First Trip of 2012

Hello and happy New Year from the Indy. Yesterday we departed on our annual Rick Ozaki, Westcoast marketing, Avet reels 16 day extravaganza. With a great load of bait, and some well-seasoned anglers we are headed down to the grounds with high hopes for the trip. As always Rick has quite the raffle / giveaway planned for today, as rods, reels, line, jigs, clothing will be received by all. The weather is good, with a large swell, and not much wind to go with it. We will start the rigging project later today, and continue for the next few days. Thanks for checking in, and please wish us luck, Jeff and the Indy crew

Travel Day

Travel and prep not much to report as we have been driving, and driving, and rigging. Weather-wise things are good, as 10 kts. of wind is all we have seen in our travels. We are going to start this adventure tomorrow, as we are getting nearer to our spot. If all goes well, and we have signal for the sat phone we will report again. Please wish us luck, Jeff and the Indy crew

No Sat Signal

Sorry for no reports, we have no signal for the sat phone, but boat is in constant radio contact with other boats in the area, will send report as soon as signal is within reach.

Indy reports they have had a chance at Cows everyday, January 18, 2012

"Hey, here we are, back on line," wrote Independence skipper Jeff DeBuys January 18. "Wow, where do we begin? We just got sat signal and thought we should get up to date. We finished up on the fishing side Tuesday night in a blaze of glory. Rick Ozaki pulled a 240-pounder just before we left the zone, and they were right on the corner biting everything. We have been blessed again with stellar fishing, and good weather. The overall grade for the trip is just awesome, with many, many, 125 to 195-pound fish in the holds.

"As far as big ones go, I think we have nine cows and some more that might sneak in there. I will say one thing that what ever was biting; the guys took care of business, and put the wood to 'em. We have just a little bit of room left for some yellowtail if we have time on the way home. With two wells of RSW fish, and two of frozen there is plenty for everyone meeting the boat on Sunday. We had a couple of bingos on the Wahoo, and they all made it into the fresh well. I will leave it this way; we had chances at cows each day, along with steady fishing for quality all day long. We will give you all a report as to when we will arrive in San Diego on Sunday.

We're Back on Line

Hey, here we are, back on line.
Wow, where do we begin? We just got sat signal. And thought we should get up to date. We finished up on the fishing side Tuesday night in a blaze of glory. Rick Ozaki pulled a 240 lb. just before we left the zone, and they were right on the corner biting everything. We have been blessed again with stellar fishing, and good weather. The over all grade for the trip is just awesome, with many, many, 125 to 195 lb. fish in the holds. As far as big ones, I think we have 9 cows and some that might sneak in there. I will say one thing that what ever was biting; the guys took care of business, and put the wood to 'em. We have just a little bit of room left for some yellowtail if we have time on the way home. With 2 wells of r s w fish, and 2 of frozen there is plenty for everyone meeting the boat on Sunday. We had a couple of bingos on the Wahoo, and they all made it in the fresh well. There is way too much to go over day by day, so I will leave it this way, we had chances at cows each day, along with steady fishing for quality all day long. All had a great time. We will give you all a report as to when we will arrive in San Diego on Sunday. Thanks for checking in on Jeff, the Indy crew and us

Weather Update

So much for the good weather. The good weather we had is all gone now, as we have had steady 18 to 20 kts. of wind for the last few days, and it looks to stay this way till we get back to port. Everyone is still in high spirits, movie mode, and is looking forward to Sunday arrival. It looks like a 0600 E T A. so if anything changes we will post it. Sea you all then the Indy crew

Great Return

We arrived today from our 16 day Ozaki, Avet Reel open and weighed up 10 cows along with many other 185 to 197 lb. fish. The over all grade from this trip was excellent, as we saw the whole catch before our eyes. We caught them on everything, jigs, sardines, kite, skipjack, chunks, everything worked for us. Jackpot winners were as follows: 1st place goes to Rick Ozaki 243.2 Yellowfin, 2nd place Tony O'Connell 236.2 all Yellowfin, and 3rd place Louis Marzari 234.1 Yellow fin. Honorable mention goes to Frank Bartel 281.7 Yellowfin. Listing our additional cows, not in order: Jeff Liu 202.4, Allen Smith 200.1, Min Kang 217.6, Arthur Green 205.8, Scott Ocheltree 212.6, Dane Barriault 204. John Graves had a Yellowfin pushing in at 193..Fabulous catch guys. Our trip in January 2013 is now on its way to a sell-out. If you want to get in on this great fishing call in today. Many, many thanks to Rick, and everyone that was on the trip. Looking forward to the next adventure, Jeff and the Indy crew

Independence Returns from West Coast Marketing 16-Day Trip, January 22, 2012

Jeff DeBuys docked Independence at Pt. Loma Sportfishing January 22, after a 16-day West Coast Marketing trip with 21 anglers and chartermaster Rick Ozaki. There were a dozen cows in the stuffed refrigerated saltwater and brine spray holds. "They bit everything," remark Ozaki, "and a lot of them ate chunks. It was good fishing."

"We spent two days in the Buffer Zone," said skipper DeBuys, "and six at the Hurricane Bank. We got limits of tuna and a few wahoo. The water's still holding down there, at 77 degrees."

The trip's biggest tuna wasn't eligible for the jackpot, so Frank Bartel of Buena Park brought his 281-pound yellowfin into the lineup shot on the far right, as honorable mention. He said he got it with a chunk on a 6/0 Hayabusa hook, 130-pound Yo-Zuri line, 130-pound Line One spectra, an Avet 50 reel and a Calstar 770 XXH rod wrapped by Taka Tanaka.

Chartermaster Rick Ozaki of Torrance won first place for his 243.2-pound tuna. It bit on a double sardine rig under the kite, and he landed it in just 20 minutes. He said he used 7/0 Hayabusa hooks, 130-pound Seaguar Premier fluorocarbon, 130-pound Izorline spectra, an Avet 50 reel and a Calstar 765 XXH rod.

Tony O'Connell of Santa Monica won second place for a 236.2-pounder. He got it the hard way, on a Salas PL 68 glow jig on 130-pound Izorline and 130-pound Line One spectra. He fished with an Avet 50 reel and a Super Seeker 2 X 4 rod he wrapped himself.

Louie Marzari of Yorba Linda won third place for a 234-pound that ate his chunk bait on a 7/0 Hayabusa hook. The fish fought 40 minutes. He used 130-pound Seaguar Premier fluorocarbon, 130-pound Power Pro spectra, and Avet 50 reel and a Calstar 755 XXH rod wrapped by himself.

Min Kang of LA got a 217-pounder on the double trouble sardine rig under a kite. He used 130-pound Seaguar Premier fluorocarbon, 130-pound Line One spectra, a Penn 70 VSW reel and a Calstar 6465 XXH rod.

Scott Ocheltree of San Diego caught a 212-pound tuna on a chunk and a 5/0 ringed Owner Super Mutu hook. It was his best ever, and he won the fight in 30 minutes. He said he used 100-pound Seaguar Premier, 130-pound Line One spectra, an Avet 50 reel and a Super Seeeker 2 X 4 rod.

Art Green, Newport CPA, took his son fishing and was rewarded with a 205.8-pound tuna on a double sardine rig under the kite. "He was the wildest fish," remarked Art. "He took me around the boat three times. He finally came up on the port corner." Art fished with 6/0 ringed Owner Super Mutu hooks, 130-pound Izorline and 130-pound Izorline spectra on a Penn 50 reel and a Calstar 755 XXXH rod.

Dave Burriault took a mere 15 minutes to bag his 204-pounder. It bit the double sardine rig under the kite. He fished 8/0 ringed Super Mutu hooks on 130-pound Seaguar Premier, 130-pound Line One spectra, an Avet 50 reel and a Calstar 770 XXH rod.

Jeff Liu of Alameda caught a 202-pound tuna with a kite-flown double sardine rig featuring 6/0 Hayabusa hooks, 130-pound Izorline mono, 130-pound Tuff Line spectra, a Penn 70 VSX reel and a Calstar 6465 XXH rod.

Allen Smith of Santee finished out the cow catch with a 200.1-pound yellowfin tuna. He said he baited a sardine on a Hayabusa 4/0 hook, tied to 100-pound Seaguar Premier, 130-pound Line One spectra, an Avet 30 reel and a Calstar 770 XH rod wrapped by J Lo.

Thanks To My Group

The 16 day West Coast Marketing / Avet Reels trip was a great success. I would like to thank the crew (Jesus, Oscar, Paul, Doug, Matt, Ed, Michele, and Captain Jeff). I would also like to thank Mark and Paul for making this trip happen. We had great sponsors on this trip. Yozuri donated unlimited Hybrid line for everyone. Seaguar gave everyone a coil of #100 Premier flourocardon plus shirts / hats for everyone.
Avet reels donated 4 two speed reels for the raffle. West Coast Mkt donated Raiders lures, Raider T-Shirts, Raider Sweatshirts, Yummys flyers, Inside Sportfishing DVDS, Hayabusa hooks, and 4 Graftech 9 ft jig rods and sweatshirts, and Mauraders trolling lures. FIve-star fish processing donated t-shirts and Izorline donated a 2 kg spool of blue. Bloodydecks donated hooded blue sweatshirts for all passengers and crew.
I would like to especially thank my dear friend Richard Hightower of H & H Marketing for helping me with Seaguar Products.

I would like to mention Frank Bartel as the "MOST IMPROVE FISHERMAN" of the trip. Great catch on the 281 lb yellowfin. Thanks again Dave Rocchi for helping passengers on their reels and connections.