Messages

16

Saltwater Boat Fishing Reports / Re: Sacking Bottom Critters (11/15)

« on: November 26, 2023, 04:46:54 PM »

Good haul! That hake is pretty cool.

I hate that I never think about rockfish until right before it closes. Definitely going to be giving them more attention next year.

17

Saltwater Boat Fishing Reports / Grocery shopping

« on: November 26, 2023, 12:37:51 PM »

Launched out of oside with my new Seapower 1200 rigged and ready to pull up some taco meat.

Headed straight out to a spot I hit earlier this year and caught some smaller fish but had hopes that being able to quickly do drops I could pick out a few good ones.
Started in 650ft and drifted the spot that led into another spot in 800ft for nothing.

Took off south and metered around Carlsbad canyon but wasn’t seeing anything in the 700-900ft range. Did a blind drop for nothing and went even further south.

Found a little ledge and metered it and the bottom was lit up with blue dots. Did a drop and pulled up a Mexican. Did a couple more and got single and double Mexicans on each drop. Then some green blotches got in on the party.
Kept 8 fish and released 7. I made a little release hook out of a hangar and put it between the weight and leader so I could send the fish down on the same drop as the bait. I’d stop about 100ft above the bottom and reel up a few feet to release it and then continue to descend the baits.
I found one fish floating later on and I’m not sure if it was mine or not. It was being torn apart by birds about 200ft away, I think maybe it spun off the hook on the way up and floated.

18

Fishing Talk / Re: Frustrating Morning

« on: November 22, 2023, 08:03:28 PM »

Don’t you have a built in tank as well?

That trailer rule is BS. It’s oversized vehicle parking and that includes trailers but if you pay for parking you’re paying for parking.

When I’ve gone out of there on other boats I park in the 4 hour parking all day and never have issues. I feel like DP is very lax except on race days

19

Saltwater Boat Fishing Reports / Re: Local Bluefin, Marlin, and Swords (11/4)

« on: November 06, 2023, 06:03:06 PM »

I thought it was squid, but when I sent the picture to Matt, he said thresher.  In any case, I was just happy to see that the baits attracted something.  lol

BTW, Shaun's friend got a cool catch yesterday out there.  I've only seen them in the East Coast canyons, so I wasn't even sure they were out in the Pacific.  I'll attach the pic here in a few.

Pomphret?

20

Saltwater Boat Fishing Reports / Re: Local Bluefin, Marlin, and Swords (11/4)

« on: November 05, 2023, 09:18:56 PM »

Those bites on the squid looks like squid bites. We have large squid that will tear up the baits. Saw two huge groups of Rissos yesterday which reinforces the fact that the squid have moved back into the canyons.

I got a giant squid jig to try to bring one up this year.

21

Saltwater Boat Fishing Reports / Re: Dawn to Dusk Swording

« on: November 05, 2023, 01:17:28 AM »

Wow… you got Don to reply. He never replies to my fish.. on any platform.. 🤣

What an epic day! Those whales can be entertaining. I’ve never experienced what you have but have had them come up to
The boat and take a look then continue on. Maybe they smelled something?

22

Saltwater Boat Fishing Reports / Death wish

« on: October 26, 2023, 07:23:20 AM »

Nailed my second sword off an inflatable.
The new rig is much faster. Cruising out around 20mph makes getting to the grounds that look productive much easier. I’m not stuck poking the same rocks within 15 miles of the harbor to have any chance of setting up and getting a full drift in before dark when I go after work.

My girlfriend, Britney, dropped me off so we could avoid that dang parking fee. Luckily the house is only 9 mins from the ramp.

Hooked up at five, 2.5 hours before slack tide on the incoming.
Girlfriend told me the pink and purple skirt I rigged up last night was the one so I put it out first and didn’t have to try another one.

After I took the weight off it dove down and took 900ft of line off the reel. When my buoy loop left the spool I called my buddy and asked him to bring some lights and another gaff because I thought the battle would last into the night.

1 hour fight from hookup to gaff. Slid it in the boat still breathing and bleed it out in the boat. Still early in the season and lots of mako around so didn’t want to take a chance. Called Britney and told her to grab the big kill bag and some ice and meet me at the ramp.

Met my buddy outside the harbor and he took some pics for me.

Tipped the scale at 140lbs. Gilled and gut it on the scale and it went 121 dressed for future reference.
Packed it in a Deckhand 90” cow bag and covered it with ice after the pic.

Video:
https://youtu.be/EFsNZmUCaPM?si=T53DMc8fYaGpr0wO

23

Fishing Talk / Re: Metallic Flavored BFT

« on: October 05, 2023, 01:48:48 PM »

You have to bleed them out good and ice them for a day before cutting and packing to freeze.

If ate that day or that week it’s fine but bluefin meat is even more finicky than the fish themselves.

I’ve had good success wrapping them in paper towels and bagging them in the fridge over night then vacuum sealing and freezing the next day. A whole 3-4 day process.

The big one I got in September wasn’t bleed out the best. There was still blood coming out in the kill bag and we cut it that day and I packaged it the next. I had similar results to what you’re experiencing.

Some people suggest adding a little salt to them before sealing or a little oil.

24

Saltwater Boat Fishing Reports / Re: Another Weekend Planned for Me (9/15)

« on: September 19, 2023, 08:57:21 AM »

Not a bad day all in all.

I always tell people to give me 3 days, one to find the fish, one to figure out what they want to eat and one to catch them… most of the time I don’t make it past day 2 and lately I’ve been starting on day 1 a lot.

I did a loop from oside to La Jolla and back last Saturday and got hit on my American flag daisy chain. Couple short rips of the drag and it was gone but came up in a mess. Told myself it was a marlin and now after actually reading your report it just may have been.

25

Saltwater Boat Fishing Reports / Re: The Blue's of Summer (9/10)

« on: September 11, 2023, 10:53:01 PM »

Nice to finally see you sporting a (decent) bluefin with that new rod!

Every day is different and TBH I think your trip to fish ratio beats mine and Jeremy’s combined.

I’ve noticed that as well. Nice tuna Tom, way to break the new rod in. Yozuri was a Bonita?

Meh, rigid hull boat fish don’t count 🤣

26

Saltwater Boat Fishing Reports / Re: The Blue's of Summer (9/10)

« on: September 11, 2023, 09:24:20 PM »

Only plans up to F? Seems short sighted.

This is where the rest of us fall short, I usually have Plan A, B and …. Well, go back to A

27

Saltwater Boat Fishing Reports / Re: The Blue's of Summer (9/10)

« on: September 11, 2023, 09:23:12 PM »

Nice to finally see you sporting a (decent) bluefin with that new rod!

Every day is different and TBH I think your trip to fish ratio beats mine and Jeremy’s combined.

28

Saltwater Boat Fishing Reports / Re: An ulua, inflatable boat and bluefin

« on: September 04, 2023, 04:47:04 PM »

Takeaways: tuna fishing sucks!
Inflatables don’t let you put much pressure on fish
The plate seats hold up to tuna
Long rods are terrible chair rods
NFIO

Congrats once again.

Tuna fishing does suck!

I do like how you end up straight up and down in a fight in the inflatable so easily, I think that's favorable for putting the wood to the fish.

Ulua 93 is a quite a lot for the little boat.

Time to drop a kite on them now?

It does have its advantages but then again when it runs you can’t really apply more than 15lbs of drag unless you’re right over top. Does help with not getting spooled though.

I didn’t deploy the kite on these fish due to the water color and vis. They’d never see it sitting on top unless I drug it through a foamer and lining it up perfect is hard enough in the small boat without boats rushing in.

29

Saltwater Boat Fishing Reports / An ulua, inflatable boat and bluefin

« on: September 03, 2023, 08:42:15 PM »

Make for the perfect day.

Went out Saturday and Ditched all the excess gear. Brought only my ULUA 93h with me and a graphite rod to sling smaller baits.
Respooled with 80lb braid and put a 100lb mono leader on after getting bit off twice on Thursday. Seemed to work out.

Takeaways: tuna fishing sucks!
Inflatables don’t let you put much pressure on fish
The plate seats hold up to tuna
Long rods are terrible chair rods
NFIO

Video: https://youtu.be/_ABYPaMlAZ0?si=10v2FswPw_GY0iBT

30

Saltwater Boat Fishing Reports / Re: 1 for 7. Inflatable frustrations.

« on: August 31, 2023, 09:20:40 PM »

Went 1 for 7 on bluefin yesterday. After fishing them briefly Monday evening and figuring out what they want I thought I had this in the bag. Haven’t pulled that many hooks in one day in my whole life.

That's been my story the last few years...  lol

Congrats on the BFT!  That water in the video looked dirty. I'm not sure if that was just a camera angle or not.  In any case, you got 'em!

Also, great video by the way, except for the crotch shot.  I'm sure you'll make Koga drool a bit since he likes looking at guys in shorts. lol

Thanks Tom!

Waters been super dirty on top. It’s only brown to
About 20ft down then clear. Definitely not stoping the bluefin from hanging out in 100ft of water.

Also, just like to say that I do have shorts on, even if it looks like I don’t. Sorry Koga