Nov. '01
Well I have finally gotten around to give you a report on our 2001 5-day trip. As usual we booked the Red Rooster III for the dark of the moon in August. People always ask me why I fish the dark of the moon? The best reason I have is it is one less thing for the anglers to worry about. Fishing is usually good around the dark of the moon for tuna. Does this mean that we are assured a great trip every time? No, but so far so good so why change.
We had planned to run straight to Guadalupe Island and fish for Yellowfin Tuna. But Capt Jeff DeBuys had another plan in mind. With the recent reports about Guadalupe being poor, Jeff twisted my arm and talked me into the idea of stopping short (110 miles) and searching for Bluefin Tuna. At sunrise we were fishing for BFT’s but not much was showing. A couple of stops for a few albacore and a BFT were all that was happening. The rest of the fleet was having the same results. And no one was fishing Guadalupe. There were two crewmembers in the tuna tower search for breezers and Jeff constantly checking the sonar for fish but so far not much. Around 10:00, Jeff comes on the PA and says “chum line, port side”, a short pause, then “Throw it heavy, it’s a nice school”. Well that was an understatement. We stayed on that school the rest of the day.
The first hour was complete bendo for anyone who put bait in the water. I spent that time tagging fish for passengers, helping the crew gaff, untangle lines, hooking and handing fish. My grey t-shirt was red and brown. Jeff looked over and said, “Why aren’t you fishing?” Well it looked as if the passengers had gotten the hang of it. So off I went into the fray. First bait, instant hook up. A few minutes later a 30 plus pound BFT. Jeff gaffed the tuna and I commented to Jeff, “I’m glad I talked you into not going to Guadalupe.” Jeff just laughed and said, “Who talked who into stopped?” And that became the running joke between us the entire trip. If fishing was slow it was Jeff’s fault and if fishing were good I would take credit for it.
As the first bite continued into late afternoon many of the anglers started singing the BFT Blues. “Baby you’re hurting me in a real good way.” Some of the anglers were hooking up on a regular basis while others were not. The ones that were not getting hooked up most didn’t mind the break in the action to recover. The trick in getting regular hook ups was to drop down in line class. The initial bite you could use 40 lb. and have no problems. But as the BFT’s got weary you have to drop down to 30 lb. and even as light as 25 lb. There were times they would charge the boat and chew the heavier line. That would be when everyone would get hooked up. The bluefin would back off again and out comes the lighter line. This happened several times that afternoon so by dropping down in line class you could stay hooked up most of the day. It takes a little work and you have to pay attention but you will get your fish.
You maybe thinking start the engines and find another school, that these fish are just not willing enough. Well, we were the only boat in the fleet that had a school stay with them on this day. So we were not about to drive away from this school until the tuna no longer wanted to bite or we had had our fill of bluefin for the day. The later happened around 6 PM. By dinner everyone was sore, tired, a slimy mess and ready for something else. As Jorge served dinner, Jeff pointed the Red Rooster III to Guadalupe Island. The Lupe hadn’t been fished for 5 days and we were hoping the conditions had changed for the better. Next month the Guadalupe Island report.