Still decking for Eddie when ever I can.
The first day we went wrong right from the start. Once committed we were doomed. Our first fish was the way our day was to be.
The way this nice blackfin was bit and the teeth marks looked like a mako bite so as I chummmed Eddie got a wired hook set up. By the time he had it ready I had a bonito fillet ready. Could not entice it and never really saw it.
We ran all around the east side looking for wahoo and amberjack. Just an occasional blackfin. Even found a shrimp boat with no fish around it. All the east side was dirty. The tuna grounds had nothing but kings and sharks so we did not stay there long. We headed north and were fishing with Alabama and Mississippi boats without success. End of the day we had about 8 blackfin and 2 amberjack.
The next day Eddie went west. Mike decked for him because I had something to do. He got 2 yellows over 100 and 5 small ones and some blackfin.
Today we had to wait for our guys to show up. They had been partying in the big easy for 2 days and nights
When they showed up 1 & 1/2 hours late one of them got out of the car and ralphed. It was after 7 when we left in very dense fog. First rig nothing. Second rig nothing. Third rig no wahoo but we marked some nice fish. A little jigging and we had 5 aj's and 2 blackfin. I took this shot while the 6th aj was comming aboard.
As calm as it was the 2 days of booze was starting to show. No good reports from the tuna grounds yet but we headed there as soon as the limit was in the box. On the way there we get some reports that a few big ones have been spotted in the slicks.
We set up and the first 2 lines in get hit almost at once. One of the guys does not let go of the line he was feeding and when the tuna felt the resistance it got off. The other line has a fish on. We land a small yellow and a storm is quickly comming at us. It is now 11:00 and they ask to head in. We hurried to get set and we were in for a very rough, nasty ride home. We had about 20 miles of head on seas with winds about 45 mph. No lightning but rain which did not matter because we were taking some waves over the bow and front quarter quite a bit. Eddie did one hell of a job driving in those seas. Our 150 qt Yetti almost floated over the port side on one of the waves. It wound up on the gunnel and against the center consol but not for long as the boat was thrashing all over the place. The next wave put it back in the boat. Some of the times the water gushed in so fast I had to open the hatch on the deck so the water would get to the pumps faster and help the deck drain. Eddie ran the boat and I ran the water control system. All 6 customers managed to puke well. Sometimes 3 at a time. To say it was sporty is an understatement.
In that very short trip we did get enough for a picture. 6 AJs, 2 blackfin, and 1 small yellowfin in the middle.
Could not get the guys for a picture because they all were wet and cold. Am scheduled to run again tomorrow. Border line winds but no storms.
Life is Good!
Fishing is not a matter of life or death. It's more important than that.
CAPT HOOP -- OUR FREEDOM
03-10-2012, 11:41 PM
2 rough days
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