San Clemente island on the Islander 2.5 Day
 

I scarfed down an awesome bowl of clam chowder from Mitch's while waiting for the boat to come back from loading the bait. We had a decent mix of sardines and mini macks in with those YUCK! anchovies :D Light load on the Islander, we left port a little after 8 pm on Thursday evening. Very smooth ride out until we hit some unexpected wind and swell half way there. In the morning John said he was this close to turning it around with water over the wheel house. Wind was blowing pretty good at first light and our only option that was open was the White Rock area.. The crew got the kayaks out of the rack and ready to set up on deck as we finished eating french toast and sausage. We all got on the water pretty quickly and were passed bait from the boat into our live wells. I would see the schools of 5- 6 pound bonies come under me. Fly line sardine landed a few, dropping to the bottom would bring up a calico We drifted south along the island until lunch where we all boarded and ate amazing fresh cod sandwiches and coleslaw Lots of bass and bonito for me and most with some deep rock fish coming in as well as Dave's DEEP jack pot winning halibut. After dinner I crashed, the pound cake with blueberries, whip cream and chocolate sauce was the knock out punch.

The boat moved and tried to get the squid to float but after 60-70 pieces were made the dogs were relentless and never let it float again. We rode up along the weather side and settled into West Cove to start and picked away at bass and at least 1 heart breaker that freight trained into the kelp. Eating lunch we moved to North West Harbor and on the way saw tons of terns a mile off the island, so we chased the yellows a bit and had them showing on the meter and side scan but no luck. Anchored and in the water we spread out. Chuck picked up day 2 jackpot in 80 feet and I headed out from the beach and settled in about 65 feet. Pulled up a 20 pound BSB that had me hoping for something better. A while later I got a decent halibut and was happy to have the meat part of the trip taken care of. Wind got to be more than I wanted to fish and I hopped back on the boat around 6:30 and enjoyed a hot shower and a bunch of hot wings. Fished from the boat for a while and pulled up a couple chunky calicos on the yoyo in 80 feet. Tri tip and baked potato for dinner and slept like a rock until we hit port at 6 am. Fun times, great crew and boat and good guys to fish with. :luxhello: hopefully Drew and the film crew puts together enough cool footage for an upcoming episode.

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Nice write up Andy! Trip was fun, even more so with the light load. I started Friday with a short halibut caught in the same area as Dave's but in even deeper water. Picked away at the Calico and Bonita after that. Lunch on the water was a surprise. Menu said pulled pork sandwich, but it turned out to be a fresh rock cod sandwich from fish the crew caught. And it's the first boat trip I've ever been on where the galley beer selection was supreme - Sierra Nevada and Coronado IPAs, etc... No Coors lite for me.

When things slowed in the afternoon, John drove the boat over hard bottom spots and called us out to mark the locations. I entered a couple of waypoints and then drifted over the area to fill up on my meat quota.

Saturday was fun fishing on the weather side, West Cove, never been there before. More Calicos and another short halibut, again in deep water. And then the wrap up in Northwest Harbor until the wind really started to kick up.

Great trip, awesome hard working crew and good fishing buddies.

My bamboo gaff did go missing so if anyone picked it up, let me know.

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I miss these trips...

Just out of curiosity does Shane not run these trips anymore?

Nice flattie looks like you brought home some great meals Congratulations. To bad about the wind though it sure had beena windy year hear the food was killer. Anothere Adventure in the books.

Looks like a lot of fun!

I'm so bummed. Was on the May 2.5 day trip that got cancelled. There is nothing like that boat, the crew, and the fishing on the island. Hopefully they do it again next year.

Great pix Andy. Love the tern shot.
Not bad fish for you and Dave, either.

The eating sounds as good as the fishing, nice trip.

Thanks Andy! Wish I coulda been there.

Great trip and summary Andy !

What an awesome trip! This is something I definitely have to try. Thanks for sharing!

Sweet pics! Looked like fun!

Well, after reading this article I have a bit of remorse on not going this year.

Good stuff Andy :cheers1:

Chuck D Report
 

Great trip this year, the smaller load really left a perfect amount of space on board for the anglers. Cool people, had fun seeing familiar faces and meeting new faces as well. Fishing was on and off, crew, captain, food, and service was impeccable. Managed to get a 28lb Butt for second jackpot, had a blast all the ways through. Tight Lines.

Nice story and pictures, Andy. Loved the sunset and tern shot photos, too.

Awesome pictures and fun group! As always, the Islander crew worked hard to put us on fish. The food was icing on the cake.
I figured the bait situation was going to suck so I brought my sabiki pole. We were lucky to have a few macs and small dines mixed in with the anchovies. I wasn't able to make any greenies at the island but picked up a few good size spanish mac's that got destroyed by the nuisance 4-5lb calico's ;) Searched for the brown and yellow kind with no love on the first day. However, I did have a blast catching the bonita on my bass set up. They tried making squid after the first day, the sea lions made it tough but managed to get about 3 squid each + the fresh frozen I brought. I was hoping to keep trying to get more squid but they called it quits after an hour or so.
The second day I went away from the pack and searched for deeper water were I saw some birds working. About 100 yards away from bull kelp, in 120ft soft bottom saw a decent mark with birds around. Dropped one of my 3 live squid and was going to start to use the yoyo when the squid got picked up. Classic yellowtail hit and run, I thought I had the drag set perfect but this thing was no 20-30 pounder...It was kicking my ass and within a minute I was getting close to the kelp line. Decision time: Do I lift my tip even higher and tighten my drag to hopefully turn it? Will it bust off if I do that? Or keep working it, let my 65#braid and 6 feet of #40lb fluro do it's job? Too late, I already feel kelp on the line. I loosened the drag a bit, popped a few strands, and gained a little bit on it. Then I was in the thick of the bull kelp...:mad: After about 30 minutes, getting pounded by swell, I'm pouring sweat, trying every angle, loosen/tighten drag, and can still feel the fish on. My arm is jello, my VHF suddenly died on me, hailed a nearby kayaker to radio the zodiac for a pair of fresh arms to help out. The deckhand tried his best to free it, can still feel the fish too, after about 20 minutes we look at each other and make the decision to start pulling hard and see what happens. :linesnap: at the 40lb fluro. The worst part was we only had about 30-40 feet of line to go. Moral crushed. Tried the same spot with the remaining two squid which were promptly eaten by calico. Peddled back to the boat for more bait to find out we are changing locations. Managed to find a good sheepshead and 4lb whitefish bite during my halibut attempts. Ended the day with a killer meal, good buzz, and fun/heart break memories. Still came out with a decent amount of fish.
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Turns out whitefish and bonita make killer sushi! I've heard horror stories about bonita too. Never tried bonita before. I actually almost threw it all out when I was filleting it because I wan't stoked on the "mushy" texture. Gave it a go anyhow. Cured the fillets with sugar, salt, pepper, and parsley for a few hours. On the smoker they went. I was pleasantly surprised, they tasted awesome!
Fun fishing with you all, see you OTW.
-Zac

Looks like a great trip. Any pics of Drew's 8+ Calico?

this trip is a must do bucket list type activity. I didn't go this year and so far wish I had.

What a cool trip. Really enjoyed the pix, thanks. One day I'll do that trip, hopefully with my sons.

I miss going on the Islander. Alot of fun and a great crew. Congrats on the nice halis.

twas a fun trip with everyone indeed! to anyone who's on the fence about this trip next year, you absolutely need to go! the crew was amazing. those guys work their butts off, and cater to your every needs. this being my first mothership trip, i was blown away by the awesome accommodations and friendly atmosphere with people who share the same passion as you. do not miss out next year!

SCI
 

Thanks for the great right up and photos Andy-
I don't really have much to add but a thank you to all the Islander crew for their hard work and fun they make these trips. I'm going again next year I hope and who knows what will happen:luxhello:

My first day jackpot Hali came when I wanted to make some fresh bait other than chovies so I tied on a sabiki and used a 1 oz bass plastic lead head for a weight and in 160 feet right on the bottom-bang on the plastic
hookup and gingerly brought up 28 # hali:D almost like I knew what I was doing

Lucky and good looking :p

Great shots guys, definitely eye opening! Thanks for the post!