Long trip - Jan / 2016

Well, wasn't sure I was going to be able to go this season with all the expenditures connected to a new house. But my wife and kids made sure I was on the boat and paid for the trip. Wow. I have developed quite the attachment to the Angler - and this annual Accurate trip. The group remains the most cohesive and raucous of all the trips I have been on. There is a core group of 14 guys or so - and a yearly newbie group of 5. After a few days, there was no newbie group - and all 19 passengers were busy flinging copious amounts of acrid verbiage - friendly, but like they had been part of the group all along. The TV was actually turned on this trip for an hour or so to show a video from a passenger's drone on a windless day at Hurricane Bank. All I have to say is WOW! Amazing footage. This is the third trip for my friend Russell to go on a long trip. A few days before departure, a spot opened up - and Freddie was able to go. His first trip on the Angler. Russell was on the same trip last year - and knew most of the others from the year before. I got to San Diego the usual day before and checked in at the Point Loma Inn. Once Russell got there we had dinner at a place Randy and Brian suggested down the street on Scott - Pomodoro. Great dinner. They also suggested a red wine which we ordered - and was awesome. The first of many drunks I would endure for the next 14 days. I just ordered a case - Le Volte. Good shit. We all line up as usual around 5am the next morning and the after all the annual greetings - we boarded and got bait. As soon as we got bait and headed out of the harbor - the 31 games started. For four days, the 31 games were constant. Wake up for breakfast at 6am, play 31, morning snacks at 9am, play 31, lunch at noon, play 31, afternoon snacks at 3pm, play 31, dinner at 6pm - get drunk, and more 31. This went on for 4 days. I don't know how many games we played, but I did not win one game. Good thing I brought lots of $1 bills. At 4am on the 5th day, we arrived at Clarion. Went in shallow to catch bait and started fishing. We had to check in with the Mexican Navy at 10am, so we got a little fishing in - maybe a half dozen tuna or so. Not very many, but the average size was nice - 100 to 150 lbs. The fishing was really slow. For the folks that did not like soaking bait for a long time (i.e. drowning worms!) - me included, this was a tough time. On the second day, tired of watching folks catching fish after soaking their bait for hours, I did the same and hooked a nice fish. After an hour or so, I had my first nice fish - 260 lbs on the scale. Made my day - and was good for the daily prize of a new rod. Good thing because I put it to immediate use. The kite fishing had been pretty steady - and the morning started with me and Russell on the kites at 630am. Dreading being in kite jail was quickly dismissed as I got bit on a nice one. Knowing Russell did not have one yet - I quickly handed the rod off to Russell. As he worked on the fish, the rod I took over from Russell got bit. Saw the fish's back and sickles (dorsal fin) out of the water as he ate the kite bait - was a good one. Russell got his to gaff in 15 minutes or so, and I continued to work mine. Half an hour later, I have mine to gaff. Russell had weighed his and came out at 150 lbs. Mine looked to be a bit better - and it was, 205 lbs. Of course the first bit of vitriol is - hah, mine's bigger than yours! Oh yeah? that was supposed to my fish! And on and on for the next few hours - and bam, Russell is bit. He's on this fish for over an hour before it comes to gaff.....266 and a half pounds. Now the tables are turned. See what happens? Mine's bigger than yours! Well, no more shit about catching his fish on the kite anyway. The next few days were the same - slow, pick fishing. The boat was now at 15 fish over 200 lbs - with me having two of them, along with a few smaller ones - my trip was made. On the last full day of fishing, I was up on the kite again. One of the dreaded all day affairs - in kite jail. From dawn to damn near dusk, when all of the sudden - I see a small swirl under my bait, and the balloon slowly descending! Sometime during the day, I got a chair and was sitting in a beach chair - so here I was, yelling and screaming 'AAAAAAAAA, I'm bit!!!' reeling as fast as I could to catch up with the fish. When the line got tight - bam, I was on. For the next hour or more, the fish would take 200 to 300 yards of line at a time - and I would work it back in. Finally, the fish was straight up and down - and became dead weight. No tail beat, no circles - just dead weight. Worked the fish in slowly and finally the fish came to the surface tail first. Tail wrapped...I thought. Four gaffs and the fish is on the boat. I know it's a good fish - but now sure about the weight....I figured 250 plus anyway. Turns out the leader to the hook in the mouth was busted off. The other hook however, was intact and imbedded about a foot from the tail. We were all astonished the hook held - on a small patch of skin. To the scale......300 lbs even. Amazing. We had one more morning to fish - but with the 300 pounder the night before, my trip was done. I took it easy and watched the rest of the guys get in their last few casts for this trip. So long until next year......I hope.