Planner Rod saved the day!

[Capt-D]

First off thanks to Off The Hook Bait and Tackle (Chuck and Mary) for getting my planner replacements. Without them i wouldn't have a report!

Fished Friday the 13th out of OCMD. We decided to get an early start (since we were not fishing the tourney) and the jump on the 200 or so boats that would be fishing the tuna tournament and cleared the inlet by 0420hrs. Headed to Massey's. By 0535 we were setting the spread. Seconds after setting the right long (third bait set) a hole appeared were the blue/green witch - med bally combo had been and the game was on. The fish was fought for about 35 minutes only for the hook pull clean at the side of the boat the moment I reached for the leader. It was a nice mid-fifty inch BFT. Suddenly I had the feeling that we were going to have a repeat of the week before when we went 0-5

Set the rest of the spread out and continued re-working the same area. As soon as the tourny boats arrived it c=got a little crowded so we slowly worked are way to the chicken bone and hambone. We continued to mark both bait and large fish on the screen all day. By 1400 we had made are way back to Massey's. We continued to work large schools of bait until i finnaly found a huge schhol with at least a dozen solid hits sitting ujnder it. We worked it for about 15 minutes with nothing. I decided to send the planner ower and sent it to what I started to think was the bottom. Within five minutes we had a hookup on the planner. 10 minutes later a 45" BFT was on the deck. Reset the planner and 5 minutes later a mid 30 inch fish was landed and released. We continued to work the same ball of bait. Reset the planner to the same depth for a third time and within 15 minutes hooked up and landed a respectable 48" fish. It was a little tricky to measure but we made the decision that it was legal and stuck it. It actually turn out to be 48.5" Thats one of the hard things about having a slot limit like they currently have!

Ended the day going 3 for 4 and bringing home two decent fish.

Pic is only of the first fish. All I have until I get more from the party.

-D

P.S. - never try to clear the spectra from the tip of the planner rod while the # 24 planner is set and dropping down, as you might just about lose your finger tip and have to spend some hard earned $$$ at the after hours urgent care only to learn that you were lucky to still have the tip of your finger and may have permanent nerve damage! Trust me you wont be quick enough, at least I wasn't!!!!!

[Proheat]

Good report Dennis!!!

Glad the planer saved the day.


Are you Ok buddy????

[Nimrod]

Glad to hear you caught a few and that your finger is still mostly in tact. And thanks again for the call Friday night D. See ya this weekend.

[Randy Stinchcomb]

Good Job Dennis nice toget some meat
Im guessing I'll have toget you some Finger-Dingers too, huh

[LadyAngler]

Capt-D, glad that we were able to get those to you in time for your fishing trip.

However, in the pic was that tuna blood or your blood????

Kidding aside, I'm glad to hear that you're OK. Hope that it doesn't lay you up too long from fishing.

[JD5652]

D-

Thanks for the report....... hope everything is OK with the digits....

[Capt-D]

Capt-D, glad that we were able to get those to you in time for your fishing trip.

However, in the pic was that tuna blood or your blood????

Kidding aside, I'm glad to hear that you're OK. Hope that it doesn't lay you up too long from fishing.

Thanks Mary, all is goood and I'll be back oput there this weekend! Hell it happened at 7am and I wasn't gonna let him turn the boat around on my part! I just threw enough bandages on it to stop the bleeding and wore a glove the rest of the day.

I'll be ordering a couple more planners shortly as we lost the one to get my finger free!

-D

[Bite Me]

Nice report Dennis and some fine eats ta boot!

Big planners with braid can be a scary combo. Could have been a lot worse.......

[Tyson]

Man those bluefins are beautiful! thanks for the post