After a few days of idleness it was good to get back out. I had Reel Thing Chad and a few friends out today. We entered a gorgeous 2foot north chop condition and in short order we had flying fish blowing out every where. I banged the are but drew no bites. The edge was a parkinglot full of boats... I wove in and out of the live bait pack, worked around the drifters and played dodge ball with other trollers.
The crowds were thick and no fish being caught. The water was a touch greenish so I headed to deeper waters... At 300' the weed got thick. IT cleared for a while and just past 500' it formed up a pretty nice line . A nice line yess but so much scattered junk off the center line it was tough to work. A while into the deep water pull I saw something that caught me off guard. The top of a blue matrlin tail sicking near waist high out of the water at full speed getting it. As I alerted the crew, I saw a fish launch trying to get away. A second and third launch revealed a standard size white marlin with Godzilla hot on its tracks. Quite a sight!!!
Don't know whether the blue nailed it or not but it got the blood pumping. I kept hammering the weed line and clearing loose grass when the rigger got blasted. I looked back to see a bill waving behind but can't tell you what species it was. It gave a second shot before I could get to the stick from the helm and was gone. I reloaded and kept at it... A while later we got a lone smallish dolphin... The line was now busted up and unworkable so I headed back inshore.
Right next to us live baiters were bowing up buut I couldn't raise anything... It was a long weedy hard pull for the rest of the day. Only a couple bonitos broke the monotony and eventually it was time to pack it in...
Better than sitting on the dock...
...The Deep C looked lonely and with trips comming this week needed a quick run and add some fuel... Its cold dreary gray sprinky weather today so I decided that just using some left over hoos would work. I slid to my usual starting spot . The water was a touch green but blued up quick. I was just stting my fourth bait when the rigger came down behind me. I was shallow so that usually means one thing... Sail. As I turned to attend to it the other three went down. I looked back and there were four sails swattin and slapping the spread around.
I bowed up on just one. And dead boat fought that one for an uneventful five minute fight. Bill wrapped allowed me to just drag it in. When I unwrapped its bill though it launched snapping the leader...
I reloaded and at 125' I was again covered up. I did my best but the ratio sucjed again an only one stayed stuck... This one pulled off fairly quick. I went back and hammered the hell out of the area but they were gone ... Another couple hours brought no more bites so I went home, fueled and got ready for tomorrows trips...
...Today might be the toughest day I have fished in not only this year but for the last couple. Ideal sail weather but I couldnt draw a sniff. Purple water, 20kts ice cold northwest wind, a couple feet of chop, but no sails on the plate today. It took the whole day but we did get our whole dozen premium gogs gobbled by toothies. Kings for the most part then cudas at the end. One boat well to our south had two tripples early on but by the time we joined the fleet down there the action was off and the teeth were in big supply...
I don't think it broke 50 degrees today and with that cold wet wind whipping all day I came home pretty well hypothermic...
...Now when you wake up in sunny south florida you expect things... Then some things you don't... The new Rolling Tackle Box being covered in ice was a differeent kind of start to my day... Yep scraping the windshield here in Palm Beach Gardens is not all its cracked up to be.
Got to the boat and the water was steaming with the icy north west wind driving it... My man was in place a bit early and we slid through the steamy water and out the inlet... Its eerie when its like that... 35 degree air and 80 degree water making contact with each other producing a thin fog blanket so thick you cant see your baits... By 9:am most of it had burned off and I could see the water was purple.
Between the waves i could see flyers going all over the place. I got in there and hammered. The radio chatter was talking about more fish than yesterday and promise was in the air... Wave after wave of flyers pushed. I saw all kinds of stuff pounding them but its tough to talk fish with flyers on the mind into eating dead hoos...
It was about ten tight passes through thm before we had a sniff. A lazy eat and a spectacular fight... No sooner than we reset than spindlebeak number two ate the same rigger... The tld 25 and my buddy made short work of it. A third pass through this particular pack of working bait had the same rigger go down and by now Mike was on his game and beat even me to the stick for a third straight drop and lock on that one...
Being thoughtful and kind like I am I shared a moment of screaming drag with our GW273 on the phone. He must have poked himself with a sharp thing cause he said "Prick"...
With three in quick succession like that I was hoping for a home run but it wasn't meant to be. More passes through dozens more working schools barfed up the oversized neeters... Then all got quiet... We tried wahoo fishing, king mackerel fishing, slid out deep looking for a blue marlin. Came back in and basically tossed the kitchen sink. About 2:45 it finally started to cook a little we whiffed one sail and on a couple more passes later we had a really small one work over four baits without feeling steel...
Impatient we slid to the beach to try for "spinner sharks" (Black tips). We got right in tight and could see a few up free jumping and going nuts but drew no bites...
So that was the day a good one in my books... I saw one of our new Members, Whitemarlin 16 out there and he took three on live bait too...
Got home and have a new project... Seems the cat brought home a rat and dropped it in the kitchen at my wifes feet... Alive!!!! ... The rat is some place under the refrigerator and missus Deep can be reached at motel six.
Thanks for another great day Paul! I wish I wouldnt have whiffed on that mystery bite. I goofed and while it was nibbling at the long rigger, I was mistakenly watching for it on the short rigger bait instead of feeding the fish. Oh well, rookie error, no biggie. One of these days I will break my marlin/sail cherry
Head spinning. Don't know name. Uggg. Must post. Dilithium crystals running low but must post! Ugg.
Started yesterday. Cousin dave and his Iowa buddies chartered me. We slid off into a beautiful blue ocean and bluebird perfect skies. They were stretching getting the charter and live bait at $100 was just over the top. Out went the dead spread and we went to work. Weworked the flyers being pushed inside. We worked the edge. Evenry time we got next to a boat they hooked up while we watched. We went deep until it was too bumpy to stay. We tried it all but only bonitos to show for it.
We slid back inside and banged the flyers again and this time we had a sail rasise. Swated the right rigger and just went away. A half hour later we had one come in and eat both flatlines in rapid succession the hooks actuelly hung on each other and neither found fish. A third sail came in and I had trouble working through the crowd of Iowas finest . I got there too late and the fish just flipped me the fin. We banged and banged but neeters was our only score.
I slid the Deep into her slip and dashed to join up with Double D, Key Lime Pie, and their buddy who's proline 29 would be our swording platform. They asked where to go and Ipointed out that as far south would be the ticket. We got to the Pompano beach area and set up in 1500'. I was wondering just how the night would be and pondered the goodies the guys brought with them. Key Lime Pies blankie and pillow indicated that he might have thing other than being hard at it. The boat owner also had sleep in his eyes. DD though was on his game.
Just after dark the deep bait was first to sing out... As We tried to come tight the fish launched next to the boat. Nice 52" class keeper started flopping but we were having issues catching up to the 300+ feet of line belly we had. eventually we came tight but the fish wasn't there. Heres where its weird. When the fish was jumping there was no light stick with him. When we brought up the rig. It's light stick and bait were un touched . I guess we just had it lasoed...
A while later I was dropping a bait down and it stopped for just a second... I broght it back up to see a bare hook...
I guess it was around 9:00 when the mid bait came down and all the way tight. Stalemate. No run nor any line gain. It didn't last long as that stick also stood straight...
We gave it up and as I hit the pillow a shade after 1:AM I could only shake off double 0-3 billfish events in the same day.
I was back at it with a 7:AM charter today. An 8 yearold, a teen ager, grandfather of around 80 and my buddy Bruce joined for the fun. First stop was in the inlet. We jigged and jigged for a couple hours besting one 15lb class permit. I was tickled but the kids needed action so to the rock pile we went.
It was grunt city today. Wave after wave of the little salt water piranahas kept me baiting and un huooking non stop all day. We had some guest stars including some noce sized porkfish, blue runners, a deadly scorpionfish, a margate, some horse ballyhoos, and even a spanish hogfish joined us briefly before being released.
Leaving the spot was an adventure. As I pulled the anchor I had my buddy Bruce drive me up to it. Well he accidently hit the throttles and soon I was hustling to keep the line out of the wheels. It was pileing up on the deck fast. I told him to take it out of gear and he hit the wrong levers. Duming it hard in reverse. a coil of line wrapped around my ankle and came tight!
I cleated to keep from getting dragged over and the line just got tighter on me. The tines of my rock anchor finally straightened out and I put her away.
I heard things pop and crack so I'm not sure what the extent of damage is. It doesn't feel right and walking is awkward at best. I don't ever bruise so i cant tell from that. I am swollen and I think I may be looking at a splinter of busted bone Where the leg meets the ankle just near the skin surface...
Ishould get it looked at, but thats going to have to wait. I have a tarpon trip (my first in years) in a few minutes and a sailfish live bait trip in the morning...
See what I go through to keep you guys enetertained!
Well look at this I'm back at a decent hour... Never made it to the tarpon. My passengers Guy and Mike decided to burn up our entire live shrimp supply about a quarter mile from the dock on lady fish and snook. We passed under the second bridge and I pointed to them working in under a light. Each cast a hook up. So that was quick. Nothing monsterous but quick action and possibly the fastest I ever went through three dozen live shrimp...
At least I could stay at the helm. Didn't have to bait or unhook. These guys even cast well...
Raven
I've got the duct tape and paint stir sticks ready to go. I still have another leg if this one falls off. Chub is chub and it would take a whole lot more than missing a leg to miss this trip.
The wind was up. I looked at Bruce, the 8 year old and the 80year old father in law and knew offshore was gonna be short.
I had a well full of live baits we caught yesterday and went to deploying them as i crossed the edge. It was a nasty kind of 4 foot. The father inlaw with his metal hips stayed tough. The eight year old whined with every wave scared each time we rocked. I got to about 200' the radio was chattering with a few sails and dolphin being picked.
As I turned down sea, my right flat runner popped up top with a sail all over him. I fed it and the tld 25 did the work. The boy and Bruce shared the experience. Basically a dead boat fight we had leader in about twelve minutes. I started sending a fresh one out and the other flat that I originally got drilled. Quick hard bit. Father in law took a tunrn and worked the fish nice. I came back on that one hard and it was over quick as well.
I expected Bruce to wave the white flag but he asked if we could try for dolphin. No problem. I Switched to a dead four naked spread and set the autopilot for east as I set it out.
We got to almost 500 feet and the 4 foot stuff had gone to five. I set the W on the compas and had made a hundred yards when the bird bait started rolling out. I cam tight and a billfish launced head high. I was thinking sail but it sure looked stocky. A second greyhound showed pointed dorsal and I got hard on the back up... It was a half hour slugfest but there was the first blue of the year to my transom. I no sooner touched the leadrer that it threw the hook at me. Still counts.
Bruce motioned for me to point at the beach and I thought it was gonna be great to get in real early. As I cleared the inlet he asked if we could go back to the rock pile? I thought to myself. "You just got two sails and a blue and you want to go play with grunts?"
He's the passenger so I stopped at sailfish marina for shrimp and chum. Set her up on the hot spot and enjoyed about five more hours of nonstop grunt grabbing and snapper slapping. The kid had a ball. The father in law was looking more comfortable and we just had a ball. A guest appearance was made by a great big angel fish as well as other exotics...
I thought the boy was gonna cry when we pulled the anchor today but I assured him theree would always be a spot for him next time he comes around..
The game was supposed to be kings. I shut her down in 90' and the water was already crystal clear gorgeous. Too gorgeous. I could see bottom structure all the way to about 110 feet and that meant the kings would see that wire leader just as easily. We did start with a wahoo bite then a king did find the one mono rigged gog that I had to offer.
The phone kept ringing on my peoples phones. Something about snow what ever that is. My guys didn't seem to care. They were focused on staying cool in the 80 degree weather and dealing with some of these...
We picked the well down to just a few. Curt and son both really wanted kings so I continued our quest. With the last three baits we had out I got into about 59 feet of water a quarter mile out the inlet...
The back bait got aggitated and then I saw purple. First one then three more on the flat line. Then the whole damn place was a sea of slashing bills and sails popping up and down.
The long fish bowed up as others fought over the other baits. Shear pandemonium. I think I could actually hear the screams from the gogs "OH shit!!!! Sails!!!!!" One bait swam around the hooked fish's line and hung in mid air with a pack of sails all sticking their heads up before one finally nailed it. Somewhere in the foam the third bait had been gobbled. As lines came tight fish were running into them. Jumping fish all over and we couldn't tell which was on what. What I could see though was that the hooked ones had formed a world class braided knot... :
One by one all three sticks stood up and the ocean became blue again...
I looked in the well and the cupboard was bare. It was time to go but tomorrow we'll be back at it...
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Yep scraping the windshield here in Palm Beach Gardens is not all its cracked up to be.
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. I guess we just had it lasoed...
