That was pretty funny with the "Stock Photos" of the loungers.  hahahaha

Great trip!  That's some damn fine yellowtail fishing you guys got into!  Congrats to Jared also.

BTW... just out of curiosity, why did you bring the trout rod? Did you use it, or just wanted to give it a salt bath?

Bravo once again!

Nice trip, the season is only going to get better

This was my annual co-worker trip on Blackfish Charters. This time, conditions and opportunities constituted us to San Clemente Island for a shot at yellowtail, with a chance at paddy pelagics on the way there and back.

Boarded at 0430. Off the dock and baited up before 0500.

The convertible style boat has left me wanting a little more for ventilation on the way out, so this time I bought an inflatable lounger to plop upon the c*ckpit to relax and perhaps nap on the way out.

Here I am inflating the lounger.



Here I am relaxing in the c*ckpit.





It was 3-5' in the San Pedro channel with white caps. While the swell was comfortably to our starboard, it would occasionally cause the bait tanks to splash and get me on the leg a bit. I repositioned and got a touch of mist, but otherwise I was actually quite comfortable. Once we passed Catalina, though, it picked up to 4-6' with a couple 7-8'ers to slow the captain's pace on the throttle. I ended up finding myself mercilessly misted and endlessly enema'd by the bait tanks. Very unfortunate design, that lounger. I approve of the lounger for future use, but I gave up on it at this point.

My poor little spinning reel (and every other reel on the boat) got waterfall'd on by the oncoming water.



Thankfully, the lee of the island cut down the swell significantly to a 2' chop, and eventually cut out the wind as well for a bit. We arrived at our first spot on the island around 0730 and it was instant. We ended up with 19 yellows at 5-10lbs for 6 anglers before the captain told us "lines out" to get the sea lions to leave for the cattle boats down the line.



We took a breather for 10 minutes then it was game on again. 30 yellows alongside bonito and bass before it slowed down and we started making our way up the island for a different grade.





We had a slow pick at half a dozen spots. I managed to lose another firecracker at the boat on an SPJ, which was a nice confidence boost going forward on that. Other than that, not too exciting.



Then we got to our last stop and we began long soaking some of our last sardines. Things picked up, with guys getting big bites. We ended up going 6 for 10 on 15-20lb yellows, alongside more bonito and bass. I wasn't able to get in on these big fish, but Jared did well in getting 2 of them, both being PB class fish for him around 20lbs.




On our way back, we stopped on a paddy that the captain saw mahi under. I woke up from my nap to pitch a sardine out there, and my bait started zooming immediately. I engaged my reel and wound tight to find it was just my bait being manic. No action on that paddy. We got into the dock around 1730, with bags and bags of yellowtail to be distributed.









I always insist on the boat keeping at least the first 5 bonito just for me, and nobody else is ever interested in keeping them. They continue to be maybe a top 3 food fish for me!

Quote from: Tim524 on July 23, 2026, 09:22:11 PMInsurance doesn't cover the shot ?

Nope... Seems crazy.

Insurance doesn't cover the shot ?

Hopefully you can nurse this along and score a few nice fish in the meantime

Things are going to pop any day now

Hoping to get The Cyclops wet as soon as I get back from Bishop/Mammoth in a couple weeks

The Wonder Knot for the W 

Saw the same buoys. We found one patty with a small yellow that took off as we pulled up. Zipping across the surface like a flying fish.

Glad you at least saw some big dodos, that's gotta get the juices going.

Got out with the usual suspects hoping to get into some offshore action.  Water Chloro charts and sea temps are off the charts and something has to be hiding out there! Unfortunately, they didn't have their Mex Licenses, so we were stuck in US waters.

Left at o'dark thirty and started looking for paddies at first light.  Water was purple it was so clear.

First paddy we see is a JUMBO!  We didn't have bait, so we were stuck with artificials or chunk bait.  No one home... wait... 4-5 foot bull Mahi is rolling around the paddy!  It immediately takes off soon as they cast right on it and not to be seen again.

We found some more MONSTER paddies with birds sitting on them and all!  Tons of bait underneath, but no gamefish.  The fish finder had barely a pixel on it when not around the paddies.

We saw some huge Mola out there, but no sharks and no gamefish to speak of.  (Well another 4' bull dodo, but no live bait to pitch to it)

We found some weird weather buoys and quite a few boats, but nada.  Radio chatter was all the same news, except down by the 371 and 390 where the fish were apparently biting.

The water was so blue, it almost zeroed out the blue Gatorade!

We finally found diving terns in the gyros and ran over to hopefully get onto some yellowfin!  Unfortunately it was a huge school of bait sized bonito!  Damn, if we only had these guys when we came across those monster bull dorado!  We caught a bunch but I didn't bring the right rods for these little guys to have fun.

Oh well, we traveled 14 miles past the 182, down to the corner and every spot in-between for just bonito.  I guess we weren't skunked, but it just seems that the fish are close.  These paddies had all of the right characteristics for some stunner fish to be holding, but it was a bummer they weren't there yet.

Oh well, next time.  Floating Cabins coming soon along with some friends from NYC who still think they are living in the Archie Bunker days and scared of Cali... you know, they might get a little fruit and nutty as they would say.  lol

Anyways, thanks for reading and I'll post the pictures when I get home from work.