Reel Repair by Alan Tani

Wishing you good luck on your Phenix 10-day aboard EXCEL... Prospects are excellent, POLARIS SUPREME was down below last week and apparently the wahoo fishing was about as outstanding as it gets (although they did advise to bring some extra Marauders because the sharks were eating them.)  :o

In any event, I hope you score big-time... but please, Mark, leave some for Mike Pate and me to catch in December!   ;)

~A~

Thanks!  My car is loaded up and I'm heading to San Diego in a little while.  I'm hoping for a good score on the Wahoo.  The numbers have been looking good lately.  I'll be dragging a Cow Bell for my trolling rotation.

Drive careful first, then knock 'em dead Mark!

Quote from: MarkT on September 24, 2016, 07:10:10 PM
Thanks!  My car is loaded up and I'm heading to San Diego in a little while.  I'm hoping for a good score on the Wahoo.  The numbers have been looking good lately.  I'll be dragging a Cow Bell for my trolling rotation.

Wow, pretty pricey, those Cowbells... I've never seen one before. What size/color will you be using?  :)

~A~

Get your slay on Mark! ;)

Quote from: Aiala on September 24, 2016, 07:43:56 PM

Quote from: MarkT on September 24, 2016, 07:10:10 PM
Thanks!  My car is loaded up and I'm heading to San Diego in a little while.  I'm hoping for a good score on the Wahoo.  The numbers have been looking good lately.  I'll be dragging a Cow Bell for my trolling rotation.

Wow, pretty pricey, those Cowbells... I've never seen one before. What size/color will you be using?  :)

~A~

I got it for a Christmas present.  It's a 32 oz that's purple.

Good luck out there Mark. Take some shots for us.

Quote from: MarkT on September 24, 2016, 08:07:17 PM
I got it for a Christmas present.  It's a 32 oz that's purple.

Cool... depending on how well it works for you, I may have to grab one for my trip.  ;)

~A~

Cowbells???? I never heard of them.  I had to google them and now see what they look like.  It looks like a giant Mepps.  Do you put a hook on the rig or is it just to stimulate?  Dominick

I'm glad you didn't know either Dom,  I was wondering.

They're by Ballyhood. It comes fully rigged with a cable leader and a hook. I was wrong about the color, it's orange and black. Wow, they sticker at $80! I didn't know they were that expensive. My son works at a tackle store so he paid a lot less than that.

I'm sitting here at the Vagabond watching the Stanford/UCLA game.

The Excel is heading home and is currently a little north of Colonet. They're behind the Independence and the Intrepid. www.marinetraffic.com is a wonderful thing! The SoA is southwest of Cedros, probably headed for the Alijos Rocks.

I'm sure you'll have a great trip Mark!  I'm heading out on the SOA for an 8 day with Alan and Tim Dang on 10/6.  Hopefully the wahoo are still around and biting!

Thanks, Jeff. It seems like the Wahoo have been on lately.  Hopefully will still be the case next week.. and a couple weeks out for you guys.

We spent 2 days driving to the rocks and arrived today about 10:30. Typical Wahoo fishing for me, meaning frustrating. I only landed one out of many hooked. I think we got about 70 today which put us above all the other boats. We'll be the only boat here at the rocks tomorrow and I'm hoping to have a better day. Good days have followed bad for me on prior trips. Weather had been great wth no storm influences. The cow bell got hit three times but none stuck. I sharpened the hook and will try again tomorrow. It did get hit more than Marauders.

Keep the Faith Mark. ;)

You'll get 'em, Mark... hang tough!   8)

Are you throwing bait, bombs, or jigs? 

~A~

Today was a better day. I got 6 Wahoo. One on the troll, 2 on bait, 2 on bombs, one on a Raider. I got the troll fish on the Cow Bell. It always gets at least a short bite! I lost plenty too on biteoffs and hits but not sticks.  We're now heading in to the Ridge and should arrive at 1pm for the afternoon schoolie YFT bite.

I got one today on the cowbell that's probably 50#+. I got 3 more on the pink bombs. One of those is 50#+ too. I have 11 for the trip! Even the captain was saying I've set bar pretty high for next time. I've almost forgotten about that first day at the rocks.i may need a bigger freezer!

Quote from: MarkT on September 30, 2016, 08:29:06 PM
I got one today on the cowbell that's probably 50#+.

Wow, that's a fat skinny!  ;D   You're going to be eating 'hoo for months and months...

Meanwhile, have you had any luck with YFTs, Dodos and/or YTs? And has anyone tried for pargo or grouper? I'm really hoping for a chance at those bottom guys when I go in December.

Keep up the good work!  :D

~A~

Knock em over Marc

We're currently heading down to the Thetis bank to anchor for the night. We'll be able to dropper loop for YT and Pargo.  I got 6 YFT and will probably give most away.  It was wide open on the YFT for most of the afternoon. The Independence was anchored near us.

MarkT!

Please provide all you know after your day at Thetis Bank!  Please.

I'll be fishing the same location first week of Nov. when we leave Puerto San Carlos, Magdalena Bay.


Thank you.

Wayne

We got to the Thetis bank late in the day on Friday and anchored for the night. I got a couple of small YFT after dinner in the dark. Saturday morning in the gray light was totally wide open on the Wahoo for 20 minutes. I got 3. I've never seen anything like that. Cast a bomb, get bit, it gets spit, keep cranking and you're bit again, spit again, crank some more and stick one. This happened several times. There was a huge Wolfpack of them. Just unbelievable! After the bite died we pulled anchor and headed back up the Ridge.

Not that it means anything for the future but chrome and pink bombs were the ones to have on the Ridge. Probably get bit 5:1 over anything else. Blue and pink ruled at the Rocks. Different day, different ocean.

I got 4 Olive Grouper this morning. I kept 2, one of which was 25#. Some big YT came over the side too.

Wayne I have a couple of Bomboys if you are targeting wahoo.  Dominick

Fourteen 'hoos...!!   :o  Incredible... Even being conservative, that's got to add up to 150+ pounds of filets!  :D

What brand bombs did you use?

Nice job on the groupies... did anyone get any pargo?

~A~

Wow! Sounds like wide open on the Wahoo. I would have adrenaline overload if I got bit, spit, bit, spit and finally stuck one.


A new freezer definitely sounds like a reality about to happen. I had to do a whole lot of shuffling when I cam home from Alaska recently with 3 50# boxes of salmon. Hello sushi, nigiri, sashimi, fish tacos, salmon salad...and of course sharing with friends.

Hope you have a safe trip home.

Thanks for sharing....and let's see some pics. Would love to see nice shots of the Olive Grouper.

WTG Mark!
Definitely post pics when you get back man.  Hope the weather and fishing holds up for us!
See ya!

Mark the MAN!!:  ;)  :D  ;D

(https://scontent-lax3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/14522788_1331589773548057_8467567584573333037_n.jpg?oh=0a8cc3f05589a256c38d44dcb1c90106&oe=586B7E9E)

~A~

what a beast!! :o

The fish looks nice, too. ;)

Nice!

Several nice dinners hanging on that hook.

They are really good eating.  Congratulations Mark.  Dominick

My 14 Wahoo came to 497# or a 35.5# each. The biggest one was 54#. My 2 Grouper came to 46# @ 25 and 21#.  At $.65/lb my processing bill came to $353. I had 2 100qt coolers filled with Wahoo. The Grouper had to come home in a plastic trash bag with ice since there was no room left in the coolers.  One of my friends covered the fish cleaning and I gave him over half. One of my son's coworkers wants a Wahoo's worth too. I still have a shelf in my freezer full. That works for me!

We had gone straight to the Alijos Rocks from San Diego for 2 days and 2 days straight home from the Ridge.

Awesome trip Mark, congrats!  Post some more pics if you can.  We leave tomorrow 9am!

Glad you caught lots Mark.
Thanks for taking us along.
Congrats. ;)

Good job Mark T.  The T stands for Taking fish.  Congratulations.  Now post some pics.  Dominick

Here are some. I don't know what's with this software flipping pictures. I have a few more pictures on my camera. These came from my phone.

Looks like one epic trip Mark. Congratulations.

(http://i1381.photobucket.com/albums/ah207/ladyaialaAiala/Mark%20T%201_zps9w2qxphv.jpg)

(http://i1381.photobucket.com/albums/ah207/ladyaialaAiala/Mark%20T%202_zpsmspg1yah.jpg)

(http://i1381.photobucket.com/albums/ah207/ladyaialaAiala/Mark%20T%203_zps42fsdazj.jpg) <-- This shot is so spectacular I'm using it for my desktop background!  :)

(http://i1381.photobucket.com/albums/ah207/ladyaialaAiala/Mark%20T%204_zpsfwl2t9jz.jpg)

I just hope Mike and I can have some of the same luck (and skill) when we go on our EXCEL 10-day in December!   ;)

~A~

Holy cow, what a great haul Mark. 

We want lots of pictures,  and of course an equipment report! What rods &reels were used for what, etc.....

You know, for us guys living vicariously through your adventures!

Congrats.

Aiala, I'm using that picture as the wallpaper on my computer too! That's the Indy in the background.

What worked? Bombs thrown on a Phenix 909xhj with a TranX with a 50# leader. I got 7 Wahoo on it.
Trolling with the Banshee Cowbell on a Phenix phd700x3h with a Makaira 16 with 130# fluoro on top of 100# spectra. Bait on my old Seeker cjb65h 'birthday' rod with an Avet JX 6/3 with 40#.

Bomb color does seem to make a difference. Fast isn't always the best color!  At the rocks a blue/pink bomb worked best although some were caught on green too. Hands down chrome/pink was the ticket on the Ridge. The combo worked for bombs, Raiders, Sea Strike 33's. I bet pink 6xJrs would've worked well too. I know a well regarded long ranger on the trip after ours who always does well and only uses 6xJrs.

Big congrats on a very successful trip!

Im 6'4"

You are only 24" sideways. ;D

Just an FYI. Those pictures straighten right out when you tap on them to enlarge.
Awesome fishing Mark you filled the freezer and spread the love.
Way to get it done.

Hey Mark, sure you don't want to do it all over again on December 11th with Mike Pate and me?? They've got two spaces left... and you need more wahoo!  ;)  :D  ;D

~A~

You've got me thinking about it since I'm still feeling the post-trip glow.

Quote from: MarkT on October 07, 2016, 04:14:14 PM
You've got me thinking about it since I'm still feeling the post-trip glow.

Aw, c'mon... it'd be such a blast! And the price is even less than what you just paid for the exact same trip!  ;)

~A~

I noticed that and even called Jason about it.  However, I found out one of our other guys is on vacation at that time and he's my backup.  We can't both be gone at the same time so I'm not going to able to go.  It's the downside to being the senior guy on a bunch of critical projects.  Jason was going to comp me some heavy cow rigs too!

Quote from: MarkT on October 07, 2016, 04:27:45 PM
We can't both be gone at the same time so I'm not going to able to go.

Oh, drat... well, there's always another time.  :-[

Speaking of which, Mark, are you planning on doing the 2017 SOA and the same EXCEL Phenix trip again next year? I've already signed up for a ROYAL STAR 8-day leaving 6/2/17. It's sponsored by Tiburon, so that should be pretty cool. Also, STAR has several 7-day Guadalupe trips scheduled for next fall... I'm considering the Seeker-sponsored one leaving October 24. Interested? 8)

~A~

Yes, I'm planning on Alan's 5 day next year and am signed up for the '17 Phenix 10 day. I'd consider the Royal Star 7 day to the 'lupe too.