Here we go again on the annual Lets talk hook up, Royal Star 2014 after Thanksgiving long range expedition. Lots of perpetration was done before our departure date. Rods checked, reels topped off with fresh Power Pro and Seaguar fluorocarbon. Hooks stocked, jigs loaded, leaders made, we were ready to go! Once Sunday morning arrived, the red shirts at Fishermans Landing made life easy and assisted with loading all of our gear from our trucks down to the boat. By 8:30am all of the tackle and provisions were loaded, so we untied the lines and pointed south.
After a nice load of bait from the Everingham Brothers, we started our journey to the tropics. This trip was strategically placed in the schedule of the Royal Star to be able to take advantage of any of the 3 traditional “big fish” zones. Clarion Island buffer zone, the Hurricane Bank, and the beach (which refers to the banks located outside Mag. Bay) because we left on Sunday, 2 days behind the majority of the fleet, we were able to use the information from the other boats in the code group to make the best fishing decision. Here again shows the importance of fishing with and sharing information with your partners on the water. Had our boat not been in the code group, we would be going in blind, but instead we were able to get checks on bait, weather, and fishing. With the information put forth, Captain Tim Ekstrom pointed the boat towards the buffer zone around Clarion. One of the great advantages to this plan was that the path to Clarion takes you directly past Alijos Rocks.
After 2 days of travel, we had enjoyed hours of laughs while becoming acquainted with each other, a great wahoo fishing seminars by deck boss Blake Wassano, lots of tackle preparations, and a huge raffle that included prizes from Shimano, Seaguar, Rapala, Maui Jim, Salas, and many more. But a huge thanks needs to go out to Aftco, they were so generous and provide every angler on the trip with a great T-shirt, a drink coozie, and donated killer prizes including several rod belts, fishing gloves, sun masks and more!
We arrived at Alijos Rocks around 10:00, eager with the knowledge that a couple of boats that previously hit the stones found a few willing skinnys (wahoo). With the rocks in site the trolling jigs
went in and the jig casters stood at the ready. We were all waiting for that familiar sound of clickers screaming, indicating we have hooked our first ‘hoo. It took us a little bit to locate the the wahoo, but once we did, it was game on! Doubles and triples on the trolled marauders were common. Once hooked, the jig casters would go to work. Wahoo bombs, raider jigs, 6x jrs, and more. Everything seemed to get its fair share of bites. One thing I have always known to be true about wahoo, it they are the oceans best escape artists, and perhaps the most humbling fish to target, especially on casting jigs! It is very common to go through 5 or 6 bites before you finally able to get a wahoo on the deck. After a stop, when the dust settles the talk around the tackle rack was always the same… “I lost 2” “I got sawed off” “I lost another bomb”. But with the losses there are always stories of triumph, and we were all able to tag a few nice fish, and slide them into the chilly 29 degree state of the art R.S.W. Fish holds. After only a couple hours we landed 40 nice wahoo, and we were back underway to our final big fish destination. The idea of this stop was to help break up the ride down. we not only accomplished that, but we were able to take home some of the finest table fare the ocean has to offer.
After one more day of travel we arrived at the buffer zone of Clarion. After 20 minutes or so of scouting around Capt. Tim found what he liked and set us up for our first drift of the morning. We had a nice load of very healthy, but particularly small sardines, which made for tough fishing conditions. Fighting through the adverse conditions angler Colin Chimiemti on his very first long range trip hooked our first tuna! Based on the amount of line that it pulled, and the big tail beats on the rod it looked to be a good one. Not long after Colin’s fish, Ethan Dahlkamp pushed his drag lever forward, and the sound of Power Pro freight training through guides was once again heard by all the anglers. After about 20 minutes Ethan fish was first to color, and after a hard battle the first tuna of our trip, a scrappy 175# hit the deck. It was another 15 minutes or so, and a few more trips around the boat before Colin’s beast would make its way to the gaffs, but once it did, the thunder of a cow hitting the deck was felt by all of us, and Colin was able to stand next to his new personal best tuna at 224 lbs, earning him a brand new pair of Maui Jim’s in the process. Although we got off to a great start, we were met with slightly slower results throughout the day. Stopping on several great looking bird schools, that all produced a handful of fish. We encountered several flurries that produced lots of 40-70# fish but not the 100#+ that Tim was looking for, so on again to the next we went. At the end of fishing day 1 we were off to a great start with a nice cow, and a hand full of fish from 90-175.
Day 2 started early with a morning drift that kicked out several fish from 90-125. Once the sun was up and shining we started trolling around for wahoo, and had several great scores. It was a fun day in perfect weather. Troll up some wahoo, find a school of tuna and drift on them for a while, once it slowed we got back to trolling and catch a few more ‘hoos, a blast of a day! Day 2 ended with a nice little evening bite that lasted into the dark, where we hooked several more of that bigger grade tuna to about 160#’s. Once all the fish were given the Royal Star gill & gut treatment, and placed in the holds, we were treated to a fantastic fresh wahoo dinner repaired buy chefs Jeff and Nester.
Day3 started in similar Buffer-zone fashion, after a relaxing night on the anchor. We were able to make some bigger baits (tube mackerel) to hopefully be used later in the day. Tim got us on a nice bird school of tuna right out of the gate, and we were able to deck several more big fish. Then our routine of tuna and wahoo drifts and troll strikes kicked back in. The only difference from the previous days was our evening hit. Tim saw a nice school, and told deck boss Blake Wassano to “let them have it”! Net full, after net full of bait flew over the rail. And what followed can not be appropriately described. Tuna all 100 pounds or better were crashing everywhere. Every bait that hit the water was inhaled by a hungry tuna. This first flash was amazing, then settled into a steady plunker bite, that lasted into the dark. I had a chance to fish a new prototype Shimano Terez rail rod that is due to come out next year. Let me just say this, the boys at Shimano nailed it! 7’ 2″‘ light weight, rail grips, perhaps the perfect big fish rod. I fished an XXH paired with my Talica 50, Power Pro Hollow Ace spectra, and a short tops shot (15’) of 150# Seaguar Premier fluorocarbon. It was the perfect rig for these 125-170# fish and I was lucky enough to tag 3 during this bite!
Day 4 started with high anticipation, and did not disappoint. Slow but steady action in the morning, followed by tuna and wahoo strikes in the afternoon, then the steadiest “plunker style” bite on tuna that we had seen during our trip. We had 1-2 fish going from 1:00pm till dark, with occasional flurries of 3 and 4 at a time. Both flyline and sinker rigs produced bites, including several fish over 170 pounds. Angler Neil Barbour did the final big fish honors getting a bite on a tube mackerel in the dark of day four, and putting the heat to mean 160 pounder on his Talica 50 and 150# premier.
Now for fishing day 5, our 12 day trip has the option of fishing another morning at the Buffer-zone, but rather than finishing our time down below, Tim chose to start heading north that evening. This gave us the ability to “fish” our way home. A day of travel, then we would get to spend most of a day at Alijos, then travel in the morning and fish an afternoon at Cedros, followed by one last travel day before we hit the dock in San Diego. This was a great way to head home, and since our best fishing was always in the afternoons, we gave up very little to gain a lot.
Our first day at sea pointed north bound gave all anglers a chance to catch up on rest, have a few cold ones, and breakdown their big fish gear. We told stories of triumph and tragedy, licked
our wounds, and prepared our wahoo gear, hoping the wahoo were 1/2 as willing as when we left them.
We arrived at Alijos bank around 11:00am, we fished for all of about 5 minutes before the first troll strike. That stop produced probably 25 bites, of which at least 10-12 fish came aboard. It wasn’t long before we all realized we were in for something special. Strike after strike, cast after cast the wahoo bit with reckless abandon. In fact, the only thing that slowed the wide open pace of the wahoo was the mix of striped marlin. At times the marlin was so full speed, that we would have 3 or 4 wahoo going, AND 4 or 5 marlin going on bombs and jigs. Countless times while retrieving your wahoo jig, you would see a lit up marlin trying to chance it down and eat it. We fished the Alijos area until dark for the single best day of wahoo fishing I have ever experienced. I can definitely tell you that my box is a lot lighter than when we started! (After loosing so many wahoo bombs) We caught so many wahoo, the boys had to “re stack” the RSW fish holds just to make them all fit! Once dark settled in we continued running north and spent our final fishing afternoon soaking up the sun, and catching a few bass for a favorite Royal Star tradition of a fresh calico bass lunch!
As with all previous voyages on the Royal Star, the professionalism of the captain, crew, and chefs continually blows me away. From Tim up stairs not only finding fish, but planning the trip around different areas to break up the ride and take advantage if bite times. To the fantastic meals provided by the chefs day in and day out. Daily fresh baked breads, soups and salads all made from scratch. To the best crew in the business. Paul Camarillo, Blake Wassano, Steve Gregonis, and new addition Diego. The boys were a well-oiled machine, and the true reason we were as successful as we were in landing such a high percentage of these big fish.
If you have ever given serious thought to trying one of these long range excursions, you owe it to yourself to try the Royal Star. These trips are truly the ultimate fishing experience. Next year our trip is a ride down, fly back option- 12 or 15 days. The trip has less than a handful of spot left, so if you want to go, call Royal Star at 619-224-4764 or check RoyalStarSportfishing.com
