Stan Kaplun: Reports From The Sea Adventure II Out Of San Diego

Stan Kaplun here, checking in from San Diego. Last week, I was fortunate enough to go out on an overnight trip on the Sea Adventure II out of H&M Landing in Point Loma. The boat was captained by Patrick Dorety, who worked extremely hard with his crew to put us on fish. The trip was put together by John Cassidy from Anglers Arsenal. He has done so much for the local fishing community, it is amazing. He also hosts a very informative and interesting radio show called "Rod and Reel Radio", which airs Sundays on AM 540, between 5pm and 7pm. If you are unable to listen in at that time, you can find them online at www.rodandreelradio.com. They also update their Facebook page constantly with great information. It was an absolute honor to share the rail with John.

Also onboard was none other than the legend himself, Bill Siemantel, whom I've been blessed to learn from and fish with. I'll mention a couple techniques and concepts later in this report that you can find more information about on Bill's website,thebbz.com.

This was a special trip, considering it was a very limited load of 13 great guys. The plan was to head between 35 to 40 miles down south, where the majority of the fleet was, in search of kelp paddy's that were holding Yellowfin Tuna, Dorado, and maybe even a Wahoo or two. We got started at grey light, threw out three trolling rods for whatever wanted to cooperate, and began driving and trolling in search of a paddy that was actually holding fish. Most stops we made, the paddies were holding small 1-2 pound yellowtail that everyone has been seeing lately.

Until 11:00 AM, all of the paddy's had these little guys you see in the picture above. The night we launched, it was a super blood moon lunar eclipse, the first one in 30 years, with the next not occurring until 2033. Because of how the moon lit up the night, people began to think that the fish were feeding all night, and they might not want to eat the next day.
 

Finally, we found the paddy we were looking for and it was one stop shop. The bait that we had was great, with most being 3"-5" anchovies and a couple larger sardines mixed in. Most fish were caught on just that, on 20lb, 25lb, and 30lb outfits. It didn't seem to matter as the fish were not line shy. We limited out on Yellowfin in shortly over an hour as we drifted over the paddy 2 or 3 times. We almost had limits of Dorado as well, with a dozen or so skipjack and one or two solid yellowtail in the mix.

A couple people were also able to stick some fish on the iron. I was lucky enough to stick the first Yellowfin Tuna on the Spro 6" BBZ-1 Jr in Sardine color way! It was caught on my favorite combo, a 7'11" inshore series Shimano Teramar, and a Curado 300e. I had it spooled with 65lb PowerPro, and 30lb mono topshot. The reason I was able to get this slow sink BBZ to swim fast enough for these aggressive tuna was because I had drilled a hole in it's head, allowing it to fill with water, sink faster and stay down better when I burned the bait in. Bill has a great video of how to do this on thebbz.com. I've attached the link below if you would like to see how you can customize your bait yourself. It's very rewarding to me to knock another BBZ-1 Jr fish off the list, especially a tuna, but it's even more special to have the man who designed the bait right next to me when I hooked, fought, and landed it.
 

I ended the day with my first yellowfin tuna (first 15 technically), 2 dorado, 1 skipjack, and 1 small yellowtail that was released. My total fish count was 19, which seemingly led the boat in numbers. Bill was just 1 fish behind me in the friendly but definitely combative competition we had to who could get the most. The key here was to bounce the fish in the boat, rather than wait on a gaff. With these fish being in the 5lb-10lb class, 30lb mono swung them in the boat with no problem.

The boat was filled with people full of information, and it made for a great trip regardless of whether we caught fish or not. Everybody had a great time and I look forward to doing it again soon.

If you are in San Diego and need any tackle for your saltwater or freshwater needs, go see John Cassidy at Anglers Arsenal in La Mesa. Good people, great prices, and an even better selection of tackle. If you are looking for a website full of detailed reports, and information on the latest gear and tackle, go to the thebbz.com and I guarantee you will not be disappointed.

Another huge thank you to John for making this trip possible, and to him and Bill for the quality SPRO and Gamakatsu tackle and baits they gave away. I was lucky enough to get a White BBZ-1 Rat 50 to the add to the arsenal. I took it out last night and already stuck a nice bass on it's first outing! Check back in soon for that report!
 

Stan Kalpun