5/23 Pacifica 1.5

Got back in this moring from a 1.5 day on the Pacifica. I Ended up going 2 for 2 on bluefin, final count was 26 bluefin and 11 yellowtail for 28 anglers.
Arriving at the landing for departure, the returning overnight trip did not do well, only a handful of fish. Counts were not great over the weekend, so was prepared for a possible slow trip.
Once we were on the way, captain Andrew said he was getting good reports from more west, so we were headed that way to a different zone than they had been fishing. Said 4 hours and we would be fishing.
Looking around the boat, anglers came prepared, heavy gear galore. We were in the zone and dropping jigs around 1230am. Stopped on various schools of big fish and grinded till the Sun came up on the heavy gear. 3 fish in the 150-180lb class were landed and a couple lost. One of the lost fish picked up about 12 guys jigs and a huge ball of line. Crew managed to recover most of the (pricey) jigs and helped splice line back on reels.
Uneventful morning, until around noon, I was awoke from a power nap by the captain yelling to chum hard and that a huge school was on us good. 30-40lb grade fish up at 100ft depth. Grabbed my 30# setup and started flylining baits. First bite on a belly hooked lively sardine, got him turned quick and put hard pressure to get him to gaff hot in minutes. Deckhand hit a money gaff shot and fish basically bled out on the deck. Retied and back at it. Second bite, fish took a screaming run on a long soak, knew it was either a little better grade fish or just had a head of steam. This fish took me half way around the boat, dechands did an excellent job getting out of tangles as the fish picked up many a line screaming down the rail. Clicked the drag up a few notches and short pumped him to gaff. My size 2 mustad was bent out pretty good.
A handful of yellowtail were caught as well with a kelp in the vicinity. This stop turned into a multi hour plunker bite and produced the majority of the fish for the trip. At sunset we found another school that were boiling and jumping but wouldn't bite anything.
At dark it was back to the heavy gear, but less schools located than the first night, only 1 smaller fish came on the jigs. Slept like a (sore) baby when it was time to head back to the docks.
Great group of guys on the trip, good team work and communication for the most part. Captain and crew were great, deckhands did some phenomenal work with tangles and working guys out of sticky situations. Nick in the galley was on point as well. Night captain Evan was stellar, whole crew put in work and did a great job.
Great trip on a great boat. Sore arms and back, sunburn, sleep deprived and a pair of beautiful bluefin on ice. Life is good.

 

Tuna are freaking brutes. An experience every fisherman should have, I think. I can't get enough.
Still looking for that triple digit, been on plenty of trips that had them and had plenty of limits but not got the call from the monster. It's gunna be sweeeeet when it happens.

 

Gotta finish your own fish, even if you need a breather. They are amazing fish. That rush is exactly what I'm talking about hahah. The more vertical they are, the more brutal the fight is on the angler. Puts max bendo on the rod and max torque on your arms and back. And bluefin love to dive deep... when you've been battling a tough fighter and he takes off from deep color straight down..my heart sinks hahaha. Love it.

 

No problem. I enjoy reading a detailed report, and I like writing them to relive the stoke.

 

I have a few packs of the owner gorilla, haven't fished them much. I've got more than a few tuna on the mustads without a problem...but I have to admit, seeing that hook bent out on 30# line vs a 35lb tuna does have me feeling a little weird

 

Personally, I don't like the mutu for flyline. The smaller size 2 or 4 mutus are kinda goofy to me for quickly hooking the bait properly, I'm wayyy more efficient with the mustad. That's just me, but I'm pretty confident in my flyline technique with the mustads as far as getting bit.
I had about a boat length of mono on top of my braid. I did push the drag up a bit to finish the fish off. Also that fish bit on a long soak and ended up pretty deep in the spool after the first run, so the drag had ramped up pretty high at that time. Probably should have dialed it back a little that deep into the spool. I was fishing a calstar 670-8 which gets a lot of bend in it, might have helped save my ***.
When the fish hit the deck and I saw that hook, I felt pretty fortunate to have landed it.

 

Man, am I crazy for thinking about getting on a boat again in a few days?

 

Nice, I gotta pony up for a multi day at some point. The last few days the fleet had a lot of 100+. Seems like spring and fall are prime time on the big fish. Last year I had three 1.5s booked in the fall. 2 ended up not running. I'm on the hunt for that big fish. Just about every spring trip I've been on the last few years has atleast one over 100 and the night fishing trips many more. Putting in work and waiting for that bite. I can't complain with limits of 40lbers but I want that big fish..if they bite good today and tomorrow I will pull the trigger. Better spending money on trips with a good chance than on a midsummer kelp patty trip while the bluefin are lockjawed eating micro bait...

 

Did some home made Nigiri...put so much wasabi it blew my face off lol. Bomb