees and all of our remaining Sardines would perish in the very warm water.
See part II
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Originally Posted by tamddo714
