Royal Star 7 day. June 4th – june 11th
Day 1:
Arrived at the boat around 8:00 AM, immediately realized that I was one of the last passengers aboard, and that tackle box space was at a premium. I somehow managed to find worthwhile box space and began setting up my gear. One of the other passengers was nice enough to let me use his electric screw driver which made putting reels back on the rods much better. Went downstairs and threw all my gear into the room, luckily chris was late and I got first dibs on the bottom bunk.
After paying Tracy for the jackpot and that WONDERFULL fuel surcharge that all the boats have now, I took my car over to the long term parking between the two hotels, and headed back to the boat. We left the dock, and headed over to the bait receiver and took on some of the healthiest sardines I have ever seen, a handful of greenback mackerel and some chovies. Randy and Tim were very intent on making sure we got the best bait possible, and spent a good amount of time looking in the receivers before choosing which to draw from.
By about 1:00 PM we were leaving the harbor, I said my goodbyes and shut off the cell phone for a full week (thank god), Chef Dave put together some kind of pesto pasta with sea scallops for lunch and we all settled in for some traveling. I headed down to the bunk for some shut eye (most of you all know I didn’t even sleep the night before), but according to some of the other passengers, Tim spotted a Swordfish, and was perched up on the bow in an attempt to nail it with a harpoon. Unfortunately, due to a poorly timed swell he missed it, but it still makes for a good story. I slept for the rest of the evening and missed dinner.
Day Two: June 5th
Woke up at 5:30 AM to some of the nastiest weather I have seen in a while. I soldiered on and went up on deck to face the day. We were supposed to spend it offshore chasing the bluefin around, but for the first hour and a half we saw no signs on them. I decided that sleeping would be better than puking, so I headed back down to my bunk with the intention of coming back upstairs when I head the engines die and the fish hitting the deck. By about 1:00 PM I heard the engines cut back down and a few people shouting, so I threw on the boots and headed up top. Just another random jig strike. I rigged up for San Benitos and the yellowtail that would soon be on the other end of the line. Dinner was chicken breast with vegetables and rice, outstanding once again.
Day three : June 6th
We pulled into the Windward side of North island about 8:00 am and we were immediately on the fish. I ran to the stern and dropped a blue and white PL68 to the bottom and wound like hell. It felt like a ton of bricks when the Yellow hit, and it started pulling drag off my TLD-30 2 speed immediately (60lb test) I managed to get his head turned, and about 15 minutes and 3 runs later a nice 30 lb’er was at gaff on the port side.
We turned on the engines and chased another school around for a few minutes. I heard tim call my name and point to the 90J I had on the side of the house and then point towards a school of boilers off the starboard bow. I immediately ran up to the bow and managed a perfect cast about 20 yds past the school, I clicked it in gear and wound like hell once again. I felt like I snagged kelp this time, and I stopped winding and pulled. But the fish pulled back, and I started winding again. This one was a little less feisty, and it came to gaff in about 10 minutes. We started up the boat again and looked for another school. This time I grabbed the dropper loop rig and pinned on a trophy winner of a sardine. Right as it hit the bottom I got a strike that almost yanked the rod out of my hands. I managed to make short work of this one because it was on 100 lb and a 30 wide 2 speed. By about 10:00 randy and and Tim decided that Alijos was the hot ticket and we pulled the spike and headed south. We spent the afternoon working our way south with random jig strikes that kept the moral high. Chris and I hunkered in on the top deck and tied up some kite rigs and a chunker or two. Mostly just spending the day in the sun getting tipsy (thank god for cold beer). Dinner was Achiotte marinated flank stake (tomatillo and avocado sauce) with polenta and green beans.
Day 4 : June 7th
Alijos Freezer special
We got to Alijos around 7:00 AM, and started trolling the marauders in hopes of a wahoo strike. The water was perfect (70 degrees, purplish blue, just a little current) but the fish just weren’t there. We hooked a yellowtail on one of the marauders that must have been 5 pounds. It was barely bigger than the jig. We anchored up on the south end and started throwing a chumline. The yellows would school back and fourth, 3 or 4 anglers would be tied into the fish each time, but randy was growing impatient and we motored out to Alijos Bank. We got out there by about 12:00 and tied up on the south side of the bank. Randy told us to fish the dropper loop and we all dumped them over the side. Immediately everyone was bit, but as we started turning the handle, we realized they weren’t yellows, but some of the biggest sheep’s head I have ever seen. We boated about 30 of them before the first big yellows came aboard. I hooked into one on the 100 lb and it managed to pull off about 50 yds of line and snap me off. I grabbed the 60 lb in the heat of the bite and it did the same thing. I was pissed, it was frustrating. We pulled the spike at about 3:00 and randy drove us back to the rocks and we anchored up on his secret south east spot and tied into a wide open Glass eye bite. It was fun, but it wasn’t what we were there for. We sat on anchor for another 2 hours, then right at about sunset, Randy pulled the spike and we headed for the shallows. This was when I spread my fathers ashes. Tim helped my out and cleared everyone out of the stern for a few minutes, and I said a few last words, and released him to the wind. It was one of the most Gorgeous sunsets I have ever seen, and pretty much everyone on board had some kind words or a pat on the back for me. It was touching, and the first time I really experienced any real emotion since he passed.
We motored into the shallows and randy told us we would stay until about 11:00 and see if we could get the night bite to turn on. So we stayed and pulled in a couple yellows, but it wasn’t worth staying for, so we pulled the spike and headed back north. Dinner was stuffed chicken and vegetables.
Day 5: june 8th
Another day of travel, we pulled the jigs all afternoon and morning, picked up a couple of football tuna, and some yellows that were so small we didn’t even stop the boat to reel them in. nothing particularly special on this day, just a lot of driving. Dinner was pork chops.
Day 6: June 9th
We pulled into the lee side of the south island of San Benitos, anchored up and almost immediately hooked into fish, all good quality. I hooked into one on the yoyo and brought it to the side of the boat where it pulled the hook. Not to be discouraged, I went right back to it, and hooked another fish, this one I followed to the stern. Right as it rounded the corner, I tried to follow it, but a couple of the other passengers decided they didn’t want to move, so I had to throw an elbow or two and clear the way. Despite the violent effort, I pulled the hook on this one too. And by now I was PISSED, I had either snapped off or pulled the hook on the last 5 fish I had hooked. Trying to gain my composure, I dropped my iron to the bottom and tried to clear the line as we pulled the anchor, as I was winding back up I hooked another fish, and fought for about 5 minutes before I pulled the hook , again. I decided to sit in the galley and have some lunch to clear my head. By the end of lunch we were directly over another big school of yellows and I decided to give it another shot. I bolted out the door and asked the old man for some help on this one. I dropped a PL68 and started winding again, and immediately was bit, I managed to boat this one, about 30 lbs, and my confidence was regained. So I tagged the fish and took some pictures, then heade back to the rail and hooked another fish on the next drop. I proceeded to boat 5 fish on 5 drops and my confidence was right back where it was when I got on the boat. I pulled in a couple more yellows and sat down to dinner with the rest of the guys. Dinner was marinated shrimp with pasta and vegetables, once again, outstanding.
Day 7 : june 10th
The weather offshore was so bad randy didn’t even want to try and deal with it, so he motored inshore next to the beach overnight and we have been making our way north ever since. We stopped on the kelp beds in the morning and pulled in some sheeps head and lingcod for lunch, then just started motoring home. We watched terminator 3 and bought some of the boat apparel. Dinner was prime rib served by the skipper.
Return Day : June 11th
woke up and had breakfast just out side TJ, finished compiling all my gear and just sat around shooting the shit with everyone on board. we pulled into the dock around 8:30 and started to unload. once everyone was off they started unloading the fish, and a giant sea lion sat up on the dock and started barking at everyone.
Bill Roecker was at the weigh in, i got a good picture of him and chriscoobs.
JP turned out to be a 36 lb yellow caught by the only woman on board, Tina.
nothing terribly special, packed up and went home.
Conclusion :
well, i know why they call it the Rolling Star. Its a GREAT boat, the crew is AMAZING and i wouldnt hesitate to do this trip again in a heart beat. there was nothing we could have done better, randy and tim did their best to find us the fish, and they found us the only ones that were biting, unfortunately they werent the big uns'.
Randy and Tim are probably two of the nicest people you will ever meet, and its strange that they work together because they are so different. Tim is more of a people person, likes to get on deck and talk to you about this, that and the other thing. he is also an extremely knowledgeable person. he could stand there and talk to you about anything you ever could imagine. randy is just as smart, but he kind of keeps to himself, the silent warrior.
the Deckhands are cool too. Sean is funny as hell, he was explaining to me how he wants a mexican wife who speaks no english. i also knick-named him "the seanvict" (as in convict) because he has that scary ass look to him. half the time i didnt know if he was going to gaff my fish or steal my wallet! j/k he was very professional and did a great job. Steve is a hell of a guy, a hell of a joker and a hard worker. Jesse just didnt say much, but was always there when someone needed help. all good guys
Chef Dave and his accomplice Tommy were both top knotch guys as well. when we were driving or the bite was slow, id sit in the galley and Dave would always manage to strike up a conversation with me. He is actually going to build me a spear gun, most of the crew are actually experienced free divers and spear fisherman, it was fun to talk about.
The Royal Star is a TOP NOTCH operation and i would not hesitate to book another trip with them!
Tim and Randy picking the very best of bait
Stand_up_angler and chris coobs (in that order)
kite rig and calm seas
stand_up_angler with a little football tuna
noon at alijos
yellow at alijos
chris_coobs with a big mossback
Sunset at Alijos the night i scattered my dads ashes....farewell old man, keep em biting for us.
fatty calico, Ekstrom ate it 10 minutes later
this is bill, bill is the shit, any questions?
stand_up_angler workin a yellow on the 1278H
BLOODY MOTHER FUCKING DECKS BITCHES!!!!
another big mossback on the PL68
Fatty on the PL68 scrambled egg
chris coobs and Bill Roecker (he is a hell of a guy)
IF ONE OF THE MODS COULD TAKE CARE OF THOSE SIDEWAYS PICS IT WOULD BE REALLY COOL.
Alijos is a special place 
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