By Dave Dolan
On September 19, a group of 25 anglers boarded the boat Liberty for the first of two annual Let’s Talk Hookup trips out of Fisherman’s Landing.
I have done this trip the past few seasons for this fall fishing trip. I recognized several fisherman who have also done this time of year trip. There is a reason so many have made this a fall fishing tradition, but more of that later.
Our trip left the dock on a Sunday evening with a return time of the next Tuesday night. If you have done trips like this from Fisherman’s Landing, you know the drill. After the Captain’s safety and fishing orientation, we did the bait dock, then out to sea.What is so nice about these sponsored trips are the give outs. We had a full array of Gamakatsu hooks, AFTCO gear and plenty of Seagar flouocarbon.
The fishing the week before had been pretty tough. The game plan was to head out to the Tanner Bank a, 9 hour run where some good reports were starting to come in. We were told that the ride out might be rough and the sleeping was a little uneasy that night, but that’s just the ocean. However, the trip to the Tanner was the right choice and the seas continued to lay down for us later.
What we had all day was a nice, steady pick on 30 pound blue fin tuna.There were also some other 50 to 75 pounders landed. The boat managed to put us on a
good bite thru out the day. Bottom line is, we limited out the boat on blue fin. Top catch during the day was a #150 blue fin for an angler who was out on 30 pound line. We all had a good time watching him circle the boat who knows how many times getting a good whooping from this fish.Bottom line, he landed the fish while many others were also hooked up.
Most were pretty tired after a full day of catching. A few managed to stay up for some late night fishing. This certainly paid off for Rich from San Pedro. Using a flat fall knife jig down deep, he landed a 208 pound blue fin. Good for you, Rich !
With all the reports of trophy size fish landed, we dream of adding that fish to our list. And we did land some of that size. But you cannot overlook just good quality non stop action, fly line style tuna fishing. On the return trip everyone kept talking about what a great trip we had.
I mentioned how this particular trip has become a tradition for many. The fishing has never disappointed me on these trips.But beyond the fishing, the boat Liberty is what brings so many back. The boat is first rate. The crew is very cohesive in their operation and hard work. What really gets my attention is the cleanliness of the boat. The crew keeps the decks scrubbed down and most important, the heads and galley are kept spotless. And let me give a salute to Sarah in the galley. She has been with the boat for several seasons. How she can feed 25 hungry fisherman and the crew all by herself and keep a clean galley is amazing. She is a one person crew.
This 2 day Let’s Talk Hookup trip aboard the Liberty has been a sell out every year. This would not be too early to look into doing this trip next year. I can almost promise you a good fishing experience. You can book this trip thru Fisherman’s Landing at 619-221-8500.
