...and we're home.

Started by Porthos, October 13, 2021, 09:09:53 PM

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Porthos

Aboard

So boarded, then left dock after 11 AM. At the bait receiver, did my usual and threw out a 1.5 oz metal jig. Caught a 24" barracuda thus breaking the "skunk" for the boat before exiting the harbor.

Skipper's Talk

Wind. No Rocks. Will head straight to the Ridge Two days travel time down; the same back. Fish reports from other boats indicate fish had been up to 30 lbs...so 30, 40, and 50 lb setups

For me, this meant the following:

  • Penn MagPower 970 (30lb)
  • Penn Monofil 27 (40lb)
  • Daiwa SMF 170 (40lb)
  • Daiwa Sealine 300H (50lb)
  • Daiwa Sealine 600H (100lb troller)


  • Fin Nor FST60 (25lb)
  • Daiwa BG 6500 (40lb)
  • Fin Nor LT100 (50lb)
  • Fin Nor LT100 (60lb)
  • Quantum Cabo 100 (80lb)
  • Quantum Cabo 120 (100lb)

Why fewer conventionals than spinners? Because I'm a glutton for punishment.

2-speeds??? We don't need no stinkin' 2-speeds!!!

The travel days were travel days. No need to go over those.

The four days of fishing got a bit blurry given the sun and heat. More than once did I hear "What day is it???" Said it mentally to myself a few times...so the following is not necessarily play-by-play, but close enough.

Day One - The 13

Arrived at the Ridge in the early AM, and started the troll rotation. Initially every troller had a Maurader. My first turn came up, so I switch the troller at my station with my Daiwa 600H and a classic cedar plug. No takers either; so took it out of the line up, and eventually a mix of mauraders and cowbells got 1 wahoo to react and was boated (it scaled 70+ lbs at H&M). At some point, one of Alan Tani's trollers with a new $100 marauder had its main line go "POW" and it was lost.

Evening fishing was a motley mix of skippies, bonito, dodos, and YFT; a few of the YFT were keepers. Skipper made the decision to run on down to Thetis Bank overnight.

Day Two - Thetis Bank & The 23

Similar mix of fish seen the day before was again present. This round some dodos, YT, and YFT were keepers. All were on the smaller size. In the later AM, I got my first keeper YT on a dropper rig with the "113H" Tank (80lb). Still it was slow going overall so the boat was pointed back up towards The 23. Enroute, the second wahoo was picked up. The 23 was not any more productive than Thesis Bank so the decision was made to run back to The 13 and arrive early AM. Was also very warm all day.

Day Three - Back to the 13

Early AM started up with more activity than the previous two days with dodos, YT, and YFT, but still on the smaller grade side with a few exceptions. The third and final wahoo was picked up in between stops.

Steady fishing up through dinner time. I hit limits late afternoon, and handed off four YT before calling it a day right before dinner. Skipper then pointed the boat towards San Pablo for a slow, but reasonably comfortable overnight run due to the steadily increasing winds.

Day Four - San Pablo

The AM was more rolly polly the any previous day. Made half-hearted attempts to hookup and hand off fish, but was only pulling up whitefish, sheephead, and even small calicos...not very productive. Personally called it a trip and started breaking down my gear just before lunch. Later stops yielded better grades of YT for the others still fishing. A little after 2 PM, the skipper called it a trip for the boat and begin the run to arrive at the leeward side of Cedros by dinner time.

The low-down on gear

Having spent most of the 2nd fishing day with the Tank on dropper, I came to the conclusion that its uniqueness was to a point where I really questioned whether I would want to have an equivalent to fish on a regular basis. Maybe as a shelfie but not as a go-to reel...

My YFT were landed flying with the Penn 27, Penn 970, Daiwa BG 6500, and Daiwa SMF 170. My YT were landed with the Daiwa 300H with one exception on the Tank.

My go-to knots were

  • San Diego Jam
  • Spider Hitch
  • Triple Surgeon's

Hooks were 2/0, 3/0, 4/0, and 5/0 in-line circles

The nail knot/nub variant I used for hollow core connections all held.

Alan Tani himself will probably be posting more photos and maybe videos...

Wally15

Good report, but not all of us are home yet. I've had 4 flight delays and I'm still sitting in SAN with 2 more hours to kill until my 5:45 departure. ATL arrival about 1:00 AM EDT. Then about 3.5 more hours to get my car out of hock and drive home.
Had a good time, didn't bring any fish home. Caught 1 decent YT maybe 30 lbs, maybe a dozen very small ones. Tagged a couple of school YFT around 25-30,  released or gave away another 15-20 in the 10-15 lb range. Caught about 100 Skipjack and Bonita.
Food was great as usual, I overate as usual. Overall, a great time with some great fishing companions.
Now if I can only make it home! I'm coming back out in nine days for the GW 10 day. Hope I can recover by then.
Peaches
Sweet dreams and flying machines in pieces on the ground.
"Fire and Rain"
James Taylor

dangalang

Thanks for the report Wai and Mike!

Swami805

70lb wahoo, 30 lb yellows, plenty of fish to pull on, sounds like a fun trip!
Do what you can with that you have where you are

Porthos

Quote from: Wally15 on October 13, 2021, 10:07:57 PM...but not all of us are home yet...

Sorry, I meant "home" more as in terra ferma. Perhaps "back" would have been more appropriate. If the schedule permits, I may be able to do breakfast with you and Alan before the SOA departs, especially if they leave dock 10/23 as late in the AM as it did on our 8-day.

stoked4fishin

Sounds like a varied trip guys.  Looks like you fished some of the better areas, but the fish weren't as cooperative as would ahve been liked.  Looking forward to more stories and pictures from your trip!  Hoping we have a good trip on the GW 10-day!

Keta

#6
I5 sucked with truckers playing games, changing lanes just before you came up to them and playing leap frog passing 3-5 trucks at 2mph faster. We got to Alan's around 21:00.
Hi, my name is Lee and I have a fishing gear problem.

I have all of the answers, yup, no, maybe.

A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way.
Mark Twain

MarkT

$100 Marauder?  Even Magbay Magtrak's and Ballyhood Cowbell's don't cost that much!  I had a Marlin break off one of my Cowbells and that hurt!  The popular Nomad DTX's are cheap compared to that.
When I was your age Pluto was a planet!

Porthos

#8
Quote from: MarkT on October 14, 2021, 02:47:46 PM
$100 Marauder?  Even Magbay Magtrak's and Ballyhood Cowbell's don't cost that much!  I had a Marlin break off one of my Cowbells and that hurt!  The popular Nomad DTX's are cheap compared to that.

Alan's stated price when I asked him...perhaps that included the cable and all other terminal tackle... ???

My question was "What did that cost?"

Bill B

#9
Wai pretty much nailed the report....I had a great time and had many 1st's on this trip and knocked off 3 of 4 bucket list fish and caught more that were not on the list...

1. 8 day (longest trip)
2. Yellowtail (Bucketlist)
3. Yellowfin (Bucketlist)
4. Dorado (Bucketlist)
5. First skipjack
6. First bonito
7. First triggerfish
8. First grouper

My heaviest fish was a 42 lb grouper caught on a dropper loop, 5/0 Mustad Demon circle, Baja Special with 50 flouro, my largest yellowtail was 30 lb caught on a dropper loop, Fathom 40NLD2 with 50 flouro, 2/0 Mustad Demon circle.  Yellowfin were mostly smaller fish.

During the pre-dawn bites it was wide open fishing on skipjack, dorado, and one am trigger fish.  One pre-dawn I saw a marlin come from below the boat as it inhaled my flyline sardine and an epic battle lasting about 5 seconds ensued.....guess 30 flouro is not the right gear for marlin 😆 I had the pleasure of fishing the Tank and caught two yellowtail.

Lee (Keta) donated 3 boxes of Mustad Demon Circle hooks which I used almost exclusively during the trip, great hooks!  My fishing was a mixture of flyline (still need to learn how to cast sardines) and irons.  I lost 3 irons, 1 bad knot, 1 the iron broke leaving the ring on the line, and sawed off on the 3 rd.  So if anyone catches a fish with a pre-existing "iron" condition let me know and I will ID the iron and pay for the safe return 🤣🤣🤣. I took a lot of unnecessary tackle and will have to alter my rod/reel selection for the next trip.  The 2 speed Fathoms worked great and the Baja Special was a winch.  

I want to thank Alan and everyone on the trip for making me feel welcome and helping out when needed.  Bill
It may not be very productive,
but it's sure going to be interesting!

Swami805

That's a beautiful grouper Bill, perfect size to eat. Nice yellow too!   Maybe not the epic big fish trip but caught a lot of fish and from the looks of it everyone had a good time which is the point of the whole thing.  I'd bet this is the first of many you'll be taking in the future
Do what you can with that you have where you are

alantani

had to get a new battery after the excursion sat in the parking lot for a week.  we got home and didn't finish up stowing gear and fish until midnight.  lots of weather, really small baits, small yellowfin and yellowtail, poker every night, even learned how to speak "southern!!!"  photos to follow.   ;D
send me an email at alantani@yahoo.com for questions!

Keta

#12
Bryan donated the hooks I delivered them.
Hi, my name is Lee and I have a fishing gear problem.

I have all of the answers, yup, no, maybe.

A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way.
Mark Twain

stoked4fishin

Nice report Bill!  Seemed like a fun trip overall.

Brewcrafter

As long as everyone had a good time!!!!  Sounds like a great trip! - john