Some fishing days are about filling the ice box. Other days are about experiences you'll be talking about for years.

This was definitely one of those days.

I launched with one thing on my mind: wahoo. Unfortunately, those striped demons once again reminded me why they're even more frustrating than bluefin tuna. The fish box stayed empty, but what happened instead was something I never expected.



I launched to beautiful conditions.  On the way out it was warm and blue water.  I found a paddy at the drop off to the abyss and caught 3 small yellows to about a pound and stuffed them in the live well for something greater.  I started my journey until I reached the parking lot of swordfish boats out there.

So picture this... trolling solo on the flats boat with five rods spread out, covering water for marlin and wahoo. I was a little nervous what was going to happen, but it excited me enough to want to try to know... hopefully. 



Throughout the day, the ocean was putting on a show. I spotted a pod of orcas, saw a few jumping humpbacks, a lone sky-high jumping devil ray, an elephant seal, and two tailing marlin. It was one of those rare days when every direction you looked there was something incredible happening but not in the way of foaming tuna or wide-open paddy fishing.



Then one of those marlin decided to play.

The problem was that I wasn't exactly armed with traditional marlin gear.

I spotted the fish on the surface and scrambled to make a cast. The problem was that I didn't exactly have a dedicated marlin setup ready to go. The only rod available was my heavy saltwater bass outfit, so I pinned on a small live yellowtail and fired it out to the fish.

A moment later the marlin ate.

That's when the chaos started.

The fish was hooked on a Penn 400 low-profile reel matched with a G-Loomis 30-65 lb. rod. Great gear for a lot of things, but battling a marlin wasn't exactly what it was designed for.

The second the fish realized it was hooked, all hell broke loose.

Being solo made things especially interesting. I still had five other trolling rods in the water and a marlin determined to empty my reel. I hit the electric reel to get one rod out of the way while I drove the boat and tried to reel in line so now only had 4 to contend with.



The only way to stay in the game was to drive the boat aggressively and chase the fish. Every time the marlin made a hard run, I was throttling after him to keep from getting spooled. Somehow, I was steering, watching the remaining trolling gear, and fighting the fish all at the same time.

The marlin wasn't cooperating either.



It went airborne repeatedly, launching itself completely clear of the water like a cruise missile. My action camera managed to record some of the chaos, but unfortunately, it wasn't pointed where it needed to be. The best footage ended up being me frantically trying to gain line while the fish was launching all over the ocean.

Not exactly the documentary production I had envisioned.

Still, after a 15-20 minute battle filled with boat maneuvers, line recovery, and more than a few moments where I thought the fish was going to win, the little bass reel somehow held on.

Eventually the marlin came 25' from boatside.  He turned towards the boat to spin around and his bill went right across the line and PING!

That's when the reality of what had just happened finally hit me.

I'd managed to hook, fight, and successfully "sportsman's release" a marlin on bass gear while trolling solo with four rods out (Thank goodness I did get the electric troller in, lol).

The fish swam away strong, the gear survived, and I couldn't stop grinning.



I trolled the next 25 miles for not a single short bite. 



I decided to weave through the parking lot of swordfish boats and go on a paddy hunt. 



I found not one, but 5 HUGE paddys all about 7 miles from shore and in 1600' of 77.4-degree blue water.  Nothing doing until I saw a huge dodo jump at the next paddy in the line!  I shot over there and cast my 80- gram sniper on the bass rod and it gets slammed!  DODO On and it was a good one.  In the 16-18# category, but on the 3rd or 4th jump, the iron came flying out of his mouth like a bullet right at me.  No harm but scared the crap out of me.

Then two more started jumping next to the paddy, one big bull, and a decent sized hen.  I switched lures 8-10 times, but couldn't get them to go, and they disappeared.  I trolled the area with small pink feathers to try and fool one into taking the troll, but nothing was around...

I needed to get back home so I started charging in.  The wind started to pick up so this was the perfect time.  Along the way I saw some really silver tuna jumping.  I think they were skippies, but I never saw skippies jump out of the water like that before (horizontal and fully out of the water like a bluefin).  I couldn't get them to strike my sniper, so I kept going.  Then I swear I saw Sierra Mackerel jumping!  I've seen them plenty of times down in Baja and I swear I saw a bunch of yellow spots on them.  Once again as I got close enough to cast, they sunk out and I couldn't even get a short bite...

Water was 77 almost everywhere!



I continued my journey in.

Sure, there wasn't any wahoo in the cooler. In fact, there were no fish in the ice box at all.

But some days the scorecard isn't measured in pounds of fillets on this day.

Sometimes it's measured in airborne marlin, screaming drags, near-spooled reels, and the kind of ridiculous solo battle that reminds you why we keep going back offshore.

This was one of those days.

As I was passing SeaWorld, I stopped to dump the yellowtail in the bay and took some video.  Now there are 2 more yellows swimming the bay.  Hopefully we can establish a good-sized population back there.  LOL

Well damn....  I've been trying hard for these things and in the right spots, but those skinnies still elude me!

Well thanks for reading and until next tide!  I know I missed a bunch more, but I'm done typing.

One of your hatches blew off on the freeway!?!?!  Yikes!

Well, glad you got some.  I've been only coming home with empty fish coolers lately.

Well, I got a call at work that the BIG bugs were going off in San Diego Bay, complete with detailed intel on the hot spot. Scott couldn't get his boat out, so naturally he started twisting my arm with promises of giant cucarachas.

Knowing a storm was rolling in Wednesday, or at least some serious wind, I finally gave in and said, "Let's do it."

We worked out a plan pretty quickly. Scott's buddies had been on the water earlier and had fresh tuna and wahoo trimmings, so bait was covered. I told him that if he brought his nets and cages it would make life a lot easier. Plus, I could hit the self-serve car wash on the way home afterward and at least have a clean deck to spray down. Deal made.

As soon as I got home from work, I got the boat ready and headed out.

There were a TON of 20+ foot boats coming back from offshore. It seemed like everybody and their brother had taken the day off to fish the Coronado Canyon for wahoo. The parking lot was packed, the tide was high, and the harbor was buzzing.

We got to the numbers with high hopes and dropped a perfect spread of ten nets loaded with premium bait.

Then it was time to pull...

After burning through five nets and hauling 474 lobsters the previous Saturday, I probably should have known this was going to be one of those nights.

The first few pulls were brutal.

I didn't keep an exact count, but after three sets I think we had maybe a dozen shorts and only four legals. Talk about a buzzkill.

We tried another spot on the way in and even managed to lose a hoop, which most likely floated off in the ripping current.

At least we each ended up with two keepers, but man, it was a grind. San Diego Bay has never been especially consistent for me. When it's good, it's really good. When it's not... well, nights like this happen.

Even so, it was great getting out with Scott. I picked up a lot more intel on the wahoo bite that I need to explore. Unfortunately, my boat isn't exactly set up to run down to where the biomass is, and Coronado Canyon is about as far offshore as I'm willing to push it.

Still, I can't complain too much. I've got a decent pile of bugs in the freezer now to get me through surgery recovery. Maybe one or two more trips and I'll have enough lobster to make it all the way to the New Year!

Thanks for reading, and good luck out there!

It sure was nice out there.  I was about 10 miles further west than you and conditions looked the same.

It almost was too nice out which I figured lead to the tough day of fishing out there.  At least you scored some eaters, but you NEED a YELLOW!

Quote from: Tim524 on October 22, 2026, 07:08:02 AMIf you ever visit VC again, Turtles might could be added to your list  

You don't have turtles up there, you have mobile boulders!

Quote from: jrodda on October 22, 2026, 08:54:58 AMBoth look awesome but I'm really craving those cakes.

They are amazing with a remoulade dip!

I went to the SD Bay last night with some incredible intel.  What a waste of time and I'm done with the SD Bay's boring bug hunts.  Only found 4 legals for 2 people so not a skunk, but not the numbers we were told.

Salt Shaker is one of my buddies. I laughed when I heard it was him getting 3

I need to pull my life List up and see where I'm at.  I don't usually catch new species as often these days so I see it less and less, but it will be fun to see where I'm at.

I know for a fact that I also distinguished the same species for salt and fresh water.  I categorized my Fish List into:

• Atlantic/Gulf Saltwater
• Pacific Saltwater
• Inland Freshwater

Therefore, I have Landlocked Striper in one category and Striper's both on the Atlantic and Pacific Side.  I know this is a life list, but to me these are 3 distinct environments and all far enough away from each other that I have them categorized on how I started my list.  Example, up in the salmon river in NY, they catch Chinook salmon.  Trust me, they are not really the same as the ones I catch in Washington State.  Maybe 99.9% of DNA match, but a different race of fish. (All FW fish are lumped in one category)

I don't have too many like that, maybe salmon, but the rest are unique on the list.  I'll try to remember to pull out the list and post it.

I've been dying to deep drop, but the wahoo are here and I really, really, really, want to catch a local one badly.  I opted for offshore as I wouldn't forgive myself if I didn't at least give it a real try this fall while they are here.

Morning was nice with a land breeze and basically greasy conditions out front.  I cruised at a steady 28mph on the way out and my Merc App was showing I was only sipping the gas.  Ironically, I used twice as much gas plowing at 5mph through the back bay (5mph zone) then having the throttle at 4400 RPM.

I got wind that the Cyclops was going to be out today and gave him a call on the radio.  Cheez answers (AZ Bat Fight turd roller winner) and they were on their way to LJ.  I tried getting them intel, but everyone was out looking for Hoo so I didn't have any up-to-date intel.  It was nice that we were coving the inside and outside but this was the day for the Cyclops to run offshore!  Greasy calm conditions!

I ran to where I've been trying the last month for hoo as I know they've been caught there and apparently everyone else got the message also.  There were 3 sport boats and a few dozen other boats out there.  1/2 were trolling for Hoo and YFT, while some were looking for paddies... and then there was a big contingent of sword guys!  Holy smokes!  Commercial, recreational, Sword buoys all over the place and having to avoid them!

Water was a little turgid but warm and bright blue.  It was 75 but as I trolled north, it dropped to 73.1.  The sport boats kept pushing north, but I had my gas to keep an eye on, so I headed south as my plan was to troll down to the Mexican Border and back zig zagging over the high spot and working both the inside and outside ridge.

Not a kelp, mammal, bird to be found, but there was a ton of flying fish!  I even got startled as I saw one literally jump and coming at the boat!  I literally reached up to grab it, but it hit my rods on the console and deflected back into the water!  Squatch would have claimed victory on our last trip if he even touched it!  hahaha

I saw a few big splashes, but never saw what made them.  I assumed a Manta, but I really couldn't say.

I finally saw a gray hounding marlin just jumping and giving me the fin!  I boxed the area for a bit but it had no intention of feeding at that point.  Then I see two gulls standing on something and rushed over to see if it was a small paddy.  Not a small paddy, but a pallet floating out in the middle of nowhere.

I pitched some small 20g jigs out and found/saw nothing but noticed my fish finder was lit up with about 20 marks at 50' down below so I dropped the jig.  Boom!  I immediately saw it was a bullet tuna... or was it?  It looked different from what bullets I've seen in general but would need to investigate further when I got home. (After further investigation, it was a Frigate Mackerel! My first and a new species for my life list) Pacific frigate mackerel (Auxis brachydorax), a distinct population from the western Pacific form (Auxis thazard)

I picked up a few more before restarting my trolling pattern in hopes for a Hoo.

I reached out to Timmy and Cheez and they were on some whitefish and bass, so it appears they stopped looking for bonito, cuda, and yellows... or most likely just doing a good hiding act.  It looks like both of our plans were in the crapper today.

I heard of more people catching a bunch of Hoo's down in the Coronado Canyon and some were newbies also.  At least I could tell from their radio chatter that they really didn't know what they were doing but got lucky.  Even a blind squirrel finds a nut occasionally. 

On the way back I saw some stuff floating in the water and went up to see an ammo can.  Barnacles started forming on the top and I was thinking there is one of 3 things inside:  Ammo, Drugs, or money... especially when the tape said not to throw away!

Well, it was none of the 3 but an empty cannister.  Funny thing it was dry as bone inside and surprisingly in good shape, so I'm probably going to use a little rust away and make this baby shine again!

Well, more flying fish as I headed in.  I actually brought my little Atlantix electric reel and dropped down 600' with a jig.  Unfortunately, I had no bait and no Spot Lock, so soon as I hit bottom, I was off bottom.  If anything, I wanted to see how fast and well it retrieves from down there and it was like a dream!  I can't wait to deep drop for real with this thing!

Well, back home at 2:30 and scrubbed the boat up for its weekly slumber.

Thanks for reading and until next tide!

It's funny. I thought the same thing also about those micro YFT.  I caught them on my bass gear but they really threw it into high gear and it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be to turn the handle and bounce them.... and they are yummy!

As for deep dropping, I'm still trying for my hoo, but I really want to deep drop soon.  I also need to get my trolling motor wiring fixed.

Quote from: jrodda on October 17, 2026, 08:06:47 PMThe lobsters were probably trying a "strength in numbers" tactic, weighing down the nets in hopes that your shoulder would fall out of its socket before they could be caught.

I didn't consider that, but definitely not out of the realm of possibilities.  hahaha

BTW, the Concolor is a perfect hooping boat.  Might be good to try it out come the new year when you get things dialed in.

It was time to get some lobster as my shoulder is not improving and the ticker to the surgery is coming up quickly.  I planned on hitting SD bay since they have been getting some monsters in there, but my shoulder is not up for pulling traps up from deeper locations.  Shallower option is Mission Bay.



I got home from work an hour early (since I went in 2 hours early) and already had the boat prepped so I could leave soon as I got home which would give me plenty of time to drop the hoops before sunset.



I brought enough bait to change out the traps 3x so it should be plenty... or it should have been plenty...

I used a note taker on the phone to record my counting and to summarize totals for each string of traps.  Only had 5 traps since I was solo and it made things much easier on my little boat than having 10 on board.

First String...  5 nets... 133 lobster and only 1 legal....  It was fun to see so many but a bummer there were so few legals.  One net had 51 lobster in it.



Second String...  5 nets... 72 lobster and 2 legals.... 




Third String...  5 nets... 83 lobster and 0 legals.... 


Fourth String...  5 nets... 42 lobster and 2 legals....  (Lobster #'s dropping fast but still averaged over 8 lobster a hoop.



Fifth String...  5 nets... 37 lobster and 1 legal....  (Lowest amount of lobster yet but over 7 a net average).  Most likely from dropping in other spots to get away from the smaller ones since I was running out of bait..

Sixth string... all I needed was one more and got him in the first net so it was time to stack'em!  This string was one of my best yet as I ended up with 107 and 9 legals in this string with 7 coming from the last net alone as it was also filled with 44 lobster all at the limit of being legal!



That makes the grand total 474 bugs – 5 nets – 6 strings = 30 nets pulled
That averages to 16 lobster a hoop all night and by far my best lobster trip according to numbers.  My last best was 367 with my buddy Shaun and we were pulling 10 nets so not even close to what I did this night!

I am hurting so bad right now though... Between the lobster pokes, bad shoulder and now ruined back, I need a week off but I know I won't be getting that any time soon.  LOL

Thanks for reading!

Well, I have to smoke some marlin today but I started by cutting some big steaks for the smoker...

Looks like Pumpkin Swordfish...



Rest to come later!

Well, you know how to cook them by now as each post has a slight variation each time I cook or prepare it.

Here we go.

Chunk Light Poke



Green Onion from garden



Delicious!


Butt Cakes w/crab mixed in.  Macadamia Nut from my buddy's tree as well as pepper and onion from the garden.

Coated with Old Bay



Cakes made and coted in crushed Macadamia nut.



I can't begin to tell you how good this smells.  Cooked in grapeseed oil for high heat purposes.



What we didn't eat, got vacuum sealed in sets of two for appetizers or lunch at a later time.



It does the trick!