A group of us do a 3.5 day trip out of San Diego every summer, and they are a little different each year...

Two years ago we went 70 miles south into Mexico and got on giant schools of yellowfin tuna and yellowtail, with two bluefin tuna caught the entire trip.

Last year we went 100 miles straight west and it was all bluefin, all the time, including the biggest fish I've ever caught (outside of a couple of big sturgeon)...

This year we ended up going north and joining the hordes of Los Angeles boats fishing off of Catalina...that's where the bluefin were.

As you'll see in the pictures below, the weather was really really really nice...and that makes for really tough bluefin fishing. We had to go down to 25# fluorocarbon leaders and work really hard for a bite or two per person, and fighting 30-50 pound bluefin on 25# line is not a recipe for success!

The big difference this year is that night fishing was off the hook! We used flatfall jigs and fished anywhere from 180 to 350 feet deep, and for the guys who got the hang of it easily enough, it was one fish after another. The best part of was that if you had heavy enough gear, it was fairly easy to land them. Still hard and physical fighting, but you landed about 80% of the fish. I used 100# braid with 100# top shots, and 350g Shimano flatfalls, and that's how I caught most of my fish.

After night fishing on Sunday night, with only a half day ahead of us on Monday, we motored all night and woke up on the southwest corner of San Clemente Island, and gave it a try for yellowtail.

The sharks and sea lions were bad, and we only ended up with a handful, but I managed two of those, and they are among my favorite fish in the world to catch. Pretty, really fast, and really aggressive biters!

Here's our home for the four days were were out:



The Pegasus, out of Fisherman's Landing in San Diego. Consistently the high catching boat of the fleet there, the Captain and crew have been together for a long time.

Here's about 1/3 of the team on the way out of the harbor on Friday evening...we have a little pizza and beer party on the way out, and it was about 94 degree, and humid AF, so getting offshore in a moving boat was a great way to end that party.



The first night we got to the fishing grounds at about 1am, and we fished hard until daylight with two hookups, and no fish landed to show for it; the night time fishing turned out to be good from about 9pm til midnight, give or take.

The next day fishing was as expected; really tough, especially after being up all night. The boat probably landed about a dozen or so bluefin from 30 to 50 pounds, and my old man picked up a random 20# dorado swimming around with them, pretty far from home. I went 1-3, breaking off two, one after an extended fight. As noted, the 25# line is a real b!tch to land big fish on!

Most of the crew went to bed as soon as dinner was over, but 5 of us stayed up and gave it the ol' college try on the flatfalls again...and I'm glad we did. The five of us caught 22 fish in about two hours, and finally crawled into bed at 1am.

Sunday was a repeat of Saturday; tough fishing all day, but I'd say we boated another dozen or so.

Sunday night almost the entire crew stayed up after our nighttime success on Saturday, and the amount of fish that hit the deck that night was impressive by any standard, the best bluefin fishing I have seen. Knowing our overall total and how good it was that night, I'd say we had 12-14 anglers who put about 60 fish in the boat. I ended up landing 8 in the first 90 minutes and taking the rest of the night off to snap a couple of fish and help the deckhands with the gaffs, between tangles and landing fish those two guys were going 100 mph for four hours straight.

A couple quick shots of the carnage:





I went to bed about 1am, and woke up at 6am to beautiful flat water with a gorgeous sunrise, and we started fishing for yellowtail. We ended up with 6 in the boat, and the sea lions probably got about an equal amount.

There wasn't a lot of room to fish, as we were on anchor and standing across the stern, so after I was lucky enough to get the first two in the boat in the first 20 minutes, I moved aside so others could get in the conga line in the back.

Love the yellowtails...so good to catch, and to eat!





Those two were 17 and 20 pounds, the biggest one we landed that morning was 24 pounds, and that's a pretty big one for that area. The 17 is about average.

I've got a couple of buddies (Nick and Skyley) who have been interested in getting in on this trip, so hopefully they will be on the list next year, it's a real kick in the ass.

Fish on...

Todd

Not bad for and overnighter.

Yum. That looks awesome.

Love the fish thread and pictures.

Is that considered a charter boat?

You had to pay to catch those fish? Why not catch them yourself?

"Charter Todd" has a nice ring to it.

Kidding aside, nice grocery run n' fun! Good jorb!

Thanks for taking the time to share Todd - hardcore fun right there!

Cool deal! Still on my Bucket List of fishing trips to do.

*****!!!
I REALLY REALLY like this Todd!! Thanks for sharing man, that looks like a super fun trip!!! How is the fishing in the "winter" down there (probably not as good?)?

Nice grocery run!
SF

Good report, Toff. Sounds like a great time was had!


-Steamy

I have no idea what the fishing looks like in the winter there, we always go anywhere from the last week of July to the second week of August, and it's been really good every time.

I've got a buddy down there in LA who buys the whole boat, and we all pay him back...I'd say share of the boat (lots of good meals are included), beer tab, tip, plane fare there and back, a hotel the night we return, fish processing and shipping...all in, $3000 or $3500.

It's really not that expensive for what you get, to my mind.

http://www.fishpegasus.com/

That's the boat we take...I bring my own gear, but the rental gear is decent enough that about half the folks just use that. They'll let you know in advance what you might want to have, but I bring 100#, 40#, and 25# setups, a few different boxes of hooks, and a box of flatfalls and swimbaits.

On these trips there's no sharing of catch...you get what you catch, so if you have a good weekend, be ready to have a lot of fish...mine weighed 477 pounds in the round this trip

Fish on...

Todd

My Dad and I took a trip out of San Diego to Guadeloupe Island in '72, in February. Then, it was too cold for the great gamefish to be there. Biggest Yellowtail, of the few caught, was 10 pounds. Did get Ocean Whitefish, various Rockfish, and a few other good eaters. Fantastic trip even if the fishing was not up to advertised.

I've been invited on a couple of Guadalupe trips, but they haven't fit into my schedule yet...my friends who do it, do it in July, and it sounds like fishing can be anywhere from ok to unbelievably good.

Fish on...

Todd

As bad as it was if you measure success in how large the fish are, I took my 6.5' spinning rod and Mitchell 300 to fish bait. Supposed to refill the bait tank every night. Since days were slow, I used a hook, no weight, and a live anchovy. Got into mackerel, bonito, and a yellowtail or two. Only a couple pounds each but they pulled like heck. At the end of the rip the line had been stretched so much that it just snapped easily. If I ever go back, a flyrod comes along.

The bait they are using to catch me is the chance to catch 200# yellowfins

Fish on...

Todd

We were looking forward to, I think, mostly Yellowtail up to 20-40 #. Still, as "slow" as fishing was there was always fish. Some sharks, a few big rays, lots of sheepshead, rockfish, and the like. Plus, we had Gray Whales, Elephant Seals, and some Guadeloupe Fur Seals.

The highlight (or lowlight if you were on the other boat) is that an even longer-range boat hit something the last day we were out and were taking on water. So, we ran to them, sent over a pump, and then towed them back to San Diego. Made us something like 12 hours late. That boat, which had gone further south, was flying a marlin flag. One of the guys on our boat was an artist, so we flew a "Boat Flag" when entering the harbor. It was bigger than the marlin..

Nice going. I love fishing down there this time of year. And I'm with you on the Yellowtail. Some of my faves too. My brother was just asking when we're going to do a similar trip...maybe in a couple weeks.

When I was a kid hanging out at Huntington beach I used to hate seeing the oil rigs. That is until I realized they attracted lots of tails. Now I love me some oil rigs.

Correct. Not good sport fish anyway. Bottom fishing and sometimes barfable seas. ymmv.

Damn get me on that list too.

how is the fish processed to bring home?