You got out, you got back, you caught fish. Success. Just a little fine tuning to do.

Took Jake out Sunday morning. After the previous day, it was a bit difficult getting up at 0430 again, but I powered through and picked him up at his house, and we were at the ramp at 0640.

We had some delays. First, a bathroom break of course. Then I forgot my sunglasses in the car. Then as we were pulling away, we realized that potential fuel line issue was quite real. We were 30' from the dock realizing we had some mcgyvering to do. So Jake incessantly pumped the bulb while I got us back to being tied up. Jake looked and found a pinhole, so I said to put a dab of super glue on and let me find some tape in my car. I thought I only had packing tape but then found the duct tape that the boat seller let me have for the road. I brought that back and we patched it up, then realized it was a whole crack and not just a pin hole. Patched it up and it was good as new! Maybe a trip to West Marine is in order this week...I don't love the zip ties on some of these fuel lines.



Got that done then tried to start the motor. Nothing! Must have drained the battery leaving the keys in, radio running, etc. So back to the car for the battery self-starter. Hooked that up and...nothing. Then Jake realized the boat was still in gear from when the engine last died. That'll do it. Helmet mistake from me and some delays, and we finally were out of the harbor at 0741.

It was a good bit flatter out of the harbor this time. Still some chop but nothing crazy. We were given some coordinates to head to by a guy at the dock, which was nice of him. Plugged those in, and headed almost perfectly south. Then about 3 miles out of the harbor, I see a dozen gulls following and diving on something with just a hint of enthusiasm. I decided to slow down for it, though I generally consider gulls to be helmet fisherman. We eased into the area and we each threw a colt sniper out. I was on my Sustain 5000, and almost as soon as I started reeling after letting it sink out for 10 seconds, I was hooked up. Felt like a medium bonito, then ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ okay not a medium bonito. Felt like it had some weight to it but catchable. Took off for almost 100 yards before finally tiring out and I started gaining ground. At deep color, I was almost certain I was seeing a familiar brilliant blue/purple hue. It did long circles under the boat until finally I confirmed it was a nice Skipjack! Right at gaff range it took off on another 50 yard run. Got it to the boat, same thing. Finally checked my drag and realized I could put another couple pounds of pressure on him, although I was willing to finesse it to get a tuna in the boat sooner than later. Finally, Jake sticks it perfectly in the heart and it's in the boat. Pheww!!!!! High fives. He finally confided it was his first gaff job, but it worked for me. Until realizing it was squirting blood across the boat every few seconds. You can even see it in the pic.



Huge mistake was forgetting the bucket and soft brush in the car. Hard brush and water could only do so much.



Onwards to our coordinates. We arrived 30 minutes later and there were a few boats scattered, but we never saw our acquaintance with the coords, and there were no signs of life. We started trolling a halco and the Yozuri Vibe at 12-15mph zig zagging back toward the 267.

Never saw anything. Saw one boat stopped and casting, which they abandoned quickly. We headed back in with the trollers still out, with my knowing that the 9 gallon tank got us back on fumes yesterday.

Jake wanted to break the skunk, so we stopped on some structure right outside the harbor. Casted the snipers some more and I got a decent turd.



I got one more turd, and Jake was able to get a tiny bonito and a couple mackerel. The fuel line started acting up again so we headed in before we could get into trouble. Better driving at the ramp this time near the dock...

I went to take a whizz and get some ice at Dana Wharf and the cashier said he went out Wednesday and found YFT under bullet tuna in the middle of nowhere, no signs of life, dragging cedar plug daisy chains at 10mph. Good bit of information for next weekend.

I had to drive to HB to Jake's house to clean the boat, then back to Irvine to drop it off at work. Blood wasn't coming out of the console's surface so add it to the list of things to do this week to the boat.

Not the numbers that Tom has been putting up, but a HUGE relief to not go the season without a pelagic on board. Good start! Enjoying a little poké tonight...

My buddy Chris has been helping me a ton with the new boat. He's fixed up boats with his dad growing up and rebuilt two boats from scratch in recent years, so he is my chief advisor with upcoming boat projects. He let me know on Thursday that he was free to fish this weekend. On Friday, he helped me to finish installing the rod holders on the stern, and Saturday morning, pre-dawn before we left for Dana, he helped to get the kicker outboard off of the stern, which became complicated when the clamp was seized, the winding handles broke off, and still the outboard was bolted to the stern.

We got to the ramp around 0700. Later than planned, but happy to have those projects behind us. He was gonna give me pointers every step of the way and that started with launch procedure. I was guided during the sea trial, but hearing any extra bits of info and having a 6 pack captain on hand would help things along immensely.

The boat seems to want to stick onto the trailer, at least with the grade of the Dana launch ramp, so some kind of slicker hard plastic on the bunks will be a project in the near future.

She floats in saltwater!



The plan was to head to the 267 and then down toward Oceanside. Lots of exciting reports from the general area, so we hoped for the best. A messy, mixed, short swell in the 3-4' range greeted us head on for the first 5-10 miles, but the boat had no issues blasting through around 18-20mph while not slamming and keeping us dry.



We put out a daisy chain and a MadScad 190, soon to be switched out with a Yozuri High Speed Vibe. Almost as soon as I switched to the Vibe, Chris saw and heard a short bite. I did not notice it, but that gave us some energy.

There were at least 20 boats over the 267. Better than the Horseshoe right now, which has looked like a Bills tailgate party the past couple months. We didn't see dolphins or kelp. We zig zagged through boats around 12-15mph looking for anything at all. The dilapidated fish finder on the boat was on the fritz, so I had no FF and had to run all my GPS and speed through the Navionics app on my phone.

We SW toward Oside then toward the Domes. The wind died and it was a slick calm for all of an hour. With no more bites or signs of life, we kept trolling right on past the coastal ledge and into shallower water, hoping for a bonito bite on our way to get some slime on deck with some bass or bonito on structure.

We pulled into about 40' of water and started casting colt snipers. Second cast and I was bit. Happy to get the first fish on my boat!



I picked off another then we moved a little shallower, then up to San Mateo Point. In 30' of water, I was able to pick off a couple short turd rollers. Then I heard a big splash behind me. I turned and saw about 15' of white water. It was on Chris's side of the boat and I asked him, was that a whale?? He said "no dude!!!! That was a 7-8' white shark that just went full aerial and landed broadside!!! Craziest thing I've ever seen in my life!!!" He said it got at least a full 3' of air before landing and he could even see red scars on its face. Wild! I know Tom's seen it a few times, and I'm glad that when I have a confirmed white shark near me, I'm not in the old Mosquito.

The wind was picking up so we headed in. At the harbor, Chris wanted a few casts on the bait barge. So I entertained it and we made about 15 casts. I got me a cooter in the boat!



At the ramp, I was a bit of a helmet and put the bow corner into the dock and there was a stranger catch it a little bit while Chris reiterated how to reverse and pull into the dock. As we were prepping to put it on the trailer, the engine died out twice for lack of fuel. We were able to prime the bulb and power the boat up the trailer, and home we went. Learned a lot and didn't get skunked. Chris did get skunked, but he couldn't stop thinking about that white shark and how amazing that was, so I think he was happy with the experience and boat as well.

On to 9/20....

I will post some miscellaneous pictures tonight or this weekend if I can remember. I'm taking more and more reference photos for projects to get to either now, this winter, or to keep in mind and shape over the next several years.

I should make a separate thread for the ongoing project. I always enjoy those threads. I looked back at the Square Boma thread on SCSF a number of times.

Quote from: Latimeria on September 18, 2026, 07:01:30 AMI'm looking forward to seeing what you catch on that beast!  Best time possible to pick up that boat!

A bit intimidating to hop in at peak season, hardly dialed into the boat, but the heart is there!

I'm just flooding the boards for no good reason now....

I was thinking about getting some better-quality stuff made for the XX edition but would probably need to pre-order so I don't purchase more than I need to.  Would you guys be willing?  I have a few months of recover for my Surgery in November, so I will have time to get some things done.

I'm going to start making smaller versions for rockfish.  These things really work great.

I just picked up a free descending device online, so no longer have to use the wire hanger rig but I will keep it on board in a pinch.

I just sold some more fossils, so now I bought the electric reel and sweet rod for basically rocks!