Saw the counts explode so I jumped on a 3/4 day trip on the Mission Belle out of Point Loma yesterday (9/14). The buddy who told me about the hot bite had to bail at the last minute so I went solo. Made a long trek to the 371 and found the fleet spread out over a wide area. Started out slow with a few unproductive paddy stops. There were a few hookups on a meter mark, with 3 lb skipjack and 5 lb yellowfin. I hooked up on my first cast with a small flat fall but it came unbuttoned half way in.
Next paddy gave up one nice dorado to a lucky guy. Then we drove, and searched, and drove more. Did I mention we drove a lot? Mid afternoon I did the math and figured we needed to head in soon. Trip was a bust. Oh well, it happens. Then as I was napping in the galley I noticed the skip put the hammer down, way faster than trolling speed. Nothing over the speaker, but, I was hoping he spotted something or got called in. Ten minutes later we slid into a school of fish with a serious death wish.
Pandemonium ensued, 38 guys hooked up on whatever they threw. I hooked about ten fish on the flat fall, 7 skippies and 3 YFT, using a Curado 300 on a Shimano Crucial. Then I grabbed a heavier bait rod and finished my YFT limit. Deck hands couldnt keep up so guys were gaffing their own YFT and bouncing skippers. Boat limits in an hour and a half. Guys were catching fish on yo yo, surface iron, poppers, half dead bait. YFT were footballs up to about 15 lbs and were getting bigger when we gave the spot to some other boats and left them biting.
During the mayhem a guy went MOB in the stern corner. It was a perfect storm of four guys smashing into each other in the corner, slippery deck, tall guy, low rail, boat rocking, and fish making a run on a tight drag - aqua boy as we now call him. At first no one reacted since everyone was involved in their own fish drama. Then some yells of "man overboard" went out. Skipper ran down and threw a life ring to him and worked him over to the rail gate. No injuries thank god, but dude lost a new $450 outfit. He recovered nicely and finished his limit.
Aqua Boy Ben with his limit and great attitude:
Kudos to the skip for saving the day at the very end, and a nice rescue. Great weather, zero tangles for me, and a cool crowd on a full boat.
