The Spirit of Adventure returned from a 4-day trip on Sept. 1 with 21 Arizona Anglers on board. Yellowtail fishing at Cedros was great. Jackpot winners: Jeff Jackson of Chandler, AZ, took first place for a 32.2 pound Forkie. Roger Bies of Phoenix won second place with a 31,6 pounder and charter master David Covert won third place for a 31.2 pound yellowtail.
The Spirit returned from a 3-day Avet Reels trip organized by charter master Ben Frazier.
They had some great fishing at Canoas and below for Bass, Bonito and Yellowtail. Skipper Brian Evans found a big school of Yellowtail, and anglers caught 70 fish within an hour and a half. Vince Ridgeway won first place with a 34 lbs Yellowtail, Mitch Aronson was second with a 28.2 pounder, and Ben Frazier third with a 26.7 pounder.
Photo by: Bill Roecker
On our most recent 5 Day trip, we caught limits of Yellowtail. Most of them were in the 20-35lb range. We fished off Benitas Island and Cedros Island. It was excellent fishing, pretty much full speed Yellowtail all the way! There was also some nice Calico Bass at Benitas. Tuna fishing was not happening. Blue Fin and Albacore should start biting soon. These guys will generally be in the 30-40lb class. Everyone had a fantastic time!
Trip Winners!
Long-time long ranger Alfredo Salgado won first place for a 35.8-pound yellowtail. Eric Piper of Petaluma was right behind him with a 35.5-pounder. Allen Packard and Paul Sabesky of Tehachapi tied for third place with twin 34.5-pound yellowtail.
Story by Thomas Masterson
This is a story about my son. Jimmy graduated from Marine boot camp (MCRD) in San Diego on July 9th. Jim Boyle (charter master and former Marine) and Annemarie and Capt. Michael Keating went over and above the call of duty and exceeded all of our expectations by accommodating us and getting us on the charter. Jimmy had 10-days leave beginning on July 10th. Jim Boyle asked some fishermen who were scheduled to go on the July trip to go on a June trip instead. That made room for Jimmy and I on the 4-day trip that left July 10th.
Jimmy caught his two large 35-lb yellowtail on Salas 6x jr. jigs. One of the fish had actually been bitten just forward of the tail by a sea lion. The bite marks show in several pictures we took. Quick thinking by Jeff, one of the friendly and highly experienced deckhands on the Spirit, led to clamping the drag down on the Accurate BX-2 600 filled with 40-lb Blackwater fluorocarbon and Izorline 65 # spectra to pull the fish out of the huge sea lion’s mouth. Jeff threw a deck broom into the water to startle or scare the sea lion at a critical moment. Many passengers were cheering and happy that Jimmy and Jeff were able to deck the gorilla yellowtail. That is the true meaning of teamwork on a sportfisher filled with 23-passengers. In addition, Jimmy caught three 30-lb Bluefin tuna and numerous yellowtail about 18-22-lbs. We caught 27-total yellowtail between us. My yellowtail was 36-lbs plus. I caught five 30-lb Bluefin, and one 33-lb Albie. All the fish I caught were baitfish caught on Owner 2/0 and 3/0 ringed Mutu hooks with Blackwater Fluorocarbon leaders and Izorline 65 # spectra. We donated 195-lbs of yellowtail to the Make a Wish Foundation (through Five Star Fish Processing). Jimmy is now in Oceanside and is undergoing 3-weeks of intensive combat training. He will then be sent to Virginia for 8-months of training in electronics. His military occupational specialty will be in the area of electronics ordnance, missile guidance, and infra-red (night vision) goggles.
There are some spots available on our 7-day trip from Sept. 19 – 26. The cost is $2,120.– and it is limited to 20 passengers.
The TUNA CHASERS are a real fun group to go with. If you are interested, please contact charter master Byron at 949-240-0810 or e-mail him at byronreidenbaugh@earthlink.net.
Fishing at the Rocks was a lot of fun, but we really hit the motherload fishing Yellowtail at Cedros. Jackpot winner on this trip was Jim Boyle with a 104 lbs Yellow Fin Tuna. Great job Jim!
We would like to welcome back to our SOA family a great crew member and friend Jimmy Fish. He has been a favorite of many of our customers over the years, and were fortunate to have him back.
And a big SOA welcome back to JP, Jeff and Kevin Ward, three more great guys that we are happy to have back again. Our crew for the summer is set to help. You guys charge down those big tuna!