14 August 5 , 2022 VOL . 41 • ISS . 13
WHAT ’ S HOT continued from page 2
Back at the landing from their girls three-day tuna trip Deanna Kelsey , Megan Hampton and Amy Wellenkamp hold a couple of their catches . Great memories were made .
Photo Courtesy of Amy Wellenkamp
Amy Wellenkamp with a Yellowfin Tuna caught aboard the Pacific Queen .
Photo Courtesy of Amy Wellenkamp
Mehan Hampton and deckhand John Mizuhara with one of the first Bluefins caught on her three-day trip .
Photo Courtesy of Amy Wellenkamp gear as we thought we would be targeting smaller Bluefin and Yellowtail . The bite was extremely tough and if they got bit it broke off immediately on the smaller setups . As we boarded the Pacific Queen I was anxious to learn where we would be going and what fish we would be targeting . I had heard we might possibly be heading out for Yellowfin and I was really hoping that would be the case because I have never hooked and landed a Yellowfin on my own gear . Well , I discovered quickly that the weather was not cooperating for us to head to the Bluefin grounds and that we were going to search for the Yellowfin , Dorado , Yellowtail and Bluefin if we found them and they wanted to play . Off we went . The first day we stopped at the islands and didn ’ t have much luck . By the end of the travel day we had landed a couple of Bluefin and Yellowfin . Megan Hampton , one of the girls on our trip brought up a nice Bluefin and we were all excited ! The next morning we started fishing and it was game on right away . By 6 am I had my first fish , a Yellowtail . Throughout the day the bite was here and there . We started landing Yellowfin and Dorado . I had never seen a Dorado in person , and this was a delight . What gorgeous creatures . Part of my plan for this trip was to learn how to pick a better bait and not massacre them before they even hit the ocean . One of my complications is the bait tank is not easy for me to see into as I am not super tall ! But I was very happy to become much more proficient in catching my live bait , not squeezing it to death so it loses the scales and practiced three different bait pinning strategies depending on the fish and other circumstances . I was very happy with the rod and reel setups I brought on the trip . Over the last couple of years I have been adding to my tuna catching quiver to make sure I have the combinations for the different size tunas we may encounter . The main setups I used on
The fishing was amazing and hanging out with the girls was the best part . I love my fishing family .
this trip were Phenix Black Diamond PSW 809XHJ paired with a Penn Fathom 15LD2 , 40 # braid and 20 # leader and my 40 # setup was a Phenix Black Diamond PSW 760XH with a Penn Fathom 30LD2 50 # braid with 40 # leader . I learned quickly on a previous trip that my reels needed to all be conventional reels and to leave
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Huge Selection • Great Prices Knowledgeable Staff my bait casters at home as I had one of them start literally smoking while I was fishing and had caught a few smaller grade Bluefin and larger Yellowtail in a short amount of time . That was exciting , but I had to have my reel rebuilt afterwards . One of my main takeaways after having the opportunity to go on my first three-day tuna trip is it was so nice to know we had a couple of days to fish , so if the fish weren ’ t biting on a certain day we still had more days to catch them of course . But , with that knowledge I felt more relaxed to try different methods , work on my live bait techniques , and my favorite part was using a Shimano 100 gram Current Sniper on the slide and having success catching a Yellowfin . I am so grateful this trip was a go and we didn ’ t get blown off the water again . The fishing was amazing and hanging out with the girls was the best part . I love my fishing family . If you are interested in booking a trip on the Pacific Queen I highly recommend it ! You will need to be on your toes ahead of time and find out when they release their schedule as the trips book fast .
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