Ghost Bank & The Easter Bunny...4/08

[Capt Josh]

Kevin Smith joined us with one of his sons earlier in the week for two days of offshore hunting aboard the Conquistador...with the water conditions we've been handed these last few weeks there was little doubt in my mind that we'd be travelling further offshore than usual but thanks to Terrafin and the daily SST and Chlorophyl charts streaming down via re-commissioned Ruskie space junk...a few clicks with the mouse eliminated the need for otherwise blindfolded dart throwing...

Our first morning started off with a bang as we raised a striper right away but lost it after a brief zip...it didn't take long and another striper raised up on the same Pro Soft yellow, pink and black Coaster...a lure that would prove to be our salvation on the first day as 6 out of 9 knockdowns came on that one lure...despite our spread of 7 deadly sins behind the boat...time and time again the Pro Soft came through...

After missing a few stripers on the hunt for the mother tuna/porpoise load i finally spot the tell tale explosions in the distance as hundreds of spinners, birds, and tunas make thier way up the curve...

Sure enough first pass through the meley and the Pro Soft goes night night again...and on a real good fish...but unfortunately we pull the hook on it right below the boat...lines back out and this time we get one good and a solid tuna hits the deck to break the ice....

Another pass through and they are shying away from lures now so we feed them the meat and it's instanteanous...Kevin goes bendo on a real nice tuna on the 30# stick...after an arduous battle Caldo and Bopa stick the hooks in what would turn out to be our biggest tuna of the day on our lightest rod...

We continue to feed them the bait but now they are turning their attention to the poppers which i'm firing from the tower...another couple of fish fall for the poppers...one which we gaff and another which comes unbuttoned but no one's complaining...

I decide to move off from the school as now we've either got the best of them or the rest are getting picky...back on the troll and we get absolutely demolished on the Pro Soft once again...man...somedays there really is a HOT lure!

Kevin's son strapps in just as a massive dorado cartwheels far behind the boat...it takes a while as the huge bull is giving no quarter but eventually the gaffs go in and it's high 5's and photos all around...coconut dorado here we come...

Back on the troll and once again the stripers come up to play but our hookup ratio is terrible as we miss the next two...no idea why...they were litereally piling on the lures and we had them hook solidly but somehow they managed to throw the single hooks....c'est la vie...

We find another school of porpoise later in the day and work it hard but no lovin...so we call it a day as we've got another long day ahead of us tomorrow...

Back at it in the morning and despite finding 5 schools of various mammals today we can't make a tuna chew...or see much sign of them running with the air breathers today...but the stripers are cooperating and we manage to finally get one all the way to the boat for an official release...it was a nice one...around 150...and thanks to Bomboy because that fish wouldn't leave one of his bullet heads until it was firmly imbedded...

After that the Bomboy lure goes off again this time a wahoo literally destroys the lure but manages to miss the single hook...with little skirt left i regrettably remove the lure from the spread and make a mental note to get it re-skirted the next time i'm up at Melton's....

Somewhere between bites i spot a giant squid floating on the surface and we slide over to free gaff the denzion of the deep...check out the photos it's a good one and we put it to good use chumming a porpoise school but to no avail...still...it's the largest intact squid we've found this year and definitely something we don't see down here everyday...

After some photos with the squid another striped marlin eventually piles on the stinger...a 6" ahi pussy in petrelero behind a Pro Soft Dirty Bird but once again the single hook fails to find purchase...i'm really a fan of using these single hook rigs but sometimes a couple of days like this and i'm questioning my own judgement...

On the way back in i'm almost half apologizing to Kevin about the slower than average fishing but he'll have none of it...

"JT...Don't you realize these were the best two days of fishing we've ever had?"

I guess it takes a little reminding once in a while to realize just how good we've got it down here...thanks for a great trip Kevin and i'm already looking forward to the next one...

After those few days of fishing i was back in the marina for a few days of maintenance and clean up...as often happens when i'm in the marina Capt Herk from the Frantic Pace and i get to thinking...

It didn't take long and we'd checked Terrafin and convinced ourselves it was high time to get out there and take a look at el banquito...

So the next day we loaded up with provisions and grabbed Largo, Abby, Maro, and Missy...and headed out around midnight for a small ghost bank waaaaay the hell out there...

Despite favorable water conditions we managed only a few knockdowns and hooked a dorado and sailfish briefly...no porpoise...and certainly no heartstopping madness but after 36 hrs of covering ground i don't think any of us were complaining...we had beautiful weather...great friends...and with Sue's cooking i for one will take a tough fishing trip like that ANYTIME....thanks to Herk and Sue for a great day and a half on the water scouting around...above all else we came up with a new mantra....

"NEVER GO NORTH!" which seems to work fine for me...at least for now...

It's back to business as usual this weekend chasing around things that have to get fixed on the boat...re-rigging tackle...all the usual suspects...plus some new ones that have cropped up...never a dull moment!

The kids are sufficiently jacked up around here thanks to the Easter bunnie's generous offerings of kid crack...and it was by no small miscalculation that we had more than the usual number of neighborhood kids shaking down the property for any as of yet unturned stone and the promise of another Cadbury cream egg...

So when the festive madness finally subsides i'm going spearfishing with Lora and the gang...because there's some dandy cubera snapper, amberjack, and various groupers and huachinango's around the corner just begging for a spearhead...nothing like a little fresh Pargo for a Mexican easter dinner...

Rumor has it we may be heading south in the next few days...but time...and Terrafin...will tell...

[Fighting Irish45]

Nice Pics!!! Thats one hell of a squid !!

[johnseafood]

So how do you rig that squid Awesome pictures and story to go along with it.

[Seaker]

AWESOME!!!!

[shoefish]

Great report and pics!

Vinny you thinking what I'm thinking?

[Capt Josh]

Thanks guys!

The water is cleaning up offshore as that blue water we've had to run out to moves closer in...it looks like the banks we're normally fishing will light up again but time will tell...we're out again starting thursday so stand by for another report....hopefully it's a good one!