“Our weather was a bit windy today,” said Royal Polaris September 2, “with 15 to 18 knots of breeze, clear skies, and sunny.”


“Our early morning started out with a decent Calico bass bite. Most of the bass were in the three to four-pound range. Around 05:00 Roy moved the boat, and the rest of the morning was slow. Around lunch the dinner bell went off. We had one drift for over two hours. It was steady, but not wide open. We had a good afternoon of Yellowtail fishing. Most of the fish were in the 12 to 15-pound range.

“We departed the area around 18:00 hours and now we are headed northwest. We will try our luck at offshore fishing tomorrow. So wish us luck and we will keep you posted on our daily events.”



Fishing With Marines

“We departed yesterday,” said Excel skipper Justin Fleck September 3, “on our Big Al five-day trip and once again, Al has dedicated several spots for the Purple Heart Foundation, for Marines injured in Iraq. The soldiers and anglers are excited to be out here on the water. We are currently headed south toward the islands to start our trip off with some action on yellowtail.”



All Day Long

“Today was good fishing for us on the Indy,” noted the report from the bridge. “From sunup to sundown we were pulling on some thing, bass or yellowtail. All types were the hot ticket for the yellows, jigs, bait etc. The weather was good as well. We are going to try this tomorrow in hopes of a repeat.”



Back In The Saddle

“We successfully made it through a very sloppy night of weather,” said the Polaris Supreme report for September 1, “to arrive our destination in the early morning hours. After trolling around for a bit and with only a small handful of wahoo to show for our efforts we decided to drop anchor to get setup for tuna fishing. Not long after we got established in our spot the tuna's started to bite a little bit and this trend would continue throughout the morning. Nice grade of fish too. 40 to 65 pounds. with a few bigger and a few smaller to round out our already stellar catch of fish. We certainly didn't land everything we hooked and we had some real heartbreaks. Whether it was pulled hooks, chew-off's, or shark related incidents we did lose our share of fish, but that's fishing. Needless to say, we were happy with what we threw in the fish holds this morning.

“While doing work on the tuna the wahoo seemed to build up as the day progressed as well and we picked away at them when they rolled on through. It was kind of herky-jerky fishing, to be honest with you. Does one tie on a wire leader for wahoo and risk the chance of not getting a tuna bite or does one stick with straight mono and risk the chance of landing a wahoo? Either way, we still lost a lot of wahoo and when the tuna bite disappeared we pulled anchor to go take care of some wahoo fishing proper. Marauders, bombs/raiders, and wire leaders.

“We were ready to roll as were the wahoo and we slowly but surely put a really nice day together on the skins, a real nice grade of fish too. Definitely a few more hoos from 40 to 60 pounds were captured today. Breaking it down, we had a very nice day on the skin with a nice mix of tuna to go along with it. We're happy and we couldn't have asked for a better way to end our stay down here.

“When all was said and done, our wahoo honey hole had dried up and we pointed her on-course for yellowtail land to try to not only get in a few hours fishing tomorrow but also to try to avoid the weather that's forecast.”

Ray Lopez docked American Angler September 2 at Pt. Loma Sportfishing after a five-day trip to Cedros Island. The James Hardware charter carried 27 anglers including chartermaster David Samarin of La Habra.

“We worked hard,” noted Samarin. “It was never full-speed fishing. We went to Benitos the first day and the next morning at the South End of Cedros we were in 61-degree water. We slipped around to the Salt Plant and it was 70 degrees. The premium yellowtail were there. We also tried the North End but it was scratchy.”

Steve Samarin of La Habra (David’s brother) won first place in the jackpot for a 41.8-pound slugger yellowtail. He said he bagged it with a sardine on a 2/0 Eagle Claw hook on 30-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon leader, 30-pound Izorline and 65-pound Power Pro spectra on a Saltiga reel and a Calstar 700 M rod.

“It was a 15-minute fight,” said Steve. “He took me around the bow twice. Thanks to the crew I kept him on. He came up on the port corner.”

Dan Agalsoff of Hacienda Heights tied with Walt Babashoff and chartermaster David Samarin (both of La Habra) for 34.4-pound yellowtail. In fact, Samarin got two at that weight. Ties aren’t uncommon with school fish in the summer, but a triple tie is rare.



Daily Winners

Shogun arrived at Fisherman’s landing September 2 under skipper Bruce Smith’s hand after four days of fishing offshore and at Cedros Island. There were two daily winners aboard the Larry Fanchard charter.



Barrett Johnson of Folsom won the first day for a 33.6-pound yellowtail, a jigfish that snapped up his blue and white 6X Jr.

“It was about halfway up,” remembered Johnson, “on the grind. It took about 20 minutes and ended up in the stern corner.”
He said he used 40-pound Blackwater leader on 65-pound Power Pro Spectra on a reel he’d just won in the Rollo Drawing, a Torium 20. He used a Calstar 765 XL rod.

The second winner was John Collis of Thousand Oaks, who caught a 68-pound broomtail grouper on a sardine and a 3/0 ringed Owner Super Mutu hook. He said he used 40-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon and 65-pound Power Pro Spectra on an Accurate BX 400 N reel and a Calstar 700 M rod.

“I got him in about 15 minutes,” said Collis. “He was in shallow, maybe 60 feet.”



Lonesome George

“Our weather continues to be good,” reported Royal Polaris September 1, “with lots of sunshine, clear skies, and just enough breeze to keep the heat down. We started morning looking for yellows, but there was none to be found. So we made a move to the north, and we started picking away at the yellows. Most of the fish were in the 12 to 15-pound range.

“We made a short move to try our luck at some calico bass, and we didn't get disappointed. We had a steady bite on the calico, and one lonely halibut (about 15 pounds). With the offshore bite not happening, we will give it another try for the yellowtail tomorrow. So wish us luck, and we will keep you posted on our daily events.”

Jack Nilsen’s seven-day Accurate trip aboard Qualifier 105 suited the chartermaster just fine.

“There was never a dry day,” he told dock reporter Bill Roecker at Pt. Loma Sportfishing September 1.

“This was an excellent trip, as good as any I’ve been on for many years. We fished at Alijos Rocks and Cedros Island. We had several South American missionaries on the trip, and a military man who’s going back to Iraq in October for his third deployment, so I gave him a rod and reel.”

Gunnery Sgt. Gary Nordby of Owatonna, MN works in intelligence. He was stoked with the yellowtail and tuna he’d caught on the trip, and with his new outfit. He posed with a dandy yellowfin tuna.

“It was bitin’,” said skipper Joe Crisci. “we had good fishing on tuna and yellowtail.”

Jim Dekay of Downey won first place for a 111.4-pound yellowfin tuna he took on 40-pound line.

“He wore me out,” said DeKay. “He took me around the boat twice and then came on on the bow. I had to go have a beer after 20 minutes with him.”

DeKay said he baited a sardine on a 3/0 Owner Super Mutu hook tied to 40-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon and 40-pound Big Game line, with 65-pound Power Pro Spectra backing on an Accurate BX-2 500 N reel and a Calstar 700 M rod.

Steven Joseph of Las Vegas won second place for a 79-pound yellowfin. Andrew McMillin, a missionary from Colombia, South America won third place for a 78.8-pound Alijos Rocks yellowfin tuna.



A Dinner Fish

Tim Ekstrom docked his Royal Star at Fisherman’s Landing September 1 after a five-day trip with 25 anglers to Cedros Island. The man who caught the trip’s best yellowtail said it was also his personal best.

Martin Rudolph of LA used the flyline to bring in a 39-pound yellow that took his sardine on a 2/0 ringed Owner Gorilla hook. He used 40-pound Izorline and 60-pound Izor Spectra to do the job, with an Avet LX reel and a Seeker 6465 rod.

“I fished while everyone else was inside eating dinner,” said Rudolph, “and he ate his last meal. He’s my best yellowtail, and I got him in about ten minutes.”

Ray Ochoa of San Ignatius, MT won second place for a 38.5-pound ‘tail he fished up with a Salas 7X surface iron in mint swirl.

Bob Remeika Jr. of San Francisco got his best yellowtail and won third place with it. It weighed 34.5-pounds.



Chartermaster Takes Third

Spirit of Adventure docked at H&M Landing September 1 with owner-operator Mike Keating at the wheel. She visited Cedros Island with 24 Arizona anglers aboard, all of whom used the boat’s tackle to catch their yellowtail.

Jeff Jackson of Chandler, AZ won first place for a 32.2-pound forkie. He said he used a sardine on a 2/0 hook and 30-pound line to take his prize-winner.

Roger Bies of Phoenix won second place for a 31.6-pounder, and David Covert, the Phoenix chartermaster, won third place for a 31.2-pound yellowtail.



WFO On CB—YT Wasn’t Bad, Either

Skipper Jesus Companioni docked Intrepid at Pt. Loma Sportfishing September 1 after an open-party four-day trip to Cedros.

“We had good weather and good yellowtail fishing..” he commented, and it was as good as it gets on the calico bass. They were biting on everything, including iron, swimbaits and slip-sinkered baits.”

Stan McClain of Thousand Oaks won first place for a 37.6-pound yellowtail he got after a 15-minute scrap. He said it ate a sardine on a 4/0 Owner Super Mutu hook. He used 30-pound Izorline and 80-pound Line One Spectra on a Trinidad 16 reel and a Sabre six-foot rod.

Mike Ogle of Newport won second place for a 36.6-pounder, and Tony Caracciolo of LaVerne won third place for a 35-pound yellowtail.



On Location

Polaris Supreme is fishing for a mix. Here’s her latest report, dated August 30:

“We arrived to our destination in the morning hours to find that the wind was up and the wahoo were down. No troubles, we had a back-up plan and Plan B happened to work out just fine for us in the form of yellowtail. The yellow's we caught this morning were a solid 18 lb. average, some bigger, some smaller, all in all it was a very nice size of fish. To say we had an excellent morning on yellowtail would be putting it lightly and by no means would I be putting into true focus the action on yellowtail we enjoyed. Any way you wanted to hook em', you hooked em'. Easy fishing. To throw in some variety we managed to boat a handful of some tasty groupers and a tasty wahoo as well. Next thing you know, Barry/Mark are serving wahoo enchiladas (I'm speaking on behalf of the entire group and saying that they were money) and we were pulling anchor to concentrate solely on tuna/wahoo to finish out the day. Maybe others would be pretty content with the morning we had but we hold high standards here on the Polaris Supreme and we we're just getting warmed up.

“Once we set out the trollers, part II commenced as we motored around the shallows looking for the elusive wahoo and to be honest with you, they remained elusive this day. It's OK, the dorado kept us busy throughout the afternoon and when they ran their course, we decided it was time to focus on some tuna. It didn't take us long to locate a nice breezer and the first few baits to hit the water resulted in immediate yellowfin tuna boils. Next thing you know, we're on. The entire boat was bent and the pandemonium ensued. Classic run and gun fishing on 18 to 25-pound tuna was the M.O. for the remainder of our afternoon with a sprinkling of dorado to keep the action steady. We did a lot of catching today but we also did a lot of releasing as well. The juvenile fish were let go to grow and when certain angler quotas were met, we released some very healthy fish back to their habitats. I'd be fairly right on by saying we released half of what we caught today, no doubt in my mind. To round out our already epic day, the dorado decided to let themselves be known once more and we had a nice little sun downer on the flat's with a couple nice bulls coming over the rail.”



RP’s On The Spot

“We arrived to our destination at 10:30 hours,” remarked the report from Royal Polaris August 31.

“We have excellent weather, with a slight breeze out of the northwest, and sunny. The Yellowtail bite for today was steady. Most of the Yellowtail were in the 15 to 18-pound range, with a few going up to 25 pounds.

“We will make a short move tonight, and give it the old college try tomorrow, so wish us luck.”

Jeff DeBuys docked Independence August 31 after a five-day Tuna Trackers trip with 22 anglers and chartermaster Al Frink of Newport Beach aboard.

“We found good yellowtail fishing,” said Jeff. “September will be resurrection month for offshore fishing. The tuna scene is looking good, with the right kind of water structure. We ended up with about ¾ limits of yellows and about four around on the 18-pound class bluefin. We also had 16 yellowfin and a couple of albacore.”


“The skipper maximized what we had,” said chartermaster Frink. “He made our trip successful, and I’m speaking from the heart.”

There was no jackpot. Mike Bonderson of Simi Valley had one of the two albacore, a nice, fat 32.3-pounder.

“I got him on a sardine,” said Mike. “I hooked him up on the bow and fought him for about 10 minutes, and he came up there, too..”

Bonderson said he used a 3/0 Eagle Claw J hook on 20-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon leader tied to 50-pound Line One Spectra on an Avet SX reel and a Calstar 800 ML rod.

“I got some real nice yellowtail on surface jigs,” added Bonderson. “I fished those with a Super Seeker Ulua and a Newell 533 narrowed to 522, mostly on 7X jig in sardine swirl. You could pretty much get all you wanted, throwing to boils and birds.”



“Fish On The Brain”

“Having enjoyed a beautiful night out of the wind,” said the report from American Angler August 30, “we woke up this morning with fish on the brain. With tough conditions and trying to be patient, we were able to focus, set the anchor down and get to work. A nice steady pace on yoyo jigs and fly line baits kept us busy ‘til lunch giving us a nice start to our day on 16-25lb yellowtail. Making a short southerly afternoon scenery change, we were able to pick up some premium yellows to complete our day.

“Getting some of the sweat off, we are going to spend another night in the lee and hope to finish the job tomorrow.”



Unwelcome Change

“Things didn't quite work out like we had hoped for today,” read the report from Polaris Supreme August 29. “With the decent sign of fish we saw yesterday we never in our wildest dreams would've thought today would've ended up like it did. But, if there is one guarantee in fishing it's that things are guaranteed to change...and they did. We awoke this morning to find that the weather also did a complete 180 from yesterday with a stiff breeze and a following swell to go along with it. We saw sign right from the get-go when we began fishing and first thing this morning we boated a couple nice tuna in the 50-pound class.

“Then all of a sudden, it died. No sign whatsoever. Where they went, we don't know. They're probably just down with the weather up, that's our best guess. We did scratch up a couple handfuls of wahoo this morning and a couple of anglers landed their first ever skin (congrats) but all in all, it wasn't enough to keep us around to finish out the day.

“Right around lunchtime we decided to point the bow towards greener pastures (hopefully) and give this place a day or so to regroup not only fish-wise but weather-wise as well. On our travels today, we came across a few kelp patties that were either holding "fly-swatter" dorado or nothing at all. Our weather is a tad bit rolly but it's definitely manageable.”



Ideal Day

"We had very good morning action on 18 to 25-pound yellowtail,” said the Royal Star report for August 29, “followed by a perfect afternoon scratch on "primos." A more ideal day of yellowtail angling, complimented by the flat calm conditions we have become so accustomed to around the islands, could not be found. We are ecstatic. Not only about our day of angling either; reports from the offshore grounds indicate big happenings relative to the past four weeks. A revival perhaps? The beginning of a September to remember? We'll see. For now at least we are heading in the right direction. Quality, 30 to 50-pound yellowfin, decent grade bluefin, and a smattering of 'fatso', 25 to 35-pound albacore are on our bow. At least, they were today.


“With sufficient yellowtail in the hatch we are heading out regardless. Regardless of the fish, regardless of the weather. Oh well. There are those inevitable times when the tab comes due. We are paying right now. Pocket change though. This is not bad at all. Plenty of bumpin' and jumpin' as we work up with visions of tuna dominant in our mind, nothing to arrest forward progress.

“A couple of great photos to share from today's fishing. The first features Royal Star veteran Martin Rudolph with his 39.8-pound yellowtail and a clear message for his friend Anthony who could not make the trip. Though the print may be small in the photo, the shirt says it all. Hope to see you next year, Anthony. Also long-time Royal Star veteran Dave Bookin, who was absolutely on fire the entire day, is featured with Captain Gregg Tanji and another fine, 35-pound class premium yellowtail. Have a great day!”



Shogun At Cedros

“After traveling until lunchtime we arrived at Cedros, “ noted the report from Shogun August 30.

“As soon as we got the anchor down the yellows came up and everyone had one on for the first couple of go-rounds. Then after that it was one to four going for the remainder of the day. Towards evening we made a move into shallow water where John Collis landed a big broomtail grouper. It was a good day fishing in excellent weather.”

The eight-day Pat Gallagher charter aboard Excel returned August 30 after visiting Alijos Rocks, The Ridge and offshore tuna grounds. Justin Fleck guided 31 anglers to a fine variety of species that included wahoo, yellowfin tuna and yellowtail. Chartermaster Pat was stoked.

“This has become something of a prankster’s trip, with a lot of fun and practical jokes being played. There were 31 of us but it seemed like only 24 because everyone got along so well. Once they packed my room with balloons.

“We had a lot of giveaways,” continued Pat, “with a couple of Avet reels and lots of Tady jigs and squid jigs and fluorocarbon. The joke players got one on themselves when they found all their underwear was soaked and then frozen!”

Andre Harnack, 13, fished with his dad Brian. The Culver City pair had a good trip, and Andre realized his goal of catching a wahoo after several visits to Mexico without one. He got three sins, and one weighed 50 pounds. He also caught a limit of yellowtail, a half-dozen yellowfin and two dorado. Andre goes to Culver Middle School. He’s in eighth grade and plays soccer.

Sam Romaro of Santa Ana won first place for a 69-popund tuna. He said he bagged it with a sardine on a 4/0 Eagle Claw hook tied to 40-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon leader and 40-pound Ande line, with 60-pound Izorline Spectra backing on an Avet LX reel and a Sabre seven-foot rod.


Sam said the fight lasted 30 minutes.

“I’m 76,” he noted. “He wore me out with that limber rod.”

Mike “Red” Heflin of Chino won second place, tying Jaimie Massion of Calabassas with a 68-pound yellowfin tuna.

Ralph “The Long Ranger” of Norwalk was also on the trip, and got some nice wahoo along with his tuna. Ralph holds the current record of six career 300-pound tuna.



Searcher Tests nearby Yellowfin

The big schools of yellowfin tuna that began arriving last Friday drew Art Taylor and his 16 Searcher three-day anglers to try fishing in a tongue of warm water below Ensenada.

“It was clean and 67.5 degrees,” said Art, “and we had jig strikes over a 45-mile stretch on mixed grade tuna and skipjack. We also got some fish on kelps and bird schools on the first day when it was calm. The good fishing extended from about 95 to 130 miles south.”


The trip was sponsored by Accurate, who sent Gary Gillingham along as chartermaster, with 12 sets of loaner rods and reels from the factory.

“They were BX-2 400 and 500 models,” he said. “We also gave away a BX-2 400.”

Gary Cotter of Santa Barbara won first place for a 22.6-pound tuna. He said he got it with a sardine on a 2/0 ringed Owner Super Mutu hook on 20-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon and 20-poundIzorline. He used a Trinidad 16 reel and a Calstar 700 ML rod.

Pate Machlachlan of Port Townsend, WA tied with Willy Lewis of Mission Hills for second place, as both men had 22.4-pound yellowfin.

By Bruce Smith August, 2010

(See Bruce's Seeker Hercules Rod Review HERE)

During the last three weeks Shogun has completed a five-day trip (mostly for yellowtail at the islands), a seven-day down to Alijos Rocks and the remainder of the time in search of bluefin/yellowfin tuna for Monterey Bay Aquarium and TRCC (Tuna Research Conservation Center). I was able to fish with some new tackle, some not so new tackle, try different connections, and do a bunch of tinkering. In this article (my apologies because it bounces around on different subjects) I will be discussing some of my observations, some good, and let just say, some critical. Well, not too critical, I love this sport and want to help out the tackle shops and lure companies as much as the anglers.

Accurate Reels & Handles

Accurate's Jack Nilsen is one of the most generous men in sportfishing today. He contributed his Accurate reels along with a couple of Accurate reels borrowed from Bill Roecker of Fishingvideos.com to my cause of product research and review. Someone has to be the guinea pig! This gave me four primary outfits to use, all Seeker rods and Accurate reels. It was the bee's knee's, or at least I thought it was.

The primary four:

Hercules SHS 70M/Accurate 870 narrow; 65lb. solid spectra; four feet of 40-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon attached via FG knot
Hercules SHS 60H/Accurate 500; 80lb. spectra; twenty feet of 50-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon
Hercules SHS 60XH/Accurate 600 narrow; 80lb. spectra; twenty feet of 60-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon
Super Seeker CJBF 60H/Accurate 600; 130lb. spectra; twenty feet of 80-pound Blackwater fluorocarbon

I really can't say enough good things about this tackle. It's light, strong, good-looking and gives you a huge confidence boost. One thing I experienced with the Accurate reels is that I got to try three different handle/knob configurations. The 870 narrow came with the infamous basket knob, an Accurate exclusive. It’s attractive to say the least, but in my opinion was the least comfortable of the three. I’m not saying it didn't work; it did great, landing those bluefin tuna of the summer. This knob spins the easiest. In fact, the new ones will go for up to a minute until they stop after an easy finger push.

Next was the rubber knob. Most reel companies have some version of this handle in the lineup. It’s very comfortable and my favorite to use. It fit my hands nicely, isn’t too heavy and spins fairly easy.

I had my doubts about the Accurate T-handle when I first started to use it last year. This is the one in anodized blue with Extreme engraved down the side. I was worried I wouldn't be able to wind fast enough or that the big handle would be unwieldy or unfriendly. Once I started to use it, all of these doubts were pushed aside and I actually began look forward to winding in fish with one of these bigger handles. They spin very freely, and of course fit nicely into your hand, ergonomically speaking.

One thing I really enjoy about the Accurate is the length of the handle, Jack and sons don't mess around here; it’s a beefy crank. You get a lot of leverage and torque when you turn this handle; fish come to the boat. This is a testament to how well the gears inside the reels mesh and how strong they’re made. With all this leverage you are putting to the handle, it’s the gears that are taking the abuse. Believe me, we learned this the hard way back when TLDs were all the rage and we started in with the aftermarket aluminum frames and bigger drag disks. What happened was we tore apart the guts. Accurates have guts and you won't be tearing them out, even with the big handles.

Megabaits

(Ed. Note: These are often generically termed “dart” jigs. As Bruce points out, Megabaits are no longer manufactured. However, Fisherman’s Landing still sells the Lazer Minnow, the Braid jigs and the original Point Wilson darts.)


During this year of tough offshore fishing, one technique that has been effective is casting small shiny jigs, in slang terms known as "Megabaits", into the froth of boiling tuna and albacore. Not all "Megabaits" are created equal. In fact, there is no such lure as Megabait being produced at the present.

The closest jig resembling the former lure is made by P-line and is called a Lazer Minnow. Unfortunately the Lazer Minnow is not living up to the Megabaits of the past, it's construction has left a lot to be desired, for some reason they have decreased the gauge of the through wire running from the eyelet to the tail end and I have seen several now literally pull apart. Lazer Minnows come rigged with a treble hook; granted there are split rings that enable you to remove and replace the treble hook with a good stout single, such as the Mustad 94140 BLN size 7/0. You still have to do this yourself. My answer to all of this is to buy the Braid D-B jig instead. It comes in all those exciting colors everyone likes, already has a stout single hook and, get this, welded rings instead of split rings. Kudos to Braid for this one.

As for casting these small lures we did better while using lighter line, such as a short top shot of 30-pound connected to 65-pound solid braid and a light jig rod seven or eight feet in length. This isn't the bomber kind of surface iron yellowtail fishing. Most casts are kept within 150 feet. Many times we could pull the boat right up next to boiling, jumping tuna, but if you wanted to get a bite you had to get the jig into the melee before the boat got close. Let the jigs sink into the froth, don't just wind them back fast. The bluefin and albacore like to pick off the dead or injured baitfish and these jigs do a great job of imitating just that.

Mustad Sea Demon Hooks (Demon Offset Ringed, 3x strong, R39942BLN)

These hooks were new to me. Not the Mustad name, obviously, but in past years circle hooks have been all about Owner Mutus here aboard Shogun. The Sea Demon circle has a wide, offset gap that makes it easy to pin on sardines, comes with an extremely sharp point, and you can get them with welded rings. We didn't have any problems with the hook straightening out, even in the small 2/0 size. They get a thumbs-up from me. It was nice to use a different, good quality hook and I look forward to more time on the water with them in the future.

Braid Connections, Solid To Monofilament

The spinning, jigging and popping guys are on the cutting edge right now, they are pushing the limits of their tackle, line, knots and lures. What can we (west coast long range fishermen) learn from some east coast guy catching 200 pound bluefin or that Japanese kid with a smile from ear to ear straining under the weight of his 150 pound dog tooth tuna? For one thing, solid braid and knots are in. It's the hip, happening thing, don't be afraid to spool up with solid braid, at least for your lighter outfits. What you do have to learn though are the connection knots. Muy importante! Mono to solid braid knots are extremely tough, hard to break and here is a strange fact, are stronger than braid-to-braid connection knots.

I am talking about solid, not hollow braid. Hollow is totally different and a different article altogether. One thing that I have found is that some of these connections are hard to tie, with lots of effort for just a little more breaking strength, the FG (Sebile) and GT knot come to mind as two examples of hard to tie connections. If you are into knots like I am, go for it, there are some good tutorials on YouTube. More appropriate for the average LR angler are one of the knots discussed in the list below. Gone are the days of the Bimini to 20 turn Albright; now, that is cave man stuff!

FG (Sebile)

Strongest of all the knots due to the fact it's not a knot, but a trap. Difficult to tie, but it shoots through the guides during the cast, never have I had this knot hang up in a guide or on the spool. Truthfully, it's awesome.

Improved Bristol (Worm) Knot

Very strong knot, but tied with the two legs of a Bimini. The problem is the Bimini. Unlike monofilament, Bimini knots are not 100% strong in the super braids. Strange but true, this is something I found and was trying to get across to passengers ten years ago and has since been proven on line testing machines.

Bob Sands Knot (Pena Knot)

Go through the stopper knot and it’s ten wraps up, ten down, back through the bottom, pull on the main line and you are good to go. It shoots through the guides and is strong, what more could you want? I see this as becoming the go-to knot for the west coast fisherman.

9 to 5 (Uni-to-Uni Knot)

Great knot, some passengers prefer it over the Bob Sands. This was the original mono-to-braid connection as showed to me the first time by Russ Izor during a three-day trip back in my Royal Star days.

Cheap To Expensive Braids

I live by end-to-end splices. Love 'em. Hollow braid rocks. What doesn't rock is the price. It hurts to fill a reel with the premium stuff, but at the same time, have you ever tried to splice loosely woven super braids? To say it's difficult is an understatement, and I basically do it for a living. To solve these dilemmas I throw on most of a spool of a cheaper (in price) hollow braid, then for the last couple hundred feet I end-to-end splice in the good stuff, 12X or even better 16X. Wha-la! Now your reel is filled with hollow braid, but is still easy to splice in your top shots at a fraction of the cost.

I may get into trouble for reveling such secrets, but hey, you got to give 'em something to talk about!

Wax Wing/Sebile Magic Swimmer

Have you seen these swim? They are incredible. In fact they may swim too good. One of the reasons a Salas 7X light is such a fish-catcher is because it doesn't swim perfectly. It kicks out, and that kick acts as a trigger. The new line of magic swimming baits literally swim perfectly. They are awesome to watch, and they do catch fish, not just anglers. What I am looking forward to is throwing these pups at wahoo later in the year. I don't know how many will come back in one piece, but it will sure be fun to watch!

One more thing, don't forget to pick up the hottest 7x to come along in a while: the “Python.” I know that they are being stocked at Fisherman's Landing tackle shop and here aboard the Shogun.

Big Fish Happen,
Bruce A. Smith