BY GUNDY GUNDERSON
SAN DIEGO- The long range fleet continued to put together a string of excellent 8-day trips , once again proving that 8- day trips are the jewel of the long range schedule. No other trips offer the quality and quantity that these trips do. Settling the jackpot with a run through the bluefin grounds is an added bonus on these trips.
RP and Fujimoto 8-Day departure
The Royal Polaris got off to a good start on the Fujimoto 8-Day Trip. The boat filed this report after a first good day, “Today was the first day of fishing. We got into the zone at 09:30 and started fishing yellowtail. We had to weed through some smaller fish but we managed plenty of nice yellows. We also tried for yellowfin tuna but they weren’t bitting due to fishing pressure from the tuna seiners. We ended up with 8 tuna that were 25- to 35- pounds. We also had a nice hit on a kelp full of dorado.”
Angler wraps up 8-day
The American Angler continued the tradition of a long time 8-day trip passing the chartermaster torch to a younger family member. The boat posted this endearing message, “We have been honored to have this group from the beginning of our time with the American Angler. Reminiscing on the year that Uncle George told us he was bringing his niece, Michelle. She never missed a year after that and when George Uesugi passed, he will never be forgotten , Michelle stepped up and took on his role. Thank you. We returned from this 8 day with a nice,mixed bag catch of yellowfin, yellowtail and bluefin.”
Indy 8-day
The Independence was on the annual Phenix Rods- Roger Eckhardt 8-day trip and was experiencing the same excellent fishing on the Ridge and Rocks. The boat, with Capt. Matt Kaullen at the wheel sent this message, “We started off with good action on premium 25- to 35-pound yellowfin our first day and moved onto a wide open bite of yellowtail, all big bruisers 20- to 30-pounds and ended up with some action on wahoo. Life’s been good out here.”
Soft Steel 8-Day Return
The Intrepid returned from an 8-day with Capt. Bill Cavanaugh on the bridge. The boat filed this final report, “We returned home this morning with a beautiful catch of yellowfin, yellowtail, dorado and wahoo. We had excellent yellowtail fishing to start off our trip with a few yellowfin mixed in. Our next day was spent targeting wahoo but unfortunately we were only able to scrape up a few. We made a move when the writing was obviously on the wall and we connected on good grade yellowfin.”
The report continued, We spent the next day targeting 15- to 30-pound t una before we decided to move to Alijos Rocks. We spent the day at the Rocks targeting wahoo and pieced together a nice day. We made our way up the beach and finished our trip catching some nice ling cod and reds.”
The boat was right back out on a Catchy Tackle 5-Day. The trip was marked by an epic night bite. Cavanaugh filed this report, “Last night is what you wish for on any trip. We had steady action all night on mostly 50- to 70- pound bluefin with 14 over 100-pounds and one over 200. All in flat calm weather. Nothing short of epic. We are catching good grade yellowtail this morning and will try for bluefin again tonight.”
Rooster crows
The Red Rooster returned from the Pelagic 3- Day with an excellent local catch. The boat filed this report, “An incredible 3 day trip returned this morning on the Red Rooster III. Capt. Ethan standing in for Capt. Andy Cates had us on the fish the first night. We fished the gap between Catalina and San Clemente Island for a nice nighttime score on 18 big bluefin all coming on heavy jigs mostly Nomad Knife Jigs which were red and glow in the 300- to 400 gram range. We scored 2 tuna over 200-pounds.”
Star on nightbite
The essence of a nighttime bluefin bite was described by veteran long range skipper Tim Ekstrom as only he can, “There is an extremely satisfying element to those successful nights on the bluefin grounds when proverbial justice is served. After enduring torturous teasing the entire day as seemingly endless spots of crashing bluefin reject our every advance, the cover of darkness flips the script. Armed with big gear and blood thirst those maddeningly untouchable daytime beauties are handily ravaged under the cloak of darkness. Ahhhh, how satisfying!”
