M.O.~CEDROS

Absolutely... EPIC!!!
I'm so glad to see all of my good friends having a blast.  I missed out this year.  Count me in for next year... please!

Absolutely... EPIC!!!
I'm so glad to see all of my good friends having a blast.  I missed out this year.  Count me in for next year... please!

 DITTO!!!!!!   

I missed out this year.

Not entirely!  How was dinner?  Mine was nuts!!!

Awesome trip, I'm soooo jealous! Last year was a blast so there is no way this one couldn't have been even better. Now I have to figure out how to build the WAF for Mexico in July AND the Islander next fall!

I missed out this year.

Not entirely!  How was dinner?  Mine was nuts!!!

Sean, Justin.... THANKS so for much for YT love.  The hamachi sashimi dinner last night was off-da-hook.  Tonight it's poke and grilled hamachi kama.  Next month, I'm using the carcass to catch dungies.  Nothing is going to waste my friends!

Very nice, I'd love to be on a trip like that!

The harvest is IN!!!  NICE work my brotha's! 

Need.... more... photos... and videos... keep them coming!

EK

What an action packed week! It was a dream come true, the fulfillment of a 5-year old wish, an epic adventure. And it was all that despite the rough ride there and back and gale force winds that limited what we could do on the 'yaks.

Milestones. So many PB kayak yellowtail I couldn't possibly count them. First fish too, like Seabreeze's YT sleigh ride. The one that tugged at my heartstrings the most was a bit of old business, unfinished business. It was laid to rest by Mike, brother of our dear departed Chef Stefano. KZ, you'll be glad to know the Livestrong rod fulfilled its mission. Rest in peace Chef. 

Over on the lee the numbers weren’t anything special, but the size certainly was. Many La Jolla regulars will never hook into such tanks, and certainly not in 15 feet of water.

That fast-action bite on the boat was outrageous, talk about your full-on bendo bender. And not at all unusual for Cedros. That frenzy was just out of kayak reach given the gale force winds. Granted decent weather, we would have experienced true kayak chaos, ‘yaks zipping hither and yon. Next year it’s on!

There was some strange bad juju going on for the chartermasters. That first evening I banged a fat 7-lb boiler rock calico in front of the Kayak Fishing Game On camera, but blanked from then on as far as notable yak fish. I'll let SBD tell his own story. Didn't matter; I was stoked to see others pull on fish. Besides, I got mine from the big boat.

That's right, we figured out some new wrinkles on this pioneering trip. It's possible to split the difference, get it on on the plastic and then score numbers on the mothership. Dual threat!   

A public thank-you to each and every one who made this trip possible. We couldn’t have had a better group, a point the crew made time and again. You rolled with the punches (quite literally) and never let a bit of a blow get you down. Much love to the Islander crew; I've known them for years but never had the opportunity to see them do their thing in a wide open boat bite. Smooth! There may be others as good but certainly none better.

Next year's trip is already in the works. It's going to fill fast. 

Now on to my photos. Sorry to do it to you, but you'll have to click on this link to check out my snaps: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=4001&id=100000298961000&l=c6a52b0523

Roughly 51 weeks and counting until the next go-round…

The one that tugged at my heartstrings the most was a bit of old business, unfinished business. It was laid to rest by Mike, brother of our dear departed Chef Stefano. KZ, you'll be glad to know the Livestrong rod fulfilled its mission. Rest in peace Chef. 

AWESOME!!!  Congratulations!

I don't know if I'll ever have the WAF to make this trip, but I'll begin tucking some WAF into savings immediately.

EK

WOW!!!!!!!!!  Awesome trip guys how much did it cost and is this an annual thing cuz next tym I want in haha lol Thanks for sharing the adventure Guys

Keo

 First and foremost, Thank you Sean and Paul for putting together such a great adventure. The fellow Islanders and crew were amazing.
    Totally exhausted still. Patrick and I stayed a day longer to have our fish processed as we had fish to deliver to family and friends in socal. I will try to put my fantastic journey in story form later but first a few pictures to start..

Pictures
 
Patrick drifting with the Islander
Tote bendo
Flying fish that cleared the rail
Diving float...somewhere on the other end is Justin
Patrick and his purple "barbie" Avet on the rail

The combined knowledge on the boat was awesome.  Randy and I finally made good on Sean and Paul's years of patient tutelage and scored our first kayak YT.

Other highlights were the Poke' snack served to us on the water courtesy of Sean's contribution of the first boated Yellowfin to the galley. 

And the two nights of making bait.  You know you are having fun when 20 people can all be working the rails with Sabikis in hand and no one is tangled up, but LOTS of mackerel end up in the bait wells.

What a trip!  Thanks to Paul and Sean  for organizing.  Pat and I just got home a little while ago.  Still feeling kinda whupped, but here are a few more pics...

hi pat, hi randy!!!  so glad you caught some fish.

I had a great trip.  I didn't get to use my yak much because of the strong winds.  The wind really sucks when your trying to drift dive and can't paddle.  San benitos was fun yak dive.  The highlites of the trip for me was:
1.) finding Dan's tackle box after his yardsale
2.) Seeing a school of 100 yellowtail that were all over 25lbs in only 15 feet of water
3.) Swimming around with 4 yellowtial on my belt stringer.
4.) seeing an endless school of yellowtail, I am talking about 100s of fish over 25 lbs.  I wish I had my camera.
5.) getting to hang out with my old NCKA friends and making new ones, then see them all slay yellowtail!

Here are a few underwater photos I took before my camera housing flooded.
angel shark
dolphin skull?
juvenile Garibaldi