Tag Archives: yellowtail

Fish Reports

Triton for Yellowtail 08/17/2015

August 18, 2015 Pam Sharp

The Earlybird! My two yellowtail first thing in the morning

Deckhand Mikie and a passenger's yellowtal — Deckhand Mikie and a passenger’s yellowtal

I was looking for a weekend trip and totally struck out. Everything was booked. I did find that the Triton was running some open party trips mid-week. I was itching to get out while they’re biting, and secured Monday off, then booked a spot for that day.

Sunday was sweltering in my house, so I decided to forego the cookies I usually baked for the crew of this boat. First question from Mikie and Captain Bryan when we boarded at o’dark-thirty… Sorry guys…

So we had Captain Bryan Holton at the wheel, Mikie and Jack on deck, Jeff cooking, and 27 optimistic anglers rigging up. We hit the bait barge for some nice sardines, waited for the boat to finish a set to get some anchovies, and off to the Horseshoe area to look of those yellowtail that had been biting.

Two anchor sets produced nothing, but it was barely light out. I had a breakfast burrito and tossed a sardine out at our third anchor stop (on the 105). Charlie was standing next to me and hooked up first. He’d been dragged almost to the bow when I hooked up too. I felt some drag on the line… darn thing had found the one small patch of kelp we were near. Jeff was on deck out of the galley and strummed a short session of “Guitar Hero” on my line and coaxed the fish out of the kelp and I was off and chasing it toward the bow. In the meantime, Charlie had lost his fish. Jeff gaffed my yellowtail just under the wheelhouse. Capt. Bryan leaned out the window… “Lady Luck is on the boards!”

Tagged and bled and in the trash can… I threw out another sardine and waited. Several more hook ups put two more fish on the boat, with a couple more lost. I got bit again, another trip to the bow, another fish on the boat. I had two fish tagged by 7:15.

It was a slow and steady pick. We’d hang 3-4 in waves, land a couple. Charlie got bit again and landed a nice yellowtail.

By 9:30 the bite was pretty much wrapping up. I landed my fifth, putting the total for the boat at 18. Capt. Bryan was on deck when I walked by with that last one, and asked if I’d had enough yet. “Yeah, let’s go fish for sandbass!” He just shook his head…. 20 minutes later I pulled up a fat sandbass! By 10:00 the yellowtail bite was completely over, and we had a total of 20 yellowtail.

We made a couple of moves, and anchored on the middle grounds just around 11:00. We’d been sitting just a few minutes and the barracuda started biting. They went pretty wide open. With jigs flying I opted to stay in the galley and order lunch. As good as the burgers smelled, when Jeff said he could whip up some bacon fried rice I went for that, and a cold beer!

The sardines were about gone. Capt. Bryan stopped a couple more spots and the crew threw the small anchovies. I tried a few surface irons, tossed a mega-bait. No one was catching much of anything. At 2:30 we ran over to hand some anchovy off to the Southern Cal, then the crew pulled the fish up and started filleting. We got back to the dock a little after 4:00.

In the end, the key for the catch today was a long soak and a lively bait. The sea lions were a problem all day, racing around grabbing hooked baits and chasing the chovy thrown for chum. (Fortunately they seemed to have no interest in our hooked fish!) Most of my fish bit a long ways from the boat, and we had light current, so a long cast past the sea lions and a strong bait that would swim a long ways from the boat were key.

Thanks again to the Captain and crew of the Triton! Nice day with beautiful weather.

Fish Reports

Gail Force Catalina Birthday Trip June 14, 2015

June 17, 2015 Pam Sharp

My third annual birthday trip on the Gail Force last Sunday!

Loaded up with mostly friends of mine (few spots had to go open party). We stopped at the bait dock for a load of smaller sardines, plus a load of larger sardines with some huge mackerel mixed it. It looked like we had some awesome ammunition to get them good at Catalina.

Saturday they had been out with a charter group… 40-some close friends! (Yikes! The boat is coast guard approved for that, but that’s going to be pretty crowded!) Captain Joel put them on a great bite of yellows and they put about 50 of them on the boat, so we were all stoked and excited.

Jeff Dalton's jackpot yellowtail — Jeff Dalton’s jackpot yellowtail

I rigged up and caught some zzz’s on the way to the island. Nice ride in calm seas with a little overcast. We set up on a spot and the bass started biting within minutes. The smaller sardines were the perfect bait for them!

The bad news was most of those bigger sardines rolled on the way to the island.

Jeff Dalton got a really nice yellowtail fairly early, finding one of the larger sardines that made the ride over. I threw a mackerel at them that generated no interest, no one else got anything in the water that would entice them at that time either…

We made a bunch of moves… Lots more bass, most of them released, and a few smaller yellowtail pretty much rounded out the day.

Mike made me a huge birthday double burger that was very messy and very good!! There were also Jim Racela’s flaming Spam balls, and some chocolate chip cookies (I gave Danny my secret recipe and he did a great job on them!! ).

Always a good time on the Gail Force! This is a great boat to charter for a small group, their regular load is 20 people but if you like a crowd you can put more on there…

Fish Reports

Dominator 2-Day Offshore June 6 & 7, 2015

June 9, 2015 Pam Sharp

Danny Lynch’s longtime friend Wayne Carr is running trips on the Dominator, so we decided to go on a two-day weekend trip that was on the schedule. Rich Whitaker offered to sponsor a raffle for us, so we had a few jigs to give away to help in promoting the trip.

We ended up with a load of only 14, an awesome number on a boat that size! We got on with our gear and picked out bunks… all of them are pretty much double bunk size, so plenty of room to stretch out and put your stuff away!

Our crew, led by Captain Wayne Carr, included second Captain Kerim Hussainy, JJ in the galley, and Alex and Jake on deck. They loaded up with some awesome looking sardines and a tank of anchovies for chum. We were plugged and ready to do battle! The game plan was to fish offshore Mexican waters for yellowfin and yellowtail, and then hit some areas in US waters for Bluefin.

The weather was up a little, but not unfishable. We started trolling early Saturday morning in light winds and a bit of white cap. It was not the calm weather that had been forecasted. Kelps were few and far between, and the chop certainly made them more challenging to spot. One of the first ones in the morning yielded a few small yellowtail. Another one a single decent sized yellowtail and a few smaller ones.

Then the kelps became more and more scarce. Tuna fishing became, well…. Like tuna fishing. Long troll rotations, naps… breakfast and lunch passed into afternoon for a stop on a meter mark and one more nice yellowtail. And more trolling….

Dinner was cooking and releasing an awesome smell…. Lasagna…! I was up in the wheel house with Danny and Wayne. Danny was just saying this was about the time when Wayne usually pulled a rabbit out of the hat… when the sonar made an odd noise. Red spots on the sonar screen, and Wayne yelling on the PA to throw bait was enough to send me out of the wheelhouse and down the ladder to grab a rod. Everyone was grabbing for bait, hooking, and tossing them behind the boat. Three hook ups, one broke off quickly. Danny was overheard saying he was under geared, and line peeled off.

Angler — An angler fighting one of two yellowfin landed on the trip

Danny Lynch pulling on the biggest yellowfin of the trip.

One fish hit the deck after 10 minutes or so, 25 pounds or so. But Danny’s on 30 pound line was taking a bit longer. For a while, it seemed like it could have been stuck to the bottom, and line put on the reel was quickly taken back. The sharing sort that he is, he handed it off to me to take a breather, and when he was ready took it back… twice. Checking timestamps on the photos, the battle went on for nearly 30 minutes, but Danny landed his yellowfin, running 45 or so. (Still in Mexico, we were all relieved to see these fish were not Bluefin.)

Lasagna dinner was

awesome, then off to bed.

Morning came, with long trolls. No kelps to speak of and the water was a dirty green. Flocks of birds and schools of mammals produced nothing…. chicken fajitas for lunch was our mid-day excitement. A meter mark produced a single yellowtail.

Dinner was served late afternoon, chicken parmesan with garlic bread. After a long day, we returned to the dock with the two nice yellowfin, two decent sized yellowtail with a handful of small ones, and some more released.

Lots of fun anyway. 6 people walked away with a Bait Wraps jig.

Big thanks to a professional crew who were there to help with every fish hooked, big or small. I can’t wait to get out and fish with Captain Wayne again, and hopefully the fish will be a little more cooperative next time too!

Fish Reports

Triton overnight to Catalina for Quality Yellowtail! 5/24/15

May 25, 2015 Pam Sharp Leave a comment

I had no plans for Memorial Day weekend, and when the rain was dropped from the forecast, I started looking for a good ride sometime over the weekend.

I saw the Triton was doing overnight trips, and grabbed one of the last spots on a trip fishing Sunday.

We left the dock a little late due to one late passenger. We tried unsuccessfully to squeeze him for a round of beers for everyone on board, and we were off to the bait dock. The sardines were lively… and HUGE!! Loaded up, we headed out.

Captain Ryan introduced himself and the rest of the crew, second Captain Bryan, Shane and Chuck on deck, and Jeff in the galley. I rigged according to the captain’s recommendation, 4/0 hooks for flylining, and sacked out in my double sized bunk!

We got to the island a little after one, and the crew set out lights to try for squid. They ended up with a few pieces, nothing huge. I’d heard the yellowtail weren’t really eating the squid, they were focused on fin bait. I knew the bass would love them though…

Up at gray light, Captain Ryan made a move and set us up on anchor. The yellowtail started biting almost immediately. We had a steady pick at them for about an hour and a half. Not sure if it was the time of day, or a skiff running over our chum line that shut them down, but by 7:30 it was pretty much over at that spot.

I had a breakfast plate while we made a move. A couple of slow spots later, we anchored up on a boiler rock and started a good pick at the calico bass. Most of them were short, but we did pull up a few that were legal. Most of those were returned. The one legal that I got was when I switched from fishing the squid to one of the big sardines, and flylined it way past the rock behind the boat.

The wind came up in the afternoon, making the boat swing wildly and fishing difficult. A couple of spots produced one more yellowtail each. We picked up a few sheephead and other bottom grabbers on spots set up to fish bass.

We ended up with 16 yellowtail for the 20 passengers. Most of those were good quality fish, in the 15 to 20 pound range. Jackpot was just over 20.

Great way to spend a day!!

Red crabs — Still no shortage of red crabs around

Fish Reports

Commander 1.5 day San Clemente Yellowtail (April 18) BAIT WRAPS Sponsored

April 21, 2015 Pam Sharp Leave a comment

Sheephead bit the plastic for Danny Lynch

When weather conditions and other factors forced the cancellation of a 2.5 day Bait Wraps sponsored trip scheduled on the Eclipse, Captain Mark Gillette was kind enough to move our trip to a 1.5 day trip already scheduled on the Commander, out of Long Beach sportfishing. Fortunately we were able to fill that trip.

Danny and I got to the landing early and had calamari, while the boat ran out to get fuel and bait.

Captain Steve Kugler welcomed everyone on board, went over safety features of the boat, our game plan, and tackle set up recommendations. We’d be headed for San Clemente Island in search of yellowtail and calico bass. After that Danny and I drew sack numbers and gave each of the passengers a Bait Wraps jig. As a bonus, if the jackpot fish was caught on a Bait Wraps jig, they would get to order another $100 worth of jigs directly from Rich Whitaker.

Ed served trays of sliced meat and cheese with crackers as we headed out. It was a little rough heading out, but conditions were nice around the island.

We anchored in the cove, with most of the rest of the fleet around us, I think. Ed was serving breakfast already when I got up, huevos rancheros! It was really good! And right about the time I’d finished scarfing it down, the fish started biting.

Unfortunately for our jigs, today the yellowtail were in the mood for live sardines, and couldn’t be enticed into biting iron. I stuck with my jig for a while, but with fish hitting the deck around me all hooked on sardines, I gave up and switched to live bait.

We had a steady pick at them for a couple of hours, that slowly dwindled. Boats around us gave up and left. We stuck it out for a few more fish, and made an hour long run to the 9.

We picked away at them there, too. Several drifts produced some nice quality calico bass, most of them released.

Ed made us some great burgers for lunch, with pepper cheese, bacon, peanut butter and jelly, with French fries.

Later in the day Captain Steve moved next to island to find a calm place to stop for dinner. Metering alongside the island, though, he found no signs of fish to stop on. He finally settled on a spot to anchor for dinner… Ed made a wonderful dish, of barbeque chicken over rice, with grilled red pepper and green beans, salad, and a chilled corn and black bean salsa. The dessert was absolutely amazing! Cheesecake over a grilled piece of cinnamon bread, drizzled with caramel and balsamic vinegar!

I hear the ride in was rough… I just zonked out and slept the whole way in.

All around it was a great trip! We ended up with 50-something on the yellowtail, the jackpot yellowtail went just ounces under 30 pounds, on bait, so no winner on the extra jigs. The average yellowtail was probably something around 15 pounds. And a few rock fish and some monster sized sheephead in the mix as well.

Fish Reports

Tribute 1.5 day Tanner Yellowtail (March27-29) Blame it on the BAIT WRAPS!

March 30, 2015 Pam Sharp Leave a comment

I fished with Mike Pritchard on the old International Star about 7 years ago and have been dying to get out on the Tribute since he got that up and running. Unfortunately with this trip falling during the Del Mar Fred Hall show, Captain Mike wasn’t with us, but we were in good hands…!

Another long run to San Diego in heavy traffic, Danny and I got to the landing and found several friends on other boats. A number of the Seaforth boats were on their way out, with various destinations.

The Tribute was slated to run offshore. We checked in at the landing office, where we got both our sack number and bunk assignment. It’s always nice to get that out of the way, it creates less panic when boarding all the passengers if there’s not that mad rush for a bunk. We boarded and settled in. There were chili cheese dogs offered as we were leaving.

Captain Jake Hensley called everyone to the back deck for a safety meeting before we left, and introduce the rest of the crew. Our second Captain Jason Zenor, crew Brandon Sawyer, Sean Allen, and Shane Chapman, and we had Jesse Sawyer in the galley.

The trip was slated to return to Cortez bank, where they had been scoring well on the yellowtail, and picking off a few Bluefin as well. Wind late in the week put a damper on that, water was turned, cold, and green on the Cortez, we’d be heading for Tanner bank in the morning, and making an exploration of the Butterfly bank in the afternoon. Shane gave us a brief rundown of the best setups for the yellowtail at Tanner, primarily caught on yoyo irons, and Bluefin; most had been hooked on 15 pound fluorocarbon, smaller hooks, #1 or 1/0, and a very lively sardine.

They had already made the trip to the bait dock, so we were off and running early (but subsequently delayed with a return to the dock… someone forgot their California fishing license…)

Danny and split a chili dog, and I geared up and turned in.

When I got up at o’dark thirty we had troll lines out. As it got light we did a few turns over Tanner metering for fish, pulled in the troll lines, and started hooking a few on our first drift. I put my first yellowtail on the boat right at 7:00 AM, with four other fish on that first long drift.

More drifts, tough fishing in less than ideal weather conditions. There were lots of pulled hooks, a lot could probably be blamed on swell and a rolling boat.

We spent the morning at the bank, as promised. Resetting a number of times, and hanging a few all morning, we ended up there with 27 yellowtail, 5 bonito, and 80-some rock fish. Fishing my same Bait Wrap white squid jig all day, I went 5 for 6 on the yellows, with one lost at gaff due to angler error, and one big bonito.

We spent the afternoon offshore. Saw a few signs of tuna, turned on a couple of meter marks. Bluefin were doing a good job of being Bluefin, and running, scattering, or sinking out as we approached.

The food was great, what I had of it. My daughter had the flu all week and I was feeling less than fabulous. Dinner was pork roast, mashed potatoes, fresh broccoli with cheese and a nice salad, with chocolate cake for dessert… I was feeling better by that time and inhaled it… It was Wonderful!!

All around a very good trip considering the poor weather. The afternoon was decent, the wind came down and it ended up being a decent ride, but the damage was done and spotting fish in white cap conditions was tough. The crew was on top of us when we had a fish hooked to minimize tangles and give us the best chance of landing the fish that were hooked.

Ironically, JP was taken by one of the big bonito…. Deservingly to a guy that had a run of bad luck, with two reels that failed on him!

I’d been on the boat before it became the Tribute, a lot of work has been put into it. Galley seats are comfortable, new cushions in the bunkroom, and the bathrooms nicely redone, and it looks great!

Pam Sharp Fishing

Tag Archives: yellowtail

Triton for Yellowtail 08/17/2015

Gail Force Catalina Birthday Trip June 14, 2015

Dominator 2-Day Offshore June 6 & 7, 2015

Triton overnight to Catalina for Quality Yellowtail! 5/24/15

Commander 1.5 day San Clemente Yellowtail (April 18) BAIT WRAPS Sponsored

Tribute 1.5 day Tanner Yellowtail (March27-29) Blame it on the BAIT WRAPS!

Hook, Line & Sinker