Off the Edge 7/28

[backman]

Very nice day trip yesterday courtesy of a long time/never met fishing acquaintance.

Outbound from the upper reaches of Narragansett Bay; we steamed oceanwards at 28 knots; 2 in the tower using FLIR to dodge the various pots and traps strewn in and around the channels.

Passing under the Newport/Jamestown bridge at 1st light and steaming by Ft Adams, red and orange light overhead and lighting the windows on Jamestown, we hit open ocean before dawn and headed 80+ miles to warm water.

The large express powered out on the long slow swell at a steady 28 knots; quickly eating the distance, just before 8 we arrived at the pot line at 100 fathoms and set out a 9 rod spread, marlin lures back and down the middle on 70's and 80's and tuna lures and ballyhoo inside on TLD 50's.

Did I ever mention I love fishing the canyons with TLD's?

73 degree water on and just off the edge, moving up and down in 1/3 degree increments - we were clearly near the temp break we had targeted.

Arriving blind at 8 AM in the canyons is tough - two of us in the tower and eyes below looking for life. There was lots of it - porpoise and Risso's dolphins, manta's doing backflips and many storm petrels, dancing the water. There was also a fleet and radio chatter down and to the east; chatter we ignored as we worked for our own bites.

We worked explosion to explosion, slick to slick looking for that one sign. From the cockpit "big break 3 o clock, 2nd slick!". We headed there, turned inwards, turned again and bzzzz - ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ! TLD song!!

Marlin, marlin! I hadn't seen it but a blue marlin had come into the middle of the spread, passed the marlin lures and crushed an inside ballyhoo right off the transom.

Pat was belted up and on the rod as the crew cleared the other 8 rods while Ted kept us in the game at the throttle. Good to learn from a master on how to drive on an angry blue marlin.

Back, twist, forward, twist, forward hard; line roostering as we ran at 10+ knots for a couple hundred yards to get ahead of the fish which was peeling line forward. With the fish safely at 5 o clock it went deep and Pat settled in to gain line, the boat backing and weaving to help.

10 minutes of a deep struggle and the line angle changed; coming up, up, coming up - MARLIN, MARLIN! as a good sized blue marlin blew out of the water between 1 and 200 yards off the stern. 2 sets of 2 explosions, 45 degree angled spring loaded leaps before it settled in deep again.

Another 10 minutes, much of it boatsmanship at its best and we could see the green of the windon loop 20 feet down and 30' out. Below it a shadow! Big shadow.

This went on for another 5 minutes; Pat gaining inch by inch and losing 10 yards in a rush, eventually getting the windon into the rod tip. On one of the surges Sean took the leader as I yelled "caught fish". WE could see the marlin laying 25' down in the clear blue water, one surge, one pull and the ballyhoo leader, a mere 150# piece parted which probably was just as well.

We might have missed the glory shots but had a quick and clean release as well as a great view of the fish! To say goodbye it blew up 3 or 4 times, tearing the water as it disappeared northwards at a high rate of speed.

9 AM and the day is a winner!!!!!

We worked outwards and deeper; chasing manta's, birds and small signs. At 11 I found the hot 75 degree blue water; less life than the cooler 73 degree water.

Lunch time; steamed hot dogs in hands, BAM. Rod goes down and our 1st baby yellowfin came aboard. The hot dog bite!

Back to my hot dog; eyes on the spread.

MARLIN, MARLIN! This one I saw and called as another blue marlin attacked the center rigger, smashed it sideways greyhounding 30 yards out across the wake at a 90 degree angle; lure up and in the air. 1-2 leaps and tearing line. By the time Ryan got on it - it was gone.

Forensics and the call from the tower suggested the fish got its bill in the leader; missed the lure; freaked out and went ballistic. Great show; no joy!

Inwards and upwards; past noon and a long way home.

bam, BAM, bzzz, BAM - here we go - 1, 3-4, 5 - 6 rods go down as we were pack attacked by yellowfin, ending up with 5 more 25 pounders in the box. Meat for the crew!

Onto the flats, nothing under the flyers; herds of porpoise playing in the bow wave and wake. 2 PM, lines up, cockpit cleared, let her rip as we flew home at 29 knots.

The deep is always a crap shoot; a day trip to the deep double crap shoot - but 1 for 2 on blue marlin, 6 yellowfin for the grill - hey - we didn't break the bank this time, but we walked away winners,

What a great trip!

[idigitu88]

Wtg

[nsvencer]

You don't even need pics to feel like we were there. Sounds like a great day.

[captkev]

Great report, heading down for an overnighter Sat/Sun. Are you making the trip?

[fish4stripers]

awesome read Larry, thanks

[Poop Deck]

Great read with the morning coffee!

[JoeyM]

Great report!

One question, how well did that FLIR work at speed? I have heard different reviews about it, but most told me the resolution was not good enough to work at planing speed. I mean can it really pick up a lobster pot at 28 knots at a decent distance?

And if it did, what model was it? Was it the typical small rectangular one you see, or was it the big dome looking one?




.

[Ted Blount]

Flir won't work at that speed. Spotlight run from the tower works best in the bay. I hate lobster pot buoys, I like lobsters.

[Agitated88]

Very entertaining read...congrats on a great day and thanks for sharing!

[JoeyM]

Flir won't work at that speed. Spotlight run from the tower works best in the bay. I hate lobster pot buoys, I like lobsters.

Thanks for the info. "Judy B", nice boat, we were transiently slipped next to you last month in Saquatucket.

I have a pic, but it's on my home computer. You can see your boat in this video near the end, skip to the 5:01 mark. Not that it's a great pic or anything.

http://vimeo.com/25990241

Hopefully we'll see you out there!