2.5 day on the Bright and Morning Star

rettz · Jul-25-2008, 04:04 PM

This is my first post so bare with me. Just got back this morning from a 2.5 day that left Tuesday night on the Bright and Morning Star. We got to the fishing grounds about 60miles out and were greated by no less than 15 seiners in the same area. The fishing was to say the least off and we caught 7 fish the whole day. I was really bummed because I figured going into it that we would get down to where the fish were being on a longer trip, but the captain decided to stay close and it was the wrong call. We made the long run south for the second day and the fishing was alot better. It was slow until about 430 with a fish here and a fish there all on paddies, my buddy picked up a nice Dodo on one of them and I was able to pick up a decent sized one and a little guy. At about 430, not 5 minutes after my son and my numbers came up on the troll, BAM a tripple on the jigs. Both my son and I hoooked up and these were some nice sized Albies! 25-30 pound class and everyone that got out on the slide was instantly bit. We got 11 on that stop and then got on the troll again and about 6pm the jigs went off and my son and I both hooked into some nice Albies on the slide! His went 25 and mine went 30 on the spring scale. I was so proud of him getting a bait fish on the slide when there were still alot of guys on the boat without fish! Did I mention he is 12? So we picked up a few more fish on that stop and then hit a couple paddies and got some more Dodos. Alot of the paddies we hit were holding yellowtail and Dodos and they were eating so that was a good sign. The counts were down but I was happy to get fish and had a great time fishing with my good friend and my 12 yr old son.

On a negative note, I seiously doubt that I will ever go on the Bright and Morning Star again. I was really bummed with the captains performance and I was not the only one. I just felt like the crew and captain could have done alot more to try to find the fish and make the trip better even though the fishing was slow. None of the deckhands seemed like they really wanted to be there until it was time to settle up and get there tips! I asked the deckhand to cut out the blood meat on the Albies as he started cuttin up our fish and he did not do it. Honestly I just think he did'nt really care! The crew and captain were night and day from Markus and the boys on the New Loan. I guess they spoiled me out there on out last trip and The Bright and Morning Star just did'nt measure up! All and all I ended up with 2 nice sized albies and 2 Dodos and my son landed 2 Alboes and had one break off that he got on the troll on a black and purple fish trap with 40 pound, set way back. Hope this report is a good one and look foward to fishing with you guys in the future.

Mike
1 timothy 1:15

RUNNOFT · Jul-25-2008, 04:30 PM

The New Lo-Anne will do that to you...they were always my first choice since they worked their ass off and were fun to boot. Markus knows how to run a boat. Sorry you were less than impressed on the B&M, but at least you and your boy were able to tighten some lines. Kudos to him on hitting the slide fish at twelve!

My first Albert was aboard the Admiral out of Morro Bay when I was in that age range in the 80's and I didn't know squat about no slide.

Barry Chew · Jul-25-2008, 04:40 PM

Glad you all got some fish. Good on your son for the slide fish. I'll remember not to go on that boat. I've heard good things about Markus and the New LoAnn.

mutu0069 · Jul-25-2008, 05:24 PM

Congrats for you and your son getting on some fish! Never fished that boat but from looking at that pic it sure looks narrow up towards the bow!

hardrider5 · Jul-25-2008, 05:44 PM

Stopped fishing that boat years ago when on a two dayer, we were told the boat decided to stop fishing because we had "caught enough" Put us outside the Coronados the second day to fish rock cod right in the middle of a huge tuna bite.
Sorry boys but it is what it is.

Mike

rettz · Jul-25-2008, 05:53 PM

Man I wish I would have known that a week ago! haha.

Team Buddhahead · Jul-25-2008, 07:14 PM

You know now.....

PAMMY B · Jul-28-2008, 12:47 PM

I was on this trip and I think Capt. Ben made all the right calls and worked really hard to put fish in the boat. If you look at the fish counts for that time frame we were one of the top boats and I cant find any that had more Albies. Kudo's to Ben for finding em! I know we had more than 7 fish that first day and we did get as far as 115 miles but it was a desert so Ben returned for day 2 to that small area that tried to produce and beat the daylights out of it. TRISTEN IS SURE ONE TOUGH LITTLE DUDE!!!!! I think he outfished most of the guys on the boat! He even won a JACKPOT!!!!!! From my point of view it seemed like everyone had a really FUN trip. I know I did and will continue to fish on this boat for a long time to come.

**Sherm** · Jul-28-2008, 01:05 PM

Nice fish you got there. I haven't fished the B&MS for a long time. It used to be a good crew. Can't say anything one way or the other about current crew. The boat has pros and cons. It's a fast boat and can get you to the fishing grounds quick (more time to fish) However, it's a narrow tall boat that rocks back and forth pretty well and it is a long gaff shot for the fish.

rsees · Jul-30-2008, 12:04 PM

Its late , but I wanted to comment on the BMS. I fished a few weeks ago on a 1 1/2 trip. Ben ran the boat and we went the distance. He decided to go long and it paid off. The accomodations were good, the food marginal, but Ben the owner and Suzie are great folks. I'll fish it again as I have in the past! Give them another shot.
Ron

ladynglr · Jul-30-2008, 04:13 PM

I just came off a 1 1/2 day on the BMS and am not sure what you are talking about! The crew were on top of all fish. Not many fish lost to tangles that I could see. These guys are hard working, fish finding people! Not only did they put us on fish, they worked hard to find them, and believe me, the paddy's were few and far between! The bow is one of the larger ones in the fleet and included a well stocked bait tank. We went down looking for the paddy's. And, when we had limits on paddy fish, we went looking for tuna, and found them too. The bait situation is tough at the receivers right now. So, they limited what they would put out in the hand wells. This allowed us to continue fishing when we found something that produced. If the fishing slowed down at a paddy, they asked us to soak a bait until all fish were on board. If a fish got into the kelp, and they did, the captain backed the boat down until they could work it out of the kelp. Now, not being on your particular trip, I can't and won't comment on what happened, but being on the immediate following trip, I can't compare what I saw to yours. But, I can say, looking at your pictures, that there seemed to be crew with everyone holding rods. jmho!

smelling · Jul-30-2008, 04:33 PM

The Lo-ann isn't the best boat, so you need to keep trying, I won't tell you which one is really a great 2-day boat but Squeaky is a good talker. Food doesn't get to be a factor when I go fishing , lucky for this boat because they feel the same obviously, Food is nutrition, We're not riding on a friggate restaurant !!!