Wow! What a trip we just experience on Frank Ursitti's Deluxe 85 foot Sportfishing vessel. The 2 day trip departed out of H&M landing with a limited load of 29 eager passengers. Our crew was headed by Frank himself and included licensed crew members Alex and Doug. Our main deckhands were Kain, Manny and Ricky. In the galley was phenomenal chief Paul. We were all very excited as the boat had been getting near limits of Tuna for a few weeks now.

As we headed out of the basin and over to the bait receiver Captain Frank had us all gather at the bow. As the crew carefully loaded our medium sized sardines Capt. Frank proceeded to fill us in on the game plan for the trip. Many of the good bites had been close but he was worried about short range boat traffic and was convinced the long range, 130 mile stuff, was where we needed to go. After detailing the plan he made sure to give a very thorough explanation of how the fishing process works on these outer bank type trips. The constant tuna shuffle, no thumbs on the spool....always have your gear ready etc. Expert advice is always worth listening to, even for the pro's!

The morning started off with that amazing smell of crackling bacon as Chief Paul turned out some tasty Breakfast Burritos! We started off trolling in the grey light. It wasn't long until the first trolling rig went off.....typical first bite of trip...everyone running everywhere ...but only the troll fish this time.

Most of the day was spent like this. 1 - 3 troll fish here...couple of bait fish there.... Fishing was great but catching was a little light. But anyone that has been on a San Diego outerbank's trip knows...you never give up. Sure enough what we were all waiting for happened!

On approaching a small kelp patty....all the trolling rigs went off. Capt. Frank is yelling over the intercom that they are coming to the boat ...get ready....and then it was game on. Everything you threw at them got bit...Over....Under....tangles....untangled...Gaff!!....Gaff!!! It was pure adrenaline! It was what we veterans had come for and what the rookies would never forget! When the smoke had cleared away we ended up with around a 100 yellowfin Tuna. Tim Brown, a Ranger 85 regular from Oxnard Ca, ended up with the days jackpot. A 25 pound Mahi Mahi.

As the sun sank into the Ocean we all nursed our sore arms and congratulated our new friends on what an awesome bite that had been. Chief Paul served us up some amazing Marinated Tri Tip with all the fix'ns and then for most us it was off to bed.

Game plan for the night was to head up to the 70 mile range and then drop the sea anchor and drift until light. The ocean was perfect and most of us slept well that night. By the time I woke up at 6am at least 15 tuna had already hit the deck. A few dedicated anglers were catching the tuna on the iron and bait in the dark. Valerie Otero from Boulder CO. had landed 3 yellowfin tuna before most anglers got out of bed.

The second day didn't take much looking. We found a paddy and it was game on. Once again it was controlled pandemonium! Blood, fish and gaffs were flying! By the end most anglers were wore out and limited out.

On the way back to the dock we were treated to some of mother natures most beautiful scenery. We had breaching whales all around the boat. Everyone was in awe as these creature leaped into the air and crashed down to the sea....right in front of the boat.

Our final tally for the trip was 44 California Yellowtail, 256 Yellowfin Tuna and 16 Dorado. Captain Frank is one of the most experienced and well respected Skippers in the fleet. His experience and success rate speaks for itself. He owns both the Coral Sea and Ranger 85 and has been fishing for 33 years. The last 20 as a boat owner.

If you are on the fence about which boat to ride one trick I use is to look at the history of all the boats and just look and see how often the boat gets out. Repeat customer's means the Crew and the Boat are winners. In this case the Ranger 85 is a winner.