CASTAFARI OFFSHORE WRAP-UP

[cappyD]

Waaassssup fish fans. Man the wind is blowing today. I'm glad I'm at my desk and not on the 100 fathom line I havn't been able to post much as we have been fishing non-stop. However I am spending most of today uploading new video on to the Castafari Monster Club. It will be listed under the catch cam.

We had a very productive five days of fishing. On Saturday we fished the backside on Peaked Hill in the Hyannis Anglers Club one day bluefin tourney. I hope they do it again next year as we had a lot of fun with this event. We welcomed returning guest Peter Fyerk and crew, and went right to work dangling livies off the kite to hungry bluefin tuna. The kite baits have definitely been the way to go. Unfortunately on this particular day we missed far more fish than we caught. I think we ended it going 1 for 7. We hooked up 3 times, pulled the hook twice. The rest of the bites were swings and misses. We had a real corcker come up in the afternoon that looked more like a submarine than it did a fish. The fish we did land was on the small side, around 63 inches and 134 pounds. I never dreamed it would miss first place by a pound! It was the longest fish anyway...ha!! The fun began as we put the fish in my Pelagic fish bag and drove it via my truck to Hyannis in weekend traffic. We made the wiegh station by 6 minutes. Rather be 6 minutes early than 6 minutes late...now Ive been to both extremes I'm hoping Peter and the boys fish with us again this year in the Bluewater Billfish tourney. Looking foward to having them back.

We regrouped and headed out to the canyons with the David Yaw group. These guys are from the Finger Lakes region of upstate NewYork. None of them had seen an offshore saltwater fish. But they were harcore freshwater guys as well as avid outdoorsmen. So needless to say they fit right in. Anyone who brings smoked goose and venison on my boat is alright in my book. If you bring good grub, you can fish with me anytime! I blasted out to Hydro to fish the tip which had a 4 degree break that went from 69 to 73. We hammered the small yellowfin...I think we caught over 40 and beleive me, I'd love to call some of them 50 pounds but they just werent. They were healthy 40 pounders and less. Some were perfect little bridle baits for blue marlin. Don't think I didnt think about it. The last time I did that out there we brought a 500 pound mako alongside!

We eneded the day with a beautiful white marlin...biggest Ive seen in years. Im gonna guess the fish was in the 90's anyway. It dwarfed the second one we caught the next day. It ate a naked ballyhoo in the wash. Actually they both came up on the close baits. The tuna hit everything that we put in the water. The Offshore Innovations sniper got crushed in all positions. We also managed some real nice gaffer mahi...9 total...4 over 20 and one 43 incher that came in with a real attitude..nothing that the boys couldn't handle Nothing on the night bite though! We had a great drift too...right on the 500. Noone out there caught a thing. We didnt see much bait either which was a little discouraging. Who knows.

The real event was when John woke me up an hour before dawn and said I should take a look at the radar and plotter...big 15 mile thunder cell creeping through the dark along the 100 fathom line and heading right for us. This storm was a big one and there were lightening strikes all over the place. Not long after I put the coffee on I could hear the distant rumble each time the sky blinked off in the distance. We were gonna get hit and hit hard right between the headlights. The green mass on my plotter inched its way across the screen and the number of lightening strike icons grew exponentially. Then came the wind which drifted in like a ghost and churned the quiet ocean into a frothing mess in a matter of minutes. Before we knew it it was raining. In the distance I saw the familiar and reassuring glow of the sun as it crept its way out of the horizon only to last 30 seconds or so before it was blanketed by darkness. Bob Decosta on the Provider who was right next to us agreed with me to shut down all electronics including the VHF, and that we did. The sky opened up into a downpour and the place erupted with blinding white flashed followed by heart wrenching roars of thunder that sounded as if they were directly over us. Luckily the tower of the Castafari was spared...again Soon the storm was gone, the sky was blue, and the deck was bloody...it was as if the morning was just a bad dream. We catapolted back into action, screaming reels and flopping fish. Overall it was a great way to kick things off. We had a blast watching those guys have the time of their lives.. they were pumped by the non-stop action. Would have liked to show them what a big blue marlin looks like but that will be for next time. I know they are there with all those little tuna around. We did see 5 sperm whales which was prett cool. Its nice to see those big mahi too. Id take them over a yellowfin any day when it comes time for the grillin. Tight lines everyone. Were back bass fishing tomorrow and then I get the weekend off!! Weather permitting we will be conducting out first Castafari bikini bash. In the meantime feel free to check out videos profiling all of these trips at www.castafari.com and clicking the Monster Club button.

[BIGJAHOOTIE]

great report thanks, those whiteys are great


ja-hootie

[SaltyDog]

Nice job Damon, would have liked to join you at Hydro but got a real late start so went to closest canyon. Sounds like similar water though, unlike what I had heard. That storm looked nasty closing in on us. If my boat was grounded properly....I may have stuck it out, but there was a lot of electricity flying around that night. Glad you guys made it home safe.

[dunn6253]

Great report cappy D, glad you got out of that storm. Great video on the site also. Good luck next trip out......