By Gary TeraokaFishingComments Off on January 10-24, 2017 American Angler 14-day Accurate Trip
We returned from the annual Accurate sponsored 14-day American Angler trip with plenty of smiles and we can’t wait to do it again next year. The weather for the 4 travel days down to Clarion was very smooth. The weather for the 6 days of fishing was big swells and 20 knot winds. Even when it rained, most passengers were at the rail putting in their time. We started at Clarion, but skipper Kiyohara figured out that our best bet was to make it to the Hurricane Bank and be the 2nd boat there. That moved paid off, as we were catching 130# class YFT at the Hurricane instead of 60# YFT at Clarion. Big fish was a 248# YFT caught by Tom Mato with a skipjack bait. There were three over 200#, a dozen 180#-199# and the rest of the tuna were 100#-160# tuna. We picked up a few wahoo and a couple of them were donated to the galley for dinner. The weather and fishing was a little challenging compared to past years, but that did not prevent all the passengers from having a great vacation. On the travel home, we held our 5th annual “31 tournament”. Check out some of the photos of the passengers “trash talking” to each other. Thank you to Accurate for supplying loaner ATD reels,Calstar for supplying loaner rail rods to go with Accurate reels, Izorline for spectra, fluorocarbon and mono, Baja Fish Gear for custom built Cow Bell trolling lures, Salas Lures for pL-68 glow and wahoo jigs and Sportsman Seafood for smoked & jerky tuna as well as discounts on fish processing. We are already preparing for doing this again next year. Call Lori at the American Angler office to join us next year, then I can put a photo of your smiling face on next years trip report.
Thank you to all the passengers and American Angler crew for making this the best trip of the year,
Gary Teraoka
Jackpot Winners: 1st Tom Mato 248#, 2nd Mark Johnson 201#, 3rd Bob Vacchetta 199#, Honorable Mention Russ Hanano 207#
Congratulations to Tom Mato for winning the Accurate Trophy for his 248# YFT
Russ Hanano won an Accurate Plier for big fish on day one.
Matt Salas won a couple of Cow Bell trolling lures compliments of Baja Fish Gear for big fish on day 2
Tom Mato won Izorline Spectra, fluorocarbon, XXX mono and rod sling for big fish on day 3
Mark Johnson won a Calstar 775 4XH rod for big fish on day 4
Mark won a new Calstar 775 4XH rod the day before and here he is putting it to use the next day.
Congratulations to Kambiz, who won a Accurate 2-speed Boss reel for the largest fish for days 5 and 6.Nice fish Bob. Congratulations on 3rd place and it was great hearing about commercial fishingMe fishing with a 8 1/2 ft long rail rod. The rod needs “a heavy” to put a bend in it. Yes, that is a Accurate ATD-Super 12.Steve concentrating on the tip.Crew Roco telling Tom to smileOne of Calstar’s loaner rail rod at workTom Mato having a good time with a Super 12 and a 4xH CalstarJoe, Kambiz and Steve at the first tableWhy is Roco smiling while holding disinfectantAre they getting ready for dinner or for a 31 game?Bubba getting ready to serve dinnerLook at all those smilesHere are the guys that served over 1000 plates, Action and Josh. Thanks guys.Josh (on the wrong side of the rail) with Tom and the 248# YFTHere is the “suitable for framing” photo of Tom Mato with the JP tuna.Seth, on again and again and againJoe, hope you enjoyed these crazy group of guysKambiz, if only we got a photo of the tuna that ate your popperMatt Salas pulling on one.Hey Russ, tell Kohei this is what he was missingBaja Fish Gear was well represented on this trip.Darren finally made a long trip. Looks like it was a good decision and I know he signed up for next yearJoe with the boats 3-speed.Table shot, lots of smiling facesOur skipper, Brian Kiyohara. He has an endless supply of fishing stories.Accurate has a new reel cover, but Action thinks it is wine bottle cover.TWhat a couple Pat and Matt makeTom joins the happy couple (Tom must have made a mistake for the yakuza and had to cur off a finger)Oh no, a whole group of yakuza mistakesNot Seth, and both handsDarrell concentrating, “focus grasshopper”Tom looking serious or is this the look of focusView from the upper deckOne of the “bread and butter” size tuna“Big Game” James getting ready to deal with a kite fishCheck out the two hooks. One from the kite double trouble and the other looked like Jr’s hook and pink fluoro that broke off the day before.Wally, “hands up, drop the gun”Action modeling the “security orange” Accurate shirtMark Johnson happy to get a travel toothpickTom on a fishSeth “putting the wood” to a fishWhat brand of lure do you use?Talk about one messed up rail shot, that needs a lot of workThe skipper Brian posing with Matt and Seth and two of the “bread and butter” size tunasThe “Final Six” for the 31 card tournament (Russ, Bubba, Matt, Darren, Steve, James with a partial face)The “Final Two” was Russ and Matt.The winner of this years 31 tournament is Matt Salas. 2nd Russ and 3rd Steve. Thanks to Tournament Director Tom MatoHere is the highly coveted 31 Champion Trophy. Note the customization and description of each of the final 6.