Saturday was one of those rare combinations of events; decent weather, a weekend, an open day and the fish were biting. So you do what you know best – you fish. We loaded up some friends and our number one angler (Hunter) and headed off in pursuit of dolphin and wahoo. The ride out was a little bumpy, but once we were out the seas seemed to settle down. I was in charge of the pit and it felt like I shucked about 2 tons of weeds on Saturday, but you have to take what is dealt you and make the best of it. We were able to squeeze out a decent catch trolling. Although I did loose the first fish which hit a Tiagra 30 that was just behind a teaser. It was singing loud and you just knew that meant wahoo. To make a long story short the last thing I heard as the fish neared the boat was from a voice on high, “Be careful, it doesn’t look to be hooked real well.” Man I hated to hear that! Didn’t even get to take a swipe at it because two seconds later it was swimming free. Caught several dolphins, letting Hunter tune up on a smaller one (he would need the practice as you see below).
Later we hooked a nice one and decided it was time for Hunter to step up to his full potential. He fought this one like a true champion. I dropped the reel to lower gear towards the end and he worked the fish right up to the back of the boat. I stuck him and as I was bringing him over the transom decided that I would go to the deck instead of the fish box since it was such a nice fish. Well you should have seen Hunter’s reaction, his lower jaw bounced off his chest and his eyes were as big as a 400 pound marlin’s. This fish is Hunters largest catch, dang near as big as he is.
We ended the day on the best note possible. I had all the lines cleared and was pulling in the dredge when what shows up but 3 or 4 dolphin to check things out. A quick reaction by those on board and within seconds we had some ballyhoo chunks in the water to keep them close. Out comes some light spinning tackle and it is on. Nothing like having dolphin skying just a few feet behind the boat, hooked up on light tackle. We boated a few more to round out a great day on the water.
Sunday
I took the day off to spend with the family and Shane took a charter out to the stream (great group out of Winston-Salem). Action kicked in quick with a white marlin munching on the dredge 45 minutes after the baits were set. They threw everything at it but the sink from the head and it could not be tempted. Scattered weeds continued to challenge those in the pit.
After picking up a few dolphin, the secret weapon was deployed. Nice breezing day, sunny and not a care in the world -- so what do you do? You go fly a kite, especially if you are 50 some miles out and marking tuna. Well if you never seen it or tried it, you sure are missing out. Can you imagine tuna (and dolphin) leaping out of the water after a flying fish? Now attach that flying fish to your line and game on!
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