Third season's a charm!

[eatmoretuna]

So I've been looking to pull on some nice yellowtail for a few years now. I'm sure many of you can relate as well. Besides an Albacore and some rat yellows on overnight trips I haven't managed to seal the deal. I even took a handful of 3/4 day trips to the Coronado Islands with no luck. This after watching the counts closely. With my frustration and determination boiling I decided to buy a kayak. Enough of this wasting money fishing shoulder to shoulder crap. I had had enough. It was time for a different approach.

My next two seasons would consist of my best efforts to learn the ropes in La Jolla. I made a point to talk to as many people out there as possible and it paid off because, to my surprise, everyone was really cool and helpful (thanks you guys). At first all I caught were macs...and I caught A LOT of macs! This was fun for about five minutes...then after days would pass I eventually just wanted to choke every one that came up. I didn't though. It wasn't the macs fault. I knew that much. Up to this point, the peak of my fishing success was found after buying a sonar for my kayak. I eventually forked out the dough for a Lowrance Mark-4. And managed to find a couple very productive rockpiles where I pulled up some real nice reds, trees and chuckles! I was feeling pretty good about my investment, but I wanted to throw down with the big boys. Who doesn't?

Enter season number three: The seabass came this season and every Saturday I was up at the butt-crack of dawn. In the cold. In my boardshorts. Just waiting and hoping for my reel to scream! It didn't. About this time the wife and friends began with the heckling, but I just told them to wait for it. And wait for it they did. Believe me when I say, they got their fill at the feast. And at my own expense. All the while, just like all of you, I'm seeing Josh's posts. I'm blown away by the size of his fish and his consistency. It really doesn't help when you land at the same time as he and clients are returning either! I'm sure some of you know what I'm talking about... trust me, it's painful to see after a long day on the water.

Let me fast forward a bit: I recently found out that I would be moving to New York due to the wife getting an offer we can't refuse. So this was it. At least as far as my La Jolla kayak fishing career anyway. My Yellowtail hunt has now reached a fever pitch. There's only so long you can be a spectator out there. Eventually I just gave in and gave The Darkhorse a call. I meet a fellow kayaker on the sand before Josh arrives. I told him I was fishing with The Darkhorse today and the look on his face said it all...excitement, drenched with envy. Josh shows up shortly after and he's a real smooth operator. He tells me to dump a couple items of gear (one of which being my bait tank!). Apparently, he's eyeing that space and tells me we're going to need it for fish! I proceeded to ask him every fishing question I could think of for the next few hours. And he answered them thoughtfully in great detail. What I really noticed is Josh just radiates confidence. If I must say it kind of rubs off. I found myself saying, "I'm pumped...lets do this"!

Little did I know exactly what I was in for. We go from making bait, instruction on how to pull on these fish and WHAM! I couldn't believe it.

Right about here I'm thinking to myself: WTF seriously?

I have never been worked like this before in my life. Every time I tried to rest Josh was all over me. These fish are crazy strong and incredibly fast. I just kept grinding and eventually Josh sinks the gaff into an amazing fish. I was exhausted and elated at the same time, but as soon as the fish was landed and secure he was finding the next school! One thing that really stood out was that even when we are chatting he is always focused on the Ocean. Josh is constantly studying what's happening out there and he's keyed into things that many would simply overlook.

I'll save you the dialog from the rest of the day and let the pictures do the talking. Apparently all that studying of the Ocean makes a difference after all.

My friends and family could hardly believe what I told them about the adventure. That is, until Josh unveiled this photo. Just amazing!

I was left speechless when I saw it. And still am. The smartest move I made besides hiring the man himself? Going with a two-day trip. I simply told him the date I was going to move to the East Coast and proceeded to tell him about our B-B-Q send off. He suggested we plan our last trip for a day or so before the shindig. Who was I to suggest otherwise? He seemed confident that I would not only land fish, but look like a hero for the party. I was quickly on board with the plan. How cool would it be if we could actually pull this off?

Well, we launched a couple days ago with hardly a soul on the water. And again Josh was focused on finding the fish. He proceeded to put me on beast after beast.

Let me just say there was a lot of this...

And this...

Notice the bearing teeth? I was giving these fish all I had and they were practically laughing at me. I'm embarrassed to admit how many I lost on this trip. Josh assured me that I wasn't doing anything wrong and "that sometimes the fish win". I was excited to even have those opportunities in the first place, but I really wanted to land one. I have no problem admitting that I completely got my ass kicked by these fish. They clearly won on this day.

I only managed to land one fish. One fish, over thirty pounds that is! Plenty for the send off party yesterday... I'm really going to miss this place.

I'd like to thank Josh Pruitt for opening my eyes as an angler. I promise you this guy's as hardcore as they come. He really deserves some credit for how hard he works to put you on fish. I'm not one to gush about some dude, but this experience inspired me to share my story. I'll remember these two trips for the rest of my life. So thanks for taking the time to read about it. I just had to share my experience and hopefully these photos will help to fuel your fire too.

I only have one complaint: there's no yellowtail in Manhattan!

[PapaDave]

Nice fish!!! Good way to part with LJ.

[roadx]

Nice fish! money well spent

[blitzburgh]

Congratulations!

[TheBentRod]

Plenty of places to fish in the New York area. You might want to look up catching Stripped Bass and the yellowtail of the Atlantic (Bluefish). Congrats on the fishing.

[Dirty Curti]

Dude, That is AWESOME! What a great story and well told with great pics. In one way I envy you and in another I feel sorry for you.

Envy...Because I am, right now, where you were three years ago. I hope it doesn't take me three years to figure this out. I've been reading allot about this Josh the Darkhorse guy and we may need to give him a call.

Feeling sorry for you because now that you know what to do you have to leave all of this behind. Will you be taking the Kayak with you or are you having to leave it behind?

Safe travels brother and thanks for sharing this great story.

Tight lines!

[dorado50]

One happy dude right there!!! Thats awesome.....

[Journeyman]

Well done out there man!

I know my time on the water with Josh was a fantastic experience, but 3 years of hard work and perseverance had to make it all the sweeter for you.

Hopefully you'll be able to continue fishing once your settled in New York, I just don't think your fishing attire is gonna cut it for most of the year up there!

[vincentek9]

josh is a friggin monster when it comes to finding those big YT! very nice fish for a party!!!!

my stupid 25lbyt only ran down, and only ran into 2 piles of kelp witch cut within seconds. and only fought for 10min.

[FARRIER]

Strong work!

[THE DARKHORSE]

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Well, at least you got a taste before it was all said and done. Ryan is a hardcore angler; and thank goodness for that. He not only takes first prize for best casting client of the season, but managed to hook more Yellowtail in two days than most guys would in, well, ever.

Our first trip I think he hooked five. Five big Yellowtail, over pretty much the worst structure possible. It was high stress fishing to say the least. Not only that, but he had multiple shots with the surface-iron due to his well placed casts. He made perfect casts on multiple pods I spotted, but unfortunately we just kept getting followers back to the kayak.

On our second trip Ryan was on Point and focused. He had nine opportunities with massive strikes---on a quality grade of fish. Which was part of the problem. All the fish we hooked that day were on another level; over the worst possible structure. We just got smoked again and again; I was losing it! Ryan was about to blow a gasket, too, and rightfully so.

When that fish over thirty hit the deck it was high fives all around and plenty of shouting---for sure.
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Besides, you can pretty much retire in style after you get a photo like this! Hopefully, it softens the pain of shoveling snow and never finding a parking spot---for the next two years. I told Ryan that if New York doesn't work out, he's got a career in kayak fishing as a model. We'll just have to wait and see...

[MattRabasco]

Good Fish Ryan! I met you on the beach, I think I can make out the mono sunglass leash! Good job on the yellow. I got burned and broke one off right when I got out and was able to get one more shot and got a 30+ also! I am sure you will be stoked for awhile! Good job putting people on the fish Josh!