Tag Archives: Islander Charters

Trip News

08.06.22 The SCI Trip Experience: Part 3 (Service Is King)

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I am sure most of you have heard the phrase… \’service is king\’. When service in ANYTHING is done right, it shows. It doesn\’t matter if you are flipping burgers, slinging peanuts at a ball game or providing top notch kayak mothership service to our guests. If service is done right… we notice!

The Islander crew is an extraordinary bunch because of their attitude and attention to detail. We think managing 2-3 kayakers is a lot of work… imagine 22 kayak anglers for 2-3 days at a time with a full kitchen.

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Kayak Loading/Unloading

This crew moves 22 kayaks at least six (6) times per trip. This is no easy task. They never complain, they just get it done.

Skiff Service

How many times have you kayaked and had skiff support? It feels good having a skiff out there to bring you food & beverages and grab your catch.

Safety

Safety is always paramount, keeping a eye on the herd (22 yaks) is a tough job, however they make it seem easy.

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Food Service

For those that have been on an Islander charter of any kind knows that they make great food. No one goes hungry, everything is fresh. Nom nom nom.

Fishing Support

After all… the Islander is a fishing vessel. They will tell you how to fish the area and what to look for. They will even help you rig up.

Fish Processing

You don\’t have to schedule a date with the fish processor or take it all home to do it yourself… the crew will process your fish per your instructions for a small fee.

They do all of this AND still keep it light and fun. The industry is notorious for high turnover, yet they keep the core team together year after year. That alone shows you that they love what they do. When the crew is happy, the customers are happy.

Oh yeah… they bring warm muffins out to you in the morning. Even if you aren\’t the \”MUFFIN MAN\”, it surely does not suck to enjoy a fresh baked muffin on your kayak 60 + miles offshore.

Stay tuned for our announcement about the 2023 San Clemente Island (SCI) trip schedule.

Trip News

07.28.22 The SCI Trip Experience: Part 2 (Fishing)

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I started a conversation about the San Clemente Island (SCI) trip experience last week that spoke about how much fun this trip is before anyone steps foot in their kayak. We have come to enjoy the entire trip process knowing that most are initially focused solely on the fishing. It is fun to see people get fired up for this trip especially the ones the keep coming back (which is about 70% of the bookings every year).

As much fun as the pre-fishing shenanigans can be… the fishing is the reason we are all here right? Without the fishing… there would be no reason to get all excited in the first place. So… let\’s dive in.

You can\’t talk about how amazing this trip is without talking about the food and service on the Islander. Their food is top notch, restaurant quality, smack your momma good! And where else can you get food delivered to your kayak 60+ miles offshore?

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Breakfast

Most wake up at the crack of dawn… maybe even shortly before that and start rustling to the smell of something delicious being whipped up in the galley. Chef Mike starts cooking up breakfast around 3:00 AM to have food ready by 5:30 AM, so that you can have a tummy full of food before you sit on a kayak all day. Breakfast will never be oatmeal and day old fruit… it is always something ridiculously delicious. Like eggs benedict with fresh blueberry pancakes (not made from a box) good. After food, coffee and a solid evacuation (pun intended)… you are ready for a day on the water.

Snacks/Lunch

The Islander doesn\’t believe in sack lunches or crappy snacks. Instead they insist on delicious fresh baked cookies, muffins, granola parfaits for kayak fishing snacks… I mean COME ON!

You can guarantee that kayak anglers will be hungry come lunch time. The Islander crew makes it incredibly easy to stay focused on your fishing and just wait for your lunch to come to you. We have had stuffed bell peppers, baked pasta with garlic bread, gyros and bacon, blue cheese hamburgers just to name a few.

Dinner

After 10-12 hours of fishing, anglers are pooped and just go to bed. Just kidding… not our groups.

Beers start popping at a faster pace, bourbon and wine start flowing as Chef Mike serves up what can only be an incredible meal. Jesse\’s favorite pan fried duck, pot roast, steak & asparagus, and sides that are hard to pronounce like befuddled blueberries are just a few highlights of his better than restaurant meals. Food is always one of the top comments we get from these trips.

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First Light

Have you ever woken up at the island? If the answer is no, you are missing out. Early mornings on the water at the island filled with thoughts of \”what will happen today\” are the best. You get settled in, you dial in your gear and get ready to go to battle. Some dart to the halibut sandy flats, others head to deep water to target rockfish and lingcod, while the bass hounds head tight to the island and kelp lines to target trophy calico bass. The pelagic hunters start trolling the waterways filled with baitfish, bonito and sea lions trying to find that yellowtail that will eat their bait, while others strike with a surface lure/iron when they breeze through. Either way… you are fishing and there is no better feeling. This isn\’t a fishery where you can\’t catch fish… the question is will it be a 5, 10, 20, 50, 100+ fish day depending on what you are targeting… the odds are stacked in your favor.

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Skiff Service

This trip, with 22 anglers, 60 + miles offshore wouldn\’t be possible without the Islander\’s skiff service. The key word in half of the Islander\’s success stories end with the word \”service.\” The is where the Islander excels. The skiff service starts about 2 hours after first launch. The crew prioritizes getting everyone that is ready into the water before bringing the skiff down from the top deck.

The skiff provides safety support, fish pick-ups, water/beer deliveries, snack deliveries, lunch deliveries and even the \”I forgot my paddle, would you mind grabbing that for me\”. The skiff can\’t be everywhere at once… however that doesn\’t stop them from doing an excellent job of supporting 22 anglers spread out 2-3 miles in two different directions.

A favorite quote from a new customer on our most recent 3.5 day SCI trips… \”You don\’t get to complain about your lunch when it is freshly cooked and delivered by skiff.\” That guy gets an invite from us every year now!

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More to come in the next and final installation of the SCI Trip Experience…

Trip News

07.21.22 The SCI Trip Experience: Part 1 (Before Fishing)

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Kayaks sit on the Fisherman\’s Landing dock waiting to be loaded on the Islander.

We have been lugging our kayaks out to San Clemente Island for seven (7) years now with our friends at Islander Charters. During this time we have played witness to some incredible memories being made. The feedback we get sometimes gives us the \’feels\’ knowing that the impact was meaningful to someone and that we played a part in that.

For some reason… this season felt different. I couldn\’t quite explain why, I just had this weird feeling that this year would be different. Whelp… for some weird reason that foresight was highly accurate. This season was different because of the outpouring of support for Fish Village, Islander Charters and these trips.

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Despite what people think, we don\’t get to go on every trip. What we do get to do is drive down from the Los Angeles/Orange County border to San Diego to hang out with all of our guests before every trip. It is honestly a highlight for Joe, Sylvia and I. We make a day of it, we pack some Pliny and some water for Sylvia (she keeps us safe) and we hang with our friends. Why do we do this??? Certainly not because we love driving through three counties during the work week… that is for sure. We do it because we love the engagement, we love hearing how excited you are and we love helping people feel comfortable before their journey. This is part of the SCI experience…

We know a lot of you travel distances to make this trip. The drive, the stops along the way, the tailgating, the shit talking and last second meals before rolling your gear down to the boat are all part of the experience. All I know is that we hear a lot of laughs at the docks every time we are down there. This is part of the SCI experience…

Loading the boat, stacking gear on the deck, hauling luggage down to your stateroom, all while most have sampled a few of California\’s beer offerings is another part of this trip that is memorable and creates part of the experience. Everyone is fired up… people are messing around with their gear, drinking, laughing, posting on social media, taking pics as everyone loads their kayaks and gear. There is always that one guy that has to whip out his rod in the harbor and snag a fish real quick before they head out. This is part of the SCI experience.

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Once the boat is loaded, Capt. Pete jumps on the horn and makes the announcement to push-off. The sun is starting to set, the magic hour for photography takes over and everyone steps into prep and chill mode. People start getting their gear ready for the morning… others start puffing on cigars and hitting the bourbon, while some just take in the scenic ride out of one of the sexiest harbors in all of America. The crew makes a quick stop and loads piles of live bait onboard exciting the anglers even more. During this time Capt. Pete runs everyone into the galley and walks them through the two (2) day itinerary and boat safety plan. The anticipation grows and people start getting sassy… This is part of the SCI experience.

What we saw and heard this year was that each part of the process IS part of your trip experience. The best part about this is… no one has gone fishing yet. People are having a good time, laughing, making the most of their trip experience before a single cast is made. All of you make up our SCI trip experience. The regulars, the newbies, the friends of a friend… we love and appreciate you all.

Stay tuned for more about the SCI Trip Experience tomorrow… we\’ll focus on the fishing side of things.

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Trip News

04.07.22 It is time for tuuuuuuuuuna!

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As this one guy that fishes for bass a lot says… Folks at home, folks at home! WE GOT TUNA FEVER!

I don\’t know if you have been paying attention to what is happening off the coast of San Diego right now… would you be surprised if I said that the fleet is already on the tuna bite, they are already seeing quality schools of tuna with the big boys mixed in for some night time deep drops.

For those that joined our tuna trips last year… YOU ALREADY KNOW. Some of you didn\’t understand tuna fishing before you got on the boat, but you sure did by the time you got off the boat.

We are chartering another 2.5 day tuna trip with our partner Islander Charters. If you want to target bluefin, yellowfin and whatever else we find out there… join us. We are already 50% sold out before even announcing… people want to fish for tuna BAD. I can\’t blame them… we got the fever too!

Trip Details

  • 2.5 day trip format (24/7) fishing
  • $955 w/$400 deposit
  • Final payment due at the end of May
  • 22-27 anglers max.
  • Departs the evening of 6/12 and returns the morning of 6/15

2.5 Bluefin tuna trip page

If you know that you want in and are ready to book, please complete a Trip Inquiry form and we will get you booked up in the order we receive the bookings.

Here are some photos from last year…. just a sampling of the incredible times we all shared together. For the full album, check out our Google Photos album.

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Trip News

01.09.22 Field Trips San Clemente Island Part 1 is LIVE

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Before Rob was a partner, he was the dude that was inspiring us on YouTube just like he does today for so many people. Every time there is a Field Trips episode staring a Fish Village trip it gets me all excited… like a kid waiting for Disneyland to open.

Last year Rob joined the inaugural Fresh n Salty + Fish Village 2.5 kayak mothership charter to knock another new species off his list, capture some amazing content and help share how much fun these trips are with the kayak fishing community.

This trip was overbooked due to incredibly high demand which means I was not able to join. Rob looked at me and said… \”You are not going?\” and then said \”Well that is good because I brought nothing and need to borrow everything…\”

Jokes aside… what impresses me is that he was grinding with his edits, flying all over the place, visiting his Mom, gets no sleep and sticks a 32 inch \’calibut\’ (thanks Nic, gonna use that more often) on the first day. This is why he has a show.

Oh… and thanks for sticking my kayak with my gaff. And one last thing… all of the west coast and Mexico forgive you about irons. Jesse and I are having a good chuckle about this one. Thanks to Field Trips… irons may finally catch on in southern California and Mexico.

Enjoy part 1 now with part 2 coming on Thursday.