Being that this was the 1st trip of the 2002 season aboard the Conquest, with new owner / operator Doug Reed, I was excited to get back on the boat I had so many great memories of...was it the 13 hour Bluefin stops, the countless trips of Limits of Albacore or those late fall outings fishing Yellowtail and Dorado off the paddy? I had learned so much on this vessel over the past 4 years that this was like coming home..

Things started off excellently with the assembly of some great anglers joining us for their first trip with J.E.S. Bill "Willy" Casper and Richard "Fuzzy" Runyard and Jim Stokes just to mention a few... All of the anglers on this trip were ready and well prepared for this excursion and they were not going to be let down.

After the usual fishing tactics conversation at the bait receiver, most of us retired to our bunks for calm, quite, Pacific Ocean nights rest. The sea's were flat and I was in my old bunk and don't believe I moved the entire night. Gray came at @ 5:30 and the smell of French toast and bacon filled the air... Ole Frank in the galley wanted to make sure everyone started the day off with a great breakfast before hauling on some fish. 

We were at 76 miles and needed to travel another couple of miles to get to the zone.. You could almost calculate when we were going to get bit by viewing the boat traffic as we entered the fishing grounds. HOOK UP exclaimed the volunteer team of trollers from the stern.

It was @ 6:15 and we hung 2 longfin on the dark feathers and 2 on bait. We fished the outside edge of this area just to get away from boat pressure. And it was paying off. Quick stops with 3-5 bait fish is how we were going wind down our morning. The key to success was that you had to be prepared to fish "Old School Style". The anglers willing to use the 15 lbs string, #2 to #1 hook with a healthy chovie on a light fast taper stick were the ones that getting the majority of the bait fish. Bill Casper and I were side by side laughing at one point because he had decided to take a risk and step down to the 12lbs test on the bait caster.. It paid off for at the end he would be victorious. 

The Morning bite ended just as our Nutrition break came from the galley. It was just before 11:00 AM and we were to go into a midday low that didn't break until 1:30 PM or so. It's amazing how the sound of a clicker on one little trolling rig can awaken 17 anglers and a crew of 6. We had  been changing to lighter colored feathers due to the weather
conditions and found one that worked, I with my black with fuchsia skirt Zuker and a fresh, full zucchini were the ones to stops the boat. 

We continued working the outer edge and then came upon a few stop where the 12-18 lbs Albacore really wanted to chomp on some wood. It would start to open up, but then they would drop out. This was where I saw one of the worst tangles of line I think in all my years fishing. Some of the anglers just stopped moving their feet and decided the Tuna Shuffle was a dance to old to remember. The results, were evident!

We rounded up our 1st day fishing some where around 7:45 or so and got to the one-day limit mark for the trip as the great crew of the Conquest deployed the "bag". Retiring to a beautifully prepared dinner of 16oz Porter House steak with all the fixings topped off with the ever so deadly dessert of vanilla ice cream, brownie and fudge topping. Oh. "I can't believe we at the whole thing"...

Upon awaking Saturday morning to start day 2 of this trip we were amazed at the number of boats in the area. One angler said it looked like we were back at the marina. I counted 41 boats in view and knew right away that we were up for a challenge if we wanted to repeat the previous day's numbers.. It took some time for us to get a nibble, but the fish finally boiled to the surface in the corners. If we could have only gotten them to stay up a bit longer we could have had a great stop, but what could we expect, the neighboring vessels were all over the place sometimes even working our wake. We wound up with another 18 or so and continued down the line. 

Time was running out as Doug Desperately attempted to locate the fish for one more stop. One more is all we got as we kicked it for the barn and entered the galley for a hot "French Dip" sandwich at noon to finish off our fishing..

As I conclude this report I want to say that this outing was a wonderful mix of angler, crew, weather and food. Everyone involved worked as a great team and all deserve to be commended. I wish I only had a raffle prize for all on board, but what I had was appreciated by all.. The Seeker 670 E-glass was awarded to Peter Schuster, day 2 jack pot winner and the Composite CTS60H was taken by new angler Dave Mora from Arizona. Kicker Jigs were taken home by Dan Ross, Tony Sanders, "Fuzzy" and "Willie" whom also won the trip JP against my own fish by an ounce taking the Jack Pot trophy home commemorating his efforts. A Mirror Lure Diver to John from AZ and J.E.S sportswear to Jarrod McFarlin and Jason Noah, another hot angler finished off the prizes as we at chicken wings passing Point Loma signifying our return.

Thanks to the great people at Conquest Sportfishing, Seeker Rods, Kicker Jigs and BC Distributing for all their product support. With out you all this would never be possible.
Next outing is trip #5, a club chartered event that has been sold out for months. Check the schedule page at www.jessportfishing for future trips and to book your reservations.

See ya on the water,
Jamie Spencer