GUADALUPE TUNA! Six-Day Islander, 10/23-20/29 with Dana Warf Rod & Reel Club

[The Sea Hag]

Well, I'm sure glad I took Ryan up on his invitation to join their group for a 6-Day trip on the Islander. Planned destination was Guadalupe Island. Wind, weather, and the Mexican Government often prevents trips from actually making it there, but we got there in style aboard the Islander.

After packing and repacking for about a week, I got up at about 4:00 AM on Friday, October 23 to make my way to San Diego for our planned 9:00 AM departure. I met up with the group at a little after 7:00, waiting to board. We were allowed on the boat shortly after, and departed for the bait docks a little before 9:00 AM.

While the crew loaded bait (nice big sardines), Captain Shane came down to give us a safety speech. Then he introduced the crew. Our second captain would be Jason, we had Jack and John on deck, and Rick and Greg in the galley. The game plan would be to head straight for Guadalupe. We expected to arrive at the north end of the island by around 10:00 AM the next day in calm seas, and probably troll along the island to the south end, where most of the recent tuna had been caught a ways off the island on drift.

After the speech, Rick served up some wonderful banana pancakes. Then we all had some time to unpack, gear up, chat, and eat. And eat some more. Dinner was fabulous thick pork loin chops... to die for! There were snacks morning and afternoon every day.

Overnight we made a couple of stops to try to jig up a few squid. We saw them in the water everywhere we stopped, but none of them seemed to have any interest in our squid jigs. So we abandoned that, and moved on.

Saturday morning we awoke with the island in site. Troll rotations started, with no response. We arrived at the south end of the island and Captain Shane set us up for a drift. Almost immediately we started hanging fish! We did pretty much two drifts that day, and ended up with 50 fish, with the biggest ones pushing 70 pounds, by the crew's estimation! The bite faded when the sun went down. We went inside to anchor for the night, and ended the day with a lovely chicken linguini dinner and cheesecake for dessert. I finished off the first day with two fish... One around 20 pounds, the other maybe 30.

Sunday was a pleasant near repetition of Saturday! Captain Shane circled around a bit in the same area we'd been before, and metered some fish he set up to drift on... and we started hanging them again right away. First some smaller fish, then the larger ones came in. It wasn't really what you'd call wide open, but we had several hanging for hours at a time. Again, the entire day consisted of only a few drifts, and it seemed every time Captain Shane would announce he was going to move, the fish would start biting again. Today again we had lots of fish in the 50-70 pound range, with one fish pushing the century mark.

We had a rare show in the afternoon that day. There had been a shark hanging around the boat. While our losses to the shark were relatively low, his presence was felt, and kept everyone on their toes. Several of us were soaking baits on the bow in the afternoon, when right in front of us a shark probably 12-15 feet in length came completely out of the water!! While the shark banked off to the left, a small seal split off, as high in the air, to the right! We never saw any blood in the water, so I suspect the shark missed his mark. But all the other seals around the boat porpoised off in all directions!
The wind blew pretty hard for a while this afternoon, but we had beautiful clear skies. There was a beautiful spread of fresh yellowfin sashimi, sushi rice, and pokie for afternoon snack. The bite again ended as the sun set and the seas calmed, and we enjoyed Rick's famous thick lamb chops for dinner, and warm apple pie with ice cream for dessert. Once again I closed the day with two fish, one around 25, the other pushing 40.

Monday was more of the same again, although I don't think anyone was getting tired of it. We set up to drift and while the boat was still sliding I threw out a bait that was picked up immediately, and landed my first larger fish of the trip - 65 pounds! Finally!! Two baits later I was hooked up again, Jason gaffed a fish for me in the bow that was about 50 pounds, and as he lifted it out of the water Captain Shane yelled at me to "look down". We had a friend... a 15 foot shark cruised by just as Jason pulled up my fish. I'd been fishing 40# on my JX, hooked another smaller fish, and while pulling on that, I noticed my line was pretty stressed from the first two. I switched to my single speed Accurate 665, which had 50# line on it...

Lunch was served. Anglers drifted in and out of the galley, and back on deck. The bite had fizzled here, Captain Shane motored around looking for fish and set us up for another drift. While John tossed baits to chum up the fish, Captain Shane came on the PA. He said he had some bad news. He'd just been told the Mexican government had decided again to close the island to fishing. We would have to leave, very soon. We started hanging a few more fish on our current drift. I caught another schoolie sized fish, then hooked another that had be cursing my single speed reel. That fish would go 77 pounds, and as I got it to gaff, Whitie was circling menacingly below it!

When the bite slowed up again a little before 4:00, Shane started the engines, and we headed east toward Cedros and Benitos.

We arrived early Tuesday morning, and looked around a little to catch some mackerel for yellowtail, with no avail. The fish were around, but not interested in our bait catchers (other than a few small whitefish). Fishing at the islands was slow, we ran around most of the day for 20 yellowtail. We left at about 4:30, for what Captain Shane predicted would be a rough ride home. The weather was up, winds were expect to be 20-25 knots, with gusts to 35.

The ride was as promised. The 300 mile run home took nearly 46 hours! Most of us rode it out in our bunks, coming up mostly for meals (and a few people not even that). Wednesday morning was punctuated with a minor medical emergency, that could have turned major, resulting in one member of our group being air lifted off by the Coast Guard.

We arrived at the dock on Thursday at about 4:00 PM, not too much worse for the wear! We unloaded our gear and sorted fish, then weighed up the jackpot.
First place Jackpot went easily to Bob Wheeler, with a 97# yellowfin! Second and third were a close race, with my 77 pound yellowfin and Ryan Burson's 75 pound yellowfin. There were many more fish taken that were over 50 pounds!
Nearly all of the crew members have been on the boat together for 4-5 years, and they all work together like a well oiled machine to make sure everyone has all the help they need to make the trip a good one. I was again extremely impressed with the crew. They're helpful, pleasant, courteous, and very professional. I will definitely be back, and hoping to score a spot again with this group for next year's trip.

We'd like to thank the Captain and Crew of the Islander for a really fun trip. This year's season is pretty much done, but they should have a new schedule posted soon. Watch for next years schedule soon on Islander's trip schedule at [link], or call (619) 224-4388 for charter information or reservations



The folks in the Dana Warf Rod & Reel club.



Bob Wheeler with JP fish.... at 97 pounds!


2nd place fish.. 77 pounds.


Ryan with 75 pound third place fish.

[mcrae]

Great report! Sounds like the lupe is typical,with a slow pick of fish .But a chance for a larger one now and then.

[Tunaslam]

Congrats on 2nd in the JP Hag,a dandy tuna, sounds like a decent trip for sure, bummer on the closure, again. I heard rumors the Islander was bow damaged on the way home, with all bilge pumps on full alert? Guess only a rumor?

[The Sea Hag]

There was some minor damage in the bow, high above the water line. I believe the bow stateroom was a little damp as a result, but if bilge pumps were on alert, I never heard about it. They had a shark trip schedule to leave Saturday, and didn't see any problem completing the repairs by then...

[Randy V]

Originally Posted by The Sea Hag

[FONT=Arial]...The 300 mile run home took nearly 46 hours! ...

That sounds like a brutal run back to the barn!

Great report.

[26grumpy]

You're always in the hunt for JP Pam, WTG !

[medunn16]

Good job Pam!

[spike]

Excellent looking trip, with a great group of anglers.

[PullinAhi]

Thanks for the report Pam. We had a great time with you on the trip! I might be still rocking a little from the pounding we took on the way back to the dock.

[Ready4TheYellow]

Great Job Pam, Congrats on 2nd place. Nice Fish I leave on my 10 day Qualifier 105 trip tomorrow.

[ngc]

WOW!! What a pleasure to read Hag,great report