01-26-2006, 04:02 AM
SATURDAY on the LUMP. Saturday found the Hydra Sport parked on the lump with the other dozen or so boats that were present.
We found great water conditions with a little bit of a bumpy ride on the way out but it calmed down nicely as the day went on. We also found the tuna to be very aggressive. There were plenty of fish in the chum slick, most being yellowfin and blackfin, there were not that many bonita in the chum. The strikes were everywhere with some fish hooked at the transom with others hooked well behind the boat in the slick. The fish wanted the lines worked and they wanted chum size pieces of bait.
The first timers that we had on the boat all got to fight tuna with one monster that threatened to spool a 50 wide. We had to come off the hook to chase that one, only to loose him to a cut line well into the fight.
Our hookup to landing ratio was not that great, landing 3 of 8 yellowfin with several blackfin to top off the box. The largest fish was about 100 pounds with the others going in the 60 to 70 pound range.
Our Saturdays are gone until March, we have a few Sundays open and scattered weekdays. Give us a call if a lump trip is in your plans.
SUNDAY at the LUMP …… Sunday was a much different day then Saturday was. By the time we passed WD-117 the seas had built to a good 6 foot with an 8 thrown in every now and then just for good measure. The only saving grace was that they were not stacked vary tight and thank the good Lord they were not breaking that bad.
We found our spot and began working the rods. With a little chum in the water, we began to pass the rods out, as soon as the first baited chunk hit the water the reel went to singing. The customer was caught by surprise by the quick bite and let the reel backlash just a little. Finally the drag made it to strike and the fish began to strip the line at an amazing speed. This was obviously a good fish but we will have to wonder forever. He had obviously swallowed the bait deep and was successful in chewing the line in two.
It went dead for a while but we knew that the fish were there because they were busting all around us. There were flying fish all over the place and occasionally we would spot open schools of tuna busting the flying fish. We never saw anything in our chum all day Sunday
We got one blow-up on the flying fish in the chum but the hooks missed. We got a couple of good bites on the poppers but that was just not what this crew wanted to do so we went back to figuring out just what they wanted on the drift lines. We finally found the right combination. It seems the fish around our boat wanted the bait send back into the chum, then just leave it alone.
Our next strike came and was fighting like it was a good fish at first then it just sort of gave up and made it boat side within a few minutes. I got one hell of a shock to see a 100 pound tuna pop to the surface belly up. Somehow this fish was hooked, tail wrapped and the line was wrapped around his body and hung around a fin. What a lucky guy this was. The customer ……… all he could say was that catching a yellowfin had been a long time dream and it had just come true, he did not care how pretty or ugly it was.
We finished the day with 2 yellowfin, a few blackfin, and an amberjack that bit in the chum line.
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We found great water conditions with a little bit of a bumpy ride on the way out but it calmed down nicely as the day went on. We also found the tuna to be very aggressive. There were plenty of fish in the chum slick, most being yellowfin and blackfin, there were not that many bonita in the chum. The strikes were everywhere with some fish hooked at the transom with others hooked well behind the boat in the slick. The fish wanted the lines worked and they wanted chum size pieces of bait.
The first timers that we had on the boat all got to fight tuna with one monster that threatened to spool a 50 wide. We had to come off the hook to chase that one, only to loose him to a cut line well into the fight.
Our hookup to landing ratio was not that great, landing 3 of 8 yellowfin with several blackfin to top off the box. The largest fish was about 100 pounds with the others going in the 60 to 70 pound range.
Our Saturdays are gone until March, we have a few Sundays open and scattered weekdays. Give us a call if a lump trip is in your plans.
SUNDAY at the LUMP …… Sunday was a much different day then Saturday was. By the time we passed WD-117 the seas had built to a good 6 foot with an 8 thrown in every now and then just for good measure. The only saving grace was that they were not stacked vary tight and thank the good Lord they were not breaking that bad.
We found our spot and began working the rods. With a little chum in the water, we began to pass the rods out, as soon as the first baited chunk hit the water the reel went to singing. The customer was caught by surprise by the quick bite and let the reel backlash just a little. Finally the drag made it to strike and the fish began to strip the line at an amazing speed. This was obviously a good fish but we will have to wonder forever. He had obviously swallowed the bait deep and was successful in chewing the line in two.
It went dead for a while but we knew that the fish were there because they were busting all around us. There were flying fish all over the place and occasionally we would spot open schools of tuna busting the flying fish. We never saw anything in our chum all day Sunday
We got one blow-up on the flying fish in the chum but the hooks missed. We got a couple of good bites on the poppers but that was just not what this crew wanted to do so we went back to figuring out just what they wanted on the drift lines. We finally found the right combination. It seems the fish around our boat wanted the bait send back into the chum, then just leave it alone.
Our next strike came and was fighting like it was a good fish at first then it just sort of gave up and made it boat side within a few minutes. I got one hell of a shock to see a 100 pound tuna pop to the surface belly up. Somehow this fish was hooked, tail wrapped and the line was wrapped around his body and hung around a fin. What a lucky guy this was. The customer ……… all he could say was that catching a yellowfin had been a long time dream and it had just come true, he did not care how pretty or ugly it was.
We finished the day with 2 yellowfin, a few blackfin, and an amberjack that bit in the chum line.
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