- Jun 25, 2015
- 2,123
- 2,451
- Name
- Sammy
- Boat Name
- Party Boats and Skiff
I have been reading about the BFT fishing that the day boats have been doing. Though the counts are not high I asked some buddies to join me and was able to find one taker. We got to the landing, signed in and jumped on the San Diego with 32 other anglers of the mostly rental rod persuasion. Not judging, just an observation. The boat was already baited up so we headed out of the harbor. The skipper said our target area was about 35 miles out as we prepped our gear. All of the rental gear was set up with sinker rigs. I setup two with another couple rigs for fly line (40 and 30 Lb). and though it is an early wake-up to make the departure from OC, I couldn’t nap. Our first stop was maybe 20-25 miles out. The tuna were boiling but there weren’t any takers. Moving on we ran across a couple kelp paddies and managed to catch a few yellowtail. We, not being me. I was hoping this was not an omen. We wind in the lines when the bite dies and start motoring to the target zone in earnest and the deckhands drop back some jigs. We arrive at the edges of the target zone and there are boats already there, boats fishing multi day. The overcast also parted and the sun came out! We float over the first of the schools we will find, the the deckhand (Andrew), starts throwing generous amounts of chum. The fish are boiling but there aren’t any takers of the sinker rigs or the few jigs being dropped back/down to them. We did keep looking around and practiced this method until someone finally hooked a good one, Me! I call out ”Hook Up and the crew starts clearing the anglers around me to eliminate tangles and interference. I was fishing an OSP 2x4 with an vintage International 30S that was worked over by Cal Sheets filled with 100lb spectra and a short top shot of 130 mono. The leader was attached with an Albright and the ring hook attached with the ol’ San Diego knot. The sinker was tied to the hooks ring as well. The deck hand looks at my reel as the line is peeling off at a fast pace and asked me if I set the drag. I said yes so he gives a couple tugs and calls the one of his associates. They both determine the drag is fine, it is just a good sized fish. When the fish finally stops his run and I begin the back and forth the deckhand asks ”did you tie all your knots”? I smile and said “I did”. I must say all the crew including the skipper (Mat) were involved in making sure all that the interference or mistakes possible were eliminated. With the other big fish landed the crew actually took over the fight within the first minutes of the hookup. I went up and down the boat a few times and the 150 to 170 lb fish was pulled onto the deck with three gaffs. That would be my only fish of the day and my buddy was skunked. I believe the count was 5 BFT and 3 yellowtail for the trip. I split my fish with my buddy and agreed it it was a great trip. In the photo I post you can see the Coronados over my shoulder.
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Solid work with the crew too!
