baitcast - 6-8-2016 at 05:57 PM
Guadalupe Island 1963.....A fishin story
Guadalupe Island 1963.....A fishin story Part 2
We left off with reels howling,guys yelling and me with a smile on my face,
This is what I came for,this is what I worked for so hard the past year,getting what overtime I could muster up my wife baby sitting,part time at a
hardware store on the weekend ends when I should have been fishing.
Four of us were hooked up and of course were headed in four different direction,mine due south,I hear a line break like a gun shot,someone had
panicked and buttoned up the drag a bit much that left three ,I looked down at my reel and realized I was nearly out of line,the old penn 500 with a
metal spool would hold 250 yd,s of 40# or somewhere on that order and I was empty already things just started and I,m finished,then he just came
unbuttoned....BAITCAST 0.....fish 1.
During all this chaos I could hear the captain saying things like "take it easy on thr drags guys these are good sized fish take care"...It was easy
for him just just sitting there and watching,two more were lost which left one fish,this guy was fishing with a 4/0 senator and seemed to know what to
do,after a long bout they gaffed a 50# or 60# class bluefin,what a beautiful fish!!
I had caught some good sized yellows and albies with this outfit but that was no contest,go to plan B.I had two heavyer outfits one a penn 68,much
larger reel loaded with 50# and a penn 6/0 with 60# on a trueline blank I made up myself,roller guides the works my favorite weapon of choice, did
alot of shark fishing with it.
The bite was finished just like that,spent the rest of the day chasing yellows,some big guys in the 30# and 40# class
To much sun and beer put alot of the guys down early that first day but not me and my buds we had worked to long and hard to get here,we would drink
the beer when we got home
Night time and the lights came on the fellow I mentioned early brought out the club again si I had to ask "what now? well he replyed "see all those
mackerel under the lights what we will do is catch a bunch of them for the tank and use some tonight"what will we be fishin for tonight? I asked"
anything that happens to be down there" he said with a smile on his face.
TIP...Yellowtail do not limit its feeding to daytime only,we caught some of the biggest fish at night using 2# macks right off the bottom,when buched
up like we were its hard to handle bigger baits so you take some dykes an clip the tails just enough to keep him from swimming ,lower him just off the
bottom,he will just lay there and shimmey giving off good vibes and bleed a little,the dinner bell is ringing!!!!
Getting ready for a trip like thiswas a real undertaking for me and my buds,rounding up the money,bringing our equipment up to date,new
drags,line,extra spools of line,getting in shape......getting in shape you say yup my back was never that strong,gave mr problems from time to time so
I didn,t want to take a chance,what to do?this is when I got the whole neighborhoods attention,I took my 6/0 tie the line to my back bummper on the
car and pull,I did this for what seemed hours on end until my neighbor came over to ask me what in the hell I was doing? I never thought a thing about
it until then," I,m just trying to catch my car"
The big hook-ups in part 3
[Edited on 6-9-2016 by baitcast]
[Edited on 6-9-2016 by baitcast]
[Edited on 6-9-2016 by baitcast]
[Edited on 6-9-2016 by baitcast]
baitcast - 6-8-2016 at 06:15 PM
In the 4 days we were there we saw no sharks but one very small Mako I got on a jig? its been my understanding that the big white sharks started
showing in the 90's and then it was when the seals were hatching?
Rob
David K - 6-8-2016 at 06:23 PM
If you would like help with photos, let me know!
baitcast - 6-8-2016 at 06:47 PM
Thx for the offer David,I never carried a camera in those days and when I did it was a Brownie Box camera
most all the pic's I've posted was taken by other people.
the pic's I really liked my X somehow misplaced them when we spilt the goods........O-well
David K - 6-8-2016 at 10:06 PM
10-4, I saw the little boxes and many edits, so I thought you were attempting to post pictures.
ehall - 6-9-2016 at 07:00 AM
Thanks for taking the time to post. Really enjoying the story.
MMc - 6-9-2016 at 07:17 AM
Yes, "mister white" first showed up in the late 80's, then in the 90's they were using boats as fishing buddies.
BajaBlanca - 6-9-2016 at 07:51 AM
great report and I love that the neighbor came over to ask what you were doing hahahaha
baitcast - 6-30-2021 at 05:51 AM
I hardly remember how to do this 
Don Jorge - 6-30-2021 at 06:47 AM
Thanks you for sharing your "fish story."
Although we never fished Guadalupe I grew up hearing stories about the place and it was mythical to me and my fishing buddies.
You said, Too much sun and beer put alot of the guys down early that first day but not me and my buds we had worked too long and hard to get
here, we would drink the beer when we got home
Good point! My grandpa, who instilled the passion for fishing in me by taking me to the San Clemente pier when I was just a little boy told me when I
got old enough know what beer was, "You can drink all the beer you want at home, why waste a fishing trip doing what you can do at home?" And he was
an alcoholic! Took me a while to see the wisdom in those words but I did.
And of course the tackle you describe, the Penn reels, 6/0s the heavy hitter back then, buttoned down drags, exploding lines on outclassed 500s. A
blast from our past indeed.
You have some great memories there baitcast! Thanks again for sharing.
baitcast - 6-30-2021 at 10:58 AM
Thx for your posting Don Jorge, I have always been a fan of you and your postings, always fun reads.......this was the early days of the 500
and blown side plates was common I know of 2 on that trip that didn't make it home
When you get to my age reminiscing is about all we have left my mind wants to head south but my wife and body says no, thats why I'm doing this
it helps....Thx again
Rob
Don Jorge - 6-30-2021 at 12:06 PM
You betcha Rob!
My first blow up with the 500 happened on yellowtails on the surface in la canal de las ballenas between Isla Smith, which is really Coroando, but we
all called it Smith back then, and La Gringa. Boils everywhere, big fish, crappy tackle.
Just as you described, side plate blew up and I burned me thumb pretty good too. Again, thanks for sharing your experiences here as you certainly put
in your time back in the day.
You, Whistler, Pompano, Skeet and may others who have posted here were my parents age and your generation always impressed me with getting there,
Baja, before my generation. It took determination and hard work to fish and camp in Baja before the conveniences and the much better equipment of
today.
As they say, if you don't have dreams all you have left are nightmares. So keep dreaming and remembering the fishing trips YOU SHARED WITH FRIENDS
AND FAMILY. There is nothing better than those memories.
If you don't hunt or fish than don't. But leave us who do alone together in our shared fish stories. Keep on sharing!
Timinator - 7-1-2021 at 05:40 AM
Being a spearfisherman that place scares the crap out me! I don't even like reading about it! Kind of like the Exorcist of dive spots for spero's!
baitcast - 7-1-2021 at 07:10 AM
I found the island to be rather spooky! its nothing more than a big rock out in the middle of nowhere in the mornings a big fog bank would start down the mountain from the very top something for Godzilla to hide
behind, at nite we would anchor straight out from a elephant seal colony that would grunt all nite long......crazy place but I loved it. now that
the man in a gray suit showed up its crazyer
Rob
[Edited on 7-1-2021 by baitcast]