For reference, I worked on a boat out of the San Diego area as a teen in the 1990s. I’m now 48 years old, live in North Carolina, and have fished my entire life but have never caught a billfish. Having caught dozens of tuna, dorado, and a few wahoo over the years, a billfish has always eluded me. I booked a half day for the family which includes my wife, 15- and 10-year-old girls. We let the captain decide where to fish and what to target, they could have taken us just outside the bay and fished the bottom and save on gas; however, we headed offshore to troll. What a great decision, within 5 minutes of setting the spread, a monster sailfish hit the left teaser and the crew jumped into action. The fish bounced from bait to bait in the spread until the first mate fed a naked ballyhoo back to the fish and we were hooked up. After a good fight, I landed the first sailfish of my life, a 126-inch fish – a true trophy sail! We trolled for an hour or so and got a double hook up of big sails and my 15-year-old landed her first sailfish and I had my second of the day. Unfortunately, my 10-year-old wanted nothing to do with the second fish in the double – she thought she’d get pulled overboard. The captain kept working the waters and found us a pod of dolphins working a bait ball with yellowfin tuna crashing the bait ball as well, we hooked four and landed two. You won’t go wrong with this crew – absolute professionals who know the waters and how to handle novice fisherman. I can’t wait to go back, and this boat will surely be the one I book.

For reference, I worked on a boat out of the San Diego area as a teen in the 1990s. I’m now 48 years old, live in North Carolina,...