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Capt. Mark DeBalsio and mate Ty McGowan made their way south to the nice water on the Hooked UP2, starting trolling in the 500 fathom area of the Wilmington. They worked the break down to the area where it crossed the 100 fathom line a few miles by the Baltimore Canyon. Late in the day they had a shot of yellowfin, going 2 for 4 on nice 45-60 lb fish. They trolled until 10pm with no more action.
For the night, they set up on out near 500 fathoms near the break, releasing a small mako around 80 lbs just about midnight. At about 3 am, the deep sword rod goes off and the fish immediately spits the bait. Capt. Mark cranked the bait to the boat only to have the 150-175 lb sword chase it right to the transom. Putting the reel in freespool, the fish picks up the bait and charges off, dumping a few hundered yards off a Penn International 50VSW against 24 lbs of drag. As we are clearing the other three rods, two get bit. The first one is a 12 lb mahi, but the second one starts pulling really good and Capt. Mark was wondering if we have a doubleheader of swords. The first fish is straight down and the second fish is making laps around the bow of the boat. After 20 minutes the hook pulls on the first fish and we concentrate on getting the second fish up. 10 minutes later a 200 lb class mako surfaces and we get the gaff in her and tie her off. It was now nearing trolling time, so they just reset a few lines while we cleaned up and secured the fish .
Up on the troll around 4:30, they had a flatline/ skirted bally go off in the first few minutes and put a nice yellowfin in the boat. They made their way back to the 100 fathom line and saw a slow pick develop into a fairly steady bite for two hours, going 7 for 12 on nice yellowfin. Most fish came on skirted ballyhoo, with a few falling to 9 inch Canyon Runner purple black squid bars. The bite died off around 10am so they went in search of tilefish, making just two short drifts resulting in some beautiful golden tiles to 20lbs and one gray tile. All in all, a great way to kick off the 2007 canyon season.
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