Tuna fever

[randy norris]

It appears Jon and i must have caught Tuna fever in Baja and brought it back with us. We had been following the Albacore reports and decided to take a shot this weekend. tlaked Tim into coming with us. Well their isn't really much talikng necessary to get Tim to run after big uns. Early starts-long runs. Did I say long runs? How about long, long runs. Got a report of a good bite friday 10-15 mikes south of the 425 fathom spot. Got the GPS #s. The reports said it was 40-45 miles south of Point Loma. When we plugged them in at 4 AM at the launch it was more like 50-55 miles. Oh well off we go. Two hours of running at 26mph and we start trolling. Immediately Jon gets hit on the jig stick. The drill with taking Albies on the fly is to troll one up, throw bait and cast to the remaing school while the troll fish is landed. I got hit on this jig fish but my connection between seagar Blue and Grand Max failed. I'm such a rookie. The jig fish turned out to be a bruiser of about 30lbs. We troll some more and we pick up another troll fish. After awhile we make the decision to run out to the #s hoping for a WFO bite that occured the day before. Nada. We had decided to troll south for awhile before heading back. Little did we know an epic bite was occuring just over the horizion. If we had trolled a little longer we would have seen the fleet and got in on the bite. Oh by the way these were big fish 25-35lb class. We head back and decide to do it again on Sunday.
This morning we leave with a new set of numbers. Of course even farther out. 65+ miles. Now the Clouserhead is a great boat but that is on the edge of reasonable. Oh well what the ##$%^ let's do it. Off we go the seas were a liitle rougher than the lake like conditions of the day before. We still push out at 22 mph. We see a good paddy at the 45 mile mark and set out the spread. The "spread" consists of a jig stick with trolling plastics, two hand line contaptions attached to bungee cords and 150lb test attached to the cleat of the clouser head. I am so far from dry fly fishing now it is rediculous. We also troll two fly rods held to the side as outriggers. Five lures in the water looks like a school of bait fish. First stop Tim gets hit and after a long battle- oops! we forgot the gaff!, jon tails the fish looks close to 30lbs. Similar to the big fish from the day before. We continue to troll for awhile with no results. We dont want to make the mistake we made yesterday we reel the in and head out to find the fleet. We find them about 65 miles out and set out the spread and troll for several hours. When you're trolling you get bored and forget about the lines behind you. I look back and one of the hand lines is going crazy. We stop bring in the hand line fish and troll somemore. The wind comes up and we decide we dont waant to have to limp back to point loma at 10 mph so we buggie home. 3 hours later we are in the barn. A long weekend. Total sleep about 5 hours for two days. we ran about 160 miles today. Now that is a case of Tuna fever. What is the cure? I think i've got it big time. Looking forward to when the Yellowfin migrate in and hang with the Dorado and Yellows on the paddies.

Randy

[gary bulla]

Great report Randy. Albacore is a species I haven't got on my list yet. You guys are hardcore phun hogs. I hope they get closer for you.

[scottD]

Good job gentlemen, looks like fun!

[Drydocked]

Good job Randy! I hope to get out in a couple weeks, probably the 28th or 29th.

[Guest]

That is freakin awsome. You guys are really doin it!
Whats next on the menu...Bluefin?
There has been a few reports from down south that bluefin are being caught. Maybe around the full moon the bluefin will come in.
There are guys on the east that target bluefin on the fly but I think the largest on the fly landed was under 160 # or so. Anything larger snap goes the 12 weight.
How about the big eye tuna. Can they be caught on the fly using the trolled bait or feather method.
Sung

[randy norris]

Captain Ron last year had a shot at some Big Eye if he had been rigged for the fly. He is now always sheathed and ready to go. I dont know if the Albies will get any closer. We'll monitor the reprts and make another run if they do. It's almost time for the Yellowfin to move into the SD local banks and up into the nearshore banks off Newport. I dont know what's next on the menu. Maybe the sand bass bite for a nice fish taco BBQ, or Makos. A run to Catalina is planned, the fishing has been red hot over there. Never fished it before. I think captain Ron may want to buddy boat to SCI stopping at Catalina for an overnight. Many cervezas in town and off to chase YT in the early am, can't wait. The summer has just begun.

Randy

[Guest]

Nicely done Randy, Jon, and Tim. ALberts on the fly!

Ron

[timb]

That was sooo fun.

FYI to all the bulla boyz, this was not a legit fly caught fish because it was on the troll. It was cool though because I got the fly in position before any other lines were in the water.

Jon quietly slipped the boat alongside the first good paddy we come to in the fishing grounds that had birds in the vicinity. signs of life. He tossed in a few live anchovies on the paddy side of the boat, and I roll cast my 12 wt rig into the same line, and let off the drag to let out about 50 ft of my shooting head + rig. The fish took the fly about 10 seconds after I tightened up the drag again.

Great fight.

Tied the fly on friday night as per Jons specifications.. purple over black, silver flash, and maybe a little blue in there. About 4 1/2 to 5 inches on a 3/0 hook.



Tim

[randy norris]

Tim is a load of fun to fish with. Always ready for more. I've fished with him while he's green under the gills and he keeps going, hardly missing a beat casting between blowing chunks. Tim is obsessed with the sport. We will encounter a situation one week and by the next week Tim has read almost all there is to know on the subject. Similarly, Jon is a machine, once he locks on to a prey, he studies it and fishes hard until it is caught. My nick name for Jon is "Little Hoover" he vacums up most every thing in sight. It's hard to fish behind him. Not much left after he passes through. "Harro" (Rodney Harrison) a famous Australian Fly Fisherman, was fishing with Jon, J.P., Tim and I awhile back and marveled at Jon's predation skills as we watched him from the beach. Quite a compliment coming from one of the legends of the sport. James is cut from the same cloth and by the time we hook up to fish the quarry has been thoroughly researched and many flies tied. Captain Ron, as we call him is enthusiastic and truly enjoys whatever he is doing. I've gone fishing with Ron when he has been happy to just act as captain and drive the boat so the rest of us can fish. I've had a great time fishing with these guys. If you get a chance be sure and spend some time with them. They are what the sport is all about.
Gary- Looking forward to getting together and running after some fish. I hope we can put the Holy Grail thing together soon. It would be a good way for some FF shops or reps to get some early exposure in the SoCal salwater FF market. It would also be nice to get out with a lot of those that have expressed interest from the board.


Randy

Here is a pic of Jon dispatching the Albie. Did I mention we forgot the gaff and priest. Jon did it cave man style. He even tore out the heart and ate a piece of it raw. Now that is serious predation.

[Craig C.]

Is that a Loomis Adventure 7 reel on that fish?

Great job.

Craig C.

[randy norris]

Based on Tims experience I think you need a 12wt. However if you got a load of spectra and a well built forearm give it a go.

Randy

[Guest]

Big reels and big rods are a must, unless you put a big reel on a smaller rod. The size of the albicore right now is up from last season, this year we are seeing fish from 20 - 40+ pounds. We were out on Sat and we caught our limits, I gave it a shot with the fly rod but with 3 other conventional fishermen and live bait in the water. It was too much going everywhere, every time I casted I would cross someone's line. So as of right now the Pilot house is finished, all that I need is to pick it up from the body shop and install it. That should be done by the weekend, if not then for sure next weekend. Till then I will wait for my shot at a fly caught albie, I can't express enough how stoked I am that you guys got sum. It did blow wide open in the afternoon around 1:30, from 1:30 to 3pm we boated 20+ ablies with 8 getting released. No room in the fish holds, we had both fish holds plugged. There is nothing greater that seared albies on the grill, but I am ready for the Holy Grail. On a side note they are already catching Yellow Fin and Dodos, if the water stays like it is now we have a great shot of getting the Tuna slam. It would be great to do that on the fly, Bluefin, yellowfin, albicore, and Big Eye. Throw in a dorado and you will have completed the offshore Grand Slam, all that will be left is billfish in So Cal waters. That is probably one of the hardest things to accomplish in SC, but I am yearning to get out with my bros. Till then keep keeping on guys, there are enough words to express the respect I have. I wll share a rail anytime with ya'll.

Ron G

See you out on the pond..........the big pond that is!!!

[Shane Chung]

Randy, Jon and Tim,

All I can say about you guys is that "yuz all Blue water fishin fools." What an adventure... as it is per each time you guys head out into the big blue. Jon went caveman on you guys huh? Boy I bet that was a sight. Its always exciting reading about you guys out there.

Craig- That reel pictured is a Tibor Everglades. Definately a porsche of a reel.

Shane

[Guest]

Headed out on sat, will post a report

Ron

[timb]