Fishing the Yo-Yo iron for early spring yellows at San Clemente island

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Fishing the Yo-Yo iron for early spring yellows at San Clemente island
By Oliver Ngy

Depending on the conditions, overnight party boats will start fishing San Clemente island for the spring yellowtail and seabass in March/April. Often times they'll fish them on the drift over meter marks/breezing fish in 200 plus feet of water. This is the time to bust out the heavy jigs and put quality yellows on the deck.

What you'll need

6-7 foot rod for fishing 40 or 50 lb line. The shorter rod will provide more leverage while fighting the fish up to the boat. Casting is not an issue as you just drop your iron over the side

4/0 sized reel such as a Daiwa slx-40, Penn GS 545, Penn 4/0 senator, Pro Gear 545/440, Shimano Trinidad/Torium 20 or 40, etc. Narrower reels will be much easier to handle during the fast winding involved during yo-yo fishing. You also want a reel with a bit higher gear ratio say 4:1-6:1, it'll make a day of fishing the yo-yo a lot easier

40 or 50 lb QUALITY line. These spring yellows fight like bruisers and they'll bust you off in a second if you're line isn't up to par. I suggest green or clear line at the islands as I've had really inconsistent results with anything blue, but that is just my opinion. P-line CXX, Maxima Ultragreen, Berkely Big Game, Soft Steel, and Stren High Impact are all lines I have confidence in. Don't forget to check for abrasion or nicks after every fish.

Yo-Yo iron jigs are heavier than their surface iron counterparts; they're made to sink fast. Tady 9, A2, 4/0, Iron man 3, 5, 6, Salas 6x jr, 6x are all great fish catchers. As far as colors go, a few basics such as dorado, blue and while, scrambled egg, black and white, chrome, and white get bit fine. If you have a great “looking” jig without the right action versus an ugly jig with a great kick, the ugly jig will usually win out the pretty one. As far as how to tell which jigs swim better than others you gotta go out and fish em. You can have 5 jigs of the same model and color and only have 1 that catches fish. Make sure those treble hooks are sharp!

Now how to work the iron:

Just Drop your jig over the side of the boat, it doesn't matter if you're not in the stern. I like to get away from everyone and fish on the bow
Let it sink to the depth where the fish have been metered or breezing or all the way to the bottom

Put your reel in gear and depending on what kind of jig and action the yellows desire, wind it in with a steady medium to a burning fast retrieve. Pay attention to how fast the guys who are getting bit are winding and try to mimic them. You can NOT reel the iron faster than a yellowtail can swim. Keep your rod tip pointed right at the jig while you wind.

When you get bit. DON'T set the hook!!! It will feel like you snagged often times, but when you're fishing open water in 200-300 feet there isn't anything to snag on. WIND, WIND, WIND!!! You wind until line starts screaming off your reel, that's how you set the hook when fishing the yo-yo. Also beware of bites during the sink, if you're line goes slack before it hits bottom, or you feel a tick you've just been bit. Put the reel in gear and wind, wind, wind. Don't lift the fishes head out of the water when it comes up to gaff, he'll shake his head and send that treble hook back at you if you do
If you don't get bit don't get discouraged, that last drop of the day can produce the jackpot winning mossback yellowtail. Wind the jig up until you get to within viewing distance if you don't see followers and just put your reel in freespool and let it drop back down to the strike zone. Repeat until you succeed

This style of fishing is a bit strenuous on the body as a lot of winding is involved, not to mention fighting 20-30lb yellows up to gaff. I find it to be very rewarding when that jig just “stops” in the middle of the water column and hope you feel the same. Yellowtail that eat yo-yo iron are usually better quality fish than those caught on bait, and you never know when that 40lber decides your iron is his lunch. If you have never fished this way and don't have the gear, etc, just contact me and I'll do my best to help you out. Good fishing

For more information on fishing the yo-yo iron, please visit California Fishing - Hookup Sportfishing