Here's a quick trip report from this past weekend....
For those that just wanna know the finally tally.....boat limits (68) of 20-35# bft!
I had a smooth ride down until I hit Pendelton and usual slow down happened for no apparent reason. I got to the landing around 1:30 and managed to find a parking spot in the main lot. I grabbed a fried seafood platter from Mitch's for lunch/afternoon snack and cruised the docks checking out the sights. Rich got to the landing about an hour later and we grabbed a cart and got in line so we could secure a good spot on the tackle rack for our gear. We wait in line, and I give Rich some tips and tricks for the trip since this is his first overnight tuna trip. We board on time and everyone starts getting gear put together and stowed away as we make our way to the bait barge. Once the crew starts loading up the bait we have the safety meeting and get the plan for the trip, we're heading up towards SCI where the fleet found schools of biting bft during the day! After the meeting I tied on a little 1" heavy jig and started fishing at the bait barge to kill some time. I caught about 6 nice sized mackerel but released them to get the boat some good karma. Rich and I chatted a bit then hit the bunks around 9:30 pm so we would be well rested for the 4 am alarm.
tbc
pics
Woke up with my alarm at 4 am but laid in the bunk until around 4:30am then headed up to the galley to get a cup of coffee and waited for the boat to stop on a school. The boat slowed a couple times but never stopped until about 7am. when the first few tunas were hooked. To get a bite you need light line (25-30#) and a small hook so we broke off a bunch of fish all day. Rich hooked up in the early morning and after a short battle he landed his first tuna. Every time the boat stopped a couple fish were landed and a few were lost to bad knots, bite offs and popped hooks. The boat stopped on schools all day and we inched closer and closer to limits the more the day went on. We reached boat limits around 6:30pm and started the slow roll back towards San Diego.
It was a great trip and I was glad to be there when Rich landed his first tuna!
great report, good job on the catchin
thanks for the report PJ
Sweet PJ and Rich!!! Thanks for taking me along for the visual and readable ride.
Nice. Dominick