Quote from: Latimeria on September 14, 2026, 08:44:34 AMHahahaha, sorry Steve-O!

Nice trip Jeremy!  I love to see what you guys get on the annual Bongos trip.  I do have to say that it's a bummer that you didn't get out to Clemente though.  That could have been a really good trip, especially now!

Holy crap, that boat towing the dory sideways has me cringing.  What in the actual hell....

Well, the fish are snapping down here and a big wave of wahoo are at the border.  The next few weeks should be pretty wide open down here! 

Seeing the wahoo. I heard a rumor of one a mile off Dana too. Gonna be worth putting something behind the boat at 20mph while looking for tuna.

We launched with one thing on our minds: marlin and wahoo. The anticipation was high as we headed out, even though my buddies didn't have Mexican permits and planned to stay in U.S. waters for the day.



First stop was the bait barge, where we grabbed a half scoop. It was mostly small anchovies, with a few tiny macks and dines mixed in. Not exactly trophy bait, but we've all seen stranger things happen offshore.
We spent some time on the 9-Mile Bank and metered some really promising fish, but no matter what we threw at them, they just wouldn't commit. One of those classic "they're here, but they're not hungry" situations.



From there we made the run to the 182, put out three marlin jigs, and then things got absolutely stupid... in the best possible way.





Twenty minutes later... TRIPLE HOOKUP!

Three marlin on at the same time! We ended up boating two and releasing the third. Not long after, we hooked a fourth marlin and sent that one back to fight another day. Definitely not the kind of action we were really expecting when we left the dock that morning.





After riding that high, we headed over toward the 43, where a fleet of marlin boats was working the area. We started trolling and stumbled onto what can only be described as a magical paddy.

This thing was loaded.

Yellowtail... Dorado...... Yellowfin tuna!







The tuna were mostly footballs, but nobody was complaining. For the next several hours it was pretty much nonstop action. Even better, somehow nobody crashed our little party! We jokingly started calling it the "Paddy Party", and the invitations apparently got lost in the mail because we had it all to ourselves which was unreal.

By the time we finally called it quits, the kill bag was pretty much stuffed and the arms/shoulders were feeling it.
The ride home got a little sporty as the wind came up, but we were treated to one final show when we saw huge manta rays launching themselves out of the water all over the 9-Mile Bank. An awesome way to cap off an already unforgettable day.

No wahoo this time, but with four marlin encounters, a loaded paddy, nonstop yellowtail/dorado/yellowfin action, and flying manta rays, it's pretty hard to complain.

Some days the ocean gives you exactly what you're looking for. Other days it gives you something even better.

Until Next Tide!

Hahahaha, sorry Steve-O!

Nice trip Jeremy!  I love to see what you guys get on the annual Bongos trip.  I do have to say that it's a bummer that you didn't get out to Clemente though.  That could have been a really good trip, especially now!

Holy crap, that boat towing the dory sideways has me cringing.  What in the actual hell....

Well, the fish are snapping down here and a big wave of wahoo are at the border.  The next few weeks should be pretty wide open down here! 

That's way more fun than Squatch has been having lately.

Way more fun than I've been having lately

Annual work trip, 5 + me. Wind forecast looked like sh!t (15-20mph) all week for going to Clemente on Saturday which is the usual play. Hopped aboard around 0500, got a scoop of some sh!tty looking sardines, and I asked Capt. Mike what the game plan was at the harbor mouth. He said Clemente was a go, I asked about the wind and he said he didn't even look at the forecast. If the island protects us, that's all good with me.

We got about 10 miles out, Mike looked back at the bait, and it was rolling pretty quick. He called the other boat in the operation and asked how they were doing on bait, and they said it looked bad, but Mike thought there might be a bait tank pump issue on top of the already unhealthy sardines. So we called an audible and went to Catalina instead, figuring we could probably still put up similar numbers at the island and/or offshore and still have a shot at restocking on bait in Avalon if it comes down to it.

Caught the sunrise. Only time we would see the sun for the day, which was a very nice change of pace.



We got to our first stop around 0630. Anchored up and the bite was slow to warm up. Picked off a couple bonito after 5-10 minutes. Bones don't get photo love on these trips, only sloppy wordplay as they come over the rail. Thankfully everyone knows I'm the bonito guy and I come home with big bags of fillets of them every time.

Peter is still new to fishing in general but learning quick. He had a lot of room for improvement in fighting technique when reeling in a bonito, so Mike grabbed the rod, showed him the mechanics of fish fighting while giving him sh!t, telling Peter he will lose a yellow every single time if he does that sh!t again.

And what do you know, 5 minutes later Peter hooks a yellow. A nice one. Took him around the boat twice. Gaffed on the stern. Only one of the trip! A little over 20lbs, I'd say.



A nearby boat had put several yellows on deck and there were still lots of marks. We worked the spot for a couple hours, mostly just scratching at bonito. Finally we went over to Avalon to re-up on bait.

Saw this guy pulling his dory horizontally, I'm sure that's great on gas...



Got a little variety in the bait, including this salema and a couple big threadin herring.



Pulled up to our next spot and the bait was definitely better. I instantly hooked up to a 5lb bonito. Bass were now showing up, mostly over 2lbs.



Jared got his PB, measured 22" and difficult not to call it 6lbs+.



No yellows at this spot though.

Mike was humming and hawing. He really didn't like how the bait had rolled earlier and even this fresh scoop wasn't faring too well so he chalked it up as a mechanical failure. He asked us if we wanted to call the day a bit early and in return he would take us out again in a month with a better bait tank pump. We obliged! So we gave the fishing just a bit more effort and started heading back around 1100, with yellowfin still in mind on the way back.

About halfway back, we rolled up on a couple boats and dolphins. The dolphins were acting goofy so we put out a few trollers and did a few laps around. Radio chatter claimed that one boat got a fish on the troll out of this pod to start, and nothing has happened since.

We did spy a few on the finder, but they did not come up for us.



Back at the dock around 1300. Not a bad trip, maybe a bit lackluster on yellows apart from Peter's fish. Looking forward to another soon. Hopefully with a bit of time for the fish to settle after adverse weather and the bait tank figured out, we will put the wood to the YT and YFT. Napped away most of the afternoon, time to prep the bonito...

Well, have a blast when you get to go.  I haven't been able to do squat lately.

Sx is coming up mid-November, so I need to get some fish while I could!

Hopefully the temperature comes down a bit by then, too!

 Was supposed to leave yesterday and spend 5 days up there but my buddy had a company emergency
Looks like the trip will still happen more towards the end of the month. It's Ok cause all the trees will be changing colors and the scenery will be even more beautiful by then

Man "Jerime", What an epic journey!  I did something similar picking up my boat, but not at that distance.  Very, very cool stuff and what a way to drive a trailer for the first time.  I can only imagine the white knuckle driving you were doing.

Bravo sir!  Well done and congrats on your hole in the water you'll continue to dump money into... but your memories from what the boat will bring you will be legendary.

Concolor...