Catalina Kayak Fish Odyssey 100 - Now Accepting Applications

[Apex Predator]

The goal was to make it 15 miles or so offshore (30miles Total)and make it to the tip of the 9 mile bank at the very end of Loma Canyon. I had a lot of people show interest in the upcoming Catalina Trip but only one Person Crazy enough to commit to the trip and the training. And since this trip requires a little bit of crazy I had to make sure my sole recruit (Will) wasn't completely crazy and had enough Legs and Fishing knowledge to make it around Catalina and get home in one piece.

We arrived at LJ at about 4am and I was able to meet Will for the first time in the dark. Will has been fishing the Gulf since he was a kid and since moving to San Diego and getting a new PA12, he has been in the water crushing it in LJ for about a year. Will has learned a lot of tricks and techniques for fishing the bottom and stucture where my fishing experience is usually focused on YellowTails, seabass, Tuna or bust, I look forward to getting to know his style and knowlege a little better when we are in Catalina.

We launched early at 4:15am or so and made plenty of bait by 5:45am. we then trolled the 120' line until we were off the point of LJ before we started our heading to our Offshore destination. We were trolling Macs and Rapalas all the way out there, chasing a bunch of bird activity but all we were finding was schools of larger Macs chasing small bait. But that is the way Offshore Fishing sometimes is, High risk and labor, for, sometimes a big payoff, but sometimes nothing. I was looking like we were going to get the latter of that when 1pm came around and we reached our turn around spot. I rigged my sail at that point and put on a brand new pair of Sidekick Outriggers that i was testing, and liking BTW, for the way back. Will however pedaled the whole way round trip in a PA12, which may be a record for a pro-Angler someone should check, but he did it just fine for not having a sail. Me on the other hand barely peddled most of the way back, the Sail/sidekick combo for the REVO is a game changer for sailing offshore, rigged properly it performs like a true sailboat.

Will and I would stay within sight of each other on the way back but would regroup every so often. We were about 10 miles Off La Jolla at that point and other than Will spotting a Tuna of some sort cresting the surface we weren't seeing much action. Will and I were in good spirits though, Will said at that point that he was definitely heading out again Offshore with me in search of Tuna, 5 minutes latter we see a mess of birds, and even though its getting late and we are in danger of losing daylight, we throw caution to the wind while chasing dragons. It pays off, Will's Line goes ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ, and he goes into action. Just as Will is getting his fish in the boat, my line gets hit, and I now spring into action. Will makes quick work of his fish and drops another line in the water and gets hit AGAIN! In the dusk they appeared to be small football Blue Fin but after getting them home we discover they are SkipJack Tuna's. But we have little time to discuss Fish ID's at this point because Its 4pm now and we have about 12miles to Lajolla now after drifting about 2miles south while we were fighting fish.

It ends up being 8:30pm and Dark before we make it back to LJ, way past our target of sunset, but not bad at all due to the Hook-Up and the fact that Will peddled the whole way with no sail. His loyal friend was on the beach waiting to make sure he made it back OK. My phone died so I couldn't call my Wife to let her know I'd be late, so she called some friends of mine who were also at the beach to see if we had made it back. After a quick beach celebration I rush home to get scolded while eating sashimi. It was great, what a Day!

None of the 6 days we spend in Catalina will be anything like the 34miles we did on that Saturday so I feel very confident in my new Partner, Will, as we go on our 100 Mile Odyssey into the Pacific.

[Chet]

Beast mode.
I might head out there a day earlier than you guys. Still need to work out schedule.

[FISH11]

Epic! Thanks for sharing.

[Chet]

Hey guys,
The weather is nice on the departure date.

Confirmed 2 of us will leave 1 day earlier, look for Hobie yellow and dune AI. We will at at Two Harbor.
Cannot wait !!!!

Trolling speed 5-6mph
What would you use to troll from Pedro to Cat ?

[Apex Predator]

Originally Posted by Chet

Hey guys,
The weather is nice on the departure date.

Confirmed 2 of us will leave 1 day earlier, look for Hobie yellow and dune AI. We will at at Two Harbor.
Cannot wait !!!!

Trolling speed 5-6mph
What would you use to troll from Pedro to Cat ?

Ok nice! we are heading to Parsons landing on day one but maybe we could come over to two harbor's and have a Burger with you all before? What radio channel will you be on? We were planning on 69.

[Apex Predator]

Originally Posted by Chet

Hey guys,


Trolling speed 5-6mph
What would you use to troll from Pedro to Cat ?

Rapalas of chovie, sardine and mackerel variety will be what I would use at that speed.

[Denis_Ruso]

Hey Guys,

Keep an eye out on Hurricane Sergio. Still unknown which path it will take and may bring some clouds and rain up into the channel right around your departure date.

https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/refresh/gra...?cone#contents

[Apex Predator]

Originally Posted by Denis_Ruso

Hey Guys,

Keep an eye out on Hurricane Sergio. Still unknown which path it will take and may bring some clouds and rain up into the channel right around your departure date.

https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/refresh/gra...?cone#contents

Thanks for the heads up, i have one eye glued to it at the moment, but just so you know: I don't fear the storm because it will teach me stuff

[BenCantrell]

Did this end up happening?

[Flounder]

Yes we went and it was epic! Sorry we have both been lax on getting the report up but it was a great trip!

[BenCantrell]

Originally Posted by Flounder

Yes we went and it was epic! Sorry we have both been lax on getting the report up but it was a great trip!

Looking forward to reading it! The important thing is that you guys survived.

[bertha]

This Is Amazing.

[Mahigeer]

Originally Posted by BenCantrell

Looking forward to reading it! The important thing is that you guys survived.

Still waiting...……………………..!

[BenCantrell]

[goldenglory18]

This is the definition of "pics or it didn't happen"