Limit Style Yellowfin Tuna Fishing
Annual Okuma Fall Charter Aboard Tribute Sportfishing
With the reports of limit style yellowfin tuna fishing coming in recently, we had our charter timed just right. The annual Okuma Fall Charter aboard Tribute Sportfishing out of Seaforth Landing has been a tradition over the past couple of years.
The Plan
Everyone had high hopes of limit style yellowfin tuna fishing as we headed down to Seaforth Landing in San Diego. The fish had been reasonably close to home and it had been pretty wide open. The fish we were chasing were not big like the recent bluefin that we have been catching, but more fun sized in the 10-30lb class.
The Tribute is docked at the very easily accessible Seaforth Landing near Sea World. The easy access and free parking make this landing very attractive to the fisherman who utilize it. And the short boat right out of the harbor is a nice touch too.
One other fun touch on the Okuma charters is that I bring several demo products for the anglers to try out and enjoy. This trip I brought the new PCH Custom rods paired up with the new Tesoro Star Drag reels, as well as Metaloid Lever Drag reels on SCT and PCH Custom Rods.
The Excitement
We left the landing at 10pm and began our journey south. The boat was preloaded with bait prior to everyone boarding which makes for a nice quick exit of the harbor. As everyone boarded, I got them all loaded up with Okuma swag. Shane and Monkey took us through the safety and gear seminar and got everyone fired up on what to expect. Once they were finished, most guys headed over to their tackle and got everything rigged up. A lot of anglers went straight to bed, dreaming of what was in store for the next morning.
Yellowfin Tuna
We woke up in the dark about 50 miles south of the border. A couple of quick fish were put on the deck prior to the sunrise and we were on our way. Captain Mike Pritchard fired up the motors and off we went in search of kelp paddies and dolphin.
We made a couple of stops on paddies pretty quickly for not much action. A couple of yellowtail as well as a scratching of yellowfin tuna got us started. As I sat up in the wheelhouse with Mike, we noticed a strong fog bank on the horizon which had us a little concerned. Not for our safety, but more for the fact that the area in which most of the loaded kelp paddies had been were down in that area. The thick fog would prove nearly impossible to find those loaded paddies.
We scratched at fish all day and hovered around the 40 yellowfin tuna mark until about 2pm. We finally found the pod of dolphin we had been looking for. These dolphin were holding with yellowfin tuna that were willing to participate and bite on the baits we were throwing. We would slide the boat up on the dolphin and start a little chum and the fish would come up and chew. Blow ups all around and all you needed to do was slide a bait back for a near instant hook up. It was awesome to see the line scream off of the Tesoro reels and the bend in the PCH rods making easy work of the yellowfin tuna.
The Tally
We were about 50 miles from home. and with that, we were looking at a good 5 hour ride home. It figures that we would find the willing yellowfin tuna late in our day. We extended it as long as we could finally pushing off about 4pm. Knowing that he would get us back to the dock after 9pm, Mike was a trooper. This would give his crew only about half hour to get the boat prepped and ready for the next nights trip.
We ended the trip with 92 yellowfin and over 60 skipjack with a handful of yellowtail mixed in.
The jackpot went to Dominick with this chunky little yellowfin tuna that he pulled off of the dolphin.
Here is a quick recap video that I put together of the trip. We all had a lot of fun and put the new PCH Rods, SCT Inshore Rods, Komodo SS and Metaloids to the test.
All in all, everyone had a great time with most walking away with a sack full of tuna as well as some great raffle prizes provided by Okuma including SCT Inshore rods and Cortez reels.
For more information and some great deals on the gear used:
Tesoro Star Drag Reels
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Happy fishing!
Davey
