Time on the water is a precious thing, even when the time is a quarter to two in the morning and a dozen sea lions dart in and out of the submerged light eating every squid that dares to fly by the Pacific Edge. I was the only one on deck because it was m turn to keep the white seabass honest. I put a couple dropper loop rigs on each corner then started to rig up a sliding sinker outfit to actively probe the surrounding waters of San Clemente Island's Pyramid Cove.

It was my first time on the new ride, a 44 Pacifica that followed an Innovator 31 as the latest in the Pacific Edge heritage and the second boat in a partnership between Capt. Mark Wisch and Matt Resnik. Trying to clear the cobwebs of a short nap in the anything but calm cove -- a south swell, wraparound west swell and some breeze made sure of that -- wasn't that hard with the pure night sky obscured by only a few other boats. But I wasn't ready for the harsh grind of the clicker from the setup in the port corner and the sheer surprise of such a quick bite.

I dug the solo aspect of standing there with something heavy still peeling off line and to tell the truth flat out wondered what would happen next and also pondered all the tales I'd heard of fish caught in true solo fashion. It was hard to see which way the line was pointed off the tip, what with only the glow of the underwater squid light for illumination. The first run was straight off the corner and at first the line seemed to lift in the tell-tale manner of a bat ray. Then the fish ran down and out in an angle that resulted in the rod tip at a 90 degree angle to the port rail.

"Wake up, wake up, wake up!" No, that wasn't me. It was a call to Dan Burns, a friend of Resnik's who used to work the sportboats, who was also on the Pacific Edge. Burns had a handheld VHF next to the salon sofa he was -- definitely in the past tense -- sleeping on. "Hey, I just wanted to make sure you were awake," I heard his buddy cackle.

Since Dan was awake, I told him I was hooked up. Right then the fish ran towards the boat, and I was able to catch up and keep it coming. A glow ball showed up at deep color and Dan grabbed a gaff, but the "entity" made a run towards the bow and paused. I tried to reef it back, but it went under. I should have run up towards the fish immediately, but...I didn't. Old and slow and he who hesitates is lost. By the time I did scramble up to the bow, the fish was way under the boat. That's one...

The next bite, again by myself, didn't feel that big, but like a real fish. It ended quickly, the Spectra burning off on the squid light. That's two...

Resnik came out on the deck about 4 a.m., just in time to help me with my third hookup. This time I was quick enough to bring a bat ray to the boat. Wisch got up soon after and a little after dawn, Burns got up, threw a heavy Tady AA in a green, yellow and blue pattern that, "Bobby on the Thunderbird told me to throw," and on the second cast hooked and landed a 28-pound yellowtail. We caught a couple more bat rays, which was what pretty much what the fleet -- the number of boats increased at the rate of two to three an hour after 2 a.m. -- did, aside from the resident giant seabass (blacks) and we left. Which everyone else did too.

Not far at first. Tight to kelps in the cove for some bass and the rare sight of a yellow under the birds. Nothing to keep you there, though. So it was up the backside, which was another surprise considering the forecast. To top it off, we got in some coves with flat calm conditions, hot sun, no swell and biting bass that blew up on every thing from the slug to flylined baits and the soft Sebile Magic Swimmer. Just fun fishing. Then we went outside and used the live squid to fill out the kill bag with some fat reds to add to the dinner fare.

A couple spots on the front of Clemente looked great, but only produced barracuda under the bird schools (Matt grabbed Dan's jig stick and went to the bow), not seabass in the right looking water to the inside. We got in at sunset despite fishing late into the day and we all looked forward to the next time. To charter the Pacific Edge, call (714) 392-4066.

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