Monterey Bay Aquarium trips on the Shogun...

[Captain Michael Buffington]

Here are some pics from my time on the Shogun. These are the trips we collected pelagics and brought them back alive to san diego where they were put in a big aqarium tank on an eighteen wheeler for the trip to Monterey Bay. Ill do them one at a time unless someone can tell me how to put a caption with each post.

Pic #1 is us "putting the wood" to mixed 40lb yellowfin and skipjack. Your trying for skippies when a 30 to 60lb yellow inhales it and tries to take your manhood. We used single pole rigs with loops on either side so if you got "f-d" as was the term someone else or two could lend a hand. You were cool as long as you anticipated the bite, but you were screwed if you were not ready I watched a guy I worked with Troy Cunningham who had worked on albacore stick boats for years work a "squid". He bet anyone on the boat 50 bucks he could have a 3 foot pile behind him in 5 minutes. Well the sky rained skippies and small yellows for five minutes and noone lost any money because nobody bet.

Mike

[clt_capt]

To do captions for each picture, you need to upload them to the photo gallery and then place the link to the picture below the caption - Look on the top bar for Pictures.

Looks like a cool thread...

[Captain Michael Buffington]

This is a small bluefin destined for the aquarium. That day they would not eat a jackpole bait but I was getting that size fish over and over on 300lb spectra and 250lb seagar fluorocarbon. The funny thing to that story was my "nemesis" Dan Griffith went apeshit because I was slamming them on 80lb and he was fishing 100lb. He comes waddling on over in his bald-headed overweight(by more than me)frame and says I'm takin' too long. Well I told him to show me how...He broke the handle off a cal sheeted and blue printed tld 50 with tiburon plates. The next day after laughing myself to sleep I woke up and rigged up a 50 with 300lb a 250lb fluoro and worked his ass all day. The conclusion to this eventful day is worth it...I promise.

[Captain Michael Buffington]

other than some that didn't come out so well. The maid at the lighthouse lodge in Venice stole the album the day before Katrina. We were headed to the cabo area for yellowfin and Dorado as well as some other smaller warm water stuff except a pelagic whitetip which we will get to next with a pic.

We had a hurricane down off Cabo according to weatherfax and asked the monterey guys what they wanted to do. It took a week at least off us arriving to the potatoe bank and that makes getting the cow yellowfins as well as the rest of the list a bit tougher, alot tougher actually.

We fished an islad called Guadeloupe quite abit on 5 to 10 day trips and the average day was 100 yellowfin around 60 to 120lbs. Some days great whites would eat every one but a couple. They would eat you kite baits and then try breaking 200lb spectraWE had recently devised a way of catching whities without hooks to make them leave us alone and offered to let them sattelite tag them instead of cows. They agreed...

Step 1. Troll some small feathers and load up on little tuna. Bruce Smith is the one who initially thought of this but this was our method of jaws protection. Take a skippie or football yellowfin and freeze it solid. Take an electric drill and drill 50 holes in his carcass. Then take the rednecks best friend(baling wire)and "stitch" it through every hole ending in a "bridle" sticking out of his mouth. Attatch that to a 3/4" black polypropylene rope and put it back in the freezer. We had dozens

Step 2. Go to Alijos Rocks and catch the absolute hell out of 60lb yellowfin. All of us with chunkin knives and burlap sacks and garbage bags and milk crates...Can you see where this is going?

Step 3. Anchor up where you usually fish


It was cool as hell. That night on my watch with no bags over I could see two on side scanning sonar just cruising around us. I couldn't sleep and at first light we dropped two bags over and readied the pitch baits, one in each corner. It did not take long and here comes a big female with mating scars all over her head. Bruce had the honors and pitched it right in front of her massive form. I swear the chills from seeing those things up and close What you do is take a wrap and a half so to speak on your cleat when he eats it and believe it or not you got his ass. He will jump and cartwhell and come to the boat(gets a 50' cockpit wet)you put that highdollar tag in and give slack and off he goes. WE tagged 27 in 8 days.

Mike

[Captain Michael Buffington]

on another trip the next year they wanted a pelagic whitetip shark. Well it was a big joke on the boat that I was the "shark fisherman from Texas" because I love makos and they could give a crapWell the dubious title of shark king was laid on my shoulders and I for one was secretly happy I had all kinds of tricks ready, but all it took was being around a school of tuna in 77 to 85 degrees of water at night. I had a chumbag over the whole time and caught 4 whitetips and 50 blue sharks. i finally just used the lights and fed the right ones...This one is the fourth. 1 was too big and two died crossing water temps. The fish beside him are pilot fish which created a mad scramble for nets after mr. whitetip exited door number one

Mike

Mike

[Captain Michael Buffington]

was all about water temp. Fish like white tips and dorado can't take a fast temp. shock like tuna. Albacore just fall apart so we catch them on the way in. We take the fish out according to avalability and the are put on an eighteenwheel aquarium tank with windows if they are large or dangerouse(like buffy, thats his name and I think hes still living)the others like tuna and mahi went in a big pool. They just chilled and swam around the place. Really neat thing to see

Mike

[PortlyRedhead]

Thanks for the stories and photos. I fished a 5 day trip with Norm down to Guadalupe, albacore fishing along the way,over a decade ago and still remember what a classy operation he ran.

[gottaflylee]

Thanks for sharing Mike, please keep this going...

[Big Jay]

Those are awesome pics my man! That's a child dream of mine to catch my own fish for the aquarium.

That whitetip story is bad ass! Would love to take a shark for the local aquarium one day.

[Robja]

Nice thread Mike. I like the pics