July 27, 2019 – I heard the difference between a hunter and a fisherman was the hunter lies in wait, while the fisherman waits and lies. That was not the case for this trip. Only the facts, Man. Only the facts! The only thing that required waiting was the long boat ride from Dana Point Harbor to the squid grounds off Pyramid code at San Clemente Island. All of the 20 eager Fibers started piling in around 8pm. This Charter Master tried to arrive at the docs before Tom and Valerie Handzus. I think I may have to camp out the day before if I want to beat them to the docs. We all wondered where we’d be hunting that day. The answer would come after we were all checked in by Jared the deckhand. All of the fellow FIB’er hunters loaded their gear, setup their rods and got their bunks ready. Captain Marcus called us to the galley and went through the safety info and trip details. I went through the FIB’ers trip info, opened with a prayer and off we went to SCI. Everyone retired to their bunks which is where I sat and stared into the darkness for what felt like an eternity. Not one wink of sleep. Not even the slow rollers could put me to sleep. Even the new addition of bunkhouse AC could help me sleep. The AC units are a nice addition to the boat.
Everyone started rolling out of their bunks around 4 or 5. There were a few boats around us lit up and trying to catch some live squid. The squid were periodically darting across our light in single digits and sometimes in a pack. Skip, Tavis, Sam and Marcus waited at the stern in anticipation of the squid swimming into their nets. We spent some time getting what ended up being just enough squid to fish dropper loop at first light. We made a short move close to the kelp and all of us dropped down to the bottom with a fresh squid. The hunters didn’t have to wait long or lie about what we caught. Things were kicked off when Tom Handzus was quickly bent with what ended up being the right kind. Tom landed a 24lb yellowtail. Then Walter, the Cameron brothers continued the action before the yellowtail went silent. There were a few barracudas and small bass mixed in with about a half dozen yellowtail.
We made a short move east around the front side of the island and anchored up close to the kelp. As always seems to be the case, the seals got the memo and were in full force. A few of the FIB’ers were able to get their decent sized sardines past the seals and were able to hook into some short and legal Calico bass. Rick Chalmers caught a nice 5.1lb Calico on a Sardine (released). Good job, Rick. After a few stops we were able to pick at more bass and some small and jumbo yellowtail. Mark “Yellowtail killer” Ross landed what would be one of five yellowtail throughout the day. In fact, he went 5 for 7 and was on fire. Two of his yellowtail came on mint green surface irons. Fred De Maria landed a solid 31 pound yellowtail on a swim bait. He dropped the swimbait back off the stern when Captain Marcus slowed the boat down and threw out some bait while we were moving. Nice catch, Fred! Jack Cameron’s Yellowtail went 14.15 pounds and is the biggest Yellowtail for a Fiber Jr. so far this year. Let’s see if another Fiber Jr. can top that catch this year.
We ended up on the far west end of the Island later in the day. Mark Ross hooked what would be the final and most memorable Yellowtail of the trip. There were seals everywhere and, you guessed it, Mark’s line started peeling out and up pops Mr. Seal with Mark’s yellowtail. If you know my brother then you know he’s an amazing fisherman and always determined to catch fish. This fish was no exception. Rick Chalmers caught the action on video. The endless tug of war ensued and we all know this usually doesn’t end well for the fisherman. This was the case throughout the day for a few heartbroken fisherman. To the spectator’s amazement Mark was able to start gaining line. Maybe there’s a chance he will land this fish. Mark even used the rail and put his Penn reel and Phenix rod to the test. Mark slowly gained back line and was able to pull the yellowtail close enough for the crew to gaff it. The only real damage to the fish was the guts were completely gone. The fish still had all of the quality meat on what ended up being a gutted 26lb yellowtail. What a battle!
The light started to fade while we were anchored up on the front side of the island. The fish started being sorted and memories were captured on camera. Robert Gist landed two Yellowtail over 30lbs. One was on bait and the other a surface iron. His 33lb yellowtail ended up being the jackpot fish. Awesome job, Robert! Did I mention what felt like the entire population of San Clemente Island seals followed us the entire trip? There were few losses to those pesky dogs and a few losses to failed line and pulled hooks. The keeper and short bass were very consistent during the trip. This Charter Master threw a 7” Viejos swim bait throughout the trip and ended up having one of the best Calico trips in a long time. Lots of quality keepers for everyone too. The boat counted 25 yellowtail, 107 Calico bass (217 released), 6 sheepshead, 10 whitefish and 15 bonito. The crew, as usual, were amazing and attentive to everyone. I couldn’t ask for a better group of people to fish with. I always look forward to fishing with the FIB’ers and getting to know everyone. What an awesome time and talented group of fisherman. We had 3 yellowtail over 30 and would have been 4 if Mark’s didn’t have the guts eaten by a seal. The Yellowtail ranged from smaller 4 pounders all the way up to 30+ fish.
Before going to bed, we broke down our gear and settled in for the uneventful boat ride home. We ended up at the dock around 4am, unloaded and headed home. Another banner trip and a few FIB’ers caught their biggest Yellowtail. Everyone caught fish and nobody got sick on the trip. Thanks again to all of the FIB’ers who were able to make it. Also, thanks for being patient with the trip dates being mixed up. Until next time, tight lines and God Bless!
Mark Ross
Robert Gist