Friday was finally here... The day I'd been waiting for for 2 weeks now (since i missed the trip last week)... I was stuck at a work function 'til late afternoon and it was raining to high hell in the City of Industry, where I was sent out on-conference for my day-job. As soon as we were released from the conference and I packed up all the shit I'd brought, I was on the I-5 South and headed straight for H&M Landing in San Diego where I was to jump aboard the Constitution. Captain Joe Phillips was hooking us up with another amazing deal at only $195 USD for the 1.5 day adventure to Punta Colonet - food and snacks included. I'd heard about the Constitution motto, Good Food, and Plenty of It, but didn't take it to seriously at first... that was until i showed up about 3 and half hours later - through friday traffic and was met with tasty party/snack platters and plenty of cold drink. As I checked in and was greeted by Captain Joe, I noticed that most of the 19 anglers set to board were already there, and had their rods in place, and dicks-in-hand - ready to get moving down south, where we were to fish giant reds and ugly blue-meat lings that would feel good in our round bellies. A couple of other guys showed up and we were off... Let me start out by saying that there were no cocksuckers onboard. Everyone seemed like mild-mannered good people, including the staff. Saw some BloodyDecks.com members as well - there was Jason, Martin, Bubba, and of course El Buso himself. After a short safety and "no heroin smuggling across the border" huddle, we were off to Colonet... and in good time.

I woke up Saturday morning at about 615am and the sea, to my amazement was looking gorgeous... I munched on a delicious breakfast burrito and drank two bottles of water. We were about an hour away from first dump-in, and i was still in awe at how gorgeous the conditions were... especially considering that all of my chump-friends that didn't wanna come out this weekend because of "foul weather," were getting pounded with buckets of rain back in Cali...

I'm not kidding when i say it was lake-flat out there. The lightweight 3oz Shimano Lucanus jig was on fire in the morning - pinks and whites, as well as bait-blues were knockin' 'em dead... I stayed fishing the Lucanus for a while in blue, hoping to hit some deep-ridge-riding elusive Yellowtails, but instead got some pretty nice fat reds... hey, life is still good, right baby? I looked around, and realized that the live sardines were mashing on the Lings left and right, and my main man Bobby "Weeds" had his bag full of 'em in a matter of minutes... Dude must've had the ugly gods on his side because I looked in his bag an hour or so later, and you couldn't close the top of the sack with a zip tie if you tried... everyone else seemed to be in the same boat (pun intended).

That's Brett (above); he had two fat Lings (same size) on that one line... this happened a couple more times... Captain Joe Phillips really put us on those ugly tasteys. On more than a few drops, i would hit bottom and immediate feel a strike, and then watch as my rod bent a bit. I would set the hook, wait a couple moments, and then watch as the rod literally bent in half! Upon seeing color, I realized I had two fat, gorgeous reds on one line (on sardine). I would drop her down again and wait for the 8 ounce sinker to hit bottom, and right away - thump... then... THUMP!!!! (big bend) - and up would come two deliciofresh salmon groupers on one line. This story kept playing over and over - filling our bags up really quickly with great freezer-meat, and giving us good time to talk some shit and share some nautical comaradery while onboard the Constitution. There were good times all around - people were laughing, making fun of the foul-hooked little guys, and just all around happy... there was no bitching to be heard, and no dirty looks, or "get out of my spots" to be found (which is very important to me on a trip where you're in close quarters for more than 5-8 hours). Just about 45 minutes into it, we had fat grab bags full of Lings, Reds, Whites, and Starries. We stayed in the same spot for a bit longer, then headed towards a big bait boil we saw under some diving birds. It looked like piranha-fever or like some wild shit was breaking out - temperamentally moving away from us, then methodically back towards our boat. The gulls were going ape shit too, so we were full-steam ahead towards the action... (excuse the no-pics here, i was too excited to be snapping away, and rigging up with some surface irons for the possible Bonito bite)... As we got in position for the boil to come to us, we realized that to our disappointment, they were all just big-ass Mackerel, but a few of us threw in anyhow, wanting to get some nice strip bait. At about 3rd cast, Brett (seen above with the Ling) got nailed by a little 3lb or 4lb Bonito. We brought her on board and I put my foot on her while they unhooked her. Then came the yelp and squawks (WTF, I didn't know they were so vocal?!) right before she was turned into bait for the big Reds. Brett later had a nice Bonito hookup on the troll (bigger this time), using a light blue and white Rapala with black markings... good shit.

We got to limits at just about the right time. As evening hit, we began fishing the choppier waters, and while it was still righteous, it was turning our arms into the Incredible Hulk on crack, and we had had the greatest time aboard the ship, it was now time for good rest and the delicious steak with baked potato and sweet corn meal that Joe (the cook) had cooked to perfection in the galley... Our second sacks were full of quality Reds and fat Mexican Reds, Lings, Groupers, Giant Whitefish, and Starry Eyes, and we were ready to sit our tired asses down for a some land lover meat.

Some beauties on deck before they harvested 'em all from below deck

Enough taco meat to start your own Rubio's

A great mix of starry eye, lings, and big reds

Can you spot the jackpot fish yet?

Nasty ol' gill rakers

Brett Kopitz of Sylmar, CA with a nice fat red

Jaws: How it was written aboard the Constitution on that fateful Saturday

Jackpot: "The Crocodile Hunter" - second Jackpot in a row I've lost to a lady!

In closing (and I know that this was long review/report, but also hope you've enjoyed reading), I have gotta say that the trip was a success in all facets. Being as I was one of the last on, and got side-tracked by the good food Joe the Cook had set aside in the galley for us upon entrance, I ended up sleeping in the submarine bunk, perpendicular to the point of the bow. Even then, I had a fucking awesome time: great crew, great deckhands (quick with the gaff and tangles), and an excellent Captain who knew where the hell the fish were... All of that on top of good people like Jason, Mac, Norm, Bubba, Paul, Brett, Bobby, and Martin (amongst others) made this a great warm-weather trip... and what's more is we're in the middle of gatdamn January!!! The consensus all around by the seasoned vets and good-timers was "yes, I would definitely fish the Constitution again - this boat has been great." Keep the good times a'comin...