San Diego Charters

Anyone here ever take a offshore charter out of San Diego? We are vacationing in the area in July and I was considering a day trip. Do they run 6 packs or would my only option be a party boat? Off shore in so cal would be a new thing for me and the schedules seems a bit different than nor cal as it seems many go into Mexican waters.

Thanks in advance. Phil

3/4 day 1 day or 1 1/2 day?

 My advice is to drop everything and go right now!

They are absolutely crushing the yellowtail right now. One of the most epic bites ever.

For one day trips, the 6-pack is the best in my opinion.  I've only fished private boats out of San Diego, but anything in the 24' long range is going to be fun, uncrowded and very flexible to keep moving and finding fish. 

Make sure who ever you go with uses live bait and a good sized bait tank.

This craigslist ad, although not in San Diego, is an example of a good 6-pack visual. 

http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/boa/4997905657.html

We've caught a lot of yellowtail.  My son went to college down there and his room mate's dad had a boat.  $90 for a plane ticket, $50 for my part in the boat costs plus another $10 for the live bait and we were all day fishing from 1 hour before dawn until sunset. 

The best bang for the buck right now is 3/4 day yellowtail and I love the Mission Bell. If the el nino holds, a fair shot at YFT also. Check the fish counts (Mission Bell, San Diego, Mahalito, Chubasco). Book early because they are the best.

If the boat is going into Mexico waters a passport is mandatory.

I could do a 3/4 up to a 2 day. We will be down for the week of the 6th and the I laws are watching to kids so I have some leg room to get into trouble. Also it's my b-day week so I am open to spending a bit more for a fun trip.

I was thinking a 6p as this would all be new to me and a bit more personal attention plus the included tackle would be nice but a good limited load party boat might work.

I will look info everything you all mentioned.

Thanks for the info. Should be a nice change of pace. Hopefully we get into some fish too!

If you want to catch YFT, go on a 2 day, but the first week in July is hit or miss unless you go 3-5 days. YT is a better bet in early July. You can do two 3/4 day trips for less money than a 2 Day trip. Personally I think YT fishing is more fun because they are suckers for iron and they fight really hard.

So I ended up booking a 1.5 on the pacific voyager early on in the trip.

The Yellowtail bite has been good. Hopefully it holds.

Now the question is. What gear to bring? Most of my striped/salmon gear is on the light side. Abu6500, Abu Revo Winch etc... I assume I should just leave this all at home and rent what/but what I need. Any must haves you all would recommend?

Pretty excited either way. Never done a overnight. Any tips or feedback would be great.

Phil

30 pound test would be IMHO the optimal set-up if you were to take only one rod.
I would take two rods/reels (more is better), one 20 pound class for live bait the other one 40 pound class for irons/jigs or if you run into YFT. If you have two rods you can switch on the fly from live bait to jigs without re tying your terminal gear. You could go 20 pound for paddies and 40 for jigging/dropper loop for YT, if fishing close to shore/islands. For 1 1/2 day fishing will most likely be on paddies and at the edge of keplbeds at the islands.
High speed reel like 6:1 for irons/yo-yo ing would be is preferred but almost anything would do. I believe boat rods are set up with 20 pound line and a conventional reel 3:1 give or take..
I would go 20 pound test on your Abu 6500 or if you want to be a sportsman you can stick with 17 pound test on it. Unless you planning to do this kind of fishing on  a regular basis, you're better off just renting a rod there. Unless offshore fishing is very hot you will probably end up fishing the kelpbeds too for calicos, sheephead, WSB, so definitely take your Abu 6500.
Get some rubber core sinkers to get the bait down where the fish are once the initial flylining bait slows down. Don't forget your softbaits/big hammer to get those fish on the slide (when the trollers hook-up)
Long range boat websites usually have recommended gear which varies with the length of the trip and species targeted.
Good luck and don't forget to post a report !
 Cheers!

A 30# and 40# live bait rigs and a 40-60# jig stick. If it's mainly tuna, you don't need a jig stick. If there are bluefin, add a 50# bait rod.

Time for new glasses.  Pass this thread several times thinking it was "San Diego Chargers."  Way too early for football.

Thanks Everyone. I will load up a few things and just plan on buying/renting everything else when I arrive. I am headed through Dallas first so think I will just rent rods/reels and have a few reels as backup.

Will be sure to let everyone know how it goes.

Had a fun 1.5 day trip on the Pacific Voyager out of Seaforth over the weekend. Nice boat and a pretty good mix of folks onboard. Trip total was 50 BFT , 2 YFT and one striped marlin between 24 anglers.

I had a decent BFT hooked up for about 20 mins. Once it got close to the boat it was grabbed by a Furbag and the damn thing nearly spooled me before it broke me off. I was bummed to lose the fish but at the end of the day I hooked up and my gear and knots held, nothing I can do about the sea lion grabbing the fish. In the AM the fish were above 60' and came on live bait. Once the sun was up the fish went deep and the majority of them came on jigs.

Like all "first trip" experiences I have a long list of things I would do differently next time. I would say a 1.5 day would be the minimum. I would bring at least three probably four rods so I could switch between line class and rigging quickly without constant re-tying. Sleep more on the first night instead of hanging out on deck.

Met another couple that was really nice and showed me the ropes a bit. They gifted me a nice loin of BFT at the end which made for a nice spread of sashimi last night. Wishing them as much good fishing juju as I can.

Already thinking about another trip, probably a 3 day this time.