Excel arrived at dawn to Fisherman’s Landing November 20 after a wonderful 10-day trip to southern Baja with 29 fishermen. Justin Fleck skippered the trip for Carl and Mark Dorton and their Team Hoo charter. He backed the boat in as the sun was popping up, making a pretty waterfront scene.

“Justin made perfect decisions,” said chartermaster Mark Dorton to dock reporter Bill Roecker. “We had some remarkable dorado fishing.”

The wahoo fishing was perhaps even more remarkable, with about seven skins per angler, and near-limits on tuna and dorado. It appeared that all anglers were well-satisfied with the catch.

“It was awesome,” agreed skipper Fleck. “We had fantastic fall fishing.”

He said the weather was perfectly agreeable, at least until the last day, when eager yellowtail were encountered along the northern Baja coast.

“We had to leave ‘em biting,” remarked Fleck.

A spinning outfit produced the best fish. Stephen Ruiter of Toronto, Canada won first place for his 61.6-pound wahoo. He said he fooled it with a gold Raider jig on a Basil Pappas topshot of 130-pound fluorocarbon and 100-pound Line One spectra. He used a Stella 2000 reel on a Black Devil 300 rod.

Dean Jefferies of Paso Robles won second place for a 60.4-pound yellowfin tuna.

Tony Lott of Jacksonville, FL won third place for a 58.4-pound yellowfin.



Ken’s Custom Trip

Ken Corwin, owner of Ken’s Custom Reel in Oceanside, was chartermaster aboard his 11-day charter, which arrived at Pt. Loma Sportfishing November 20 with owner-skipper Sam Patella at the wheel of the American Angler.

“We had a very nice trip,” said Ken. “We had eight days of fishing on yellowfin, wahoo, dorado and other fish.”

The group fished hard for a couple of days south of Mag Bay, but not much was biting down there, in contrast to fishing above.

The notable exception was a single cow tuna.

The angler who got that 209-pounder was Bryan Kistler of Escondido
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“This is the second year in a row I was a winner,” he commented.

Kistler’s tuna bit a sardine on a 5/0 Mustad 91450 hook tied to 60-pound Seaguar Premier fluorocarbon. He fished with 80-pound Line One spectra on a Tiagra 30 reel and a Chaos Unlimited rod.

Jeff Nagel of Laguna Niguel won second place for a 68-pound yellowfin tuna.

Eric Haynes of Santa Monica won third place for a 64-pound tuna, and Mark Rubins of San Diego stood in the lineup with his 52-pound wahoo. He said he bagged that skin with a Salas 6X Jr. jig in avocado and pink colors.

“That’s a killer jig,” he remarked. “I got five wahoo with it.”