8/21-22 - a day late and 50 miles off

[backman]

After a week of weather, water, wind and wimp I decided on Friday night to play safe and go short to Atlantis/Veatch rather than going to the far eastern canyons.

All weather models were confused all week as to Saturdays wind maps but were all all aligned as to a Sunday big blow. For better or worse I wanted the "safe" 100 mile ride home.

Armed with some intel we headed for east Atlantis where a good marlin bite had been on Friday, albeit with no tuna anywhere. I figured we could always scratch one out.

Very easy run down the 1st 70 miles with a gentle east(ugh )wind. As always seems to be the case the east wind turn not so gentle at 500'.

Maybe East Atlantis was red hot the day before but it was deader than a doornail Sat. We and another boat worked it hard; marked a few fish deep before eventually deciding to work east towards Veatch following reports of a slow tuna pick a few days back.

Nothing on the 1st 10 miles, no life, no birds, dead water. Finally at the SW corner we started seeing some life, a few manta's, a few random birds.

Sidebar - with all the discussion of boobytrapped pots we stayed well away from the pots and still got more mahi than we wanted; keeping one decent 15 pounder and tossing back all the rats. We saw no boobytrapped pots but never got within 30 yards of one all Saturday.

Onwards - turning up at the SW corner @ 6 PM we were cutting bait and moving up to the cananyon when "pop"
"what's that?"
"Oh shit - marline"
"pop zzz"
"long"
"short"
"pop zzzz"
nothing.

3 15 inch lures were love tapped, all of us head down missed the show. Acted like a white, except for the 1st visitation being on a transom Marlin Magic slant head. We'll never know...

Upwards into Veatch and on the west wall I found "it". Slick windblown from 800' to 500'; tuna birds in clusters of dozens dancing and dipping on the slick, wheeling to join another cluster 100 yards away. One flyer proud on the wall itself and even a finback whale feeding in the area. The finder showed marks at 3-400'. Flip back 3 weeks and this was the same setup that had put a bigeye and a couple marlin on peoples deck.

We hammered that spot for close to 90 minutes, circles, donuts, figure 8's and also some free form curves with nothing coming up. At one point I saw breaking fish, big fish out the corner of my eye on an opposite heading. By the time we hit the spot they were gone. Another boat joined in - neither of us could raise a thing.

Dusk and frustrated we made a move 10 miles east to join in on a very slow tuna bite for the night.

The night was on the edge; most of it was E 10-122 with rolling 3 footers. Every minute or two one of the rollers would break and slam the boat with a bang. The boat and deck were rolling and awash, not dangerous, but a few knots more and I was ready to pick up and leave.

I half expected a 2 AM steam and focused my energy on getting a tuna at night. We worked hard till 12; moved twice, listened to Damon raise fish right next to us and kept at it. I rested a couple hr's till 2:30, playing the "what if" weather games in my head, full well wanting to be steaming before it blew up, not after. At 2:30 in 350' I sent Christian and jackson down to sleep figuring this was my time to get the tuna bite going.

At 3 AM I also realized we were going to make it till dawn as the wind had dropped to 8-10 and the bite of the sea had lessened; no more breaking waves.

2 moves later and 4 AM I got the tuna up.

One little runoff which I missed; marks on the screen; then boils and slashes just out of the light. I couldn't get them on my baits, coldn't jig them up, even cast a popper out into the dark, but just could not get a bite. At 4:30 my energy waned and I woke the other 2 to get on the troll while I grabbed an hour nap.

6AM, filtered light.

"Good morning Skipjack" - I heard on the radio from Damon, engines droning, all well as I came up to the deck. Flyer 10 yards off, no one at the helm , rrrrr, rrrrrr, grumble, rumble.

"LINE, LINE" I yelled instantly awake. Driver up above, controls below, line in the props, 10 seconds before I got the gears in neutral and not a happy camper.

At stop I saw a building 3-4' sea and a steady 15 knots SE. We needed to get that line off *NOW*. Christian did the honors, we first tried pulling in the tag. 30 yards later we realized it was a couple hundred yard tag line arced off the pot *upwind* due to a conflict of wind and tide. We cut it at 30 yards and waited an interminable 5 minutes, sea building till we drifted past the flyer and clear.

Christian then went in and by the grace of the fisherman's gods found a tangle he could free in 3 dives. Wet suit, fins and mask were adaquate for the situation. 1/2 hr later the seas were 3-5 and we would have needed a full tank and regulator to have cleared things. I spent some time thinking about "what if" during the next 2 hr's and the only way we could have safely put someone in the water at that point was with diving gear and a 2nd boat standing by as a safety.

FWIW - the reason we got it cleared easily was because we did not try to drive it off in either forward or reverse; we gave 1 bump try, 3 prop rev's and stopped. 1 double or triple wrapped prop sucks but is fixable - a line pulled tight between two counter rotating props by a pair of 250 HP engines with lots of torque can not just cripple the boat but also damage running gear.

I was ready to pull the plug at 6:30 and call it a shit trip, head for the barn, but as we pulled lines and I pointed the boat at home 114 nautical miles away I realized we had 10 miles to the tip of Veatch with a following sea.

Why not try and dig one out?

Full marlin spread with a couple ballyhoo long we trolled a 270-300 heading with a wind coming out of the SE and a predominant SE sea with a longer period E sea also combining to make the steady 3-4's an odd 5' breaker. Basically we could troll home very comfortably, but a turn more than 30 degrees south was untrollable.

Along the entire wall east of Veatch the place was alive and I couldn't/didn't want to turn to circle. Birds and slicks everywhere, 2 sets of porpoises along the way.

the FISH HERE signs were out.

I could only and only wanted to head homewards so cut the SE corner, a spot I've raised a lot of fish over the years and crossed the east flat.

Pop BZZZZZZZZ, center rigger with a jethead went down hard. One sleeping and figuring marlin I slowed the boat to scramble down and help clear and it came off. But after a day and some we finally had a rod go down for more than 5 seconds.

I wasn't circling; the seas behind us we steep 4 footers, each breaking; we could only go NW. Across the flat , 3 miles to the tip, then run for the barn and once more a OP, Bzzz.

This one came off instantly but Jackson saved the day and trip, cranked, teased, dropped back and a schoolmate jumped on.

This time I left the boat at 6 knots while belting up Jackson and clearing with Christian. We let the fish go well into backing to keep pressure on it. Even after that w/ the steep seas we worked this fish in much more gear than we normally would. It started high in the water column but turned into a tuna 40 yards out. The lackadaisical end game of a few weeks ago tuna cornucopia was forgotten; all 3 of us were on the top of our game. Perfect leadering by Christian, boat handling by me and rod and head gaff shot by Jackson the angler and we finally, 25 hours after leaving the dock had a fish on the deck and meat in the box.

Tip of Veatch, 87 miles to Mutton Shoal buoy, fingers crossed, and up on plane. No rumble, running gear was fine, now just to run the boat conservatively and not break anything.

Usually I'll hand the boat off for the ride home, not today w/ the sea conditions and weather coming in. The 1st 10 miles were bad with crossing sea patterns making a steep pounding ride. Every pound puts stress on the gear, with only 1 boat behind us and Damon a few miles west it was a nice conservative 22 knot ride up to the Lanes.

Playing chicken with a freighter we calculated a CPA of just under 2 miles and cut under his bow; the boat was running sweetly and I didn't want to change a thing. Above the lanes the shoals started to cut down the easterly swell and the 4-5's became 3-4's and 22 knots became 23-24 knots.

Next worry was the weather arriving at Muskegat with a wind against tide scenario. Nothing to do but try and make for a comfortable ride; Christian who can sleep anywhere was able to get 2 hr's of catnap.

Things picked up at the 20 fathom curve; wind was now a steady 15 with gusts to 20 and the 3-4 was steep. We hit the Hooter at peak tide, had to slow to 18-20 on each rip, with the water screaming outwards against the wind this was not the place to make a problem by pounding things. Tom's shoal, Poge and the homestretch.

Memories of an experience just like this 6 years back where I made the turn, upped the throttles and pointed for the barn when "SNAP" were in both Christian and my heads. This time, nice and safe, 22 knots, no sudden moves, no extra stress 35 minutes versus 32 minutes and we slid into Falmouth harbor having dug one out in the bottom of the 9th.

The pan seared yellowfin last night was as sweet a piece of fish as I can remember because of the effort, perseverance and teamwork it took to get it done.

This was a lousy trip all in all; we went to the wrong place, did the wrong things, followed yesterday's info.

But as all canyon trips - its not about catching; its the total experience, the skills and knowledge gained that adds up and makes us better fisherman and mariners.

#75 is in the books - 3/4 of the way to my goal of 100, somewhat a dud but...thinking back to skunks in the past on #3 and #11 and a trip in 2003 with a seasoned veteran where we dug out 2 fish I recall his words:

"any trip you can say - no one got hurt, nothing broke and we caught fish is a good one".

By those words - action or not - this was a good trip!

[CindyLou]

Great report! Nice job on un-wrapping, hanging in there to pull out a late fish, and getting home safe. Thanks for sharing.

[On The Edge]

Welcome home Larry. GLad you are back safe and sound. Was wondering how you guys were. I was watching the weather come up and knew you were out there. Keep that even record of depatures and arivals going.

[Reel Pursuit]

Nice job Larry and crew. Perserverance pays off.
My dockmate was out there on an overnighter as well. Did you run into old Egg Harbor "Summer Winds?"

[CaptainCJ35]

Great Report. Great job getting home safe.

Everytime I read about canyon trips, I curse myself for keeping my boat in Boston... and for having a boat with insufficient legs to make the trip anyway.

[Thynnus]

Good job Larry and crew. We were east of you in Hydro and it was DEAD. Chunked at nite and trolled all morning from the tip up and down each wall with 3 peanut mahi to show for it. Every boat in Hydro was saying the same thing, not tuna, not billfish just rat mahi. Our toughest canyon trip yet, but like you said we caught a few fish and everyone made it back safely. hopefully this blow will stir things up out there and give us some defined breaks that will hold fish.

Danny

[Shortfin]

Nicely done LB & Crew

[Fathom40]

Larry,

I don't know you but I wanted to say that I really appreciate the time and effort you put into your reports. I'm a "greenhorn" at canyon fishing and I have learned alot from your experience and "perspective." By perspective, I mean your focus on safety and being respectful of all who roam out there...commercial as well as recreational.

I think I speak for many when I say that you are a trusted mentor. Things I learn from your reports will not only increase my odds of a successful adventure, but more importantly, increase the odds that all will make it safely back to port with memories beyond the fish that were caught.

Best,

Sam
Fathom40

[Albatross32]

Larry,

I don't know you but I wanted to say that I really appreciate the time and effort you put into your reports. I'm a "greenhorn" at canyon fishing and I have learned alot from your experience and "perspective." By perspective, I mean your focus on safety and being respectful of all who roam out there...commercial as well as recreational.

I think I speak for many when I say that you are a trusted mentor. Things I learn from your reports will not only increase my odds of a successful adventure, but more importantly, increase the odds that all will make it safely back to port with memories beyond the fish that were caught.

Best,

Sam
Fathom40

Very classy post and some well deserved praise for Mr. Backman.

[backman]

Thanks for the kind words.

Not to beat Mr Backman's drum any more but I inspected the engines last night after Team Ripdog left the dock. Last thing I do before sleeping after a canyon trip. Its served me well over the years and did again last night.

I found the port engine water injection elbow had a crack and dried salt crust as well as a crack in the elbow under one of the two bolts holding it to the cast iron wet exhaust mixing elbow. This elbow takes water from the raw water cooling system and injects it into the exhaust. Without it the exhaust gas runs uncooled into fiberglass exhaust pipes and bad things happen. Oh yeah, if the raw water doesn't go there guess where it goes - in the bilge

Tip on long runs - flip your bilge switch every half hour or so and see if water comes out. If so figure out why before a little leak becomes a big leak.

The yard looked at it; is already on the fix. The theory is part failure due to repeated stress from repeated boat motion over 6 years. Might have broke loose on the trip home if we had pounded, might have lasted as is 2 more trips or 2 more years.

Its imperative in offshore fishing to have everything "right" before going offshore.

Mr Clay also found, identified and corrected a minor leak on Ripdog prior to your trip in the raw water washdown filter. if your going offshore everything has to work and be perfect. Inspect every system you can, every fitting, every clamp and hose as if your life depends on it.

Sometimes it does.