2008
June 18 - 24
With just a couple of weeks to prepare and
only three months post-op from a rotator cuff
surgery, (I came off a horse while I was in
Dominica... lucky for me it was my left one
this time.), I headed back to San Diego for
a 6 day trip on the Royal Polaris.
Since this was a Full Speed Fishing Club charter
I shared my van with Fishbelly (Mike), MrCake
(Brad) and Baitfinger (John L.) Upon arrival
we all gathered at the Captain's Quarters followed
by dinner at Miguel's. Prior to crashing for
the night at the Dolphin I wandered down to
Humphrey's Half Moon Inn & Suites on Shelter
Island, where Highlandlassie (Dean) and PFD
(Ross) were ensconced in a room with a balcony
overlooking the stage of a Crosby, Stills &
Nash concert. I hung out for an hour or so and
got to hear the song Southern Cross
before I left... Very cool way to start the
trip!
The next morning 29 of us herded aboard the
vessel and got settled in. I had planned on
sharing a room with Marydc319 (Mary) however
due to the limited load, I got my favorite room
again; number 2 on the bow behind the galley.
We have an all star crew on this voyage; captain
Frank Lopreste, Roy Rose, Billy Santiago, Dharyl
Shelbourne, Jesus Companioni, Rapheal Lam, and
Jim Guyot and James Wager as our chefs.
In no time at all Alan Tani had his reel repair
gear set up at table one ready to make sure
everyone had tight smooth drags. He had a small
plastic container with several types of grease
including one that Jim from the galley thought
was peanut butter. (I thought about offering
him a cracker.) Bait was loaded and we started
running to the tuna grounds South of San Diego.
I slip over to Bloom's (John B.) cabin and tape
a poster to the bottom of the bunk above him...
I also short-sheet his bed.
Thursday, we trolled offshore and located some
tuna and I put a 25 pound bluefin
on the deck while a few others landed bluefin,
yellowfin and some albacore.
Ghetto Booty (Dan) handed Mary a nice albacore
to fight and it turned out to be a very nice
fish. I had hoped to catch some albies but I
was very happy with my one bluefin for the day
(I did have my lucky bluefin earrings on.) I
believe 24 tuna were caught by the end of the
day. Jeff will be in sushi heaven when I get
home.
Friday we hit Cedros Island near Guerrero Negro
which is about halfway down the Pacific side
of Baja California. We are within casting range
of some kelp beds so I break out a light rod
and cast a Storm sardine out. I promptly nail
4 calico bass and keeping only
one. Yellowtail are starting
to hit the deck though so I grab a 40# outfit;
Seeker 670 and a Shimano Torium 30. After pinning
a live sardine on I lightly cast it towards
a spot where I just saw a fish boil on the surface.
My bait starts to panic and is soon picked up.
After a 6 second count I engage the reel, pick
up the slack and set the hook on my first yellowtail
of the trip. It is a rod bending 36 pounds and
I battle to hold it up by the gills for a photo.
After dinner I had a look at some really neat
jigs from Japan that Noah (Roger) had brought
along. We made bait before retiring for the
night and Frank put us on the anchor at Chester
Rocks.
Saturday was spent chasing yellowtail schools
inshore and offshore. I hooked my first one
in the morning on iron off the stern and caught
two more later on bait. Back on the anchor again
I found a hot spot off the starboard bow for
trophy calico bass. Almost every cast hooked
up on a 5 pound plus fish and I had Roy cracking
up as I shouted out, "Lookout boys, I've
got a license to kill." I released all
fish below 5 pounds and Roy brought up a milk
crate for me to use as a kill box. I also released
a couple of barred sand bass.
Sunday morning found us right in front of the
salt plant on Cedros and I managed two more
yellowtail on the iron. After the morning bite
we headed for San Benitos where the two skiffs
were lowered over the side. Dan and John L.
boarded the one Jesus was skippering and Graylight
(Stuart) and Cortez 22 (Mark) went off with
Roy. MoonMadness (Gary) wrote my name down to
go out fishing with Mary and Roy. I quickly
grabbed a couple of rods and a handful of swimbaits
and iron.
We had the second skiff rotation and Roy was
hot on the yellowtail. We had a blast running
around near the Boiler Rock. Mary brought up
a nice one and we all teamed up to get it away
from a sea lion before too much damage was done.
I put a fish in and then Mary got another. My
second fish straightened the treble hook just
short of gaff range.
On our final day we tried for more offshore
tuna but none of them wanted to bite and the
sea had come up a bit making things tougher.
Naps were taken and movies were shown. I started
to break down some of my gear in preparation
for the ride back in.
As always the wonderful crew of the Royal Polaris
made this a great adventure (my fourth on this
awesome boat) and kept us well fed. The gang
from Full Speed was a riot as usual... John
L. almost covered his Italian lunch with my
Benefiber thinking it was parmesan cheese...
I have now seen Jackass the movie AND Jackass
2.5... I wonder if the mackerel I tagged with
Mike's number got processed by 5 star?
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June 14
Team Alibi II participated in the Grady White
Invitational again this year. Glenn joined Cheryl,
David and I as we tried to coax up some halibut
just south of Santa Cruz, The flatties weren't
biting but before the day was done we did release
a couple of short lingcod,
and caught sand dabs, bolinas,
gophers, olives
and a seatrout. The weather
was a bit on the cool side but the ocean was
beautiful!
____________________________________________________________
February 6
While in Dominica looking
at property, Jeff and I chartered the 37' sea
ray "Proud Mary" from Island
Style Fishing. Captain Jerry Daway has a
beautiful and well appointed boat and top of
the line tackle. His experience in the waters
of Dominica are unparalleled; over 22 years
of sportfishing, whale watching and diving.
We only fished for a
half day but at one point we had three blue
marlin on at once!
____________________________________________________________
January 13
My first chance to get out on
the water came sooner than expected, when Gary
called me up to join him and Richard on the
Panda Angler. I've always enjoyed going out
Gary's boat which is a 29' Shamrock. Unfortunately
for me I had not purchased my license for 2008
yet, but undeterred I still wanted to spend
the day with Full Speed Fishing friends.
Between Gary and Richard they
hooked and released six leopard sharks
as we tried a spot or two near Berkeley Flats
in San Francisco Bay. I did assist in a few
releases, took some photos and soaked up the
nice weather. Funny thing is... Today the guys
were after sturgeon and they steered clear of
us.
I bought my license a couple of
days later, so I'm ready to roll.
Link
to my 2007 Fishing Diary
