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10-06-2008, 06:08 PM | #1 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 611
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a thousand words
well the Islander does it again...
2.5 days of great food, great friends, more jackpots, another spiecies checked off the "never caught from the yak" list, and another new personal best... the trip was supposed to go to the Cortez bank in search of the tuna and various pelagic critters, but the weather gods had a different plan for us...the wind and low pressure system moving in had us go hide behind the San Clemente Island for a couple days.... day one got off to a slow start...we were hoping to fish the north side of the island on day one, but the wind out of the north sent as to the south side for a late start...we hit the water around 8:30 or so to some pretty windy conditions...thank God (and Hobie) for the pedal power...two minutes off the boat I got a nice 2 lb calico and then another... hit a boiler for a nice 4lber and... and then a 3 lb bone lights up the clicker... this was the first half hour...I'm thinkin this is gonna be a good day,but the fish gods thought otherwise...it just shut down...lots of wind and tough conditions.... fish count for the first half of the day was about 6 or 7 calicos and few bones...not bad, but not stellar... heres bother Bellcon on the wind/kayak treadmill just before lunch... two strokes forward and one stroke back...it was ugly... lunch was the Thunder Burger, an open faced chili burger... as usual, the Islander kicks out the mean grub... after lunch, it was so windy on the south side that the captain thought we should go try the north side to see if it was better... turned out to be a great idea..it was calm and beautiful over there... the afternoon session was calm and peaceful both with the weather and the fishin'.. scratched a few more calicos and lost a butt... Bellcon got into a nice calico hole...said he got 35 fish and couple hours... the big guy was actually tired of catching calicos...that's tough... I feel bad for you Don.... Day Two.. woke up to mild wind and cloudy conditions... the plan was to fish east from China Point and set up for lunch at Pyramid Head Point...hit up the kelp beds for nadda... moved to the outside to soak a dine and huck some iron... the bones were out in full force...they play hard...fun little critters they are...there was, however, a hitch in the gitalong for that plan to go east...here was the first hitch... Jim gits on the talk box and says "hey...anyone got a camera" he was right next to me so I was glad to be his camera beeeotch... he got the first of the YT on the trip...a nice 20 lber hitch #2, Troy gits on the radio and says he just caught and released a 10lber in the same area.... everybody was pretty much in the same area, but the fish gods smiled upon a few of us...I finally get to put check in the YT box... my first yak yeller...not a brut but I'll take it...he went 7 lbs and I just barely got it away from a hungry dog that nipped the tail... I had the gaf ready to stick, and I see this big dog lurking below so I said F$%k the gaff and grabbed the Salas 6x jr and yanked the fish onto my boat...there was a tooth mark on the tail...whew...just in the nick of time... here is my 1st YT from the yak... so after 3 tails had been caught, nobody wanted to leave the area... we all pounded for afew more hours and the YT gods smiled upon me again... here is YT# 2...he went 20 lbs... a stellar morning to say the least... hunger won out ...it was lunch and back out... the captain said he had heard there was a high spot about 3/4 mile away from us that had produced some YT for another boat the day before so I proceeded to locat that spot...found it and imediately got slammed on the blue and white on the first drop... don't try this...I was in the middle of the fight and took my my hand off the reel to key up the mic and tell Aaron and Sam and the boys to git yer ass over here and git a yeller and I let up pressure on the fish and friggin lost it...before I could even get a cuss word out, I dropped the iron back down and gets slammed again...this time it was a 12 lber...YT #3... by now everybody is coming to the area...I was hopin' we would all git some...no sooner did I paddle back to the spot and cast out... I git hit hard again...the reel is peelin out line...I'm watching the spool get smaller and smaller fearing the dreaded end of the line and once again the fish gods stopped that BFYT and the fight was on... he towed me around and fought up and down for about 15 minutes or so and then...THWACK goes my gaf...right between the eyes... new personal best YT 24.5 lber...what a day.... I got no on the water shots of the 12 lber cause I was in hurry to get back to the action, but you can see his tail behind me... heres Aaron in action... here are the YT caught... Jim 20lbs Matt 20.5 lbs Troy 10lbs released Josh 7.5 lbs, 12 lbs, 20 lbs, 24.5 lbs and the guy who loves to hate me...my favorite camera beeotch... he's cussin' at me under his breath... love ya Don... |
10-06-2008, 06:44 PM | #2 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Carlsbad,,Halfway up the Hill
Posts: 486
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You da man
Nice see ya again Josh. You had a hell of trip.....Joy told me after the morning session on the second day...We should follow Josh, she was right..Way to stickem man...Eric
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10-06-2008, 07:27 PM | #3 |
Member
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Normal Hts
Posts: 62
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Josh, Thanks again for the photos! You are a hell of a photographer, and an even better angler. Nice job on the 4 yellows and of course the jackpot!
Excellent trip despite no Cortez bank. Great trip, crew and food were top notch. All the anglers were a great bunch of guys and gals. Can't wait to do it again. CJ, by the way, found the problem. Exhaust port was jammed with chovies! Thanks for the seat, i gotta have one! JD
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Back home we got a taxidermy man. He gonna have a heart attack when he see what I brung him. |
10-06-2008, 08:22 PM | #4 |
Support your local pangas
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Lj
Posts: 976
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Congrats to all!! Looks like you all had an awesome trip!!
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Thanks Matt F. |
10-07-2008, 02:13 PM | #5 |
Junior
Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 19
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Thanks for all the great picts and write ups from everyone and congrats on the catches.
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10-07-2008, 02:28 PM | #6 |
Junior
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: tijuana
Posts: 13
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that looks like a Excellent trip !! thanks for the report
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10-07-2008, 03:27 PM | #7 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Seven minutes from the launch!
Posts: 987
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That proves it.....
The Yellowtail curse is over for Josh (you will never forget your first Yellowtail from a kayak ), and maybe even the Islander . Honestly, I would of cried the whole way to the island after being all worked up about the Cortez Bank (reguardless of conditions). That being said, it sounds like a knowledgeable captain did what he thought was right. A tough decision that looks like it paid off, for some. I'm sure if the little crew of kayakers were in the same area at the same time, the counts would of been much higher .
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10-07-2008, 09:39 PM | #8 | |
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Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 611
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Quote:
and I, too, thought for sure some of the others would have hooked up... I was on the radio calling people over and there were about ten of us all converging on the area that I hooked up in...go figure... ten of us there and only I get bit... also...I owe a bit of credit to you, Josh... you wrote a piece not so long ago about how the salas should swim... I followed your advice...thank you...it works!!!!!!!!! |
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10-10-2008, 08:26 AM | #9 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 2,568
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Killer report Josh!!!
What's your secret, r you rubbin' the bottom of yak with something??
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[------------------------ <)))< ....b-a-a-a-a |
10-10-2008, 06:12 PM | #10 |
Member
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: The OC
Posts: 58
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How a salas should swim?
I did a search for a post on how a salas should swim, but I didn't come up with anything. Can you post a link or maybe paste in the article? Thanks in advance.
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10-10-2008, 09:12 PM | #11 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Huntington Beach
Posts: 109
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Yes, please do tell, I'm all ears! Joy
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