Just after we pulled the gear in yesterday and started heading for home.....
Arghhhh!!!!!!!!!! What else can be said? Well.... a lot of other things were said, most not suitable for this family friendly forum. But what can you do when you spend 24 hours on the ocean and come back to the dock with totes still full of ice?
Enough with the exasperation, and on with the report.
Tron gave me a call on Monday to ask if I wanted to hook up and head out to try and find the leading edge of tuna out of Garibaldi. Tron and I have been friends since we kids and deckhands on the docks of Little Italy, and with his recent move back to Oregon, this was to be our first chance to fish together in years. So of course I begged off my other plans (thanks Don and Ryan!) altered my course from Depoe to Garibaldi, grabbed some gear, and made my way down to Big Tuna Marine where Trons boat the Secret Island is moored next door at the Tillamook Boat House.
Our plan was to ice up, then depart at 2:00pm, run to the crosshairs at 125/45 get there around 3:00pm, fish until dark trying to locate fish, spend the night, and then get on the fish in the morning. With luck, we would be able to tell the other boats headed out in the morning exactly where the fish were.
With a forecast that called for a NW to SW shift in weather, we figured we would catch the window decent enough. No real swell, but a bit of a blow coming, Tron and I both felt comfortable that we would have a solid 4-5 hours to fish on Tuesday afternoon/night, then another 6 hours on Wed. morning before heading in at a reasonable time.
First things first. The forecast was iffy for most boats. I certainly would be leery of it in mine. But the Secret Island is a 50 foot Delta that can handle some big weather. Powered by new C9 Cat engines with full fly by wire electronics and controls, it is at the very top of the game for Northwest offshore ocean boats. This is a dream boat, and can handle far more weather than we could ever hope to fish in. We both assumed that if the forecast held, and was even a little worse than prediction we would still be able to fish fine, and that proved 100% accurate.
Details- We crossed the bar just before 2:00pm, with a text to Seelicious of our wake as we headed SW. The Secret Island is AWESOME! With the power to run at 25knots without issue, we instead chose the conservative route of about 17 for fuel economy since we knew we didn't need to get anywhere early as we were there for the afternoon/evening bite. We arrive on scence 60 miles later at around 5:30pm and gear in the water. Since it is just Tron and I on board, and we are trying to find fish, we want to be as efficient as possible. 3 diver boards out the back, 2 handlines on the corners, 2 more hand lines with tags mounted on short broom riggers amidship, and a troll rod off the port and starboard outriggers. In addition, I have 2 Butterfly jig setups ready to go for bait balls or after we hook a fish, a swimbait rod set up for fishing the first slide, and a spinning reel set up for casting if we happen to see fish on the surface.
The gear consists: Handlines: Blue Cord and clones
Troll gear: Penn 16VSX with 80# power pro, and 50# Big Game Hi Test Solar Collector top shot mounted to a G Loomis Pro Blue Prototype rod.
BF Jig Gear: Shimano Trevala jig rod with a Shimano Trinidad 16N reel, 50# code red braid, Shimano Wind on leader
Swim bait gear: Loomis PBR844C with Pro Blue with a Penn Torque 100, 50# power pro and 25# Yozuri Hybrid flouro with a Marty lead head and an Eat Me swim bait.
Spin Casting: Shimano Stella 8000 with a Shimano Tiralejo Surf rod, 50# power pro, Yozuri 25# Hybrid.
The Fishing: We easily found 59-60 degree water by the 124.40 line. We found good water changes by the 50 line. We dumped gear in at about the 45.09 line and just outside the 125. We worked our way out and south to the 125.25 line and just right on the 45. We hit some of the standard pinnacles and shelfs both Tron and I like. He has fished that area a lot for tuna from Garibaldi, and it is one of my primary spots from Depoe. Weather was sporty, but not terrible. A consistent 3-4 foot wind waves with a little bigger. By 7:00 is was starting to lay out a little bit and starting to look like we would be in for a good night on the water.
Then an issue! Arrghhh! Tron went to start the generator aboard the SI and due to a faulty vacuum breaker on the wet exhaust is back siphoned water into the cylinders. He caught it in time, but we now had a gen with sea water sitting on the heads. Tron worked like heck to change oil at sea, but he just didn't feel comfortable that he had gotten all the water out. Since it is a $10k gen, we both agreed that our best plan was to head to port and get the water out asap and make the gen priority #1. So after 21/2 hours of fishing, we pull gear and run for the barn. Tron kicks it in the tail, and the Delta 50 pounds through 4 foot wind chop like it's not even there as we make run for home. Eventually we cross the bar at 11:00pm. We get back to the slip, and proceed to change oil in the gen, run it, recheck it, and get everything sorted out perfectly. What a relief that a basically brand new gen had no damage! At 12:30am we look at the SST's, talk about what we DIDN't find, and make a game plan for day 2. 12:45am we hit the rack.
At 3:45am we get up, start the mains, untie, and hit the water again. We cross the bar just after 4:00am and start heading west towards Mt. Crossley. We figure to head out to about the 125.20 line, and fish around 45.40 and work south into the SW that is blowing up.
Water gets fairly naitical as we get on the grounds. Still plenty fishable for the SI, but I wouldn't want to be in another boat. You definitely need sea legs. Gear is in the water by 7:00am and we're fishing. We run the edges of the drops, run back over the Mt., head out and then head south. 59.5 degree clean water, almost blue. We put the gear in the water around a huge garbage line, with numerous kelp paddies. We mark lots of bait, but see no fish on the screen. Plenty of porpoise, whales, tuna birds, and of course even bait jumping out of the water.....just no fish. We fish in and out, back and forth north and south...... nothing. We made it as far out as the 125.40 line and as far north as the 45.42 and as far south as 45.25. So, in 2 days we basically covered a whole lot of water north and south just in and out from the 125. NADA.
At one point Tron walks into the wheelhouse shaking his head and says.... "well that's really frustrating" After asking what, he proceeds to tell me as he was watching the gear he saw bait jumping OVER our jigs.
Weather yesterday was definitely nautical. Consistent 4 foot chop, sometimes building to 6 foot, with an occasional 8 footer. Tight, like wind chop always is. So..... sorry to tell you that we simply didn't find anything, but we gave it the old college try. Big thanks to Tron for having me aboard. The hours of no fish did give us a chance to talk and come up with some other great ideas, one of which you guys will be hearing about soon! I had a GREAT TIME! We might not have caught any tuna, but I got to fish with one of oldest friends for the first time in ages, so the day was obviously a success!
So.... here's a couple pics of the day. Keep in mind that photos flatten out the water, so while these don't look like much, it was nice to be on a 50 foot Delta!
Here's what the wake behind the boat looks like when it is flat......
they will be here very soon 
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