Larry Brown/ David Choate RR3 16ner

[wahoodad]

Red Rooster 3 Larry Brown/David Choate Charter 2012

I drove down to San Diego early February 10th, arriving at the big three at around 06:30 am. Already, as always, a few other anglers were there before me. It’s just our nature I guess. Even with the boarding pass numbers all given out, and that we will not be departing until about 11 am, we still show up at oh dark thirty!

As more of us filter in, I get to say hello to old friends, put a face to internet posters, and meet some long range legends. There was a blur that kept flashing by, a kid hard at work, more on Trevor, or T-Bone later.

Christina was there to check us in, settle up the last bit of our fares, and it wasn’t long until the carts started going down the ramp full of gear. Andy and the crew made short work of getting us onboard, as we do tend to overdo it a bit on how much we bring (ya think?)

A pair of the anglers, Valene and John, brought a few ice chests full of Dungeness Crab, which our chefs extraordinaire Rick and Stan would give us a few meals from. Steak and crab on the first night, and crab chowder the next day, very nice of our two anglers from Half Moon Bay. Valene also brought some crab cookies she made. I guess she used to own a bakery.








Bait was loaded in all available tanks, Andy gave the required Coast Guard speech, and off we went. He also gave us the fishing info, that wasn’t all that encouraging, as both boats at the buffer zone weren’t doing all that well. And it didn’t sound like the bank was any better. Oh well, it is what it is, let’s go fishing.

We had TV the first couple of days, but once we pass Alijos, we lose the signal. Of course, that’s right when Tiger and Phil were on the back nine of Pebble Beach. Plenty of gear to rig up, no worries about not having a TV signal!

Larry Brown brought a bunch of swag. Here, Junior and Mike show off their top prizes:



Barry G and Chris:



A wonderful couple, Richard and Carmina:



As we got further south, it warmed up a bit.



The Rooster is a very comfortable boat, I love that lounge area forward of the dining room. Just feels like a big ole couch to plop down on and do a potato imitation.







Bill "the avocado Man" Wirth.




The crew was busy every day, doing chores on the way down, making gaffs, filling reels, mechanical odds and ends. In the meanwhile, we too were busy, building top shots, putting gear together, wiring up jigs, making wahoo bombs. Each day Andy would give us a brief seminar each day, and we would work on those items, and then kick back towards the afternoon. The days passed by in that manner, and it was that last afternoon we set drags.

The morning we got to the island, the other two boats had only the morning left to fish. The Star and Angler both pulled out about 10 am, leaving the Royal Polaris and us, which had been out at the bank for not many fish. So we had the latest dope on where to find the schools, and there was a glimmer of hope as they had a few chances each morning for biguns.

We got on a school early that morning, and Ben Kita landed what we thought was a 190 lb fish (weighed over 200 at the dock). This was my first time fishing with Ben, and what a class act he is. Quiet, but will share info willingly, and smooth fisherman. No wasted movement, this guy knows how to pull on fish. What a treat to watch him work.

I always pay attention the first day to see what the trend is, as that way you can decide on when is the best time to take a nap. And, the first day is a bit difficult, because at some point the fishing gets interrupted to go check in at the camp. So, personally, I didn’t get the schedule all figured out day one.

Check in at camp Clarion was a breeze, the commandant was a very nice guy, wished us all good luck, told a couple of jokes. The whole process took about half an hour.

Back out to the buffer zone, and we would get on occasional schools, but the grade of fish was exactly like the Star and Angler had reported. We picked away at the wahoo as well. It seemed like the wahoo were either very small, or huge!







Allen shows the jig he won works:




I got a couple the 1st day on straight fluorocarbon, while fishing for tuna.

We picked and scratched for the day, with Ben landing the only really good fish. The info was to get in the bait zone just as the sun was setting, and catch the salamis early, as it was then or never. After getting a couple of tanks of bait, in for 1st call for dinner.

Junior with a kite fish:


Allen is bent all the time.



Mike gets his share too:



Valene, that gal can fish.



I wanna know where Russ still finds OPs



Sam is a merchant marine captain, but this was his first ever long range trip. He made it look easy.



Sam's brother Jim.



Andy took us back to the anchorage at night, as all day long we had about 15-20 knots of wind, and we were rolling pretty good all day in the buffer zone. It was nice for all to be able to relax, as that sort of condition is extremely tiring.

Chris won the first daily jackpot prize, an Okuma MK20-II.



Here Greg and Russ show that soaking a big bait at gray light pays off.



That ain't no muskie Russ.



We headed back to the buffer zone, and got on a school just as it was getting gray. We hung a bunch of little ones, then one little shooter of biguns. All on big bait, big hooks, heavy line. You just had to have a bait out when they passed by, and that was the best shot at cows. Three lucky anglers this morning: Greg, Valene, and John Dixon. We all caught fish, just the three cows though.







John Dixon was in the right place at the right time.



Greg too.



Greg won a Okuma Cedros 10 for his cow.



At daylight, it was scarce, no sign. Then, we would hook a few wahoo, and then hook a couple of good tuna on the kite. The trick was a squid on the kite. The RR3 crew had about 4 crates of squid in the freezer, so as long as we had these, you had a good shot at a better sized fish. And the nice thing was, you could pick away at the 60-100 pound tuna and scare up a wahoo or two from 10 am until 3 pm.



Here Paul shows off the stock grade fish.












Jim with the average fish.



Valene just keeps on getting them.



John gets his shot, can't let the wife catch them all.



Richard put his time in and got his share.



Ben, and the wind.




After 3, it was like a light switched off. The birds flew back home, show was basically over. Roll over, get set up on the bait grounds, hit the showers, have a toddy. Ben and I were wondering what happened to the old days of sundowners, but we sure didn’t get any of those storied bites.

Here, Larry Brown gets his first of two cows in one day on the squish.




Numero dos for LB.



And that was THE pattern, plain and simple. Stan and Rick kept us fat and jolly with the good food, Barry G’s friend Jack provided us with the XM receiver which kept the tunes on Classic Vinyl all day and evening for bait making, and the crew was on it for helping us out of tangles, releasing the boobies that got tangled in the lines occasionally, gaffing fish, etc, etc.

Chris with one right at gray light.



Poppa, or Gomez Senior holds his own too.



Captain Andy is a joy to spend a long trip like this with. His sense of humor is amazing, and you know who the captain is, although he never raises his voice once. A true class act.




Capt Derek is a wonderful addition to the RR3 crew. His engineer skills are apparent, as everything works all the time. He is a bird whisperer, as he truly has a way with the birds that land on the boat.





Capt Tom is willing to help in any way. He just always seems to be right there when you need him.

Nick is also one of those type guys that feels like he can read your mind. He knows when you need that reel worked on, always willing to cast a bait for you, all with a great sense of humor.

Capt Trevor: This kid is amazing. I don’t want to jinx it, but he reminds me of a young (dare I say) Rollo. He’ll be full bore into scrubbing the bait tank, and a tangle comes in. You never have to say “Hey T-Bone”, he just appears out of nowhere.

My co-charter master Larry Brown brought lots of swag, did a superb job and I feel fortunate to have shared this trip with him.

One item that Larry brought as swag was a new titainium single strand wire called Knot2Kinky. You tie this wire with a perfection knot, and it holds really well. The nice feature about it was you could catch multiple wahoo on one piece of wire. I love the stuff, even used it on my jigs with success for the wahoo. I highly recommend this stuff, one of the best new products out there I’ve seen in quite some time.

Another item that worked very well for me was the Mustad Demon circles, 39943, the 4X models in sizes 6/0 and 7/0 for the sardines. I was able to get the bait on without harming the sardines, and wasn’t pulling near as many hooks as I had been with J hooks.

On this trip, we had some of the new improved Okuma Makaira 20 and 30 reels, with the new bearings, and the lower gear ratio in low gear. I’ve got to say, they nailed it gang! It’s almost cheating, you get that fish straight up and down, and wind his sorry ass in! I had two very good anglers using the new models the first few days, then handed them off to other anglers for more feedback.

One particular angler was having a tough time getting bit, and then if he did, keeping the fish on the line. Captain Andy took the loaner 30SE, set the gentleman up with his rod and that reel, and it flat assed turned his trip around. He ended up landing SEVEN NICE TUNA in his last day and a half of fishing. Andy was absolutely certain it was the reel that caused his change in luck.

I would like to thank our sponsors: AVET REELS, PHENIX RODS, BOOYA, SHIMANO, OWNER HOOKS, BODY GLOVE, BAJA FISH GEAR, BIG HAMMER SWIMBAITS, FISHERMAN’S PROCESSING, IZORLINE, CHUCK BYRON ART, OKUMA, SPORTFISHING MAGAZINE, SPORTSMAN’S SEAFOOD, FIVE STAR, WESTERN OUTDOOR NEWS, INVISASWIVEL, FISHERMAN’S LANDING TACKLE, KNOT2KINKY TITANIUM WIRE, MDRA, BEST FISHING TACKLE-HAWTHORNE, HIGH TIDE SPORTFISHING’S HOLY MACKEREL, JOAB &HT JIGS, and LONG RANGE SPORTFISHING “SAN DIEGO STYLE”!

[Rocket Dog]

This is some sick fishing!!!! Good Job! I know Larry, he is a tuna whisper!

[TakoArm]

awesome thread.

[etwizard]

Well written David! Sounds like you scratched it out and had a good time. Love those Demon hooks.
Tight Lines,
Solomon

[AquaHunter]

I'm getting super excited for my coming trip, thanks for the report!

[fishnfool73]

Thanks for sharing Dave, I can't wait to get over there again

[pk ripper]

nice report. thank you very needed right now

[spike]

Good stuff David & company, another great trip aboard the Rooster, wish I could have been their.

I'm glad to see that Trevor Rogers (formaly with the Chubasco) is working out well, he is a good dude and a nice addition to an already outstanding crew.

[ZHALVAJE]

Awesome report Dave! X2 what Spike said about Trevor,always enjoyed fishing with him on the Chubasco. A lot of fish and good times with that young man. Gonna miss him. Good Luck Trevor!

[talltales]

The RR3 has a great crew, I did a 10 day last December and Andy had me laughing every day. (That guy is the king of the one liner). I gotta get on another trip with them soon. Thanks for the great report David.