Had LA Sportsman's Ad director, Otis Taylor, Seabrooke Marina and Shipyard's David Montz along with Cameraman Joe Bordelon and Host Kevin Ford of LA Sportsman TV today..an easy day plan was to leave late and come home early and have as much fun to cram into a 30 minute show in the hours between..final take - 8 yellowfin, 1 bull dolphin in 4 hours of fishing offshore and a bull red and jack crevalle on the ride upriver in just aa few minutes..my trolling motors have 600hp!!..- the bite was again fast and furious offshore although nothing seemed to go right in the begining..still we paced ourselves and made a great show..left the dock late (on purpose) picking my crew up at Cypress for 645am..after a 2 hr ride, bait was tough..seemed like we followed up all 4 of the other boats who left out to fish this Monday..we did eventually find enough bait (small hardtails in the grass) but it took several patches to find the motherlode..anyway.we tore up a few sabikis in the process on bonita and hardtailzilla bites..but the real top secret plan was to find some threadfin to use as live chum.. I had Key West guide George Mitchell tossing these live baits into my spread last Thursday and it brought the fish up and into the fishbox; Since his arm is probably still sore; I wanted to try it with one of my old lacrosse sticks that hadnt seen the light of day in years..anyway no threads anywhere; so it looked as those hopes would be dashed..as we pulled up to the secret tuna spot there were two other boats already there..but they quickly left before we even set up to fish and as they cleared the horizon, right on cue, the tuna fish came up covering several acres ..started right off with a bite and fish on the first dropback..steady singles for 30 minutes with 3 fish coming into the camera eyeview and maybe into the show itself..then 2 boats arrived..what 4 boats in the same location on a Monday? anyway..we pulled a 20 pound dolphin out of the lucky hat and continued on with several more singles over the next 90 minutes..with 4 fish in the box and 3 released (still not quite enough footage tofill a 30 minute show) we decided we would try grouper fishing; why not it was only half past noon..but sadly it wouldnt happen..not one bite..and not enough footage to peice together a decent show..so we ended up running back offshore resupplying the well with more minitails..about 20 in total..and with us needing one more fish, When we arrived there were still two boats pluggng away..before we got set up I saw a 500-700 pound tiger shark..the 2nd one I have ever seen in the wild too..an obvious oppotunist not out for a monday afternoon swim..amyway..digression..fish were coming up sporadically and with time running out and less need for a full live well, I thought it would be about time to try the old toss-o-roo with the live chum..launched 5 or so sinlges about 50 ft and it worked well bringing the fish up 30 seconds later..only problem is the blowups were taking place too close to the boat and no where near the spread..most of the hardtails swam back to the for the shelter of the boat too..right about the time I thought we wouldnt have enough bait to continue Capt Troy came over and gave us 2 more dozen baits since he was quitiing with his 7 fish and not long after he made the transfer we were ready to try again with the full on fourth of July ferocity..I had David Montz (also our special guest captain) kick the boat ahead and I set the lines close to the boat and while we kept it in gear I tossed about 20 hardtails back behind the boat in singles and doubles some 20-40 yards..and again 30 seconds later, the fish responded..it was cool..like greanades going off on 30 second delay..we could see them knocking the hardtails out of the water and one fish actually hit one of our baits on the way down and in the following eruption shot off toward Texas with the drag ripping..what a finale..the last fish for the show witha 15 minute fight by Otis...with that we headed in to try one last stab at the grouper just for my own freezer stock..and still a no go - almost felt if we were fishing behind someone all day..still the show wouldnt end here..for the last 10 trips I have been seeing birds working in the river (near Head of Passes) while returning home and this got our Host Kevin Ford pumped up ..
Kevin is actually a great inshore fisherman proving this by nailing a bull red on his first cast under the birds..of course one would expect Mr. Ford to glean a little knowledge in this arena, for all the years of leaning on inshore guides for "thier" free adverstising oppotunities..but in all fairness he is definately a good with the light rod just dont ask him how many tuna bites he bungled this trip..I'll doubt they see any airtime so you'll have to take my word on it..not to besat ion him only, it was a pretty hillarious day for bloppers all around- I actually slipped and fell across the deck twice today having to go barefoot..this after forgetting to bring boat shoes..(I drove down late last night and didnt realize I still had the church shoes on until I was halfway down.. I also got bit by a 60 pound tuna on the ankle and even got tail wacked in the jewels by a tuna I was releasing..you'll probably get to see that on the show along with plenty tuna going airborne..should be an interesting fall! Paradise Outfitters - 985-845-8006 or 1-888-FISHWUS (888-347-4987)
