Seasons is an awesome charter operation! Capt. Jamie Thinnes is a very cool dude, family man and knows his stuff. Used to work at Davye’s Locker on the T-Bird and Freelance back in the day. On Deck was Bob Beyer; Bob used to come to FIBers back in the day 7-10 years ago. His work schedule and two little kids at home combined with his wife’s schedule made it where he couldn’t come the meetings. But he was stoked to hear that we were FIBers guys.
The rigs are clean, very nice and very fishy! We were on the 34 foot Parker which Jamie runs with guys of 4-6. If doing overnight or 1.5 day they run 4 due to sleeping accomodations. The other boat is a 25 footer which they will run 3-4 guys on (maybe two for overnights) run by Duane. They run all year doing this rockfish from Nov-March, switching to the islands for yellows and whiteseabass from March-June, then offshore all summer. During seabass season he parks the 34 footer at Huntington Harbor and runs to cat and sci. The other rig stays in SD and hits up Coronados and La Jolla.
This was a very interesting and productive alternative to fishing overnight or 1.5 trips out of the Landings to Mexico to fish for rockfish during the closure. The cost is a hair better, the quality of fish is awesome, you fish on a clean, modern and efficient rig and you do it with a few of your close friends. The service is top notch. The best part is not having that long boat ride to the grounds and back. You get a better experience in a 3/4 type of trip! Pack some food and drinks and go have fun!
Report time; Manny, Robert, his son Garen and I met up at Dana Landing at about 5:45am. Loaded onto Seasons 34 foot parker pilot house powered by twin 350 horse 4 stroke Yammies. The boat is equipped with sleeping quarters for four, a head with shower, seating area with table, two flat screen TVs, sink, microwave and mini fridge. Their fishing electronics were all top Furuno products. Intros between us and Capt Jamie Thinnes and Bob Beyer on deck followed by safety first and intro to the rig. Stopped at the receiver and loaded up with some fisty, very well cured, mini macks!
Crew took care of all the gear, rigging and baiting. They are equipped with Phenix rods and Shimano two speed reels spooled with Spectra and a very short top shot of heavy mono. Mini max were pinned to a 7/0 mustad hook on a dropper loop above a 12 ounce torpedo. You are welcome to bring your own gear and tackle but Seasons is very accommodating and their gear is top notch. In addition to the mini macks the crew had fresh dead squid which a second dropper loop was tide and a whole squid was pinned to a 3/0 hook.
Short ride 45 minutes from Mission to a high spot North of the Coronados. Glass conditions with clear skies and little wind. Watched the sun come up and did some whale watching on our way, thank you Lord for your awesome creation, what a display of His glory were we blessed with! As soon as we got to our first drift a fog bank rolled in and hung over the coast for the rest of the day with very few pockets of sun peaking through. We made several drifts over a high spot dropping our offerings down to 350 feet. The soft wind made up and down fishing very easy. We picked away at bottom critters with most drifts getting bites and hanging one to three fish at a time. Due to the size of the baits and the area Capt. Jamie had us on, the fish that broke the surface were quality in size. The very elusive (yeah right!) Salmon Groupers were chomping on the fin bait as were the lings. Many lings would grab the fin bait without sucking it down first so it took some finese to let them eat it before setting the hook. I was able to bring the first ling of the day over the rail and what turned out to be the largest fish of the day. Large Reds were mostly eating the squid, but a couple decided they wanted the fin bait as well. By the time our fishing time was done we had brought up 3 lings, 5 large reds and 12 of the ever elusive salmon grouper. Afternoon winds and current did make the drifts a little harder but we still had our shots even through the last drift of the day.
Bob cleaned fish and the washed down while we enjoyed conversation and fellowship in the wheelhouse and on deck. We were back at the dock before 3pm. After taking care of this great crew, grabbing our heavy sacks of fillets and saying “Until next time!” (and there will be a next time) we headed off to Old Town for dinner and football before hitting the road home.
