Oct. '00
When I left off last month we were finishing up our first day at Guadalupe Island. We had an excellent first day of Yellowfin tuna fishing. But the bait situation and left Skipper Andy Cates is an awkward. We our supply of sardines running low, Andy had to make a decision finish off our remaining sardines the next day at Guadalupe Island or head into Cedros and San Benitos Islands and replenish our bait. Andy choose to make the run to the inside islands.
We ran full speed all night to reach San Benitos at daylight. We started on the north side of the west island at San Benitos. Yours truly hooked and lost the first yellowtail of the day. The hook-up got everyone excited but it was slow fishing that morning. There were two highlights that I have not seen while long range fishing. First was Charles Tanaka hooking a 40 lb. Black Sea Bass on a Salas 6 X Jr. and the other was the landing of a California Halibut. The rest of the morning was uneventful.
Andy scouted out San Benitos area with just a few yellowtail landed. Finally Andy returned to a spot they the “10”. It is on the south side of the west island. By noontime the yellowtail started to show in small numbers and continued the rest of the day. By late afternoon we had a decent total for the day, 180 tails. As sundown approached we went searching for bait. With a little bit of work we finally topped off your top boxes and went back to Benitos to start on the south side the next morning.
Day two at the “10” produced a good morning bite but slowed by noon. So we went searching again. After try several spots we ended up at the “Boiler” on the west side of the west island. The “Boiler” proved to be the best spot of all. We departed at 4 pm to head back to Guadalupe with 270 yellowtail for the day.
So what was the key for catching yellowtail? Persistence would be my answer. Just about any method you would try would get you hooked up. It was just a matter of putting your time in. Jig tosser like myself scored well as did the anglers who fished dropper loops on the bottom. Even the guys who flylinned mackerel scored. But after a couple of hours of wondering why the bite was so inconsistent I took a break to check out a theory I had.
Since we were fishing a drop off Andy left the Red Rooster’s side scanning sonar on. I started to watch the fish come off the bottom to feed and then go back to the bottom. Sure enough everything I could see the ‘tails come off the bottom our hook ups would increase. We would go from one or two hooked up to six or seven and then as many as ten anglers. So after on flurry had ended I wanted to prove my theory. I watched the sonar and waited for the fish to move up in the water column. At the glimpse I took off to the stern and tossed a Salas out. Sure enough I did not even need to let the jig sink to the bottom. The jig would get hit on the sink. Just put it into gear and crank and I would be hung on a yellowtail. I would continue to cast until I made 5 cast in a row with out a strike. After bit slowed I went up to the wheelhouse and watched the sonar for the yellowtail to re-appear. When they did , off I went and sure enough I had the same results. So watching the “meter” off. Next time the final day at Guadalupe.