Hi RPers,

We had a slooooow day of fishing today with only a handful of tuna and some nice wahoo making it into the RSW tank. What we lacked in pelagic game fish, we had an abundance of pesky needlefish. At some points it looked like the 405 freeway filled with the toothy creatures. As many of you long rangers know, the pests of the sea do amazing amounts of damage to your terminal tackle. In a best case scenario, you damage several feet of your super expensive flourocarbon top shot. In a worst case, your 7lb needlefish flies across the stern and takes out 3 or 4 of your closest fishing buddies tangling and damaging spectra along the way. I truly hate needlefish! All of our patience dealing with our painful little friends paid off as the sun went down, several nice 110-130lb tuna made a showing.

The thing I like most about this particular group is that on a very slow day, we find ways to laugh and have fun. Captain Roy always takes center stage on the bait tank and entertains for hours! We had a weigh off between Rick “Ferrigno” Allen and Mia “I’ve been lifting” Petty to see who weighed more. I won’t say who won or lost, but yes Rick, those pants make your butt look big! Next up was the new tradition of whipped cream pie in the face for making the 300 club (a sophisticated award created by Capt Jonathon and me). Suffice it to say, Bill didn’t go down easy and when done, this year’s food fight was only topped by the Sushi Nightmare of 2013. All things combined to make what was a difficult day of fishing into one filled with smiles and laughter.

Since we didn’t have any standouts, tonight I get to make my own saying hi to the family and everyone at TSCG & MAFF. Also, Congrats to Kailea on following your dreams at UC Davis! 1