Just deleted the original post after 30 minutes of gnerating literary masterpiece..this by accidentally hitting the ESC key..I include this because it sets the tone for the report from my perspective..
I had the brothers Ward the last 2 days..great company, fair weather and frustrating fishing..these guys go all over the continent hunting and fishing and they have been following my reports since booking the trip 4 months ago; so I really wanted to put the smashing on the fish for them..just couldnt get any cooperation and I let it get to me think I was trying too hard..hopefully my daily rants didnt take away fromt thier good time.."no putter throws" but I sure came close..they were just happy to be there trying..and I wish everyone had that attitude..from what I could tell they all had the time of thier lives..I need that injection on a daily basis..anyway on to the report..
We decide that day 1 we'll devote solely to tuna fishing...we're not in any rush, the fish have been biting like mosquitos and I decide I will try a rig where no one has been fishing aside from a friend who burned the fish 3 days before..pull up to make bait and we have it to ourselves..bait is coming in easy and a second boat pulls up..sets his lines and 20 seconds later is fighting a blue marlin..WOW - thats the second time in less than a week I see this happen..oh well he's a friend and I am happey for him. I see a few tuna fish popping while we put the last of the required baitfish go into the well and it looks promising..we set up and immediately hook a fish..which pulls off 5 minutes later..no big deal..we reset and wait, and wait..30 minutes go by and all I see are small fish, so I get the brilliant idea to try somewhere else that I know has plenty big fish..and trying to get a spot ot ourselves on a Monday shouldnt be too hard.. I only saw 2 other boats leave the dock this morning..so we pull up and get ready to make a 10 mile run..about 4 miles from stop 2 I can see the outlines of 4 other boats..so I make a turn and run another 8 miles to a rig we buried the fish at the previous week..upon arrival I can see we are finally alone..and its not that I am opposed to fishing alongside other boats I just prefer to give my self every advantage in terms of manueverability..if you have a spot to yourself - you can go where you want without any restriction of movement and the end results of multiple hookups are inevitable 90% of the time..anyway.we come tight on our first fish on the first set which turns out to be a small blackfin..we reset and wait another hour with nothing, no sign, so shows..then I get a radio call from the guy who tagged the blue marlin at stop 1 - he reports a wide open tuna bite since we left with 2 doubles and a single strike- 3 fish n the boat and one on..
We pack up and I stew in the tower pissed at myself for breaking the cardinal rule of leaving fish to go find fish..anyway..wouldnt have mattered if it had worked out for us at stop 2 but that fact it didnt burned me a little..
We did get a fish on our first drift back at stop 1 a nice 60 pounder..then nothing..totally dead..and its now nearing the heat of the day so we decide to pick up a few scamps under the shade of the rig before running off again to try somewhere else..nothing on the scamps, no bites no nervous baits..zero hookups..not 10 minutes later we see a blue marlin slamming bait right next to the boat..we quickly pull up and toss out the blackfin on a bridle..and wait..we decide to rig up a second bridle bait and waste the next hour slow trolling tight to the rig..
I have one fish in the boat and its getting late..we run back offshore looking for tuna at the intended second stop and find 2 other boats..the radio reports indicate promising conditions but we see nothing..at quitting time we decide to stay..had 2 live baits back in the spread so I decide to toss my extra bait back into the mix..about 30 seconds later the tuna come up in the live bait chum and we end up sticking an 80 pounder before heading home..total catch 2 yellowfin 1 blackfin- 4 ecstatic fisherman from St. Louis..
Day 2..Little rainy and windy but promising conditions..we decide to troll..find a grassline about 10 miles offshore- bluewater on green water fairly good patches of grass chick dolphin and hardtail for feed..looks great..10 minutes in we boat a 40 pound wahoo..things are looking great..then the wind picks up and the rain comes and goes..we're still getting bites though and the line is doing its best to stay together..frustration..plenty bites but not getting solid hookups..we get a nice strike from another wahoo and then get cut off..I double back and nothing..figured we'd found a pile of wahoo if there are enough to nail a swivel..but nothing else on the second run through..we would get another 5 strikes on the riggers and centerline in the next 2 hours but no hookups..we have now run 10 miles and the wind has blown up our rip..so I make a turn into open water heading for the Matterhorn platform..we get about 2 miles off the rip and we get a nice strike on the center rigger..and a miss.. I see the bill pop up a few seconds later and we're hooked up solid on a blue or white marlin..we get our angler strapped in and the lines cleared and the fish pulls off..wow..just cant seem to get the odometer off the 9's..that one would have made 20..anyway..we press on finding great conditons at Matterhorn..no boats, blue water and a few tuna popping..spend the next hour trolling with nothing..we decide to make bait and set up where I saw the surface activity about 1/4 mile from the rig..noting but waves, rain and wind..about an hour of tossing and rolling with nary a tuna strike we decide to head up on the shelf to find a limit of snapper..finding calmer seas and all the short red snapper you can stand..we did end up with 10 keepers and again the boys had the time of thier lives..Since today was my 38th birthday I was suposed to reel in the first fish, but thankfully I didnt as it was the only fish that stayed on the line..if I had touched the rod we might have lost it..pictured are Bull and Chef Bill Ward - you need to get this guys carrot cake recipe..its aparently its some tasty stuff..if you dont believe me just ask Ringo Starr
