Saltwater 2020

[biglakejake]

if you've got the fever its time to wind some line and burn some gas grils and boys.  stay safe please!

*language* lower sound

 

[trphyhntr]

i sure do wish California would break off into the ocean so I wouldn’t have to go there if I wanted to fish 

[biglakejake]

this boat report includes at least one cwt member.  i think they ended w limits.

https://www.976-tuna.com/audios/74295

[Millerdaga]

3 hours ago, biglakejake said:

this boat report includes at least one cwt member.  i think they ended w limits.

https://www.976-tuna.com/audios/74295

+1

[biglakejake]

ohthatguy's 1.5 day ride

https://www.976-tuna.com/audios/74311

[biglakejake]

 

[biglakejake]

 

 

[trphyhntr]

you Should call the next one San Diego 2020

[biglakejake]

here i am 61yrs old, working out taking a new gf to san diego and avalon, booking cattle boat trips, buying new outfits all the while unsure i can even stand up on a boat deck for more than 2 minutes.  now thats premature!  somebody make it stop...............  i'm still a man-i see, i want, i spend $, good ideas or not.

lee

[trphyhntr]

55 minutes ago, biglakejake said:

here i am 61yrs old, working out taking a new gf to san diego and avalon, booking cattle boat trips, buying new outfits all the while unsure i can even stand up on a boat deck for more than 2 minutes.  now thats premature!  somebody make it stop...............  i'm still a man-i see, i want, i spend $, good ideas or not.

lee

Dude 61 is not that old

[n2horns]

So tell how the trip was?

[biglakejake]

i didn't go fishing we are all waiting for'thatguy'.

 

 

[Ohthatguy]

First thing, thanks Lee for the "thumbs up" vote on going. It was definitely the right call.  👍

Started off late afternoon with the traditional fish tacos at Mitch's Seafood. They don't allow any inside dining but you can still eat outside at the rail/bar. Tacos were only about a 7/10 but the fries were a solid 10.

We went down to load up and while we were waiting to board the boat, I noticed the girl from the 370# tuna pic. (Can't miss that hair) She got on the boat and messed around and all the guys were thinking about how much of a distraction she was going to be. It turns out, she is the better half of one of the deck hands on the boat. She ended up getting off the boat before we departed but was still kind of like a celebrity sighting..

The boat had a light load with a total of 22 guests which included a group of 6 or 7 newbies including 4 ladies. One young lady had either done this before or took direction very well as she was barking out over/under and moving like a champ. It was really cool to see and she landed 2 fish early on.

While we were getting bait, the smoke from the Navy ship fire was really bad. Couldn't see the ship itself but lots of heavy smoke covering the area to the North.

Weather was great with overcast clouds, solid breeze and slightly choppy water. (2 ladies and 1 guy got sea sick, bummer)

The Captain, Chase, suggested setting up 20, 30, and 60# rigs.

We ended up about 45 miles out with the entire fleet. I counted 18 boats at one time.

First stop was on a nice boil and I cast out a sardine on my 20# spinner and hooked up the second the bait hit the water. Ten minutes later I had a 25# blue fin on the deck. Perfect start to the day.  Only 2 or 3 others landed fish from that stop but it was clear that tangles were going to be an issue with the newbies so that meant I would not be fishing with the pile of people in the back of the boat. 

The day continued chasing boils and sonar fish with 2's and 3's coming on the boat but I had no luck as I was on the bow with my flatfalls avoiding all the tangles. The fish began getting spooky and would leave or dive before we could even get close so fishing slowed dramatically. About 1:00PM, someone hit the switch and it was game on down under. For the next 4+ hours, it was the best jig fishing I've ever seen. The crew and entire boat quickly named me "flatfall guy" as I hooked another 6 fish. For those 4 hours, I probably only actually fished for 20 minutes, the rest of the time was fighting a fish, re-rigging or upsizing equipment to replace lost gear. I ended up with 100# braid/80# flouro.  I played one for over an hour that was close to 100#. He would come right up to the boat turn away on the surface, blow up and run. (That alone would have made wearing a Go-Pro worth it as he was right there!) He eventually broke me off.  So after losing 3 fish and 2 lures, the fun ended with me putting 3 more on the deck. My biggest was maybe 35# but others were able to get a 50 and a 70 to the deck. (2 biggest by far for the day) The guy that pulled up the 70 destroyed that fish. He ripped his insides out and basically killed him in the water and was able to get him in with a short 15 minute fight. 

I took a break and watched my brother chase a nice fish around the boat multiple times and hang out at the corner for well over an hour. That fish is still out there too. He was having good luck sinking bait about 200'.

I finally decided to drop another jig and it didn't take long to get bit again. This fish was awesome!  He peeled off 200+ yards in a flash and then made a 90 degree turn and just under the surface made a max speed run parallel to the boat. The spray and sound coming off the braid was amazing and everyone was like WTF is that? I'm just glad he was way out over everyone and I could just run down the boat over everyone. A deckhand said I had a nice Wahoo on so that got me excited since I have never caught one before. When I finally got him in I was actually disappointed to see a little 35# tuna, but man that was impressive to see and oh sooo fun. Once he came over the rail, we got the word that the boat had limited out.

Captain and crew were spot on as usual and made for a great trip. 

I'll add a few pics soon.. Nothing special, just fantastic fishing.  

For anyone going out soon, good luck! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Arizona Griz]

Great summary. Our trip is still 3 weeks away.

[trphyhntr]

How many Gram flat fall