Long Range Fishing on the Qualifier 105

    Long Range Fishing

    on the

    Qualifier 105

    By Dave Braun?

Bluefin Tuna
caught on a 7 day trip

Long Range fishing is a rewarding sport that is an excellent vacation value. Imagine one week of solid fishing. You can't be bugged by phones, pagers, or fax machines. You get much more bang for the buck because you spend less time commuting to the fishing grounds. On one day trips much of the day is spent just getting into the tuna grounds. Then by noon it's time to start heading back. But on a week long trip you can often fish 24 hours a day when your at anchor.

Each year the highlight of the season is my week long fishing trip. I can stock up my freezer with hundreds of pounds of prime quality fillets. Yellowfin, bluefin, bigeye tuna are excellent fighters. Albacore are a rare bonus if your timing is right. Jackpots are often over 100 pounds.

This year's trip was aboard the Qualifier 105 leaving from San Diego California. The trip was June 9th - 16th 1996 and we headed straight for Alijos Rocks. This is my favorite destination because there is a chance to catch world class yellowtail..

June 9, 1998

The crew carefully filled the bait tanks with 500 scoops of live bait. They checked each box at the bait recievers to make sure the bait was in prime condition. They did not want to scoop the ones with red noses or missing scales. The extra care insured us of having lively bait the entire week.

We managed to catch a few small yellowfin on the troll the first day. It was just enough action to keep us on our toes while we cruised on to the "rocks".

We did manage to get into the first dorado bite of the year and most anglers aboard caught 4 or 5 if they tried. I kept 4 of the nicer ones and released the ones under 7 lbs.

The big tails did not show but we had a steady plunk on quality grade yellowfin in the 30-50 pound class. It seemed that the 25-30 pound line got bit the best but you wished you were using 40 pound after you were hooked up.

 The Qualifier 105 is a smooth running and great fishing boat. There is plenty of room at the rails and you couldn't be closer to the action. The 105 is one of my favorite boats.

The food and service was first rate. The homemade Icecream and desserts kept me from staying on my diet. The roast turkey with all the trimmings made the last dinner even more memorable.

As usual the Captain, John Klein runs a fun trip and kept our lines tight. It seems like the deck hands never rest.

I always have the crew fillet my catch, it's my way of letting them earn a few extra bucks. My wife likes it when I bring home individually frozen meal sized packages. I have learned that it's not worth having my yard turn into a maggot farm just to save a few dollars.
   

Bluefin Action

Qualifier 105

Long Range Sportfishing
P.O. Box 60729
San Diego, Ca.
92166
(619) 223-2786
E-Mail
© Copyright David Braun
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