Thread: Challengers Angling Charter on the Truline, Overnight Trip – Saturday,

On a warm Friday evening, 21 members and guests of the Challengers Angling Club boarded the Truline. There was pizza in the galley to snack on. With gear stowed, we left 22nd Street Landing a little early, just after 8:00 PM for a quick stop at the bait barge, where we picked a up a few sardines with some anchovies, and headed for Catalina Island to try to get some squid from one of the light boats.

Captain Jon gathered us in the galley. It is bright, spacious, and very comfortable! He introduced our crew for the trip; Second Captain Gino, Mark in the galley, and Heather and Brian on deck. After a brief safety speech, the Captain went over the game plan for the next day. We’d be heading to Pyramid Cove to try for some seabass and yellowtail early, then cruise the island for bass and hunt yellowtail the rest of the day. I rigged for the morning per suggestions from the captain and crew, and then helped my friend Mei-Hsia, who was on her second ever overnight trip, rig up as well.

We had a pretty nice crossing the channel to Catalina, where we got a few scoops of live squid. I slept through the stop there, and got up when I heard the anchor drop a little before 4:00 AM to look around. It was a nice morning, chilly but no wind, and just a bit of fog over the island. The crew put out the lights on one side, and managed to get a few more squid out of that. I woke up Mei-Hsia (I got in a lot of trouble last trip for letting her sleep till 9:00... I thought she wasn’t feeling well). The crew asked that we save the live squid for daylight and for yellowtail, so I soaked a few fresh dead squid, switched up between dropper loop and leadhead through the early morning hours, but we got scarcely a nibble.

By 7:00 or so, and nothing on that spot, we started moving around. John Hart caught a monster Cabazon, it went a little over six pounds! We had some great spots for bass bites, and Captain Jon kept us moving around, trying to find something more. A hookup on one spot got us all a little optimistic, but it turned out to be just a small barracuda.

The wind started to come up along with a big ground swell, so we made a move to the other side of the island for much nicer conditions. Not much water movement made for slow fishing, other than the bass. Early afternoon, Doug Moore caught a small yellowtail that got all of us a little excited for a while. We sat at that spot and would see them breeze through in the clear water around the island, but none would bite. One followed my squid all the way to the surface, and circled it when I dropped it back, but wouldn’t go for it. A few barracuda breezed around with them, but they didn’t seem very hungry either.

In the end, Doug’s yellowtail just tipped out John’s cabby for the JP. With that we had all the calicos you wanted, 80 kept and many more, including some big ones, released, a few sheephead and some rockfish, and wide open on the big perch!

The boat was neat and clean, and there was plenty of room for the group to spread out and fish comfortably, and as always, the food was great.

We would like to thank the Captains and crew of the Truline for giving it their best, and especially deckhand Brian, who spent a good part of the day with my friend Mei-Hsia, showing her how to cast, how to bait her hook, and when to set the hook when she got bit. He had just cast a sardine out for her and handed the rod back, and just when the Captain called it a day, she hooked up and landed a nice calico!



Mei-Hsia's first fish of the day...




Davis boys doing their Jackson Family impression....





One more, after they realized I was NOT Paparazzi!!





The fish she hooked and landed herself at the end of the day!




Nice conditions....




JP yellowtail and runner up...!