Surprisingly enough, after ballasting and bracing ourselves for the unpleasant prospect of crossing 170 miles of cranky seas, it really wasn't all that disagreeable. Not that there wasn't plenty of rolling, rising, and falling in the near beam seas, but the ride itself was smooth with no snapping or jerking to pitch us too far off kilter. Regardless of how much "better" than expected it was we were mightily grateful to eliminate the discomfort arriving in the giant Guadalupe lee by mid day. That feature alone was heavenly.

I can't say a whole lot for the fishing that underwent a significant, but not surprising, change from what the guys had the prior trip. Like I said such is no surprise. We did see it, we did land ten of the better tuna in the late afternoon, and we are of the opinion that it is still around, it just wasn't packed into the shallows today. We'll see what happens tomorrow. There is a whole lot of island to look at, and we have two full days to get with the program.

Our photos today are loaded with personal sentiment for the subjects. I have been waiting to include this in a daily report for some time. To begin with my six year old son Duke is making his second Royal Star voyage this time experiencing the amazing scenery at Guadalupe island. This has been a dream of mine since he was born. One Photo today features Duke pulling on a twenty five pound yellowtail with his new outfit that is the subject of this story. An old fishing friend of mine Bob Ramirez, whom many of you have likely encountered on one of his countless long range voyages on Royal Star or Royal Polaris, conducted clandestine, dockside interviews with my daughter Charlie and son Duke to determine their favorite colors. The result a few months later was the unexpected arrival of two beautiful, perfectly matched rods decorated of course in the appropriate colors of choice. I wanted to both graciously thank Bob for his incredibly generous gift, as well as demonstrate the fruit of his efforts. If you are reading along today Bob rest assured that this is the first of many.

The next photo also features Duke with his twenty five pound class yellowtail and his new outfit. The second part of this story goes back to last season when I first tried the amazing Shimano Trinidad 14a. After falling in love with this reel I mentioned that I would be putting one to good use on outfits for my kids. Thanks to Justin Poe at Shimano I am doing exactly that. And, after using these reels now for the past year I want to add that they are far from only appropriate for kids. I used the analogy last year that the Trinidad 14a is like a little tractor. I was convinced of this exact comparison again yesterday. Bullet proof, light weight, durable, and ridiculously pleasing to fish with, this reel also boasts a torque ratio that defies reason. How so much power comes out of this reel is a mystery I still can't quite get a handle on. But, why ask why? The fact is that the Shimano 14a is the most incredible reel in it's size class I have ever seen and/or used by a long shot. I cannot recommend it highly enough. To be confidently using this size reel targeting fifty to seventy pound yellowfin tuna and twenty five to forty pound class yellowtail speaks for itself. This thing is no joke.

Look for tomorrow's reporting, with a few tuna photos, to continue.

Tim Ekstrom

Photo Here...

Photo Here...