January Scores....

[Deep C]

Well '06 started with a mixed bang... Drove down PGA Blvd without hitting a single red light! I can't remember ever doing that before. We had a rare thick fog and I was looking forward to the differe3nt condition. My cell rang as I hit the parking lot. Curt couldn't make it so that put a damper on what was to just be a fun trip to continue working the bugs out on the boat who sat so long.
I arrived at the marina (which was closed) to find that dozens of boats that had been out when they closed yesterday had come back in and "adjusted" other boats so they could fit. Basically a log jam! I found my boat burried in a raft of glass and bad knots and was getting in a mood. Dave my buddy from the fuel dock and ships store and I just scratched our heads. People started arriving to use the boats they had positioned only to find they two were jammed in. So we got to digging and repositioning. It took over an hour but we unburried those who wanted to use their boats and even freed my self up. With the Deep C looking so lonely and a cooler full of yummy hoo worms I just had to go.
Cleared the inlet and hit the autopilot to set me straight . Spread out and so far so good. I noticed my bilge pump kicking on more often than usual and found a shaft leak that I could fix back at the dock. The bid bait went off blind and produced the first wahoo I have seen in quite a while. Little ratty bugger of maybe 12 pounds but at least it was striped. I slid off deep in hopes of finding some dolphin or at least something to pull on and a rigger went down blind in a turn. No jump or epic fight but it was a small 25-30lb class sail that some how got hooked in the bill. I continued on for a while and was worried about that leak around the shaft so I quit early.
Ran in with no problems at all until I reached the no wake zone near my marina. An alarm was screaming and I instantly focused on the guages. My new engine was running just a shade hot so I let her cool down but she didn't ... busted hose...
Got back to the dock, gave the wahoo away, and crawled below the decks to do some fine tuning. Managed to find every sharp hose clamp end from the trannies forward and after giving up about a quart of some premium type B hemoglobin got the leak stopped. Not to be out done the busted hose when I cut it behind the break, came up a half inch short. That involved a couple gallons of gas driving around town on new years day for 50 cents worth of hose but its done... I won again
Ready for tomorrow...

[Deep C]

Well Curt arrived just in time to usher in the south wind of death but we gave it a shot anyhow. 15-20 then 20 solid from the south makes for a great warm beach day but shuts the sails off in a big way. We beat from 70-370' without a touch on the meat all day. We did see one boat pop one on a livie and heard of a couple kings but it was brutally slow. There were mountains of bait to be found all over and oodles of sunshine but no meat eaters. I saw some boils between the chop and dropped my day saver plastic in and we tallied maybe a dozen small bonitos for something to pull on. Better than nothing.
Motor puked on way in and had me scratching my head. Turned over fine. Not hot, good oil pressure, all should have been good to go. Cranked like a champ but wouldn't light.
Went through a series of breaker and wire checks then noticed not just one but both big wires had hopped off my injection pump solonoid . Don't have a clue how that happened as they are tight fit on the connectors... Oh well. Plugged em back in and she ran like a champ...

[Reelhope]

Someone in my family sent me these and thought you might get a kick out of them too. Glad to hear you got the boat out of the marina pile. There is nothing like a fishermen with a bucket in his hand---glad the leak is fixed!!
Talk to ya,
Todd

[Deep C]

Thanks...
I think my boat is haunted... Not happy if it doesn't break in a mysterious way each and every day ... Leak done, batt terminals done, cooling line done, and now these clips... Still don't understand them. They're hard to get off when you want them off. But to have both hop off????? Oh well that ones solved...

[Deep C]

Way hard west wind today. Alternator didn't want to work out of the gate. Needed a jiggle of the exciter wire to do its thing...Did beach drag and jig trip... Ooodles of jacks and big runners. Even a couple blues and macks but nothing to write home about. Saw a bat with cobia s on it but it slid deep before we could get a jig or plug in there... Got home and took a little time to do some cosmetic stuff. Supposed to be north in the Am so maybe the sails will get back on the chew...

[Deep C]

We got the promised 4-6' and north wind today but the stuff was big friendly instead of short nasty stuff. Delightful low to mid 70's temp. Water was still green to 120' but blue and crisp there on out. We should have gone for live bait but being cheapskates we selected trolling instead. We managed a single sail about ten o'clock on a swimming hoo on the rigger... Then about noon we had another single surprise me and eat a cut down mini mamba we had out for bonitos or school dolphin. Even more impressive was that he stayed stck on the plastic!
We palyed with that one on the little 12lb stick long enough for me to leader the fish and have the hook and lure pull out and nail my finger...
More day passed with more bonitos and a lone wahoo bite we raised two more sails that wouldn't eat then the live baiters caught on fire and started picking really well with some getting like 5 or 6. Oh well we had our two dead bait fish under our belt and called it quits a little while ago. Wash down was quick as we had no spray or blood to deal with today...

[Deep C]

Almost mirror smooth but south west wind... Although calm we decided to switch gears and went hunting small stuff just off the beach. I think with the late start we missed the bulk of the bite but we had a goodly amount of blue runners, spanish macks, and a few bluefish to keep us busy... I kind of dropped the ball by not having some small jigs ready for a school of pompano we came across. Although we hoped to find a bat with cobes on it we didn't get that lucky... Made a short trip of it.
Tomorrow is supposed to blow like hell from the west so it may be another beach run. Saturday through tuesday I'm supposed to have SFC member Jim Morrison out for sails...

[Deep C]

The flags at the marina were standing straight and pointing at the beach in the 45 degree air. The Deep Grumbled to life and to the inlet we went. Solid 25 had called for a change in set up and a shot at near shore macks had been the plan. The radio was cackling and I could no more stay inside than get pregnant.
Again no live with me but the bite was hot so I felt good about the dead option... I slid the dinks in a bit past 8 o'clock and I'm home at just after three out of bait! The two dozen fresh we toted are long gone... I know I puked one up to a kite line I got too close to. (MY BOO BOO ) I barfed two up to mahi and another to a surprise king I hung three in the wheels while backing down so that leaves seventeen...
The SAILS WERE PAST ON FIRE!!!! I counted 12 for sure and assume the other five were also sails... We got 7 to the boat! My nephew Mark visiting from South Africa got five, a mahi and the lone king. My od buddy Curt from the Reel Delight bagged a couple and a mahi...
Now if you think what I had going on was hot you should have seen the live baiters... Obscene numbers were getting racked up. Some with 10-15 before 11:30. Guys toting two dozen livies were for the most part out before noon and even some of the three dozen crowd were switching to the dead spreads... Finally what I have been waiting for is starting to cook...
Mark holds some momentos of his trip to America...

[Deep C]

First bait hit the water at 8:15... first fish 8:15... The fog between the waves due to 35 degree air sliding over the 76 degree water had the visibility obscure but I counted at least five fighting over the second bait I put in. We did that duo quick and sharp. Put the baits back out and missed the next five do to some excitability on my anglers parts...
I decided to have a pow wow and school them again at dropping back comming tight THEN bowing up... It seemed to work as they went 3 for the next five.
Big fish and small fish all over then it shut off. They still were there but not eating. Over and over we had fish tail right past the boat or start free jumping... Then even that came to a grinding halt. We sat with no action for a couple hours then poked a rat. About 30 minutes later a single... No a slob single... Dumped a tld 25 in short order. This would be the toughest of the day... We got the big pig to the boat for a pic or two and let the 80lb+ sailasaurus go free. We whiffed a couple more and raised other that wouldn't eat. A late tripple added to the excitement and a final single brought the count to 11 for about a millon that we saw...

[Deep C]

First bait in at 8:02,,, Wahoo bite 8:02. Second and third bait in water at 8:03. First and second sail of the day hooked at 8:03!
We busted out the spin rods for a change of pace and now we had them going opposite directions testing my spools capacity... Finally they started mmoving the same direction and I could turn the boat to get on em. Noticed that the long one was under another boat the SEVEN and let him know on the radio. He too was bowed upon one and took a look from his vantage point. Our fish had run past his transom and had picked up his short kite bait on our line...
Now talk about a good professional sport. He maneuvered so he could cut his own bait off since the bridle was good and tangled with our main line... Then he backed around our fish before chasing his down. A big thumbs up for that courtesy...
This shot was as he backed awy from ours...

We took the first fish and just after letting it go the scond just missed pronging my group as it jumped over the transom! Now hers the good part my camera just happened to catch it landing in the water off my starboard... Note Upside down sailfish in this case is not Australian!

Even gets points for clean re entry

We drown the baits again and the wind and bite died out. We raised three more non eaters and another wahoo bite and a mystery bite for the rest of the day. That being said does not mean though that it wasn't way interesting. We saw oodles of turtles iicluding two big leather backs. One of them had a school of cobia with it that wouldn't eat. We saw a big ocaen sunfish which we never see down here and then what I believe to be a giant bluefin unloaded on something next to us. Left a hole in the water the size of swimming pool! Ooodles of free jumping sails and good company kept the day interesting...