First Charter Trip

[mike1781]

Hey guys I'm heading out tomorrow on my first 2 1/2 day fishing trip out San Diego on the Cortez. Seeing how Ive spent all the my "allowance" on hunting gear I was only able to get one outfit; Penn Fathom 30, 30# Mono, Penn Blue Carnage 7ft Rod. Now after a few good gestures and good behavior I was able to get momma to sign off on me getting another outfit. For any of you who have been on these trips before whats a must have outfit? Reports state their catching 30-40# Bluefin and Yellows.
Thank You and Stay Safe

 

[Farallon]

I would bring 20-50 lb outfits. I went earlier this year; we had bluefin, yellowfin, and yellow tails.
We had small baits, needed to drop down to 20 to feel effective with bait, when bluefin started coming over the rail, I went to 40 with iron. Our fish were in the 10-20# range.

Your 30 lb gear should be fine. I saw several people get worked on 20. This was a short trip, lots of newer fisher people. On longer trips the crew will recommend minimum gear to use, kind of frustrating when the school moves on with one guy fishing 20 who can't get his fish in. If that happens, use that time effectively, don't watch the guy/start grousing. Get a beverage, check your gear, re rig, etc.

If the fish are running 30-40 and there are bluefin of that size, you are under gunned with 30. Many of the boats rent gear.

Good luck, fish are close and biting.

After I got my limit, I did some C&R with 50 on 10-15 lb yellowfin. It was wide,open for about 30 min.

 

[mike1781]

Hey Farallon thx for the great advice! It worked out alright!