It was a calm and overcast morning as we loaded the boat for a 5:00am departure. The wave forecast was 3’ @ 5 seconds, however getting out past the jetties we were met with some pretty big waves that we were quartering into. With the strong winds, we took a good number of splashes over the side of the bow, and a few waves were big enough that the splashes were blown over the top of our center console. After getting pretty wet we turned into the waves directly to try to prevent getting any more wet. Fortunately around 10-15 miles out the waves laid down a little and we were able to up our speed to around 35 mph. The ride out was pretty uneventful after that, but I really missed seeing the sunrise due to the cloud coverage.
We had a lean crew consisting of my Pops, @flowerbits, and myself. We went straight out to a depth of around 450’ where we found a scattered weed line and a nice looking scout that was already gaffing a mahi! I woke up @flowerbits (who had managed to get some sleep on the way out there), and we all got to work deploying the outriggers and prepping the rods for trolling.
We stayed on that weed line for most of the day, staying between 450-550’ and managed to pull in 17 mahi. The sun came and went, and the seas were pretty kind. By the time we had reeled in the fish we were too tired to go bottom fishing. We sat around floating for about an hour, cleaned up some of the carnage, and headed for the hill.
On the way back we were going around 40mph until we hit a thunderstorm around 20 miles out. My radar isn’t working so we drove through the storm which was pretty miserable. There were white caps everywhere, and a lot of strong cold wind. Fortunately we only saw a few lightning strikes with the closest being around 5 miles away. The rain definitely helped clean some blood off the boat!
Thanks for the report! awesome trip…one to remember for sure. Had one flopping few years ago that cut me 2" long on right jaw. I remember that trip like it was yesterday! LOL.
Thanks for the pics and the good report. I really enjoyed them.
Lots of times in the past people would put up pictures and a report just to have other posters biotch and moan about something they thought was wrong or could have been done differently,armchair quarterbacks if you will. It seems they can only focus on something to criticize before joining the conversation.
At the risk of being lumped into that category I see some things going on in those pictures and post that could, in my opinion, use some attention.
If you would like an outside opinion tossed into your fine fishing report and obvious successful day speak up, I’d be honored to give you an opinion and suggestion. Before saying yes, know that everyone has an opinion and everyone has an arsehole, in my experience most of them stink,mine included.
If it were me I would never ever handle a green 4 foot mahi with the hook still stuck in his face for the sake of a picture. I know those big slingers are the prettiest right before the leave the water and just after they hit the deck, but in each of the pics and the videos the hooks were very precarious. That’s really a NO NO. Triple T alluded to it, and I have seen some nasty gouges and rips handling green fish, evidently he has too. Never try that with a cobia that size, or a shark.
As long as we are here, lets get it all out. If it were me and I had a transom door and a floor box like your nice boat does I would make ready the floor hatch with one guy and swim/drag those big slingers right thru the transom door, across the deck, and straight into the ice slurry in the floor box terminal tackle and all whenever possible. Once he sits in that ice water 2 or 3 minutes most of the color will still be there for the picture and you can safely remove the hook beforehand on a much more cooperative fish. You will find the flesh of the fish better table fare later by reducing the last couple minutes of extreme stress that fish goes thru too.
Here are a couple other things I might suggest if it were me. Anytime a gaffer comes over the rail the guy holding the rod should pull the lever drag almost all the way off, and put the rod in one of the gunnel slots. You do this so the reel doesn’t free spool while dealing with the fish and that gets the gear off the deck and out of the way. I noticed in your video the rod and reel getting battered along those well used bolsters and deck and then in another picture what appears to be the broken rod tip just beyond another green fish with a hook in his face. It’s just not as safe as it could be, thats all. Plus gear gets spendy.
After a little practice you’ll be able to drag fish that you used to think had to be gaffed right thru the door and into the box with less effort than gaffing,and as an added bonus the deck doesn’t end up looking like RBF’s ego either.
One more thing (ugggggg, I know) but if it were me I wouldn’t have all that terminal tackle, especially those big trebles and plugs laying around the deck like that. I see most of that stuff in the buckets, and that is wise and safe, but that’s just another thing that has caused me great heartache (calf ache actually) in the past. Keep the sharps stowed.
I really hope you don’t take this as me being a smartarse or coming off as a know-it-all. That isn’t my intention, but just some random thoughts from
Fair points! It will give me something to think about next time and I could play it safer when it comes to handling my rods & fish.
You are correct - that fish was indeed too green to handle because I tried to pick him up before @flowerbits could use the art of Ikejime (which substantially improves the quality of your catch beyond just throwing them on ice)!
However, not everything is as it seems in the pictures. Both of those hooks were too deep to remove without fish surgery, my gunnel rod holders were full, and my coffin box is up front
