We went 140 miles with several other boats and it was well worth it. After a few yelowtails on paddys on the way down, we found larger yellowfin and bluefin tuna. Fishing was great all afternoon Sunday 7/2, good in the morning 7/3, then dead until about 3:30 Monday when it went WFO again. About 4:00, I'm on a long soak (we were extremely low on bait) with 25lb string on my accurate upgraded jigmaster, when I get picked up.... and spooled. So, I grab my Avet LX with 30lb Ande and a 30lb flourocarbon leader. Toss out the stern, a couple of minutes later, five of us all get picked up. We can immediately tell these are larger grade fish. The crew worked their asses off and not one of these monsters was lost due to a tangle. Two anglers got tired, buttoned down their drags and were broke off. Thankfully, my mono to flouro Seaguar knot and terminal San Diego knot held. The Avet LX worked great and two of us land our fish in about 45 minutes. Mine was a big bluefin estimated to be about 58 pounds (no scale - estimated weight using girth squared times length). By far a personal best for me. One guy got hooked up after I brought my fish in, tried to hand it off (because he thought it was "just" an Albacore) and it turns out to be the jackpot winning 65 pound bluefin. Oh yeah, that third big fish from the first bite, the guy fought for almost 3 hours. So we didnt get into port until almost 11AM on 7/4. Then my alternator belt decides to bust in the middle of hell - AKA the desert outside of Yuma.
After a tow and a rental, I finally made it home.
Flourocarbon leaders made a huge difference in hookup rate. I would strongly recommend them for these fish.
My total 1 yellowtail, 9 yellowfin, 3 bluefin
Pics coming soon.
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