My home for the next 10 days was the confines of the 92 foot long 30 foot beam California long range sport fisher named the Shogun. The 13 staterooms sleep up to 30 people on the busiest of trips, but because the low number of expected passengers I got my own stateroom. My room was on port side just in forward of the engine room. I loud place to sleep while underway, but after a while the drone of the engines would put me to sleep. I was most impressed with the how well appointed the boat was to accommodate fly fisherman. The boat has vertical rod storage along her starboard and port side that can easily hold at least 80 rigged fly rods. The boat is large enough to for everyone to fish with room to spare. They also brought along 3 inflatable skiffs to aid anglers with chasing down big fish and to spread people even further. The Shogun's aft area is open from the galley back to the stern giving anglers lots of room to move.
Each day as The Ridge got closer the sea state went from lumpy to near glass which made travel very comfortable. Of course, the 92 foot length of the Shogun has a way of smoothing out most seas. The balance of the next three days aboard the boat was spent preparing tackle, tying leaders, watching DVD movies, and eating.
The cuisine served aboard the Shogun is absolutely first rate. Foods like poached eggs, breakfast burritos, veal, pasta, Chilean Sea Bass, Tuna, and tenderloin were served with fresh baked bread daily. For those who like sushi, we had sushi one night that was the best I have ever tasted. The two chefs, Peter and Robert, did everything in their power to completely satisfy the passengers. I can honestly say I was never hungry aboard the boat.
After 2 days of traveling and one day spent picking up the remaining passengers in San Carlos (up in Magdalena Bay), we finally began fishing for striped marlin, yellow fin tuna, black skipjack, skipjack tuna, pacific bonito, and other pelagic fish. Fishing was done by searching the banks and other likely areas for sign of game fish. The biggest indicator of fish were the 'birds schools' (terns, gulls, and frigate birds), especially at long distance. Once a bird school was found, the crew would pinpoint the position of fish using the side scanning and the 'up/down' sonars. From this the crew could tell the size and species of the fish which was nice because then they could advise on the most appropriate weight rods to use. Another indictor of fish was the schools of dolphin (black, spinners, and bottlenose) that roam almost everywhere around and especially offshore of the banks.
Fishing Day One
Much of fishing day 1 was spent searching for tuna and marlin in an area of life (bait, birds, whales, dolphin and sea lions) about 15 miles south of Magdalena Bay. Despite the life that was found spread out across the area there weren't enough fish around to warrant staying. So, off to the north we went trolling tuna feathers and marlin teasers along the way. The nice thing about seeing so much life on the water is that it keeps you optimistic that a great bite is only a short distance away. During the trolling segments four anglers were 'at the ready' in the stern for 1 hour shifts. If a fish was hooked by the stern anglers and the bite continued new people would be rotated into the stern.
If fish were found using the sonar or via bird schools or when one of the trolling feather or teasers were struck, Captain Norm would put the boat in neutral so the fly anglers could begin casting as the boat slide to a stop. Normally, it was most productive to roll cast your fly in the foam once the announcement to fish was heard on the PA system. Fish were usually on there way toward the stern because the crew immediately starts tossing live sardines overboard once fish were spotted.
Until 2 PM on fishing Day 1 we didn't have to worry about fighting fish. Most people took their turns at the stern uneventfully until the Shogun reached area just off Tosca known for its large population of black skipjack. It took Captain Norm a very short time before he found a school of fish that were willing to come to stern and eat our flies. In less than 30 minutes 8 to 10 skipjack between 5 and 10 pounds were boated released. The bite died, as it normally did when it was my turn in the rotation, but everyone was now clear that this fish could be fast and furious.