So about a month and a half ago, Tim calls and says he's booked on a trip. That's all I need to hear, so now I'm booked too! The reports leading up to the trip were dismal to say the least, dashing any hopes of having a good outing. But we already paid, and with virtually no refunds, we're going, come hell or high water. Then, about 2 days to departure the yellowtail counts shoot through the roof, bringing new hope. But that's not what we're after. We're after the prized bluefin, known for its fight as well as it's elusive nature, with its delicious fatty toro.
Yo-yo setup: phenix 809 hxf w/300 yds of 50 braid and 40 topper on a daiwa 400 Lexa. Preferred connection: fg knot, 6x jr/San Diego jam knot.
Got my 3 yellowtail, then the bite fizzled, time to make the run to the tuna grounds. Foamers everywhere, long story short, Tim and I both got our 2 fish bluefin tuna limits! It turned into a good day! Tim is supposed to do a comprehensive report on the trip so I'll leave it at that.
WTG dudes!
Great !!
fishin machine!
steve
well done!!!!!! ;D
Great work, good memories, thanks for sharing it with us, cheers Don.
I leave August 22nd for a 4 day.
Great to see some encouraging reports!
Nice fish.
Awesome Warren and Tim!!!
Timing is everything.....congrats on a fun successful outing !!
We've all heard that dismal phrase "shoulda been here yesterday".....that's what the captain will be telling his next set of clients lol
Ted
Thank for coming out Warren! I'm working on my report as we speak. Still recovering from the bachelor party this weekend ;D
So far....A very nice haul!
Can't wait till I can read the write up!
Here's my attempt at a detailed report:
Warren and I boarded the RR3 around 530p, with BFT as our target. The boat had a light load – 25 of 30 spots filled, so we had more room on an already big boat. The RR3 is the biggest SD fishing boat I've been on. Lots of tackle and rod storage, the galley is big, and there are nice staterooms with sinks inside. The Captain for our trip was Ethan, the deckhands were Andrew, Justin, Art, and Fernando, and the chefs were Mike and Diane.
After everyone settled in we headed to the bait barge. The sardines we were getting looked meh and someone said the baits were fresh, only a day or two old. Not to worry though, the Captain had a reserve tank of cured, super-hot baits. He told us we were getting about an 8-10 days trip worth of this meh bait. The cured bait would be placed in the hand wells and the rest would be flung by the bleach-bottle-full as chum for the BFT. We were going to chum heavy and hard to get these elusive fish to stick with us. The plan was to fish the Coronados tomorrow morning for YT until 10a and then head to the BFT grounds for the rest of our trip.
We headed for the islands and anchored up on the lee on one of the small islands for the night. Warren said he woke up in the middle of the night and saw huge shoals of red crab and small bait fish, so thick you could walk on them. The boat started its engine around 5am and we were off to the tuna pens around the bend on the lee side of the big island to fish for YT, which the day boats were getting limits of only a few days earlier.
The Captain said fly lined baits on 25-30# and yoyo were working best. I used my Avet HXJ and Calstar 765L yoyo setup with a mint JRI 6. I hooked 3 YT and landed 1 - rusty mistakes on my part. We were hoping for it to be wide open like it was a few days before, but it was just a few here and there every drift. The Captain had enough and were headed to the BFT grounds, which were a 3-4 hour ride away.
A couple hours into the run, a deckhand spotted a kelp patty with some life on it. I busted out my surface iron setup (Lexa 400 HD and Okuma SC rod that I borrowed from Jeff stoked4fishin) and it was just me and chef Mike on the bow. We both casted out and hooked up immediately. I landed that YT, casted out again, and landed another YT – what a blast!! I hooked one more YT on surface iron, but it was a rat, so we shook it off. I stuck with surface iron for a while, but they weren't interested anymore. They just wanted bait and I was too stubborn to switch. It was fast and furious action on this kelp and we landed the majority of our YT on this stop.
After the kelp action slowed down we continued our run and got to "the zone". We were seeing fish everywhere – huge schools that were breezing and foaming in all directions. The Captain said the fish looked to be in the 30-80 pound class, with some bigger ones in the mix. We would look for fish that were foaming, run over, drop a ton of chum on them, and just drift. Warren was one of the first to hook and land a BFT. I was happy he got one and that I didn't waste his time asking him to go on this trip ;D
I wasn't getting any action yet and was having trouble getting my bait to swim away from the boat. Most of them would swim under the boat, even with good casts. I was fishing 30# (Avet MXJ Raptor and Cousins 25-40 rod, both borrowed from Jeff) when I noticed the guy next to me, a RR3 regular, had a bait that was going straight down and he got bit. I was ditching my good swimming baits that were swimming down instead of out. I let the next hot bait that wanted to go under the boat go and I finally got bit. This fish worked me up and down the port side a couple times, then up around the bow, back to port, over the bow again, then settled in on the starboard side of the bow. Since I was on 30# I was being kind of tentative, but the deckhand told me I was ok and told me to start pulling hard on this fish. Better to pull a hook early than after a long fight I guess. I got the fish to color after what felt like 20-30 minutes and the Captain gaffed a nice ~50# BFT – my first BFT!!!
I'm feeling good and the pressure is off. I took a little break before I started fishing again. It was starting to get darker and the grade of fish was getting better, with some 60-80# fish coming over the rail. I busted out my 40# setup (Makaira 10 SEA and Calstar 700H) and casted a nice sardine off the stern. It took off like a rocket and I was bit in no time. This fish worked me up and down the starboard side and stern, where everyone happened to be doing the flyline shuffle. There was only a minor tangle and I ended up on the starboard bow again. There was someone else with a fish on the bow so I was handing my rod back and forth to the deckhand. On one of these transfers I accidentally knocked the drag lever into free spool, creating the most spectacular birds nest you have ever seen! The deckhand said if this fish runs we're screwed, and I agreed. I bumped the level drag into full and eased this fish in a crank at a time. We got the fish to gaff and it was a solid 40# BFT.
We stopped fishing around 9p. It was a slow pick bite during our entire time in this area, but at least we were getting bit compared to previous trips. Final fish count for the boat: 26 BFT, 80 YT, 1 YFT, 1 Mahi. BFT were 30-90# and YT were 10-15#. Warren and I ended up with 2 BFT and 3 YT each and plenty of memories.
Interesting things:
A BFT was caught using 15# on a cool old Newell reel.
Only one BFT caught on FlatFall, at night.
A 50# YFT caught on a spinner, reeled in tail first.
Huuuuuuuge schools of foamers, everywhere.
What worked for me:
Light line 25-30#, 40# when it got darker
15-20' Fluorocarbon leader to solid spectra
1/0 Circle Hook
FG Knot
Hot Bait
Helpful Crew
Pictures:
(https://i.imgur.com/YxayXBZl.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/Tx02Lv7l.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/y93zcNEl.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/ooQC4YNl.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/loYpESXl.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/m6b8uIWl.jpg)
That old Newell that caught a BFT on 15#:
(https://i.imgur.com/wgpKFmMl.jpg)
First BFT.... did you eat the heart?
Quote from: MarkT on July 22, 2019, 08:48:33 PM
First BFT.... did you eat the heart?
No, unfortunately ;D ;D ;D
RR3 crew at work:
https://youtu.be/cEPqdlCEw3k
Quote from: dangalang on July 22, 2019, 08:53:36 PM
Quote from: MarkT on July 22, 2019, 08:48:33 PM
First BFT.... did you eat the heart?
No, unfortunately ;D ;D ;D
That Warren is a nice guy for not giving you up!
Quote from: MarkT on July 22, 2019, 09:35:15 PM
Quote from: dangalang on July 22, 2019, 08:53:36 PM
Quote from: MarkT on July 22, 2019, 08:48:33 PM
First BFT.... did you eat the heart?
No, unfortunately ;D ;D ;D
That Warren is a nice guy for not giving you up!
Yup! Good ol' Warren "Maguro" Hamachi always looking out for me ;D
What a great trip! Thanks for sharing all the details!
Quote from: dangalang on July 22, 2019, 09:57:31 PM
Quote from: MarkT on July 22, 2019, 09:35:15 PM
Quote from: dangalang on July 22, 2019, 08:53:36 PM
Quote from: MarkT on July 22, 2019, 08:48:33 PM
First BFT.... did you eat the heart?
No, unfortunately ;D ;D ;D
That Warren is a nice guy for not giving you up!
Yup! Good ol' Warren "Maguro" Hamachi always looking out for me ;D
Not really. This is the first I've heard of this, reading it here just like y'all. I would have urged him to eat it, these hearts were only the size of a small peach. Lol!
By the way, nice, very nice job on the write up, Tim! Well done!
And thanks again for inviting me on your trip, Tim!
Great job Warren and Tim! It looks like you guys caught way more than your fair share of the bluefin.
Thanks! Randy. There were a lot of teams: father, son; groups of friends; husbands, wives, so I think everyone got at least a piece to go home with.
Bluefin foamers:
https://youtu.be/a_7TWzuvlP0
I have seen a rooster swim past me,,,,, :D but no luck,,,,,, :D fabulous job guys,,,,,,,, ;D
Nice write up.
As long as the boat is drifting (or anchored in a current), I don't replace a bait that swims strongly down to the depths. Once the bait clears the transom, and you work up the upwind (or down current) side (and assuming you haven't gotten bit yet), your bait will beneath all of the others and easy pickin's for the BFT.
Quote from: Jim Fujitani on July 23, 2019, 06:07:00 PM
Nice write up.
As long as the boat is drifting (or anchored in a current), I don't replace a bait that swims strongly down to the depths. Once the bait clears the transom, and you work up the upwind (or down current) side (and assuming you haven't gotten bit yet), your bait will beneath all of the others and easy pickin's for the BFT.
That's good to know Jim, thanks!! Next time I won't get rid of so many baits ;D
Nice write up thanks!