Short Bus 6/17/06 Report Not to bad..could have been worse

[BTH284]

Had nice run offshore Sat with a lil NE bump the farther out we went. Came across a nice 74.8 to 78.9 break just this side of the southeast big rock in only 130 feet of water but opted to keep getting it and finally put lines about 10-12 miles offshore of the SE big rock, water temp was 80.1. We were the only one under 40' LOL. I wanted to head south today to stay away from the crowd up North, even though the SST shot showed some promise up that way.

Put out two squid chain teasers, b/w ilander flasher with HUGE Med select size ballyhoo on the farthest bait back, a naked on each flat and the center rod down the middle, blue and white sailure on the med and blue and white lil hooker moldcraft on the med long and a strip teaser dredge on the downrigger which was my first time pulling one of these and it looked great.

Opted to keep the baits in nice and tight patterned as we were shagging grass about every 3 minutes or so. Had a ton of knockdowns out there most being what I would call shingles as the bait were shredded when we brought them in after hearing the drag "zing". However, also had numerous drag "zings" and dropbacks which when brought in showed us ballyhoo that were mashed paper thin!!. Dirty white boys is what came to mind. Could be wrong. Baits had minimal wash out and we kept them switched/fresh all day. The baitmasters hoo's will get my cash again next year. Kept this ritual up until 11:30 or so and then started trolling north into the current.

Got to the AR 302 and NE big rock and switched out fresh baits again this time all nakeds and left the dredge out. Same story here tons of grass and lots of shingle stripping baits and a few more mashed baits and one nice cut off bait on the long naked.

Turned inshore toward the 90 foot drop about 1 pm and switched out to fresh baits again this time all pink/crystal witches with mylar flash and two pink and white sailures this time on the flats. Took the dredge up and put one down about 45' on the down rigger. No stripped baits this time. Numerous cut offs just behind the hooks not much grass here, as well as half eaten squid on the teaser and cut ballyhoos on the teaser bridle chasers. Water was a little cooler.
Managed 2 nice gaffers 27-30 lbs. One good run on the deep bait but revealed another clean cut just behind the hook. Hit the MOB at this spot where we hooked up on the gaffers and had the deep bait run and fished/trolled back over it 6-8 more passes. Heard lines out at 2 pm from Big Rock HQ and decided to head to the barn ahead of the big boys. And after one of my crew decided to "go overboard" about a dozen times.

Not a bad day, full of learning experiences and re-deemed myself on dropping back to one of the bigger mahi. Been keeping alot of info that I learned here from you guys in my head while out there on Sat. .

[Glenn W]

Grass + Dredge = Aggrivation

Aggrivation + plinks + dropbacks w/o hookup = White Marlin Fishing

Way to keep at it

Dag gum saildogs seem to be a little slow in arriving this year

[JMS-ILM]

we will get that bill before the summer is out....just wait. wish i could have joined you....next time.

[O-SEA-D]

Nice job Brian. Glad you had a good time.

Sounds like some smaller baits might have helped out a little maybe.