Skipper/owner Brian Kiohara
backed the American Angler into it’s slip early morning on January 19, 2013
after a very successful Accurate sponsored 12-day trip to Clarion Island. Without a doubt, the highlight of the
trip was the three YFT over 300#.
These 300# fish were all caught on flylined salami mackerel and on
Accurate ATD reels, so they were all eligible for the boat jackpot and for the
coveted acrylic Accurate trophy.
Congratulations to Pat Patrykus aka “Sr.” (341#), Ron Bryan (324#) and
Joe Machado (323#).
In the mean time, the rest
of us were entertaining ourselves with tuna from 100# to 260#. We had a steady pick of bigger tuna “in
the dark” in the mornings on salami’s and then another shot right before dark. What was surprising was that we were
able to keep most of the passengers interested in fishing throughout the time
in between. We were hooking tuna
on a steady pick throughout the day, with the bigger ones in the early morning
or late evening. If you put time
in on the rail you were rewarded.
The weather was another
story. For 10 of the 12 days there
was plenty of weather.
Occasionally we took one over the bow (on anchor). Fun!!! It sure was nice for the last two days, but it sure was a
pain for the first 10 days.
Surprising, the fishing was very good while rocking and swinging on the
anchor. We fished the same spot
all 4 ½ days. (Brian picked the
right 300# spot and it was good to us for the entire trip).
This trip is known for how well the passengers (and crew) get along. Last year the DVD system was broken so we did not turn on the TV. This year the audio/video system was working fine, but we did not turn on the TV because we were too involved in socializing with each other and playing the card game 31 (for money, but more importantly the privilege of telling all the other players to fold a corner; there is a specific set of words and a required decibel level for making this declaration). This game has become so popular with this trip, that we created a 31 tournament for the travel days going home. We had qualification rounds of play to come up with the “final 6” that played for tournament cash jackpot. Congratulations to Kohei Kikuchi for winning first place. Crewmembers Bobby and Brad were 2nd and 3rd.
A special thanks to Accurate Fishing Products for supplying over 30 loaner reels full of Izorline spectra matched to the latest Calstar rail rods. Patrykus Sr. hooked his 349# YFT on an ATD-50 he borrowed from the loaner inventory. Pat had to throw his loaner ATD-50 “in” on an ATD-80 backup in order to land the jackpot fish. There were two other loaners that were sent for a swim and they all made it back to the boat and successfully landed these larger YFT. These Accurate ATDs perform very well when they are wet, however, if your ATD goes for a swim, please send it into to Accurate for a complete service. Let Accurate know that it was put into the ocean so they can thoroughly check out all of the bearings. The reel will work fine for the rest of the trip, but you may have a frozen bearing after all the salt water dries up in a month or two leaving salt crystals in the bearings.
Thank you to the following
associate sponsors for this trip.
Izorline for the fluorocarbon, mono and spectra for making wind-ons and
top shots; Calstar for providing
extra 770 series rail rods; Mustad
for providing their latest Demon circle hooks, model 39943; Salas Original Lures for wahoo jigs and
glow tuna jigs; Baja Fish Gear for
gift cards for every passenger;
Maui Jim Sunglasses for the VIP voucher; the new Swifty Mfg. for line despooler and spectra washing
inserts; and Sportsman Seafood
fish processing discounts from Mario.
A daily prize was given out
each day, based upon different criteria each day. Day 1, Ron Bryan won a Calstar 770XXXH rod; Day 2, Frank Ledesma won a Accurate
sweatshirt; Day 3, Pat Patrykas
won a Accurate Boss BX2-500N 2-speed reel; Day 4, Gary Graham won a Maui Jim VIP voucher and Day 5,
Kohei Kikuchi won a Accurate sweatshirt.
Check out the remaining photos of the passengers and crew having fun while catching the fish of a life time. It starts out with Joe Machado doing some serious fishing preparations.
Enjoy the photos below and thanks for
checking out my blog. If you have any questions, please feel free to post a comment to this trip report. I will try to get you an answer. We are going to do this again next year. If you want in, contact Lori at the American Angler office to make your reservation.
Thanks,
Gary Teraoka
