I had my first “big boy” trip. My own boat, my own gear, my own crew, and consequently my own fish.
Me, Kut08, and a friend of mine that I work with met up at Shem at 0300. We were underway by 0320 to meet up with some stiff chop on the way out. We headed straight for a point south of the Edisto Banks. We only ran about 15 to 20 knots to get out there. Got to our point at 0730 and I saw that I had used up a lot more fuel than I was planning on. We started fishing and kept a close eye on the gas gauge.
We found the 76 degree water, put lines in at 0745 and started moving NE along the 300 foot depth line on the GPS. We were in a lot of flyers and figured that this was a good spot. Not too much later after starting, we get our first fish off my new outrigger set up (Thanks Lynn!!) on a pink and white skirt. That was our hot color for the day. It was a nice 20+ pound bull. Thanks to the wonderful gaff job by Kut08, we got him in the boat.
The strangest hit came as we brought one of our dolphins along side the boat. This one had run all over the back of the boat so we eventually brought in all the poles. We even reeled in the line on the planer. We didn’t break the rubber band, but just brought it up. We get the fish in the boat, start dealing with the hook, and we are basically at idle at this point. All of a sudden, the planner rod starts to sing. The one line in the water, at idle. We quickly throw the current fish in the box, Kut08 grabs the new rod and fights our second 20+ pound dolphin. A nice cow.
We feel that our fuel status says that we have to start heading in. So after 1100 sometime, we turn west bound and troll. We pick up one more dolphin. We pull all the lines in at 1200 and head back to the hill. God was with us because by the jetties, my fuel gauge was on “E” and we still made it all the way to the dock by about 1430.
On the way in, at 130 feet, we came across a big weed line. We had to stop, risking the fuel to make some casts. There was a ton of bait b
Excellent report Adam! Glad you had a successful first trip. Was good to hear you on the radio yesterday. The groceries look great, I even had Lynn eating some asparagus the other day!
That’s great! Congratulations! Had that same “first everything” experience last Friday, and it’s a good feeling (well, maybe not for the gas concerns you had). That big grin on your face told everything!
Thanks guys. h20gul, that’s not me in the pictures. I don’t have any pictures of me yet. Alex and my friend (the guy in the shots) have me on their cameras. HA HA HA!!! I went back and labeled the pictures, and found one of me from yesterday.
LE, it was so great to actually be out there with you guys. I’m so glad that you guys ended up with the day you did. It was great to “run into” you guys right before we took off. Can’t wait to do it again.
Nice report!!
We are glad that you and your crew had a great time and caught some fishies!!
It’s awesome being out there, can’t wait until next trip!!
Now, you need to put your bride on some of them gold fishies…
“Miss Amanda”
-KeyWest
-Bluewater 2020CC
-Yammy F-150 www.joinrfa.orgGod is GOOD!! ALL the time!!
The shortest distance between a problem and a solution is the distance between your knees and the floor.
The one who kneels to the Lord can stand up to anything.
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Nice goin! Glad you got on some fish for sure, if anyone deserves to catch em up good it’s you!
Glad ya made it back in ok. Beautiful day out there yesterday.
Russ B.
God is great, Beer is good, People are crazy
Nice report - just curious about your fuel - sometimes there’s more in the tank than the guage says depending on trim etc - how much do you think you had in there when you filled it?
Russ it was so great to be out there, and it was good to hear you and other familiar names on the radio. I hope to be heard a lot more out there this season.
Sirecks, you would greatly benefit from a floscan so you know how much you’re burning at a given speed/condition and your total burn, especially since you’re so borderline. They’re relatively inexpensive and easy to install. You may have to get a feel for it’s accuracy and they can be calibrated to some degree but once you get to “know” it you’ll have much greater peace of mind out there.
Great fish and THANK YOU for your service to our country.
How much fuel does your boat hold? I would never never never go 60 miles offshore knowing I might not have enough fuel to get home. Maybe you should re-think your plan next time. Hate to be a downer but is it really worth the risk? Congrats on the catch.
I fish on the same boat except a 200hpdi and we can go over 200 miles burn 60-75 gal. That boat should hold 100gal. Go fill up i bet you had alot more fuel than you think.We did the same thing the first time we went out ,thinking we were running low. The gauge on that boat jumps alot. We started judgeing howe much fuel we were burning by checking the oil res. and that works pretty good. Nothing like catching fish on the big pond by yourself in your on boat. Good luck.
Nice going guys
Nothing like the pride you can take from doing it all on Your own.
Thats the whole reason to do it. I’d rather get skunked on my own boat anyday rather than have a mate from a charter hand me a pole with a fish on it. Not bashing charters just saying its way more satisfying.
The planning and execution is the game we play and love so much.
As for the fuel i know how stressfull it can be especially early on with the boat to watch that needle near empty it just drives you crazy. the suggestion of Flo scan is excellent will help alot as well as alot of experience with the boat in all conditions and you will know down to the last drop what you are burning and will need to make the trip. But remember a good rule of thumb. 1/4 fuel to get there
1/4 fuel to fish 1/2 fuel to get back and accomadate all that can happen. I have broken this rule before and spent the trip home stressed out wondering if anybody else on board will notice that we are running on gods good will. Stressed me out bad! Good trip and good luck in the future
“Destiny” 35ft
Contender and “Scintilla” 20ft Keywest, Manning SC
Thanks guys. I definitely have to check into the Flo Scan. The boat does hole 105 gallons. That is the problem we had when we got out there. On the plane, she was reading 3/4 of a tank approaching the spot to start. When we stopped to rig the boat and I looked at the gauge, it read 1/2!!! That’s when my stomach sank to my feet. At trolling speed (about 6 - 7 knots) it would stay about 2/3 to 3/4. Based on the fact that we trolled for 4 hours and made it back like we did, I think that my gauge is set to read properly when moving. Otherwise, I came back on God’s fumes.
I’ve had my boat out to 100 - 120 feet before and knew that I would eat up extra gas going 10 extra miles. Making it 20 miles more for the trip. Based on previous trips, I just estimated incorrectly how much gas I would’ve burned, especially given how rough the ride out was. I think that given my set up and experience level, I may have pushed it a bit on this trip. Given that I won’t be back past the jetties for probably another month, I may only go back to 120 feet or so. This way I know my gas, and in a month, hopefully the fish will be in that close by then.
Thanks again to all of your for your advice and suggestions. This is why I love this site.
when i had a smaller boat, dimilar to yours, the floscan was the ticket to offshore fishing. also installed the engine module so that i could get a reading on my garmin from the engine, that way i could dial in how fast at how much fuel burn. Before i sold it, i got it down to around 65-70 gallons out of 105 gallons. having the current per hour fuel burn was key. i knew when i was pushing out in rougher seas that i just had to back off the throttle a bit and pick better 2’ days.
i like the digital ones… if you have electronics that allow nema integration, you can just buy the meter and cable and then wire them to the electronics, not needing to buy a seperate gauge ( no more holes in the boat either)
Totally right on the sea state. I burn 30% more going 15 in a heavy sea than going 30 in the flat. Plan on coming back in heavy sea, burning gas and going slow, but getting home. If it’s flat, gravy! if not you’re still getting home.
I’ve spent the whole trip wondering if anybody saw the gauge and it does kinda spoil the fun.
If you carry “jerry cans” pour 'em into the tank after you make the run out and you’ll burn less and be more comfortable on the run back.
I just built bamboo outriggers that I’ll try next week and plan to mount them just like the rodholders in the picture. Any advice?
How much fuel does your boat hold? I would never never never go 60 miles offshore knowing I might not have enough fuel to get home. Maybe you should re-think your plan next time. Hate to be a downer but is it really worth the risk? Congrats on the catch.
I don’t think that Sirecks thought he might be short on fuel. If he did, I’m sure he would not have chanced it. If he did run out, his buddy boat would have done whatever to help. I’m sure of that also…
“Miss Amanda”
-KeyWest
-Bluewater 2020CC
-Yammy F-150 www.joinrfa.orgGod is GOOD!! ALL the time!!
The shortest distance between a problem and a solution is the distance between your knees and the floor.
The one who kneels to the Lord can stand up to anything.
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I just want to say thanks Sirecks for the open seat for this trip. Some of you may not know, but we both grew up in the same area pretty much, up in North Jersey, and never met until here, but I’m glad i met the man, and I think these TWO JERSEY BOYZ did a pretty dang good job considering. Sirecks, great day, great trip, and you a good boat Capt. You did what was right and got us home safe. Anyways here are some more pictures. I have a good one of the the sweet gaff job someone did on one of these dolphin but I won’t post it…
Hey Man
Looks like a great trip. Thanks for serving and glad you made it home safe. Those poles look familiar ; ) Enjoy it bro. Props on the dinner too. Cant wait.
Was your boat full that day? I can’t imagine you would run out of gas. I take an early Model Aquasport 245 CC with 90’s model Evinrude 200 Ocean pro…With a 4 person load last time we still got about 2 mpg on it…That’s a super heavy boat on not such a gas saver engine as well.
quote:Originally posted by Plan C
my boat won’t even run without fried chicken and cold beer
) on a pink and white skirt. That was our hot color for the day. It was a nice 20+ pound bull. Thanks to the wonderful gaff job by Kut08, we got him in the boat.
