Has anybody ever used the long ringe boats Intrepid or Independence out of San Diego? Thinking of doing a 15 or 16 day tuna trip. I ain't a rookie, so keep the comments from somebody who has actually been on these boats. I've got my own top-quality equipment, or will buy it ahead of time for the trip. Had my own boat here in Florida, and been offshore up to 110 miles, and typically 40-60 miles. Looking for what to expect in terms of best time of year, can you suggest a better boat, are there hidden problems (like the captains and crew were a bag of dicks), they talk a good game but only the regulars get service, etc. So, I guess I'm looking for a response from another experienced fisherman. Thanks in advance for your help.
San Diego Long Range Fishing Help
- Thread starter Cornbread
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LuketheDog
Well-known member
I did a couple 2-3 day trips in CA and knew several guys who were regulars on 5-7 day tuna trips, I'm sure those captains and crews are long gone though. I can't imagine 15-16 days on a party boat, good luck to you though!
Hoping I remember correctly…… @JustinsDad ??
I did. Thanks Buzzy. It's got a lot of useful info.
??????????
Justins’Dad did a long story about a longer offshore fishing trip. If memory serves, out of San Diego. A quick search came up dry, thus I @‘ed him hoping he could see your request and chime in.
Sagebrush1
Well-known member
Both of those boats are top tier. You won’t have any regrets riding either. I grew up fishing and working in the SD long range world. Hit me up if you have any specific questions.
Keep us n mind most trips fill a year plus in advance and many schedules come out in June and July for the next year so keep an eye on them.
Keep us n mind most trips fill a year plus in advance and many schedules come out in June and July for the next year so keep an eye on them.
Goatshoes
Active member
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- May 18, 2016
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All those boats and Captains are fishy. What makes or breaks the trip is luck, weather and currents. I could be mistaken but half of the time on those 15-16 day trips are travel days where little to no fishing is being done. Take advantage of that time to learn from the crew. As far as Captain and crew goes, there is far to much at stake for them to give poor service. The boats that run a day or less you might have deck hands that are recently released from prison, but those longer trips are pretty well staffed with guys who take fishing seriously and know how to keep customers hooked up and happy. Best time of year is probably October. I suppose your hunting cow yellowfin tuna?
Good Luck
Good Luck
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Good info. Thanks. I'm retired, so time of year doesn't really matter. Although I will try to put in for a Montana antelope tag for next year, so Oct/Nov may not be doable. Somebody suggested getting on to DBOUTDOORS, short for Bloody Decks. I got there and posted some questions, and like here, there were a # of informative answers. I did a 4-day trip on the American Patriot out of Naples, FL in November. Unfortunately, they allow the captains to fish on their times off, so...ya kinda compete with the captains. You don't tip the captains. The captains don't own the boat. And they werent helpful at all. They weren't bad guys, just a little attitude. And I got just one nice yellowedge grouper, the other fish were big beeliners (vermillion snapper) & blueline tile. Ive caught golden tile, which are awesome tasting. But eating a blueline is like eating bait. Yuck. And we use beeliners for bait. The meat is real mushy. I will NEVER eat those ever again. Yuck. I got cancelled on the Xmas trip just this past December so had to reschedule. I chose to get a 5-day for Dec 19 this year. Basically 3 days of fishing. It's all deep dropping in the GOM at Pulley Ridge. I have a Seaborg elec reel I use. I'll give it another shot. The chef, and he wa a real chef not a "Warmer Upper" as my dad used to say, was excellent, and the boat was very very clean. The one young mate turned up my drag on a big fish and before I new it, the hook straightened. He did not get a tip. What they wanted for tips was ridiculous. And I'm a good tipper.
There was a guy on BDoutdoors that posted a journal of his 15-day trip. Pretty interesting. 4 days of travel out, and 4 days of travel home. I'd like to get a big yellowfin. I'm going to drive out. I have all the rods and reels or will get longer rods and another 50 wide before the trip. I have 7 Talica 25s, a 50WLRS, and a 30WLRS, I'll need to spool them with much heavier braid and mono but I vae a great tackle store down in Riviera beach that has quite the selection of everything fishy.
How about the Red Rooster III and the Vagabond? What about the summer months for a LR trip? What if I did two 10-day trips in the summer back to back with a week rest in between? What kind of fish at that time of year do the boats catch? Do they still go down to Mexico?
Sagebrush1
Well-known member
Those boats are great too. All the boats in the “long range” fleet are great.
Boats start running 10 days in the fall. Great fishing for yellowtail, smalll tuna (20 to 60lbs), and wahoo. They will often target the “lower banks” to try for larger (200+) tuna, but it depends.
There aren’t really any 10 day options from June to September. They typically run 8 days at that time. Still good fishing. Fewer tuna and wahoo in June and July, but lots of 15 to 40 pound yellowtail.
Yes it will be in Mexico.
Boats start running 10 days in the fall. Great fishing for yellowtail, smalll tuna (20 to 60lbs), and wahoo. They will often target the “lower banks” to try for larger (200+) tuna, but it depends.
There aren’t really any 10 day options from June to September. They typically run 8 days at that time. Still good fishing. Fewer tuna and wahoo in June and July, but lots of 15 to 40 pound yellowtail.
Yes it will be in Mexico.
TheDudeAbides
Well-known member
I know a few people that have been on these trips.
Most of the time you have no issues bringing home probably way too much fish.
Does one really need 150lbs of yellowtail and 150lbs of tuna in the freezer? Probably, not.
Is one willing to pay the cost of processing the fish at $2/lb hanging weight? Probably the most shocking thing after a 7k fishing cruise on the ocean, is the 1.5k processing bill.
Most do not filet fish on the boat.
Have a plan before hand on what you are going to do with the fish. An air BNB is probably a decent option with a little folding table, a vacuum sealer, and 5mil pre cut bags.
LR boats get the best bait (cured) at the bait barge in SD and sometimes you will have to make bait.
You will have a lot of travel time 2-4 days depending on the length of your trip.
Your liver will thank you if you bring items to read or entertain yourself with rather than just drinking the entire time.
Most are sponsored trips with giveaways at the start.
However, you probably should have a bunch of terminal tackle and potentially a few jigs or wahoo bombs.
LR boats have the best sleeping arrangements of any of the SD fleet and probably have some of the best crews and chefs as well.
If you drink a lot (Not legal advice, but it is technically illegal), then it would be wise to bring some of your own booze on the trip.
If you are a drunk obnoxious a-hole, you will be sent to your room.
So, control yourself and find something outside of drinking to do when you travel to and from the fishing ground.
Follow the other recommendations from the outfits and remember to take sunscreen or UV shirts.
Being severely sunburned and splashing salt water around is not a good combination.
Also, bring finger tape or gloves.
For fishing yoyos and vertical jigging with a conventional reel and guiding the line back into the reel.
Line cuts and salt water is not a good time, and can be decently painful at times.
As far as fishing
April and May - Bluefin Tuna, maybe some Yellowtail, and some rock fishing.
June and July - Bluefin Tuna and Yellowtail
August and September - Yellowtail, Dorado, Yellowfin Tuna, and maybe some Bluefin on the shorter trips.
October and November - Yellowtail, Yellowfin Tuna, Dorado, and Wahoo
November and December - Long 16 day trips for Cow Yellowfin, Local Bluefin Tuna, and Yellowtail/Dorado/Wahoo/Smaller Yellowfin depending on the length of the trip.
Lots of reports on BDoutdoors, you can comb through as well.
Most of the time you have no issues bringing home probably way too much fish.
Does one really need 150lbs of yellowtail and 150lbs of tuna in the freezer? Probably, not.
Is one willing to pay the cost of processing the fish at $2/lb hanging weight? Probably the most shocking thing after a 7k fishing cruise on the ocean, is the 1.5k processing bill.
Most do not filet fish on the boat.
Have a plan before hand on what you are going to do with the fish. An air BNB is probably a decent option with a little folding table, a vacuum sealer, and 5mil pre cut bags.
LR boats get the best bait (cured) at the bait barge in SD and sometimes you will have to make bait.
You will have a lot of travel time 2-4 days depending on the length of your trip.
Your liver will thank you if you bring items to read or entertain yourself with rather than just drinking the entire time.
Most are sponsored trips with giveaways at the start.
However, you probably should have a bunch of terminal tackle and potentially a few jigs or wahoo bombs.
LR boats have the best sleeping arrangements of any of the SD fleet and probably have some of the best crews and chefs as well.
If you drink a lot (Not legal advice, but it is technically illegal), then it would be wise to bring some of your own booze on the trip.
If you are a drunk obnoxious a-hole, you will be sent to your room.
So, control yourself and find something outside of drinking to do when you travel to and from the fishing ground.
Follow the other recommendations from the outfits and remember to take sunscreen or UV shirts.
Being severely sunburned and splashing salt water around is not a good combination.
Also, bring finger tape or gloves.
For fishing yoyos and vertical jigging with a conventional reel and guiding the line back into the reel.
Line cuts and salt water is not a good time, and can be decently painful at times.
As far as fishing
April and May - Bluefin Tuna, maybe some Yellowtail, and some rock fishing.
June and July - Bluefin Tuna and Yellowtail
August and September - Yellowtail, Dorado, Yellowfin Tuna, and maybe some Bluefin on the shorter trips.
October and November - Yellowtail, Yellowfin Tuna, Dorado, and Wahoo
November and December - Long 16 day trips for Cow Yellowfin, Local Bluefin Tuna, and Yellowtail/Dorado/Wahoo/Smaller Yellowfin depending on the length of the trip.
Lots of reports on BDoutdoors, you can comb through as well.
Thanks for the good info on what bites when. Very helpful. Was thinking of doing a 8-10 day in early June on the Independence, then maybe a 15-16 day in Jan/Feb 2026. Im diabetic, so if I have 1 glass of wine every 3-6 mos, Imreally partying. LOLOL. Not a big eater also. In fact I avoid anything with carbs in it except maybe fresh veggies and fruit. I live in Florida, and had my own 34' boat for 7 years so I know what the sun does! The AirBnB is maybe a good idea. Are there any public boat ramps nearby that allow fish cleaning? I hear ya about the cost of cleaning. What on money maker.....on my back. I'd be driving to San Diego, in my 3/4 ton pickup with a camper top. I have several Yeti coolers. Dry ice keeps it for at least 4 days in my 160qt yeti. Did it with an elk 2 years ago. I may have more questions. Will get back to ya. Thanks a bunch
TheDudeAbides
Well-known member
Every year is a bit different as well.
This year the water was cooler for longer into May and June and last year the water warmed up very fast.
With the local BFT the shorter trips will all be targeting them and they are fun because they suck.
Lol. I could go on and on about how much they suck and that is what makes them fun, but I'll stop right here.
Another good resource is contacting the boats themselves on the website.
I don't know about the other boat ramps that allow it, might be a better question for BD.
I normally go out of H&M landing, but there is no fish cleaning there.
One of the issues with fish cleaning in SD is the rising cost of labor and the shortage of labor to cut fish.
The cost goes up every year and with the cost of doing business in California, I do not think they are as profitable as people think despite the ever rising costs.
It's a fun time fishing in California, but I am unsure what the future holds in the fisheries with the high costs to the operators.
This year is a good time to get in and fish, because normally LR boats are fully booked a year in advance and this year most of them still have multiple openings and costs are discounted a bit to where they were previously.
I found out that Shelter Island public boat ramps have a fish cleaning area/tables. I have always cleaned my own fish and 150 deer. Hell, even if I get a 300lb yellowfin, it won't be that hard to take off 4 filets. I have my own huge Smith portable fish bag, a 160 qt Yeti, and a 200qt Coleman. Just use the tables to cut out the blood lines in the filets. Then vacuum seal it all at say a motel. I'll bring a 5 cuft freezer to plug in. It might only take 4 hours or so. I have 6 or 7 Forschner knives, including a 12" Cimter that you can shave with. LOLOLOL. I took back a whole elk in my Yeti for a 4 day trip packed in dry ice 2 years ago. Didn't open it up. Got back to Florida and still had 15lbs of dry ice to throw in my pool for a cocktail! The pool was smoking!! LOLOLOL. I have a vacuum sealer. Or, fir what I save, I could buy one of those chamber vacuum sealers. I may change my mind. But for now.
Pretty excited about the trip. Will buy the line, reels, Tackle down in south Florida where I know a place with top quality stuff and great prices. I already have a Tiagra 50wlts & 30wlrs and 7 Talica 25s. Will have to put heavier line on some of them and topshots. I have lots of wahoo lures and various jigs up to 1000 grams. Plenty in the 200-500 range. May have to buy one or two more Tiagra 50wlrs and definitely heavier and longer rods than my current selection.
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KB_
Well-known member
When you do this trip I would be incredibly interested in your experience. I arguably enjoy fishing more then the hunting or anything else, I just dont get to go out as much as I would like.
I know fly fishing is probably not preferred in deep sea type trips but I have been dying to do some salt water fly fishing for a few years now. Big ol snapper on the fly sounds like a riot.
I know fly fishing is probably not preferred in deep sea type trips but I have been dying to do some salt water fly fishing for a few years now. Big ol snapper on the fly sounds like a riot.
Letthemgrow
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- Aug 8, 2017
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troll
I'm afraid that they wouldn't let you on the boat with a fly rod my friend. Just talked with the charter master this afternoon, and a Tiagra 50wlrs loaded with 150lb braid and 200lb flouro topshot, with 1000 yards of line total, is standard operating procedure. There are 23 guys on this 105' boat, so flipping a fly rod around might get you thrown into the ocean. Nobody wants a hook in the eye. As Steve said, these are realy mean fish. You may have to hire your own charter captain to do that, and it may be only for 1 fisherman, you. Saltwater fish are much much more powerful than freshwater fish. No comparison. Like comparing a whitetail to a grizzly bear.
Hem
Well-known member
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