08-19-2003, 08:54 PM
[size 2]It seems that hydro has turned on in the past week
Fished Friday and Saturday aboard SON FISH with the Stratton Family while competing in the Falmouth GrandPrix against 16 other boats.
Had been trading Intel with Charter Capt. Damon Saco on the Castafari who was fishing the Cuttyhunk tourney who I had been talking with for the past week while we were fishing the Nantucket Billfish and he was also offshore when the wind allowed.
Ok, So I had reports of white marlin Blue Marlin catches and had seen Yellowfin to 70lbs from north of Atlantis in the past week
We had to make a decision on were to fish?
We downloaded a roffers at 2100 on Friday and made the call at 2200 that based on the wind and a push of water just south of the canyon we were going to run to hydro and check it out
I normally would not make the long run with 0 Intel but in tournament fishing you sometimes have to take the Hero or Zero approach.
While I am still recuperating form this weekend I will try to recall some details
Friday, extra FAC, leave Falmouth harbor 0130 lines in at 0605 average cruise 25 knots
Arriving at 10 minutes before lines in to get setup and ready for the days troll other boats are already there and a few are arriving we set out 8 lines pulling an assortment of skirted ballyhoo and a at 0625 we hear ET radio in 1 released yellowfin and one boated
We look around to see that they are with in a mile of us and are feeling pretty good about the conditions
We had some life signs. Whales were present and some porpoise leather back turtle and mola
Every flyer and piece of weed had abundant peanut Mahi, whenever we trolled near a flyer we would get covered up by these bluefish like rats and would have to change out several of our ballyhoo and mullet
Before I forget these baits had been rigged by Thomas our 14-year-old Pit Boss and top junior angler
This Young boy has it in his blood from rigging to checking and rechecking the spread and never taking his eyes of the baits for one minute for two days straight
After being rat packed by peanuts a few times trying to raise a tuna next to the flyers trying all kinds of tactics to raise a bigger fish we hooked up to a tuna which when it hit I thought was a 50 lber for about 20 seconds
Then it sounded taking about 300 yds. Of line then I knew we had a much larger fish that was going to be over 100 lbs
Thomas was first to the rod with expert poise and form got himself into the chair after looking at the harness and thought better of the chair after hearing the line peel of the Penn 50 wide single speed loaded with 60 momoi diamond line
The battle was on for 1 hour and 45 minutes with expert boat maneuvering and angling skills by a father and son team It was great to watch these two in perfect sync trying to out wit and short stroke this beast up from the depths after several times of I think he is coming up only to have him peel out another 100-150 yds of line we finally boated it with a fly gaff shot and a tail rope and in the tuna door
Maneuvering on one of these fish with light tackle takes some skill and determination never mind the thought of a fish this big we broke of last year we tried everything from planning it up in the current to cornering it to cut down the angle to backing down whenever possible.
Once boated we identified it a big eye that barely fit into the 65 inch fish box that would put it in the 150-190 class going by the chart.
Fish is bled and packed in 150 lbs of ice and insulation
We are now totally stoked and get the rods back out for another shot at one of these large tuna’s
Next rod goes off for the youngest of our anglers James at the ripe old age of twelve this boy looks small but he is determined and can prove it after boating a yellowfin in the 35 –40 lb class on a 50 class standup equipment
This young angler though did not get a shot at a behemoth did prove his skills by landing many mahi and tuna over the two days of the tourney
So after the first day of fishing we take our 4.5-hour steam back to Falmouth with visions of hanging a big fish at the scales
Once at the scales we had to wait for a few boats to weigh in and Et once again was at the scales for what seemed like an hour
We finally back in and the weigh master comes over with the tail rope for the smaller fish and we open the box
And changes his mind and opts for the block and tackle we hang a 207 bigeye and get a roar from the crowd for the largest fish so far
The fish is sold and off to the fuel dock and to get ready for departure back to? In four more hours
We get another temp chart and listen to the weather before chowing down and hitting the rack for a few hours
Weather is looking pretty good with small craft warnings and wind to twenty knots in the afternoon so
I guess you should not leave fish to find fish, so off we go to hydro again
This day many more boats from the tourney show up, I guess some loose lips turned these boats onto were the big fish came from the first day.
Day two we steamed to hydro again nothing but mahi all morning reports form Et Landing more fish Yellowfin and Albacore also Sweet Caroline had there pick of yellowfin and a big eye on the second day that had us sweating over the biggest Tuna fish Being weighed in
Sweet Caroline called us on the radio to let us know they were on Small yellowfin if we needed release points so we steamed over to max out on 25 lbers for release points we had 5 on at once and another 4 on before moving on to look for some bigger fish .
Early afternoon we had a magnificent view of a tiger shark after being alerted by our resident marine biology student Mike the oldest boys on board he was in the tower and spotted this 6-8 footer just lolly gagging along and I scrambled to the tower to see the shark and missed a yellowfin that swam near this shark and got all lit up as mike put it
We had our pick of mahi’s at any debris for the rest of the day and an occasional yellowfin
With about 1.5 hours left before we had to start steaming back in with one small yellowfin in the box we were starting to feel a little bit down and decide to troll north
As I was resting my self in the cockpit I saw the rigger clip shake a little back and forth and just figured it was the bait tracking in the wake and as I was looking out at the baits the rigger went down and the reel started dumping at an alarming rate the 50 w tiagra was smoking line faster than I have ever seen before.
Thomas grabs the rod and gets into the chair I think what to do? And tell him to push up the drag a little, it is still peeling the fish rockets into the air it is a blue marlin I estimate 450 –500lbs we get the boat going in reverse to try to keep up and pow the spool is dumped and the line snapped all in ten seconds.
Another boat that witnessed the fish jump estimated it at 800 lbs
Ok what went wrong
#1 was not ready for that to happen all in less than ten seconds
#2 maybe should have not touched the drag because of the already present drag of the 500yds of line that was already in the water
#3 if I had thought to turn the boat and chase the fish instead of backing down?
#4 it is just fishing and S$%^t Happens
Ok so we recover from that cluster and get out 5 lines we have about a half hour left to troll and continue north
And BAM!!!! Another reel goes off with the same voracity I tell Thomas to wait, wait, wait, Wait, push it up and hit it and another marlin at about 250-300 lbs goes skyward and spits the hook
At this point we are totally psyched and we recover to troll for another few minutes before the steam back to Falmouth
Final Results of the Falmouth Grand Prix
1st place ET
2nd place Sweet Caroline
3rd Son fish[/size]
[signature]
Fished Friday and Saturday aboard SON FISH with the Stratton Family while competing in the Falmouth GrandPrix against 16 other boats.
Had been trading Intel with Charter Capt. Damon Saco on the Castafari who was fishing the Cuttyhunk tourney who I had been talking with for the past week while we were fishing the Nantucket Billfish and he was also offshore when the wind allowed.
Ok, So I had reports of white marlin Blue Marlin catches and had seen Yellowfin to 70lbs from north of Atlantis in the past week
We had to make a decision on were to fish?
We downloaded a roffers at 2100 on Friday and made the call at 2200 that based on the wind and a push of water just south of the canyon we were going to run to hydro and check it out
I normally would not make the long run with 0 Intel but in tournament fishing you sometimes have to take the Hero or Zero approach.
While I am still recuperating form this weekend I will try to recall some details
Friday, extra FAC, leave Falmouth harbor 0130 lines in at 0605 average cruise 25 knots
Arriving at 10 minutes before lines in to get setup and ready for the days troll other boats are already there and a few are arriving we set out 8 lines pulling an assortment of skirted ballyhoo and a at 0625 we hear ET radio in 1 released yellowfin and one boated
We look around to see that they are with in a mile of us and are feeling pretty good about the conditions
We had some life signs. Whales were present and some porpoise leather back turtle and mola
Every flyer and piece of weed had abundant peanut Mahi, whenever we trolled near a flyer we would get covered up by these bluefish like rats and would have to change out several of our ballyhoo and mullet
Before I forget these baits had been rigged by Thomas our 14-year-old Pit Boss and top junior angler
This Young boy has it in his blood from rigging to checking and rechecking the spread and never taking his eyes of the baits for one minute for two days straight
After being rat packed by peanuts a few times trying to raise a tuna next to the flyers trying all kinds of tactics to raise a bigger fish we hooked up to a tuna which when it hit I thought was a 50 lber for about 20 seconds
Then it sounded taking about 300 yds. Of line then I knew we had a much larger fish that was going to be over 100 lbs
Thomas was first to the rod with expert poise and form got himself into the chair after looking at the harness and thought better of the chair after hearing the line peel of the Penn 50 wide single speed loaded with 60 momoi diamond line
The battle was on for 1 hour and 45 minutes with expert boat maneuvering and angling skills by a father and son team It was great to watch these two in perfect sync trying to out wit and short stroke this beast up from the depths after several times of I think he is coming up only to have him peel out another 100-150 yds of line we finally boated it with a fly gaff shot and a tail rope and in the tuna door
Maneuvering on one of these fish with light tackle takes some skill and determination never mind the thought of a fish this big we broke of last year we tried everything from planning it up in the current to cornering it to cut down the angle to backing down whenever possible.
Once boated we identified it a big eye that barely fit into the 65 inch fish box that would put it in the 150-190 class going by the chart.
Fish is bled and packed in 150 lbs of ice and insulation
We are now totally stoked and get the rods back out for another shot at one of these large tuna’s
Next rod goes off for the youngest of our anglers James at the ripe old age of twelve this boy looks small but he is determined and can prove it after boating a yellowfin in the 35 –40 lb class on a 50 class standup equipment
This young angler though did not get a shot at a behemoth did prove his skills by landing many mahi and tuna over the two days of the tourney
So after the first day of fishing we take our 4.5-hour steam back to Falmouth with visions of hanging a big fish at the scales
Once at the scales we had to wait for a few boats to weigh in and Et once again was at the scales for what seemed like an hour
We finally back in and the weigh master comes over with the tail rope for the smaller fish and we open the box
And changes his mind and opts for the block and tackle we hang a 207 bigeye and get a roar from the crowd for the largest fish so far
The fish is sold and off to the fuel dock and to get ready for departure back to? In four more hours
We get another temp chart and listen to the weather before chowing down and hitting the rack for a few hours
Weather is looking pretty good with small craft warnings and wind to twenty knots in the afternoon so
I guess you should not leave fish to find fish, so off we go to hydro again
This day many more boats from the tourney show up, I guess some loose lips turned these boats onto were the big fish came from the first day.
Day two we steamed to hydro again nothing but mahi all morning reports form Et Landing more fish Yellowfin and Albacore also Sweet Caroline had there pick of yellowfin and a big eye on the second day that had us sweating over the biggest Tuna fish Being weighed in
Sweet Caroline called us on the radio to let us know they were on Small yellowfin if we needed release points so we steamed over to max out on 25 lbers for release points we had 5 on at once and another 4 on before moving on to look for some bigger fish .
Early afternoon we had a magnificent view of a tiger shark after being alerted by our resident marine biology student Mike the oldest boys on board he was in the tower and spotted this 6-8 footer just lolly gagging along and I scrambled to the tower to see the shark and missed a yellowfin that swam near this shark and got all lit up as mike put it
We had our pick of mahi’s at any debris for the rest of the day and an occasional yellowfin
With about 1.5 hours left before we had to start steaming back in with one small yellowfin in the box we were starting to feel a little bit down and decide to troll north
As I was resting my self in the cockpit I saw the rigger clip shake a little back and forth and just figured it was the bait tracking in the wake and as I was looking out at the baits the rigger went down and the reel started dumping at an alarming rate the 50 w tiagra was smoking line faster than I have ever seen before.
Thomas grabs the rod and gets into the chair I think what to do? And tell him to push up the drag a little, it is still peeling the fish rockets into the air it is a blue marlin I estimate 450 –500lbs we get the boat going in reverse to try to keep up and pow the spool is dumped and the line snapped all in ten seconds.
Another boat that witnessed the fish jump estimated it at 800 lbs
Ok what went wrong
#1 was not ready for that to happen all in less than ten seconds
#2 maybe should have not touched the drag because of the already present drag of the 500yds of line that was already in the water
#3 if I had thought to turn the boat and chase the fish instead of backing down?
#4 it is just fishing and S$%^t Happens
Ok so we recover from that cluster and get out 5 lines we have about a half hour left to troll and continue north
And BAM!!!! Another reel goes off with the same voracity I tell Thomas to wait, wait, wait, Wait, push it up and hit it and another marlin at about 250-300 lbs goes skyward and spits the hook
At this point we are totally psyched and we recover to troll for another few minutes before the steam back to Falmouth
Final Results of the Falmouth Grand Prix
1st place ET
2nd place Sweet Caroline
3rd Son fish[/size]
[signature]