So the plan was to buddy boat with Martin (The looper) and Jason (invictus) from Bloodydecks.
Unfortunately, Martin had to back out so it was just Jason's boat and mine for the day's trip.
On my ride I had my buddies Jeff and Ray (my yaking buddy from Camp Pendleton).
After a very early departure from OC, we were on the water by 5 AM out of DanaLanding in San Diego. There was only one boat ahead of us in line at the bait receiver so we were able to get a mixed scoop of dines and chovies and on our way pretty quick. The scoop was pretty generous, but unfortunately the quality of the bait just SUCKED! We probably only ended up using 1/4 of the scoop while the rest just died on us. Really bad bait.
The previous day's reports had the fish at the 425, 302 and around the 371 so we had about a 35-40 mile run ahead of us. I had the inside scoop on an area only about 24 miles out that was producing 'suicidal dorado' so I plugged in the coordinates for that area to look for the patties holding fish.
Escorting us on the way out was a huge pod of porpoises. We tried trolling in front of them in hopes of a YFT or other tuna species but it didn't happen...well...not on THIS attempt anyway.
First patty we pulled up on was LOADED with dodos, but unfortunately we couldn't get them to bite. We tried every trick and even a few recommended by Martin, but no dice.
It would a couple of patties before Ray would break the skunk for the boat.
Check out these conditions!
I forgot to get a shot of the fish with my camera :
I'll have to get the pic from Ray. Anyway, that was Ray's first dodo ever and the first dodo ever caught from my ride! Cross two firsts off at once! Sweet.
We kept pressing on, bouncing from patty to patty looking for more hungry fish. At certain points, the patties were plentiful, with 3-5 within several hundred yards of one another.
A HUGE pod of porpoises appeared so we trolled in front of them. Didn't take long before HOOOOOOOK - UP!!!!
Jeff took trolling honors and grabbed the stick with the line peeling off the spool!
We knew it was a nicer grade of fish, as it would just rip the 80 lb test with the drag buttoned down, but after some quick coaching, Jeff slowly brought the fish to color. Not after some anxious moments where we thought we lost the fish though. Here's a video clip.
It got hung up on the outboard for a second, but I managed to clear the line and Ray was at the ready with the gaff. Swing...stick...it was in the boat!
Just in time too as the hook would end up snapping in half just as the fish hit the deck.
And the prize! Jeff's first ever tuna. Cross another First off the list.
We continued to work the area for a fish here, a fish there. Never really wide open.
I did manage to pick off my first ever dodo from my ride. That was one of my goals for the trip so I was pretty stoked.
Same fish
While we'd find plenty of dodos on the patties, other species were hard to come by. I did manage a couple of yellows, including this monster.
Ok...so he was more aquarium grade...
...but the cool thing was I saw him come up and take my dine, beating a out a few dodos that were also eyeing it.
So we continued to look for patties, spotting one here and there. The conditions made it very easy to spot vegetation as it remained over cast for most of the AM and the water was glass.
Around 8:15, Ray called out a kelp that I swear was probably over 1/2 a mile away. It wasn't big but it had plenty of dodos and unlike the other ones, these were HUNGRY and fighting each other for bait. In fact, Jeff got bit while I was still positioning the boat. Here we had a couple of triple hooks ups and quickly finished our Mexican limits of dodos while C&Ring a few more for fun.
Ray going bendo...again
Deep color...
Jeff's first ever dodo and my 2nd of the day.
My fish putting on an aerial display after the hook set.
How they look when they're all lit up.
Ray with another pretty dodo.
Jeff and Ray with a matching set.
Funny story on that pic. Ray and Jeff pretty much gaffed their fish at the same time. While getting them in position to that his picture, Jeff's fish flops off the gaff and lands right in the bait tank. It thrashed about, kicking water everywhere, soaking all of us. Ray tried to gaff it out, Jeff tried to grab it with his hands. I grabbed the line that was still tied to the hook in the fish's mouth and pulled it out -- but not after we all got soaked and the fish took out about 1/2 the remaining sardines! We laughed our asses off.
After loading up the dodos from that patty we continued to look for patties while trolling for tuna. The tuna action was SLOW for us, but according to the radio chatter, was wide open for some. Due to our lack of bait (most rolled way before noon) we were kind of forced to troll and sparingly toss bait at patties.
Jeff did hook into a rod bender after a long soaking a dine. He was just about to wind it in when it gets slammed.
It ripped drag through the kelp patty then went to the straight up and down fight.
...a couple of times....pinning Jeff to the rail.
Ray was confident we'd get it.
By now...10 minutes had gone by and we had the fish at deep color. It was easily a 25+ lb class yellow. They were a few pumps away to getting it gaffed when the hook pulled. Dang.... That would have been Jeff's first ever yellow too.
Not to be outdone, later I would hook into a drag burner that had the distinctive "thump, thump..." kick to its fight. I only had it on for about a minute but it pulled drag before breaking off the line. Turns out I had some line abrasion from a previous encounter with a patty and that proved to be my undoing.
The afternoon ended up being a bit slow, but then again the lack of bait didn't help the situation. We literally used every last piece of live bait we had before heading in. By now the conditions were much choppier and the winds were making for a bumpy ride.
Here's our escort showing us the way. You can see how the conditions had changed.
Anyhow, our totals:
10-12 dodos. Biggest turned out to be around a 7 lb bull. (1 mexican limit of 6 for the 3 of us kept)
2 yellowtail. Both runts. (1 kept for sashimi)
1 yft between 19-19.5 lbs. (Definitely kept!
)
I talked to Jason later on and it turns out he, stayed local and fished close to the 182 (American waters!) for a dozen dodos to about 8 lbs! In fact he was off the water at 1 PM. Looks like they're moving up the line folks!
Epic trip!!!!! Looks like a freakin' blast...WTG!!!!
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