the1jonc
09-19-2013, 05:43 PM
Here is a late report from my trip last week. We left Sunday night and got back Wednesday night. Slow Tuna bite. Good Tile Bite.
The ride out to the grounds on Sunday night was very snotty as evidenced by a few guys getting knocked out of their bunks. I am glad everyone was ok.
Tilefishing was steady and productive and i put 5 in the box plus a nice White Hake.
The troll started out nicely with Eric landing a YFT. It was great to see him getting the first fish. He definitely deserved it. Eric came with so much gear for the guys to use that his bumper was almost scraping the ground. He had enough gear for at least half a dozen people and made it available for anyone who needed, as did many others.
I am relatively new to the Tuna game so when my trolling rod went off and I picked it up I knew right away it was no ordinary fish. My trolling partner reluctantly accepted the rod when i handed it to him after I played with the fish for a few minutes. Since we were having a slow start the last thing I wanted to do was make a rookie blunder and lose what might be our only bite. 2 guys hooked up and landed Bigeyes estimated at #150 and #170. Watching Capt Carl sink the harpoon and the entire crew haul those fish over the rail was epic.
The night chunk bite was virtually non-existent, although a few guys did hook up on sharks and what appeared to be a Tuna came off in a tangle. Hank the Mate landed a tuna, which he shared with the fares at the end of the trip. He is an excellent fisherman, hard worker and a nice guy.
Nothing happened for me on the morning troll but it was nice to see a young guy Mike pop his Tuna cherry. Someone hooked a white marlin that put on quite a show for us until the crew safely released it back into the sea.
Day 2 Tile fishing was like the first. Steady action on nice fish if you put in your time at the rail. 600+ feet with 2-3 pounds is a long way down but an even longer way up.:) I put another 5 in the box and was thoroughly satisfied with my haul for the trip.
The night troll was slow again and when Capt said we were settling in for the night chunk at about 8 pm. I resolved to stick it out all night, although I wasn't expecting much. the only life i saw in the water was one lost squid and a few needlefish, so my expectations were low. At about 3 am I was so bored that I decided to drop down a line and see if there was any life. I used the smallest whole squid I could find on a 7/0 hi-lo Cod rig. 2 pulls after I hit the bottom it was fish on. Brought up a Cusk. Dropped down and got another. I told the other guys to join me. Some of the other guys dropped down and got fish and I got 2 more White Hake.
At this point Hank the Mate comes by and see what I am doing and orders everyone to check their baits and freshen them up.
I put on a medium Butterfish and sent it back out. As I was tending my bottom rig the clicker on my chunking rod goes off. Hank was at my side and helped me make sure the fish was well hooked. I cranked as fast as I could and gained on the fish before it knew what was happening. I was very nervous as I saw color and a nice YFT circle in the water below. When Hank and Justin sunk their gaffs and dropped the fish on the dock I was elated. After handing off the Bigeye rod I felt like I had something to prove to myself. I was very glad I put in the time and keep at it and listened to the crew about checking the baits.
Once I landed the fish I proceeded to rouse some of the guys who were dozing off. I didn't want anyone to miss the bite.
Another guy threw out a hammered diamond jig and landed a nice YFT that edged out mine for the pool but it didn't bother me in the least. The chartermaster John hooked a monster that brought him up to the bow of the boat. It smoked his reel and spooled him. It was tough to watch as the Viking crew tried in earnest to tie him off to another rod but there was no stopping the fish.
As the sun rose and we started the troll again someone's rod went off and they hooked a Mahi. As I reeled in our green machine I got hit on the way back to the boat and landed a nice Blue Chicken Mahi.
We set out the lines again. And I hear ZZzzzzzz, Crack and someone shouting to me. Something BIG hit our lure. It hit so hard that it snapped the thick wooden mop handle stabilizing our rod holder like it was kindling, as well as the 2 heavy duty zip ties that were stabilizing the angle iron on the rod holder like they were rubber bands. The only thing that saved ti was the safety harness. I picked up the rod and inched the drag towards strike as the fish peeled off line. I never got there as the line broke. I am not sure if it was operator error or gear failure but the fish was gone....
We continued to troll until we had to call it a day and head back in.
I was very fortunate and lucky to have as much action as I did on the trip considering the Tuna bite that we experienced. As well as getting paired up with my trolling partner.
Me with a Tile
http://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-a24wFvcL0g0/UjMJdLRvufI/AAAAAAAAFfY/AtQ7eVRfFaw/w1051-h788-no/P1010100.JPG
2 Bigeyes On!
http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-RwYsd5wWmzY/UjMKPkxoQ1I/AAAAAAAAFgA/ApODYDOMo6g/w1051-h788-no/P1010101.JPG
http://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-m1qwnbYBR9w/UjMKcW2iBxI/AAAAAAAAFjQ/zMLXyAt4zxw/w668-h501-no/P1010126.JPG
YFT I chunked
http://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-g1AaLySvF9w/UjRy8UAmDZI/AAAAAAAAFrY/FF8L86dmQfM/w668-h501-no/P1010179.JPG
Best Tuna I have ever eaten
http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-wsTHvIN20tM/UjRzVyy65XI/AAAAAAAAFxU/50tjAKRYIQ4/w668-h501-no/P1010226.JPG
The ride out to the grounds on Sunday night was very snotty as evidenced by a few guys getting knocked out of their bunks. I am glad everyone was ok.
Tilefishing was steady and productive and i put 5 in the box plus a nice White Hake.
The troll started out nicely with Eric landing a YFT. It was great to see him getting the first fish. He definitely deserved it. Eric came with so much gear for the guys to use that his bumper was almost scraping the ground. He had enough gear for at least half a dozen people and made it available for anyone who needed, as did many others.
I am relatively new to the Tuna game so when my trolling rod went off and I picked it up I knew right away it was no ordinary fish. My trolling partner reluctantly accepted the rod when i handed it to him after I played with the fish for a few minutes. Since we were having a slow start the last thing I wanted to do was make a rookie blunder and lose what might be our only bite. 2 guys hooked up and landed Bigeyes estimated at #150 and #170. Watching Capt Carl sink the harpoon and the entire crew haul those fish over the rail was epic.
The night chunk bite was virtually non-existent, although a few guys did hook up on sharks and what appeared to be a Tuna came off in a tangle. Hank the Mate landed a tuna, which he shared with the fares at the end of the trip. He is an excellent fisherman, hard worker and a nice guy.
Nothing happened for me on the morning troll but it was nice to see a young guy Mike pop his Tuna cherry. Someone hooked a white marlin that put on quite a show for us until the crew safely released it back into the sea.
Day 2 Tile fishing was like the first. Steady action on nice fish if you put in your time at the rail. 600+ feet with 2-3 pounds is a long way down but an even longer way up.:) I put another 5 in the box and was thoroughly satisfied with my haul for the trip.
The night troll was slow again and when Capt said we were settling in for the night chunk at about 8 pm. I resolved to stick it out all night, although I wasn't expecting much. the only life i saw in the water was one lost squid and a few needlefish, so my expectations were low. At about 3 am I was so bored that I decided to drop down a line and see if there was any life. I used the smallest whole squid I could find on a 7/0 hi-lo Cod rig. 2 pulls after I hit the bottom it was fish on. Brought up a Cusk. Dropped down and got another. I told the other guys to join me. Some of the other guys dropped down and got fish and I got 2 more White Hake.
At this point Hank the Mate comes by and see what I am doing and orders everyone to check their baits and freshen them up.
I put on a medium Butterfish and sent it back out. As I was tending my bottom rig the clicker on my chunking rod goes off. Hank was at my side and helped me make sure the fish was well hooked. I cranked as fast as I could and gained on the fish before it knew what was happening. I was very nervous as I saw color and a nice YFT circle in the water below. When Hank and Justin sunk their gaffs and dropped the fish on the dock I was elated. After handing off the Bigeye rod I felt like I had something to prove to myself. I was very glad I put in the time and keep at it and listened to the crew about checking the baits.
Once I landed the fish I proceeded to rouse some of the guys who were dozing off. I didn't want anyone to miss the bite.
Another guy threw out a hammered diamond jig and landed a nice YFT that edged out mine for the pool but it didn't bother me in the least. The chartermaster John hooked a monster that brought him up to the bow of the boat. It smoked his reel and spooled him. It was tough to watch as the Viking crew tried in earnest to tie him off to another rod but there was no stopping the fish.
As the sun rose and we started the troll again someone's rod went off and they hooked a Mahi. As I reeled in our green machine I got hit on the way back to the boat and landed a nice Blue Chicken Mahi.
We set out the lines again. And I hear ZZzzzzzz, Crack and someone shouting to me. Something BIG hit our lure. It hit so hard that it snapped the thick wooden mop handle stabilizing our rod holder like it was kindling, as well as the 2 heavy duty zip ties that were stabilizing the angle iron on the rod holder like they were rubber bands. The only thing that saved ti was the safety harness. I picked up the rod and inched the drag towards strike as the fish peeled off line. I never got there as the line broke. I am not sure if it was operator error or gear failure but the fish was gone....
We continued to troll until we had to call it a day and head back in.
I was very fortunate and lucky to have as much action as I did on the trip considering the Tuna bite that we experienced. As well as getting paired up with my trolling partner.
Me with a Tile
http://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-a24wFvcL0g0/UjMJdLRvufI/AAAAAAAAFfY/AtQ7eVRfFaw/w1051-h788-no/P1010100.JPG
2 Bigeyes On!
http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-RwYsd5wWmzY/UjMKPkxoQ1I/AAAAAAAAFgA/ApODYDOMo6g/w1051-h788-no/P1010101.JPG
http://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-m1qwnbYBR9w/UjMKcW2iBxI/AAAAAAAAFjQ/zMLXyAt4zxw/w668-h501-no/P1010126.JPG
YFT I chunked
http://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-g1AaLySvF9w/UjRy8UAmDZI/AAAAAAAAFrY/FF8L86dmQfM/w668-h501-no/P1010179.JPG
Best Tuna I have ever eaten
http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-wsTHvIN20tM/UjRzVyy65XI/AAAAAAAAFxU/50tjAKRYIQ4/w668-h501-no/P1010226.JPG