The Thom Hultgen Memorial 8 Day rides again...
Great trip with great people. The pre-trip festivities started with a BBQ the night of the 17th at my casa. The usual suspects were in attendance, Cuda, Corb, Fishstalker, Wreckinball, Gspot, etc... Had ribeyes, crown, and bushmills, followed by dog rockets from Jerry. Goodtimes for sure and sleep was difficult that night so the line began forming down at Lee Palm Sportfishers at around 8AM. Even though this was my third 8 day I was still excited.
The BD Cast of Characters for this trip:
Me, ArvinOnTheIron, and SaltyDawg:
WreckinBall (Alias Jiggin' Jerry of Bill Roecker fame), Mikeylikesit, Fishstalker, and SDAngler:
and finally:
George "I'm ridin' the pretentious highway" Daniels, our chartermaster:
Day 1:
All travel, Chef Rick made us a very nice dinner of sirloin Tri Tip in a mushroom sauce with rice. That guy can flat out cook. Plenty of Coors Light and Bushmills and then off to bed. Got a full day of rigging and traveling tommorow.
Day 2: All day travel today, Capt. Andy Cates gave seminars on what to use at Alijos as we will be arriving there around 10 AM tommorow. Word is that it's bomb ass fishing on the 40-60# Yellowfin with shit loads of Yellowtail around as well.
Day 3: The rocks at Alijos came into view around 9:30 A.M.
ArvinOnTheIron and SaltyDawg looking for the rocks:
The wreckage begins, Yellow Fin Tuna and Yellowtail on the iron with some Yellow Fin Tuna on the skip jig at Alijos on Days 3 and 4:
Alecc with a nice one, he's standing next to "That Guy" who always throws his bait in on top of your hooked fish, thusly named "That Guy"...
Me with one of the typical 45lb models and 2nd Ticket on the RR3, Joe D. a great guy and a wealth of knowledge:
Arvin railing a Yellow Fin Tuna:
Mikey getting busy on the long rod:
Alecc with another nice one:
Yellowtail with a cookie cutter shark bite:
Alecc dropping the hammer on a BIG Alijos Yellowtail:
Note the sabiki rig in the Yellowtail's mouth, he landed this big bitch while trying to make scad for strip bait on the dropper loop Yellowtail:
Mikey with a nice one:
Charles with a nice fish off the kite:
Me with a nice Alijos Amberjack:
Days 5 and 6 were spent at Cedros going after cow Yellowtail and skiffing for the Calico. I found a new niche for me and fishing when I realized that I really enjoyed chasing these 35lb plus Yellowtail with 20# test an Avet SX on a Calstar 800XL. What a blast, heres some photos of the guys with some quality Yellowtail from Cedros as well as some landscape photos.
Me with a pig Cedros Yellowtail:
SaltyDawg working a good Cedros Yellowtail:
Me and Tom with another Yellowtail:
Days 7 and 8 travel days and chasing albies offshore. Here's Arvin feeling the weather:
Travel day pranks on GSpot:
GSpot doing everything he can to avoid starting his own "chumline":
All in all it was a great trip with great friends which is what these trips are all about. Big thanks to Capt Andy Cates, 2nd Ticket Joe D., Nick, Tom (thanks for saving my fish from the anchor line), Fernando, Dylan, and Chef Rick for the AWESOME meals, you guys make the "Chicken" what it is, obviously the best long range boat in the fleet.
I look forward to next years 10 day with the same group of asshats. I hope those Intrepid guys brought their "A" game, because we sure did.
My Vacation: 8 Day Red Rooster III 6/18/09-6/26/09 
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