Big Tim's Friday fishin' trip report

[alantani]

Friday,  5:30 pm - driving home right now,  actually Joey is driving and I'm vegging. Privilges of rank. Quick report,  lots of big reds and medium sized lings, fished 230 feet just south of Cambria. We fished on the Fiesta out of Virg's Landing on Morro Bay. Joey and Adam drove down with me.  David, Wayne,  Bryan,  Mike, Matt, and Scott drove in from the bay area.  Craig and Jonathan drove in from Fresno.  Jason came in from LA.

We started out last night with dinner in Cayucos.  It was college frat food, frozen lasagne and chicken enchiladas,  iceberg lettuce and garlic bread.  Glenn and Ellen Fukumoto from Morro Bay Landing joined us for dinner. We ended the evening with a little rum we found in the freezer. This was when Mike got the nickname "College Mike."

All of the cell phone alarms went off at 5am, we signed in at the office at 6am, boarded the Fiesta at 7am and ran 15 miles north to an area just south of Cambria. Several of us used shrimp flies with whole squid, the reel of the guys used jigs. Everybody caught plenty.  I bagged 3 nice lings and 9 vermillion.  Adam stuck 6 big rockfish and two keeper lings on bait. Joey hooked into 5 vermilions and a nice sized brown. Most of the other guys had limits or near limits.  Oh, and I got the jackpot fish again.......

Many thanks to our skipper Charlie, deckhands Sean and Matt, and the staff at Virg's Landing.

[Aiala]

Oh, and I got the jackpot fish again.......

Gee whiz, Boss, are you going to do this on the SOA, too?? 

In any case, it sounds like you fellows had a great time. Thanks for the report! (Any pics?) 

~A~

[Dominick]

 Oh, and I got the jackpot fish again.......

Fix...Fix.  Somebody paid off King Neptune to put a big fish on Alan's rod.    Dominick

[pangamaster]

Super great trip!  The weather was perfect, the boat was good, the crew was great.....otters and sensational scenery greated us.... Fishing was slow and steady with above average quality on the rockfish and plenty of lings.... And a bunch of super friendly anglers combined for a great trip!  I'd do it again in a heart beat!  Next time I want to make it to the pre party Frat party!

[alantani]

bryan on a ling cod!

[alantani]

my parents have had this tiny little house in cayucos for a long time.  one of the best investments they've ever made.  



you'd think that a simple trip like this would not require much gear.  oh, no, not this group.



it was pretty funny listening to bryan, adam and joey.  this was definitely old school (me and squid) versus new school (jigs).



looks at these guys.  it's insane!!!!!



more to the problem at hand.  how to feed a dozen hungry fishermen?  lasagna casserole!!!!!



still way too much nervous energy!



finally settling down to dinner -craig, mike, adam and joey.  we had enough food for 30.  



leave it to wayne to bring a reel to work on!



glenn and ellen fukukoto from morro bay landing brought us squid, apple pie and ice cream!



ok, dinner's over.  on to more serious stuff!  jigs and alcohol, in that order.



the alarms all went off at 5am.  we signed up at virg's landing's office, then drove down to the boat.  we loaded up and 7am.  



a quick tour of the boat!





morro rock!



dave klein, getting ready!



adam and joey.



leaving the harbor.





wayne with a nice verimillion.



me, too!



matt with his "almost" jackpot ling.  it was early in the morning, so his fish have a chance to dehydrate in the gunny sack all morning.  this would likely cost him the jackpot!



deckhand sean and craig hasegawa, with one of the dozens of lings he would hook into today.



a little down with matt and scotty.  it was flat calm today!



scotty's first ling!



bryan scores!



matt gets a little one!



jimmy (in blue) was my buddy on the rail today.  he was not part of this group, but we still had a great time.  our skipper, charlie, is holding one of the many fish with jim and i caught on whole squid.  



this was a nice one!



wayne scores another one!



another one of bryan's lings.



jason danchise!



me and the skipper!



ah, yes, and about that jackpot.  matt juanes had a really nice ling the he caught early in the morning.  it beat everyone.  well almost everyone.  



thanks again to the skipper and crew of the fiesta for a great trip!

[theswimmer]

What a great trip!
Thanks to Alan for a great dinner and to everyone else for the great adventure.Thanks to Alans Mom and Dad for the use of the house. Thanks to Miss Mari for the indulgence and companionship.
Much thanks to Brian for the tackle loaners and to Mike ,Brian and Craig for sharing the starboard rail with me.
You can see in some of the pics how flat it was. You could have waterskied! No one got sick that I saw, I caught Mike  head down on the galley table but I think that was the Frat Boy Effect.....
I went all day without a ling and on the last drift had a double header and a single.
I'll post my pics when we get home. Driving north this morning to do some surf fishing😎

[theswimmer]

Also thanks to Skipper Charlie and the crew, great bunch of guys , they worked hard to put us on the fish and cooked a mean burger along the way!

[El Pescador]

WHAT a great trip we all enjoyed!!!!  and THANK YOU Big Tim and Alan for getting this trip planned and completed!!!

Please enjoy my posting

First of all, I was really looking forward to this trip, I've never been to Morro Bay!  Lived in CA all my life, never been to this part of the world!

And here is how it started, WITH A TRAFFIC jam!  There goes an hour of my trip.



And like the swallows of Capistrano, all 12 of us arrive at the same place, on the same day, all within 30 minutes of each other!


On this trip, I used both my Garmin GPS along side the iPhone Maps app, and with all love and due respect to my sons, well boys, this old Dad going to stay with my Garmin GPS - reasons why, I can see it  it works the entire time - the iPhone needs cellular service.  Both my sons thought I would be better off using the iPhone Maps app, but as with most young people, they are all iThings (iPhone, iPad, iThis, iThat!!!!).


Here is the weather report for the day - really looks like a fantastic day on the charts -   http://www.windfinder.com/  
We use this website often before trips check it out:  


Here is our boat for the day, the Fiesta!  It runs at 14 knots, really nice boat.


Getting ready for the 1st drop of the day.

You can see there is plenty of room for rods & gear.


Alan with one of his Reds for the day!


Onboard galley food was very good, "Burger Me" I told the deckhand!

Here is the small coastal central CA town of Cambria


One of the cool things of the day, were two blue whales, passing northbound between us and the shore!!!!



More talking than fishing!

Alan checking his fish count, NOT wanting to go past 10 rock fish!  Wish Dominick were here, to make it legal for sure!


Here we are on the aft deck, getting our fish cleaned on the way back to the Harbor!  CHeck out the sunglasses on our deck hand!  I called him Macho Man all day!


Anyone remember the iconic 1970-1980's WWF wrestling guy, check out his glasses


Which one looks better???!!!!!  
Alright, I was there to view the weighing of the two largest fish on the "Judgement Bar" - or the cheeter stick, you take your pick, and both fish have the bar LEVEL for 5 seconds then SLOW....LY the bar tilted towards Alan's fish, we did it a second time, again, Alan's fish takes the prize!  Congrat's to Alan, and being the gentleman he is, he put the entire jackpot $$ into the tip jar for the two deckhands!  More $$ to purchase cool sunglasses!


Underway and heading home, WHAT a great day for all of us!


Here are the ling cod NEEDED to show CA Fish & Wildlife wardens, should they board the boat, we have evidence for all the fish caught during the trip.


A great time was had by all - Now to clean up & package all my fish!

Dominick, stop by today, you are making Linda Rockfish for dinner!  And I'm low to zin

Wayne

[Porthos]

Good times! Cool beans!

[Alto Mare]

Very nice Wayne, looks like all had a good time. That water looked nice and flat.

[Dominick]

Looks like a great trip.  I'm glad everyone had a great time.  Now I'm sorry I didn't make it.  Dominick

[alantani]

Looks like a great trip.  I'm glad everyone had a great time.  Now I'm sorry I didn't make it.  Dominick

next time!

[Bryan Young]

Yesterday was epic.  Today, the wind came up and it looks snotty out there.  So glad we were blessed with calm seas.

[El Pescador]

For almost all of us, this fishing thing consumes more $$ than we earn with our sport/hobby.

I had a chance to see the other side of this sport.

During our evening with Alan and entire Rockfishing crew, I spoke with Joey & Adam, both San Jose State University Students.

They recently competed in the ESPN Bassmasters College Series fishing tournment at Folsom Lake, near Folsom, CA.

And guess what?  They took 3rd place!!!!!  That said, the winners were 1 lbs. & 2 oz. above our guys!!!

      http://www.bassmaster.com/tournaments/2015-carhartt-college-western-regional/leaderboard

Bottom line, they earned enough money to cover their college books for the entire year!!!!   And they were on the Bassmaster Show!

Congratulations to both Joey & Adam!!!!