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On Friday, I made the 4 hour journey from Wilmington, NC up to Pirate's Cove, NC to join some of my really good friends for an offshore trip on a 32' Carolina Classic called the "Retriever". Busted through the inlet and was greeted with picture perfect seas--about a 2 foot swell with a bit of wind just to break up the surface. The target was billfish and maybe we'll get a few meatfish for supper. Heard there was a bite of meatfish and billfish in 20 fathoms the day before so that's where we started.
(A little background before I get on with the report----while we were rigging the night before, one of the guys who will be left unnamed was rigging a blue/white Ilander for the shotgun line. While rigging he asked if I thought 90 lb. fluorocarbon would be enough (kind of in a joking fashion). I told him he was crazy to put 90lb on possibly the #1 blue marlin lure on the east coast,and recommended the 250 that I was rigging my Iland Pro's with.)
So we set up shop in about 25 fathoms.....Ilander on the shotgun, Pro's on the shorts, naked baits on all the other rods....two dredges--a double stripteaser and a Bluewater Candy dredge that I had picked up on the way up on Friday. First fish is a 30lb yellowfin that crushes a naked bait on my Torsa/Trevala. I made short work on him---he wanted nothing of that combo. Next fish was a flipflop mahi. Set lines back out and was sitting talking with the boat owner with the two of us watching the spread. We happened to both be looking dead at the shotgun when our first blue one took to the air. He ate and cleared the water before the clip popped or pulled one click of drag. He made a short run and was just laying on top....What I didn't realize is that the 90lb. leader was still on the IlanderWell, turns out the fish tail wrapped himself on the initial jump and frayed through the leader in no time. It was hard to tell exactly how big he was when he jumped but we're figuring around 300.
Heartbroken but not defeated we put lines back out (after putting 170lb fluorocarbon on the Ilander this time) and worked the area a bit more. It wasn't 30 minutes later, while I was eating a sandwich I saw something boil on the right long. Couldn't tell what it was and the guys in the tower missed it too. I was running the reels almost in freespool (maybe 1 pound of drag) with the clicker on and the fish never turned the reel over. As I was reeling in the bait to check it (thinking it was a tuna that just boiled on it and missed), I saw that the bait was chewed up.... Right before I pulled the rigger clip down, I saw the dorsal fin of our second blue marlin go through the spread! And what rod did he zero in on??? None other than the Torsa 30/Trevala F Jigging rod that we had caught the tuna on earlier!! Jeremy missed him twice before finally hooking him the third time on the dropback. Cleared the lines and started easing back to him. Put on quite an aerial display before I was able to grab the leader and then his bill within 15 minutes (did I mention that this Torsa/Trevala whooped his ass!?!?). Had to let go of him the first time since he wasn't quite ready--fought him another 5 minutes and grabbed him the second time. This time it was for good....got some good pictures of him and turned him loose unharmed. (When we turned him loose he slapped the side of the boat with his tail with more force than I've ever heard before so you can be sure that he was in great shape!) The rest of the day was a little uneventful with only a couple more mahi's to fill the voids. Heard of a few more billfish from the charter guys along with a decent wahoo bite but was unable to tell where they were. I think it was at the 000's but not sure. All in all a little slow on the ocean but the two blues saved the day!
Enjoy the pictures below of the fish (that's myself on the wire) along with Jeremy (the angler) taking a splash in the canal when we got back!
Taking a day off today to do some housework and going after some sails and grouper tomorrow. (My roommate, Clint Richardson won the Sailfish Tournament this past weekend after going 4/4 on Friday and jumping a 5th fish off on Saturday!)
Tight lines!
Bryan Williams
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Originally Posted by JMS-ILM
