SAN DIEGO — The rescheduling of the annual Capt. Potatohead charter from Memorial Day to Mid August proved to be a very, very ‘ Fishy” decision for 27 smiling fisherman.

In typical fashion, all 27 exited anglers boarded the luxurious 95 foot sportfisher Searcher. Capt. Art Taylor requested a meeting in the galley to discuss our game plan, fishing tips and the required Coast Guard safety regulations. Art informed us that we would be headed approximately 100 miles southwest to an area where the Searcher had found very good fishing on the previous trip. Our fishing expectations were now in the capable
hands of Art and his enthusiastic crew!

With the welcome sound of Searcher’s engines, away we went. We arrived at our destination approximately 11 hours after our departure with several hours of darkness still remaining before the sight of gray light. With the first ray of light came the welcome words of “Hook-up!” right where we had spent the night. Several bluefin were hooked, but only three came to gaff. A handful of yellowfin were also landed during our first few minutes of fishing! Not a bad start!

Top: DEBORAH BLAKE AND SARAH CLIFTON combined to conquer a respectable total of 13 yellowfin.

Middle: THE BITE DURING THE FRENZY on the second day was one of those great albacore slams.

Bottom: TOM PATTON, SARA CLIFTON, and Matthew Manning all brought their dads along on the trip. Sara even brought her mom, too!

Capt. Art now called for the “First Trolling Team” to begin in our hunt for more exotics.
Throughout our first day we had consistent jig strikes spiced up with several bait hookups of yellowfin, yellowtail and dodo’s! We also stopped on several paddies yielding additional catches of our targeted exotics.

As part of the fun, Capt’n Potatohead (me) played “Beat the Dealer” by means of cutting the deck of cards for prizes. The prizes were generous donations of fishing tackle provided by Izorline, Haddock Fishing Products, Owner Hook Company, Sumo Fishing Products, and Zuker Trolling Products. Adding to the fun was the help provided by 15-year-old anglerette Sarah Blake, a tough one to Beat! The giveaways were conducted throughout the trip every 2 to 3 hours to keep everyone entertained inbetween jig strikes.

The first was good, but our payload came on the second day! We started off again with jig strikes and a few bait fish. Somewhere around mid morning came what we all dream about, a quadruple jig strike followed by a 2 ½-hour bait stop! Wow, it was crazy! There were hook ups everywhere along with yells of “Deep color!,” “Gaff!!,” and….“Gaff!!” Crew members did a masterful job of untangling, gaffing, throwing chum, tagging and moving fish into the slammer! What a stop!! The result was a band of merry, tired, smiling fishermen and a slammer full of yellowfin tuna 12-pound to 25-pound grade! Whew!

Now that we were plugged with yellowfin, Capt. Art decided to head for an area where albacore were reportedly caught. Unfortunately, there no longfins, but we weren’t disappointed since we had already been treated to a sizzling bite of “fastfinned” exotics.

This trip was a great measure of the expertise of the Searcher and its great crew!
Kudos to Kevin, Aaron, Cole, Kenny, and let us not forget, the great cuisine provided by Charles and Lamb.
As usual, no trip would be complete without the pranks that occurred with Mr. Potatohead as the target!

–Changing of 3/0 hooks to #10 silver hooks
–Adding of a Hi Vis fluorescent green top shot to every reel, complimented with dropper loops every 10 inches
–Moving the reel lever into free spool while hooked up
–Timely filling of pockets with live sardines during a hook-up.
There were many more, but all with the intent to have fun! No doubt about that, the fun was plentiful!

Our 3-day trip was a great success yielding the following totals: 3 bluefin, 281 yellowfin tuna, 44 yellowtail, 6 dorado.

Congratulations are in order for our Jackpot winners:
— 1st Place, Tom Patton, 32.8 bluefin tuna.
— 2nd Place, Mark Seals, 31.4 bluefin tuna.
— 3rd Place, Chris Edmunson, 24.4 yellowfin tuna.

Capt. Art, this trip was certainly “Taylor Made”! Thank you!!

• Top: THE GROUP enjoyed a decent bite on the first day, then a killer albie rumble the second day that lasted 2 ½ hours.

• Middle: EVEN CAPT. POTATOHEAD got bit on the 3-day charter Searcher trip.

• Bottom: THE JACKPOT WINNERS WERE, left to right, Tom Patton of Arroyo Grande, 32.8-pound bluefin; Mark Seals of Cambria, 31.4-pound bluefin; and Chris Edmundson of Mission Viejo, 24.4-pound bluefin And an honorable mention went to to Dick "Capt Potatohead" Uranga of Hermosa Beach for his 29.6-pound bluefin, not eligible for jackpot.