What makes a great day of fishing? Seriously, this is important to consider. First, your company. Who are you fishing with? Why are you fishing with them? Second, the ambiance. Are you and the crew ready to have fun out there? Are the conditions condusive to having a good time and enjoying your time on the water. Third; the conditions as in above. Fourth, the fishing itself. Are the fish biting and/or is there hope all day of catching fish?
We nailed it 100% today. I mean, I didn't have a charter, so I asked my Dad if he wanted to join me. Right before my 5-year old went to bed, I asked him if he wanted to go fishing today. We both surprised my Dad at 5:30 this morning by having my son ready to go. The temp was already 50 by the time we hit the pier and there was no wind. We made it to Stellwagen Bank at 30 mph and saw the sunrise over the bank. Birds were everywhere. It smelled great and whales were breaking all over the place.
I gave my Dad a rigged spinning rod, gave my son a jigging rod, and by the time I tied some tuna candy on my line, my Dad was tight with his first tuna. I was nervous about him having a heart attack, to be honest. He fought the fish for 15 minutes and told me to get my fighting belt ready. I was ahead of him. 20 minutes later he sunk the harpoon into the 120# tuna and we were thrilled. About three casts later, I was tight. This time I was using a feather-light jigging rod and a Salina 80 spinning reel. I was very impressed with the action on the rod and the reel's drag was flawless. I knew we weren't keeping this fish, so I wanted to get it to the boat quickly. Within 15 minutes I had that fish in a net ready for release. It was amazing figuring out the learning curve on fighting these fish. Experience does pay! When you are familiar with your gear, you can really put a hurting on these fish in a hurry.
Lots of fish breaking today, but those are the only ones we got. That's ok, Richie slayed the dogfish and it was so relaxing to be out there having fun with my family. See you out there!
I'm still running charters-it's going to blow until November, so think about tuna fishing! It's the number one game in town and we're addicted. Capt. Rich Antonino, 508-269-1882, Black Rose Fishing Charters, Green Harbor, MA (Taylor's Marina)
