7/24/13

A study in extremes today, of the right kind, beginning with an epic morning ripper on white sea bass (among the
three or four best I have experienced) that segued into a full day of steady scratching at quality yellowtail in
the Baja sun. By any and all accounts this was a day of fishing to savor, and one that will be foremost in our
memories for many years to come.

Of course the sea bass were the big highlight. On the early shift Randy and my deck skills were put to the test
when the big sea bass arrived in force hammering everything in the water. We held the line for a fair while then
the boys rousted and the real ass kicking began. Big sea bass were literally pouring over the rail as this group of
veteran anglers knew exactly what to do and how to do it.

I'll tell you it made for an impressive sight when it came to an end and the smoke cleared. Fifty eight big sea
bass were piled atop the bait tank and one another around the stern as we had no time to clear the deck during the
absolutely wide open fishing. While we got squared away moving bait and switching tanks needless to say there was
plenty of well earned reveling to go around. The level of gratification following this hit can not be overstated.
This does not happen every day in our realm; and to be here on purpose made it that much better. This was no
shithouse lucky event; that's what made it particularly special.

And it didn't end there. Prior to departing for the offshore grounds late in the day we scratched up another ten of
the stealthy big croakers including one behemoth that weighed in at sixty five pounds! It served as icing on the
cake book ending the day with good hits on seabass - not exactly an everyday, but definitely among the most sought
after goals in these fishing grounds. We're feeling mighty fine because of it; all of us on board at present are
living right.

Because our fortune could not get any better we'll leave it at that. Shifting gears back into offshore mode we
return to the quest for big bluefin intent upon finding the elusive devils that we are still convinced are not far
away. There has been some fantastic "consolation prize" action on 18 - 30# yellowfin of late that would not
surprising to see lead us right to the bluefin we are looking for. Mark my words on that; not necessarily tomorrow
but not too far from now.

Photos today feature Garin Mc Carthy with a big ole' fifty pound croaker and Steve Masuda with a "stock" grade
coastal yellowtail.

Tim Ekstrom

Photo Here...

Photo Here...