Islander 2.5 day

[ful-rac]

Heres a couple pics from our trip, if anybody is interested. We got limits of wind on this trip!!! 6 or 7 yellows a bunch of really nice halibut, jumbo bass, I imagine It would have been insane if we had good weather. I just ended up with 3-15 pound halibut.... had to work really hard for them too.




Here's Matt checking out the paint job on the side of the boat late at night...!





Butt #2


Butt #3


Lover's

[jorluivil]

I think we're probably banned from all future trips.

[mtnbykr2]

Oh no!!!! Matt.... was the paint ok, I hope you gargled afterwards...sorry dude...hopefully the fishing made up for it

[wiredantz]

LOL... Mat whats wrong... you were not satisfied with the boats paint job

[Dennis]

That's a much better lay out than when I went on the Orion for a mothership trip.. Wind was also an issue. Looks like a nice time, though. Who's the guy with the "Gracie Barra" sweater?

[jorluivil]

Originally Posted by Dennis

That's a much better lay out than when I went on the Orion for a mothership trip.. Wind was also an issue. Looks like a nice time, though. Who's the guy with the "Gracie Barra" sweater?

I believe his name is Joon, don't know his screen name.

[StinkyMatt]

My 2 cents:

The bad:

Wind
Roby catching a YT
Bait tank not working
Had to sleep with Tony
Roby catching a YT


The good:

Nice boat and crew
Great people
Overall good fishing
Had to sleep with Tony
Catching a Hali bigger than Roby




Some more photos:

Nice clean water



Roby with his YT



3Getting crowded on the deck


Group photo with friends, thats why we fish...

[jorluivil]

What's missing from the last pic?

[jorluivil]

Matt, the fish you're holding on the yak doesn't look like the same fish that you're holding in the group photo......wink wink

[ful-rac]

Roby gets screwed over again!

Eric I said white side!!!!

[wiredantz]

GOod job guys!

[mtnbykr2]

the OTW picture of Matt looks like he is in Hawaii or Florida, the water looks
alot bluer, looks great out there oh great picture too...

[mtnbykr2]

I am jealous Roby nice YT...Erick....white side out!....nice work guys

[TheBentRod]

Originally Posted by jorluivil

I think we're probably banned from all future trips.

No you just have your own radio channel. Don't worry, I will flip back and forth to monitor both for you.

[MrM]

Originally Posted by StinkyMatt

One of these fish is not like the other!!

[theluckypig]

nice work guys!

[TheBentRod]

Originally Posted by jorluivil

I believe his name is Joon, don't know his screen name.

aka Surfsup

[ericko]

O well it just looks bigger when its the dark side... dont know what the big deal was went out got my halibut gave the ocean some cookies and went back to bed....

[robmandel]

yeah, the wind was really the nemesis this go round.





but, it's still an amazing adventure and definitely a can't miss trip.

for me, bassin' is the target. and I was able to score some quantity and quality. speaking of quality...



this thing was the biggest calico I've ever seen, anywhere. I don't think I'll ever see another like that again. well, until next year's trip

and nailed him on the slug.

as usual, the food was to die for, the crew awesome, and the people on board great company.

when I did the first trip I think four years ago, there were like 3-4 hobies. this time, about 2/3 the boat were hobies. us paddle guys are getting to be a small contingent. maybe I ought to consider...

anyways, see y'all next year, and hopefully some times in between, be it LJ, or up north.

[roby]

Short Report:

I caught a yellow tail (18lbs), two halibut (17lbs & 14lbs), and a bunch of calico bass.

Video Report:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUpPyjFwDRU

Long Report:

The Islander left San Diego Friday night at around 9pm. We had a packed boat with over 26 kayak anglers and spear-fisherman. We were told it would be a bumpy ride out to San Clemente and it was. Captain Shane went over the particulars and said he expected the conditions to be windy. I got all my gear together that night and was in bed by 10:30pm.

I woke up a bit later than I wanted to at 6am. The boat was still moving around looking for a good place to anchor (China Point). I had an awesome breakfast and was the 10th yakker or so out on the water. The first thing while rigging up that we all noticed were the birds working some bait outside the kelp line. When I got my sardines, I headed straight for the birds. My first cast got me hung up on kelp and I had a nice 15 minute battle to save my jig.

I got out a little ways outside the kelp and casted my jig for a nice 2-3 lb calico bass. On my next 7 cast I connected to 3 more bass; I was metering bait all over the drop off. Stan (BentRod) and George cruised on by also for some calico fun when Stan had a nice bend on his rod and was pulling on something serious. At color he hollers out, "Yellowtail!!" and I started to frantically cast out and grind my jig. 15-20 minutes goes by and Bob (Kobra) goes bendo about 30 yards from me and it looks like the right kind. I finally get bit on my jig and feel the beautiful pull from the yellow. I go through the most awkward gaff scene and eventually get the gaff in it.....I was whoopin' like I had won the lottery

There were 4-6 yellowtails caught that morning if memory serves me right. By now there were more kayakers working the same area, but it seemed as if the bite had died out.

I made my way into Pyramid Cove since the boat had moved there and decided to hunt for some calico bass. I got several more bass on the yak, but nothing too big. The wind picked up a bit at lunch, but it was manageable.

After lunch, several yakkers hit the beach and were searching for halis. I decided to do the same and got my first halibut for the trip on a sardine. There were several more halis caught by anglers. The wind laid down considerably and we ended up have a nice sunset heading to the boat which was now anchored at Pyramid Point. I picked up a couple more calicos on plastic, but couldn't get another halibut to play.

The next morning I got up at 4am hoping to get a crack at the yellows again, but unfortunately the wind was howling. The Captain looked for a safe place to anchor and decided we would work the same area that we did the day before. I got out to the spot, but the conditions were just absolutely terrible. The swells were up and the wind was fierce. Several of us stuck it out for 2-3 hours. I got one hit that stayed with me for about two minutes before getting hung up in the kelp. It felt like the right kind, but who knows...

I ended up following George to a rockfish hole he found and caught some dinks while George made a big dent in the rockfish population. After watching George get taco meat we decided to go drift for some halis. I was fortunate to nail a second halibut along the beach again. The wind by now was absolutely bearing down on us (20-30mph). There were 4 kayakers on the water at this time (noon) because most of the yakkers had gone in for lunch. George, Ryan and I decided to head in for some grub; the drifts were just too fast because of the wind. After lunch, Captain Shane decided to check out the front side to see if the weather was any better. The wind did lay down a bit. Unfortunately, the front side for me only produced one mack.

The trip ended with a nice pedal towards the Islander and the sun disappearing over San Clemente Island. The Captain, crew, and company were just amazing. This was my second trip with the Islander and I was once again impressed with the effort they put forth. Catching my first yellowtail ever will be a memory I won't forget, but the laughs I shared with friends on board is what really made the trip great.

* I know I left out alot of non-fishing related events, but as the saying goes....what happens on the Islander stays on the Islander.