Headed out to the Hudson
on Laura G yesterday in search of bigfoot, I mean big eye. Everyone on the boat (and elsewhere) was
chomping at the bit to get out and bring home one even two of these recently
appearing tuna.
In almost every offshore conversation we have been talking
“epic” sick” “awesome” when describing last weeks big eye bite. So, needless to
say everyone who had a boat from 26’ and up was planning a trip out.
Dreams of big eye fillets were in everyone’s heads.
We did not get out to our beginning spot, the East Elbow,
until dark. We got on a drift East to West over the Canyon. We heard two guys
on the radio saying they had barely dropped their lines when swordfish hit.
That was encouraging news. So down our 6 lines went. Within 40 mins we had our
first nice yellow fin (YF.) About 55lbs. We worked the area for a couple more hours then
decided to head to Mecca,
the 100Sq. We saw about a dozen boats there and we headed a bit south and
deeper where we began the second drift of the night. Soon after another YF was
brought on deck, this time about 70lbs which were the average size for the
trip. Another hour passes by when one of the crew blindly jigged up another.
Not bad. Steady pick one an hour. Regretfully we dropped two very feisty and
larger fish. Damn. But soon had a huge run off and all our thought went to big
eye! 15 minutes later a 9 foot hammerhead is thrashing by the boat. Oh well,
nice and good-bye.
Lines back in, and nothing for a couple of hours. Not marking
much of anything. But we made use of it by netting squid. Larry did a great job
getting better with each swing. Live squid and whole herring were our offerings
to the fish gods and tuna.
About 230am another very big run off. At first the big eye
came to mind then we decided t was a nice sword. Got the biggest guy strapped
in for the fight. Line was peeling off as we were backing down on the fish.
Excitement was growing as he gained line back turn by turn. Then the fish dove,
then flew up to the surface. Still Jimmy held tight. We had to strip off his shirt
he was so hot from the fight. More and more he got the line in. Breathlessly we
saw color. Then this massive shape. On, a huge manta! What a bummer.
We had him to the boat and I was about to take a photo when
the line busted at the tuna door. Again, nice and good-bye. So now we are lines
in and waiting for another strike but none came. The radio had been pretty
quiet with scattered reports of a few YF taken from the Bombs to Sq. One green
stick reported 10 fish, and another a few YF. But not raging reports and things
were fairly quiet.
We hit the troll about 6am. Absolutely flat seas, amazing
red/magenta sunrise. Water was not typical blue, but a grayish blue about 74.3
degrees. We had experienced a big temp break from 73.5 to 69.5 around the Virginia area. (Sharks
anyone?)
On the troll there were more porpoises in a large area than
I have seen all summer. Many small ones as well. They looked like bunker
schools out there. So many pods of porpoise hanging out. We thought they were
mating or whatever. Many of the 20 or so boats working that area ( with more
pulling in every 10 mins). We were trolling right through and along these
schools but for the most part nothing. One guy stopped and jigged right in the
middle and was rewarded with a nice YF.
A friend who had been in last week’s melee said to look out
for whales. And they were there separate from the porpoises by a mile or so. Pods
of what appeared to be Pilot whales were all over. We passed a bunch that were
just lying motionless in the water together like a log jam. Strange sight. But
then you and I know that is one reason we love being out there. Seeing nature
at its best. So, we trolled around one of the whale pods and WHAM, triple
knock-down. One off immediately but a few exciting minutes later we had 2 more
nice YF in the boat. Hey, things kept getting better! We worked that area for a
while longer talking to buddies on the radio, sharing info and listening for
intel. As in the night there were picking from Tip all the way to Sq. I later
talked with a buddy that had not been successful at the Hudson who headed for Toms. Unfortunately I
heard they were the only boat there and trolled for 6 hours without a touch! Ouch.
Between whale pods I was marking good down about 110-150
feet. I was convinced these were nice larger fish. Unfortunately we were not
able to bring them up. So, I hope that guys later in the afternoon saw some
action on these fish. I am convinced they would come up later but were would be
heading home by then.
We were working the whales when another buddy called and
said he was on his third big eye. Did we want it? Hell yes. He was working
totally alone away from the fleet in deeper water. We got there 15 minutes
later to see him fighting the fish. We thought to ourselves that maybe we could
catch one while waiting for him to finish the fight. We kept our distance
trolling and circling back. 45 minutes later we see the guys poised with
harpoon and gaff off his stern. End game. Fish on board.
We motored over and arranged for a line to be tossed over,
strung through his mouth and gill. Then they struggled to get one of the 150 lb
tuna slid into the water where we had the other end bringing it back to the
boat. We watched carefully for Mr Mako to be sure he did not steal from our
gift. No problem. Got the fish on board. Fintastic!
Took shots of my buddy and his crew as they barely help up
their 200lb + big eye.
Man, those smiles were as wide as Beyonce’s butt.
So, we iced her up, waved goodbye to our fiends and trolled
a bit more before heading home. Nothing more for us and very little radio
chatter rest of the morning.
So tally for us was 5/8 on very nice yellow fin tuna and we did get our big
eye. Haha.
Great job to the Boss III. Not one, not two but three! Great
example of camaraderie and sharing in this game which sometimes has become too
competitive and single minded by some. But this was “ Nice”, as he says.
PS- Want to thank LG for great food and great crew as
always. Fun, savvy guys to spend a day with. Thanks.
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