About as idyllic a day of coastal yellowtail fishing as one could imagine with stunning scenery, grease calm weather, and steady paced action beginning just after daylight and lasting through the late afternoon. It wasn't slam dunk, knock it out of the park, load up in one stop type action; one had to put in time at the rail to reap the rewards, but the easy pace stretched out the day and enabled us to enjoy the setting to it's full potential.

By far the day's highlight came during a mid day tour that perfectly coincided with a brief showing of jumbo yellowtail right along the shoreline as they chased a huge ball of sardines out of the surf. The whole thing was over in about forty five minutes, and the stop itself produced only a couple of handfuls of the coveted "premium" grade fish, but memories of the spectacular event will last a lifetime. Between the cathedral like island walls towering overhead, the cacophony of birds calling, sea lions barking, sea elephants baying, and the actual sound of jumbo yellowtail slashing and tearing the grease calm sea surface into a cauldron of sardine demise, there was so much sensory stimulus that it all blended into an incredibly intense space in time.

Though this is not what one would typically find in the brochure, such fantastic occurrences are a huge attraction unique to long range fishing. I don't know of anywhere else in the world that can consistently measure up to the raw scenic exposure long range anglers experience on almost every adventure. It may not be a significant component to some anglers. But, it is difficult to not recognize how special the opportunity to see the grand mechanism functioning unedited really is.

With our fill of yellowtail in the hatch, we are headed back outside in search of albacore and bluefin for our final two days. There is plenty going on in a variety of locations but tomorrow will be dedicated to prospecting a new part of the ocean seeking good biting schools. About a week or so back we got off the mother lode of albacore down below. Boom or bust is tomorrow's theme as it is one of those times when we are compelled to simply head out and cover new ground in search of. All of you following along are plenty familiar with my many sojourns into the abyss. It is a trademark I host with pride, but employ with varying degrees of success. The bust side of the such looking missions is inherent, and as such, often inevitable. The one certainty however is that they won't be found by not looking. As such we are heading west with our jaws set determined to make it happen. Believe me we have come out on the winning side of the equation plenty. Here we go.

Today's photo was snapped amidst the blazing beach action on big yellows. Note the proximity of the shoreline, and the imagine the exuberance of Royal Star veteran Bob Ryan as he pulls on what ultimately became a premium, thirty five pound class yellowtail. Long range fishing at it's finest.


Tim Ekstrom


Photo Here...