Heat

Great job man! I know how hard it is, so kudos to you for getting it done with your bow!

I'm hunting with a buddy and he killed his first pronghorn buck. Not mine but I will see if he doesn't mind if I post a pic.

We gave a buck a ride back to camp with us tonight.

Just got back from a 1.5 Day trip with Tomahawk Sportfishing out of Fisherman's Landing. Excellent crew, comfortable and roomy fishing platform. Left the dock on Wednesday night, fished all day Thursday and returned on Friday early morning. The trip was sponsored by Accurate Fishing, which was a HUGE bonus! Lots of nice bling on the boat to fish with! They hooked it up! Thanks a lot to David one of the owners, and Justin and the rest of the Accurate crew on board. Incredible generosity to let everyone fish with their stuff, no questions asked. They brought probably 50 rigs on board for everyone to use. They also had T shirts for everyone on board. Now on to the fishing...The decision was made to go way south and fish Yellowtail on kelp patties and if everything went well we would hit the tuna grounds for Bluefin, time permitting. We ended up way offshore of Punta Colonet, maybe even a little further south. It was a LONG run! The weather was windy and the swell was probably 5-6 feet on average with a few huge rollers probably 8 feet or so. Got a little hairy out there at times and made locating kelp patties really hard. The crew was on it though and worked their butts off trying to find the right zone. We hit the first kelp around 9 AM. I got hooked up but didn't get a good hook set and my fish came off. We ran for probably another hour or so and the boat got a few more, probably about 5 or 6 fish for each of the first two stops. It took quite a while before we found the next spot but from there things went pretty wide open. They found kelp after kelp and before long most people had their limit. I probably got bit 7 or 8 times and put 5 on the boat. The best one I got was probably around 10 pounds or so and the rest were of a little smaller grade but still really fun! Pretty good fishing for the yellows unfortunately we ended up way too far south to be able to hit the tuna grounds. It was around 6 PM when we started heading North again for port. Got back to the landing around 7:30 AM or so. All in all I had a great time. Didn't get one of the bigger bluefin that have been around but nobody on the boat did either. One dorado and 117 yellowtail for 27 anglers. The rough conditions beat us up pretty good and there were a lot of guys that were pretty green by the end of the day. Had about half a dozen kooks on board that made things kinda tough. Wouldn't follow their lines, would cast right across you, even with a fish on. Regular rookie stuff for most trips but a few of those dudes just couldn't get with the groove. The rest of the guys were really cool to fish with and met a few pretty hardcore hunters too. Even saw my first wild sea turtle which was way cool! Can't say much more, but if you are ever looking for a boat to fish on out of San Diego, consider the Tomahawk. They have a great operation! https://www.sandiegofishreports.com/fish_reports/151302/tomahawk-1.5-day-trip-wrap-up-(late).php

Good Luck man! That big typical 4x in the bachelor herd would be right up my alley. Hope you find one to your liking!

I am completely confident in my Magnus Snuffer SS broadheads. I've killed two bulls with them.

I usually cook some steaks along the way but keep it pretty simple in general.

Sonoran pronghorn perhaps? They are found south of I-8 between Gila Bend and Yuma. A herd of Sonoran pronghorn has also been established on Kofa NWR/YPG in King Valley. Who knows where that one wondered over from.

Way to go man! Nice!

Well you are goat hunting right? Wrong goat Adam!

Not sure how I missed this earlier but this is really cool Andrew. Best of Luck to you on your hunt! I'll be keeping an eye on this one.

Keep your chin up Bob, we're still praying for you and your wife amigo!

I know who flaming shawn is but who is goofy mark?

Ya the store is a lot cheaper! The processors will not only cut, gut, and skin your fish, but they will vacuum pack it in 3 mil or 5 mil vacuum bags, seal, and flash freeze it. You can trade out for smoked, jerky, or canned tuna also. Of course you pay for that too. I have always just had my fish cut on the boat. One day I may take them to 5 Star or Sportsmens. I don't think you have much choice on long range trips. I think they all gotta go to the processor or you take it whole. I don't think they make a yeti that will fit a 300# bluefin do they? LOL!

Most of the time its $5-10 a fish on tunas, yellowtail, and dorado. $10 is for the big fish, like 30# or more. I've never been charged a per# price. You also have the option to take them whole to a processor like Marios and let them do it all for a per # price. Thats around a buck a #.

Thats a nice "problem" to have. Kinda like a taxidermy bill.

Excalibur returned from a 2.5 day trip today with limits of Bluefin tuna and lots of Yellowfin tuna! You guys are going to kill it! http://excalibursportfishing.com/fish-reports/

Right on! I can't wait to hear about your trip when you return. Before I booked the Tomahawk for my last trip I was looking really closely at a 2 Day on the Excalibur, which was cancelled because they didn't book enough anglers. The former skipper of the Relentless, Joel Ralston is running the boat from what I understand. He's a legend. Before my trip departed I went down to H&M to look at the boat. It looks like a killer fishing platform. Really wide compared to most 85 ft boats. Double wide bunks for everybody. Pretty light loads for the size of the boat. Haven't heard any bad reviews. You should have a great trip if the crew is up to par and the fish cooperate.

Some of the most miserable people I have ever seen were folks stuck on a fishing vessel that were sea sick. Take well before you plan on boarding the vessel. There are some prescription only meds available too that you might look into. Scopalamine patch is one. If you do get sea sick stay on the deck with the fresh air in your face. Get to the stern and center of the vessel where it moves the least. Drink plenty of water. Avoid coffee and alcohol. Avoid the galley and bunkroom. If you hurl in the bunkroom everybody on board, including the skipper and deckhands will hate you. Nobody is going to give a shoot if you puke over the rail all day. Thank the Lord I am blessed with some great sea legs! Don't have to deal with this even the slighest bit.

Cool! What boat?

The fishing yesterday off San Diego was about as good as it gets! Limits of yellowfin and bluefin for a few boats. Limits of one kind of tuna or another for most boats. Yellowtail and dorado sprinkled here and there on kelp. All techniques are working. This is what its all about. Can't wait to get back on the water. Got this little pronghorn hunt to do next weekend on out until Labor Day though so I am going to have to wait until September to get my fix again if I can swing it. I like to check the action on 976 Tuna and San Diego Fish Reports under Boat Fish Counts as well as Bloodydecks.com to see whats going on. The captains have been busy on the sat phones calling in their updates and wrap ups the last couple of days! I don't blame them, a great fish report is the best advertising you can get. A few boats seem to have the social media thing down too. Might not be a bad idea to book a trip now if you are planning to go. They might start completely booking up the better boats now that the bite has taken off.

Most of the salt stations Russ is running have one, maybe two 50# white blocks. When they hit it, they hit it pretty hard. I would think it could be tough to draw them to new areas but I really dont know. Russ wasn't around much for our hunt either but his nephew Cody was. He was a great kid. Without the benefit of one of Russ' radios and Cody picking me up and moving me to the herd I probably would not have killed a bison.

Smaller bluefin 20-50# and football yellowfin 5-15# have been caught a lot the last few days. If I was going out I would have a 20#, 30# and 40# outfit if possible. Some trips are specifically targeting the bigger bluefin, 50 - 300+. If that is the case you will need a rig that you can fish at least 50# on, 60# is even better. Flouro leader for the bluefin, not necessary on these schooly yellowfin. Straight mono is good for them. Hooks #2-2/0 size are appropriate for the sardines they are using. I personally prefer the ringed circle hooks, Owner Mutu for the big ones. You probably won't need to worry about lures or trolling rigs. Being able to get your bait a head start away from the boat is a good way to help get bit. It can be tough with a light weight sardine on 40# line but you don't need to cast it that far, just enough that it can swim away from the boat without getting tangled. Take your time at the bait tank. Pick the liveliest, hardest bait to catch in the handwell. Pick one without a red nose and missing scales. Bright green color. Seriously, this makes a huge difference. Take your time. Re-tie a new hook after every fish. I missed a couple because I was in a hurry and didn't do this on my last trip. Listen to the crew. Work together with the other anglers. Keep the wind in your face and follow your line. If your sardine doesn't swim away from the boat immediately reel it back in and start over with a fresh bait. Watch where the deckhands are throwing the chummed bait and cast your sardine in that area. Keep stepping whichever way the current is going. Once you make it to the end of the line so to speak, reel your bait back in and start over with a fresh bait. If you can't feel your bait, reel it in and start over with a fresh bait. Tuna Shuffle, keep stepping. Don't get stuck in the corner. Fish hard, don't give up. If you aren't getting bites, don't hesitate to ask the crew for help, that is what they are there for! Good Luck! Most of all have a blast! Feel free to PM me if you have questions you don't want to ask here. Also please share your report when your get back.

NICE!