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 Final trip for the
J.E.S. season 2002
Gosh, I can't believe the 2002 season has finally come to an end. All the work, all the fishing, all the new buddies!
As I prepared to depart for trip 11, the 2 3/4 day fall classic trip that signifies the close of another season.
I became stressed.. The week before I had 2 cancellations, the day prior to departure the 2 that filled canceled and the morning of I had 2 more early, early morning calls stating that they would not be attending....I was starting to think we were going to get lucky to leave the
harbor with 10 that afternoon!
As it turned out, I made some calls from the car on my sleepy drive down to San Diego and filled a few, but we weren't going with 16 or 17 as scheduled..
Upon my arrival I was amazed to see the Fisherman's lot full.... Grabbed a cart, unloaded and parked on the street. I wanted to get my gear on, grab my stateroom and go have some pizza and ice cream with the boyz...
As John Branum, TunaQ and I sat we started to see some of the familiar faces arriving, The Rhoton family of 4, Rody, Jim W, Dana T, "DOC" Ross, Mr. McFarland, Capt Nemo and the rest....They were all ready and carried arsenals of gear with them.
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As Joel and I strategized of where we were going we decided that the best bet would be to the west, far west... Since we had the time we could
start in the outside edge off the bank @ 120 miles out...A wonderful pork chop dinner on the way out concluded by ice cream and a movie along with Panasonic surround sound, I completed my long day and opted to retire at 9:00 PM.
Rested, I your hosted arose @ 4:50 AM as the Detriots throttled back. We were at our destination and had a small meter mark to start the day.... As Dan the second ticket threw some bait, anglers started appearing with sleepy eyes and freshly pinned baits. As most soaked baits, I
watched and waited to see what was going to come of the pre dawn bite. Oh there's one. Doug Rhoton Jr. got the first fish on the boat. Then there were some more. Hmmm, starting out great as we saw some 20-25 lbs bluefin hit the deck. The bite didn't last long, but it as a great start to a long 2 days of fishing.
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As we pulled away, dropping back the feathers most were ready for a hearty breakfast which was graciously prepared by cook Dave "Chowder" working the galley. We had a few
small stops for albacore as we traveled further west and then we hit a nice one...First it was albacore, but it soon turned into Bluefin as Joel announced there were some fish swimming @ 100 ft under the boat. This is what we were after. I immediately grabbed the 40 lbs 2 speed and dropped the Chrome "Kicker" to the depths. Wham, I got hit on the sink and wound hard to catch
up with the slack line.. I was one and as I looked around I saw several others bent in the same manner.
Reaching up to slowly adjust my drag, my line went limp as the fish jerked its head and pulled the jig. Ouch! Even charter masters make mistakes and this wouldn't be my first of the trip, but the most disappointing as the others started dropping 40-50 lb. BFT on the deck! |
 One was to later be the jackpot fish for the trip caught by Kevin Morse, and the other as to be the 1st ever Bluefin for Dan "DOC" Ross. Boy, was he pleased, After losing one big fish last
year on the same trip after several hours this fish was a major triumph!! As this bit died out, Mr. "Lucky" Bob Nemo landed his Big Blue.
As the day continued, we all laughed an reminisced of the past season... all those great trips and funny events. As we passed a small paddy the tension rose and again we hit gold, "Yella" gold! These were small yellowtail, but they were yella! Continuing to the north west the day was passing fast, the swell was increasing and
the wind was picking up.... Most of us were fly lining big baits hoping for the bluefin bite to open up, but it never materialized. The day ended with an incredible sunset, a Chicken teriyaki stir fry dinner and tired muscles. The holds of the Relentless carried 60
Albacore, 12-15 bluefin and a handful of yellowtail, not a bad one day total.
Day 2 started with the me awaking at 3:45 am to fish a few squid and hopefully sink get them rigged and down with a glow stick for the morning feeding Bluefin or Swordy. The sharks were think, but we got the baits deep and waited.... Nothing! Talk about adrenaline, having your clicker start ticking only to find that the squid have
eaten its own or a shark has swam deep to get a freeze meal. Darn! with the dawn approaching and anglers chomping at the bit, Captain Joel had received a tip that there was a commercial boat that jigged some big fish the day before to the Northwest of us some 15-20 miles, so on that we kicked up the throttles and made the move to venture out in search of Bluefin. |
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 Along the way we had a few stop but nothing really wanted to come to the boat. We passed another paddy at midday and scored on some nice yellowtail in the 15-25lbs class, but after 2 passes it was over.
the weather started to change and the meter marks weren't biting....There was one answer. Shut down on the marks and just play them out!!!
As soon as we did this we started to get bit. Well the other did, I was having one of those days and couldn't get bit if my leg was bleeding in shark infested waters. Ouch! It happens to all of us! As I watched in misery, the other anglers landed albacore and yellows.
This couldn't last any longer... I had to get bit! |
Grabbing my trusty 15lb rig, I pinned a small bait and tossed it out on my new Trinidad. Boy are they smooth. So smoooooth that I think I actually missed several hook sets on the slide because I couldn't tell the
difference between the speed of the reel feeding line and the speed of the fish. Gnarly! Well, it worked! me and my ole 15lbd string. I was bit and the curse was off. Joel jokingly announced to the other to wined in and get out of the way...This fish was important. As the gaff stuck the freshly caught albacore I fell to the ground a did the worm in a comedic gesture of fun and
excitement! My next bait was instantly inhaled and the day started all over for me at 3:00 PM. maybe late, but far from over! |
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 As the day progressed the weather got a bit cooler, and the skies gray. This was the time, if it was going to happen it was now. Historically as the skies change and the swell
increases bluefin and other species start to feed. We were metering school after school, but again every time we had to stop and soak bait to get them up...It was now getting late on the second day and Joel and crew worked hard to get us one last explosive bite.... All we got were the 2's and 3's on each stop and they were all 15-20 lbs longfin.
As we all entered the galley on a cool fall evening, the smell of steaks and excitement of the upcoming raffles filled the air. You see on this trip everyone wins something. Raffles started by signing happy birthday to Tony Rhoton on his first trip out and J.E.S. providing the gift of a new rod belt! Happy Birthday again Tony. As the
skipper drew the prizes, the anglers drew the tickets. J.E.S. Sports ware was worn home by TunaQ, Rody Yoshinaka, and Doug Rhoton Sr. Trolling lures from Mirror lure went to Dana Trieschman and Tony Rhoton. Kicker Jigs were won by Steve Teixeira, John McFarland, Kevin Morse and Bob Nemo. The big prizes, Seeker blanks went to Dan Ross, John Branum and Rick Rhoton from Oregon.
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 The final prizes was the custom built Seeker CSW858 and long time friend Jim W.'s need for a 25lbs casting stick was satisfied. I was called back to the Galley by friend and long time angler, John Branum
with a special award for myself. It was an appreciation gift for all of my hard work and efforts to make the trips happen. I was truly humbled and I cant tell you how much it meant that you did that! Thank you! remember this is not a business, this is all done for the passion I have and others amongst me have!
All in all we had a great trip. It never really went wide open, but was rather steady through out the trip. We concluded the trip with 120 Albacore, 20 Bluefin and 20 yellowtail.
Hot hands were TunaQ, Bob Nemo, John Branum, day 2 JP winner, Doug Rhoton Jr. and Kevin Morse, the overall trip Jack Pot winner and 2 time J.E.S. Trophy taker...You guys just whacked'em!
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Special thanks goes out to the owners and crew of the Relentless for another great season... BC Distributing, Seeker rods, Kicker Jigs, and CTX mortgage, Aswell Trophy for your gracious product support, Web master,
TunaQ what can i say, but I have more ideas for the site and last but not least my beautiful girl at home Ellie, the "E" in J.E.S. Thank you for you love, support and patience. I love you!
As the winter approaches look for some new web information to be forthcoming. 2003 schedule release, the new Relentless web page and maybe even some interactive raffles to keep you guys in the loop. Don't forget if you have a charter group wanting to book, this is the time to call for dates....Corporate or club outings get the first look at the dates for the next season and Trip 9,
2003 is already sold out!!!
Take care all, I see you all on the water again in 2003!
Jamie Spencer
J.E.S. Sportfishing
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