San Diego Back 2 Back trips prep and report on the Horizon and Tomahawk

[MarkT]

Any idea what happened to the SOA?

Word is they hit something, prop damaged. Found additional issues back at the dock. It'll take at least a week to fix.

[Keta]

TY Mark.

[Brewcrafter]

Good luck PJ!  And a good case study for bringing extra gear - you never know what the actual trip will entail.  So looking forward to you reports and it looks like weather is pretty good so go out there and nail it! - john

[Vintage Offshore Tackle]

Any idea what happened to the SOA?

They hit a rock inside of Pyramid Cove.

[pjstevko]

Beautiful weather, tough fishing.

11 bft and 1 yt for 19 people.

I didn't catch anything and Steve landed a nice tuna.

I hooked a yt on a paddy but it popped off....

Be at the dock a little after 6am then board the Tomahawk around 10-11am....

First order of business after boarding is a shower!

[Crab Pot]

This sure was shaping up to be the trip from hell for me. What was normally an eight-hour drive taking me most of ten. I factored in holiday traffic and left at 0630, I got to the landing at 5pm. I took me three hours to go from Magic Mountain to Anaheim and almost an hour and half to go from San Clemente to just south of Oceanside. I was in full panic thinking I was going to be left on the pier because Densise said the boat was leaving between 5:15 and 5:30. Anyway I made it and we didn't end up leaving till 6:30.   

As PJ said the weather was awesome, but the fishing was slow.

We jumped on the Horizon which is a converted dive boat and hands down the most luxurious boat I have ever spent the night on. We motored out for approx. four hours and started to night fish dropping heavy iron to depths of 350' till 0600.

I used my home-made Tuna/Eddie Bomb, 16oz, and painted purple with two upper 9/0 assist hooks. PJ was dropping his tungsten jigs. At around 0430 I got picked up and two trips around the boat a nice 70+ class Bluefin was doing the deck dance. The crew estimated it at around 100 pounds, but I don't think so. It was heavy though and ended up being the biggest fish caught! Four other anglers pulled up Bluefin anywhere from 30-60 pounds.

The day bite was slow, I never got bit, and PJ had a couple short strikes. We mainly searched for paddies and trolled in between. One guy caught an average Yellowtail of one paddy and a kid caught a peanut Bluefin off another. I wasn't too impressed with the captain's approach to paddies, he brough the boat right up next them rather than standing off as "I've" always been told.

When it got dark, we switched back over to heavy gear. I fished till midnight knowing I was going to drive back home the next morning, and I had a nice fish. If I didn't have a fish, I'd be on the Tomahawk right now with PJ. Pus the refund from Alan's trip is pretty much what I need to get my transmission rebuilt on the Chevelle.

Total fish count was eleven Bluefin and one Yellowtail.

My ride home was much better, just under eight hours.

I sure hope PJ has better news when he chimes back in.

The "Scuttlebutt" I heard on the SoA, is she has hull, shaft, and damage to a screw. They were able to put her in dry dock to assess the damage, but the drydock had scheduled customers and she had to leave. She was tied up in her spot at H&M when we got there. However, this is just hearsay, and I have my fingers crossed for the owners and your future trip plans.

I didn't know she hit a rock till I read Randy's post.

Here are some of the pictures I took.

Thanks,

Steve

[MarkT]

Any idea what happened to the SOA?

They hit a rock inside of Pyramid Cove.

Someone on BD who said they were on that trip said they hit something at night.

[Brewcrafter]

Nice tuna Steve!  We'll keep our fingers crossed that PJ's luck turns around on the Tomahawk. - john

[Vintage Offshore Tackle]

Any idea what happened to the SOA?

They hit a rock inside of Pyramid Cove.

Someone on BD who said they were on that trip said they hit something at night.

They were trying to catch flyers very tight to the island.

[pjstevko]

REDEMPTION! Had my best trip ever! Landed 5, lost 5 and handed off 2!
The last stop at midnight on the final night went wide open. We stayed over an hour later than scheduled!
Full report to come!

[Hardy Boy]

Nice work !!! Its a numbers game ................ get the bad trips and eventually you get a great trip.

Good job


Todd

[Keta]

Nice!

[pjstevko]

Average fish size for the boat was 45-55#! Perfect size

[Crab Pot]

Karma buddy!

You earned that trip.

Have a safe trip home.

Steve

[Bill B]

WoooooHooooo!  Way to go PJ.  Stuck with it until the very end.  Bill