Marlin Trip - Number Two

Marlin fishing trip to get in on the local hot bite... One More Time.

We were out there off of Church Rock on Friday. No hook up in that area. Plenty of hook-ups for those fishing in the Pescadores fishing tournament. Ask about their silly radio chatter sometime. Wild goofy guys and gals in that "Pesky" group.

Jeffery M. and David F. and I snuck out late on Thursday and anchored in Cat Harbor to be close to the hot marlin spot off of Catalina Island at first lite. It was a very foggy morning as we came out of Cat and moved to the hot marlin area beside the island in an area near Church Rock. It did not pan out for us after much trolling and watching the water temps.

When we moved over to Avalon Bank and to the Shipping Lanes. We did have a good hook up and a basic Fire Drill / Cluster F~#& situation when the first man into the cockpit forgot all that he was supposed to do then we had to have a swimmer cut off a lure from the prop. All the while the fish was taking line… Now that I am back on shore it is a bit more funny. ;-)

Therefore: (Too much line out) + ( Monster big head shake side to side ) + (Too much slack due to my reversing faster than the angler could retrieve) = Lost fish.

Lessons learned: Retrieve the lures with boat in one engine Fwd so that we do not put out as much line on the fish being played. Do not reverse to fight fish until ALL Lures are INSIDE THE BOAT. Coach the Newbie’s more than once and practice. Ask them if they recall what was told to them. Jeffery acted like a newbie at the moment of truth. But he rectified his problem by boldly jumping in with a knife and getting the prop free. Lost the lure and chock it up to experience.

My favorite excitement moment was with two marlin up in the lures right behind the boat. Hot! The Ramblin’ can raise fish!

Next time...

B-Day Golf with Carl

I called my brother and suggested that he be nice to himself as it is his birthday. One of the ways to be nice to himself for example would be to go play some golf. I offered to throw myself on that grenade and to accompany him, if needed, for 9 holes etc.

He did find the time (make the time) and asked me to meet him at his club and play. We did a full round of 19 holes of golf. It was good just to be with Carl. Not a stressful thing about it. The score was the score and no head games or betting took place at all. Just a long afternoon on the green grass and good company.

We did talk for a moment about our Dad and that was good.

Love my brother. Happy Birthday to you Carl.

Tight Lines,

Keith -<"><

Fishing in the 2009 King Harbor Marlin Tournament

The Ramblin’ fished in the KHMT. Also a fellow MDRA boat, Big Momma, did their best to find and boat fish in the event. I have been going to fish this event for years. This is the second time I’ve been in it on my own boat.

It was a good event for us this weekend. Ramblin' had a knock down and zip (run for 20 to 30 seconds) just 4 or 5 miles off of the East End. Then the fish jumped after coming off the jig and thumbed it's nose at us. It was a really big and That set the hearts of the team racing and made us redouble our efforts. Dennis Bly was very impressed byt the jumping fish and his excitement was contagious. Gary and I were primed for the next one to come our way.

A little later near the 277 we had a knock down on the same starboard outrigger with the dark head mean joe green lure and we were on for a good 20 minute fight that resulted in a successful release. And again we saw more fish. Tossing live baits to tailers added to the action. When trolling up closer to home port we witnessed a fantastic display of jumpers just shy of the Avalon Bank. It was an exciting day one.

Ramblin' did a lot of driving south on day two when most of the fish were home in the back yard. First fishing from the Island (lures in at 6:30 am just 4 miles off the slide) heading southeast to the 277 and then even heading further south towards the 209. While underway we heard a few extra fish reports form other captains on the 209 who said it was dead. We diverted back up. We headed northwest and found the fish right next to the island. Eventually running over one tailer just 3 ½ miles off of Church Rock on the East End. We slowed the boat and put out 2 live baits. The baiting worked. The one from the bow (or one of his pals) popped up in the lure pattern. It was very exciting to feed live bait back to a fish right behind the boat in the lure spread. It was again a Hook up but the rough seas and big strong fish made this a different fight.

This time the angler was Gary Downie. Since the marlin took the bait presented on the 20# dacron line rood/reel setup it was sure to be a longer battle. The rough seas made it hard on the angler and the boat. At times we had white water over the head of the angler and leaderman in the cockpit. It was salty work. After a few times of showing itself and even getting within 20-30 feet of the boat it got really hard to budge. In the end it won the battle when the line parted after 1 hour and 30 min of our best efforts to bring it to leader.

Shortly we returned to calmer waters just south east of the island and continued our search. Even past the 4 pm Stop Fishing time for the tournament. Then back to Avalon for a swim and getting ready for the fun KHMT awards banquet where the team was equally lucky in the Raffles. Very cool.

Big Momma on the other hand held back on using up its luck until Sunday morning when they found and hooked and caught a nice marlin. Then feeling triumphant made the return voyage home. We crossed paths with them at the San Pedro fuel docks.

Other MDRA boats were participants in the Catalina Yacht Club Marlin Tournament. One friend, Richard, on Wavelength was hooked up multiple times but as it happens when fishing marlin they came unbuttoned before the leader reached the hands of the leaderman. Tough luck on that, but still fun and plenty of excitement.

I am still really eager to go to Cat Harbor and run out beyond there for a bit of trolling between Ribbon Rock and the East End... It’s the best odds of a hook up in years.

Tight Lines.

Keith L.
Captain of the Motor Vessel Ramblin’

Labor Day weekend is in our FACE

I gotta get this done and that done. then make sure the Jet Ski runs. and then...

Hopping for a smooth and relaxing weekend at the Commodores Cruise. Trish is on it to pack the boat etc. My busy day today. Work and Boat Preparations.

Wishin' I was Fish'n but hanging out at the harbor is what I'm going to do for the next 4 days.

We come back an then the boys are in school. Funny how parents look forward to that return to structure.

Keith


PS Fish Wish for the weekend... Nothing to break so the Marlin Trip is OK.