Great trip again, really my favorite trip of the year. Seems like this one's always a great trip. Wonderful boat, excellent crew that really helped us all land fish, and the folks aboard were all great guys to fish with - every one of 'em.

This time we turned right after leaving San Diego, second time in my life I've done that on an LR charter. We fished, along with perhaps 100 other boats, off the southeast end of San Clemete Island. Made one drop near the 43, one of the guys hooked into a big tuna, tried to chase it down with the boat, but lost the fish. It bit on the large 400gm Slash lure from ToroTamer. For the most part, with one or two exceptions which came on the Slash, we fished bait on this trip. Where we fished, it was a shallower and really the deepwater jigs weren't the ticket.

Lessons: Smaller hooks, preferably 4X in a 1 to 1/0 size. Fished 30/40 and 50# lines depending upon conditions. Hooking the bait on the shoulders was preferred - less sea lion problems and harder for the tuna to see. Keep pressure on these fish, otherwise you'll be on 'em for over an hour and chances of pulling a hook or breaking off increase dramatically.

What a year of bluefin tuna fishing we've had, all summer long, and a lot of really big fish out there. A few of the guys got spooled by freight trains, most of the landed fish were in the 80-100 lb range. The crew took the time to gill and gut all the tuna, the result is a superior fish for eating, body temp cools down faster and that's great for the meat.

Wonderful trip, and if you are considering this one, best to make a reservation early. It sells out every year, by Christmas it will probably be filled.

Mark,
Great report and very entertaing video.
Two question,,,, were guys using any lead or was it all straight flylining? Also in the video you mention 3 x and 4x hooks in #1 and #1/0 size. On your store site I could not find any 1 or 1/0 hooks, J or Circle labeled 4X please advise.
Thanks and again congrats on a successful hunt.
Walt

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Walt,

I was using the lighter wire Mustad ringed circle 39942's then switched to the Trokar ringed offset - heavier gauge hook. I'd put the Owner ringed Mutu in the same class - heavier wire than the Mustad which is marked by mnfg as a 3x. Could be a tweener on the sizing.

No lead used, a couple guys tried but that was not a successful technique from what I saw.