Been trying to get a young man out on his boat all year long to teach him how to troll and hopefully catch a dolphin or two.
After several failed attempts at getting out, it finally came together Saturday. Even with the forecast headed into the crapper, it looked doable, so “off we went”. Put in at Remleys around 4:45 and headed out.
Stopped on the ledge to try a spot that had several large patches of weed and some bird activity. 1 fish on pretty quick that we lost, then not another strike for about 30 minutes so we pushed out to around 280ft where we found another short weed line. 4 lines in again to test the area and we had 2 more fish that should have been put in the boat but were freed to return to the weeds.
I’ll say this now but most here already know it…It’s frustrating when you can’t put fish in the boat and you’re pretty sure it’s not helping that “rookie mistakes” are the blame, but when it turns around later in the day and those rookies are catching fish, rigging baits, helping set the spread, pointing out working birds…etc… It give you a sense of pride, kinda like watching your child get his first base-hit.
That’s exactly what happened yesterday for my “green crew”. After going 0 for 4, they put together an impressive run of 4 for 6 that included one legitimate #56 pounder and another #35 fish.
We ran only 4 lines all day to try and keep the chaos to a minimum, heck; I wouldn’t let them deploy the outriggers until 10:30.
Pics of the bigger fish will come as soon as I have time to move them from my camera.
quote:I'll say this now but most here already know it.....It's frustrating when you can't put fish in the boat and you're pretty sure it's not helping that "rookie mistakes" are the blame
What the heck, I learned a long time ago running charter boats not to take it too seriously I’d start almost every day with a new green crew, by the end of the day we were usually working like a well oiled machine
We were all rookies once and somebody, or a lot of somebodies taught us how. Fish ain’t that important. I hate fishing with people who act like it’s life or death to miss a fish. I can see taking a big dollar tournament seriously, but not just a day of fishing.
Good on ya for helping teach the young man:sunglasses:
Nice fish!
Capt. Larry Teuton
Cracker Built Custom Boats
“Ships are the nearest things to dreams that hands have ever made.” -Robert N. Rose
Was out with a Captain once and he didn’t like the way I was letting the line drop when we were bottom fishing. The other 2 guys kept doing it the way the Captain liked and they weren’t catching many fish. I was catching a fish on almost every drop doing it my way (letting it fall to the bottom as fast as possible to get past the bait snatchers). He finally shut up. Not that I know more than he did, but I knew what was working for me that day.
13ft Whaler with 25hp Johnson
If you’re lucky enough to be fishing, you’re lucky enough.
Nice job. I am going with a new crew on their boat next weekend dependent on weather of course. It is a great experience to watch someone else fall in love with being offshore.
Absoulutely right.
I’m not a big “numbers guy” I like to put fish in the box if we are going to take the time to ride all the way out to the ledge and beyond, but it’s not what really matters.
I can say for sure the three in the bottom picture were happy with what we had. ( myself, I was tickled pink at the end of the day ) And yes the machine was working great once it got up and running.
Good on you for having the time and patience to share your knowledge. I’m in the process of learning from a couple guys who really know their stuff. One prefers to troll, and the other would rather be bottom-fishing for snapper and grouper, so I’m duly blessed. If your crew is as obsessed as I am with all things offshore, I know they’ll feel forever indebted to you for providing such a priceless gift.
“I’m not a hundred percent in love with your tone right now…”
I’d start almost every day with a new green crew, by the end of the day we were usually working like a well oiled machine