Left my house in HB about 0545, left the gates of Oside harbor a little before 0800. Not as much of a crowd as I thought. Brought a kite rig, high speed troller/jigger, and 60# casting rod.
2-3' at 9 seconds by my judgment. Very brown water out front. Was never blue, even outside, but there were breaks of green and less green.
First toward the aerial footage zone. I meandered that way, then started zig zagging. No signs of life to start. First with no trollers/kites, just trying to see if the fish will slap me in the face with some obvious foamers. After 30 minutes I put out the Yozuri High Speed Vibe.
Offshore fog rolled in and cut the vis to 300 yards at times. Not great for spotting foamers. Didn't like the idea of flying the kite through it either, for the possibility somebody pops up out of nowhere and saws everything off. I headed west for a few miles then start SE all the way to Carlsbad Canyon. Saw some rafting birds which were potentially worth a f@ck in the state they were in, trolled by a number of them. Enough grass in the water that I was clearing my line every 15 minutes and always finding some grass.
Getting closer to high tide. Headed back NW, through the main suspect zone. Water changing color constantly. Could be a good thing. Still no signs of tuna. Was ready to chalk it up to a day late and a dollar short. Popped open my snack pack and grabbed the banana. You know, the thing I don't like about bananas on my boat is really that it gets crushed so easily. Half of it was smashed! I ate what I could and donated the peel to the tuna gods.
Maybe 5 minutes later, the troller is singing. I was in disbelief. I don't see fish! Is this real? This water is sh!tty. Tip is definitely dancing. And my PVC rod holder is holding up. That's great! I was worried about that thing. And it's holding pretty through a high speed bite. Perfect. Oh, fish.
Got the rod in my hands. I was idling forward and the fish seemed to be coming to the boat quickly from behind. I thought, maybe I hooked a small dodo? Totally possible. This seems like a runt. Maybe a little bluefin.
Once it got it under the boat I found it had a lot more weight to it, but I still wasn't sure what to think. Then I saw it flash, bending its body to make a run. At that moment I thought, ahhh, mako. New species I suppose but now I gotta kill or be killed. Great.
Then it came sailing through view again. Nope! Bluefin! Good one!
Got it into death circles surprisingly quick, looked liked it was throat hooked, light trail of blood. Gaffed it. Phew. Bled it. It still had a little more rebellion in it, but overall a tame fish through the whole ordeal. 5 minute fight with maybe 8lbs of drag on the Avet 30/2.
In the boat it goes! Baby's first Bluefin Tuna!
I learned my lesson with the thresher. Fillet big game on the water. 16x40" kill bag fit the 4 loins just fine, sent the carcass to the crabs a few miles out. Already had a couple ice packs in the kill bag and added some seawater, then a small bag of ice on the way out of the harbor.
Very quick and easy trip, I've put more miles in trips for bass lately than I did today.
Off the water by 1045. Never did see surface action. Did the fiesty ones head to the 14? See Davey's Locker for details. People were launching for the afternoon, I think it might be better for them. Chris is out there now I believe?
