Fun fishing was reported on this Fury overnight charter to San Clemente Island. The weather was nice and the fellowship was great. Hopes were high that all would catch Whiteseabass on the first stop at first light, but only one was caught, and it was HUGE!!!
Fish Count:
First fish – Christian Banda, Whitefish
Largest fish – Valerie Handzus, 40.15 pound Whiteseabass.
Mens biggest fish -Me! 8.8 pound yellowtail
Biggest Calico bass – Ken Kunkle, 1.12 pounds.
Heaviest tackle box was a tie. Ken and Shirley
Report submitted by Charlie Massingil

The Un-Mellow YellowFIN – By Dan Ross
“The most wide-open bite I have ever been on”, said Rob Whittaker. This one was one for the FIB’ers’ record books. We had reports of the storm from the north and the possibility of the trip getting cancelled. I called everyone during the week to let them know that Captain Todd said it would be a game time decision. Nobody was sure about how bad the weather would be down south on Monday, 10/25 and going west for the big Bluefin was out of the question. Although there was rain in the forecast for fishing, but Captain Todd said there were reports of Yellowfin down south off the coast of Baja, Mexico below Ensenada. Captain Todd got back to me the night before the trip and his prediction was almost dead on; it wouldn’t be too rough going down south 130 miles. We had the possibility of rain in the afternoon and a possible rough ride home on Monday night. More on that later. The 12 FIB’ers were a go for the trip. We all arrived around 5pm and motored away from the docks at 6:30. We stopped for some smaller grade sardines, got the rundown from 2nd Captain, Chuck, a kick-off prayer via Rick Chalmers and off we went.
The ride down wasn’t rough. The overcast weather saw us putting out the trolling rods around 8am. Dave Weeks did the honors on the first jig stop with a smaller grade Yellowfin Tuna. That’s a good sign. Dolphins were all over the horizon. We continued to follow the Dolphins with a few more jig stops and then Chaos ensued. Walt Galen put it best, “nothing like a wide-open bite with EVERYONE hooked up simultaneously. A fun time on steroids”. He wasn’t kidding on that one. For the next 45+ minutes everyone was hooked up. Captain Todd was running around the boat screaming with excitement. At one point we literally could drop our baits in the corner and WHAM! You got bit. The fish were chewing heavy line with no issues. I have been in a lot of wide-open bites, but this one was different. Absolute chaos with very few breakoffs, tangles and lost fish. Probably 85 to 90% of the fish were caught on the first two stops. Everyone worked well together, and we ended up with Mexican boat limits of Yellowfin from around 10 to 20 lbs. We were hoping to find that school again, but it never happened. We ended up picking at a few fish for the rest of the day. That’s okay because everyone was very happy and had some quality Yellowfin. The crew did a great job of controlling the chaos. Robert Gist had the Jackpot with a 20lb class Yellowtail. Tom Handzus was the runner up.
Josh did a great job making his breakfast sandwiches, breakfast burritos, amazing pastrami sadwhiches, hamburgers and steak dinner. Nolan the deckhand was all over the deck helping people and making sure everyone got what they needed. We were greeted by the afternoon sun glistening off the steel blue water and storm clouds in the distance. Todd turned north in the afternoon and kept the trolling rods out until it got dark. The heavy mist and wind kicked in and the FIB’ers hunkered down for the ride home. It didn’t end up being as rough as we all thought it would be on the ride home. The mist and wind died off around 3am and we arrived at the docks around 5:30am. Captain Todd did a great job putting us on fish for our last two FIB’ers charters of the year. One was in August at San Clemente Island where we landed 67 quality Yellowtail and then put us on this awesome, wide-open Yellowfin bite. All of the FIB’ers were extremely happy with the trip and we are blessed to have a great end of the season trip. It was an honor to be the Charter Master for the last two FIB’ers trips this year. I have been blessed with the many friends and look forward to many more trips with FIB’ers. I’m looking forward to an amazing 2022 season. Tight lines. Stay safe and God bless!

From Black and BlueFIN to Mellow YellowTAIL
“One of the best trips ever been on”, said Ed Waits. “It went from the perfect storm to paradise”, said Mike Ricigliano. “From black and Bluefin to mellow yellowtail”, said Larry Swift who holds the current club record for his 229-pound bluefin caught a few years back, and was Larry going to top that on this two-day extravaganza on the FIB’ers trip aboard the 55-foot Voyager that departed the night of August 3rd. We were told to bring gear to catch everything from big bluefin to smaller tuna and yellowtail. The big blues were here right off our coast in Orange County. Anticipation was the feeling all the FIB’ers had when we piled into Seaforth Landing. Handshakes and greetings were shared as we were getting ready to embark on what we hoped would be an epic two-day fishing extravaganza. The reports were rough weather, and we were greeted with chop, wind and immediately got wet as we turned the corner from the harbor and headed west between San Clemente Island and Catalina. A windy and rough night indeed and all through the next day, but everyone still had the look of determination on their faces as they settled in for a bumpy ride.
Day 1 started out with the 2nd skipper, Matt, immediately hooking and landing a 50lb class bluefin on a flat fall rig. It was still dark out and we could see the lights of other tuna hunters everywhere. The Red Rooster III, the Vagabond, Shogun were a few of the longer-range boats also chasing the Bluefin. Matt made short work of his fish and showed the Bluefin the way to the kill box. We started the process of seeing the foamers, stop up wind and throw bait. Everyone threw everything they had at them with guys on the bow practically hitting the jumping bluefin with their lures with no success. After around 2 hours Tom Handzus hooked and, after 20 minutes, landed what ended up being the jackpot fish, a 65lb Bluefin on a 40lb bait setup. Good job, Tom! One other angler hooked and broke off a fish at one of the stops. This process continued until 2pm. Did I mention it was rough yet? That was putting it mildly. It was hard enough navigating around the boat along with trying to get your line out. Around 2pm we threw in the towel and headed to Pyramid Cove off the east end of San Clemente Island. The rest of the multi-day fleet had the same idea. Captain Todd anchored up around the corner from Pyramid cove around 5pm right where you turn left to go to the front side of the island. Soon after we were greeted by smaller swells, a lot less wind and we started picking away at the yellowtail. This was much better than chasing a bunch of tuna that teased us all day and didn’t want to come out to play. Mike Ricigliano hooked into something big and got stuck in some bottom structure. Captain Todd helped him get it out after pulling for what felt like an eternity. Mike ended up reeling in probably the biggest Black Seabass this charter master has ever seen. What an amazing and beautiful creature. We ended up fishing until around dark and huddled in with a few other boats in Pyramid cove for the evening. Josh the cook made some boneless ribeye for dinner. It was nice to settle in on a calm beautiful night with the stars out. It was a relief not having to wrestle with the chop, wind and swell. A few guys picked at the Calico Bass for a while. Rick Chalmers and I watched a flying fish fly right next to us and smack into the inside rail. The day ended with 2 nice grade bluefin, one giant Black Seabass (Released) and around 8 or 10 quality yellowtail. Todd said we were going to fish the island for yellows and stay away from the rock and roll party which made all of us tired FIB’ers very happy.
In the early morning dark hours, we made our way back to the same spot as the night before. The west swells were breaking on the boilers (Wish I was able to sneak in and chase some Calicos). As soon as grey light hit the show started; the Yellowtail were awake and greeted us with a flurry of hookups. Fresh one! Hook-up! Bendo! We were starting to hit our stride. Pretty soon the long-range fleet came in to join our party. The odd current was making all of the fleet face in different directions, but you could see the yellowtail boiling everywhere and heard the faint hoots and hollers of fellow fishermen in the distance. This is really happening. We are catching quality Yellowtail and a lot of them. It seemed like we had fish going all day long with very few down times. Rob Whittaker ended up getting one of the biggest bonito I have seen in a long time. Mark Ross and Val Handzus got a couple that were in the 9-pound range. There were also a few barracuda in the mix. There were no small firecrackers in the mix and ranged from around 12 pounds all the way to around 23 according to the WON Big Fish Challenge Scale Val used to weigh her big Yellowtail. Ed Waites and Val Handzus ended up with the two biggest twin Yellowtail of the trip. Shoutout to Val for winning the Western Outdoor News big fish award for the week in two categories. She won for the biggest Yellowtail and Bonito. Our 2nd day of fishing ended around 12:55 and we started on our way back to Seaforth Landing and the happy, satisfied FIB’ers had a gentle rid down swell which was a huge relief. Day 2 was a day of mellow seas and 75 quality Yellowtail.
I’d like to close this report off by saying how much I appreciate everyone who was able to make this trip. I truly enjoy the FIB’ers and the fellowship we have together. I’d like to remind everyone to stay safe on the ocean. We had one unfortunate angler fall pretty hard and injure his knee. This was the first time an angler had more Yellowtail in his bag, than most of the other fisherman, and he didn’t even soak a line on the second day. The FIB’ers and crew made sure that Mike Kaneen went home with fish because he wasn’t able to fish the 2nd day. Mike stuck around in the galley and always had a smile on his face. I ended up driving him home in his truck and my brother (Yellowtail Killer, Mark Ross, did his usual high stick of the boat with 12 yellowtails for the two days) followed us to Mike’s house. Mike’s family came to get him and is recovering. Mike called me the next day to let me know he went to the hospital to get looked at and was recovering. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Mike so that he can get back on the water soon. We had a few other slips and bumps too. Please be safe and remember that the ocean can provide amazing memories, but these fun times can quickly be taken away in an instant. The FIB’ers club has a long lineage of memories and fishing legends and some are still with us and making more memories.
Until the next time, stay safe and tight lines!

Dan Ross

The Fib’ers Christian Fishing Club’s (Fib’ers) first Adult Charter Trip of 2021 took place aboard the Fury, docked at Dana Wharf Sportfishing. This trip was an overnight trip that departed Dana Wharf Sportfishing at 9:00PM, Thursday, July 1st. There were 22 of us, plus crewmembers. The weather around the dock was nice, and not too windy. Because of the California Coronavirus sanitation regulations, all passengers were required to bring their own bedding.
After departing the dock, the group gathered in the galley. Charter Master Bernie Clayton led the group in prayer, asking The Lord to guide us safely as we traveled, that He would provide wisdom to Captain Rick, and his crew members, as to where we should fish, and that we would have an enjoyable trip. Fury Crewman Gerard discussed the boat rules and safety equipment, and mentioned that we would be heading to San Clemente Island. Gerard mentioned we could begin fishing before dawn around 4AM, recommending dropper loops. Since we had medium size sardines, and frozen squid strips for bait, Gerard suggested using size 1, 1/0, or 2/0 hooks. We started fishing near the backside of San Clemente Island a little after 4AM. Around 4:45AM Ken Kunkel caught the first fish, a sand dab weighing about 1 lb. Shortly after that, Walt Galen caught the first legal size calico bass, about a 2 pounder. A number of bottom fish began being caught. Paula Kunkel brought up the first double hook up, two whitefish. We headed a short distance to the backside of San Clemente Island. Around 7AM, Shirley Bruhl, after a long fight, decked the trip’s first yellow tail. The Captain said it weighed about 15-16 lbs. Shortly thereafter, Dee Ward brought up a large yellowtail, weighing 20 ½ lbs,
A couple more yellow tail were caught, and then we headed further up the backside of San Clemente Island, as the seals had invaded our space. Further up the Island, the Captain metered yellowtail and other fish, so we stopped, and again began catching a variety of fish. Andrew Gomez caught a large yellowtail, that rivaled the size of Dee Ward’s 20 ½ pounder. Around 10AM, Nick Rocco decked the trip’s only legal size halibut, weighing in at 8 ½ lbs. Junior Fib’er Kevin Waits brought in a large sheepshead, estimated weight was 6 lbs. A number of people were catching bonito, all average size, about 2 -3 pounds. Walt Galen was kind enough to assist a few Fib’ers with their knot connections, as they were re-tying their fluorocarbon top shots, and hooks. As noon approached, the seals found us again, so the Captain said we would head over and fish the leeward, front side of the Island, before heading back to the dock.
The weather had been overcast and breezy throughout the morning, with a slight 2-3 swell. As we arrived at the front side of the Island, the sun broke through, the wind died down, and the water was much calmer, and clear. We started fishing, and were successful with a number of legal and undersized calico bass, as well as a few more yellowtail and bonito.
Around 2:30PM the Captain advised us it was time to head back to the dock. As we headed back to the dock, the crewmen brought our fish out of the fish holder, and we gathered for a group photo, with most people in the group holding their favorite catch of the day. After the photo, we weighed the fish to determine the jackpot winner. Dee Ward’s 20 ½ lb yellowtail barely beat out Andrew Gomez’s 20 lb yellow tail for the Trip Jackpot fish.
We had a really fun time fishing together, and fellowshipping with one another. The Trip was very successful. Our final Trip fish count was: 17 Yellowtail, 29 Bonito, 15 Calico Bass, 23 Sheepshead, 88 Whitefish, 3 Rockfish, 2 Spanish Jack, 1 Halibut, and 1 Barracuda.
We arrived back at the dock at 7:30PM. We all headed home with various fish filets that we would enjoy eating.

The Mirage trip was good. The White Sea-bass were no show again, but the rock codding was excellent! All fisherman went home with limits. Our adventure began at 9pm when all boarded the boat in our Fib’ers orderly line. We had 17 on board; two bad backs reduced our numbers by two at the last minute. We began fishing dark early morning with live squid. Adam caught the first two fish, a bat ray and a sand-dab. The sand-dab came aboard at 7:15. We stayed for a few more hours trying for the ghost fish to show; they did not. No one in the fleet, according to the Captain, caught a white sea-bass. We were fishing our “secret” spot
with at least 15 other boats.
After using all of our patience, we left for the rock fishing. Our first drop was a success and the rest of morning was spent limiting out on rock cod. Rob Whitaker won the Jack Pot with 5.1 cod. Several slightly smaller cod in the 4+ pound range were also caught. One legal lingcod was caught, plus several sole also hit the decks. On the
way to port we stopped several times to fish for some whitefish; 24 were boarded. Our crew was super and the fishing charter group was a nice mixture of experienced Fib’ers plus several ones new to our group. The ocean was smooth both ways. We docked about 6:40 and all headed home.
As an annual tradition we celebrated Paula’s 35th Birthday with cupcakes for all and Val leading “Happy Birthday.”

We are excited to announce our 2021 schedule and hope that you will invite your friends to join you on a charter this year!

Our Charters Page:  https://sway.office.com/mlkQV7sfSQk5rJ5H

As we came to about 10 days away from this charter, all eyes turned towards the fish reports and the weather forecasts. Thankfully one of those looked really good, while the weather looked unstable and possibly unfishable for our trip. There was a large volume of Bluefin Tuna and Yellowtail being caught 90 to 100 miles out at the Tanner and Cortes Bank; some of these fish were pushing up into the 400 pound range. There were also excellent reports of smaller, but fun sized Dorado, Yellowtail and Yellowfin Tuna coming from south of the border. With 50+ MPH Santa Ana winds forecasted for the fishing out west on the Tanner and Cortes Bank, we were glad Captain Todd made the decision to run south and fish about 30 miles offshore outside of the Coronados and Rosarito Beach, Baja, MX. The day started off slow, with no stops to fish, a little rain, and calm seas. After enjoying a few rainbows, the weather quickly cleared up and the wind picked up as well. Around 9AM we had our first stop on a kelp patty loaded with small Yellowtail and Dorado. Just about everyone caught a few before the bites died down and it was time to move on in search of other kelp patties to try. We had a few more stops with similar results. By noon, the wind had really come up, and the windswell built up with it. I would guess it was gusting to 25+ MPH and the short interval windswell was pushing 4 feet. Captain Todd did his best to keep us dry, while still searching for fish. We made one stop in the peak of the foul weather and several nice sized Dorado were caught. It seemed like we were right on the edge of weather being too sporty, but with stops like that sprinkled in, everyone’s hopes remained high that we would still squeak out a nice day of fishing. Around 2PM the wind and seas started to subside and we stopped on our first kelp with Yellowfin Tuna eating every bait that would swim away from the boat. It was kind of a plunker bite because only 1 in 5 baits would swim away from the boat, but the second that happened, it seemed like you would get a bite. The fish were all in the 10# range, but they were a lot of fun on light line. Most of us were fishing 20# test with fluorocarbon and small hooks. We had several more stops like this, with a few Skipjack, Yellowtail and Dorado mixed. We finished the day with 32 Yellowtail, 25 Yellowfin Tuna, and 22 Dorado. We were so thankful that the wind and waves subsided and we had an excellent afternoon of fishing. Everyone enjoyed a big dinner, and Captain Todd gave us a good night’s rest by anchoring up in the lee of the Coronados. We were back to the dock by 5:30AM. Thank you Jesus for a great day of fishing with our FIB’er family!
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Check out a few VIDEOS from our trip HERE

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Videos