After running at 8 mph for almost 20 miles yesterday in a nasty storm and getting pounded and soaked we were not up for another day like that. As we were struggling to get in safely the Cougar was heading out for an overnighter. We had a batchelor party of 10 guys and 6 did not to run but the 4 that counted said let's do it. All of the offshore charters waited till 8:00 am to make any decisions. We headed out this time with clear visability. That in itself was a plus. We had a following sea our but the closer we got the seas were building. Lee and Brandon had 5 and Eddie and I had the other 5. Lee got flagged down near this rig and had to tow a 36 contender that had lost all power and was adrift. He had spent the night on the tuna grounds and waisted his batteries. Once towed to the rig he was able to get new batteries from somewhere and headed home safely after about 2 hours. Lucky for him because a charger and a jump could not get him started.
We got there to find the cougar still fishing. He said he had a rough night but managed to get a limit of nice amberjack along with some yellowfin and blackfin tuna. Here is a picture of his catch. I did not know the charter he had was a bunch of guys from my neighborhood untill they hit the docks.
We set up shop and started catching bonito, blackfin, yellowfin, kingfish, sharks, and amberjack all on chunks while drifting. Nobody saw or had any big yellows but the action was hot as long as we could stand up. It was another border line day on the comfort scale. Lee had more yellowfin and we had more blackfin in our slick. Just after 2:00 we had a full box and decided to take it to the barn. The seas were a lot better than the ride in yesterday but we still took some waves over the bow and the usual contender spray from a quartering sea. Lee was right behind us so the group stayed together. His boat had 13 yellows, 4 blacks and 1 AJ in the box.
Our boat had 3 AJs, with one of them being the big fish of the party, also 7 yellowfin and 13 blackfin.
Overall everybody caught well today. Nothing big but quantity. I think our next time offshore is Monday and the forecast for next week is FOG. I may go exploring tomorrow with the bay boat. Hope to have a report of that for the saltwater inshore folks to read.
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, 11:44 PM
Another pounding
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