Well boys, I have good news and greater news. I just got back from the best fishing trip of my life. My buddy Steve and I booked a two day on the First String out of H&M Landing. We left last Monday and got back last night. When we got to the dock around 5:45 we were shocked to see that the boat was just unloading the fisherman from a 2 day trip that wasn't due in till 8 pm. The guys on that trip all said that they asked captain Brad Phillips to come home early because they couldn't reel in any more fish and had had enough....Right....

 

My first thought was that they needed their diapers changed, but eveyone had caught dozens of fish so I took it as a good sign. Little did I know what I was in for.

 

We started out with very calm seas and overcast skies aned started pretty slowly with a few random jig strikes for skippys and the occasional YF. (Approximately 60 miles from SD) Around 9:00 am we hit our first real stop on a paddy the size of a trash can lid and it was ON!!!

 

 

This stop lasted at least two hours. I burned through my 15lb, then 20 lb, then 25 lb, then 30 lb setups and ended up with my 40 lb setup, (Calstar Grafighter 700 MH 20-60Lb with a Torium 30 with 65 lb Spectra and a 40 lb 100 yd topshot fronted with a 3/0 Owens ringed Mutu). As you can see even Scotty (one member of an AWESOME crew) had to grin. We put over 200 fish on the boat on this one stop. I was stoked beyond belief and had no idea what was yet to come.

 

The 2nd stop of the day was very good but not quite up to the caliber of the 1st one. We put about 50 fish on the boat and it was fun of course, but the third and final stop of the day was psychotic.

 

 

Notice that the sack directly under my right hand (not the one in front of it with the tail sticking out...that is my buddy Steve's and is way less stuffed than mine!!) is crammed to the top. NICE!!!

 

 

 

 

Here's what it looked like after I emptied that sack. 13 fish for the kid on the 3rd stop. I again burned through all my rigs except the 40 lb and I have to tell you that we put over 300 fish on the boat in just under three hours. It was pandemonium with Dodos jumping, yellowtail screaming and nice 20 to 30 lb class yellowfin busting the water to get at your bait. I literally never waited more than a 3 to 5 count before I was bit and since i was using that big Mutu hook, every fish was hooked in the corner of the mouth so I could immediately wrangle the hook out, rebait and be back in the water WAY faster than anyone else. I had never used these hooks before and was skeptical but I am a believer now. This ended day one with over 600 fish on the boat. I was paralyzed from my chemo and from way overdoing it and had to get some help to eat that night as well as have a couple crew members drag me downstairs and into the rack. I was too crippled to fish the second day. Hear that??? I didn't even fish the second day. We had so many fish on board that the captain was only breezing the kelps looking for dodo's and YT since we had limits (read  between the lines here people) on YF already

 

I took a picture with the fish count that I hope you'll be able to see....at least my filet bill which was $160!!!

 

 

Grand total for this trip is as follows:

 

My ONE DAY total for the boat.....32 fish

 

4 Dodo, 5 Yellowtail, and 23 Yellow Fin Tuna for a grand total of 2625 Points!!!

 

Oh yeah....I almost forgot. Here are the photos from my first trip of the year. 1 Albie and 1 Bluefin so I guess that's another 200 points on top, bringing the total to 2825!!

 

 

Do not be discouraged my fellow fishheads. Pry yourself away from work, get on a boat ASAP, and you too will be looking as happy as I am. The fishing is just getting good and as long as this weather holds it is going to get better and better.

 

If there is enough interest from enough of you guys I can totally hook us up on a charter either on the Jig Strike (max 16 guys) or on the First String (max 26 guys) The First String (insane boat, killer crew and HUGE) holds more, but let's keep it small and friendly shall we???

 

ps....as soon as my buddy Steve emails me I'll post a couple of quick videos he took from the First String trip.

 

Here is the traditional "After the Slaughter" photo while we were waiting on our fish...

 

 

 

i'm going to the store to buy a calculator... I be back later tonight to give the points!!!  AWSOME job botch...

between you & bigfish420 you guys could feed a small village for a year!

nice job bro!!!!!

Botch,  you da man !!  CONGRATULATIONS   
help me out with the pics/points

I would be in for a charter on the first string for sure, what a great boat and crew they had when I was out a few seasons ago. Obviously by the report they put you on the fish..lol

 

Crazyiness!! Great work out there boss!