Yesterday morning we got off to a slow start. We had a few dolphin bites, but the conditions had changed from the day before, and I was trying to devise a new plan of attack. That’s when I got a call from Jamie on the Phideaux. He was offshore and had been hit by the big bluefins. The first time he was hit, the tuna won. O for 6 bites! The next time he was ready for them, and ended up hooking one on the right rig. He told me that he had seen the fish jumping around a few times after he was hooked up. I told Dirty to get the 130’s ready, and we steamed 8 miles to the Phideaux’s location. When we got there, I saw 400 -600 pound tunas chasing bait, it looked like someone was dropping Volkswagons in the water! We set out our spread, and after 3 circles, we hooked one and the battle was on. After about 30 minutes, the fish came up dead. Dirty J and I removed the gills and guts and packed the fish in ice, ensuring that fish retain its freshness and make some excellent table fare for our exceptionally grateful charter. It weighed in at 407 pounds, for a whole weight of around 450.
Saturday we caught a few tunas and some gaffers. We deployed the kite for the first time this year, and it helped us catch 2 tuna when we couldn’t get a bite on anything else. Sorry Dave, no picture.
Today we Zigged when we should have Zagged. I set out East of the the inlet with the intention of fishing 35 to 50 fathoms. Instead, I went off on a tangent and fished north for twenty miles looking for a different body of water. All I found was smoke from the Columbia fires. So I picked up and steamed South. Luckily, Dirty spotted a piece of float and we got the skunk out with a few gaffers. Then we trolled towards the Point and found a pair of tunas and a few more gaffers.