April 1, 2007

Billy's Excellent Trip

Royal Polaris docked April 1 after a fine 18-day Line One Spectra trip with chartermaster Jerry Brown. Captain Billy Santiago Jr. weighed the contending tuna on the certified scales at Fisherman's Landing.

"We had 17 anglers," said Billy, "and when we pulled up on the Hurricane Bank we started out with a nice catch of 37 wahoo. But tuna fished started out tough, because the sharks were so bad the guys couldn't even fish sardines. But a few days later the sharks left us alone and we had days for 20 to 48 tuna averaging 110 to 170 pounds.

"All our big fish, everything over 200 pounds, came on the kite with flying fish for bait. We got tuna up to 180 pounds on sardines, and the wahoo bit on bait and jigs and bombs. The current on the bank was switchy, and the water was 76 degrees. Flying fish were plentiful.

"We also fished up to mile off the bank, when we saw tuna blowing out. The other thing that was a little unusual was that we got some big ones in the shallows, in as little as 20 fathoms. We did the same thing years ago, so it wasn't a total surprise, but it's more common to get the big fish in deeper water. This time, we drifted on ???em.

"The hooks that worked for us on this trip were 6/0 Mustad and Owner circle hooks with the sardines, and on the kite we got good fish with both the 7691 J hooks and the 20/0 Mustad circle hooks. I like the circles, because they rarely come out of the fish's jaw."

James Townsend, a master carpenter from Concord, won the jackpot for the biggest tuna, a 276.5-pounder.

"He bit at high noon," said James, who was on his first long range trip. "He ate a flyer under the kite and then ran off with about 300 yards of my line. He fought for an hour and 15 minutes, took me around the boat twice and around the anchor four times. In the end he came up on the port side of the stern.

"You bet he's my best fish! This was great; I'll do it again."

Townsend used a 10/0 7691 hook on 130-pound Maxima fluorocarbon and 130-pound Line One Spectra, on a Penn 70 VSW reel and a Calstar 755 XXH rod.

The second-largest tuna came to Dr. Les Quan of San Francisco, not in the jackpot. He said it was his second "ultimate achievement" in a year.

Last November he received his diplomatic status from the American Board of Endodontics. The three-part exam series kept him from going on his annual 10-day fall trip on the Royal Polaris in 2005 and again in 2006.

"I made up for the sacrifice on this trip," said Les. "I got 11 tuna over 200 pounds. This one is my best ever. I got it on my new "topless" Accurate 80 N modified by Baker.

"The 1 to 1 original low gear is extremely powerful," noted Dr. Quan. "I used the rail and a Pandeles gimbaled fighting belt, and all my big fish came right up."

Quan fished with 130-pound Line One Spectra, 130-pound Jinkai line for a topshot, and 130-pound fluorocarbon before a swivel and the topshot. He called the rig "knotless," with the only knot being the one attaching the Spectra to the reel. All other connections were crimped. He fished a 12/0 Mustad 7691 hook, he said, and a Calstar 760 H rod.

"I build my own rods," he added, "and I credit Dean Yoshizumi of Blackwater for teaching me how to make topshots that are 100% reliable."

Second place went to Del Yaryan of Alpine for a 233-pounder. He said he got it with a kite-flown flyer on a 10/0 Mustad 7691 hook, 130-pound Line One Spectra, 130-pound Izorline, a Penn 80 and a Calstar TSS rod.

Stan Bonillas of Newport Beach won third place for a 225.1-pound yellowfin on a flyer and a 12/0 Mustad 7691 hook. Stan fished with 130-pound Line One Spectra, 130-pound Izorline, a Baker/Sheets-modified Accurate 80 N reel and a Calstar 765 XH rod. He also had a 230.9-pounder.

"I was in the skiff for an hour and a half to get this one," he said. Don Asbury of La Mesa is 83, but that didn't keep him from whipping a 219-pound tuna that ate a flyer on an 11/0 Mustad 7691 hook tied to 130-pound Izorline and 130-pound Line One Spectra. He fished with an Accurate 50 W reel and a Calstar 765 XH rod.

Dick Freeman of Seal Beach had a brace of cows, at 206 and 207.8 pounds.

"It was all fisherman's luck," said Dick. "We had good bait this time. I got 12 tuna, and one of the cows came in ten minutes. I used 130-pound Line One Spectra and 130-pound Soft Steel line. My fish came on the flyers and on the "double trouble" two-sardine kite rig. I fished a Penn 80 Sheets/Baker conversion and a Calstar 6465 XXH rod."

Royal Polaris departs April 2 on her next trip.

Coming here next: "Roosters & Whales," an account of Bill Roecker's just-ended trip to East Cape and Rancho Leonero.