Fishing Trip in the Farallons

[FischAutoTechGarten]

While in San Francisco, I went out YellowFin Tuna fishing with my buddy Justin and a few others on his boat.

We went to the Farallon Island and then another 40 miles south. 12 hours at sea. I puked for hours. Nevertheless, a good time was had by all...we were very succesful.

First photos are of the evening before as we prepared and fueled the boat. Important, as we had to leave the dock by 5AM the next morning.

Heather doing her KateWinslet impression.

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Me at the helm.

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Justin and I after prepping the boat for the next day.

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Took the boat for a spin with the wives around Alcatraz. We were testing the new hydrofoils we had just installed.

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The fog came in over San Francisco Bay. The Golden Gate Bridge is buried in there somewhere to the left. Gave us an idea as to what to expect the next morning.

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We took off in the dark and all of my photos of the fog were horrible so they aren't worth showing.

However, after we cleared Seal Rock and began heading towards the Farallons, we ran into this Pod of Beaked Whales. I caught only one breaching the surface with my camera.

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Tuna were running below the Farallons, so we altered course to head south of them and move towards Santa Cruz.

Here's me fighting a Yellowfin Tuna. He weighed over 30 lbs.

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Bear in mind I was pucking for about 6 hours. I was so weak I had to fish from a chair. I didn't bring this one in. We lost it right at the boat because I wasn't quick enough to follow it around the stern sitting down. Oh well. Lesson learned.

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Here's the result. 9 Tuna between 20 and 30lbs a piece.

It was the first time any of us had been Tuna fishing. It was great. For the first 2 hours the fog was so bad we were relying totally on radar and gps.

[Chris.L]

Looks fun :D! Nice seeing the whales, you don't see whale's much over here unless you really go out into huge waves.

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Heather and I went to Sonoma Valley to take in a few vineyards.

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Heather at St.Jean Winery. There were Bass in the Pond.

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Me time. I went to the Steinhart Aquarium by myself. Gave me a chance to move around as slowly as I wanted.

Discus and Angels were represented.

Here is a tank of Altums.

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A tank of Heckels.

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Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park in San Fran.

[jeep]

I went spearfishing in the Farallon's once. A friend had a nasty encounter with a 25' Great White. He left a nice little 3" souvenier stuck in his leg that he had bronzed and now wears around his neck. A tooth!

What made my friend the maddest was the fact that he tore up his brand new wetsuit >:(

[April]

great pics. thanks for sharing. next time take gravol.

[FischAutoTechGarten]

I took Dramamine. Started the regimine 24 hours before. Took a total of 5 over 30 hours. Still puked. For hours I couldn't stand, bait hooks, cast a rod, reel a fish, eat, drive the boat or even read the nav charts. The swells were 8 to 10 feet.

Next time I'm seeing a doctor 2 weeks before I leave. See what they can prescribe.

[Chris.L]

I went spearfishing in the Farallon's once. A friend had a nasty encounter with a 25' Great White. He left a nice little 3" souvenier stuck in his leg that he had bronzed and now wears around his neck. A tooth!

What made my friend the maddest was the fact that he tore up his brand new wetsuit >:(


Whoa, what a nasty encounter. That wouldn't be a nice site seeing one attacking you :o!

Peter - I have the same problem :P Can't stop puking in waves :-[



Chris-

[FischAutoTechGarten]

The only bad thing about the entire trip was learning on Thursday evening as we were heading to a nice French restaurant in Tiburon, that the person watching our house had an accident with our 97 Civic. She hit a parked car in a parking lot. It's driveable but smashed from the front to rear along the entire right side of the car. (Second time this has happened to us while on vacation and to this car. About two years ago we were on vacation and my mother in law borrowed it and a city truck smashed the entire right side.)

Nothing like coming home from vacation to a smashed car and a $500 deductible. Oh well, guess we'll be getting that used Passet or V70 Wagon we've been wanting a little sooner.

[Chris.L]

How do you run into a parked car ???

[Steve_Warner]

Hi all,
Peter, that sounds like an incredibly fun trip! I went tuna fishing with my buds two years ago out of San Diego, down to Mexican waters for the weekend and the fishing was off the hook, LITERALLY! It was so good in one school, the captain grabbed his long(20') bamboo pole with just a 15' rope line and shiny, silver hook on the end, and was literally throwing fish over his shoulder, onto the boat! The WHOLE boat of 22 people limited in 1.5 days! I wanna go again, 'cause that was one helluva fun time out there(plus I didn't get sea-sick). The best part of the trip for me was staring into the water from feet away as the deckmates cleaned our fish and threw the guts overboard..........to the sharks! Man, I'm envious of you getting to go to the Farallons! I actually have been looking into some Great White Shark expeditions out of S.F, going there to get in a cage and see the mighty predators for real. That is the #2 next adventure down the list for me in my lifetime of "before I die's"! Did ya see any of the Great Whites breaching outta the water, attacking seals like on "Discovery's "Air Jaws-Shark Week" episodes? I know............. my wife thinks I'm nuts too!


Steve

[FischAutoTechGarten]

nope, no great whites breaching. lots of elephant seals, fur seals and sea lions. lots of beaked whales.

[A Niner Fan]

Excellent pics! I know how you felt on that boat, I used to fish for rockcod off the Queen of Hearts out of Princeton all the time, until one fateful day when we hit some rough swells....haven't been able to go since. :-X

Glad you were able to make it to Steinhart. This is the place to be if you're a New World hobbyist!

[Divantie]

Nice Albacore!! You gotta go on the 2 day chater to catch some Yellowfin. I was lucky to reel one in, took me 2 hour to land it. Oh boy was I Happy!!