ISLANDER 3.5 DAY - Reports on pg 44!

Thinking about buying my first 2-speed reel. Budget is about $250. Any suggestions? (last time I borrowed dpshim's Accurates and they were incredibly badass)

http://www.cabelas.com/product/PENN-FATHOM-LEVER-DRAG-SPEED/1874254.uts?productVariantId=3978822&srccode=cii_17588969&cpncode=42-140774659-2&WT.tsrc=CSE&WT.mc_id=GoogleProductAds&WT.z_mc_id1=04007160&rid=20

Thinking about buying my first 2-speed reel. Budget is about $250. Any suggestions? (last time I borrowed dpshim's Accurates and they were incredibly badass)

Yeah.  Give me $125.00, borrow DPShim's reels again, and don't give them back.

Bushy, your Uncle-In-Law

Hi,

1st trip (actually, never been on a boat of this size, either smaller or much larger), so bunch of questions, would appreciate help.

1) What non-fishing stuff do I bring? Food? Water? Do they have fridge (for beer)?

2) Do they have electricity (for FF, GPS and SS)?

3) What kind of fish are we targeting? I understand there might be fishing from the boat as well as from kayak?
3a) Do I need to bring heavy setup, or what I use for longs and butts (med-heavy) is going to work?
3b) How deep (100s or 1000s ft) ?

4) How's fish handled on the boat? How big cooler do I need to have in the car?

5) Are AI allowed (due to size)? If yes - do I want to take it (setup, etc.)? I guess I don't but want to understand options.
5a) Hobie Adventure or Trident 4.7 ? (Allen and Allen, I think I know your opinion )

Thanks!

Some answers. 

1 - if you have any special drinks or snacks to bring you can, but there is no shortage of food being prepared by Geezer during the trip. You will not go hungry. Three legit meals a day are served, as well as a snack between lunch and dinner. Breakfast and lunches are cooked meals, not bagels and cold sandwiches. Two years ago, a few of us barely made it through the third day's dinner because we were already maxed out from the previous meals. Soda and ice waters from the fountain are free. Beer is available on the honor system.

Bringing big coolers full of beer is frowned upon. NCKA trips are discounted already so help out the crew and buy your beers from the galley. I bring a small cooler with a few waters and coconut juice. I also bring cereal, because I'm not a big breakfast guy and wolfing down a bowl of cereal helps me get in the water ASAP.

Other non-fishing stuff to consider:
Towel for the shower.
A lightweight sleeping bag. The beds have linen, but I know my little fleece sleeping bag is clean!
A power strip to charge multiple batteries. Each stateroom has a power outlet.

Here's a typical day's menu:

2 - yes, each stateroom has a power outlet.

3 - realistically we are targeting halibut, calicoes, sheepshead and whitefish, but there is always a chance for yellowtail, bonito, and white sea bass. Last year, only a few weeks after Allen and I hopped on a non-NCKA trip, Dan Hernandez and crew were nailing yellowfin tuna right where we had been fishing a few weeks earlier. With a full blown El Niño, I would imagine things could get even more interesting.

There is usually the opportunity for deep water rockfish, as well.

I use my everyday Nor-cal setups on these trips. I guess a heavy set up could be useful in the rare instance of a hot exotics bite, but you can get away without it. You can end up fishing in anywhere from 5' to 250' of water. Not sure how deep Jason was running out for RF.

4 - any fish you want to keep are tagged with your number and tossed in the fish hold, which is kept at just above freezing temp. If you're on your yak and catch something you want stored right away you can hail the skiff on your VHF and they will come pick it up for you. Otherwise you can just game clip em and the crew will handle them when you land.

On our way back to port on the last evening the fish will be layed out on deck for photo ops and cleaning/filleting. The crew can either clean and gut or fillet your fish for you. In the past there has been a very small fee for filleting fish, and other times it has been on the house. You can also choose to keep your fish whole.

You can see the tagged fish in the background of this pic:


What size cooler you bring depends on how ambitious you are and whether or not you are going to have your catch filleted. Also keep in mind that the crew can not fillet sheepshead, so if you end up keeping a few big ones, that can be a lot of cooler space!

5 - AFAIK, AIs and PAs are not allowed. The 22 passenger load limit is set by the number of kayaks the racks can accommodate. The big Hobies just take up too much space.

Other than that, bring whichever yak you are most comfortable in. You can end up in your kayak for ten or so hours a day if you choose.

Thanks a lot, ! Very helpful, as usual!

One more I meant to ask - what about bait/squid?

Worst case is we end up with a bunch of pinner anchovies.

Hopefully (and usually) we end up with nice sized hardy sardines.

Best case is there is lots of squid around and we jig up some for bait....or the captain's buddy comes by at night and dumps a bunch on us like two years ago!

With this in mind, bring hook sizes to accommodate everything from pinner anchovies to possibly large mackerel.

The boat also has frozen squid to use which is actually pretty effective.

Thanks! I'm ready to go

Thanks! I'm ready to go

ps-  And, if you need something and don't have it, tackle-wise, I bet someone will loan or give to you. Glad you are onboard Sebast!

Bushy

Bushy

Thanks! I'm ready to go

ps-  And, if you need something and don't have it, tackle-wise, I bet someone will loan or give to you. Glad you are onboard Sebast!

Bushy

Bushy

Yes. Definitely do not buy a bunch of Salas 6x jigs. Anybody that wants one let me know. Over the years I've acquired a bunch of them and I rarely ever use them.

BTW - Trip is full again. 

1 Bushy                                                                   
2 Polepole                                                               
3 Rockhopper                                                         
4 Seabast                                                                   
5 Zisco                                                                   
6 Fish Master1                                                         
7 Sin Coast                                                             
8 Hamachijohn                                                       
9 Reelknots                                                             
10 Sailfish                                                               
11 AlsHobieOutback                                               
12 IShaveMyChest                                                 
13 beerhunter                                                         
14 Hojo                                                                   
15 Cowman                                                             
16 RBark                                                                 
17 bloodbath                                                           
18 Bluegill                                                               
19 JT                                                                       
20  dpshim                                                               
21  Bchen                                                                 
22  Raydon                                                               
23  Kahuna

Dustin ascended to Islander Tackle Enlightenment long ago.  He's got it down to one small box.  He pretty much fishes the bait, and that's about all you need to do.  Hooks and sinkers!

Hooks: I'll have #4 and 2/0.  The #4 for on pinner chovies and strip bait for smaller mouthed fish like whitefish.  2/0 for dines and targeting sheeps.  4/0 if there are larger macks and you like to fish them.

Sinkers:  1/2-1 ounce egg sinker.  4 ounce torpedos.  Egg sinker above a hook with no space between them for squid strips.  4 ounce torpedos for 3-way dropper loop and reverse dropper loop.  Captain Jason gave us a lesson a couple years back and told us to get rid of all the hardware.  That means no swivels or slidos on the 3-ways.

I like to change it up and works the shallows casting surface lures like sluggos or swimbait on 3/8 ounce wide gap weedless worm hooks or 7x size surface irons.  I also bring a few irons to yo-yo.

While the boat has some frozen squid and will work to get some live squid, it is never a guarantee.  Last year I brought two 5 pound box, one each for Dustin and I.  It came in handy as there was no live squid available on that trip.  We burned through those boxes on a single day deep in the kelp fishing for sheepies.  Could probably have made them last a couple days, but we were handing it out on the water.

Bring a power strip with a long cord for charging batteries and radios in the rooms.  There is one outlet in each room and in some rooms it is on the ceiling, so a longer cord lets you rest the strip on a bed or the sink while charging.  Last year I had a shorter cord and the strip would hang in the air, sometimes pulling out.

-Allen

Don't forget your Ocean Enhancement Stamps!