So, went out for a last hurrah on a day and a half that left Friday night on the Endeavor. Reports were a little bleak but there was some fish to be had at the Cortez...pretty much the only game in town. Dropped the pick around 5am on Saturday and started picking around an hour later. First tuna I landed was just shy of 25lb. and ended up being a 1/2lb. short of JP. All but a handful of the tuna landed were rats. The boat ended with around 120 YFT, 18 YT and a lot of other misc. (skippies, bonita, whitefish, rockfish). I was under orders from my boss (wife) not to bring home anymore fish cuz she didn't want to deal with bagging fillets after my last two outings. I tagged the first one cuz it might win JP and tagged the second cuz no one would take it since it was still early. By the time I decked the third, someone finally said they wanted the fish so I started filling his tags. The first bite lasted till lunch, around 1pm. I had over ten YFT to that point, then we made a short move and got on the fish again. By the second bite, I had three other guys asking for fish so I rotated the tagging between them. After the dust had settled, I had over 20 tuna and one big yellowtail that I had disbursed between them. Everything was on 20lb. and a no. 4 hook. We had mostly chovy for bait. Left the grounds by 5pm to make it back to dock early enough to beat a local marathon that was gonna shut down the roads in the morning. We had a great crew with great food and the charter I was on had a REALLY nice group of guys to fish with. It was a great way to finish the season for me...nice and sore!
Temps on the bank were hovering between 69-72 so it looks like the warm water is starting to come down. Might be the beginning of the end of this great run we've had, but who knows. Storms south may just drive more fish up here. Either way, it's been fun!!!!
Tight lines!
Don