TRIP 2, 2003 RETURNS

Early season type conditions with

swells to 9' and 14kt winds occasionally

J.E.S. WebMaster TunaQ reporting . . . .

This one wasn't going to be easy.

On the day before this we were scheduled to depart on this overnight trip, Relentless Skipper Joel Ralston called in the bad news coming into San Diego Bay from the trip before, the albacore the fleet had been targeting around the 70 mile range had shifted offshore again.

We were now in the dreaded end of spring shift where the fish become locked into June Gloom roaming, and they were going to be more than 100 miles southwest of Pt. Loma for this one.

We could leave on schedule and get 2.5 hours of "maybe" fishing time after a LONG ride over night, leave early at 7:00 pm and hope for more, or somehow make the trip a 1.5 day trip and get to fish the longest day of the year from gray light to sunset. Everybody agreed, we go long, both miles and time.

Thanks go to Last Chance Bait & Tackle, who had only a few anglers signed up for their trip fishing Sunday, and they were nice enough to let us have their time. We hope we can return that favor very soon.

Sometimes when the albacore season gets cooler weather and schools get scattered It gets very hard to predict when you'll have enough time to get to the fish on an overnighter trip, we were glad to have the extra time. We made a quick stop at Everingham's bait barge and took on three tanks for some of the nicest 4 and 5 inch fat 'chovies and a tank of 'dines about the same size, GREAT hook bait would make fishing a little more constant hopefully, and we were off headed 115 miles south just outside the 118 line.

If took two or three troll rotations until John Branum made us all feel like rookies when he AGAIN landed the fist albacore of the trip, and the first of the J.E.S. 2003 season on his now famous cedar plug.

We had to lay off several trolling rotation on this day, and the wind and swell we were in didn't make that any easier to take. BUT, we continued to pick and scratch a decent score through the morning and what looks like one of the top three scores for the fleet.

We even had another fisherman land his first albacore, first on his trolling team, then followed up a stop later with his first baitfish, ending the day with at least one more.

Here's where your WebMaster has to make apologies, because this young, energetic angler, fishing with Dad and Grandpa I was introduced to for the first time and I was out of touch enough dealing with the swell, so that was one memory I could have used a refresher on. Jamie had to defer this report due to an unexpected travel schedule, and he's always so much better remembering everyone's name. Sorry about my memory folks, I guess at 49 my memory isn't what it used to be!   

We continued to fish until sunset, and managed a respectable score in the end, though with several anglers getting four fish, and many more taking a pair.

 At the end of the day even a minor near swell disaster in the galley couldn't disappoint us, as Dave "Chowder" the Relentless' fine cook and deckhand made up for a grill going out and prepared another fine dinner regardless, and afterwards enjoying a nice piece of carrot cake we had the normal J.E.S. raffles.

The Jackpot and trophy was awarded to lens maker Jim Brock for a very nice albacore, we'll be watching him closely on Trip 3 as he matches his new Daiwa Saltiga reel against more of the same, probably in the same area. DON'T bet against him!!

Mark Scott, Bill Holman and John Branum took home raffled Kicker Jigs, with Garret Fisher (our 1st albie angler!) also bagging a Mirror trolling lure. A Seeker Rods CJBF70 blank went to Dan Ross (who managed to overcome being even more susceptible to the swell than even I did to land 2 fish to my one!!), and yes, TunaQ managed to win his 4th Seeker blank in a great 270H, you see, it pays to fish with J.E.S. 11 times a season! :o]

Rick Fenske picked up the Shimano 20/40 star reel, Wes Scott was awarded the tackle box (I missed the make of that one, but then I also missed the whole awards and raffle meeting as I was OUT down below in my buck).

Congrats to EVERYONE, as you put together a fine show of fishing in tough conditions, and as usual the crew of Relentless, skipper Joel, second ticket and night driver Dan, master offshore cook Dave "Chowder", new face deckhand Justin and we'd like to say HELLO to returning master deckhand and third ticket LARRY, you guys are the best, especially if things aren't perfect with weather and wind. Thanks as usual to CTX Mortgage, as well as BC Distributing and all the J.E.S. Sponsors, they ROCK, and they make it all happen!

Trip #3 departing Friday Night, June 27th @ 8:30PM is a 2 day all inclusive, 18 max trip that has 8 spots open (well, more like NINE if Capt Nemo can't get over his cracked ribs!!! :o] ). Visit the Reservation page and get booked now before you miss out on a great outing with one of the best skippers and crews in the San Diego fleet, Joel Ralston and the crew of the Relentless hosted by J.E.S Sportfishing. We will have PLENTY of time on trip 3 to reach this new area the albies have moved to.

See y'all on the water...
your WebMaster, Al Stankewicz (TunaQ)
for CharterMaster Jamie Spencer - J.E.S. Sportfishing