(This report is over in the Offshore reports forum, but thought I would share this with the MSC guys on our site.)
My brother, Bryan and my son Randy fished offshore for two days (6/23 and 6/24) with Capt. Jeff Ross on the Obsession up in NC on the OBX. We have fished with Jeff for many years in NC and Mexico.
Anyway, day one: started with a white marlin release for Bryan. Spent most of the morning boating 25-60lb class yellowfin (ended up with 10)and a couple dolphin. My son had a white marlin on for a few minutes but it unfortunately threw the hook. The quest for his first billfish continues…
The mid day lull was interrupted by the man in the blue suit! I saw it as it entered the spread and yelled “there he is!”…it charged the short rigger, knocked it out of the clip…then lunged on the long rigger, which just happened to be manned by my own personal rod. HOOKED UP BLUE MARLIN! Since I have a 450-500lb blue to my credit (I caught and released that fish back in 2003), I handed the rod to my brother who did a great job fighting the big blue on 80lb test and a light 130lb tuna leader. My rod was built at Haddrell’s Point Tackle and I have a Shimano Tiagra 50w LRS on it. Great rig but not the 80w rod we wanted it to be on, but it worked out and he got the release on his first blue marlin after an exciting 40 minute fight. The fish jumped at least 20 times and really put on a show. Got some decent pics considering I was taking them with one hand while turning the fighting chair. Pics don’t do it justice though…that was a big marlin. The Captain called it close to 500lbs.
Day two: We ended up with 7 yellowfin to 60lbs and about 30 school to barely gaffer dolphin. No billfish for us on day two, but we had to buy 2 more coolers! Good problem to have.
I also pulled my boat up there and we fished the inlet out to about 5 or 6 miles. Took my nephews (Ages 4 and 6) and my son to put a bend in a rod on anything we could find. The bluefish were around and we caught several along with a couple small
Awesome Billy!! If you have more tuna steaks that you can use, you know where to find me:smiley: Seriously, great pics of great trip! I’ve gotta do that kind of trip sometime.
Been meaning to say … Nice Job … We would have enjoyed a haul like that while we were down in the Keys - but we were after different prey … LOL … That being said, we still managed to bring home over 100 pounds of dinner … I would post pics here, but there’s too many to post and Facebook is much more user friendly when it comes to posting multiple pictures …
We’re going to have to put together an Outerbanks Trip … Liz & I have been talking about it for awhile and we have family that goes every October but we can never make it because that’s mid-terms for our High School Kids … We only have one of those (High School Kids) left for awhile so next year we should be able the hammer the Outerbanks offshore for several years to come …
Been meaning to say … Nice Job … We would have enjoyed a haul like that while we were down in the Keys - but we were after different prey … LOL … That being said, we still managed to bring home over 100 pounds of dinner … I would post pics here, but there’s too many to post and Facebook is much more user friendly when it comes to posting multiple pictures …
We’re going to have to put together an Outerbanks Trip … Liz & I have been talking about it for awhile and we have family that goes every October but we can never make it because that’s mid-terms for our High School Kids … We only have one of those (High School Kids) left for awhile so next year we should be able the hammer the Outerbanks offshore for several years to come …
… it’s my Wife’s fault we HAVE to fish !!!
2005 Sea Pro 2100cc / Yamaha 150hp 4-Stroke
Yeah…you should give it a go. It’s a fishy place - October is yellowfin tuna time of the year, too.
Also - very nice video that you posted on the other forum of the tarpon a.k.a. giant herring release! That was awesome. We’ve caught our share of tarpon in Boca Grande pass - some of them pushing 150lbs, but that was way back in the mid 1980’s. Been too long. Those fish really fight - getting one to the boat takes some luck and a lot of work. As much as I like taking pictures, I need to get into the video taking like you do. Your videos are cool to watch. I would give anything to have a video of Bryan’s blue marlin jumping all over the ocean.
We Honeymooned in Boca Grande in '05 and went back in '08 … Had a Blast!!! I lost a 180 pound Tarpon to the Bull Sharks last time we went … Liz cried on the boat and refused to catch anymore … until we hooked up on a 120 pounder and shoved the pole in her hands … That Tarpon almost took her off the front of the boat … When we were there in '08 it was March, which is early for the Tarpon, so the sharks outnumbered the Tarpon … Really sketchy so Liz couldn’t get in the water with her … When we went back in '09 the weather was not cooperative so we couldn’t get into the pass … So we hammered the Redfish and Snook for 2 eight hour days straight … We really like the Charlotte Harbor area, but the last four years we’ve been going to the Keys and it’s hard to go anywhere else … LOL … Which is why we’re going to start doing 2-3 trips a year with 1 or 2 of them being more local … That makes the Outter Banks ideal and our family has been pushing us to go for the last few years … Sooooooooooo I guess we’re going to have to make that happen … Would LOVE to add some Yellowfin to our freezer already full of Mahi, Grouper, Snapper, Yellowtail, and Kingfish …
