Fish Report for 2-22-2007
Royal Star Fish Report
2-22-2007
Royal Star
So much for Isla Socorro and the longing for the clean fishing for 130 - 175# yellowfin we enjoyed there the first three days of our voyage. I won't say that the action today at Clarion eclipsed what we experienced at Socorro, but it definitely removed all ideas of departure for one final round of fishing on the inside.
It all began after our daylight spot fell well short of expectations producing only a couple of yellowfin over one hundred pounds and a frustrating run on the sharks. At 0800 we were warming up the engines and preparing the boat for what seemed like an inevitable departure for Socorro within a few hours. Then we worked down to another zone I have wanted to take a closer look at to try one last drift before heading up the island on a farewell tour. The farewell tour never happened because the last drift became a full fledged ripper on one hundred fifteen to one hundred forty pound yellowfin that lasted a full two and one half hours before the sharks moved in and forced our departure. When we finished our incredible drift we were almost four miles off the island and had another forty five tagged yellowfin tuna, well over one hundred pounds, to our credit.
By that time we deemed it wise to give our anglers a break taking another mid day tour outside the reserve in search of a few fish to put in the hatch in the event what we encountered was of a worthy size class. I can't remember if I mentioned it yesterday, but we did find a mammoth school on our tour outside only to be dissapointed by the fact that the ravenous tuna crashing towards the boat, chomping everything that hit the water, were in the twenty to twenty five pound class; well below the size expectation for our RSW tanks on a voyage in this region. Today's outside sojourn was not to be however as no sign was found beyond about five and one half miles from the island.
Not to be deterred from our primary goal however, we headed back into the shallows for the late afternoon and were treated to a couple more stops on yellowfin, one for about ten fifty to seventy pounders, and the other for about ten more one hundred fifteen to one hundred forty pound tuna with a handful of bonus wahoo mixed in. On a side note, if any readers are wondering about my approximations when recounting the day's fishing statistics it is simply because the numbers have not been totaled each day by the time I write these reports. So far I have been very close in my figuring however so rest assured the reported numbers are far from wild guesses.
Needless to say we decided about half way through our morning drift that departing Clarion for any other fishing destination would be sheer madness and a foolish violation of one of the cardinal rules of fishing - Never leave fish to find them. As such, with perfect working weather, a plentiful quantity of beautiful sardines remaining, and a group of warriors, I mean anglers, ready to give it their all one final day, we will be finishing up our fishing time here at Clarion tomorrow and heading in to Cabo San Lucas thereafter.
It all began after our daylight spot fell well short of expectations producing only a couple of yellowfin over one hundred pounds and a frustrating run on the sharks. At 0800 we were warming up the engines and preparing the boat for what seemed like an inevitable departure for Socorro within a few hours. Then we worked down to another zone I have wanted to take a closer look at to try one last drift before heading up the island on a farewell tour. The farewell tour never happened because the last drift became a full fledged ripper on one hundred fifteen to one hundred forty pound yellowfin that lasted a full two and one half hours before the sharks moved in and forced our departure. When we finished our incredible drift we were almost four miles off the island and had another forty five tagged yellowfin tuna, well over one hundred pounds, to our credit.
By that time we deemed it wise to give our anglers a break taking another mid day tour outside the reserve in search of a few fish to put in the hatch in the event what we encountered was of a worthy size class. I can't remember if I mentioned it yesterday, but we did find a mammoth school on our tour outside only to be dissapointed by the fact that the ravenous tuna crashing towards the boat, chomping everything that hit the water, were in the twenty to twenty five pound class; well below the size expectation for our RSW tanks on a voyage in this region. Today's outside sojourn was not to be however as no sign was found beyond about five and one half miles from the island.
Not to be deterred from our primary goal however, we headed back into the shallows for the late afternoon and were treated to a couple more stops on yellowfin, one for about ten fifty to seventy pounders, and the other for about ten more one hundred fifteen to one hundred forty pound tuna with a handful of bonus wahoo mixed in. On a side note, if any readers are wondering about my approximations when recounting the day's fishing statistics it is simply because the numbers have not been totaled each day by the time I write these reports. So far I have been very close in my figuring however so rest assured the reported numbers are far from wild guesses.
Needless to say we decided about half way through our morning drift that departing Clarion for any other fishing destination would be sheer madness and a foolish violation of one of the cardinal rules of fishing - Never leave fish to find them. As such, with perfect working weather, a plentiful quantity of beautiful sardines remaining, and a group of warriors, I mean anglers, ready to give it their all one final day, we will be finishing up our fishing time here at Clarion tomorrow and heading in to Cabo San Lucas thereafter.
