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West Coast Tuna Trip- 8/18/12 Report
Been in California for the last week enjoying the 68 degree nights and 80 degree days. Everyone says it's "hot" right now, but I beg to differ. Couldn't leave without going after some tuna. We set out at 9:00 PM from San Diego on Friday after loading up on live anchovies and ran close to the border of Mexico. We started fishing at daybreak. We mainly concentrated on kelp paddies. Our first kelp paddy was loaded with mahi.
Using a small Avet spooled with 20lb braid and a 30 lb flouro leader, I casted the live anchovy on a #2 live bait Gamagatsu hook. Very peculiar setup. Anyways, I freelined the anchovy and it made a bee line away from the boat. From that point, I was watching the spool and the chovy ran. The spool then picked up speed and was soon blistering line off. I reengaged the lever, rod bowed over and it was on. After a short fight I brought up a nice mahi. Repeated the process and again it was on! Unfortunately, some potlicker decided to pull up on the paddy and accidentally got too close and spooked all the fish. We attempted one more pass at it and didn't hook up (neither did the other boat). In one drift we picked up 20 or so mahi.
We left the paddy and went to look for some more. Unfortunately, as it was a weekend, most of the other paddies were occupied. We then left to make a run to look for tuna. After around an hour we came across some boiling water. Again, I repeated the process and watched my spool. The chovy started running...running...then the line started stripping faster then I could see. Reengage...ZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzz clicker starts screaming. I was running around the boat, ducking under people's line, going over and under, trying to keep up with the fish. Once I got the fish vertical, it was pretty hard until I started using the rail as leverage. My arms are used to trouts and reds, not tuna! It was a blast though when the bluefin got gaffed. It was also good to spend time with my dad and cousin. As per West Coast tradition, you are supposed to eat the heart of your first tuna. I'll post the video of that later.
Using a small Avet spooled with 20lb braid and a 30 lb flouro leader, I casted the live anchovy on a #2 live bait Gamagatsu hook. Very peculiar setup. Anyways, I freelined the anchovy and it made a bee line away from the boat. From that point, I was watching the spool and the chovy ran. The spool then picked up speed and was soon blistering line off. I reengaged the lever, rod bowed over and it was on. After a short fight I brought up a nice mahi. Repeated the process and again it was on! Unfortunately, some potlicker decided to pull up on the paddy and accidentally got too close and spooked all the fish. We attempted one more pass at it and didn't hook up (neither did the other boat). In one drift we picked up 20 or so mahi.
We left the paddy and went to look for some more. Unfortunately, as it was a weekend, most of the other paddies were occupied. We then left to make a run to look for tuna. After around an hour we came across some boiling water. Again, I repeated the process and watched my spool. The chovy started running...running...then the line started stripping faster then I could see. Reengage...ZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzz clicker starts screaming. I was running around the boat, ducking under people's line, going over and under, trying to keep up with the fish. Once I got the fish vertical, it was pretty hard until I started using the rail as leverage. My arms are used to trouts and reds, not tuna! It was a blast though when the bluefin got gaffed. It was also good to spend time with my dad and cousin. As per West Coast tradition, you are supposed to eat the heart of your first tuna. I'll post the video of that later.
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