Fellow FIB’er, Julie Dunn, recently contributed a story to the Coastal Angler magazine about the October 4th 1.5 Day Charter on the Pac Voyager.
Nice job Julie!!

Check it out on page 26!

http://www.coastalanglermag.com/magazines/2012/orange-county/

Report by, Jayson Quimby
I never had the privilege of fishing on the Pacific Voyager until this year. I had heard many great things about the boat and its crew. To say we had a great 1.5 day trip on the Pacific Voyager last week would be an understatement. The fish bit all day and we actually limited early and left them biting! The boat left the dock early with 21 FIB’ers aboard. We baited up less than 100 yards from the dock with what the captain and deckhands were calling the best load of Sardines they had seen all Summer! Anticipation of a great day ahead escalated as Captain Tom went over the basics and emphasized that the fishing for Yellowtail, Dorado, Yellowfin Tuna and Bluefin Tuna had been outstanding the last few days. The goal was to head 80 miles SW of San Diego near the 1010 Trench, to look for Kelp Patties and biting fish. We were all up at sunrise, and within a couple minutes the trolling rods were bit – small Skipjack and Yellowfin Tuna were bounced aboard. On one of the first troll stops, Jim Kiech soaked a Sardine, and caught a Short Billed Spearfish (a very rare catch off our coast!).
Captain Tom insisted we keep moving in search of a kelp patty to fish. It didn’t take the crew long to find one – you can see it over Rick’s shoulder in this picture
It didn’t look like much from above the waterline, but man, I would have loved to take a look below! Once Todd got the boat positioned every bait and lure that hit the water was instantly bit! First it was small Yellowtail, then it was medium-sized Dorado, and as we drifted further away from the kelp patty it turned into straight Yellowfin Tuna. Wow, talk about wide open, it doesn’t get any wider than that! From bow to stern, every rod was bent. Andrew Gomez was even hanging YFT casting a Shimano Waxwing on one of his Bass rods! Immediately, the crew went to work maintaining a steady chumline, untangling lines, gaffing fish, unhooking fish, tagging them and putting them in the fish hold. Todd and the crew put on a great show by excitedly narrating the entire scene. I found myself smiling not just because the fishing was so good, but because of the way they brought everything to life with their enthusiasm. I could go on and on about the captain and the crew, but I will just end with saying this was probably the most entertaining crew I have ever fished with! We drifted away from the kelp for several hours catching fish after fish! TAKE A LOOK IN THE FISHHOLD!
Eventually it slowed to a pick bite, and Todd decided to look for another kelp to fish. It didn’t take long, maybe an hour, to find another one, and before you could say “Dorado!” your bait was bit and line was peeling off your reel! Man that is such a great feeling! Like the other patty, this one was absolutely loaded. As we drifted away from the patty the YFT went wide open and some nice Bluefin Tuna were also caught!






It was this patty that also kicked out several jumbo sized YFT. Santa, Phil Diment, Rick Chalmers, and Tom Handzus each caught fish that easily cleared 35 pounds




Their fish was topped by Dave’s nearly 50 pounder. Dave caught it on 25# test mono, and fought it for nearly an hour and a half. It was good enough to be the biggest one he had ever caught, and it ended up being the jackpot fish of the trip. Below is a video of the gaff and Dave lifting the beast!

One of the most exciting and new things that happened to me was catching a YFT on The Kite. Captain Todd liked the setup I was using (thanks Ron Withers) and asked me if I wanted to fish The Kite. He said he had seen a nicer grade of BFT on the surface down swell from us and that the kite would be a really good way to try to get one to bite. First they fly the kite, and then they bait two hooks on a specially designed rig. The baits are then sent out down swell skipping along across the surface. It didn’t take long for the voracious tuna to crash the surface to get the bait. Even though I only caught an average sized YFT, seeing it crush the bait on the surface was a site to see, and definitely worth the price of admission. After this drift we fished the kelp another time for similar results. We ended the day with the BFT just beginning to make a solid showing, but since the fish holds were both plugged with fish, and we were getting low on bait, we made the decision head for home a little early with full limits of YFT and a very nice sampling of Yellowtail, Dorado, and BFT.

I will conclude with some testimonies from some fellow passengers on this epic trip:
“The Pacific Voyager never ceases to give this club amazing fishing trips and this trip was no different! The wide open Yellowfin Tuna bite was steller. Not to mention landing a nice YFT on my bass set up with a Waxwing lure. This was such a great trip with amazing people. I can’t wait o do it again!”
-Andrew Gomez

“Tom and Valerie Handzus caught YFT, BFT, and Dorado during this epic 1.5 day trip. Tom got his personal best YFT of 37+ pounds. We caught so many fish we are wiped out and very happy. Fantastic fishing. Best trip in a long time. Good crew – good food.”
-Tom Handzus

“I caught my first Yellowfin Tuna, Dorado, and Skipjack. My fish were aprox. 10 pounds. I had a great great time! God is so good. Jesus really blessed our trip. Good Times!”
-Julie Dunn

“This was truly an epic trip – the quality of fish off only 2 kelps was amazing. When we slid in on the paddy it was instant Dorado – just crazy, and they were 15-20 lb. class Dorado. Then the bite turned into hours of non-stop Yellowfin. At our late-afternoon stop, several anglers managed to catch some nice-grade Bluefin. It was an awesome trip. We were blessed!”
-Phil Diment

Please enjoy all of the pictures from this trip below.