S.W.A.T. Memorial Day Weekend "Double" Report!

[Wingnut]

I had a busy Memorial Day Weekend...
Private charter on Saturday... Hit the surf on Sunday...

Saturday 5/28, we chartered the Native Sun for a private trip for twenty-six (26) of our close family & friends to fish Catalina.
Captain Aaron and the crew of the Native Sun were awesome... friendly, attentive and fun.
Launching out of 22nd Street Landing, we loaded up the bait tanks with live Squid and headed out.

Everybody had a blast, plenty of Yellowtails, and a mix of Barracuda, Sargo, Rockfish and a wide open bite on Calico Bass.
JerryG caught the first fish of the morning, a 20# Yellow and that proved to be the jackpot fish.
I was in the fight of my life when I hooked a big Black Sea Bass...

Again, the Captain & Crew of the Native Sun were fantastic... hooking fish and handing it off to everybody.
The boat can accommodate 50+ anglers, but we only invited 26.

We met up at Binh's house at 4:00am.
Binh (BadBeat) and Phuong (Blackwater)




We made Tyler, the Rookie carry the gear... lol


Blackwater and JerryG


Here I am with S.W.A.T. Brothers Raney (Raneman) and Peter (PTN)


Binh (BadBeat) and friends...


I tried to get Phuong to make a bet... chicken sh*t.


I had the pleasure of fishing next to a couple of S.W.A.T. Top Guns JerryG and Don (Bachiboy)




I brought extra gear to share with some of the Rookies.


Jerry had the first hook up of the morning... turns out to be the jackpot fish.




Don was on a nice Yellow himself for awhile until the big fish broke him off...






Jerry had the hot stick of the day with a nice Barracuda.


... And a fat Sargo.


Then I hooked up to something BIG... I was fishing with 20# test and this thing almost spooled me twice!
The deckhand thought that a Seal got a hold of my fish, but I told him it didn't feel like Seal...
I was on this sucker for about half an hour. The entire time enduring jabs from my fellow S.W.A.T. Brothers like, "Hey, what's taking you so long? Bring that thing up already!" and "You're fighting it like a girl..." and "Hey, does your husband fish too???"
I was just hoping that it wasn't a big Bat Ray. lol

Then I finally turned the fish and got it off the bottom... started gaining line and when it came to color... everybody freaked out.
Of course we couldn't bring it on board and Captain Aaron did a great job deflating it... we pushed it down at least a half a dozen times and finally it swam back down and never resurfaced.
The Captain estimated the Black Sea Bass to be around 100 lbs.
















A little later, I hooked onto to small Mako Shark... fought it briefly before it cut me off.

We saw a couple of guys fly fishing out there on this Simms vessel. Very cool... I saw this boat outside the Fishermens Shop in Van Nuys at one of their events.


Tyler, get that rod off the rail, it's only a Calico! lol


My cousin Vu with a Yellow.


Tony


Raney








Everybody was wiped out on the ride back...






What a fun trip, we will definitely charter the Native Sun again!

Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor...




*****************************************



Sunday 5/29 - Don (Bachiboy) and I hit the surf in South O.C. at grey light.





Actually, not much to report... just a few short Halibut and a couple of Calico Bass. The surf was filled with Red Crabs and the fish was full of them...
Pretty hard for the LC to compete with a massive amount of food.



















I talked to this local fly fisherman... he says the Corbina are starting to move in.



To my S.W.A.T. Brothers & Sisters... I'll see you Saturday at the Gathering of Eagles!


Extra stuff...

Fresh Yellowtail... Yummy!



I had quite a few graduation parties to attend last week.
Binh's nephew graduation.


My Niece's graduation.


My Niece and her prom date.


Nice young man, studying to be a doctor. I had no discipline to study medicine in college. LOL


Mom and Sis relaxing in the garden.


I just finished a backyard project for Mom... took me 3 weekends. What do you guys think?
She had an unused space on the side of the house that was an eyesore to me.
Bothered me for years and I finally decided to do something about it. lol
The "Before" picture.










The complete "after" picture... ready for Mom to plant whatever she wants!


I had the GTS wrapped in two-tone matte. My darn rod doesn't fit in it!








Parting shot.

I visited one of my canine kids last week... Romeo is a big boy now.




My Dad said this to me a long time ago... and I will always remember it.
"Son, it is good to have things that money can buy. But it is also good to check once in awhile to be sure that you have the things that money can't buy."


Take care everybody... don't forget to be nice to each other.

Arthur (Wingnut)

[jerryG]

Thanks Arthur, I had a great time on Saturday. Looking forward to seeing everyone this Saturday..

[murrieta angler]

Very nice Brother Arturo
Looks like fun times were had by all.
I look forward to the event this Saturday and catching up with a lot of friends.
Great write up and pictures and your Pops was a wise man...
Take care & God Bless,
Robert
<><

[Raneman]

What a great time with a great bunch of people! It was great seeing all of you again and fishing with new faces. Congrats to the recent grads! Have fun at the Gathering of Eagles!



Raney

[dlmoo312]

Great report Arthur! It's nice to see you and everyone else catching some quality fish! and it's also nice to see what else you've been up to.
I have to say, that garden is impressive I had no idea you had carpentry skills
Bummed I won't be able to make it to the gathering, but I hope to reconnect with you guys soon.


-Daniel

[bones]

Beautiful report Arthur. Pretty much sums it up.
See you saturday on the sand and the get together...it's been way too long my friend.

[anchor3n1]

You never dissapoint Arthur!!!!

Super cool report as I've come to expect from you : )

Looking forward to seeing you and the whole bunch at our place this SATURDAY!!!!

Blessings,

Ps: if your nice maybe I'll tell U bout my spot LOL

[bachiboy]

Great getting to fish with you twice this weekend. You put in some serious mileage to fish but glad you were able to get into some of the targeted species. That was three of the toughest days of fishing I've had in a while but I guess I can't complain considering the day I had the previous weekend on the bft. Just nice getting to fish with all of you guys and hope we can don't again soon. Congrats, Jerry, on the JP! Kelly, we shoulda made that left at Albuquerque. We'll get em next time. Hope you guys have a great time at the gathering...sorry I'm gonna miss it.

Don

[vdisney]

Great report and fantastic pictures. You are correct, the captain and the crew on the Native Sun are super helpful and nice to boot

[City Dad]

nice! so, coelacanth must be the only species left on your check list, right?

wish we could make it Saturday, been too long since we've been fishing.

have fun