Hi,

I wanted to first say thanks to Rob for keeping the site going, I really enjoy it
I’m Matt W and I’m no Fishing God, Just a regular guy trying to catch more fish and enjoy the California Coast. I just created an account, but have been lurking and posting for a few years. My login name comes from my two hobbies Driving my old Land Rover in the desert, and fishing.
About six months ago I started writing fish reports to send to my friends. If Rob doesn’t mind I would like to start posting them here.
This one is my longest I went fishing on the Sea hawk last Sunday. I wanted to go with you guy’s on the Condor but when the boat got so full I just wasn’t interested, Oh well my loss for not fishing with you guy’s
I hope you enjoy my story and please don’t flame me, I know its not that accurate but my Aunt in New York doesn’t mind…..

Matty
DAY: Sunday 11-04-01

TIME: All day

PLACE: 70-80 miles west of SB on the Sea Hawk LXV

CONDITIONS: Typical point conception rough wind swell in the morning flattening out in the afternoon

BAIT: 5” Anchovies

FISH COUNT: 9 Anglers 43 Albacore average 25lbs four over 30lbs and one “hog” at estimated 50lbs

COMENTS: Well this trip actually started on the previous Wednesday, I have been following the fish counts out of Moro bay and last week they went off the charts, the boats were having 100 fish day’s. I have only caught one Albie before, that was last year on the New Low Ann out of San Diego, well now I’m hooked. Any way I start shopping around for a boat to go on and talking it up at work, Why a can’t do any thing alone, I’ll never know. Friday night I booked a trip on the Pacific Queen out of Avila beach for Tuesday the 13th, Jim Young, Matt Klanowski and myself. Two hours later the charter master calls back trip canceled Blah blah blah. I am so bummed out, I can barely get out of bed on Saturday.
I spend the day at Soccer games for Kate and Max, me on the sidelines moping around….Gee all I get to do is go surf fishing…. That night at five o’clock I drive over to the Sea landing to buy frozen Squid for Sunday’s planned trip to Gaviota Surf fishing again.
I am by myself and decide to Stop by Dave and Barbara Hale’s, I haven’t seen them for a while, and its always nice to visit with people who have their life back, after raising there own kids. Dave’s been tuna fishing a couple of times this year on his boat, I thought he could help me pick a boat to go on. We talk for a bit and he say’s “Well I am pretty busy right now I already got a lot of Tuna in the freezer… Maybe at the end of the month we can go out on my boat…”
When I’m at the landing I buy the squid and as I’m leaving I casually ask so what’s the status of the boats going out tonight…. The guy says, got 30 on the condor and 6 on the Sea hawk, I guess he could see I wanted to go, because he asked if I wanted my money back for the squid. I said no and went home.( I was hooked and didn’t even know it. The farther I got from the landing the more pressure I felt, but I kept fighting the urge to turn around.)
Get home call Dave Kneeburg and try to talk him into going on the Sea Hawk…(this guy at the Landing is good he’s playing me like a fish, he’s got me hooked, now I’m trying to bring the rest of the school with me) Dave say’s no, some limp wristed answer about working Sunday afternoon…. We decide that the surf trip is definitely on.
I hang up the phone Start whining about my miserable life, and how much the Tuna trip would cost anyway… Laura says “ Look We have food for the week, gas in the car. go tuna Fishing for Christ sake…
I call the Sea landing at seven o’clock, give them my Credit Card number (I didn’t even feel it when he gaffed me, must have been a head shot) Call Dave Kneeburg back, Dude I’m going Tuna Fishing! See you Monday.
I call Dave Hale, “Hi Dave I’m number seven on the Sea Hawk for tomorrows Albacore, trip can I Borrow a Trolling Rod?” he say’s yes. I have known Dave for a long time, He’s a good friend. I’m good at borrowing and he’s good at lending, it works out well for both of us.
Dave asks a couple of questions about the trip when it leaves, how much…. I answer and hang up to pack. I’m still very nervous about this trip and a little bummed that I’m going alone, when I go fishing on an open party boat I like to travel with friends, in case my trash talking gets me in trouble. (If you notice, most of my fishing friends are over six feet tall and weigh at least two hundred pounds.) I don’t really talk that much trash. But it’s a long day on the water, and when you get tired, it’s nice to be with someone who has heard all your jokes/stories before, so they don’t mind if you just tell the punch line, or better yet stop talking.
At eight o’clock I drive over to Dave’s, on the way over, I’m thinking to myself I hope he doesn’t try to lend me Barbara’s two speed rod and reel. It has a Lever drag and is expensive I don’t want to pay for that after I drop it overboard.
Get to Dave’s, Barbara Meets me at the gate I ask if Dave’s in the garage, She has this funny smile on her face as she say’s “O yeah” when I get to the garage there is five rods, tackle box and a gear bag. I look at all this stuff and say “I only need to borrow a trolling rod”, Dave says “that’s my stuff, I’m coming, put it in your car” when I tell him I’m driving Rusty, he say’s “put your stuff in my truck”. As he mumbles something about British crap car…..
Get to the landing, sign in and get on the boat. The owner captain, gets onboard and says “ we only have nine paid passengers, I am loosing money on this trip, we are only going so we can get a good fish count. I need to draw more people during the week”. He asks “Can you guy’s catch fish?” my response of “I can catch one” was the wrong thing to say He say’s “Matt you better catch ten tomorrow” I say great.
The boat leaves the harbor with a load of 5” sardines. The crew seems good, they get a long with each other which is always amazing to me, I cannot imagine a harder job than being a deck hand on an open party boat.
Powering up the coast, we are heading 75 miles west towards Arguello canyon. Get in my bunk I cant sleep. I am so nervous, I want to catch fish so bad… I look across the companionway and start to laugh. it’s Dave he’s sleeping, but he’s so big compared to the bunks. that in his bunk he looks like “Cube of Dave”
Wake up at 5:30 set the trolling gear, the swell was big but at a long interval, it was windy enough to put a chop on top. I was a little queasy. 5:45 first fish on the troll .The boat stops and we start soaking bait. 6:00 Matty’s got his first fish at 25lbs not bad, I start to put my rod away for a minute. I’m thinking about getting some breakfast to settle my stomach, as a walk towards the galley Rick the captain say’s “ were are you going? your not going to catch ten fish in the Galley” I pin on another sardine, and head back to the rail.
I have noticed that Dave hasn’t caught a fish yet. And that is strange Dave usually catches one on the first stop that’s kind of his signature thing to do.
We start the troll again, I grab a water and power bar from my gear bag. Second stop, Rick sea’s some bait and fish marks under the boat on the meter, we stop the boat and start throwing bait over , start a slow bite and then I hear Dave yell “Fresh one” he gets one on the boat also about 25lbs. A couple more stops and I catch my big fish, this was cool, caught him in the stern and the fish just peels line off to the right one minute later, I have gone under and over five fisherman and am now in the bow of the boat by myself. The fish is still taking line and Herman the deckhand is standing next to me, he looks at my reel and say’s “this is going to take awhile I’ll be back” I’m alone on the bow of the Sea Hawk.
This is totally why a came on the trip, big fish, big waves, a long way out at sea….fifteen minutes later its over. Herman leaves my gaffed fish on the deck, to go and help some one else, I am too tired to carry it to my gunny sack.
The fish is not a hog, at a little over 30lbs more like a piglet, but it’s my biggest fish yet on stand up tackle, and I’m in the hunt for the jackpot.
Next Dave is hooked up on something big, same drill Dave gets up to the bow I drop my rod and start taking pictures, I think its going to be a big fish, and want to get a picture of it coming over the rail on the gaff, after the first run, I see the fish at deep color, it’s a big fish!
Now I’m laughing at Dave while he’s fighting the fish and I’m taking pictures. The deckhand starts teasing me about taking pictures, being the smart ass I am, I say, just want to get the before and after shots , Dave fighting and then after the line goes slack… Wow I can’t believe I put the jinks on my buddy. Dave looks over his shoulder with the if I didn’t have a forty or fifty pound fish on here, I would throw you over board look! I make a mental note to get smaller fishing buddy’s… for the next five minute all I am worried about is Dave catching that fish, there is a lot at stake here, the Jackpot, my life… then Dave ‘s rod straightens out, the line goes slack…. Dave looks at me, I’m Dead!!! The Sea hawk is a big boat I run to the bait tank pin on a Sardine and hit the rail to start fishing, and hiding at the same time.
A couple of stops later, Dave hooks and lands a 35lb fish, it’s the big fish on the boat he’s leading the Jackpot, I come out of hiding….take a couple of pictures, he’s happy.
It’s now noon we have been fishing non stop I have two in the boat Dave has two and I’m hungry but not going into the Galley. I grab another power bar and keep fishing
About 1:00 I’m in the trolling rotation, my line goes off, cool “fresh one” I grind him in, on Dave’s big Penn reel and 80lb test line, another 25lb fish, this starts the last and best stop of the day a total of six fish for the stop. Dave loses the Jackpot to Rudy’s 50lb hog. This fish is so big it takes two deckhands to pull over the rail, Bummer for Dave but cool for Rudy. Dave and I both get hooked up but sawed off on other lines more bummer.
Then my big fishing lesson of the day, I felt a nick in my line about fifty feet from the hook but didn’t have the energy to cut off the line and retie the hook. I’m fly lining a sardine, it starts to swim faster, I can feel the Tuna pick up the bait wait a couple of seconds then set the hook. The rod loads up and the reel starts screaming sixty feet of line goes out, then pop broken line, just a fish story now… I feel like such an idiot hundreds of dollars, all day on a rolling boat. and I pull a bone head move. What? it might have taken 30 seconds to strip off some line and retie… come on Matty get with the program… Good thing I didn’t tell Rick he probably would have made me scrub the decks…
2:30 it’s time to wind em in and head for home, we are looking at seven hours down swell to Santa Barbara. Dave and I get a cheese burger and a beer from the galley (I bought it’s the least I could do after the jinks episode) we go to sleep wake up and watch the last of the world series, home by 11:00 I am so tired…. But when I wake up in the morning I would go again in a heartbeat!

The quick report,

Boat Sea Hawk LXV, Great boat and crew, Captain Rick worked hard to get us on fish, and stayed the extra hours it took to get the big fish, I understand they are doing 1.5 day trips I would recommend it.

Score,

Dave, his big Pig of a fish, reinstalls him to the position of “Tuna King of the WSYC” (West Side Yacht Club)

Matty, Made a good showing with the piglet, his performance might be worthy of rank of “Wolf spider” this is an increase from his current rank as “mealy bug”. Subject to verification from the board of directors of the “Black Widows”. (Feared trough out the land)