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Swivelhead

Excalibur 2.5 Day 8/24-8/25

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43 minutes ago, yotebuster said:

I went out of Westport WA for albacore last weekend.  My wife booked a 6 pack day boat for family.  Everyone but my father and law and I ended up dropping out for various reasons.  We went 45 miles off shore.  First time tuna fishing and it was incredible!!!  Most fun I’ve ever had fishing!!  Sounds like it only gets better and better when you have more people on the boat.  We ended up with 27 between the two of us.  The captain actually jumped in on one bite and jackpoled one!!!  Cool to see.  Got hit on the troll within a half hour every time but had trouble keeping them up on the bait with only two fisherman.  150# of fresh albacore for us!!  I’ve never had it fresh, it’s incredible!!!   Now I know what tuna fishing is all about.  I want to get down your way and try for bluefin and yellowfin!!  

the first time always seems like you are trying to stop a volkswagen with a fishin' rod.

many years ago a couple from red river ND and living in mesa AZ got a care package of bluefin from me-they said it looked like garbage in the bag.  three days later they were knocking on my door asking to buy some so they could send it back to ND.

lee

ps the san diego airport is only a half mile from the landings-i walked it once after a rough landing lol.

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12 hours ago, BowHuntAZ said:

 Any last minute advice?  Sounds like 20-30# fluoro with #2 or #1 hooks?  Any particular hook style seem to work better?

Belly hooks were killers vs. nose hooks for us on the yellowfin.

We didn't use #1 hooks, just #2.

Have chewable Dramamine.

Take 2-4L of your own water. We had water on board, but I was grateful I had 1L nalgenes in my bag.

100SPF kids swimming spray sunscreen gets you back in action faster.

Have a ton of fun, and take lots of pictures. I thought I took more, but I didn't.

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9 hours ago, Swivelhead said:

Albacore used to be the mainstay out of San Diego, no more.  Albacore seem to bypass SoCal and go to Oregon/Washington.  Lot of fun, pull hard.  What was the average size of your catch?

They said 10-15#.   I honestly would’ve said they were a little smaller then that just based on weighing freshwater fish I’ve caught over the years, but they’re dense and rounds so maybe they weighed that much.  Here’s a pic.  

99495B98-E4BD-43DA-AEBF-E054E13C5D2A.jpeg

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Quick update on our trip.  Working out some discrepancies with the boat so I'm not posting many details yet.

All of the boats arriving at the docks Friday night were pretty dismal with not many fish caught.  The bite appeared to have shut down.  We started slow on Saturday with only 9 fish on deck all day.  Moved south all night into Sunday morning.  Got right into them at first light and scratched all day picking up about 100 YFT and a handful of BFT.  One small dorado the whole trip.  

Last hour of light on Sunday I picked up a 50# BFT.  Ended up being the biggest fish we caught.  

Night fishing was dead.  No squid in the water.  Tried different jigs and flat irons, not a single bite at night.

Great trip and great crew but not going into details until we get things straightened out.

 

Photo Sep 01, 7 02 40 PM.jpg

Photo Sep 02, 5 42 38 AM.jpg

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On 9/14/2019 at 11:05 AM, BowHuntAZ said:

Fish counts. Actual vs received at processor. 

something sounds fishy.....

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Seasons over and sounds like some hunters enjoyed a tuna hunt or 2.  unlike deer and elk personal best is relative offshore.  its the 'how did i do that' deal that you remember.  mine will always be a 37# bft on 15lb line and  #6 hook.  how did i do that lol?  now is the time to talk to other offshore nuts and find light load charters for next season or junkets down the gulf side of the peninsula.

this late season seaforth full day has a great primer so i'll post it but its long and i did not watch it so beware.  excellent primer however.   good luck all for next season-we are just blessed to be here in Arizona and within 500 miles of so many world class sporting diversions on range, peak and wave so get out and have some fun.  i never got a mearns' or white sea bass but i'll live.

lee

 

this pic is kinda special and the special was by accident.  that last point in the background is Pyramid Head, San Clemente Island, considered the southern end of kalifornia(4 u trophy).  "beyond here there be dragons"-except for a couple submerged banks there is nothing but blue water all the way to the big island of Hawaii.  quite a reach.

pyramidhead.thumb.jpg.c30286735ec8a8b00ed9fe442623b811.jpg

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