The
Accurate sponsored 13-day trip on the American Angler got away eary in the
morning. Checkin was at 6 AM and
we pulled away from the dock at 7 AM.
We loaded up on the healthiest batch of 6-8 inch sardines from the
receivers and headed south (thank you Everingham Bros. Bait Co). These sardines were so big, I used a
larger circle hook.
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| Which one do you want to use? |
Accurate
supplied "lots of" Accurate reels and Calstar provided the latest rail
rods in the 770 and 775 series.
This makes for a very formidable combination for landing cows. The reels are all loaded with Izorline spectra and Izorline also provided mono and fluorocarbon top shots for these
outfits. (The tuna didn’t have a
chance.) The JP photo shows 1st
place to Steve Heffner (242#), 2nd place to Matt Bruce (232#) and 3rd
place to Ron Bryan (231#) along with skipper Brian Kiyohara.
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| 1st Steve Heffner 242#, 2nd Matt Bruce 232#, 3rd Ron Bryan 231# |
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| Steve also won the Accurate trophy for the big fish of the trip |
Accurate
t-shirts were passed out to all passengers and crew. My friend Ernie Seko provided custom built line keepers for
fluorocarbon spools. Quite simple,
effective and ingenious. Everyone
loved them. We had a raffle after
every seminar. Baja Fish Gear
provided gift cards for their shop,
Bill Roecker provided calendars, videos and a copy of his “At the Rail”
long range book, jigs from Salas, spectra washing spools from Swifty Mfg.,Mustad hooks, connection glue from BSI, line products from Izorline,
trolling lures from Halco, Maui Jim sunglasses provided discount vouchers and upgrade reel parts from Accurate.
When not
rigging outfits, the passengers were all tuning up their “31” card game in
preparation of the “31” tournament on the ride home.
We fished
the buffer zone at Clarion Island for 4.5 days. The fishing was so good that after 2 days we were cutting
off tunas under 100#. The next
day, we raised the minimum size to 140# and on the 5th day the cut
off was “cow” or better. We kept 5
fish on the 5th day morning and then left one day early to give
Cedros a try. We did this 2 years
ago and it was a blast. This trip
ended with 16 cows and the boat plugged with the “good size” tuna. We only managed a dozen yellowtail but
we caught and released many large calicos. I’ll let the photos speak for the details of the
trip. You can tell that everyone
was having a great time.
Matt Salas
won the Calstar 775 XXXH rod daily prize for day one with a 215# cow. On day 2, Pat Jr. won a Accurate
sweatshirt for his 232# yft. The
biggest fish for day 3 and 4 won a Accurate Boss reel and Matt Bruce was the
lucky angler with a 232.5# tuna.
On day 5, Steve Heffner took the prize of a Maui Jim sunglass voucher for 70% off
with a trip jackpot winning 243# yft.
Steve was also the winner of the Accurate trophy. Harvey Rosen received a 50% off Maui
Jim sunglass voucher just for his enthusiasm for the sunglasses.
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| Matt Salas won a Calstar 777XXXH for his 215# tuna |
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| Jr. won a sweatshirt for the big fish for the day |
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| Seth got a sweatshirt for releasing the most fish |
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| Matt Bruce won the Boss Reel with his 232# YFT |
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| Steve and Harvey got the Maui Jim sunglass voucher |
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| The "Final 6" in the "31" Tournament |
On the trip
home we held the 2nd annual “31 Foldem Bitches” card
tournament. We had one and a half
day of qualification play with 24 passengers and crew participating. (It is really cool that we can compete
with the crew members and really expand the bonding process.) The semi-finals reduced the field from
12 to the final 6. The 6 finalist
were Taro, Mac Beare, Steve Heffner, Leon Bundy, John Flocken and myself. Congratulations to the winner Leon
Bundy (received a Accurate plier, sheath and lanyard) and runner-up Mac Beare
(received a Accurate t-shirt).
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| Mato made a sweatshirt for the "31" Tournament |
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| The "31" Tournament. Winner: Leon Bundy, 2nd: Mac Beare |
Thank you
to all the passengers, crew and sponsors for making this a very successful
trip. Next year this trip will
grow by one day to become a 14-day trip.
I am looking forward to fishing with everyone again next year. I hope to see you all at the Fred Hall
show in Long Beach. Stop by the
Accurate, Calstar and Izorline booth.
I will be at one of them every day of the show.
Gary
Teraoka
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| Taro "wrenching" on a "good one" |
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| Steve, that is a "big one" |
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| "Rail Shot" |
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| Go Drew, Go Drew, the clock is ticking |
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| Bobby in charge of the bait |
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| "Tiny" Josh |
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| Wally, "license and registration please" |
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| Harvey, are we having fun? |
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| Hey Captain, "where did you get the nice fishing gear" |
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| My buddy Drew, Brian is fishing with the "good stuff" in the background |
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| Ron, are you smiling because of the tuna or the beer? |
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| Joe, fishing with smokes and a drink, "really" |
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| Way to go Jr. Dad got the big one last year, you got the big one this year |
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| Cameron thinking about what John has hooked |
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| Tom and I looking for a bite |
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| Matt showing us how to use a Salas jig |
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| Darrell, uses the same fishing stance as Gary G. (below) |
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| Gary using the same fishing stance as Darrell (above) |
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| Nice Calico Darrell, especially on a "Cow" tuna trip |
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| Sr. showing off the "349" style on a small fish (200#) |
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| Mac having fun |
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| Bill, nice hat, matches the reel |
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| "Nice one" coming over the rail |
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| Sr., that fish is so big you need a bigger t-shirt |
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| "get-um" John |
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| John concentrating, don't bother him now |
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| John getting wahoo ready |
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| Tom threw the outfit in on a back-up and got if back (now he gets to change the bearings) |
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| Brother Ed on a "good one" |
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| Cameron yanking on one for the crew speed contest |
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| Matt has the best outfit for the "31" game |
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| Seth, modeling his Baja Fish Gear T-shirt |
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| Joe,Wally and Seth |
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| Leon, John, Bill, John, Ed |
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| Tom, Mac, Ron, Steve, Pat Jr., Pat Sr. |
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| Matt, Jerry, Harvey, Matt, Darrell |
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| Leon having fun |
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| "Screen Saver" sunset at Clarion Island |
