So I will start with the picture I choose to display, it was taken while fishing on the Pacific Ocean, this trip was organized by people where I work. It was one of the last trips of the season in regards to Yellow Tail Tuna. I have caught only one in my life time and it was well the most exciting fishing trip to date. So when the opportunity came to rent a private boat among co-workers, I quickly stood up and said ‘Yes Please’,

The trip takes place at Long Beach Sportfishing @ berth 55

My trip started the day before because living in the High Desert it’s about a three hour drive. I have never been one to be shy of driving long miles as the excitement of any trip seems to give me joy.

So I arrived at the hotel, checked in and ordered pizza then off to bed I would go because I would need to get up by 4:00 am.  The next morning I arrived at Berth 55 purchased my pole rental and the hook of the day along with a coffee and I was ready to go. There is one thing I love best about going on a chartered fishing boat, it’s the galley. They typically make a hearty breakfast burrito and on this trip I was not disappointed.

So once the boat got going, still dark and a cool fifty degrees. The ocean was this morning very calm and it seemed like the boat was simply gliding over a pond. Now would be the time to sit back and relax while having some chit chat with people on the boat. I then took the very picture I placed on the title page of my blog of the rising sun.

Quickly I texted my love April as I knew she was just waking as her day was starting, this lends to ask what day was it; well it was my favorite day ‘Flex Friday’ a day which is given to my by my employer as we work a compressed schedule allowing people a three day weekend every other weekend.

So off I go while looking back, watching Gods beauty in the flesh in real time. I knew at that moment it was a ‘Selfie’ moment so I quickly too this picture and sent it to my love

So when I talked with the captain and found we would be traveling to the Channel Islands I was excited as I was reviewing the fishing reports on the Long Beach Sport fishing web site and it was indicating that fishermen the day prior we catching up to twenty fish per boat.

So off we went… just tooling along on a very clear glass like ocean.

On the way out this day there was an event per-say it was dolphins, while I have seen dolphins almost on every fishing trip I did not think much when people on the boat started to notice them. Thus I did not remove my phone and take a picture a decision I would soon regret.

As I moved around the boat to see because it was making a much bigger reaction then I expected, I soon found when I gained a clear view that there was not just dolphins there were hundreds of dolphins going out to sea. But by the time I saw them they were already a half mile away and a picture would only show what looked to be waves. It was amazing!

The next step was to catch bait, as everyone was catching the Yellow Tail on live mackerel. I have never had to catch the bait but am always excited to fish even very stupid ones like mackerel.

The way one fishes for these is to use a very heavy weight (5oz) at the end of the line and above the line several hooks are placed about a foot apart. This is done with about six hooks. So when the captain announced over the loud speaker to drop lines you let it rip for about twenty to thirty feet then quickly reel it back in and presto you have a stupid fish. Everyone took turns catching so if we got skunked we would be catchers of fish rather then fishermen.

Don’t get me wrong mackerel are very good at being scared so when you place them on a hook they dart, any where except in the open. Thus to catch a Yellow Tale you must allow the mackerel to run away, then you slowly reel the mackerel back and repeat.

The morning was going slowly and people were well wondering when will we catch something, so in the hunt to find said fish the captain would keep adjusting. Yah adjusting…. But then right before we were about to adjust again I had a bite. The captain looked hopeful and so did the patrons on the boat. I keep reeling and reeling thinking what the heck do I have here.

Then suddenly my fish was getting closer then it started to rise out of the water and fly. Yep I caught a bird, the kind that dive down to catch the stupid mackerel, now officaly I had two catches under my belt, I was no longer a fisherman I was a catcher of fish and birds.

Yep that is the stupid bird eating a stupid fish..who would have thunk it. It would seem that today all the ocean predators were present. I started to wonder did it have anything to do with all the hot fishing the day prior?

So the captain then started adjusting again, we then traveled several miles around the islands. We placed a mackerel on the hook and proceeded to fish, then wham my pole gave me a jolt, the crew quickly knew I had hooked a Yellow Tail. While everyone on the boat had to move and adjust as my fish would dart from one side of the boat to the next. While in a constant tug-of-war, this is when I quickly realized the drag on my rented pole was well broken. So I notified the captain who came over and took the pole and also realized the reel was spent.

This allowed the fish to become ‘Rocked’ as they tend to dive under cover which results in the fish being trapped and the line becomes pinched resulting in a draw.

The captain then became very angry with the crew, took my pole and rod and threw it into the ocean informing them that since they did not check every pole on the boat they would be buying the one which now resided at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.

The captain then decided to change it up and took the boat to catch rock fish, a red fish which lives on and around rock piles on the ocean floor. Everyone on the boat caught fish and they varied from Rock Fish, Sea Bass, some weird looking fish lizard type.

So this last picture is when we heading back in, by this time I realized my head was burnt as I only had a beanie on in the morning but the lovely weather down here in Southern California is misleading it feel great while beating you down.

This was my bounty I did have them filleted, we ate them that night after I drove home. It was a very long day, one thing that did and always is driving after being on a boat. The brain becomes confused with the sway of a car, or it could possibly be my ears playing tricks on me.

Well if you stuck around this long then my hat is off to you, as I am new to blogging. I never knew how much fun it can be to tell my stories, which are the very experiences which drive me.  I would very much like to document my hiking adventures at a level which allows others other then myself to experience it.

So until next time.

aCSguy