Islander 08

This trip is going to be awesome, should be more in the prime season and we're all a bit more educated on pursuing the yellowtail.  I guess there were two mistakes that we made, #1 we had great live bait and generally with bait, the rule is 'use it if you've got it', but the lions share of fish were caught on yo-yo jigs, though one of the crew caught a YT off the islander with a sardine.  The second thing was we kept fishing adjacent to the kelp when in fact the fish were holding just off the bottom in deep water a fair ways out from the kelp.  I think we'd have slayed em the first day if we'd jigged deep rather than messing with bait closer to the kelp.

Are there any other divers this year?  Hopefully tote at least will remember his cert card.    Alan's not coming so I don't have a dive buddy.

This trip is going to be awesome, should be more in the prime season and we're all a bit more educated on pursuing the yellowtail.  I guess there were two mistakes that we made, #1 we had great live bait and generally with bait, the rule is 'use it if you've got it', but the lions share of fish were caught on yo-yo jigs, though one of the crew caught a YT off the islander with a sardine.  The second thing was we kept fishing adjacent to the kelp when in fact the fish were holding just off the bottom in deep water a fair ways out from the kelp.  I think we'd have slayed em the first day if we'd jigged deep rather than messing with bait closer to the kelp.

Are there any other divers this year?  Hopefully tote at least will remember his cert card.    Alan's not coming so I don't have a dive buddy.

That first day I don't think there was any way to avoid the kelp!!!!
I found my dive card but it won't do me any good this time around. Can't get that week off  this year.
I think blue and white yo-yos were the ticket last year.
What I would do different if I was going:
Bring a LOT less gear. I think if I gave every piece of tackle a shot while I was OTW it would have come out to about a minute of use for each lure/jig for FOUR DAYS OTW!!! WAY too much tackle.
Bring only 2 rod/reel combos. No need for more than that IMO.
Keep it much simpler. Having something for every conceivable situation will create a situation in and of itself.
Don't have too much crap on your deck to make it easier on everyone when they haul your yak onto their deck.
Call for beer delivery WAY more next time around.

There were plenty of rod holders and I had a couple reels break down on me.  Maybe 2 rods/4 reels minimum.  It was more the bulk junk that piled up than rods.  Best to have one bag for the cabin and one bag for wet stuff on the deck, plus a couple rods in the holders around the perimeter.  My drifter was kind of fat too, I'll probably take the scupper pro this year.

Hello fellow Islanders,

Some good thoughts here about what to bring, and perhaps as importantly, what to leave.

As we get closer to the trip date, I'll start a thread here to get us all thinking and talking about how to pack for the trip, and how to rig for quick launch and recovery. We all did pretty well, but a bit of planning and a
"less is more" approach will pay off now that we've learned a couple of lessons.

So do we have a wait list status???

I was on the islander a couple of weekends ago that went to Todos Santos. Saw this trip on their board. I had the best time kayak fishing in mex,the islander mother ship trips are the best and I was wondering if any spots were open on this trip, if not could I get on the waiting list?

Take it easy!

Aaron

Can't wait Can't wait Can't wait!

Have to make sure we have all the latest videos for screening night!

I've been reading the post for the last Islander Trip and I noticed that several folks mentioned that they brought too much gear. Would anybody who has been on this trip like to provide some advice to those of us who are going for the first time? I know it's a bit early for this, but I'm figuring that if I can spread out my gearing-up purchases over a few months, then I'll be a lot better off.

The rods and reels below are setups that I already own and I'm hoping they will fit the bill. In fact, I need them to fit the bill in order to maintain WAF! 



For rods and reels I'm thinking:
6'6" Trevala MH paired to an Avet 6/4, 300 yds 30 lb sufix braid with a 100 yard 25lb Big Game topshot (surface iron, maybe some jigging)
6'6" Tica Boat Rod paired to a Torium 20, 300 yds 50lb sufix braid with a 200 yard 35 lb Big Game topshot (Yo-Yo)
6'6" UglyStick Tiger paired to a Penn 321 GT, 65lb braid with a 30 lb Big Game topshot (trolling, live bait)
8' Shimano hotshot rod paired to an Abu Revo Inshore, 30 lb sufix braid with a 100 yd 15 lb P-Line flouroclear topshot (swim baits)

I'm also thinking that I'll have flouro leader in 20, 30, and 40 lb

For lures I have a 6oz Butterfly Jig and 2 oz butterfly jig, both in blue/white, about 5 different Sumo/Tady jigs ranging from 2 oz to 8 oz in blue white and scrambled egg, a Rapala Magnum size 18, and various swim baits with various sizes of shad heads.

For live bait I'm thinking of picking up the Gamakatsu light wire ringed hooks ranging from 2 to 4/0.

So what do the old pros think? Too little? Too much?

I'm a Newbie to the Gig, But one problem we had was people like myself bringing a Cooler on board.

I was unaware that we could store our personal drinks ect, in the Boats fridge. I also brought too much in the way of personal gear, extra wetsuits, clothes, ect,... 

 from what I see on your list,  looks good....

Still want on this trip! Anyone who is on and can't make it let me know I will take your spot in heartbeat!

Take it easy!

Aaron

I've been reading the post for the last Islander Trip and I noticed that several folks mentioned that they brought too much gear. Would anybody who has been on this trip like to provide some advice to those of us who are going for the first time? I know it's a bit early for this, but I'm figuring that if I can spread out my gearing-up purchases over a few months, then I'll be a lot better off.

The rods and reels below are setups that I already own and I'm hoping they will fit the bill. In fact, I need them to fit the bill in order to maintain WAF! 



For rods and reels I'm thinking:
6'6" Trevala MH paired to an Avet 6/4, 300 yds 30 lb sufix braid with a 100 yard 25lb Big Game topshot (surface iron, maybe some jigging)
6'6" Tica Boat Rod paired to a Torium 20, 300 yds 50lb sufix braid with a 200 yard 35 lb Big Game topshot (Yo-Yo)
6'6" UglyStick Tiger paired to a Penn 321 GT, 65lb braid with a 30 lb Big Game topshot (trolling, live bait)
8' Shimano hotshot rod paired to an Abu Revo Inshore, 30 lb sufix braid with a 100 yd 15 lb P-Line flouroclear topshot (swim baits)

I'm also thinking that I'll have flouro leader in 20, 30, and 40 lb

For lures I have a 6oz Butterfly Jig and 2 oz butterfly jig, both in blue/white, about 5 different Sumo/Tady jigs ranging from 2 oz to 8 oz in blue white and scrambled egg, a Rapala Magnum size 18, and various swim baits with various sizes of shad heads.

For live bait I'm thinking of picking up the Gamakatsu light wire ringed hooks ranging from 2 to 4/0.

So what do the old pros think? Too little? Too much?

Jay -

I personally was only targeting YT, WSB and YFT. If you do not care to catch bass, bonito and barracuda, you can leave your light rod and tackle at home. I grew up in SCAL catching the 3 B's so for an $800 trip it is pelagics or nothing. You will catch a good number of calicos even when you are targeting YT's. So IMHO, here is the minimum:

#1 20-30# live bait and surface iron rig - here you want something that can cast well. If there is no surface action you can use it to dropper loop. I prefer a long mono topshot with a short fluoro leader when fly lining. Your Shimano Hotshot/Revo rig would work well here but you would probably want to increase your top shot to 20#

#2 25-40# yo-yo and butterfly jig rig - here is where the 2 speed reels are great with 50-65# spectra main line with a short fluoro leader. You can use this rig around kelp for kelp cutting applications also. Your Trevala MH/Avet would work well here.

The nice thing about these 2 rigs is you can use them in NCAL for rock fish stripers, and halis. If you wanted to add a trolling/bottom fishing rig you could, but probably not necessary. Very few fish taken on the troll last year and no YT's on the troll or dropper loop. Since I will not be going this year, I have equipment you can borrow. PM me if you are interested. The heavy stuff that you will not use in NCAL is worth borrowing unless you plan on doing this every year.

Scott

Thanks Scott! 

I definitely agree that my primary targets are YT, so I won't worry about Calico gear. I figure if I get desperate for a fish I can use the Revo/Shimano set up for that. I'm also glad to hear that you think the Avet/Trevala combo is plenty for YT. I'm thinking that will be my primary rod/reel in use. I'll likely bring the Torium/Tica too and keep it rigged with a big yo-yo as another tool on hand. I think the Penn 321/Ugly stick will stay home.

I'm wondering though about the line capacity for the Revo. With 30lb braid and a 50-75 yard mono topshot, I doubt I can get more than about 175-200(if I'm lucky) yds of line on the reel. It's got a good drag, but am I bringing a knife to gunfight here?   

I don't think you need a topshot that long, I used about 5'.  We caught most of the YT yo-yo jigging in 200FOW and you probably want good sensitivity and low drag.  At least for me the fight was mostly and up/down thing, not a long run marlin like thing, so I don't think line capacity is too critical.  I've heard they do try to 'rock' you though, which is why I went with 50lb braid.  You do want a high speed reel or you'll be hurting after a little while of yo-yoing.

There are something like 300 rod holders on the ship, so rods aren't really a problem, only about half of the slots were filled.  It was other stuff that piled up, I think because the cabins were smaller than expected and most gear isn't allowed in them.   There is room for each person to have a couple duffel bags of stuff in their cabin (including small pieces of gear) because there's an extra bunk that'll fit about 4 duffels for 2 guys (plus you can sleep with some stuff on your bunk), but bigger things like coolers, bait tubes and tanks, milk crates, extra wetsuits and scuba gear piled up pretty deep.  This time I'm only bringing the stuff I intend to use and no spares of big things.

I brought WAYY too many sticks - too used to 1-day trips where you may get into a 15 minute bite & don't want to risk it being done before you can untangle, retie, whatever.  Also not gonna bring the big gun for trolling (which we did not do) between spots.  Think I had 9 rods & reels on this one.

To be honest, I'm not going to decide which to bring until probably the weekend before.  All going to depend on what they are getting & what they are getting for bait.  Also what new stix I get finished by then.  Don't go too lite onthe hooks (not familiar with the Gam lite wire ringed) but just make sure that some serious pull won't straighten them out or bend them.

On my swimbait rod I have 12.  I plan on bringing a really lite (8#) for fun in the kelp if the pelagics don't wanna play.

On irons & patterns can't go wrong with Blu & White & scram egg.  But I was not one of the ones with a yeller last year so they should chime in.  Again, I have a pretty decent box of iron & will be checking with the crew before packing.

Something to consider is how to streamline setting up yer yak.  I was slow & plan on working on streamlining.  I'm sure that Paul Lebowitz (PAL) & Scwafishh will be weighing in closer to the date.  But this is a great excuse to fill that vacant spot inthe arsenal.  Remember, the appropriate response to "How many rods/reels/jigs/ do you need" is always "one more".

& BTW, Jay, my 2-yr old yells at me if my fins are not up when that comes on.  She's a Hula Girl At Heart.  & My 5-year old son's favorite songs are JB's covers of Brown Eyed Girl & Southern Cross.

I'm wondering though about the line capacity for the Revo. With 30lb braid and a 50-75 yard mono topshot, I doubt I can get more than about 175-200(if I'm lucky) yds of line on the reel. It's got a good drag, but am I bringing a knife to gunfight here?   

Jay

This rig you are using for surface applications and the sleigh ride factor decreases the need for large line capacity. So the Revo should be fine. The only situation where you might get spooled is if you hook a big YFT and they swim straight down. Pretty unlikely and for big tuna, another 100 yards of 30# test won't  stop them anyway. 

Scott