International Star 5.....I Mean *6* Day Trip - October 2007

[Sea Hag]

Friday October 19th:
Left Torrance with fellow angler and fellow 976-TUNA Pro Staffer Kenny Mac at 6:30am and arrived at H & M Landing about 8:45am for an 11am departure time on the International Star..... and we apparently found the only parking spot in the landing parking lot.


Along with only TEN other anglers, (thats right, we only had TWELVE anglers on this Super/Ultra-Limited Load Trip), we loaded up our gear, got settled into one of the 6 staterooms on the boat with another angler, and left the dock right before 11am and headed over to the bait docks, where we loaded up some really well cured MONSTER sardines and some mackerel that were just the right size for the Yellowtail we would be targeting on this trip.
Capt. Mike Pritchard made the decision to stick close to the coast because of the nasty weather that had turned up off-shore, and we were all very glad he made that decision!


(On a side note, the second captain, Dave Gomes, is on his 11th re-issue of his captains ticket, and if my calculator is correct, that means he's been a captain for 55 Years!).


Lunch on this travel day was Philly Cheese Steak sandwiches...very good!
Deckhand (and also a captain) Dustin Tench gave the safety speech and the tackle seminar, and let us know that the plan was to start fishing at Benitos or Cedros Island on our first day of fishing.
Dinner on the first night was Clam Linguine with a killer salad and some really good Garlic Bread.


Saturday October 20th:
Still travelling south, and the weather is kinda snotty...we are still VERY glad we aren't on the outside getting our butts kicked!
Breakfast was French Toast, Bacon, Sausage, and Freash Fruit.
Lunch was Grilled Sausage and Pepper Sandwiches with a killer Macaroni Salad.

We arrived at Cedros at about 2:30 that afternoon with a water temp of 66 degrees, and the first drift produced 5 Yellowtail that went from 25 to 35 pounds, and 3 Yellowtail that went about 10 to 12 pounds.....on a side note, there were the large economy sized Bonito everywhere, and they were from 5 to 10 pounds...all you could catch.
We lost quite a few of the larger Yellowtail because of "Operator Error" on that first drift..the anglers on the boat were definately NOT ready for fish that big and that strong.
(A couple of the anglers thought it was prudent to use a Bass Rod with 20# line...Not Good).



There were birds crashing on bait everywhere, and Kenny and Myself got our big yellows of the day on 30# line, with me losing a heartbreakingly HUGE Yellowtail at the gaff (on 40# line)...it was a freakin monster....the crew estimated the Yellowtail weighed 45 to 50 Freakin Pounds!
Saturdays dinner was Turkey Breasts, Stuffing, Salad, Corn, and Hot Rolls.

Sunday October 21st:
Steak Burritos for breakfast.
We had wide open Big Bonito fishing, with wide-open Seals to help us keep the Bonito population under control...time to move away from the knot-heads.
On the next stop it was wide open Black Sea Bass...Captain Mike has a set-up where he uses a sledgehammer and a barbless hook to deep release the Black Sea Bass back down unharmed...a very cool tool that saved from having to deflate the fish...here's how it works:
Capt. Mike attaches the barbless hook (with the sledgehammer connected right below the rig) to the Sea Bass, puts his reel in free-spool, and drops the Sea Bass right back down, give the rod tip a couple of shakes, then reels his hook and hammer right back up.
Yellowtail Tacos for lunch.

We did REALLY well on the larger yellowtail today for a grand total of 70 BIG Yellowtail, with my catch leading the way, a torpedo yellowtail that scaled out at 38 pounds.



That night, the wind came screaming over the island at a *guesstimated* 70MPH, so we moved (obviously) to a more sheltered area to drop anchor for the night.
Yellowtail Steaks for dinner...Very Good!

Monday October 22nd:
Pancakes and eggs to order with sausage for breakfast.
Cruised around looking for signs of Yellowtail, but the wind really started blowing hard, so we went back inside where the weather was "nicer".
I hooked a monster Yellowtail that got stuck in the bull kelp, so Capt. Mike pulled the anchor and chased the fish down for me...that Yellowtail was 37 pounds!




We would get on a spot of biting fish, and then the seals would show up and shut the bite down, so we would have to move again.
We did pretty good today on the larger sized Yellowtail...nothing spectacular (except for me and Tony's fish, but still pretty decent).
We ended up with about 40 of the bigger Yellowtail today...not counting the 15 pound "Rockets"

Tuesday October 23rd:
Slow pick on the Yellowtail and still windy, but it's nice and sunny...so we can't complain.
We heard on the radio that southern california is on fire and the major freeways were closed....we can smell the smoke all the way down here.
Captain Mike informed everyone that we would be staying down here at least one extra day and wait for the weather to calm down before we can make a run north.
Captain Mike also offered the Sattelite Phone to anyone who needed to make phone calls to home or to work, so we could check to see if our homes were in any affected areas.
Totally killer Steak dinner!

Wednesday October 24:
Breakfast was Fried Rice with Eggs to order with Bacon.
We spent several hours fishing for rockfish at one of Captain Mikes "secret" spots, and we totally loaded up with some HUGE Reds, Coppers, Whitefish, etc...these rockfish were
B-I-G!!!!...
(on a side note...not one single Ling Cod was caught...they must have been sleeping when we drifted through).



The Rockfish were sorted into crates for each angler, and oddly enough, Kenny and My crates are full....with almost all the other crates at about 1/2 to 3/4 full.....imagine that!
Captain Mike called it a trip, and we broke down our gear so the crew could clean the boat on the trip home.
We passed a really big school of Humbolt Squid at about noon, that were On The Surface and feeding on a bait-ball they had pushed up...very cool.
Lunch was Fresh Red Snapper and Fried Potato's.
Dinner was Chicken Diane with Rice and Steamed Veggies.

Thursday October 25th:
We arrived at H & M Landing at 5:30am, off-loaded our personal gear and received our fish at the top of the ramp...
Kenny got 10 of the Larger Yellowtail, and six of the smaller ones with 15 rockfish.
(Kenny's "weapon of choice" for the big Yellows was a 9ft Seeker CBJF90M with an Accurate 665H spooled up with 65# spectra and a 50# Izorline XXX top-shot and using mostly the Salas 6X Yo-Yo Iron....a totally unstoppable combination that even impressed the crew).
On a side note, my 9ft Seeker is named...Kenny Mac's "A-Salt-Weapon".
I got 7 of the Larger Yellowtail and 5 of the smaller ones with 14 big rockfish
.....and I got 2nd Place in the JP!!!
(I promptly gave my portion of the jackpot to the crew, in addition to the really hefty tip).

We got everthing loaded up, and Kenny says drove like Danica Patrick at the Indianapolis 500 to get us back to Los Angeles in record time..... the freeway going North was Wide Freaking Open.
Another great Super-Limited Load Trip with a nice group of anglers and a Really Great Crew... it doesn't get much better than that!
(People who say 24 people on a long range trip is a "limited load" should go on a 6 day trip on the International Star with only 12 anglers.....now *THATS* a Limited Load Trip!!!!).

The Crew:
Captain Mike Pritchard
Captain Dave Gomes
Captain Dustin Tench/Deckhand
A.J. Deckhand
John from New York (not *Joisey*) was the galley cook and really helped out on deck.

(While we were down there, we saw the Qualifier 105, The Excel, and the Shogun in the same area...I know the Shogun was coming back from a 10 day trip because our good buddy Paul "The Kite Man" Corbitt was on that trip).

[FishingLTJ]

Wow, looks like some exciting times you had there. Those are some hefty fish also. Nice job!