Q105 Big Hammer skiff/Mothership Trip 6/1-6/9

[Zed]

For Reference some maps and charts:
Big Google
Medium Cedros (R) and Benitos (L)
Tight Benitos.
Forgive the last two, I took the pic of a chart in the galley.

Day 1:
6/1
Travel day
Loaded the Qualifier 105 a 104' Knight & Carver with 7 kayak/pedaler anglers and 11 skiff anglers for the 07 Big Hammer skiff trip and departed San Diego 1200.

...and started the 26 hour ride to San Benitos Islands...


6/2 pm Middle Benitos
We got a few hours on the water as a bonus when we got in, as the water was launchable even though this archipelago offers not many easy anchorages.

Brandon and his dad weigh a nice bass


And Bob with a nice one.
It was a fun warm-up session on some quality calico bass. I found out back at the boat that Jeff got a 25# yellowtail on a 3" clear/red flake plastic?

6/3 AM East Benitos
Mark started off early on yellowtail with 2 for 4 on trolled sardines. Mark has the biggest bait tank I've ever seen. He can easily keep 40 sardines or 25 mackerel. He will be referred to as Mr Bait.


Jeff was on the other end of the spectrum. He lost 4 to kelp/rocks/sealion.


I finally gave in to my Dutch stubbornness and accepted the offer from Mr Bait to use his bait. And fine bait it was. Soon as I trolled my sardine to a certain very localized point upswell/current ZZZZZZZZZ. I got my first one of the trip using straight 40# and an Owner Gorrilla 3/0 on a TLD20. I was definitely going through kelp, as I felt the rub. I was pullin hard, and so was he! Jeff has pix of me at this point as I probably couldn't shoot anyway. I dumped that fish on the big boat for storage and then went 1 for 2 on baits, keeping my hook! Both fish were in the high 20's low 30's (pounds). Just quality fish.

My second fish took a ride bass fishing.

He was a pretty little 1# fish. After I released him I tossed the plastic overboard and got his big brother and HE was pissed off.


6/3 PM East of East
Scott found some bass inside by the boilers.

I found some slow bass here and there, but eventually dialed in a spot between a rock and a kelp place. I looped a kelp stringer around my R leg and fished a channel between the rock and the kelp a whole 180deg on my left. I pulled 27 bass out of this area and they went ~1#-~7# and I lost a few that were pulling drag but spit the plastic.


6/4 AM Mid Cedros Lee.
Another beautiful morning. Me (L) and Scott, ready to go at 0630 with Cal, a skiff captain, giving the thumbs up.


Kind of slow on bass in the morning, but Mr. Bait managed a yellow. This area had so much life packed into it. Elephant seals, CA sealions, Guadalupe fur seals, Pacific Bottlenose dolphins, 2 gulls (at least), terns, cormorants, pelicans, and osprey.


It didn't matter the fishing was slow, it was beautiful coast.


And these things were really shaggy and some as big as a soccer ball. I didn't experiment.


Staging for lunch on the Big Boat.


6/4 PM
S Cedros E Lee
We were nearer to a broad rocky point that was a wash that stretched deep into the interior, so that when it did rain, there was a lot of rubble that would flow out here extending it into deeper water.
And just like there should have been there was halibut in the shallows in the gravel. I got this guy that was 22" long throwing that plastic right onto the beach and bring it back into the water. Note that lure.


Paddling along I came across some bass just going nuts in about 25' of water. I threw a surface iron jig 5 casts and got 3#-5# bass on every cast. I have 40# on my jigstick so this was merely a tug-o-war without them taking any drag. Now these fish are tough, find structure easily to break you off and have tough teeth [you should see my thumbs] so light line doesn't work, but 40 is overkill. So I reset my drift a little inside of the action and started to bass fish with my little AbuGarcia Record 60 on a Seeker 6#-15# f/w bass rod and 30# spectra straight tied to thae very same lure I just got the halibut on. I casted outside and got a nice bass, I casted inside and got another nice bass in the 3-5# range [that's 7 in a row] then I casted outside again and hooked another nice bass, I thought. I said out loud "Oh that's another nice one! Holy shit I'm getting smoked!" even though I was alone. 40 minutes and 3/4mile later I had this beast on deck. I was hoping for 40# just as a trip goal. This was one of the most memorable fights of my life. That reel holds about 200yds of spectra and I was looking at the spool through the last wraps. I was expecting it to pop from the beginning, but that spectra held. Turns out it was 45 when weighed on board and when back on land it was 43.8 after the ride in the chilled brine to bring it to a very solid 30F.





So in 2 and 1/2 days of the theoretical 5 and 1/2 I had made my trip. I got great bassing, high quality yellows and then a PB on my lightest rod and second lightest line. The rest was gravy.

6/5 AM
Punta Eugenia
The point of the hook of Baja.
More bassing but a little slow and we were battling some wind. Cool scenery as usual. Lot's of pesky broomhandle barracuda.
Osprey nest on a spire.


We got blown off this area so we packed up and made a run for Cedros. 12 miles abd maybe 80 minutes later we're at Cedros.

6/5 PM S Cedros
Not much lee. The wind line is tight to the S end of the island. I elect to stay on the big boat and brave the outer waters from there. I got 3 yellows from the boat and gave away 2 of them. They came on surface iron and 40# on my jigstick.

6/6 am S Cedros
Windy early. We launched and yellows were breaking all around the boat. But there was 15-20kts of wind blowing. 4 guys headed inshore to relative shelter and I headed outside to get another yak yellow. I had been trolling a Rapala Magnum CD14 sardine w/o any success but I tried again. I very quickly hooked some kelp on the troll and nearly capsized in the rough conditions/heavier line/drag. So I went to throwing surface iron around the working birds. Scott calls me on the radio for a weather report, and I just leave my jig out w/ the rod in the forward holder and paddle 4 or so times to keep bow into the slop, then talk to Scott, then take 4 more strokes to keep bow in and parallel to the kelp, and talk to Scott. Of course, mid conversation the jig gets bit and the bow is now being pulled off course and the cresting slop is flooding my cockpit. I got the rod out of the holder and muscled this fish in. As fun as that was, it was really not that fun out there so I headed in


Even the inside got some exposure, but we were left with a fun downwind leg.


6/6 PM S Cedros
Still windy so I fished from the big boat in the afternoon. I got 3 yellows on 40 and my jigstick and yoyo jigging (releasing 2), and one bonito that was definitely my biggest ever bone. Too bad it spit the hook at the boat. It was ripping line off my reel (Penn Baja Special w/ 40#). I'm guessing 15 or 18# bone.

6/7 AM S Cedros E Lee
This was the most incredible yellowtail show I have ever seen! The kayaks found a phenomenal bite on yellowtail. First it was Mr. Bait and Dennis on bait of course, but eventually every kayaker was hooked up on the same grade of 20-40# yellowtail at the same time. The fish were pounding bait up into 5 feet of water. Birds and bait and busting fish and zigging kayaks and hooting skiff fisherman. It was pandemonium!
In the end the kayakers tallied:
Mark: 7 on bait 4 released
Dennis: 5 on bait 5 given to local fishermen from the island
Brandon: 2 on plastic bass lures w/ spectra and 1st and 2nd ever on yak.
Scott: 1 on plastic/spectra 1 on surface iron/spectra. 1st and 2nd ever on yak.
Bob: 1 on plastic/spectra. 1st ever on yak.
Jeff: Landed 2 on bait and lost 2 on plastic/spectra
Troy (me): Farmed 4 on 15# on my miniTrini (Trinidad12) and plastic swimbaits. Just had no chance on that light gear. But like I said, this was gravy. Just incredibly rich gravy, too good to pass up.

6/7 PM S Cedros Lee
We just milked the final hours on the water angling for more bass. It was slow to be honest but we were all just flying high.

We had a dinner of Prime rib that night and then made our way back N into the weather.

6/8 PM San Martin Island
We made a brief stop at an island on the way N, but there was generally shitty conditions so we continued N at a leisurely pace. The traditional final nights dinner is turkey dinner. After the tryptophan wore off everyone packed up for return to San Diego Harbor 0600 the 9th.

Epic does not begin to describe the trip. And it was taken to a whole other level compared to last years trip. Yeah I had to reserve a spot for next year. Just too good to pass up and the regualars on this trip a super cool. Not an asshole in the bunch...so I had a niche to fill. Heh.

Z