Islander 2013 Recommendations

[jorluivil]

The 2.5 day trip that I booked last year saw some awesome fishing: nice Yellows, Halibut in the 30 and 40 pound class, monster Calicos, huge Sculpins and some decent sized Rockfish. I know that even when fishing is good there is always room for improvement from both the anglers and the boat crew. The purpose of this thread is to share our experience(good and bad) and perhaps the OEX crew can in turn share those experiences with the Captain of the Islander.

Please, whatever you do, keep your comments civilized and respectful of other anglers, the OEX team and the Islander crew.

For me, here's what I have from last years trip:

Cons:
assigned bunks/rooms
boat appeared to be overbooked
meals seemed to get smaller(compared to 2011)
skiff operator was fishing while yakkers where looking for skiff service
bait that was being provided by skiff operator was small(one yakker asked for squid and was given/offered roughly 3-5 pieces of cut up squid, I was offered the same when I asked for it)
Birds sh*tted on me twice. Ok, I know they have no control over this one but I thought I'd share it anyway

Pros:
We were allowed to pick our roommate, this made Roby happy
Rope to tie down the kayaks during lunch was provided....HUGE PLUS FOR ME BECAUSE I FORGOT MINE!!!
The meals that were provided where hot and ready



Suggestions:
During the 2012 session prizes where given away. Perhaps, they can do the same for the 2013 trips but rather than give them away they can sell raffle tickets and donate the money to the deckhands.

Offer a second helping of food for an additional fee

Start a lost and found box. I lost one of the removable pants leg from some convertible Columbia pants.

If the boat is scheduled to depart at 2200 and all anglers have arrived by 1800 than the boat should depart. This gives the Captain additional time to scout the fishing grounds.


If I think of any others I'll add it later.

[wiredantz]

Recommendation:

I don't want matt as a roommate... he makes me feel unsecure...

[ful-rac]

Cons....
I won't be there
Frank will be there
Matt will claim to have caught your fish, and give you a guilt trip about it until photographic evidence is presented.
Jorge will be snake bit and go fish rockfish
The bent rod stan will steal your yellowtail, and switch it with your bigger one
Your kayak will become part of the island
You will find Kobra bobs weed but have to give it back
CJ might be there
Ericko will sleep all day and fish for 1 hour and still win jackpot

[TheBentRod]

Pros....
Tony won't be there. This way you will leave with your own stuff and not have to go to Downey or Bellflower to get it back.

Frank will be there.

Matt will claim to have caught your fish.

Jorge will be snake bit and go fish rockfish

The bent rod stan will steal your yellowtail, and switch it with your bigger one (since I caught the first, biggest and the most. I don't think there is an issue)

Your kayak will become part of the island (sucked)

Ericko will sleep all day and fish for 1 hour and still win jackpot (ChuckD and TheBentRod won the Jackpots)

Fishing at San Clemente!

Cons,

None that fishing at San Clemente won't cover.

[ericko]

Bentrod we had a side jack pot with the sewer crew and i took day two side jack pot think it was $70

[kobra]

There seemd to be a lot of mix ups with fish. Maybe staple tags as they get picked up by the skiff?
Gonna miss my cool Korean buddy. Crap, now who's gonna show me some cool knots?

[wiredantz]

I will have the staple gun

[StinkyMatt]

As respectful as I can be.


The meals were simply amazing in their quality.


The meals need to be larger. You have a bunch of guys working outside all day, they want to eat and eat real big. There should be an option for seconds or increase the portion size. This was a very common comment by several fishermen.



Booking a boat for 24 kayaks, GREAT! Adding a bunch of divers at the end made it a little more crowded then it needed to be. Divers' gear took up most of the upper deck.




Did not understand about assigning bunks without knowing who is friends with whom. Leave it first come first served on the bunks.




Despite the few cons, can't wait for the next trip.






P.s. I'm putting a tracking device on all my fish....just in case there are any mishaps.

[ful-rac]

Think you guys need a doctor for this trip to stand by...roby almost bled to death on the last one...whew....that was close.

Damn i m gonna miss a good one! If theres one thing i hate about the PA, is it cant go on the islander !


The meals were great! How much shrimp do you want to eat anyway matt?

[wiredantz]

Originally Posted by ful-rac

Think you guys need a doctor for this trip to stand by...roby almost bled to death on the last one...whew....that was close.

Damn i m gonna miss a good one! If theres one thing i hate about the PA, is it cant go on the islander !


The meals were great! How much shrimp do you want to eat anyway matt?

WOW !!! IS that a table cloth.......man.......

i didn't see any of that on the blackpearl

[wbrewski]

All I have is a PA 14 so I cant go this year. Bummer

[dc1983]

Originally Posted by wbrewski

All I have is a PA 14 so I cant go this year. Bummer

OEX is renting kayaks for $65 for this trip. I have a PA and that's what I'm doing

[xpresso2am]

Originally Posted by dc1983

OEX is renting kayaks for $65 for this trip. I have a PA and that's what I'm doing

Im doing exactly that, or if I find a good deal on a second kayak i'll bring that.