Royal Star June 2007 8 day trip
Well, since I have not seen any attempt at a comprehensive report, I will give it a start.....you other guys can fill in the blank spots......
Left the dock about noonish last Friday.......Royal Star was over getting fuel when Saltydawg and I got there about 7.30.
Got 'er loaded, tossed off the lines, and off we go to the EB receiver. Randy was driving this trip, I had never fished with him or the boat, so it was all new to me.
(Note: I have been on some long range trips......this was #6 for me of 5 days or longer, but it has been since I rode the Royal Polaris with Branman in 2003 that I have had the time and the money, both at the same time, to do a trip like this)
It took almost an hour to load bait, and boy, was it some choice looking bait........really good size selection of 'dines with some monster chovy.
Headed down the line, Randy came down and gave us the safety siminar. Looked like the basic plan was to head down to Cedros Island, a days run.......should be there by 10 or 11 saturday morning. Cool. Everyone is gearing up for the big Cedros Yellowtail.......I must say that I have never ever seen the extensive selection of jig sticks that were aboard for this trip. I mean, the entire upper deck looked like some sort of intellegence gathering array of antennae. So, bitchin dinner, (sorry, I forgot what it was, its all a big 5 star food blur.) Running downhill, smooth.........
Had a few cocktails, but hit the sack kinda early due to my being up since 3 that morning........a n t i c i p a t i o n.
Next morning (Sat) awoke to the smell of bacon and eggs.......nothing matches that when youre on the water, or so I thought until later in the trip.
About 10 AM, were rigging up the yo-yo's and such when the rumor started that the EXCEL had some good Yellow Fin Tuna fishing at Alijos, hence, the plans had changed and were were charging straight for the rocks. Good pick bite on 60-80# tunnies was the word. Unfortunately, it meant another day of no fishing and just traveling. I was not opposed to the plan, and in my very limited long range experience, having not been to the rocks, I was excited.
Several trips I took previously had been planned to visit Los Rocas Alijos, but I had never seen them........but I have never been disappointed in the the skippers decisions.....we have alway done well fishing.
(Note: Im really impressed with the whole san diego long range fishing operation, from a laymans point of view. These guys communicate with each other, and really have a "pulse" on what is biting and where.)
Anyway, another excellent dinner (someone fill in the menu for me) and some more cocktails, then some more cocktails........you get the picture. I really like the layout of the Royal Star, you dont have to go outside at all if you dont want to. (inside restrooms!) The crew doesnt really want us out on deck on travel nites, and I dont blame them. Nite nite about 10.
Wake up about 6. lets see, was it eggs benidict? Get to changing the rigging for Tuna and wahoo, hope to see the skinnies show up. 10 AM and we see the rocks. waaaaay out there, but we are getting close. The Excel is anchored up at point Alpha. Reports are the tuna are biting, and you can feel the buzz. So, we start trolling around looking for the fish......it did not take Randy long to get the hook down and start the chum line. The fish didnt take long to find us either, and before long, we had a pretty steady pick on smaller tuna and yellowtail. Started seeing some blowouts of the 50-60-70#'ers......and a few were hooked, a few were lost, and a few were landed. WreckinBall got a dandy. The infamous Dos Locos got a dandy.
I gotta say, Chris has really learned alot about fishing since the last time I fished with him.........
He even gave me a few lessons! He did really well on this trip. Say what you want, but he is a good fisherman.
I put in some time with the jig stick, and was tossing the Raider Chrome/Blue when, while picking out a "professional overrun", got picked up on the deep sink. This thing (wahoo, I think), whatever it was, (wahoo, I think), started peeling the line off the reel so fast that my sunglasses got dusted with saltwater. I could do nothing but follow this thing down around the stern, where it settled in to a way off surface battle. Here is where I made my mistake......after "posing" for a couple of photos while hooked up, I started pumping and grinding. Stoopid me, all of a sudden, the line just went slack. Wound in to find the telltale signs of 'hoo teeth marks across the raider. Crapola. They guys were pretty gentle. I think they saw the disappointed look on my face. I just figured that I'd hook another one, but it was not to be. No skinnies on this trip.
The Excel was done this afternoon, evening actually, so Randy spent an hour or so looking around trolling the marauders. Then, we anchored up in position Alpha.
Bite kinda died, but Randy wanted to stick around for another day. Another fabulous dinner on the hook.....I think it was Chicken Cordon blue. I had been threating to stay up late and try for a grouper or BSB, but, alas, the cocktails got to me and before 10, it was nighty nite.
Awoke Tuesday morning to pretty much the same conditions, 3-5 foot close interval, with a little chop on it. not bad, but not ideal. The tuna showed up this morning however, and before long, after hooking footballs and peanuts, the larger models started blowing thru. I think it was this day that Cuda Killer got a H U G E frigging Yellowtail on the dropper loop with a scad mackeral for bait. The bait must have weighed 2 pounds, and he had been bitten off with the exact same rig, but he just smiled, re-rigged, and re-launched. This Yellowtail was a toad, so big that Mark got his size 13 foot about half way into this things mouth.
Heck, they guys took a 10# Yellowtail and stuffed it into its mouth, and it fit! Anyway, I was snake bit. I could not buy a bite. I dropped down to 40#. Nothing. 30 # nothing.......I had some sort of self realization that I was probably coming off as a asshole by cursing at the fish, myself, the ocean......it was "no no no no nobodys fault but mine", so, out of frustrations, I picked up my 25# rig. Be very carefull what you ask for, cause you just might get it. I picked up a lively deen, tossed it out, and was bit instantly. Landed a nice 35#'er in short order. Checked the line, did not re-tye, and pitched out another bait off the corner, and it was inhaled as soon as it hit the water! Game on! This thing didnt even know it was hooked until it was about half way to Hawaii! Im standing there saying to myself....."ruh roh!"
Blake (deckie) comes over and pretty much confirms my fears…….this thing aint slowing down. I had 2 choices at this point, stand there and get spooled, or button down the drag on my little teeny tiny TLD 20 reel. Good thing for P-line! I began inching the drag down a bit at a time………but the spool was getting smaller and smaller and smaller………..finally, the fish just stopped. So, there began a 30 minute battle of give and take, with the fish taking me around the boat once, then back down and around the stern, then back up to the bow, and finally settled amidship. After much worrying that I would lose the fish, it finally came to color, only to now take a run at the anchor line. Blake was amazing, this thing went around the anchor rope twice, but he dealt with it and kept my line from breaking off. When he gaffed it, I was so tired that I could not even let out a decent “whoo hoo!” I was spent. Fish went about 58# on the scale, and I was one whooped puppy.
Covered in sweat, shirt soaking wet, hat drenched, I sat in the galley and had a diet coke, some orange juice, and some water. Cuda asked if I was alright, he was a bit worried that he may have to break out the ADF (the heart shocker!). It took me almost an hour to recover. The rest of my afternoon was pretty much a blur!
So, about 4 PM, Randy pulled the hook and got on the PA saying we were heading for Thethis bank, where the Excel had good yellowtail fishing. (man, I hate sloppy seconds!)
Off we went, headed east.
Wednesday morning, as we approached the Thethis bank, we stopped on several kelps where we found nothing but very small rat yellowtail. Not wanting to waste our bait, Randy quit stopping on the kelps. We got to Thethis about 9, where we immediately were surrounded by 25-30# yellowtail. Man, those dudes can pull some drag! It was pretty much full speed fishing for about 6 hours. Who can complain. There were some toads mixed in there as well…..some 40+# models were landed. After plugging the boat with Yellowtail, Randy wanted to do some exploring offshore, to the southwest.
Edit: I see Mark posted! he pretty much completed the report! YAHOOO !!!!!!!!!!!
http://www.bloodydecks.com/forums/ra...ial-8-day.html 
2007 Thom Hultgen Memorial 8 Day 
Mikey and the guy's killed the fishey's for us to can, and some fish and eat for quite some time. Thanks to the guys on the boat they made the boy's trip fantastic. Boy am I glad that our boys made it home safe and no problems. 
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