Repetion and aging as it relates to Long Range Trips

I have signed up for another long trip. This time, going fishing with my old friend Brian Kiyohara. I have known Brian a long time. I don't remember exactly when I met Brian - I think I was working at Yo's and going to college? Somewhere around there - it's almost 2013, so that would make it about 25 years ago or so. We fished half days on the Redondo Special, fished for Bay and Sand Bass in King Harbor. Brian has this photographic memory - and he remembers everything. I will be on the boat in a couple of weeks - and am really looking forward to fishing with my old friend. It's a twelve day trip, a tad shorter than the fifteen days of the last few years. I haven't been on the American Angler since it was a day boat out of Point Loma owned by Don Sansome. It was one of the newer boats then - I wonder what year that was? I don't recall what we went fishing for or where we went. But at most it was a day and half trip - more likely an overnight. I am really looking forward to hearing some of Brian's memories as well as fill in lots of gaps in my memories. I mention repetition and aging, as I have recently reviewed this blog - and found that I have become repetitious. Since I have little for excuses for this repetition, I am blaming it on age. This blame also induces mortality checks. But all of it is shadowed by this upcoming trip as I slowly prepare for this upcoming trip, and many thoughts are going through my head. How I have become a member of the captive audience of long range fishing. Since my last trip - I have been lulling myself to sleep at night thinking about flylining a salami over and over. And getting bit over and over. Somehow makes me forget about everything else. I don't really have any burning desire to catch a 300 or 400 lb fish - I just want to be on the boat fishing for big Tuna. What am I going to do if I get tired of fishing for these things? What am I going to lull myself to sleep with then? What a thought! The trip is only 11 days away. WOW!!

Boats I've fished on

In talking to one of the local fishermen - he mentioned that he had fished on 22 boats now. My immediate reaction was...WOW! However, this made me think of the boats I had been on. I was also at a tackle store the other day - Eric's Tackle in Ventura. A true fishing addict, who's been collecting fishing related stuff for a long time. He's at least 10+ years younger than me - but relatively similar time-frame. And as it happens, a good friend of Vince Otani's - who is now cooking on the Excel. He had brochures from a lot of the landings that I was going fishing from at the time. I intend to take a scanner and scan as much as I can. In the meantime, I took pictures of many of the brochures he had - CISCO (Oxnard), Port Hueneme, Paradise Cove, Malibu Pier, Santa Monica, Redondo Beach, Norm's Landing (San Pedro), 22nd Street, Pierpoint - south to San Diego. Exactly how many boats have I been on anyway? Well, let's see......In 1965 or 1966, I was going to the Malibu Pier, the ferry boat was the 'Wae We Go', and the barge was the 'Star of Malibu'. A lot of boats moved from landing to landing - but, there were open party boats out of CISCO's - China Clipper, Coroloma, Malibu - Lenbrooke, and Paradise Cove - Gentleman, Santa Monica - Kiaora, Hermosa Beach Pier - Seafisher, Redondo Beach - City of Redondo, Redondo Special, Pursuit, Reel Special, Sea Angler, Norm's Landing - Sport King, Toronado, Electra, 22nd Street Landing - Sharpshooter, Pierpoint Landing - Freedom, Liberty, America, Matt Walsh, Pierpoint, Davey Jones (barge), Pacific Landing - Pacific Queen, Estrella, Fisherman, Fisherman II, Sea Sport, Belmont Pier - ??, Seal Beach - ??, Davey's - ??, Dana Point - ??, Oceanside - ??, San Diego - Point Loma, New Lo-An (was the slo-ann, even then), Prowler (had 3 engines at the time), Cape Polaris/Searcher (Yo used to go every Monday), Holiday....I know there's more, just can't seem to remember them all. Those are all the older memories - from the late 60's to mid 70's. As far as the ocean goes, I was out of pocket for a few years - living in Las Vegas and the south rim of the Grand Canyon. From the late 70's on, I was back in Southern California - and fishing my brains out. From 1984 to 1989, I was attending CSULB and working on boats weekends and summers, and working at Yo's. Shit....now that I think about it, I'm not sure I want to count all the damn boats. Let's see.....maybe I can recall my most memorable moments from these boats. Virg's / San Simeon - in the early 70's, a small group of us would go up to San Simeon the night before. Sleep in the car - and board the boat (Lot a fun, I think) in the morning. Relatively shallow water - less than 150', and absolutely awesome lingcod and red fishing. We would catch blue rockfish, filet them and make strips, fish the strips on 8/0 Kirbys with a pound of weight. Wide open. We would only make these trips in the winter-time though. Still preferred the surface fishing given a choice. Sea Landing / Santa Barbara - around the time I was working at Yo's, Bruce Root would go up and fish on the 'Sea Hawk' (old 'Miss L' from Pierpoint) with Merit McRae. Bruce wouldn't say much - but would always come back with his limit of nice big calicos, all on the surface iron. I quickly followed suit and caught surface iron fish too. The bait was big anchovies - so chum was limited, but man, would those Naples Reef calicos bite the surface iron. Nice fish too. And Merit had these inshore spots loaded with 'grass bass' he called them. Some sort of Sebastes / rockfish. There was a rod-wrapper by the name of Dave Rader who seemed to always be on the boat. Good surface iron fisherman. CISCO's / Oxnard - I went on a lot of rockcod trips in early to mid 70's. The boats would leave hourly from 2am to 6am. These were deep water cod trips - fishing 600 to 900 feet or more. Lots of Cowcods, Chilipeppers, Warthogs, big Salmon groupers....after a few trips, I figured if I was going to go that deep, I'm going down with the most hooks I can get away with. I started with a 6' rod and a 6/0 with 80# dacron - but ended up using a 10' gaff blank with 100 lb dacron. I ended up using 12 to 15 hooks with an 8 lb sash weight. On some of the better drops, the fish would float the whole rig - sinker and all. Soon you can see a line of white bellies lined up down swell. I used to get absolutely rude amounts of rockcod. We fished areas around Santa Rosa flats and Santa Cruz that were just outstanding rockfishing. Port Hueneme - I recall open party fishing out of here, but danged if I can remember the name of the boat. A small group of us used to charter the 'Charger' and fish BKR and Deep Hole for calico bass - night charters. I never really saw any great bites - but I had heard it can be really good at times. We fished a spot called 'Slaughter Rock' for Lingcod with live spanish mackeral. I recall being excited to fish there - and we did catch a few, but not all that good. I imagine this spot produced some banner days - but not for me. Paradise Cove / Malibu area - I think the boat Lenbrooke was here along with the Dina Lee or New Dina Lee. I fished these boats from time to time, but I do not recall catching anything of any significance here. Malibu Pier Sportfishing / Malibu - my best memories from here is the barge, and the ferry boat. I would hear stories of the Black Sea Bass, but never saw any personally. There was a 1/2 or 3/4 day boat running out of here - Lenbrooke, I think. Not sure if I went on this boat or not. But definitely the barge - 'Star of Malibu', is in the memory bank. I recall having an outfit my dad bought me from Thrifty. Optimo spinning reel, Tuna King rod and a really blue monofilament line. My most vivid recollection from here is the big Bonito. These bruisers were just too much for my Thrifty special outfit and did not last long. I also remember meeting Sammy Davis Sr. fishing on the pier for halibut. Santa Monica Pier - I remember seeing Bluefin Tuna in their fish reports from time to time. I hopped on the Kiaora and tried, but never did get one. What I remember more than the fishing is the long walk from car to the landing - and going by POP(Pacific Ocean Park). I remember my folks taking me on the roller coaster and scaring the shit out me - along with almost losing my glasses. Manhattan Pier - there was a boat operating out of here, but I never rode it. Hermosa Pier - I had to google the name of the boat here - damn Wally has a computer in his head. The boat was the Seafisher. The boat was exactly as Wally described - open bridge and about 50 or 55 ft. In the late 60's - they didn't worry much about saving fuel, so that boat used to fish rocky point to the south and further on 1/2 day trips. Lots of Bonito, Barracuda and Bass - both sand and calico. Redondo Sportfishing / Redondo Beach - I spent a lot of time in and around Redondo Pier in the mid to late 1960's. I would ride my Schwinn Stingray to King Harbor and go Bonito fishing by the 'bubble'. Getting spooled on the Garcia Mitchell 308's by the occasional yellowtail. Whipping the yellow and white 'Tiny Tots' for Bonito, flylining a dead anchovy from the rocks for Bonito. I even saw the Godfather at the Fox Redondo in 1972....for, get this - .75 cents. Anyway, fishing for Bluefin Tuna in the Canyon in front of the horseshoe pier on the City of Redondo (Roy Peters running the boat - Doris in the galley) as well as the Redondo Special, was the biggest challenge. Also saw great White Sea Bass bites around Haggerty's reef. Good Yellowtail fishing out in front of the Dominator. Also went rockcod fishing on the Reel Special (Homer Lightfoot) to the 'Hidden Reef'. I think it was somewhere around Santa Barbara Island - not sure. I don't recall the fishing being spectacular - but I do recall being in the wheelhouse, with Homer's eyes pasted to the fishfinder. The fathometers of the time were the paper-type, with a small stylus going around and round marking the slowly moving paper. Homer would open the cover and be looking for the smallest, lightest looking scratches on the paper. And as soon as he found what he liked, he would say - 'go catch some fish'. I also recall Louie Abbott running the Pursuit to the islands - not sure if I rode this boat at the time or not. I did ride this boat some time later when it was running out of Islandia in Mission Bay. Anyway, good times around Redondo. Norm's Landing / San Pedro - I know the Sport King was here at the time, along with the Electra and Toronado (both were new at the time). Roger Hess and Dick Helgren were the skippers - not sure they owned those boats yet. I have no specific memories of any trips out of Norm's. Most of the time, when the opportunity presented itself, my dad would take me to Pierpoint in Long Beach. 22nd Street Landing / San Pedro - I recall calling the landing to get a reservation on their boats (the counts seemed to be better than the other landings most of the time). Never had much luck getting on their boats - they were always full when I could go. The Sharpshooter (Frankie Hall was running the boat at the time) seemed to be running full all the time. I think Russ Izor was running the 'Indian' the first time I met him. I think he was already out of running an open party operation. He did much later on the First String - which is still my favorite local boat to ride. Again, most of the time - it was Pierpoint here I come! Ports-O-Call Sportfishing / San Pedro - I'm not sure when this landing came about, but I think this is one of the newer ones. I think Tom Durr owned it? When I worked on the Fury II, Tom owned this landing. Norm had his original 'Shogun' (a Seaway) here, along with Danny and his 'Mustang'. So we're talking about the mid to late 1980's now. Most of the fishing I did here was on the Fury whether I was working or had a day off. I worked on the boat, then went back on the boat when I had a day off. Crazy. Saw great calico bites on the surface iron at Catalina - at Isthmas Reef. During the off-season, I would talk to the deckhands coming off of a trip on the Mustang - and constantly being jealous that they made so much more side money than I did. Towards the end of my college days - I finally got a job on the Mustang. Boy, what a great time that was. Pierpoint Landing / Long Beach - I think of all the landings along the coast at the time, this was the PLACE. It had an atmosphere similar to Ports-O-Call village. Lots of shops selling souvenirs, a nice fish market called Dierden's (I remember selling Blacksmith and Blue Perch here for 2 bits (25 cents) a pound). I didn't know Marty Tanaka at the time, but him and I were doing the same thing - selling fish to Dierden's. Now that I think about it, my dad must have had a helluva time toting me back and forth from Pierpoint. I spent a lot of time here. I remember watching the TV show - 'Fishing Flashes - with Mac McLintock'. He would give weekly updates on what was being caught the past week. This would be in the mid 1960's. When I couldn't go on a 1/2 day or something - I would be fishing on the barge parked in front of the landing - 'Davey Jones'. Good Bonito fishing at times. I have been neglecting the Tom Cod (Tommy Croaker) - Ronkies they would call them around Oxnard. These things were everywhere you fished. A nuisance of sorts. I wonder if they are still being caught? There were the three big new 85' boats here - America, Liberty and Freedom. The schedules would change around - but I remember going on 'Local' all day trips on the America (Cookie Cook), Catalina and San Clemente trips on both the Liberty and Freedom. In the early 70's, a friend from high school and I would pin-head on the Freedom. I recall four skippers running the big boats - Bobby Carr, Taka Tanaka, Jim Peterson and Anold 'Cookie' Cooke. On the island trips - I spent most of my time on the Freedom. On one particular trip Bobby Carr was running - we went to San Clemente around the east end after making squid at Catalina. I must have been around 10 to 12 years old at the time. A slow chum circle brought up yellowtail, white seabass and calico bass. After setting up, Bobby Carr came down and stared to hook and hand the yellows. He hooked and handed me one - and this fish just tore me up. I remember he looked at me after losing the fish, and immediately hooked another one. He said something to the effect of - 'this is how it's done!'. He short pumped the fish right to the boat and bounced it. One of those memories burned into my memory bank - I'll never forget it. I recall being on the America on a local all day trip. The yellowtail were biting at Huntington Flats. I hooked four or five and lost them all. Another memorable day. Also went on Rockcod Specials on either the Liberty or America - Jim Peterson had great spots off the West end of Catalina. I went on countless half days on the Pierpoint and Matt Walsh. Wide open Bonito and Barracuda fishing. I watched in awe as one of the 'real' fishermen flung on one fish after another on a jig - a silver Crocodile. I also remember guys with ten or twelve foot bamboo poles (with a permanent crook in it) throwing silver torpedo sinkers and small blue/white feathers catching one Barracuda after another. You couldn't tell if they had a fish on it or not - until they had it up and bounced it in the boat. The pole was permanently bent and looked like it had a fish on it already. (I do not have much for regrets in my life - but if I had to have one, it would be being too young to thoroughly enjoy the fishing to be found in the 60's and 70's - too much earlier and the tackle would have been insufficient). The name Herb Curley comes to mind - I think he was running either the Pierpoint or Matt Walsh. What fabulous memories. Somebody must have tapes of Mac McLintock's shows. Pacific Sportfishing / Long Beach - these guys used to be down the street from Pierpoint. I would go here when the boats from Pierpoint were full. Eddie McEwen had the Pacific Queen here. I remember going Albacore fishing on this boat - and losing an engine on the way in. This was probably my first Albacore trip. I also went rockcod fishing on the Fisherman - either 1 or 2, I don't remember. He had some deep water spots off the West end of Catalina - 800+ feet of water. Big big salmon grouper, cows and lots of chilis. I don't recall riding the half day boat Estrella here. The clearest memories for me here was the Albacore on the Queen. Seal Beach Pier / Belmont Pier - I don't remember the name of the boat that ran out of here. Maybe it was Belmont. I just don't remember. I remember going on a half day boat from here and running into a WFO yellowtail bite at Huntington Flats by accident. Hooked a few and lost them all. I turned around the next day and went back - and the bite was over. A one day deal. Newport to Oceanside - did not fish much out of any of these landings, except a trip or two on the Thunderbird (I think?). A very vague memory. Fisherman's / Point Loma / H & M - San Diego, I didn't really fish a lot out of San Diego until I got my own car. When my family was living in a rental house in Gardena, the owner of the house was a fisherman by the name of Hiro Hirabayashi. He took me to San Diego one winter (around 1968/1969) and went fishing on the Point Loma (Eddie Diehl) for White Sea Bass off Tijuana Flats. Floating around in rough weather - yo yoing Salas 6X heavies with squid bunched up on the treble hook. I hooked and landed two seabass - 25 lbs and 32 lbs. I'm not sure how I remember that - but those are the numbers that stick out in my head. Hiro didn't have great luck that day - and I ended up giving the 25 lb fish to him. I would occasionally get on the charters Hiro was on - they would charter the Pronto (Alan Fay) almost weekly during the summer. I remember Yellowfin Tuna fishing on the Prowler (Mike Groesbeck??) one summer. We were trolling around catching a few fish - when all of the sudden I heard another engine start up. I asked one of the deckhands - and he said that was the center main. They only used it when Mike was in a hurry. And move it did! Seemed like the boat was on a plane at 20 knots or so. My most memorable moments in San Diego was on the New Lo-An (Nick Cates). There were a couple of years the Big Eye Tuna bit good. I hooked/landed a 130 lb. fish on 40 lb gear - Newell 300C/500 size and a Sabre 865XH (I still have the hook). I ended up with two fish over 100 lbs as Nick hooked one, handed it to Lori (the galley girl) - and she ended up handing the rod to me and I got to finish it. Another trip saw a WFO bite on 40 to 60 lb Bluefin Tuna. What a bite it was! I think Todd Phillips was one of these trips. He had 9 or 10 fish - and I had 7 or 8, I remember trying to catch up and could not. Todd is a great fisherman - he could not have been much more than his mid-teens at the time. A side story about Todd - around the same timeframe he was on a charter when I was working on the Mustang, during Albacore season around 1988? It was a good bite with well over 100 Albacore caught that day. Todd hooked a nicer fish - a 50 to 70 lb Bigeye. After he pulled on this fish for a while - the fish got tail-wrapped and came up backwards. I should have waited a few more seconds and got a better shot with the gaff - but I swung too early and cut that fish off. I don't think Todd ever forgave me for that one. Anyway, i also saw lots of good yellowtail bites at North Coronado Island (Pukey Point). It was called that because it did not seem to matter how nice the weather was elsewhere - it was always rough there, and folks would start throwing up (puking). Good yo yo jig fishing for yellows. I rode a lot of boats fishing the Coronados' but seemed to me the best bites were always on the Lo-An. There would be Bluefin Tuna bites at the 'Rockpile' south of South Coronado Island. The situation similar to the Bluefin bites at Northwest Harbor at San Clemente Island - light line (10 and 12 lb mono) and small hooks (6,8 and even size 10 hooks). Man, fishing with anchovies for bait was TOUGH!! I'll add more to this later.