captbogan
10-04-2024, 02:05 PM
Gambler returned from a 36hour canyon trip last night.
It was a rough ride headed off Weds night. It took longer than forecasted to settle down some. Before we arrived at the canyon wall, about 15 miles inshore of it, I saw an acre or more of skippys working the churned surface. The Gambler drifted through the slicky area at 2 knots. We hooked up a few skipjacks on jigs and we had two lures quickly sliced off by what I suspect were wahoo.
After that, we approached the canyon and settled in 600 feet in 70f sst. It looked promising as we came tight on the anchor and had a few more bites on jigs. Hoping for a dusk bite that didn't happen, we held on in the roll till midnight with no bites.
With the guys losing stamina and getting bleary-eyed, we pulled anchor and searched further out. But the sst dropped to 68f on that course and I decided to head back to where we had seen the most life and hope for a early morning flurry.
The seas finally began to abate by 3AM. We had a few run-offs and missed bites between 4AM and 8.
But with no more fish landed, we pulled anchor and began to work mahi structure. I reminded the guys and gal that tuna are often just below the mahi and that an 8oz jig worked at 100ft is always a good idea.
On the first set we tried, Juan did just that and was rewarded with a 25lb yellowfin, as the rest of the boat worked a bunch of mixed size mahi over the rails. There were some bull dolphin mixed in with the 4 to 8lbers. Darren caught a 20+ lber on the first set.
On the second set we boated a 50lb yellowfin. Mahi action was good for the rest of the trip and we loaded the boxes with them.
After daybreak the seas became very nice. It was like a different ocean.
Not what we had hoped for as far as a tuna catch, but we went home with a nice catch of mahi.
Headed out again on back-to-back 24s this weekend.
A few dates have spots that just recently opened up. Best to call the office at 732-295-7569 if you are interested.
It was a rough ride headed off Weds night. It took longer than forecasted to settle down some. Before we arrived at the canyon wall, about 15 miles inshore of it, I saw an acre or more of skippys working the churned surface. The Gambler drifted through the slicky area at 2 knots. We hooked up a few skipjacks on jigs and we had two lures quickly sliced off by what I suspect were wahoo.
After that, we approached the canyon and settled in 600 feet in 70f sst. It looked promising as we came tight on the anchor and had a few more bites on jigs. Hoping for a dusk bite that didn't happen, we held on in the roll till midnight with no bites.
With the guys losing stamina and getting bleary-eyed, we pulled anchor and searched further out. But the sst dropped to 68f on that course and I decided to head back to where we had seen the most life and hope for a early morning flurry.
The seas finally began to abate by 3AM. We had a few run-offs and missed bites between 4AM and 8.
But with no more fish landed, we pulled anchor and began to work mahi structure. I reminded the guys and gal that tuna are often just below the mahi and that an 8oz jig worked at 100ft is always a good idea.
On the first set we tried, Juan did just that and was rewarded with a 25lb yellowfin, as the rest of the boat worked a bunch of mixed size mahi over the rails. There were some bull dolphin mixed in with the 4 to 8lbers. Darren caught a 20+ lber on the first set.
On the second set we boated a 50lb yellowfin. Mahi action was good for the rest of the trip and we loaded the boxes with them.
After daybreak the seas became very nice. It was like a different ocean.
Not what we had hoped for as far as a tuna catch, but we went home with a nice catch of mahi.
Headed out again on back-to-back 24s this weekend.
A few dates have spots that just recently opened up. Best to call the office at 732-295-7569 if you are interested.