Tani's Tuna Trip

Chance of a lifetime here.  Only for serious anglers.

Alan Tani famed Reel Sensei is hosting a Long Range trip this June Full Details on his website.  I am really  late posting this he told me bout it some weeks ago.  My apologies Alan.

But this will be an epic trip with anglers that are as close to being us as they can be without having kayaks.  (honest, upright, tru-blue, fun, rabid fishermen, good guys future friends forever, etc etc etc)

Go to Tani's Site for full info but here's the teaser:

http://alantani.com/index.php?topic=8968.0


    
all the info you need!
« on: November 21, 2013, 05:19:22 PM »
   
here's what's up.  mel had this wild idea that we should all go fishing.  i looked into it and realized that it might actually work out.  it's early in the season, but this last summer the san diego long range fleet was catching bluefin out in open water at this time of year.  yup, bluefin tuna!!!!!!!!  obviously, there is no guarantee that we will have a bluefin bite 3 summers in a row, but a wide open bluefin bite is an experience that you will never forget.  and if there are bluefin out there, mike keating and the spirit of adventure will find them!

so i spoke to annemarie keating, owner of the http://www.spiritofadventurefishing.com/news/.  she said that they had an 8 day spot open in october, but for me that would never work.  then she said that we could actually be trip #0 and start before their regular season.  she said that we would have to have a solid charter by april 1st.  if not, we could cancel and they would go back to their normal start date of june 22nd and no one would be the worse for wear.  so here is where we are......

dates - monday, june 16th, 2014 to saturday, june 21st, 2014.  more specifically, most guys will be driving into san diego on sunday, the 15th, we'll have dinner at one of the local restaurants that evening, board the boat at 10am on monday the 16th, fish on tuesday, wednesday, thursday and friday, then return to the dock at 5am on saturday the 21st, and then home. 

cost - it's $825 now and $825 on march 15th.  everything is refundable until the april 1st, then the check goes in to annemarie.  to get a refund after april 1st, you need to find a replacement.  the bare bones cost of the trip is $1450, but i am collecting $200 ahead of time for a tip for the crew for a total of $1650.  i normally tip 20%, but i've seen guys tip as low as $200 on an 8 day trip and that's just plain embarassing.  don't forget the airfare or cost of gas to get back and forth to san diego, plus hotels if you stay overnight, and meals before and after the trip.  and fish processing.  i will never to back go cutting up these fish on my own again, but you can if you want.  getting your fish professionally processed is so much better.  i plan to go with sarah at 5 star.  they charge is 75 cents per pound.  if we go in as a group, it might be a little less.  figure if you go in with a mix of 20 fish and a 25 pound average, you have 500 pounds of whole fish and a 30% yield for good quality filets.  that means 150 pounds of filet and a processing bill of $375.  try not to spend money on tackle.  we have lots and we will talk more about that later. 

deadlines -  i just got back from the bank and set up a separate checking account.  i am accepting deposits now.   then i will call for the final payment on march 15th.  i will send in the check to annemarie on april 1st.  until that check is sent, we still have the option of canceling this trip.  once the check is in the mail to annemarie, we are all committed.  guys will have to by airplane tickets after april 1st.  if you cancel before april 1st, you get a full refund.  if something happens after april first, you cannot make it and we cannot find a replacement, i will not be able to refund your payment.  remember, other guys are scheduling vacation time, working hard to make good husband points with their wives, and paying for plane tickets.  once april 1st passes, we are committed. 

there is a reason i am doing this.  if we are short by a couple of guys and we have to take "walk on" passengers, we could wind up with a couple of idiots and they could ruin the entire trip for everyone.  i would rather cancel the trip than have to put up with a couple of total jerks.   Angry

tackle - i moved my "spirit of adventure" posts to this board so you could take a look.  it is important that you not buy alot of stuff.  we have plenty of rods and reels to go around, and lots of terminal tackle as well. 

the catch - this can go up for discussion if the group wants, but i would like to change the way fish are distributed for our trip.  normally, you tag all the fish you catch.  if you are a novice, or just snake bit, you might come back with only a few fish.  if you are a good fisherman, if you have sharp elbows, bad attitude and equally bad breath, then you can muscle people out of the way, hog a place at the bait tank, pick one place on the rail and refuse to move, be a total jerk and have the biggest pile of fish at the end of the week. 

to get away from that, i want to eliminate the use of tags.  on this trip, i would like us to fish as a team.  if your are doing well, consider handing a rod off to someone that is having trouble.  if you are having trouble, ask for help.  i will also not have a jackpot.  money has a way of poisoning a trip quickly.  i would rather ask the deckhands to weigh the big ones and then have a daily prize for the guy that "hands off" the biggest fish.  that's right.  if you are on a hot streak and the fish you hand off turns out to be the big fish for the day, you will still get something for your efforts.  oh, yeah, and a hand off does not count if you fight a fish for 45 minutes, get pooped and and then hand the fish off to the deckhand to reel in.....   Grin

mistakes and other general screw ups - i've been on alot of these trips, but i've never had to run one myself.  there WILL be mistakes, so be patient with me.  you all know how hard i've worked to keep money issues out of this website.  it's money that always ruins things so quickly.  it's just not possible this time.  but i am confident that this trip will go well, and that's because of all of you!

Tempting...very tempting!!

Haha.  I thought you might eye this bait Howard!  Sounds like just your kinda trip.  Looks like he has a few spots still open.  It's pricey but at the same time, priceless!

Bushy

Livestock auction on June 14. Not sure if the trip timing will work out for me. My annual long range trip August 2, a week after Albion.

Are you going?

I read that calico bass will now count against the 30 fish limit. Bummer!

No idea yet about Albion.  Id sure like to.  Like to do GS8 too .  or is it 9?  I am in serious arrears towards Eric.

Bushy

I'd go if I wasn't going on the Islander.

Thinking about cancelling my Islander seat and going on this trip instead.





















NOT!

I'd go if I wasn't going on the Islander.

Thinking about cancelling my Islander seat and going on this trip instead.





















NOT!

Nooooo!!!!

Oh shoulda scrolled down a bit...Phew!