What a day!
Well deserved

I never heard of a trailer inspection... and have never had one on any boat that I ever purchased, so I'm a little curious right now.

Went to AAA on 9/4 without the boat in tow, hoping I wouldn't be asked for the trailer inspection as my friend had told me he side-stepped successfully.

I was not able to side step the trailer inspection. I got the branch supervisor. At least I know my paperwork is properly in order. Paid up on the registration but still needed the trailer to be inspected, which I could delay til a later date.

So today I went to a different location closer to work. Took the boat for the trailer's inspection. Not too long of a wait. They inspect it and can't find the VIN. So they say it's either under the boat or it was a sticker that fell off long ago. If it fell off, then I should go to CHP to have them create a new VIN.

So I called CHP in the parking lot, and they told me to go to the DMV first because AAA doesn't know what they're talking about. Well, I assumed CHP doesn't know what it's talking about because it's...CHP.

I double checked inside AAA to see what they thought of CHP's remark, they said just go in person and they will see the paperwork. So I did as it was 10 minutes down the road, and if I was successful then I only needed to trailer the boat once for this.

I get there and the same guy over the phone is there to answer my questions. He is nice, and shows me the document I'm missing. He says that I need the VIN inspection at the DMV, and then I need to make an appointment after that to go to the closest CHP office to my residence, not this one.

So what I'm hearing is that I am not finishing the registration on the trailer for a while. I will avoid late fees because I paid already, but what a f@cking runaround.

I was at the San Juan Capistrano CHP office. I was so close to Dana Harbor I could taste it, but I didn't have rods.

So now I have it in my head that I'm launching Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday out of Dana. 3-4 trips for registration will require 3-4 trips of fishing before registration. Only fair.

Ugh. More fun than I've had lately. 🖕

Wow, that's an insane trip! Couldn't ask for more. Manta rays would be a trip. There is a pack of devil rays up here around the 209 from what I've heard.

Quote from: Latimeria on September 14, 2026, 08:44:34 AMHahahaha, sorry Steve-O!

Nice trip Jeremy!  I love to see what you guys get on the annual Bongos trip.  I do have to say that it's a bummer that you didn't get out to Clemente though.  That could have been a really good trip, especially now!

Holy crap, that boat towing the dory sideways has me cringing.  What in the actual hell....

Well, the fish are snapping down here and a big wave of wahoo are at the border.  The next few weeks should be pretty wide open down here! 

Seeing the wahoo. I heard a rumor of one a mile off Dana too. Gonna be worth putting something behind the boat at 20mph while looking for tuna.

We launched with one thing on our minds: marlin and wahoo. The anticipation was high as we headed out, even though my buddies didn't have Mexican permits and planned to stay in U.S. waters for the day.



First stop was the bait barge, where we grabbed a half scoop. It was mostly small anchovies, with a few tiny macks and dines mixed in. Not exactly trophy bait, but we've all seen stranger things happen offshore.
We spent some time on the 9-Mile Bank and metered some really promising fish, but no matter what we threw at them, they just wouldn't commit. One of those classic "they're here, but they're not hungry" situations.



From there we made the run to the 182, put out three marlin jigs, and then things got absolutely stupid... in the best possible way.





Twenty minutes later... TRIPLE HOOKUP!

Three marlin on at the same time! We ended up boating two and releasing the third. Not long after, we hooked a fourth marlin and sent that one back to fight another day. Definitely not the kind of action we were really expecting when we left the dock that morning.





After riding that high, we headed over toward the 43, where a fleet of marlin boats was working the area. We started trolling and stumbled onto what can only be described as a magical paddy.

This thing was loaded.

Yellowtail... Dorado...... Yellowfin tuna!







The tuna were mostly footballs, but nobody was complaining. For the next several hours it was pretty much nonstop action. Even better, somehow nobody crashed our little party! We jokingly started calling it the "Paddy Party", and the invitations apparently got lost in the mail because we had it all to ourselves which was unreal.

By the time we finally called it quits, the kill bag was pretty much stuffed and the arms/shoulders were feeling it.
The ride home got a little sporty as the wind came up, but we were treated to one final show when we saw huge manta rays launching themselves out of the water all over the 9-Mile Bank. An awesome way to cap off an already unforgettable day.

No wahoo this time, but with four marlin encounters, a loaded paddy, nonstop yellowtail/dorado/yellowfin action, and flying manta rays, it's pretty hard to complain.

Some days the ocean gives you exactly what you're looking for. Other days it gives you something even better.

Until Next Tide!

Hahahaha, sorry Steve-O!

Nice trip Jeremy!  I love to see what you guys get on the annual Bongos trip.  I do have to say that it's a bummer that you didn't get out to Clemente though.  That could have been a really good trip, especially now!

Holy crap, that boat towing the dory sideways has me cringing.  What in the actual hell....

Well, the fish are snapping down here and a big wave of wahoo are at the border.  The next few weeks should be pretty wide open down here! 

That's way more fun than Squatch has been having lately.

Way more fun than I've been having lately