Another top notch adventure from the Islander crew...
these guys really know how to do the mothership thing...
great food, great service, great locations, great fishing...
I cannot wait for the next outing...
loading at the the Fisherman's...
we woke to a little bit of
wind and some very large swells...not real choppy, just big swells...
I actually got really dizzy bending over looking down while
rigging my yak for launch...I caught one calico and one rock fish throwing a swim bait on the boat while waiting to launch...
the fishing was actually pretty slow all morning...couldn't even buy a bite...
guys were fishin the kelp, reefs, out deep lookin' fer yellers...nobody
was gettin' chit...I think one or two guys had a good fish on the line,
but nothing stuck...finally around 9:30 or so I managed one 2 lb calico around a boiler rock...then around 10 or so we hear Cory say on the radio,
"I got a halibut, you guys should come over here"...it wasn't untill his second butt that some of us listened and decided joined him over in the butt hole... :shock:
oh...wait a minute...that didn't come out right...oh well...
right around noon, after only one calico and absolutely no other bites of any kind...I finally got bit...
just as I got my butt secured, Moyer gets one, too...
mine was right at 23",
and Matts was probably 29" or 30" or so...
here's me 'n' Matt holding our butts... :lol:
here's brother Rhino and Matt enjoying the day...
this is the south end of the north island...
here's the south island...
around lunch time, the captain was asking us if we wanted to keep
fishing there or make the move to Punta Banda, he informed us
that with the wind a swell the way it was that there was the
probability that it would be un-fishable...we took quick vote
and even though the fishing had
been painfully slow most of the day, the vote was unanimous to stay...
little did I know that...(for me)...it was to be a great decision...
headed back to the mothership for lunch...
we had a really delicious lunch consisting of these yummy cheesy gordita,
chiken filled, guacamole oozin', black bean works of art...
un-real...
right after lunch, I paddled back over towards "the butt hole" where Matt and I had hooked our butts...
I retied a new 15 lb flouro leader as it was
a bit tattered from the first butt...
about 100 feet from the marked spot...
I sent down the mother of all sardines...this thing was 8 " long...
like a small trout...he was down ther for about 5 minutes...
doing his little sardine thing that they do down there...
a halibut call of sorts I reckon...
so I just a creepin' a long draggin' da dine and al of the sudden...
THUNK...I think to myself..."now that was a bite"...I stopped...
put the rod tip down to the water so's not to move the bait...wait...wait....nuthin'...wait...wait some more...
c'mon fishy...bite dat mo fo...I figured this...
she's either swallowed it or she's gone...
so I slooowwwwly start to reel up the slack...slooowwwwly...
feels heavy...
REEEELLLL...FAST...REEEEELLLL....FISH ON...
the fish had picked it up and was swimming towards me...
she ate that big ol' dine in one breath...
this slow day was picking up to say the least...
say hello to my new personal best...
she was 40.5'" and 27 lbs...hello
what a day...not a whole lotta fish but some darn good ones...
brother Jeff managed to get in on the butt action, too...
Jeff, holding his butt...
we all fished hard for the rest of the day for more of the
same slowness and no more fish...I managed one sculpin
for about four more hours of fishing...right around 6:15
or so I figured maybe it's time to call it a day...
just for kicks...I thought I would tie on a #2 flyliner hook
with a 1/2 oz egg sinker and drag a dine back while chuckin' a blue and white yo yo iron out ahead for the remote chance of
Mr yeller showin' up...
Mr yeller never showed...
but Mr Bonehead did...he hammered the yo yo
on the fast retrieve about 10-15 feet from the surface...7.5 ber...
my first bone from the yak...woohooo....
that was fun so I kept at it for another half hour or so,
chuckin' da iron and draggin' da dine and all of the sudden...ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ....the dine gets whacked...
my second yak bone...8 lbs even...
after a long hard day of fishin'and a hot shower...
the Islander provided us with antother fine meal
with a corn chowder soup warm up, fresh home
baked cheese bread, pork loin with mango salsa, veggies and rice, and
home made carrot cake for dessert...another fine trip...
I'd like to throw out a special thanks to Cory for putting us on
the butts...Thanks Cory!!!
and to OEX for all the great raffle stuff...you guys rock...
and I'll leave you with this "holy crap" shot of me and my new PB...
