Jan Howard

Personal Information:

26642 Castile Lane
Mission Viejo, CA. 92691

Jan's passion for long-range fishing is second to none. She can be found on the water or in your local tackle shop just about every moment she isn't at the Airport. She has a great affection for learning and more importantly, sharing that wisdom with others. She has led countless Braid Charters in Dennis's absence and has built quite the reputation as a true professional angler.

Fishing Biography by Jan Howard

I got my first taste of fishing at the age of 8, catching 6 barracuda (each one taller than me) from the Barge off Redondo Beach. I never forgot the experience even though it would be 38 years until my next fishing adventure. In August 1993, I eagerly joined my work associates on an office sponsored fishing charter. This re-introduction to angling taught me the competitive side of fishing. A yellowtail gill was all I brought to the boat after competing with a sea lion for the only fish I hooked all day.

Jan's Wahoo
Jan's Wahoo
I will never forget my next trip. It was one month later-September 14, 1993. The tuna were biting out of San Diego. I booked myself on the New Lo-An out of Point Loma to go after my first tuna. I had a fishing rod and reel (purchased at Costco) spooled with 50# line. I didn't have a clue how to fish for tuna. At 3:30 in the afternoon, we hit a school of 25-pound yellowfin tuna. After landing 3 fish, my arms were so exhausted that I wondered if I had the strength to land another. I was resting my arms while dangling a bait above the water when a tuna came straight out of the water and grabbed my bait! Two hours later, the Captain ended the frenzy "on deck" by pulling the boat off the frenzied school below us and handed it off to another boat. At the end of the day, I found myself with 19 of these fish. That was when I learned about "limits".

I quickly learned that it is rare to go on a "catching" trip and had to begin learning the fishing basics. I had a lot of catching-up to do. I met some excellent anglers on the sportfishing boats that shared their fishing secrets with me and encouraged me to take up long-range fishing to learn more-specifically on a Braid Charter. This, they claimed, would be the best fishing education I could get. In 1997, I was able to get on a 10-Day Braid Charter on the Excel. They were right! Not only was I able to learn from the expert himself, Dennis Braid, but also learned from the excellent Captain and crew of the Excel.

I currently fish at least three long-range trips a year beginning with the Braid 8-Day in spring, a 5-Day in the summer and the 16-Day trip to the Revillagigedos Islands in the fall along with various shorter trips throughout the year.

In addition to fishing, I contribute time to sit on the Board of Directors for United Anglers and am still employed on a full time basis with John Wayne Airport as Deputy Airport Director for Business Development.

TO: Dennis Braid
From: Jan Howard
Trip Report: POLARIS SUPREME 19-DAY TRIP FEBRUARY 11 TO MARCH 2, 2003

We departed into southeast winds and swell for a 4-day beating. 12 passengers (most wearing their 200# or 300# Club Polaris Supreme jackets) aged 53 to 80 years old.

Jan Howard with 115#
and 105# YFT.
Two days out (Uncle Sam Bank) we caught 62 albacore taken on flylined sardines on 25# test. Five days of travel found us at Hurricane Bank. Wahoo were plentiful and our Captain, Tommy Rothery, made it clear we would clean up the wahoo then fish tuna. The wahoo bit primarily on 40# wire. Waters were 77.9 and still choppy as we trolled around. We managed limits of wahoo but only 13 tuna with 3 over 100 pounds. I caught two of the tuna over 100 pounds with the biggest caught on a balloon. With a poor sign of the big fish, we headed to Cleophus off Puerta Vallarta, Mexico - a three-day trip.

At Cleophus we chased porpoise and bird schools and even sat on schools of 150 to 250 pound fish that never bit. After two days at Cleophus we skirted the Tres Marias and saw bird schools but no big fish were sited. We ended up trolling over Jaime, Golden Gate, and anchoring on Finger Bank for the night. We headed out to Morgan Bank for the last morning where we found 71.2 degree water and wide open marlin fishing on 100# stripers and 10 lb. grouper.

To: Dennis Braid
From: Jan Howard
Subject: 3-Day Searcher Trip

Dennis,

The 3-Day Searcher trip was a big success even though we spent the first 24 hours fishing on the sea anchor. We were faced with 20-25 knot winds and 6-10 foot seas, however, the albacore were fat and hungry. We managed to bring in 33 Bluefin up to 41 lbs. as part of our catch too. The Blackjack trolling plug in blue and white caught the first troll fish and the slammer jigs were dynamite the second day. Enclosed is a photo of a slammer hanging out of a bluefin.

The passengers were pleased with the tackle gifts and put them to good use. We had half a dozen passengers that had never heard of Braid Products. They have now. Art Taylor, recovering from a cold, worked as hard as any skipper and found biting fish in rough conditions. The crew took care of our needs and I truly believe everyone went home with a good catch.

To: Dennis Braid
From: Jan Howard
3 Day Trip Report The Islander- 2005

The Boat:

Just returned yesterday from a 3-day on the Islander. It's a good operation especially considering it's their first full year owning the boat. I liked both the owners, Shane Slaughter and John Coniff. Their goal is passenger service and they are actively seeking input to improve their operation. My only suggestion was inserts in the bait tank because the sardines died in the hand wells. Shane is off for the next week and said he planned to do that and has already purchased the materials to make them. He said he'll have them on the boat within a week.

Shane said he feels they need to improve the galley operation. It was so rough that I didn't really eat anything the first two days except my granola bars and fruit so I am not really a good judge of the food. Also, their regular chef was off sick and they only had one in the galley and he didn't speak English very well. He was personable and worked very hard. His ceviche was good; the presentation on the sashimi could be improved but it tasted great. The dinner was served on very large plates with very large servings. Those that ate the dinners (marinated flank steak, grilled chicken, roast beef) thought they were good except for the vegetables. I've noticed men complain frequently about vegetables anyway. I did have a grilled piece of albacore the last night that had a wonderful taste and was moist even though it was cooked longer than necessary.

The staterooms are well appointed and the boat décor is in the theme of the pacific "Islands". It's a good boat for 3 or 4 days and I prefer it to the Searcher which is its main competition. They have an RSW system that doubles as a slammer for bait so the first day all fish had to be frozen then the bait transferred to the deck tanks and the slammer turned into an RSW system. Unfortunately for us, we caught the bluefin on the first day and they all had to be frozen, however, every fish was landed on the rubber mats, bled and spiked immediately. They were very good at fish handling and even the crew competes for head shots with the gaff. They were successful 95% of the time. I found the crew good and fun to be with on deck.

Fishing:

The first full day of fishing was Monday. We started with a nice hit for 36 albacore to start the day fishing in an area 75 to 80 miles SW of San Diego. We scratched most the day then got a good shot at the bluefin late afternoon. The fish were 20 to 45 pound bluefin and 25 to 35 pound albacore. We had 59 albacore, 82 bluefin and 3 yellowfin at the end of the first day. The weather was 15 knots in the morning building to 25 knots in the afternoon. It was typical bluefin fishing - just miserable. It was cold and we were tossed around the entire day. However, I had one of my best days of fishing. Luck was with me the entire day. I used a 100 foot top shot of 30# line with 3 feet of fluorocarbon and my Torium 20 all day. I fished the bow as the boat drifts stern first so the fish were boiling on the bow. I boated 6 or 8 fish before anyone figured out I was fishing the bow. I handed off 4 fish (2 albacore, 1 yellowfin and 1 bluefin), 3 were to passengers that had never caught a tuna. They are hooked now. I gave an albacore to the galley and tagged 6 bluefin and 6 albacore. When the bite got picky, I pulled out the balloons. Conditions were perfect for the bobber balloons - high wind dragging the balloon out the where the fish were boiling. I landed 2 bluefin (40 and 42 lbs.) on the balloon before the entire color spectrum blossomed around the boat. These folks knew to bring balloons but didn't know how to fish them. By then, the bite was off so it was too late to teach them. I spent a lot of time answering questions about how to fish, knots, and gear. These fish did not want a trolled jig, however, they did bite the slammer's on the slide.

The second day a few albacore were picked up on troll - small trolled purple plugs or small feathers. The fish were very picky and the bait wasn't cured so it was a double whammy. The shorter range boats don't get the better baits and with the weather we had the first day, these poor bait couldn't survive. The weather came down during the night and the day ended in 5 knot winds and nice seas. Luck was fickle and graced other anglers this day. Although I hooked over a dozen fish, I only landed one albacore to go in the RSW tank. I even hooked an albacore on the BettaBait but lost it when it raced under the bow of the boat before I could get around the bow. We ended the day with 62 Albacore, working our way up the line ending in the 45 to 50 mile range from home. We motored at 6 knots all night and sat in the harbor waiting for the landing to clear enough for us to come in.

Our final count - 121 Albacore, 82 Bluefin, 3 Yellowfin. Jackpot fish went 38 to 45 lbs.

At the Landing:

When we returned, there were lots of anglers getting ready to leave and one of those was Fred (what's his name) that used to fish the long range boats (when he could get a discount). He was leaving on the Supreme 5-Day. I asked where he's been and he said that he bought the business and hadn't had time to fish. I guess it's that boat wax business.

I sent my albacore and 2 bluefin to Mario to process. I gave the rest of the bluefin to Mario, Sean and Eddie. I always assumed the landing crew were given more fish than they cared to have. I learned it's not so. They take such good care of me and they are great folks that it's a pleasure to give them fish. I only wish they had been RSW fish.

Jan Howard