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Dolphin II 2-Day Tuna Trip - Sept. 17, 2002
Report:
Our recent 2-day trip on the Dolphin II was a great success! The weather was incredible, and the fishing even better. We started the trip by loading up with a great mix of small anchovies, small sardines, and large sardines and small mackerel, and Owner/Capt. Tim Voaklander pointed the boat south towards the 80 to 100 mile range.
The ride out was smooth, and at first light we were treated to overcast skies and glassy seas, with a moderate, well-spaced swell from the west. We continued south towards the 90 mile mark through the morning, and Tim gave us the good news that boats currently working that zone were seeing lots of fish, but they hadn't quite started biting yet. We were hoping for a late morning/early afternoon bite, and sure enough, it happened. Our first couple jig strikes were followed by only one or two baitfish, but the action steadily increased as the day progressed and as we headed south, and by early afternoon we had put a good number of quality albacore on deck and were getting longer and longer bait stops. We finally got into an area between 90 and 100 miles from San Diego that produced several long bait stops and wide open bites, and we loaded the boat with longfins until we had neared our limit. On the wide open bites, the alberts hit most everything, from the small sardines and anchovies to the bigger sardines, blue/white or blue/chrome yo-yo or surface iron, and I even hooked one on a Zara Spook topwater plug! Mixed with the albacore were big skipjack. It's too bad the skippies don't taste better, because they sure do put up a great fight. We had one fish on that we were sure was a 20 lb. class bluefin, until we got it to the boat and discovered that it was a 20 lb. skippy! We kept some skipjack to use for shark bait that night, and released the rest. At just after 6 p.m. we had nearly limited out on albies, so we decided to spend the next day looking for bluefin and/or kelp paddies.
We headed back up to the 295 to spend the night, and didn't even need to put out the sea anchor, because of the non-existent wind. During the night a few of us got up and fished for giant squid, which would occasionally breeze by in the lights. We put 15 or 20 inkers on the boat using squid jigs and yo-yo iron. We also hooked a couple blue sharks on the skipjack chunk, and on the giant squid that we didn't get into the boat quickly enough. In the early morning, just before sunrise, it was tough to get an iron down through the squid to try for the tuna below. We did gather some tuna under the boat, but we weren't able to get them to chew. I did hook something on a blue/white iron, but it turned out to be a blue shark! That was the first blue shark I have ever seen that has hit a jig.
After that, we took off to the west and north to look for bluefin or kelps, and couldn't keep the albies off the jigs. Overnight the seas had come down even more, so we had 0 to 5 knots of wind and a really small, well-spaced swell on Thursday! It was absolutely beautiful, and perfect for spotting kelps. We hit up a couple for nothing, but finally got on a paddy of bull kelp in a current break that produced quick action on firecracker yellowtail, and a couple more albies on yo-yo iron. There was a regular paddy another hundred yards up the break, and I caught a 22 lb. yellow fishing a new Kicker 15 in blue/silver. Kicker has a new metallic finish on their jigs that looks awesome, and this particular jig was my top producer, and the top-producing iron on the trip. We hit up a couple more paddies for firecrackers and finally a 20 lb. bluefin, and worked over a couple spots of jumping albies and bluefin for more longfins but no more bluefin. At 1 p.m., 55 miles from home, we called it a trip, and headed for Mission Bay with full limits of 15 to 25 lb. albacore, 22 yellowtail, 1 bluefin, and a couple skipjack and giant squid.
Capt. Tim and the crew worked really hard to get us on fish, and it paid off. Vince in the galley whipped up some awesome lasagna, steak, and fish for dinner, and the Dolphinburgers just couldn't be beat. I would like to thank not only Islandia, Tim Voaklander, and the crew of the Dolphin II, but also the other 16 folks on the trip, as they were one of the best groups I have ever fished with on a sport boat. Not only was the talent level high, but everyone was in great spirits and worked together and got along very well, which would have made for a great trip on its own even if the fishing and weather weren't as great as they were. Also, congratulations to Mike Cannon, who won the $170 jackpot and a one-year subscription to Bite's On! with his 24 lb. albacore.
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