As of Thursday afternoon we had only one crewmember. My dad rounded up a friend from the island. My 23 yo son was planning to sit it out bc his girlfriend was in town. After pointing out what a horrible precedent that would be setting he agreed to come. As a bonus his girlfriend wanted to go which caused my wife to make an unprecented second trip of the year.
After a couple of slow days in a row, I decided to go old school. No SST, no reports. Just drive straight out and drop lines n 130ft. The fish gods quickly showed their approval of going back to my roots in the form of a pallet with about 100 dolphin under it. Picked up a small gaffer on the first pass and then pulled in lines and broke out the spinning rods. Caught them until we got tired of it. Mostly slinger size with a few larger fish. Kept about ten and released the rest. Kept noticing one that looked like the top of its head was cut off. Against all odds we caught it. Was clearly an old injury and went down to the bone ajust above the jaw. In spite of that she looked healthy and was full of roe when I cleaned her. Spent the rest of the day trolling between 130 ft and the ledge. Picked up a few more dolphin, a wahoo and s king. Pulled the hook on what had to be a huge wahoo that screamed out the 50 on a planer in full drag. Saw a Marlin sunning and a billfish slashing through a school of tuna. Best looking water I have seen all year. Really fun day with family and friends.
