I just got back from the Channel Islands and see there is a lot I need to catch up with here on the forum.  I will be checking out your posts soon!

I have a few coolers of fish to slice up now before it gets too hot, but I will definitely be getting a post of mine up soon.  I'm guessing some of you had a taste from a random pic I put up on social media, but the Channel Islands are a special place!

As of yesterday, I am no longer working in my current role as the company decided to "restructure".  I do have a 2 month temporary gig, but it also means I'll be doing some fishing and job hunting the next few months.

Channel Islands, here I come!

Winds were too much up there so we didn't go this time.  My job is ending in a few days, and I start this two-month short term project before going on unemployment.  I guess I'll have a lot of time to go fishing soon.
BTW, this 2-month project has me working the late shifts over weekends, so my schedule is going to be all f@cked up.

Well, we finally got out looking for Bluefin yesterday.  We weren't planning on heading 70 miles west so we just checked the more local banks that they popped up at a week ago.

Thursday was the only real weather window before the winds start blowing, so we were hopeful we could find the needle in the haystack.

At grey light we spotted a paddy full of birds and mammals!  Lots of dolphin as well as pilot whales!  I don't see them very often out here so it was cool seeing them.  Bait balls everywhere and the water was crystal clear! 



We drifted and trolled the paddy/area for about 30 minutes and decided to keep running since we didn't see any signs of gamefish.

A little while later we saw something literally "appear" about 3/4 of a mile away from us.  I think we were still in Mexican waters but not sure.  All I know is this was one big ass submarine and coming right at us!



The radio was going off, but my buddy keeps it so low you couldn't hear what was being said, but we quickly gathered it was for us to get the hell out of the way.

I brought my electric reel so I could troll the Madmac on it.  Plan was two spreaders and a mad mac inbetween just in case.



A whole lot of nothing and we were considering changing spots when the spreader bar blew up!  We even saw the explosion on it and the clicker started screaming!

I was on the reel, but my buddy's kid wanted to get his first triple digit tuna so it was all his.  We've never lost a tuna on the spreader bar before and we knew this one was the triple digit one that he needed!



The fish was staying near the surface and really never sounded.  We kept seeing this huge brown shape in the water behind the tuna and wasn't sure what we were looking at.  We thought it was a shark, but we definitely saw the tuna in front of it.



So close and all of a sudden gone.  First time we ever had a spreader bar hook pull... Then we noticed thrashing and kept seeing a huge tuna flying into the air!  My buddy grabbed the gaffed and we shot over trying to get our tuna back.  We thought it was a big shark feeding on it and was going to try and recover what we could from our catch but as we got to it realized it was some 10 to 12' long pinniped!  I would have said it was a giant sea lion, but it didn't have a big knot on its head and a pointier face.  Then we saw it throw the tuna in the air like you see sea lions tossing a bonito or yellowtail to tear it up.  We couldn't gaff it and it grabbed it and disappeared.  I'm pretty sure it was an elephant seal, but that was all just a heartbreaking 5 minutes after losing the tuna.

Well the sun came out and we kept trolling from bank to bank.  My buddy tried to put up the kite while trolling two spreaders and a mad mac and I wasn't down for disaster.  Even if we hooked one, we would never have been able land it without a total cluster so I was glad when he decided to pack the kite in.  (I would have rathered to just kite fish than trying to troll all of that at once)



The water was 70 and clear as gin, but no bait, no life, no fish for the rest of the day.  The only thing that made me feel a little better was knowing that the islands bit it and we didn't hear a peep on the radio about offshore.  Misery loves company...  lol



Thanks for reading and until next tide!

The garden is spitting out produce, but nothing more than the Boston Pickles I planted.



Green beans are also just overwhelming us.



Hmmm... Time to make the pickles!



I made 6 jars to start and damn, they are good.  I have to laminate this recipe because nothing I've ever had even comes close!



I didn't have garlic cloves, so I used garlic powder in a pinch.  It didn't matter... it was so good.

Decided to try the bay for a couple of hours, but the tide was LOW....

I went to an old spot I haven't casted plastics in a while, and it did disappoint.  Not even a tail grabber.

Friggin tourists or kids really left a mess too.



Lots of shrimp volcanoes here...



I walked for a half a mile and got into the really shallow weedy stuff.

The weed guard jig was even worthless here, so I went straight Texas Rig weedless.



Finally on the board with a Pee-pee bass.



Then I got into them within the next 20 yards until I burnt through all of my plastics.



I caught a dozen, but doubt a single one even reached 11".



In any case, I headed home happy with the results.  I stopped off at a fossil spot I haven't hunted in 20 years looking for fossil sand dollars, but there was nothing left of the formation.  I'm sure it's still there, but it was covered up with the "Modernization of society".  Oh well, another one bites the dust...

No need to really write up what I did since the title says it all.



Not only did I make a spicey crab mix, but I added some more Macadamia nuts to the pocket.



Quick fry in th the cast iron and then on the grill to finish up cooking.



Voila!  It tasted just as good as it looks.  My favorite halibut recipe to date.

Great read Jeremy and what a terrible way to start the trip.  I have to admit just looking at the beaches, it yelled Arizona to me for some reason, like a spot Koga would go to drink bad booze.

Congrats on the new species and are those really spotted bass or possibly a different sub species?  They actually look a little different.

Once again, thanks for the report and the bloody hand.  I got stuck with a little sergeant major down in Baja and I swear it f@cked up my hand for the entire week.

I have to get my butt up there.  I think I might be able to talk the family into a weekend trip as I think they would love the scenery.

Well done once again Tim.  The warden checking out your barbs was funny.  So, if you crimped them down, would that have been an issue, or do you have to file them down?

I'm going on a Bluefin hunt this Thursday (Holiday) and another weekend somewhere up north in that Channel Island Vicinity I would presume.  Trying to fit that in between the facility shutdown, and I'm going to be one exhausted old man the following week.

Anyone still jump on the forum to see what's going on?

My plan was to just fish the morning and get home to finish the workday remotely.  I heard of some squid and WSB locally, so I needed to give it a shot before the weekend crowds found out.



Making squid was a bust.  I couldn't even meter any.  The stuff I was metering turned out to be huge clouds of lizards!



There was everything but mackerel around.  I even caught a dozen calico on the sabiki!



dozens of baby dabs...



An no shortage of Lizards.



I made a few macks and tried drifting a few hours for halibut, WSB, or yellows.  It was slow and boring, but I did find some humor in the long wait.



I then ran north and found the biomass of macks.  They were too big to sabiki since 3 on one line felt like I was trying to reel in a yellow and I didn't want a sabiki in my hand...  How ironic that thought would eventually be.  I switched to a jig to sportsman's catch them and it was a lot more fun on the light spinner.



I made over 50 and ran back to the grounds looking for a big butt.



That didn't work and I needed to start heading back.  I came across some different clouds of marks in an unassuming spot.  100% no rocks in this area but probably hard bottom.  I dropped the jig down 20 times and caught one on every drop 19 Browns and 1 sculpin.





On last drop and another brown.  As I'm reaching to grab it, it shakes off the hook and the jig goes flying like a bullet into my hand.  Damn it.  I tried but it was as stuck as any hook I've ever had in me and it was deep!



The hardest part was trying to grab things and get the boat ready to drive in with the hook right in the palm of my had.  I didn't want it to hook into anything and tear out.
I get to the ramp and realize how hard it is to empty the boat and get the boat on the trailer with a hook in my hand... but I managed.



I couldn't get the hook point through to save my life.  How the hell was my skin so tough with such a sharp hook?  I finally gave up since I felt it on my bone and went to urgent care after I got the boat unhooked and gear out of the boat.  The doctor there seemed a little too excited to work on my hand since I don't think he's seen many hooks in hand from what I was gathering from his excitment.

He couldn't believe how tough it was to poke the hook through.  I told him they were tuna assist hooks, so they weren't you normal little bait hooks.

He used a set of pliers to grab the hook end and used a set of pliers to push my skin down to puncture the skin and get the barb through.  I couldn't believe how hard it was and it definitely hurt.  Topical pain wipes were not very efficient or effective.



Then he was trying to cut the hook with some sort of medical nips.  I was like "There's no way your cutting the barb or hook off with that thing.... This isn't a trout hook.".  I then said I had a big pair of pliers/cutters in my truck, so he agreed to use them.  They barely worked, but he finally cut through the hook and we got it removed.  My hand hurts about as much as you would expect but nowhere near as bad a tiger bite, so that's good.

I get home to wash the boat and bag the bait.  Unfortunately, it had to be done when all I wanted to do was rest.  lol

I did get a bunch of 2-gallon ziplocs loaded with some good bait though!



Well, afterwards I realized it was Friday the 13th and will remember this for the next one... like not going fishing.  I'm also going to be a little hook shy since I felt like I came out relatively unscathed on this and it could have been worse.

Anyway, thanks for reading!

Hahaha, excellent choice!

Man, with the costs of the line pullers, I needed to figure something out.  I already have a davit, but pulling with my shoulder is impossible at least for the rest of the year or longer.  I went hunting for a motor I could install on my davit and found one that should work. 



I think it's from an electric wheel chair or a rascal, but not certain.  In any case, it was on eBay for $59 and I put it in my cart just in case.  I then get a message that it's $39 with free shipping if I accept, so I pulled the trigger.

I hooked it up and it works, so now have to figure out how to mount it to the davit and install an on/off switch.  In any case, it will be a shoulder saver!

Good luck boss.  Hope it's not razor blade throat.

Safe trip and looking forward to the report upon your return!