Something to think about. it seems that 5-7 day trips are some of most expensive trips out there and with the Lupe iff’y at best, they sometimes just turning into long 3 day trips. You don’t have the time to go much further that the rocks or ridge and you show up with a few other boats there and the area has been pounded by trolling.
So I ride the longer trips 14+ because they are just a better value. We have been fishing the Jan 1 16 day (which is really a 17 day jan 1 - 18) it is like $350 a day. There will be a fuel surcharge, etc. But calculate how much enjoyment are you really getting for the cost per day. Some boats have a 8-day for $4400 and our 17 day is $5600. But the key is we have the time to go anywhere, we can spend 10 days at Hurricane bank or go to puerto vallarta or anywhere in between. Now this year I got a #340 and a #261 on bait, my son takes all the kite rotations and he usually gets fish 125-175. One of the questions that everyone gets asked on board is “did you bring your plastics” we spend at least 1 1/2 days fishing for calico bass, ling cod and rock fish. Usually at least 1/2 a day at the rocks etc.
The key thing is the cost of taking off of work, getting all your gear ready and being on a expensive long 3 day trip with a bunch of other fishing pressure because of closures, the longer trips are the hidden gem.
The bank has tons of 60-90 fish all day long, if you just have the expectation to just go catch fish and not worry about catching a super cow, these trips are awesome. Plus the bank fish bite all night long, most anglers are just too tired from fishing them. Wahoo are all around the boat and we were using #20 test, small sliding weights and sardines. The bank has a bunch of #15 Rainbow Runners, which are like yellowtail. Then out of 25 anglers, there are really 18 anglers fishing at a time and everyone has a little different grove. My and my son are “man” bait fisherman, others just wait for their kite rotation, there are the sinker fisherman, the flat fall dudes, the sardine dudes, the mack fisherman and another 3 or 4 guys that never seem to fish at all. They are in the galley eating, telling stories, then they get their coffee and sit on the top deck watching the kites with the crew. It seems like theres always one dude who is always working on his tan and the one dude who seems like they are re-rigging all the time (that is me testing all the new ideas I have) etc.
So each year the first day we leave the first stop is off of ensanada to see if we can get some of the big bluefin because the boat traffic is way down and we are usually fishing alongside the commercial fleet. Now with the improvement of all the new reels, my “go-to” sardine reel is the Avet HXW loaded with #100 spectra and I fish fluoro wind-on leaders, etc. Most of the 5 day fisherman have the gear to fish the Long Trips and really don’t realize it. The boat has kite rods and there are some things you will not be prepared for, but there is 3 1/2 days of travel and on our trip everyone helps each other out. The galley always has dudes rigging all different kinds of stuff up and a crewmen is at table 1 all day to set you up. Me and my kids are experts at making wind-on leaders , so we typically teach people all about it if they want.
Lastly you get to relax, this is not a aggressive competitive environment, if you are new on this trip, most likely you will catch a fish bigger than me because of beginners luck 🍀. The water is like 82 degrees and the air also, so it is easy to relax. There are probably 2 dudes throwing iron for wahoo most of the day. We encourage everyone to try something a little different, it seems that there is something at the bank that will work well and it may be a chandelier rig with a sinker or a big bait, etc, so the more fisherman we have doing different things the greater success we have. Many times anglers will just sit on the upper deck and see what is working before they jump in. This is what fishing is all about, now jumping on a 1 1/2 trip when the bluefin are eating paint, that’s kool. But scheduling a trip in advance, getting off of work, getting all your gear together, then barely being able to get to the wahoo grounds and then someone else always gets the wahoo on the troll, it is just frustrating. Life is hard enough as it is. We have had many trolls that are “virgins” only, then we are down to the last dude with all 4 outfits and cheer him on. There anglers on this board and a few tackle shops that will help you out. The key thing is get advise from someone who makes these trips, I have many anglers call me and they are surprised to find out that they are very close to the gear they need for a long trip. You can always buy used gear , just get it serviced to make sure it is sano. I am changing my color scheme of my custom rods and will be selling a bunch of the custom ones I have now. I have a 50TW , 50T 2 speeded and blueprinted by calsheets that have freespoolers and you can fish sardines with them and the kite full of JB hollow that work awesome (just cosmetically 5/10). So I like to focus on the fishing “experience” and enjoyment more than anything else. Interesting note, I talked to a angler who was on a boat next to us when we were at the bank and when we got back he asked how we did on the big tuna at night in glow lures, they ended up with like 35 fish up to #200 on a night bite… well…none…no one fished much at night. So this next year we will be doing some night fishing, I also bring a set of radios, so if my son is sleeping or me we can call each other if something pops up. It would also be good to team up with another angler and work together on trying some different things. Some of the best things I learned were from other anglers. That is why the people on this trip help each other out, if you become the “Hot Stick” they will appreciate the intel.
Good Fishing 🎣
Guy
So I ride the longer trips 14+ because they are just a better value. We have been fishing the Jan 1 16 day (which is really a 17 day jan 1 - 18) it is like $350 a day. There will be a fuel surcharge, etc. But calculate how much enjoyment are you really getting for the cost per day. Some boats have a 8-day for $4400 and our 17 day is $5600. But the key is we have the time to go anywhere, we can spend 10 days at Hurricane bank or go to puerto vallarta or anywhere in between. Now this year I got a #340 and a #261 on bait, my son takes all the kite rotations and he usually gets fish 125-175. One of the questions that everyone gets asked on board is “did you bring your plastics” we spend at least 1 1/2 days fishing for calico bass, ling cod and rock fish. Usually at least 1/2 a day at the rocks etc.
The key thing is the cost of taking off of work, getting all your gear ready and being on a expensive long 3 day trip with a bunch of other fishing pressure because of closures, the longer trips are the hidden gem.
The bank has tons of 60-90 fish all day long, if you just have the expectation to just go catch fish and not worry about catching a super cow, these trips are awesome. Plus the bank fish bite all night long, most anglers are just too tired from fishing them. Wahoo are all around the boat and we were using #20 test, small sliding weights and sardines. The bank has a bunch of #15 Rainbow Runners, which are like yellowtail. Then out of 25 anglers, there are really 18 anglers fishing at a time and everyone has a little different grove. My and my son are “man” bait fisherman, others just wait for their kite rotation, there are the sinker fisherman, the flat fall dudes, the sardine dudes, the mack fisherman and another 3 or 4 guys that never seem to fish at all. They are in the galley eating, telling stories, then they get their coffee and sit on the top deck watching the kites with the crew. It seems like theres always one dude who is always working on his tan and the one dude who seems like they are re-rigging all the time (that is me testing all the new ideas I have) etc.
So each year the first day we leave the first stop is off of ensanada to see if we can get some of the big bluefin because the boat traffic is way down and we are usually fishing alongside the commercial fleet. Now with the improvement of all the new reels, my “go-to” sardine reel is the Avet HXW loaded with #100 spectra and I fish fluoro wind-on leaders, etc. Most of the 5 day fisherman have the gear to fish the Long Trips and really don’t realize it. The boat has kite rods and there are some things you will not be prepared for, but there is 3 1/2 days of travel and on our trip everyone helps each other out. The galley always has dudes rigging all different kinds of stuff up and a crewmen is at table 1 all day to set you up. Me and my kids are experts at making wind-on leaders , so we typically teach people all about it if they want.
Lastly you get to relax, this is not a aggressive competitive environment, if you are new on this trip, most likely you will catch a fish bigger than me because of beginners luck 🍀. The water is like 82 degrees and the air also, so it is easy to relax. There are probably 2 dudes throwing iron for wahoo most of the day. We encourage everyone to try something a little different, it seems that there is something at the bank that will work well and it may be a chandelier rig with a sinker or a big bait, etc, so the more fisherman we have doing different things the greater success we have. Many times anglers will just sit on the upper deck and see what is working before they jump in. This is what fishing is all about, now jumping on a 1 1/2 trip when the bluefin are eating paint, that’s kool. But scheduling a trip in advance, getting off of work, getting all your gear together, then barely being able to get to the wahoo grounds and then someone else always gets the wahoo on the troll, it is just frustrating. Life is hard enough as it is. We have had many trolls that are “virgins” only, then we are down to the last dude with all 4 outfits and cheer him on. There anglers on this board and a few tackle shops that will help you out. The key thing is get advise from someone who makes these trips, I have many anglers call me and they are surprised to find out that they are very close to the gear they need for a long trip. You can always buy used gear , just get it serviced to make sure it is sano. I am changing my color scheme of my custom rods and will be selling a bunch of the custom ones I have now. I have a 50TW , 50T 2 speeded and blueprinted by calsheets that have freespoolers and you can fish sardines with them and the kite full of JB hollow that work awesome (just cosmetically 5/10). So I like to focus on the fishing “experience” and enjoyment more than anything else. Interesting note, I talked to a angler who was on a boat next to us when we were at the bank and when we got back he asked how we did on the big tuna at night in glow lures, they ended up with like 35 fish up to #200 on a night bite… well…none…no one fished much at night. So this next year we will be doing some night fishing, I also bring a set of radios, so if my son is sleeping or me we can call each other if something pops up. It would also be good to team up with another angler and work together on trying some different things. Some of the best things I learned were from other anglers. That is why the people on this trip help each other out, if you become the “Hot Stick” they will appreciate the intel.
Good Fishing 🎣
Guy
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