Quick report from an epic weekend with lots of old friends and many more new friends. As I like my naps and cocktails, I may not have all the details and I am sure others will chime in.
A few very close friends and I were invited on the Big X for a 3 day 6/15 - 6/18. Of the 25 pax in this boat, I had fished with at least ten of them over the past few years. Some of them multiple times per year and others once or twice. The boarding went as per usual and we left the docks 45 minutes early. The food was excellent with Richard and Mike in the kitchen but I intentionally skip meals and snacks as the amount is overwhelming.
First day had us with some of the fleet in sight of the Coronados. We had 5-8 daytime fish with a few on the flyline and a few less on the sinker rig w/ bait. I tried it all but my number was not called. If I remember right, daytime fish this day were in the 40-80 pound range.
Night time came and i am guessing we had another 15-20 fish from 8pm - 130pm. Again, I was stuck in the loser lounge. After 130am we hit a lull and afew mlike myself went for some much needed shuteye. I woke up at 430 am to the engines slowing down and landed a 30lb fish. The stink is off but not the most exciting thing on a new GPX Viper and Mak 20 w/ 130lb. This was our last "nighttime operation" fish for this day.
Day two has us in the same general region (I think) as the day before. The early morning found us some biting fly line fish in the 20-40 lb range. I brought in one on a new Alijos 5 paired with a UC GP Mega 8'. This was it as I remember as we headed further south in search of fats moving schools. "Nighttime operations" was nothing short of epic as we ran into a WFO bite of fish from 30-40lbs, with a few from 75-95.
Captain Fleck said we were going to make a small 14 hour move in the search of trophies. We were headed to San Clemente with plans of stopping for some reds at some point. We headed north and the quality of reds was amazing. I usually set rock fishing drifts out but had another new reel to try out. I used a Daiwa FK Jig (210gram?) and found myself having a better ratio versus the field in landing red versus boccaccios. This is not my jam but i had some fun doing it.
Another nap and move north. I expected to wake up to see the weather side of SCI but to my surprise we were on the lee. Lots of driving, zagging, zigging to maybe one sonar school which didn't react to the multiple brails of bait that were thrown at it.
At this point of time the trip was already overly successful in my eyes. Lots of great friends were made and lots of goofing off and name calling was had. If any of you have ever fished with me, I hate losing in anything. Coin toss, flip cup, a game of 99!, my personality is very competitive. I kept telling myself time at the rial will pay off. Whether it be during the 3 hours we had left or at another point in time. Stay with the process and hope my number gets called. I was completely stoked that many new friends had personal best and many old friends had bested me. As my good buddy Clark-tails put it best, " I would rather the whole boat catch and I get skunked than myself being the only one who catches".
We ran into one spot of deep sonar marks with an hour left before we had to head in. Hearing the excitement from the wheelhouse made the initial drop all the more exciting. "these things are reacting, they are stopping, coming under the boat, fish from 180-450 feet, get your jigs down there, these are bigger ones".
As fate would have it, my initial drop I got bumped in the way down. Put it in gear and wind, nothing. Put it in frees pool and the sucker bit within 10 feet of it sinking. Others were hooked up as well and the usual tango assumed. This fish ran to the the wrong side of the boat and tried to escape in the sonar gear. But after some great work by the crew a 100.4 hit the deck.
I am admiring my catch, avoiding the mayhem and Captain Justin asked why I was sitting around versus catching another one. The very next drop I got hit on the sink. Put it in gear and nothing. Keep winding and get slammed in a few cranks. This was bigger and thankfully stayed in the starboard corner. Had Captain Vance next to me the whole time and def needed him The fish decided to dodge and weave with my Buddy Ron's Fish (#Team MDK). After multiple visits almost to gaff the fish succumbed to a gaff in the belly. This time it went 151. My biggest fish in two years.
What worked for me was rail time and good vibes. Trusting the process while making sure other jigs weren't producing unusual proportions of the bites. The smaller fish preferred smaller profile jigs. They still needed to be heavy or be cast upwind to get them vertical for the grind. Two years ago I switched all my rods to the United Composites GX Line. This trip I added a GPX raptor (retiring a Truline) and added a GPX Viper. My guy Rods by Rob/Fish n Race/Robbie Cohn always has them in perfect shape. There are a lot of great rod builders out there but my "babies" go to Rob.
Top notch operation with a top notch crew, from Jason to the deck crew and captains. Really honored to fish with the group Josh Rytz assembled and am looking to do it again. Would not have changed one thing about the entire trip.
A few very close friends and I were invited on the Big X for a 3 day 6/15 - 6/18. Of the 25 pax in this boat, I had fished with at least ten of them over the past few years. Some of them multiple times per year and others once or twice. The boarding went as per usual and we left the docks 45 minutes early. The food was excellent with Richard and Mike in the kitchen but I intentionally skip meals and snacks as the amount is overwhelming.
First day had us with some of the fleet in sight of the Coronados. We had 5-8 daytime fish with a few on the flyline and a few less on the sinker rig w/ bait. I tried it all but my number was not called. If I remember right, daytime fish this day were in the 40-80 pound range.
Night time came and i am guessing we had another 15-20 fish from 8pm - 130pm. Again, I was stuck in the loser lounge. After 130am we hit a lull and afew mlike myself went for some much needed shuteye. I woke up at 430 am to the engines slowing down and landed a 30lb fish. The stink is off but not the most exciting thing on a new GPX Viper and Mak 20 w/ 130lb. This was our last "nighttime operation" fish for this day.
Day two has us in the same general region (I think) as the day before. The early morning found us some biting fly line fish in the 20-40 lb range. I brought in one on a new Alijos 5 paired with a UC GP Mega 8'. This was it as I remember as we headed further south in search of fats moving schools. "Nighttime operations" was nothing short of epic as we ran into a WFO bite of fish from 30-40lbs, with a few from 75-95.
Captain Fleck said we were going to make a small 14 hour move in the search of trophies. We were headed to San Clemente with plans of stopping for some reds at some point. We headed north and the quality of reds was amazing. I usually set rock fishing drifts out but had another new reel to try out. I used a Daiwa FK Jig (210gram?) and found myself having a better ratio versus the field in landing red versus boccaccios. This is not my jam but i had some fun doing it.
Another nap and move north. I expected to wake up to see the weather side of SCI but to my surprise we were on the lee. Lots of driving, zagging, zigging to maybe one sonar school which didn't react to the multiple brails of bait that were thrown at it.
At this point of time the trip was already overly successful in my eyes. Lots of great friends were made and lots of goofing off and name calling was had. If any of you have ever fished with me, I hate losing in anything. Coin toss, flip cup, a game of 99!, my personality is very competitive. I kept telling myself time at the rial will pay off. Whether it be during the 3 hours we had left or at another point in time. Stay with the process and hope my number gets called. I was completely stoked that many new friends had personal best and many old friends had bested me. As my good buddy Clark-tails put it best, " I would rather the whole boat catch and I get skunked than myself being the only one who catches".
We ran into one spot of deep sonar marks with an hour left before we had to head in. Hearing the excitement from the wheelhouse made the initial drop all the more exciting. "these things are reacting, they are stopping, coming under the boat, fish from 180-450 feet, get your jigs down there, these are bigger ones".
As fate would have it, my initial drop I got bumped in the way down. Put it in gear and wind, nothing. Put it in frees pool and the sucker bit within 10 feet of it sinking. Others were hooked up as well and the usual tango assumed. This fish ran to the the wrong side of the boat and tried to escape in the sonar gear. But after some great work by the crew a 100.4 hit the deck.
I am admiring my catch, avoiding the mayhem and Captain Justin asked why I was sitting around versus catching another one. The very next drop I got hit on the sink. Put it in gear and nothing. Keep winding and get slammed in a few cranks. This was bigger and thankfully stayed in the starboard corner. Had Captain Vance next to me the whole time and def needed him The fish decided to dodge and weave with my Buddy Ron's Fish (#Team MDK). After multiple visits almost to gaff the fish succumbed to a gaff in the belly. This time it went 151. My biggest fish in two years.
What worked for me was rail time and good vibes. Trusting the process while making sure other jigs weren't producing unusual proportions of the bites. The smaller fish preferred smaller profile jigs. They still needed to be heavy or be cast upwind to get them vertical for the grind. Two years ago I switched all my rods to the United Composites GX Line. This trip I added a GPX raptor (retiring a Truline) and added a GPX Viper. My guy Rods by Rob/Fish n Race/Robbie Cohn always has them in perfect shape. There are a lot of great rod builders out there but my "babies" go to Rob.
Top notch operation with a top notch crew, from Jason to the deck crew and captains. Really honored to fish with the group Josh Rytz assembled and am looking to do it again. Would not have changed one thing about the entire trip.
