Wednesday August 16, 2006 11:27am - NOTORIOUS Marathon with Double Z
Well it looked as though the PV tuna gods were turning their heads on us from the start but I would have to say it was just part of their strange humor... After missing a couple days of fishing last weekend due to all world hurling (not feeling well) we managed to hook up with Dayle from Bloodydecks for a day of fishing... Dale called me at 4:00 am wondering if we were still on seeing heavy rain and ligtning offshore... Hell yes we are! This is normal stuff down here...
Headed out 5:00 am... Talked with Manny on the way out and he said Corbetania was lookng good... Awesome because it was not easy to decide to go to El Banco or the Rock... Arriving at the Rock in dark and rainy conditions but with TONS of bait and some 30lb tuna rolling through the skppies... Our tuna tubes were down so we went straight to baiting skippies... We drug these guys around for hours with no takers aside from getting Pargoed several times on the downrigger and missing...
Around 11:00 the rain slowed to almost nada and the seas and wind were light... It was actually the coolest day on the water here that I can remember... Hours flew by with nothing... Headed up current for a few miles watching some medium sized tuna start to come up and a nice marlin going ape shit... Things were just interesting enough to keep up hanging around... My buddy Steve and Dayle were catching bait all through the day and everyone (including myself this time) were patient...
When 6:00 PM rolled around we decided to take the skippies over to the high spot to sacrafice them to the Pargo... First pass long rigger, short rigger and down rigger go off and again the Pargo win... NOW I'M PISSED!!! Double rig a skippie and send one more down...This time Dayle gets one hooked up but it digs into the rocks... Dayle lets out some slack and the SUCKER swims back out... Finally we get a fish on the boat... By now it's about 7:00 PM... I wanted to show these guys the baloon and try out a tag line idea... THIS IS WHERE THINGS GET CRAZY!
The balloon goes out and this Cabbie was looking so delectable it had to get nailed... Drifting about 1/4 mile from the high spots a nice Black Marlin comes and dives on the cabbie but missed... Damm! But just inside us the tuna are going crazy... No big ones but still tuna... Or deckhand Ruben was casting a home made lead bait jig and gets hooked up on a 25+ tuna at the same time the baloon gets drilled by several tuna and one gets hooked... We get both fish and everyone is stoked... At this time it's getting close to 8:00 PM but the tuna are up and the water was amazing... Ok guys one more drift... And you have just entered "THE TWILIGHT ZONE" We set up just inside from our last drift due to time constraints but still going over the inside high spots... Dayle is casting a bait rod at some small tuna and the Cabbie on the balloon is looking SWEET! BAM!! Dayle is on the bait rod with a good fish... 15 minutes we get it close and HOLY SHIT! It's a big ass Pargo... On a lead jig with no leader an a 30lb bait rod? Lucky guy! That fish bottomed out the 50 lb scale...
No sooner does Steve get the gaff in the Pargo's jaw when a MASSIVE EXPLOSION goes off on the baloon... Dale sets the hook but it lets go...Shit! All of a sudden it's back and riping line... WHERE ON! I was wondering if it was a marlin or tuna because we were so far inside and the fish came back a second time... Anyway the Shimano 30 with 130 was humped over and the fight was on... Hook up time was 8:30 and now we are an hour into it... It's dark too with the rock flashing with every radar sweep at 3/4 of a mile... We were in corkscrew mode with a stubborn fish...Dayle was doing a killer job on the fish with plenty of pressue... We started to make some progress when the fish took off on a straight line and toward the surface...Wow!! I am still am not convinced this is a tuna but what else could it be? Started backing down again but being that at night you can't see the white spectra line so it was less aggressive than in the day... Suddenly the fish comes out of the water just out of sight and you could here the thrashing...SOB!! WHAT IS GOING ON HERE? IS IT A MARLIN OR WHAT! The fish starts racing toward the boat so I am hauling ass foreward to get some distance... Just then we see it's a tuna and coming up fast... The fish comes up on the port side green as hell and Steve sticks it but it need another gaff ASAP! Ruben scrambles for the second gaff and I am there with the meat hook... We pull her over the side (we have a fish door but adrenalin you know) and splat! ON THE DECK! High fives from all... The fish taped out at 256 lbs...
It's now after 10:00 pm... We get set up to find our way home... A long day of fishing but it payed off and congrats to Dayle on an epic day of fishing... Lastly, after cutting up fish until 3:00 AM, nursing a strained forearm from pullng the fish over the side and getting some tacos with Steve I finally roll into my house around 3:45 pm... After 19 hours on the water I lay down in my bed...15 minutes later my alarm go off from the night before... I laughed and went to sleep.
- Jeff
Sunday August 13, 2006 12:56pm
They're here! These guys puked all day then we went home... They were never seen again! Taped out at 241 but I think it's more like 220 ish.
Well the tuna have finally arrived... We fished the Bloody Decks tuna tournament last weekend at not a tuna was caught... The Black and blue marlin bite has been epic with most fish over 400+... We hooked a nice fish (650) in the tail that took off like a rocket but came up dead... Yesterday their was six tuna caught at El Banco up to 275... Ours taped out at 241... Corbetania is looking awesome too but no tuna yet... Bait everywhere... Can't wait too get back out...
C-YA, Jeff
Sunday August 6, 2006 4:57pm
Biggest marlin for the Bloody Decks tourney! YAAAAAAAY!!! 650 LBS IN 23 MINUTES!!!!!! FULL RACK REVERSE FOR 20 MINUTES... Hooked in the tail.
- Jeff
