Figured with the January lull in reports I’d post up some pics from my early September tuna trip off San Diego with my Dad. Went on a 3.5 day on the Top Gun 80 out of H&M Landing. All flyline live sardine fishing, in free spool, so you feel the tuna pick up your bait. Caught two on a jig. Mind you these aren’t the giant bluefin we see off NC, but (**() sure fun on 20-40lb test and live bait rods. Anyway hope to make it out there again soon, originally from the Los Angeles area. If any of you guys want a change of pace check out San Diego! There’s 4 landings all with multi-day boats (H&M Landing, Fisherman’s Landing, Point Loma Sportfihing, and across the way is Seaforth Sportfishing) pretty much all next to one another in San Diego. 3 meals a day, snacks out in between, stateroom bunking etc. The picture of the two dock carts was my pull from the trip. I landed 18 bluefin from 25-50lbs, some yellowtail, and Dad got a nice dodo along with his cough cough 7 tuna cough… Its a cool setup because the Salvation Army etc. will meet some of the boats when you get back in, and any fish you want to donate they are more than happy to take any off your hands. I donated 10 tuna to them, and had more than enough to take back with me. Processors also meet the boats that come in, so if you want them vacuum sealed, filleted, smoked, jerky, etc., they will ship it to your door. Which is convenient if you don’t live there. Thanks guys!
Love the landing structure/availability and the bait receivers. It lets all sorts of people have access to the fishery. Some very hardcore fisherfolks out there for sure.
I’m a long time long range addict. I miss it. I plan on doing a 13 day on the Intrepid next winter. There is nothing like it.
I’m curious about the “ship to your door” thing. I haven’t done a San Diego trip since moving here 3 years ago. I’ve always used 5 star processing. I’m sure they’d do it. Shipping is pricey though isn’t it?
If it’s anything like the processers in Alaska, they will FedEx overnight it! You tell them what day you want it delivered and there it is. It does cost a lot.
Courtland your not kidding I love the landing’s and layout of everything as well. It makes everything so easy! Definitely some hardcore, salty mofos out there! Thanks for lookin’ man
Afishianado your killin’ me! Intrepid is a beautiful, beautiful fishing platform, I’d love to be able to fish her one day. There are a few sportfishers out there I’d do about anything to be able to fish. Independence, Red Rooster 3, Excel, Royal Polaris, list goes on and on haha. What boats have you had the chance to fish on? My Dad and I did the Searcher for about 4 years in a row love that boat too Capt. Art is a great guy. As far as fish processing is concerned, we’ve always used Five Star too. Sarah is the absolute best, she knew we had a flight to catch about 4 or 5 hours after getting back to the dock. She drove us to 5 star, processed our fish while we waited, and boxed them up, and dropped us off at the airport! Now the trip before that a couple years back, I had a small amount shipped back. I will say shipping cost almost as much as the processing. I forget exactly how much $$ it was, but here’s their number I’m sure they might be able to give you a rough estimate. (619) 299-9996 Like Easy said, they get it to you fast. Let me know if you go back out there!
Touche it’s an unbelievable experience. Longest I’ve been able to afford is a couple 4 and 5 day trips. Some of those 300lb.+ cow yellowfin are caught on trips 14-21 days. I definitely don’t think my rods will do me justice except for some wahoo and yellowtail haha.
-Wishes Charlotte was 3 hours closer to the ocean…-
I’ve fished the Royal Star a bunch of times, the American Angler, Shogun, Pegasus, and several others. The Independence and Intrepid are on my list to do a trip on. the thing about the Royal Star and American Angler is that they end up with the best product the way they gill and gut every fish as soon as it’s caught and then put it in RSW. Every fish comes back sushi grade. Some of the other boat don’t do that. Cost is between $350 and $400 per day. Which on first look seems expensive. But you’re getting 3 to 5 gourmet meals a day, 2 people per stateroom, all the fishing seminars and fishing experts you could ask for. The fishing and fish product is almost a bonus. The airport is close to the landing and there are small motels right across the street that have custom rates for fishermen. You could potentially fly in late the night before the trip, stay a few hours in a motel room. Coming back would be the challenge. I think you could make a flight before noon and get back to the east coast the same day. How did that work for you Saltwateraddict?
Sermon depending on the trip length and boat you go on, a 3 day will be around $750-1350, a 5 day around $1800, 10 day $2500.
Post Quartermaster we did fish the pens for two days, ran south and paddy hopped and fished sonar marks the other day. Its been an INSANE winter out there, still catching bluefin and yellowtail. Hell they’ve even seen a few wahoo come into Southern California waters which was insane!
Afishianado thats awesome you know all the sportfishers out there! Everything you say is so true, it truely is an experience. Every time we’ve gone out there, we book a trip that gets back in the early morning, so we have enough time to see Sarah at 5 Star Processing, and get to the airport. I wish my pocketbook would allow me to go more!
-Wishes Charlotte was 3 hours closer to the ocean…-
If anyone is interested in reading about the various boats in the fleet out there, all of the big boats have websites where they post daily reports and have the schedules and pictures of the boats. Go to fishermans landing site or H&M landing or Lee Palms landing to find links. Royalstarsportfishing.com is also a good example of what they’re doing
