MHC 4/3

[Ponce]

Sticking with my plan for 2010 which is; anytime I have the weather and can get a crew together I’m hitting the water, regardless of recent reports or how the bite has been lately.

So I put together a plan for Sat. Matt (tankerfly), and Caleb, were my core crew. I also took Rich, one of Marines going through our training and his wife Laura. I have to admit I was a little apprehensive since Rich and Laura had never been fishing in the ocean. I gave them all the warnings about the length of the day, the lack of a toilet, and that if you get sick you are pretty much stuck till we come home, they just said hey we are all in! The reports from Fri that I received from a few people and what I saw posted didn’t look too promising for the troll, but at that point I was committed.

After watching the temps like everyone else this week the plan was to head south towards the SBH and go from there. We broke the inlet at 0500 and settled in for the 60 mile run, the water was nice and it was a comfortable ride. Close to the SBH in about 69.5 temps we set the spread just a little after 0730. We headed towards the scallop bed, and then pushed out to 150 fathoms and back without a sniff. The temp was between 70 – 72.5 pretty much the whole time. Never heard anyone on the radio saying anything positive either. At the point we decided to go work some wrecks on the way in.

Matt had a new jig rod he had built that we wanted to get a good first test on and I had a couple of jig rods so we figured we would just swap on the drifts so everyone would get a chance at some pullage. First stop was AJ heaven Matt now knows his rod is go to go. All the AJ’s were in the 40-70 lbs. range. Second drift Matt has Rich on his rod and Rich hooks one of if not the biggest AJ of the day for his first saltwater fish. It was fun watching him battle this beast and teasing him while he fought the fish. Next the goal was to get Laura her first fish, she caught a smaller one, but there was a little competition going on between her and her husband. She wasn’t satisfied and on the next drift she caught one of the bigger ones as well. We played with them a little longer with everyone catching a few more AJ’s. Matt also landed one of the endangered Gags that was 20 plus pounds, he was vented and released.

We stopped at one more wreck and caught Beeliners and BSB and headed home. Nice ride in we were at the dock just a little after 1630. Rich and Laura did great all day they loved it and are hooked on saltwater fishing. All they wanted me to know at the end of the day is if I ever have openings to give them a call. Overall it was a great day on the water with friends; I wish we could have put some meat in the boat on the troll. But, hey we gave it an honest attempt. Caleb and Matt work the trolling spread perfectly and made sure Rich and Laura caught fish jigging as well as managing a few themselves. Like we all say you just can’t beat a good day on the water.

All the pictures taken were on the other folks cameras if I get them I will add them later.

[tankerfly]

Got to run to church, will update later today. Thanks Ponce- it was a great time!

Tough day on the troll, but couldn't beat the weather. We also saw a few big turtles. I enjoyed the conversation all day- trading tips on rod building, tackle preferences, techniques, etc. That turned lack of trolling action into a good learning experience.

The AJs were fun and brutal as usual. I'm really happy witht he way my rod turned out and that we got to test it on some quality fish. The one in the picture was the first and one of the smaller. I usually change jigs a bunch of times, but today the ET sandflea in potroast was the ticket. I think Rich and Laura will be talking about those AJs for a while!

The gag was a personal best, killer that we had to release it. Oh well, some one will eat well on May1!

Once again, thanks for the fun day on the water and it was nice to finally meet Ponce and CalebW.

[Ponce]

Matt, glad to see you made it home safe and sound. That was one long day you put in.

[reelreturn]

Nice that the newbies enjoyed the trip, hate to have someone sick on the boat all day. Nice report, would have thought there would have been something on the troll with that warm water

[Sea Draggin]

Pretty work Jeff. Way to break in the newbies.