Post by Chris on Sept 21, 2010 19:20:41 GMT -8
My reports reads remarkably similar to the others out on the grounds this past Saturday 9/18. Only 12 guys on the boat Black Pearl on a Friday night 1.5 day trip! Rick Craddick is owner/skipper and my impression is that he cares a LOT about fishing, finding fish and making sure you have a good time. The kind of guy you want to go fishing with. A little low key compared to other skippers in the fleet, but the crew was great, worked hard and tried to make every fish count. They all did a great job.
Left around 7:30pm, got bait, headed almost due West from the point. Shut down on a “pretty good” meter mark by 3am. Fished the grey, but the fish apparently didn’t stick with the boat, so we went looking. Jigs out (although there hasn’t been much caught on the jigs) and we catch up to the rest of the boats in the fleet...most of which are stopped and drifting. LOTS of boat traffic on the water in a fairly concentrated area.
We didn’t stop on a meter mark until about 8:30am. Big show, not much go as we had fish boiling all around the boat, but the Yellow Fin Tuna were acting more like skittish Blue Fin Tuna. I fished 20# with a 20# flouro leader and #2 hook and still couldn’t get bit! Talk about frustrating! We only had one fish on the boat through noontime. In the early afternoon we found another decent meter mark and stopped on it. Fish boiled and finally started to show signs of wanting to eat the hooked bait. We had a few fish going when there were boils off the bow. I cast straight off the bow and hooked up right away. Fought the fish on the bow, back to the stern, then back to the bow. About 15-20 mins into the fight, as he was straight up and down and doing the death circles, a wave of disappointment sweeps over me as the pressure of the pulling fish suddenly disappears. I wind my line in and find the hook was still there...guess it wore too much of a hole in the fish’s mouth after the long fight on lighter line. The few that were boated were in the 30-35# class. Nice fish!
The steady 10-12 knots of wind increased to 15-20 in the afternoon along with an increasing swell, making for tougher conditions to find fish and fight those that were hooked. We came across the San Clemente Basin weather buoy a few times, which looks like it is right on the U.S./Mexico border and between 35-50 miles offshore. In the end, for all our efforts the boat only had 12 yellowfin tuna and I ended up going 0 for 1. I did take home a bag of fillets (thanks Ross!). After I came back home I told my son the story of the trip and explained that going fishing is not always a guarantee that you’ll come back with something. That’s why this was a fishing trip, not a “catching trip.” He then asked how much it cost to go on this fishing trip and if a catching trip was more, maybe I should just pay a little more to go on that one! Gotta love kids!
Check www.thefishingweatherman.com for the latest forecast. It's nice to see a lot of the boats getting out after the bummer of a summer fishing-wise.
Left around 7:30pm, got bait, headed almost due West from the point. Shut down on a “pretty good” meter mark by 3am. Fished the grey, but the fish apparently didn’t stick with the boat, so we went looking. Jigs out (although there hasn’t been much caught on the jigs) and we catch up to the rest of the boats in the fleet...most of which are stopped and drifting. LOTS of boat traffic on the water in a fairly concentrated area.
We didn’t stop on a meter mark until about 8:30am. Big show, not much go as we had fish boiling all around the boat, but the Yellow Fin Tuna were acting more like skittish Blue Fin Tuna. I fished 20# with a 20# flouro leader and #2 hook and still couldn’t get bit! Talk about frustrating! We only had one fish on the boat through noontime. In the early afternoon we found another decent meter mark and stopped on it. Fish boiled and finally started to show signs of wanting to eat the hooked bait. We had a few fish going when there were boils off the bow. I cast straight off the bow and hooked up right away. Fought the fish on the bow, back to the stern, then back to the bow. About 15-20 mins into the fight, as he was straight up and down and doing the death circles, a wave of disappointment sweeps over me as the pressure of the pulling fish suddenly disappears. I wind my line in and find the hook was still there...guess it wore too much of a hole in the fish’s mouth after the long fight on lighter line. The few that were boated were in the 30-35# class. Nice fish!
The steady 10-12 knots of wind increased to 15-20 in the afternoon along with an increasing swell, making for tougher conditions to find fish and fight those that were hooked. We came across the San Clemente Basin weather buoy a few times, which looks like it is right on the U.S./Mexico border and between 35-50 miles offshore. In the end, for all our efforts the boat only had 12 yellowfin tuna and I ended up going 0 for 1. I did take home a bag of fillets (thanks Ross!). After I came back home I told my son the story of the trip and explained that going fishing is not always a guarantee that you’ll come back with something. That’s why this was a fishing trip, not a “catching trip.” He then asked how much it cost to go on this fishing trip and if a catching trip was more, maybe I should just pay a little more to go on that one! Gotta love kids!
Check www.thefishingweatherman.com for the latest forecast. It's nice to see a lot of the boats getting out after the bummer of a summer fishing-wise.