27 minute read
TWILIGHT ZONE YELLOWTAIL
This spectacular view of the Sea of Japan and the mountains on the west coast of Japan reminded author Lance Sawa of fishing trips off the Ventura coast with his dad. Catching a cooler full of yellowtail only enhanced the memory. (LANCE SAWA)
TALES AND ’TAILS FROM THE TWILIGHT ZONE
YEARS AFTER A MEMORABLE EVENING FISHING TRIP OFF VENTURA WITH HIS DAD, AN ANGLER ENJOYS HOT AFTER-DARK BITE ON THE SEA OF JAPAN
By Lance Sawa
It’s a little bit before 5 p.m. and I am on a boat about to leave the dock for some twilight fishing on the California coast.
My dad and I have been invited aboard, and the nighttime bite has been going strong. The last week has seen limits of sand bass every night, with a few calico bass and barracuda being caught as well. We also fill a couple of empty spots and increase the fish count for the boat.
On the way out we rig the rods. We both have one rod with a slider and a hook for live bait. I opt to fish a leadhead jig with a plastic tail for some of the large sand bass. Dad decides to throw a top lure for a chance at a barracuda or two. Within 30 minutes the boat arrives at the spot, an oil rig off the Ventura coast.
Everyone is ready in a flash to fish.
Sawa with his first yellowtail, caught years earlier in Southern California waters. (LANCE SAWA)
Most anglers use live bait and cast straight toward the oil rig. The people with live bait are all on the same side – the boat is drifting – with their lines going away from the boat.
I start by throwing the leadhead with my dad next to me on the opposite side; he’s casting his best lure in the tackle box. We’re casting and retrieving quickly as the boat slowly drifts toward our lines.
Before the sun goes down the bite is steady, with sand bass being caught regularly. Both my dad and I catch a few bass, but they are all too short and get promptly thrown back to grow bigger. Neither of us has landed our target yet, but the salty ocean breeze cools us off from the summer heat. We watch as the sun slowly sets and the light fades – replaced by the boat’s large floodlights.
Within 10 minutes of sunset, the bite picks up and it seems everyone has a fish on. Quickly, I score the large sand bass that I have been waiting for all summer. At close to 5 pounds the fish makes me happy. It is in the top three largest sand bass I have ever caught.
Next, it’s my dad’s turn to get that barracuda he’s been waiting for to come around. Now with both of our goals met for the time being, we take a quick break.
He’s drinking black coffee and me a soda as we look at the oil rig while drifting past it. The flashing lights are now on to warn boaters to not hit the large metal structure. Every minute or so the fog horn sounds loudly with the same message in case a captain doesn’t see the bright lights.
In the end we switch to live bait and catch our limits, as does everyone else on the boat. It’s a great memory I have from my California upbringing. Now, years later, I’m about to go the twilight fishing route again in Japan.
ONCE AGAIN IT’S A little before 5 in the afternoon and I am on another boat about to leave the dock to go fishing. Back in Ventura the target fish was sand bass, but here in Joetsu, Japan – located on the west coast of Niigata Prefecture along the Sea of Japan – it’s yellowtail.
I have been looking forward to fishing for them. It’s been almost 20 years since the last time I caught one. Still, I don’t have all my fishing equipment in Japan and was unsure how Japanese anglers fish for them. Luckily, the boat rents rods and reels, as well as sells the correct tackle I need.
As the guides hand me gear, I
Fast forward a couple decades and Sawa found himself ready to depart from the Japanese port city of Joetsu in Niigata Prefecture aboard a boat outfitted with plenty of floodlights for fishing at
night. (LANCE SAWA)
The 3-pound sinker, five circle hooks and thick strips of squid were meant to target yellowtail, though Sawa wondered if the setup was more conducive to catching rockfish. (LANCE SAWA)
half think I’ve made a mistake. I’ve brought my hard lures and a casting rod because I assumed I needed them, but the rod and reel the crew provide is like something I would use to fish in 500-plus feet of water. The setup consists of five huge circle hooks on line thicker than I use to troll for tuna, with a 15-foot section from swivel to sinker – which alone weighs a good 3 pounds. And the bait is thickly cut squid, plus I receive a personal chum bucket of frozen shrimp.
The shrimp and frozen squid get placed into the water to defrost as we make our way out of the harbor. We all keep an eye on the weather – it has been raining nonstop for a month – and again the forecast says rain will come in that night. The moisture in the air makes rainbows all around us – the clouds are bathed in the reddish glow of the setting sun. On one side rain falls in the distance.
On the way out four people ask me where my cooler is. I point at the one I’ve carried aboard, and each of my boatmates says that it isn’t large enough. I laugh it off as just something people say.
Rigging up still worries me, though. I ask myself, “Am I going to be catching rockfish all night and not yellowtail?” But I have faith in the crew as I bait the hooks and fill the chum basket. A few other anglers have magnetic strips that hold all their hooks so they won’t fly away. I am a bit jealous at how simple and effective it looks. I’m about to find out who is right.
ON THE FISHING GROUNDS, two boats are
already anchored up and there are another four or so on their way behind us. I put my now mostly defrosted shrimp and squid into a small bucket and hang out next to my rod. After the anchor drops I feel it catch the bottom. The boat gently rides the waves.
Gingerly, I lower my rig into the water, while being mindful of the large hooks. The bottom is only around 60 meters down – about 200 feet – not the 500-foot depths you’d assume with these stout setups.
Two days before the ocean waves had been 5 to 10 feet, with winds gusting to 40 mph, but the weather is great tonight. All the boats have turned on their deck lights under a bright moon.
An hour goes by and nothing happens. Check the bait; refill the chum basket; carefully lower it back to the bottom. In the distance is Sado Island, which historically had gold and silver mines. It’s another place I would like to go and fish from someday. I’ve read that you can catch mahi-mahi – another fish I’ve yet to catch – from the shore there.
As the boat spied Sado Island in the distance, Sawa began to think about a future trip there. He’s read mahi-mahi can be targeted from its shores. (LANCE SAWA)
But as I think about the future, there is action now. The person adjacent to me hooks into a fish.
As is often the case on these crowded boats, his line is tangled with the angler next to him, and I help him get the fish on board. It’s a nice fat yellowtail with one more on another hook.
With both fish safely out of the water, I spy another yellowtail come over the rail. At least six more fish can be heard flopping on the deck. Someone has thrown a switch and the fishing is suddenly wide open. I hurry back to my rod and something below is already hooked and waiting for me to join the fun.
I attempt to pick up the rod but it’s all too heavy for me, so I put it back into the holder and just let the electric reel bring it up. The kicks from the fish stop the reel and pull the drag, but slowly it comes up. A beep from the reel tells me the rig is at the surface, but the fish is still 5 feet down the line. Hand over hand – and careful with all the hooks attached – I pull the yellowtail over the rail and onto the deck. There are kicks still going on farther down the rig, though, and with more hand pulling I catch a second yellowtail.
A huge mess of line, hooks, bait, chum and that large sinker are waiting for me after I celebrate a bit for landing not one but two yellowtail. I’ve forgotten my knife at home, so I pull the gills by hand to drain the blood. Then I untangle the mess at my feet.
By the time I send my line down again and tighten up the slack, I feel another fish on and set the hook with the reel buzzing away. Halfway up another fish, and then another, and still another, join the party. To my surprise I have not two but four fish on the five hooks of my setup. As all four come aboard, there’s an even bigger mess this time. I again kick myself for not remembering to grab that knife.
HONESTLY, I LOSE COUNT as to how many
yellowtail I catch as two hours flash by. Then, as I pull up yet another, suddenly it’s gone. My first thought is that the fish popped off. But when the line reaches the surface I see one hook missing. The angler next to me sees my puzzled face and simply says, “Shark.”
There are sharks big enough to eat a yellowtail whole?
Then I see something in the water around where a light shines; a large fish is darting in and out, picking up
After darkness fell, the boat’s anglers got into a yellowtail feeding frenzy. The author (lower right) had several on at once on his multihook rig. (LANCE SAWA)
scraps of bait. One look and I know it’s a mahi-mahi. Quickly, I rig up a casting rod with a lure and lob it out into the darkness. The fish circles the boat as I try to time my cast and retrieve.
One more time it comes around and the lure is perfectly in front of its head. One quick twitch is all I need to coax a bite and I set the hook into one of my dream fish.
The mahi-mahi runs straight at the boat and jumps for us all to admire. The fish dives down and flees under the boat while taking line.
As the thought of finally catching this elusive fish crosses my mind, I hear an ominous crack. First one guide pops off, then another. Finally, the rod just breaks and the sharp edge cuts the line clean. I am heartbroken and need five minutes to process what is happening before I eagerly return to the hot yellowtail bite.
We hook more fish, but that shark bite has left me with just one hook. So I decide to clean up, though one of the last fish I catch is a rockfish. I guess the sharks didn’t want it.
About then our captain announces the trip is coming to an end.
AS THOSE AROUND ME warned, my cooler isn’t big enough at all. I pack as much as I can into it, and at least when we get back to shore I have the extra cooler waiting in the car.
On the way in we all clean up our own areas; the boat is covered in fish blood, but before we dock it’s clean again, which still amazes me every time I see it. The crew needs to just spray the boat off with freshwater for its next trip. I grab some more ice and head home. I’m too tired to even get a
A lot of yellowtail – and a battle with a mahi-mahi – made for a great night on the water. Cooking up and sharing the fillets with family and friends only added to the experience. (LANCE SAWA)
fish count.
After the 90-minute drive back to my Nagano Prefecture home, I shower to get all the blood off me. The next morning comes too soon as my son Nico checks out the cooler full of fish and eagerly asks me about it.
After laying them all down the final number is 15 yellowtail and that one rockfish. Father and son pose for photos before I begin the long process of cleaning. The moment reminds me of when I caught my first yellowtail at Catalina Island an ocean away.
None of these fish go to waste. All my neighbors get some. Some of our friends get a fish each. My father-inlaw and brothers-in-law each take three home. We eat ours a variety of ways: raw, deep fried, pan fried with butter – even Indian-style fish curry.
And I vow to get revenge for that mahi-mahi the next time. CS
EUGENE, OR Maxxum Marine (541) 686-3572 1700 State Hwy 99 N lloyd@maxxummarine.com www.maxxummarine.com
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FROM FIELD...
SIZE DOESN’T MATTER
Young blacktail bucks are more active than their older, wiser brothers and fathers, which become highly nocturnal this time of year. That makes bucks like this forked horn a solid option when targeting the challenging deer species in fall. (SCOTT HAUGEN)
WHEN HUNTING CHALLENGING BLACKTAILS, DON’T GET CAUGHT UP TRYING TO HARVEST THE BIGGEST, WARIEST BUCKS WHEN THERE ARE TENDER YOUNG DEER TO BE HAD
By Scott Haugen
Iconsider taking a mature Columbian blacktail deer to consistently be the most challenging big game hunt in North America.
However, the advantages hunters have when seeking young bucks are many. That’s reason enough to focus on putting meat in the freezer this season rather than spending time in search of a bruiser buck you may never see.
YOUTH MOVEMENT
Young blacktail bucks are not as educated as mature bucks. Younger bucks hang out more in open habitats than older ones do and they’re more frequently seen with does in late summer and early fall. Once the pre-rut peaks around mid-October, younger bucks are commonly seen in openings even more often than normal in order to avoid confrontations with mature bucks cruising timber and thickets.
During the pre-rut, big bucks cover ground – usually at night – inspecting trails for does in the area. They also size up other bucks in order to know what their competition might be when the rut commences a couple weeks later. Much of this movement
... TO FIRE
Deer meat can be as tender as some of your butcher shop’s best cuts of beef. And even simple dishes like Tiffany Haugen’s venison swirl meatloaf can melt in your
mouth. (TIFFANY HAUGEN)
GIVE VENISON SWIRL MEATLOAF A WHIRL
By Tiffany Haugen
When properly taken care of from field to table, deer meat can surpass prime cuts of beef. Preferred cooking methods for most cuts of venison are slow cooking, stir-frying quickly at high temperatures or grinding it up for use in casseroles or as fillings. Venison also makes great jerky and sausage.
Here’s a family favorite that not only works wonderfully with deer, but any big game. We’ve enjoyed this venison swirl meatloaf with elk, bear and even moose from Alaska.
1 tablespoon olive oil ½ cup diced onion ½ cup diced bell pepper ½ cup shredded carrot ½ cup diced celery 3 cloves minced garlic 2 cups packed cooked spinach 2 pounds ground venison One egg 2 teaspoons salt ¾ teaspoon Italian seasoning ½ teaspoon black pepper ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley 1/3 cup marinara sauce ¼ cup Parmesan cheese In a skillet, sauté onion, pepper, carrot and celery in oil on medium-high heat until soft. In a large bowl mix meat, egg and seasonings. Spread meat mixture onto waxed paper (about ¾ inch thick). Spread spinach, parsley and sautéed vegetables evenly over meat. Carefully roll meat around vegetables. Place on a baking sheet.
Cover with marinara sauce and bake in a preheated, 350-degree oven for 35 to 45 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 165 degrees. Garnish with Parmesan cheese if desired.
Editor’s note: For signed copies of Tiffany’s popular book, Cooking Big Game and other best-selling titles, visit tiffanyhaugen.com.
The author’s father Jerry Haugen has taken a number of record-class blacktails in his more than 60 years of hunting them. These days, he’s content tagging younger and great-eating bucks, like this
one-by-three. (SCOTT HAUGEN)
takes place along horizontal ridgelines where trails are carved vertically into hillsides. These are places hunters will want to look for young blacktails in mid-October, as they often bed in openings and atop benches.
Search for young bucks to bed tight to and even smack in the middle of briar patches, Scotch broom thickets, and among tall fireweed and grasses. When a young buck beds down they are very compact, so look for parts of a deer rather than a whole animal.
DEER ON THE MOVE
Young blacktails are also more active during the first rains than older bucks, venturing into openings where they’ll stay until well after daylight. And young bucks will start moving earlier in the evening than bigger bucks will, especially if air temperatures drop. When the first big storm of fall rolls in, head for the woods and get ahead of the pressure front. Blacktails start moving when that barometer falls.
The windier it is the better, as this often pushes young bucks out of cover. While big bucks commonly hunker down once limbs and trees start falling in high winds, young bucks sometimes panic and head to openings where they can see what’s going on. Young bucks don’t always have the confidence to trust their bedding areas in these conditions. Fearing predators, they often flee to the nearest opening, where their eyes can be their defense.
START EARLY
The morning following a big storm, be in the woods at first light. Young bucks often feed well into the morning after a storm, foraging on mosses and lichens that fell in the night. Likewise, they’ll start feeding earlier in the evening on the heels of a storm, especially if dark skies prevail.
But the biggest challenge for most blacktail hunters is finding deer. True, there aren’t as many as there were 50 years ago, but there’s still a surprising number of blacktails in the woods. Spend time scouting in the summer and you’ll know what I’m talking about.
GLASSING TIPS
When glassing for young bucks, again, look for parts of the deer. Search for a horizontal back or belly line, a moist black nose reflecting in the sun, a white throat patch, or antlers. Spend hours, not minutes, glassing prime habitat. Refrain from driving roads, glassing from the window, then driving away.
Though you’re searching for a young blacktail, they’re not stupid and know that staying still is their best camouflage. Get out of the truck, walk to an elevated vantage point, sit down and glass. Grid the land to
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search for any tiny part of a deer. Often, your presence makes a young buck nervous enough to get up.
DON’T DISMISS THEM
A few seasons ago I was looking for a big blacktail. I ran into a man and his 12-year-old son who were hunting for simply a legal buck. When I told them I’d seen nine small ones, their jaws dropped. They’d not seen a single deer. Then again, they were driving roads and barely glassing.
Following a rain, look for fresh tracks and follow them into the reprod or timber – keeping the wind in your face. Oftentimes young bucks don’t go far and will bed very close to roads and openings. Walk gated roads that allow it, move slowly and quietly and always
Tiffany Haugen, the other half of our From Field to Fire team, is a noted wild game cook and author and will take a young buck any time she can. And while it’s all about the food for Tiffany, she got a bonus with this uniquely racked
blacktail. (SCOTT HAUGEN)
search, as bucks are more active in areas less frequented by humans.
While glassing and slowly covering ground is effective during the first few weeks of October, things heat up come the final week. Rattling can be effective at bringing in young bucks late in the season. Be sure to wear hunter orange when rattling on public land so fellow hunters can see you. Deer are color blind.
KNOW YOUR CALLING
When rattling for young bucks, use a timid sequence. Lightly tickle the ends of the rattling antlers or rattle bag. Avoid hitting the bases or making overly aggressive sounds that will scare a small buck. The goal is to pique a buck’s curiosity, making it think that two small bucks are sparring.
While loud, heavy rattling, raking trees, scraping and kicking the ground can attract mature bucks, it’ll send a young buck running the other way. Lightly rattle for a minute or so, then watch and listen. After a few minutes, try again and then wait.
If nothing comes in after 10 minutes, move or rattle slightly louder. I like moving more when rattling for small bucks versus big bucks, as the timid sounds don’t carry far. Try to find a horizontal ridge that runs for several hundred yards so you can rattle your way along its entirety.
DON’T UNDERESTIMATE THE CHALLENGE
Blacktails are among the most challenging big game animals to hunt, so don’t think it’s going to be easy just because you’re targeting a young buck. Pay attention, focus, get afield every possible moment and learn as you go. The best education for a blacktail hunter is to spend time in the woods, and that’s also what’ll put meat in the freezer. CS
Editor’s note: For signed copies of Scott Haugen’s best-selling book, Trophy Blacktails: The Science Of The Hunt, visit scotthaugen.com. Follow Scott on Instagram and Facebook.
