Long run. Tough day.

[capt hoop]

Left the dock at 5:30. The ride was smooth and we had no plans for stopping for any bait. I ran straight south and located some fish on my targeted rig just over 35 miles out. We dropped down and hooked up with a rainbow runner. Nice start we have some good chunk bait. Unfortunately the camera lens had a spot on it that I never noticed until I put them in the computer.



We hit this rig for a good while. We saw a few good yellows surface once but after a couple of hours getting rainbow runners and only 1 undersized yellowfin I made a move. Unfortunately it was another 25 miles out. When I got there the other boats were not doing anything. I moved to a few more rigs near by and had some good marks on my screen but the grass came in thick as we were bringing in a tuna.



This was picked up on an anteater jig but it was also undersized.



All we found there on chunks were more rainbow runners. I was at a decision point. It is already noon. I have clean ice except for 2 rainbows we iced down. Do I run further out or go back to my original rig which would bring me closer in and hope the tuna have decided to feed? My max speed with a load is 30 MPH. I have been on the water for almost 7 hours with nothing to show. I talk to another boat and he has some feeding. He is 18 miles further out and getting them on live bait. I have no live bait at all.

I go for broke and stretch the trip. We get to the rig and quickly make bait. We set up and almost immediately get a hit. As Allen my deck hand sets the hook the other line goes off as well. The one Allen set threw the hook but mine was on. It is already 1:30. We have just woke up the boat. Once we put this guy in the boat we set the lines out again.



The bite went dead. It was a long time before we got another bite. This one is noticeably a bigger fish. What I have found lately is the ones in the 100 pound class have been on steroids. They have refused to get near the boat and have battled through several people on the boat at times. It is common for a fish this size to get in a standoff with the angler at about 60-80 feet down before making another dive for the depths.



Fred almost had this one but he felt the burn to the point that he had to tap out to his son. Both of them were done as I put the gaff to this one. Interesting thing, As soon as the gaff hit the fish it did not even twitch any more. Game Over!



It was getting late. I was a long way from the pass and wanted to get back before the marina closed. I tossed the rest of my bait in the water as chum but nothing came up. What had happened was the bait all hid under my boat. Once I headed to the barn the bait was left in the open and the feed was at the mercy of the predator. The 2 guys that remained there had a last minute flurry of action thanks to me. When I got to the dock at 6:00 they were already back in and told me about it. If I were younger I would consider a newer faster boat but that is out of the question at my age. I just have to stay with 30 MPH and let the kids run at 45-50 MPH.

Salvaged a tough day with a pair of nice tuna anyway.




Life is Good!
Fishing is not a matter of life or death. It's more important than that.

CAPT HOOP -- OUR FREEDOM