Any of you baws take long range trips out of San Diego?

Sorry guys, it's taken me a couple days to recover now that I'm back in Houston. My 7 day trip was aboard the Royal Star out of Fisherman's Landing. The boat was nice enough (comparable to the Due South out of Biloxi) and held 24 fishermen and 7 crew. The staterooms are a bit larger and storage more plentiful than Due South. The guys I went with have used the Royal Star for 20 years and trust Capt. Tim's fish finding ability. Tim was very knowledgeable and the crew was excellent. If I ever considered a long range trip again, I wouldn't hesitate to call Royal Star.

As we headed south of San Diego on Day 1 there was a tropical disturbance down around Cabo that was still unsure where it wanted to go. We motored south all day and throughout the night with a plan to arrive at some closed Mexican island by daylight. Was I on a cruise or a fishing trip? With no wifi or cell service and only a DVD player for "civilized" entertainment, I was at a loss for how the remaining 5.75 days would turn out.

The seas were favorable as the prevailing breeze was at our stern. I would guess 2-4' rollers with a good interval and nothing uncomfortable. Last year these guys spent the entire trip fishing Guadalupe Island with very little time in transit. The White Sharks at Guadalupe had gotten too bad this year, taking 9/10 tuna before they get to the boat.

Once the tropical storm fell apart, we continued with Plan A to head down and fish The Ridge. There was a TON of traveling without fishing. I lost count of the stops. We definitely fished mostly underwater "shallows". The boat would see the tuna or yellowtail on the sonar, drop the anchor, and everyone would find a spot on the rail. We free lined 6-8" live sardines or fished deep with slabs. The boat would sit on each spot for 15-20 minutes if no fish were caught which was nice. You'd know if the fish were hungry as there would be multiple hookups almost immediately. One morning we put 235 Yellowtails on the boat in a little over an hour.

The scenery along the way was spectacular, albeit the same everyday. We paralleled the beach a mile or two offshore and could see the occasional car on the Baja Highway. I never realized the topography of the peninsula was as dramatic as it is.

We eventually arrived on The Ridge and began catching 30-40 pound Yellowfin Tuna on everything we put in the water. The crew would start a chum line with live sardines and the action was non-stop. Once the tuna action slowed we'd troll the same area with four rods strapped to the rail and catch Wahoo.

We did come across a few Mexican trawlers pulling huge tuna nets about 65 miles off the beach. They used a helicopter with pontoons on it to spot the tuna and a small fleet of go-fast skiffs to herd tuna into the net. It was amazing to see 25' Pangas out there hand lining for tuna as well. Those guys kept an old rusty full-sized refrigerator on the bow of the boat in place of a 400 quart Yeti. Their eyes lit up when we passed them Miller Lites and lures to troll with. Whale sharks were breaching off the bow with regularity and seals and sea lions would sometimes steal your sardine. An idyllic scene, that's for sure, but we still had 650 miles of Pacific Ocean to get us back home.

We didn't stop much on our way back to San Diego. The weather was expected to pick up with a system coming down from the Pacific Northwest. 15-20 foot seas were called for on our last night. I don't think they ever got that big but the last 36 hours it was definitely too rough to keep from bouncing out of bed. It was one of those situations where drinking yourself to sleep is required. As an aside, nearly everyone on the trip wore scopolamine patches the whole time and had no problems with sea sickness.

We backed into the fish processing plant with 700+ fish on the boat. It was about half 25-40 pound yellowfin tuna and 15-30 pound yellowtail. The wahoo count was 25 or so with the largest being 59.6 pounds. All fish are currently being processed for shipment to all of our homes. I have to admit it's quite an operation with the long range fleet and a very well-oiled machine. I doubt I will ever do it again but a year or two's time may change my mind. This trip will definitely make my next Due South adventure seem like a walk in the park.