Long time reader, first time poster. Go easy. I'll be brief.
First time on the Excalibur. Pros and Cons:
Pros:
1. The crew. Ryan and Alex on deck, Jr. was training (his first day and he was very good. Helpful, a small guy, so agile on deck. Always asking if he can tie a knot or undo a tangle.) All three were good at helping and seeing problems before they happen. Omar was the chef and made some decent meals.
2. Older wooden boat, so smooth ride and good sleep. Creaked like a muthah, though.
3. Huge bunks. Mostly, if not all, doubles. Very wide, very long. Several staterooms as well. I had a stateroom and appreciated the extra large bunk size.
4. Good fishing platform...lot's of room to negotiate during open bites.
5. Capt. Chuck Taft. Salty and put us on fish.
Cons:
1. Old wooden boat, so you're not going anywhere fast.
2. No place sit on deck, which is pretty common, so bring a chair if you want to sit.
3. Lot's of freeboard at the bow, but spacious enough to comfortably throw irons, not so good for flylining.
4. Our stateroom blew hot air out of the a/c registers. That sucked.
5. $30 fuel surcharge, but that's expected.
6. Capt. Chuck Taft...salty...real salty. Put on your thick skin suit, because if you're (and I mean the collective "you", not any one individual) not catching or landing fish, his form of pep talk is to give hell.
The fishing. Happy to hear the plan was to go South for YT, YFT, and Dodos. Good news when last trip was north for BFT and the numbers were horrible, especially when the numbers South were so strong (and my freezer is full). Got some OK sardines (lot's of bad mixed with some good ones) and got to the fishing grounds early, around 3:00 am. Rather than look for a night bite, Capt. decided to shut it down and wait for grey light. Up early at 5. Started out for our first patty around 6:00, which was only 20 minuted away. It had a transponder on it from the day before. Threw my first dine and got bit. It ripped line off my reel and went straight into the patty. Pulled, tugged, and reeled for 20 minutes and the thing wouldn't budge. Finally broke off. Apparently, while I was struggling, so was the entire boat. Of all the hook ups, only 8 or so landed. Bad start for Capt. Taft and we heard about it. Left that patty and found another a little later. Better luck, more landed. Better quality. The day went like this until 5 pm or so. Each patty got progressively better...I think as a whole, the group settled in a bit and stopped fishing frantically. My highlight was being the single hook up on a patty, turned out to be a decent 12 lb dodo that jumped 6 or 7 times. Fun hollering at that beautiful fish as it breached the surface. All I could see was the hook flying out of it's mouth, but it didn't. Pretty cool. In the end had 10 YT ranging from a few pounds to 16 or 17. All 5 of my keepers were over 15 lbs. 1 Dodo and 1, 25 lb. YFT. Went 12/18 or so. Beautiful day, good fishing, fun crew. Inspired me to write this.
Overall, I'd fish the Excalibur again. Not perfect, but better than many I've fished. One thing to note, lot's of newbies on this trip. Two families with kids. Not good or bad, just an observation. AND, finally figured out how to attach my iPhone to the bunk above me, resolving the issue of having to hold the thing for 2 hours. Definitely and good day. Tight lines and can't wait for the next trip....
First time on the Excalibur. Pros and Cons:
Pros:
1. The crew. Ryan and Alex on deck, Jr. was training (his first day and he was very good. Helpful, a small guy, so agile on deck. Always asking if he can tie a knot or undo a tangle.) All three were good at helping and seeing problems before they happen. Omar was the chef and made some decent meals.
2. Older wooden boat, so smooth ride and good sleep. Creaked like a muthah, though.
3. Huge bunks. Mostly, if not all, doubles. Very wide, very long. Several staterooms as well. I had a stateroom and appreciated the extra large bunk size.
4. Good fishing platform...lot's of room to negotiate during open bites.
5. Capt. Chuck Taft. Salty and put us on fish.
Cons:
1. Old wooden boat, so you're not going anywhere fast.
2. No place sit on deck, which is pretty common, so bring a chair if you want to sit.
3. Lot's of freeboard at the bow, but spacious enough to comfortably throw irons, not so good for flylining.
4. Our stateroom blew hot air out of the a/c registers. That sucked.
5. $30 fuel surcharge, but that's expected.
6. Capt. Chuck Taft...salty...real salty. Put on your thick skin suit, because if you're (and I mean the collective "you", not any one individual) not catching or landing fish, his form of pep talk is to give hell.
The fishing. Happy to hear the plan was to go South for YT, YFT, and Dodos. Good news when last trip was north for BFT and the numbers were horrible, especially when the numbers South were so strong (and my freezer is full). Got some OK sardines (lot's of bad mixed with some good ones) and got to the fishing grounds early, around 3:00 am. Rather than look for a night bite, Capt. decided to shut it down and wait for grey light. Up early at 5. Started out for our first patty around 6:00, which was only 20 minuted away. It had a transponder on it from the day before. Threw my first dine and got bit. It ripped line off my reel and went straight into the patty. Pulled, tugged, and reeled for 20 minutes and the thing wouldn't budge. Finally broke off. Apparently, while I was struggling, so was the entire boat. Of all the hook ups, only 8 or so landed. Bad start for Capt. Taft and we heard about it. Left that patty and found another a little later. Better luck, more landed. Better quality. The day went like this until 5 pm or so. Each patty got progressively better...I think as a whole, the group settled in a bit and stopped fishing frantically. My highlight was being the single hook up on a patty, turned out to be a decent 12 lb dodo that jumped 6 or 7 times. Fun hollering at that beautiful fish as it breached the surface. All I could see was the hook flying out of it's mouth, but it didn't. Pretty cool. In the end had 10 YT ranging from a few pounds to 16 or 17. All 5 of my keepers were over 15 lbs. 1 Dodo and 1, 25 lb. YFT. Went 12/18 or so. Beautiful day, good fishing, fun crew. Inspired me to write this.
Overall, I'd fish the Excalibur again. Not perfect, but better than many I've fished. One thing to note, lot's of newbies on this trip. Two families with kids. Not good or bad, just an observation. AND, finally figured out how to attach my iPhone to the bunk above me, resolving the issue of having to hold the thing for 2 hours. Definitely and good day. Tight lines and can't wait for the next trip....
