El Capitan

[TJones]

Went on a 1.5 day trip out of Point Loma. Prior to getting into kayaking I was really getting into going out on overnight trips. Then I ran across some anglers who were also kayak fisherman. One thing lead to another and I was turned on to BWE and fish porn and was instantly hooked. After seeing all the trophy fish being caught on kayaks, I decided to buy my first Hobie. Eventually after years of fishing I finally broke the doors down and started catching fish. It was a tough road. During that stretch of time, if it could go wrong, than it did. I have been really fortunate and have had some amazing days on the water after that. Days when I was on fire and people around me just could not buy a bite. Once you have cauaght what most consider a "fish of a lifetime" from a kayak, everything else seems almost like child's play. There is something about a yellowtail taking you on a sleigh ride. Also the fact that we get out on water and handle business, everything from making bait, ideally findinding or marking the fish, and hopefully fortunate enough to hook and land a fish. Maybe multiple fish on a good day? Another great thing about kayaking is that it can be a relatively low cost in comparison to other types of ocean fishing, especially compared to owning/ operating your own private boat or getting out on a commercial boat. That being the case, it is not often anymore that I do get out commercial boats. Needless to say the season has been extradinarory the last few years. It have been 3-4 years since I have done a trip, maybe more? With some big cows being pulled this season, I figured I would give it a shot. I struck out on a day and a half trip where the fish were coming over slowly but steadily. All over a 100 lbs. So I decided to give it another shot and ended up getting on a different landing and boat. This trip would be downscaled but increase everyone's chance of coming home with something. The tuna fishing was slow that day but I scratched out limits of bluefin. Probably liw 20 's. The boat decided to move on. We found some schools of tuna and scratched out a few here and there on the slide. Half of our time was spent so we moved on. We anchored up at San Clemente and get into what I would call a wide open yellow bite. I think the final count was over 50 landed in the span of 4 hours give or take. Just when it seemed like the bite was over because the sun was setting, 4 rods loaded up including myself. My final tally was 5 yellows , 2 tuna. Yellows were all over 22 lb. estimated. What would have been a great memory sadly turned into a sinking feeling due to the fact that I got home with almost half my fish missing. At end of trip they called out my number on dock and handed out my bags. When another number was called I figured I was done so I took off . Apperantly I had some other bags still in cart. Capt. claims it is my fault I did not wait. I was planning to do another trip in a few days but have too many bad experiences with San Diego boats and think I'm pretty much done. I know I'm not the only one who has a horrir story to tell about missing fish. In fact, I have heard of worse cases where an anglers fish was mistagged and given to another angler. The Capt. claims they waited 45 min. Calling my number before eventually giving my fish to another party. Because I don't do these trips often, I tried to be fair and forked out almost 80$ for fish tips. I hope the guy who has my fish enjoys it. Anyways, stuff happens. But again, sadly the "trip of lifetime" was ruined with the fact that I did not get what I paid for. I hope others have s more pleasant closing if year. Tight lines.