Dont tell a soul.....

[Hypoxic1]

The Tuna are here

Not a kayak report but in view of the current flameouts for posting accurate information I dont think anyone should get too upset, this happened a long way from La Jolla.

On the occasion of my 49th birthday my wife hooked me up with a few adventure type gifts, one of which was a day and a half on The Royal Star,

For those unfamiliar, The Royal Star is one of a handful of super
sportfishers operating out of the Fishermans Landing area at Point Loma. She is 95x25 has 12 guest staterooms that each have 2 bunks and a sink, she has 4 heads and 3 showers and one of the finest crews of any sportboat anywhere.

The objective of this run was to capitalize on the recent showings of bluefin tuna within range of the 1 to 2 day trips.

We left a week ago Friday early to give us the best shot at being in the zone by Saturday morning. The seas were flat and calm, perfect for a nightride.

Fishing began at greylight while the chef cooked up made to order omlettes for the passengers. (On this class of boat all of your food is included and is typically high quality, it aint a burger boat).

There were no jigstrikes but we did make several stops on phantom marks that produced few, or no fish. At about 1030 the light turned on and every guy on the boat was fighting a fish. This stop produced limits of 20 lb class bluefin and while we kept looking for the bigger kind they seemed to stay shy, and deep.


The fish were rapidly spiked, bled and then placed in a brine cooler that keeps the fish in a prefect state until you are ready to take them at the dock, or send them to the processor for filleting and vacuum sealing.

We did make several other stops but were not able to get other species to play even after a 50 mile run up and out to warmer water.

Lunch was excellent , Asian chicken, dinner was perfectly rare cooked bluefin loin with asparagus and rice. An excellent meal, im sure even Yani would approve.

I did not take any action pictures as it was time to fish but have included a pic of the fish that is on my smoker now in the back yard.

All in all a great trip. I would encourage anyone considering taking a trip like this to see if any of the high end longer range boats are running day and a halfs or two days. Some of the longer trips are hard to fill so many of them are doing these shorter trips when schedule permits.
Tight Lines,
Chris

[dorado50]

WOW...did you catch those in LJ?

[Aaron&Julie]

Nice! Would've loved to been there.

[Croaker Dave]

Originally Posted by Hypoxic1

The Tuna are here



The fish were rapidly spiked, bled and then placed in a brine cooler that keeps the fish in a prefect state until you are ready to take them at the dock, or send them to the processor for filleting and vacuum sealing.

Chris

That's friggin' awesome! First class. Ike jime.

[GregAndrew]

Originally Posted by dorado50

WOW...did you catch those in LJ?

Cummon now, you know those things only wash up as far as Imperial Beach.

WTG on the bft.

[T Bone]

Nice! I have a 2 day coming up on the Legend,Hoping for similar results...

[Dan]

nice!!!!!! I got a 2.5 day and a 5 dayer in the works can't wait!

[Tman]

Nice...Although I still cannot fathom why no one commented on the pics, instead they chose to compliment you on your trip.

Too many 'nice' comments, all from guys heading out soon. Hope they have the same luck you did.

Personally I think it is just wrong to post in the manner that you did...
Showing pics of chunks and fillets getting ready to be smoked?

Then to show them at the final stage on the smoker??? WTF!!!

That is just wrong...

PS - will you PM me your address? I am hungry. And if I keep looking at those pics, I am only gonna get hungrier...

Way to slay 'em.

[StinkyMatt]

Outstanding!

Me hungry

Chris, Happy 49th!!

What a wife... And you're right, the meal
sounds super. Can't beat fighting bluefin,
then eating 'em. At least not with a stick
anyway...

[steveooo]

Looks good!
I've never had smoked BFT. Sure looks tasty though

I had a 2 day last wknd. Caught my 2 day limit in 1 hour. It was the most WFO i've ever seen. I mostly ate it sashimi, I did some killer poke, and some rare BFT chipotle fish tacos. I'm in a BFT coma, although I think I could be talked into some of that delicioso smoked stuff.


Here's what worked for me, for the guys going on the upcoming trips.

Right off the jig strike, use your heavy gear. The fish coming off the slide wont be as line shy. After you get one, step it down to 30 or 25. There are some brutes in the mix, but nothing that your shouldn't be able to get in. If the bite turns into a pick, step it down to 20.

Thx for the boaters report

[Aaron&Julie]

Thanks for the info. Steve.

We went 3 weeks ago on 1.5 dayer, thinking they turned on, turned stupid.

Not so lucky, scratch bite 1/2 per rod for the trip, we weren't the lucky ones, even though Julie stood by my side for twelve hours hoping to be the lucky ones on the "slide".
Some yellows, 4 yellowfin, 1 dodo, for those lucky enough.
Goose egg for us.
Tuna fishing, the only thing that can beat La Jolla kayak fishing, maybe.

[Rav3n805]

Nice score on the BFT!
Yea, I got limits on a 1.5 day on the Queen, 1 over 47lbs, good bft fishing, now the yft have showed up! Go get em, gang!

[Rav3n805]

Originally Posted by steveooo

Looks good!


Here's what worked for me, for the guys going on the upcoming trips.

Right off the jig strike, use your heavy gear. The fish coming off the slide wont be as line shy. After you get one, step it down to 30 or 25. There are some brutes in the mix, but nothing that your shouldn't be able to get in. If the bite turns into a pick, step it down to 20.

Right on the money steveooo!

[silverbullet]

yum....

[Whizz Bang]

Awesome!!!

I'm sold. Talk to us about your dry brine ratio....was it too salty? I have been playing around with both wet and dry brines and have yet to find the perfect ratio.

Congrats Chris.

[RedSledTeam]

Originally Posted by Hypoxic1

The Tuna are here


I did not take any action pictures as it was time to fish but have included a pic of the fish that is on my smoker now in the back yard....

Chris

Looks great! We need 'smell-o-vision' for this post. My eyes can almost taste it! Nice catch and thanks for the post.

[Hypoxic1]

I got this from a guy who parked his boat next to mine at the Kona Kai several years ago.
3 tbsp onion powder
3 tbsp garlic powder
3 tbs chili powder
3 tbsp pepper
3 tbsp salt
1 box of brown sugar



For thos who like a little kick to it, add some cayanne pepper.

Brined it over night then 4 hours on the smoker and those bellies were purrfect!!

Thanks, Eric Try it out not salty at all

Chris

[T-Rex]

Wow ...that looks good! Gonna have to give that dry brine a try.

[The Kid]

I want some Bluefin so freakin' bad. Congrats Chris on an epic tuna fishing trip. There's nothing like smoke tuna fish sandwiches with Sriracha tartar sauce. Holy crap this is more torturous than reading a Darkhorse post.