Sat 6/19 report

[tankerfly]

It all started at the ramp... Got there nice and early with the giggers just finishing up and retrieving their boats. We were next in line to launch (Mythosbeer had shown up by now and can verify the scene) when the 12-14' jon boat was getting loaded on the trailer. Not sure exactly what happened, but the tow vehicle pulled out and the boat was not attached. somehow, it capsized and almost completely submered - still in the ramp! The one guy between yelling about how slippery it was and yelling at his friend was trying to gather their quickly departing gear. We helped him out and righted the boat and got them out. Then they wanted to try and start the motor right there blocking the ramp! We kindly told them to do it elsewhere as there were plenty of boats waiting.

We finally launched and headed out towards some spots about 40 miles out of NRI. When we got there, we set out a wahoo themed spread. Got the first fish after about 15 min. Put up a good fight and we thought it may have been the target, only to pull in a stinky. Oh well, set them back out, and keep on it. I saw a big mahi go through the spread, but not commit. We circled back and hooked one up that jumped - easily the largest gaffer of the season we had seen. We fought it for a few minutes and then the line was cut off. We should have known better at this point. Lines back in, and hook up somthing big on the purple/black deep. 50 minutes on a TLD50 later, 7-8 ft bull shark at the boat. Of course we thought we had the state record wahoo for the first 30 min, then it became apparent something wasn't right. After we got it in and had some baits in the water, a bunch of tiger sharks started swimming around. Time to go!

We headed to the Naeco, made a couple passes with nothing. Dropped a jig on my new build (field tested with Ponce in April) and the guys wanted to know about the acid wrap. To explain it, I grabbed the leader and started to put a little tension in the rod. To my amazement, it snapped like a pencil 12" from the tip! I was not happy, especially after I have had fish to 60/70lbs on it with no problems. Pic below.

We started to push off to yellowfin hole when the storm coulds started changing and threatening our plan. We made the right choice and turned and burned. We managed to outrun the main part of the 2 storms that combined, but saw a bunch of other boats that weren't even starting to leave when we passed them. Hope they all made it OK. Hit some good weather and had a knockdown that looked like a king and then finally got our only mahi of the day- a flip-flop about 10 miles out after 140 total miles on the day.

Turns out we learned a lot (like our rigging can stand up to some big fish), had fun, and made it back safe, which makes it a good day!

Long story short, total for the day: 2 small albies, 1 cuda, 1 bull shark and a couple assorted pinfish from the bottom. I think we qualified for a version of the trash fish slam! Should have some pics of the shark soon.

[WAHOONBOX]

GOOD REPORT TANK! THANKS FOR SHARING...SORRY IT WAS NOT THE GREAT DAY YOU HOPED FOR BUT NONETHELESS YOU WERE ON DA WATER...


NICE SEEING YOU BRO....STAY SAFE FOR US

[clt_capt]

bummer on the rod. Any chance there was a nick on the blank?

[bigfishhooker]

Tankerfly....what is ur boat name?

[mythosbeer]

It was a very interesting morning. The people still in the truck after we pulled up to the ramp saw it better than I as I was already on the boat putting stuff away. One guy drives the littles jon boat up on the trailer. Immediately the guy standing on the dock jumps in the truck and just starts pulling the boat out. Doesn't worry about hooking it up. Needless to say, the boat went flop and gear mixed with beer cans started departing the area quickly. Some entertainment first thing if nothing else...hopefully nothing was messed up too bad.

Hit the water and made good time out 45 miles into 81 degree water. While I was putting the first line out, I couldn't put it in the outrigger clip before we had the first fish of the day...a tiny peanut dolphin. We had 5 or 6 short strikes and one sailfish slash a bait but nothing we could get hooked up. This was all in the first 20-30 minutes. With the exception of the sail...I'm sure they were all little peanuts. We tried the area another hour and a half with nothing much happening. We are deciding to head offshore toward Swansboro Hole when the #24 planar trips. We pull the rest of the lines in and work on the fish. I see some color and it looks brown. I'm thinking AJ...with a hope for a cobia in the back of my mind. Turns out I reach down and grab a 24lb+ scamp grouper. I know I let the planer creap...but I was still dumbfounded. Anyways...he will taste good later today. We decided to try a place to jig before pushing offshore. We catch a few AJ's and almaco jacks...which was nice lots of fun with some newbies on board. Its always great seeing someone hook into a 30-40lb AJ on a jigging rod for the first time.

We start to push offshore and the storms start kicking up something nasty.We stop short and put a spread out about 6 miles short of the rise...which was on the edge of the storms. We wanted to see what they were going to do and then make a plan...well all we saw were more cells popping up all over so we packed it up and headed in a ways. We stopped and tried our best to jig at some of our grouper spots once we got a little sun above us but they were just not biting. We pulled up a couple little sharks and other assorted fish but not any grouper. We did have one good hit but it never got off the bottom before coming unbuttoned.

We decided to call it a day and made it back to the ramp at 4:00 or so and started to clean the fish and boat. Matt, I'm guessing you got back earlier than that since we didn't see you at the ramp. I heard you on the radio but I'm guessing you couldn't hear us. We tried to call you a couple times...another buddy of mine pretended to be you once but only for a minute, haha. It was nice to be on the water and see some spectacular lightning come straight down to the water. It was nice to be on the water again...even though the fishing wasn't great.

To end the day...at the ramp...someone had their motor blow the cover off near the marina. They got it back to the ramp somehow and proceeded to load the boat while I was cleaning the fish. Next thing I hear is this terrible scratching sound. They didn't raise the motor at all while pulling it out and the skeg was grinding away on the pavement. What a day!

Mitch

[mythosbeer]

Sorry about the rod Matt. That sucks. A lot of work put into it.

[Nauti Natured]

Glad you made it out Matt. Sorry about the rod. Ill get you out of Morehead one of these days!

[tankerfly]

clt_capt - I checked and re-checked looking for signs of a nick- can't find anything wrong.

bigfish- I was on a friend's 29 sailfish. Don't have a boat anymore!

Mitch- Yeah, if figured something was up when I didn't hear back from you. Seems like that storm played havoc with comm. I think you beat us to the dock by about a half an hour - we spent a lot of time trying to make something happen around Christmas Rock. I'm glad we missed the show in the afternoon - I don't think I can take seeing two bad situations at the only ramp in one day! Heard you had the same blank break, what happened with it?

Nauti- thanks and I'll be in touch.

[Bert Rodgers]

It's amazing the stupid shit you see at boat ramps. You should try one in South Florida on a Saturday afternoon sometime.

Bert

[mythosbeer]

Heard you had the same blank break, what happened with it?

It literally had someone hanging off it. Someone lost there balance in some rough seas a couple weeks ago. We told him to hang on coming back through the inlet as it was a bit rough that day...he didn't listen and went over the side and tried going through the rod, which was in the gunnel, before hitting the water. The rod ended up snapping at the butt, through the EVA and all. Nothing to do about that. The only rod that wouldn't break in that situation would be the aluminum butt trolling rods. I curious as to why yours would break...I have built 4 of those blanks and they haven't had a bit of trouble. One even caught the 110lb AJ in January. I guess you can strip the rod and send it back...it has a lifetime warranty I believe.

btw, I knew the scamp was big but if I had known how big a specimen it was for a scamp grouper...we might have taken it to get an official weight. It weighed over 24lbs on my scale.

Mitch