On a duck hunting forum I visit, I ran into a couple California transplants that had recently moved to Texas for work. Knowing they were duck hunters, I figured they couldnt be too bad, and I invited them out to shoot their first wood ducks last season.
At some point in the blind chatter we got on the subject of blue water fishing. They charter one of the long range San Diego boats for a 4 day trip, twice a year. I had always wanted to try tuna out of San Diego. One of the regular crew didnt watch the calendar during his family planning and left an open spot on the boat. I jumped on the invitation to fill that spot.
This isnt the best report breakdown because to be honest, 4 days of eat, fish, drink, fish, sleep, fish can turn into one long blur. But I did get a bunch of pics to help keep it all organized.
The arsenal. My friends drove out so thankfully I was able to send all my gear with them. Seems like I spent a month revamping everything, Some new models, some old. All new braid, knots, leaders, etc. My wife was ready to kill me by the time I was done.
After picking me up from the airport, we had to go check out Fishermans Landing. Just one more jig never hurt.
The guys there do a really good job of taking stock jigs and making them "bluefin ready". New rings, hooks, heavy cord, and they like to use a 200lb bite leader.
From there to Point Loma for a fishing license and Mitch's seafood for some yellowtail and calamari tacos.
Then to the boat in the marina where we would spend our land based nights.
The next morning, we were back to Point Loma Sportfishing to wait on The Vagabond. She would be returning from a trip, swapping over the essentials and heading back out to do it again. The whole process is an extremely well oiled machine. It didnt take long for them to start unloading the loot.
There would be 20 fishermen on the trip. SOME of the gear. I couldnt help but think that if the boat went down, the true loss would not be measured in human life but in shiny reels.
Once we loaded the boat and got underway, we were greeted by some American badassness.
We lost our escort in order to stop for bait. Crazy operation with big barges set up to hold bait directly in the bay.
After loading bait, it was time to put some miles behind us. Even though we all had our passports, in talking to the crew, the fish were actually to the north, about 60 miles west of L.A.
If we had planned things better, might coulda made it by the F'ing Catalina Wine Mixer!!!
We got to the tuna grounds just before dark. The main method of fishing at night is deep jigging with heavy jigs. 300-500ft with 300-500 gram jigs. Its a lot of dam work but well worth the effort. Most of the big fish come on this method. Usually in the 80-200lb range. The captain uses the sonar on the boat to locate schools. The electronics can see fish up to 600ft out, 360 degrees around. You mark your line in intervals down to about 500ft and the captain will call out the depth to the fish. Typically, he who gets his jig into the strike zone first, gets bitten.
One of the deckhands is the first to hook up. Being the only bluefin virgin on the boat, the rod gets shoved to me. The little bit of pride I had in wanting to hook my own fish quickly went away.
These fish fight drastically different than a yellowfin. Theyre much more chaotic. No low gear on the reel until the end of the fight because theyll change direction on a dime and leave you trying to quickly recover slack line in low gear. This also makes a harness a liability. You have to be able to dodge the punches by reacting quickly to whatever they throw next. But thankfully, they dont tend to sound deep and settle into the dreaded yellowfin death spiral. They do still throw their weight and profile around by planeing across sideways to the boat. It wasnt uncommon for people to make 6, 7, 8 trips around the boat with the fish sideways 30-40 yards out and on or near the surface.
So, I'm on the first fish and really pouring the coal to it. Get it to the boat in no more than about 10 minutes and a deckhand sticks it kinda far back. They request that you freespool your reel when a fish is gaffed. Then half way up the gunnel, the green fish comes off the gaff, hits the water, the reel birdnest, I try my best to stop it but end up with my pointer finger in the 100lb mono with about a 120lb pissed off tuna headed towards the bottom. SNAP! Fish gone and a bloody throbbing finger 10 minutes into a 4 day trip! At that point, disappointed but kinda glad I hadn't been the one to hook the fish.
I take a few minutes to bandage up my finger and get back in the game for the long night. I ended up finishing the first night one of only two people to land two more fish. Was pretty proud being the newbie on the boat. One around 50lbs and some redemption with another that weighed in at 94lbs.
The next morning I wake up just in time for last call for breakfast. The food on the boat is awesome. Lots of "man food". Three full meals a day and two snacks that could count as meals.
Day time is "flyline" (we know it as freelining) and "sinker rigs" (basically a torpedo weight rubber banded 5-6ft above your hook). Again, the captain just idles around going to the best looking school.
It was absolutely mind blowing the numbers of schools of fish we saw. For 4 straight days and nights, I dont think we ever went more than 400-500 yards without hitting a school of tuna. The boat was fishing the entire time. Absolutely nothing in the GOM that can compare to it. But, they were finicky. On average, we would maybe get one hook up per school before they would disappear again. The deckhands stand on top of the bait tanks and chum with live bait while also keeping the hand wells supplied with bait for the anglers.
We picked away at the schools all day the first full day. Lots of caught fish and lots of heartaches. A number of one to two hour fights. Typically 90-100lb fish being hooked on 40lb gear.
I added three more fish in the 50lb range to the box by the end of the first day of fishing. I had five and the trip limit is six per person. With a whole lot of fishing left to go, I decided to sleep the second night.
Followed by a bit of lazy fishing the next day.
I did fish but managed to put nothing in the boat that day. Wasnt paying attention on one bite and moved the drag forward too fast and broke off at the hook. Then after watching others catching small fish, I decided to try a new Accurate slow pitch jigging 500N with 300 yards of 50lb braid. I knew better but had to try it out. Not five minutes later, a school of big fish comes through. And that made the 2nd time in my life where I've been fully spooled on a loaded reel with proper set drag. Fish hits and heads straight for the sunset. With the drag moved to max, I gently start to thumb the spool with maybe 20 yards left and the fish actually stops. But it did something I had never experienced. Fully stopped, you could feel the tail beat continue to thump forwards. After about 3-4 seconds of that, the braid parted where my PR knot attached to the mono. The other fish that hit the deck from that school were in the 120 range. Just too much for the little reel.
Not wanting to miss my last chance at a big fish on the last night of fishing, I hit the bunk about 7pm with my alarm set at 2am. Up and on the deck at 2am, I see someone doing battle with a good fish but only 4 people up fishing. The boat had caught 6 fish since it got dark. And all but one had come from the same rod and jig. A 2-hour fight to put that fish on deck and the rod gets passed to someone else.
First drop back down and it's bit again but with a different angler. 1 hour fight and fish landed.
Rod gets passed to the next guy and same thing again. 1 hour fight. Fish caught. All of this while no other jigs are getting touched.
Im the last person standing that hasnt hooked up so I take my turn on the lucky rod and drop down to about 400ft and just wait. We figured out that if you got to the zone before the schools came through, it worked much better than trying to drop to them. 300-400ft was the usual depth of the schools but this time the captain calls out 550-600ft. Knowing the sun is starting to break and my time for a big fish is extremely limited, I look at my buddy and say "F-it" and drop the additional 200ft down. Bam, hooked up but doesnt feel that big. Within a few minutes Ive got the 300ft mark back on the spool and the fish is 100 yards out flat. Then it comes alive and burns about 100 yards at 25lbs of drag straight back down. Fork! Right back where I started. It takes another 30 minutes to get him back up and close to the boat. Then the fish gets crazy near the boat and spends about 15 minutes running under the boat from every angle. The deckhands cleared the 130lb braid off the running gear of the hull at least 3-4 different times. I had pretty much written the fish off but the line held and we finally got a gaff in it.
Tuna 'stache
The crew does an excellent job of handling the fish. Brain spike, followed by immediate gut and gill.
Down into the fish chiller.
Continuous spray of saltwater brine from multiple angles.
The magic lure.
And I think the secret to its success....custom tuned bent tail.
We still had a full days fishing left to do but I mostly just hung out on the top deck, helped spot schools, and watched the flying fish dance across the waves.
At sunset, everyone settled into their bunks and we slow boated back to the harbor.
Again, crazy well oiled machine. everything off the boat, fish weighed, and to the processor in minutes.
Six fish stringer. 53, 54, 56, 58, 94, and 168 lbs for a total of 483lbs.
The fish processors, like everything on this trip, were very efficient. Not two hours after the boat hit the dock, they were calling with it ready to be picked up.
My sushi is never pretty enough for pictures, but we did gorge on nigiri for a few days. Followed by some amazing smoked tuna belly.
For anyone looking for a really good chance at catching a 100-200lb tuna, I highly recommend one of these 3-4 day trips. These fish have only been around for 5-6 years and who knows when they'll leave again. There's nothing in Venice or anywhere else in the GOM that can come close to it. The boats are really nice. Bunks are nice. Food great. The deckhands are professionals. But you do need to be a little salty. The first night was pretty nasty even on a boat that size. And even with the amenities, you're still stuck on a boat with 20-25 guys for multiple days.
At some point in the blind chatter we got on the subject of blue water fishing. They charter one of the long range San Diego boats for a 4 day trip, twice a year. I had always wanted to try tuna out of San Diego. One of the regular crew didnt watch the calendar during his family planning and left an open spot on the boat. I jumped on the invitation to fill that spot.
This isnt the best report breakdown because to be honest, 4 days of eat, fish, drink, fish, sleep, fish can turn into one long blur. But I did get a bunch of pics to help keep it all organized.
The arsenal. My friends drove out so thankfully I was able to send all my gear with them. Seems like I spent a month revamping everything, Some new models, some old. All new braid, knots, leaders, etc. My wife was ready to kill me by the time I was done.
After picking me up from the airport, we had to go check out Fishermans Landing. Just one more jig never hurt.
The guys there do a really good job of taking stock jigs and making them "bluefin ready". New rings, hooks, heavy cord, and they like to use a 200lb bite leader.
From there to Point Loma for a fishing license and Mitch's seafood for some yellowtail and calamari tacos.
Then to the boat in the marina where we would spend our land based nights.
The next morning, we were back to Point Loma Sportfishing to wait on The Vagabond. She would be returning from a trip, swapping over the essentials and heading back out to do it again. The whole process is an extremely well oiled machine. It didnt take long for them to start unloading the loot.
There would be 20 fishermen on the trip. SOME of the gear. I couldnt help but think that if the boat went down, the true loss would not be measured in human life but in shiny reels.
Once we loaded the boat and got underway, we were greeted by some American badassness.
We lost our escort in order to stop for bait. Crazy operation with big barges set up to hold bait directly in the bay.
After loading bait, it was time to put some miles behind us. Even though we all had our passports, in talking to the crew, the fish were actually to the north, about 60 miles west of L.A.
If we had planned things better, might coulda made it by the F'ing Catalina Wine Mixer!!!
We got to the tuna grounds just before dark. The main method of fishing at night is deep jigging with heavy jigs. 300-500ft with 300-500 gram jigs. Its a lot of dam work but well worth the effort. Most of the big fish come on this method. Usually in the 80-200lb range. The captain uses the sonar on the boat to locate schools. The electronics can see fish up to 600ft out, 360 degrees around. You mark your line in intervals down to about 500ft and the captain will call out the depth to the fish. Typically, he who gets his jig into the strike zone first, gets bitten.
One of the deckhands is the first to hook up. Being the only bluefin virgin on the boat, the rod gets shoved to me. The little bit of pride I had in wanting to hook my own fish quickly went away.
These fish fight drastically different than a yellowfin. Theyre much more chaotic. No low gear on the reel until the end of the fight because theyll change direction on a dime and leave you trying to quickly recover slack line in low gear. This also makes a harness a liability. You have to be able to dodge the punches by reacting quickly to whatever they throw next. But thankfully, they dont tend to sound deep and settle into the dreaded yellowfin death spiral. They do still throw their weight and profile around by planeing across sideways to the boat. It wasnt uncommon for people to make 6, 7, 8 trips around the boat with the fish sideways 30-40 yards out and on or near the surface.
So, I'm on the first fish and really pouring the coal to it. Get it to the boat in no more than about 10 minutes and a deckhand sticks it kinda far back. They request that you freespool your reel when a fish is gaffed. Then half way up the gunnel, the green fish comes off the gaff, hits the water, the reel birdnest, I try my best to stop it but end up with my pointer finger in the 100lb mono with about a 120lb pissed off tuna headed towards the bottom. SNAP! Fish gone and a bloody throbbing finger 10 minutes into a 4 day trip! At that point, disappointed but kinda glad I hadn't been the one to hook the fish.
I take a few minutes to bandage up my finger and get back in the game for the long night. I ended up finishing the first night one of only two people to land two more fish. Was pretty proud being the newbie on the boat. One around 50lbs and some redemption with another that weighed in at 94lbs.
The next morning I wake up just in time for last call for breakfast. The food on the boat is awesome. Lots of "man food". Three full meals a day and two snacks that could count as meals.
Day time is "flyline" (we know it as freelining) and "sinker rigs" (basically a torpedo weight rubber banded 5-6ft above your hook). Again, the captain just idles around going to the best looking school.
It was absolutely mind blowing the numbers of schools of fish we saw. For 4 straight days and nights, I dont think we ever went more than 400-500 yards without hitting a school of tuna. The boat was fishing the entire time. Absolutely nothing in the GOM that can compare to it. But, they were finicky. On average, we would maybe get one hook up per school before they would disappear again. The deckhands stand on top of the bait tanks and chum with live bait while also keeping the hand wells supplied with bait for the anglers.
We picked away at the schools all day the first full day. Lots of caught fish and lots of heartaches. A number of one to two hour fights. Typically 90-100lb fish being hooked on 40lb gear.
I added three more fish in the 50lb range to the box by the end of the first day of fishing. I had five and the trip limit is six per person. With a whole lot of fishing left to go, I decided to sleep the second night.
Followed by a bit of lazy fishing the next day.
I did fish but managed to put nothing in the boat that day. Wasnt paying attention on one bite and moved the drag forward too fast and broke off at the hook. Then after watching others catching small fish, I decided to try a new Accurate slow pitch jigging 500N with 300 yards of 50lb braid. I knew better but had to try it out. Not five minutes later, a school of big fish comes through. And that made the 2nd time in my life where I've been fully spooled on a loaded reel with proper set drag. Fish hits and heads straight for the sunset. With the drag moved to max, I gently start to thumb the spool with maybe 20 yards left and the fish actually stops. But it did something I had never experienced. Fully stopped, you could feel the tail beat continue to thump forwards. After about 3-4 seconds of that, the braid parted where my PR knot attached to the mono. The other fish that hit the deck from that school were in the 120 range. Just too much for the little reel.
Not wanting to miss my last chance at a big fish on the last night of fishing, I hit the bunk about 7pm with my alarm set at 2am. Up and on the deck at 2am, I see someone doing battle with a good fish but only 4 people up fishing. The boat had caught 6 fish since it got dark. And all but one had come from the same rod and jig. A 2-hour fight to put that fish on deck and the rod gets passed to someone else.
First drop back down and it's bit again but with a different angler. 1 hour fight and fish landed.
Rod gets passed to the next guy and same thing again. 1 hour fight. Fish caught. All of this while no other jigs are getting touched.
Im the last person standing that hasnt hooked up so I take my turn on the lucky rod and drop down to about 400ft and just wait. We figured out that if you got to the zone before the schools came through, it worked much better than trying to drop to them. 300-400ft was the usual depth of the schools but this time the captain calls out 550-600ft. Knowing the sun is starting to break and my time for a big fish is extremely limited, I look at my buddy and say "F-it" and drop the additional 200ft down. Bam, hooked up but doesnt feel that big. Within a few minutes Ive got the 300ft mark back on the spool and the fish is 100 yards out flat. Then it comes alive and burns about 100 yards at 25lbs of drag straight back down. Fork! Right back where I started. It takes another 30 minutes to get him back up and close to the boat. Then the fish gets crazy near the boat and spends about 15 minutes running under the boat from every angle. The deckhands cleared the 130lb braid off the running gear of the hull at least 3-4 different times. I had pretty much written the fish off but the line held and we finally got a gaff in it.
Tuna 'stache
The crew does an excellent job of handling the fish. Brain spike, followed by immediate gut and gill.
Down into the fish chiller.
Continuous spray of saltwater brine from multiple angles.
The magic lure.
And I think the secret to its success....custom tuned bent tail.
We still had a full days fishing left to do but I mostly just hung out on the top deck, helped spot schools, and watched the flying fish dance across the waves.
At sunset, everyone settled into their bunks and we slow boated back to the harbor.
Again, crazy well oiled machine. everything off the boat, fish weighed, and to the processor in minutes.
Six fish stringer. 53, 54, 56, 58, 94, and 168 lbs for a total of 483lbs.
The fish processors, like everything on this trip, were very efficient. Not two hours after the boat hit the dock, they were calling with it ready to be picked up.
My sushi is never pretty enough for pictures, but we did gorge on nigiri for a few days. Followed by some amazing smoked tuna belly.
For anyone looking for a really good chance at catching a 100-200lb tuna, I highly recommend one of these 3-4 day trips. These fish have only been around for 5-6 years and who knows when they'll leave again. There's nothing in Venice or anywhere else in the GOM that can come close to it. The boats are really nice. Bunks are nice. Food great. The deckhands are professionals. But you do need to be a little salty. The first night was pretty nasty even on a boat that size. And even with the amenities, you're still stuck on a boat with 20-25 guys for multiple days.
