I’ve backed off from putting together charters the last couple years. For those of you that think it’s a great way to get free or discounted rides, a lot more work goes into it than it may be worth. I consider T-Bird owner, Kenny Dean, a good friend though so when he asked me to put one together for him I did it.

In the week leading up to our Sunday, August 13 departure, it was looking dicey that we’d even reach a passenger count that would equal a break even to run the trip. Considering that Kenny made the trip a WILL RUN affair, I was feeling the pressure to sell some tickets. When Sunday came around though, we somehow miraculously went out full. Now I could just turn my attention to getting rigged up and hopefully getting bit when the fishing started.

Along with Fishing Syndicate, Reaper Slow Pitch were the co-sponsors of this trip. Fishing Syndicate provided the grand prize of a Big Game Offshore 760XH rail rod. Reaper Slow Pitch is a company founded by my friend Connor Doyle. Connor provided some jigs to raffle off. I’ve been killing it at Estero with his 15-gram mini-jig (what I caught my almost world record corvina on), but the first thing I rigged up for this trip is what he calls his “Rainbow Rocker” a 300-gram knife jig. It went on my FSC 7602XH (50-100) / Okuma Makaira 30 combo. I figured the heavy knife jig setup would be the first rig used for the trip.

I was wrong.

When deckhand Chris Wise gave the trip briefing, I found out that we’d be making the long run to Tanner Bank. He said to be ready first thing next morning with a 25/30-pound flyline setup, and a 40-pound flyline setup. I rigged those 2 setups, and a 60-pound sinker rig setup and hit my bunk.

We departed at 6:00 pm from Point Loma Sportfishing, picked up bait and proceeded on our way to Tanner. The next morning, I woke up around 5. On my way to the bathroom, I could smell that Chuck already had some bacon going in the galley. I got dressed for the day, put my name down for breakfast and had a cup of coffee while I was waiting. After breakfast, it was still dark out. I could see the lights of several sportboats though ahead of us. We’d be fishing soon. Around 6:30 we dropped anchor and started fishing.

It didn’t take long to get the catching started. A guy named Derrick (who I later found out worked on boats when he was younger) got the day started when he hooked up on 25 almost as soon as we got started. When he landed his fish, it was maybe only 25 or 30 pounds, but 1 for 1 is a great way to start the day!

It seemed like there were always 1 or 2 rods going all morning, but not for me. I had a couple baits get raked, but somehow the fish didn’t find the hook. I was fishing 40. Capt. Tyler Hill said that the grade of fish was going up so to bump up to 40 or 50. I was getting frustrated though watching people get bit all around me. I dropped down to my 25 rig. Sure enough, I got bit, but almost immediately popped it off. So much for that idea. It was fine. I think I needed it to get my confidence back. I went back to my 40 rig. Not too much longer later, I broke the ice and landed my first fish of the day. It was about 10am.

It was decent 30-ish pounder that I handled quickly. Maybe an hour later I got another about the same size. I took a beer break and ordered lunch. Chuck was preparing patty melts. After I had one, with a limit of bluefin in the RSW, I decided to take a little nap.

I’m old, cut me some slack.

I woke up a couple hours later and the action was still going on deck. Well rested, I casually walked out on deck, meticulously picked out a bait and pitched it out. It took off like Michael Phelps. Oh yeah, this sucker is going to get bit. FRESH!

I could tell this one was a better grade of fish. I got bit on the starboard side of the bait tank. Being that we were on the anchor, most of the other anglers were in the stern. I thought the fish was being accommodating taking me up toward the bow and away from the crowd. I’d find out later he had something more devious in mind.

When it got to the point where I had maybe 2/3 to 3/4 of the spool back, the fish played this game of going back and forth across the bow. Deckhand Cleon Loyd was with me for the majority of the fight and was super awesome about working with me to make sure I cleared the anchor line as the fish was playing this game with us. There were some tense moments, but with Cleon’s help and a lot of luck, it didn’t become an issue. For the final phase of the fight, the fish took me up and down the port side. Whenever I could, I took advantage of the doorway of the galley to use as a makeshift fighting chair. Everyone thought this was hilarious and one of the other anglers snapped a pic of me doing it.

I never crossed the stern, so technically, it didn’t take me “all around the boat.” LOL. It worked me though. Definitely felt like I earned that one.

I gave myself a beer break. There was a family in the galley from New Mexico that had flown in for this trip…3 generations, grandfather, father and son, and a cousin who lived here in Corona. The grandfather had managed to catch a really nice fish earlier. It was his first outing on the ocean and he was good. I enjoyed chatting with them all. When I finally cooled down, I walked back on deck. After fighting that last one and with 3 in the RSW, I was good for the trip honestly (2-day trip, so we could take 4). I was bored though. If I get bit, I’m going to hand it off. Picked out a great bait. Pitched it out. FRESH!

Who hasn’t caught a fish?

My new buddy Teddy spoke up and I handed him the rod. He hadn’t gotten bit all day. We were lamenting our fate earlier in the day, but when I started getting bit, he was still waiting. He was ready and made quick work of the fish.


I told Teddy that even though it was a hook and hand fish, sometimes you need that to break the ice and get your confidence back…just like I needed that fish I lost on light line to get my day going. Sure enough, right as Tyler fired up the engines before pulling anchor and looking around, Teddy got his own fish. It was the last one of the stop.

WE HADN’T MOVED ALL DAY

That has never happened to me tuna fishing. It’s only happened once to me ever before this trip. That was on a twilight trip on the New Del Mar. We stopped, anchored up, and fished a ripper cuda surface iron bite for the whole trip. But for tuna? Wow, that was something.

After dinner, we made a long move to where the boats had been doing their night jigging. Tyler said all the fish were 100 to 200+ pound fish here, so break out the big guns. I finally had the opportunity to fish big Reaper jig. We made a few stops but none of the fish wanted to stick around. That portion of the trip was a bust.

Even though we were close to 2 fish per angler, there were some people on the boat who still hadn’t gotten a fish. Tyler began Day 2 in a spot where he said the rockfishing was quality. I hadn’t planned on rockfishing, so I had to daisy chain two 8-ounce weights to get together enough weight to hit bottom. I was immediately bit and about a 1/3 of the way up the 2 fish managed to break me off on 40 P-Line XXX. Dafuq? I didn’t have enough weights left to fish bait, but I could jig. I sized down my setup and put the Reaper on a setup using the Fishing Syndicate FSC 700XH and my Talica 12II stripped of the 40# topshot I had on it for flyline.

I only wanted reds or a ling. I caught starries and bocaccio and tossed them into the kill box as I went. Then I hooked into something good. Big bend. Headshakes. Oh man…a bluefin and lingcod trip would be epic. Not to be…the biggest bobo I’ve ever caught.

We only did a couple drifts and then kept going. We were headed south toward the 60 in search of 70+ degree water and a kelp with fish that wanted to bite. Along the way we fished a couple empty kelps. There was also a jig strike with a marlin! It didn’t stick, but most of us saw it. That was cool. Time was winding down. Tyler would tell me later that Chris spotted a bird working way off in the distance. As they pulled closer, they could see fish boiling under birds. By the time we pulled up on the kelp, I could see it was loaded. That familiar flash of electric blue was all around us. Dodos and yellowtail were thick. It was absolute mayhem. My first bait petered out, but I fast reeled it hoping to get bit on the retrieve. I watched a yellow follow it when a dodo darted in front of the yellow and bit 10 feet from the boat. Immediately it was macrame. I had 3, maybe 4 lines stuck on me. I lost it and had to re-tie. At this point though, it was somewhat less crazy on deck. I managed to get 2 before it was over 20 minutes later. Everyone got fish on this kelp.

I started a chant of “One More Drift!” but Tyler wasn’t having it. We were done. We still had a long way to get home. Great trip. Really fun fishing, with a handful of fish that topped the century mark (on 40!). We saw a whale (blue?) breach off the stern during our time at Tanner. There was the marlin. And the wide open kelp as the cherry on top. Thanks so much to Tyler and his excellent crew for putting us on fish and taking great care of us during the trip. Thanks also to Fishing Syndicate and Reaper Slow Pitch for co-sponsoring the trip. Tanner had been really kicking it out for the fleet prior to Hurricane Hillary. TBD how things look after the storm. Good luck if you get out there.

 

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