Annual work trip, 5 + me. Wind forecast looked like sh!t (15-20mph) all week for going to Clemente on Saturday which is the usual play. Hopped aboard around 0500, got a scoop of some sh!tty looking sardines, and I asked Capt. Mike what the game plan was at the harbor mouth. He said Clemente was a go, I asked about the wind and he said he didn't even look at the forecast. If the island protects us, that's all good with me.
We got about 10 miles out, Mike looked back at the bait, and it was rolling pretty quick. He called the other boat in the operation and asked how they were doing on bait, and they said it looked bad, but Mike thought there might be a bait tank pump issue on top of the already unhealthy sardines. So we called an audible and went to Catalina instead, figuring we could probably still put up similar numbers at the island and/or offshore and still have a shot at restocking on bait in Avalon if it comes down to it.
Caught the sunrise. Only time we would see the sun for the day, which was a very nice change of pace.
(https://i.imgur.com/Klg0RvTh.jpeg)
We got to our first stop around 0630. Anchored up and the bite was slow to warm up. Picked off a couple bonito after 5-10 minutes. Bones don't get photo love on these trips, only sloppy wordplay as they come over the rail. Thankfully everyone knows I'm the bonito guy and I come home with big bags of fillets of them every time.
Peter is still new to fishing in general but learning quick. He had a lot of room for improvement in fighting technique when reeling in a bonito, so Mike grabbed the rod, showed him the mechanics of fish fighting while giving him sh!t, telling Peter he will lose a yellow every single time if he does that sh!t again.
And what do you know, 5 minutes later Peter hooks a yellow. A nice one. Took him around the boat twice. Gaffed on the stern. Only one of the trip! A little over 20lbs, I'd say.
(https://i.imgur.com/10wHQDih.jpeg)
A nearby boat had put several yellows on deck and there were still lots of marks. We worked the spot for a couple hours, mostly just scratching at bonito. Finally we went over to Avalon to re-up on bait.
Saw this guy pulling his dory horizontally, I'm sure that's great on gas...
(https://i.imgur.com/tZXX6NKh.jpeg)
Got a little variety in the bait, including this salema and a couple big threadin herring.
(https://i.imgur.com/w9SKQWhh.jpeg)
Pulled up to our next spot and the bait was definitely better. I instantly hooked up to a 5lb bonito. Bass were now showing up, mostly over 2lbs.
(https://i.imgur.com/TIYhI4hh.jpeg)
Jared got his PB, measured 22" and difficult not to call it 6lbs+.
(https://i.imgur.com/lBIRT0fh.jpeg)
No yellows at this spot though.
Mike was humming and hawing. He really didn't like how the bait had rolled earlier and even this fresh scoop wasn't faring too well so he chalked it up as a mechanical failure. He asked us if we wanted to call the day a bit early and in return he would take us out again in a month with a better bait tank pump. We obliged! So we gave the fishing just a bit more effort and started heading back around 1100, with yellowfin still in mind on the way back.
About halfway back, we rolled up on a couple boats and dolphins. The dolphins were acting goofy so we put out a few trollers and did a few laps around. Radio chatter claimed that one boat got a fish on the troll out of this pod to start, and nothing has happened since.
We did spy a few on the finder, but they did not come up for us.
(https://i.imgur.com/Raxx7cfh.jpeg)
Back at the dock around 1300. Not a bad trip, maybe a bit lackluster on yellows apart from Peter's fish. Looking forward to another soon. Hopefully with a bit of time for the fish to settle after adverse weather and the bait tank figured out, we will put the wood to the YT and YFT. Napped away most of the afternoon, time to prep the bonito...
Way more fun than I've been having lately