Around 9:00 PM August 9, 2019 Fiber Members and their guests departed Newport Landing aboard the newly remodeled Thunderbird, for a day and one-half of fishing. There were 29 of us. Before departure, Captain Jeff Markland gathered the group together to mention we would be heading out to fish San Clemente Island. He mentioned that unfortunately strong winds and a moderate swell were having an adverse effect on fishing results. As we departed the dock, Bernie Clayton led the group in prayer for a safe trip, and a trip with God’s blessings.
Friday was Fiber Ron Withers’ birthday. Ron’s good friend, and fellow Fiber, Dave Bruce brought Ron a wonderful large Birthday cake inscribed “Happy Birthday Ron – You Stud”. Unbeknownst to Dave and the rest of us, Ron had to cancel his trip RSVP at the last minute. However, we all gave Ron a Happy Birthday tribute, and ate his Birthday cake!
After getting bait at the bait barge, the Thunderbird was on its way to San Clemente Island. Cole, one of the crewmembers, gave a seminar regarding the various fishing techniques and tackle recommendations for Saturday’s day of fishing. Our main target was yellowtail.
Captain Jeff was right, as the swell was up, and the boat ride that night was a bumpy one. However, the bunks of the newly remodeled Thunderbird were quite comfortable, and despite the bumpy ride, nearly all Fibers and guests were able to get some sleep. Early Saturday morning, while still dark, Captain Jeff spotted a very large school of squid. The crew filled two large garbage containers with squid, and also loaded a large amount of squid into the boat bait tanks. The trip was off to a good start!
As gray light appeared, everyone was up and ready to fish. Captain Jeff suggested dropper loop set ups with squid while early fishing for yellowtail. Fiber member Val Handzus was the first person to catch a fish. A large 27lb, 13oz yellowtail. Val caught the yellowtail on a squid baited dropped loop. About an hour later, Val’s husband, Tom Handzus, caught the first legal size calico bass, measuring about 15 inches.
As the day progressed, sardines became the bait of choice. However, the sea lions were quite the nuisance, causing Captain Jeff to periodically do the “run and gun” fishing technique.
The biggest fish of the day, and Jackpot winner, turned out to be a large yellowtail caught on a sardine by Tony Marino. The fish weighed approximately 28 lbs, 5 oz. Tony was the “hot yellowtail stick” on the boat, eventually catching four large yellowtail. Ian Evans caught the largest calico bass. It weighed 4 lb, 13oz. It was caught on a sardine. Rick Chalmers caught a large 5’ – 6’ Leopard shark that was brought to the boat and then released. Fishing a sardine, Rob Whittaker caught a large bonito, the crewman estimated to be 10 lbs – 11 lbs. Paula Kunkel and Dave Bruce each caught a trigger fish (sardine was the bait). Paul Cowe caught a barracuda. A second barracuda was caught, but the person catching it was unidentified.
The final fish count for the trip was 20 yellowtail, 41 legal calico bass, a large number of non-legal calico bass (all released), two bonito, two barracuda, and 2 trigger fish.
As we arrived at the dock around 4 am Sunday morning (8/11/19), one of the crewman kindly took our group picture.