Guadalupe Update

[bigreddog]

Line capacity was not an issue?

I have 500 yards of 50# on the one reel and a similar amount on the 65# reel with stacked spectra, so I had no issues.

One young guy on his first Guadalupe trip hooked a large one that nearly spooled him and absolutely destroyed his avet. His reel smelled like a semi truck with Smoked brakes going down the Grapevine. It was all over and done with in about 45 seconds. I suspect there are a few much larger fish around.

 

[egarratt]

I think the difference between "bigreddog" and myself is interesting.

We fished the back side (west) of the island for tuna on days 3 and 4. Never before had I fished that side for more than a short period of time. We stayed on anchor (as was the Searcher) for almost two whole days on the west side of the island. I think the lee side was harder getting a bait into the zone.

The first day and a half on the east side, 40 # test was working but the tuna and yellowtail were smaller on that side (75#/35#). West side was a little better grade of each. Tuna to 120# and YT to #45.

 

[Al B.Fishing]

I just returned on Sunday. Tough fishing with no current. We had zero shark problems. I caught half a dozen fish up to about 110 pounds on 40 pound mono, 50 pound spectra, and single speed reels. It was the only way to get a bait into a productive zone most of the time. Needless to say rigging had to be perfect, and you needed to pull really hard on that lighter gear. After landing one fish, I checked my drag and it was 25 pounds, on 40 pound Izor mono. I had a number of losses as expected.


I did get a few also on 60 and 80 fluoro when conditions allowed for heavier gear.

Specialized gear and good fly line skills were critical. The guys fishing 80 pound spectra and heavy reels had a very tough time, with the exception of one or two excellent and patient anglers.

 

[bigreddog]

I think the difference between "bigreddog" and myself is interesting.

We fished the back side (west) of the island for tuna on days 3 and 4. Never before had I fished that side for more than a short period of time. We stayed on anchor (as was the Searcher) for almost two whole days on the west side of the island. I think the lee side was harder getting a bait into the zone.

The first day and a half on the east side, 40 # test was working but the tuna and yellowtail were smaller on that side (75#/35#). West side was a little better grade of each. Tuna to 120# and YT to #45.

View attachment 1326088

You are right. We went to the west side our last day and the fish were bigger. It was still difficult because that was the day that the weather started coming up. Unfortunately for us, during just about the entire trip whenever we had what tiny current we had it was always against the wind.

 

[MattFred1414]

Apollo. Crew worked their ASSES off to make it happen but no go

I’m supposed to be on the Apollo Thursday night.