A Saltwater Fishing Community...Where There Is No BS About The Sport A Saltwater Fishing Community...Where There Is No BS About The Sport
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| New England (Northeast) Off Shore Jaunts: Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Maine |
What have you got to say about the topic of: "6/18 Chatham SLAM!". Here's how is started: "Today I had Alan and his son Josh out for a makeup bass trip. But "
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06-18-2007, 05:23 PM
| #1 |
  Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Bourne, MA
Posts: 185
| 6/18 Chatham SLAM! Today I had Alan and his son Josh out for a makeup bass trip. But with all the tuna action around we decided to change plans and got tuna fishing instead. To level the playing field with these bigger tuna I enlisted the help of First Mate Extrodinair Big Mike C. We met in Bourne and trailered to Chatham. We splashed the boat and ran out into the stiff NE wind. The wind was up yesterday too, but not from the NE. This turned out to be a major factor in how things went for the day. We ran to yesterdays numbers and found very little life. A few birds and a couple scattered whales was all we saw. The seas were sloppy with the NE wind so rather than run all over and get beat up we went lines in with the minimal life we saw. Mike C set the spread of Offshore Inovations Green Monsta Bars and an Offshore Inovations Green Monsta / Bird combo on the way back. We trolled for what seemed like 7 or 8 minutes but it may have been less before the left rigger exploded and the game was on! Josh was first up and he was ready and in his harness. Mike gave him pointers on working the harness and using the equipment. Josh was like a seasoned pro and never missed a beat even though it was his first time doing standup.  This fish put on a decent first run, but when it saw the boat it got all kinds of stubborn and Josh put my new rods to the test as he shoved the drag to full and went low gear on the fish to break him out of the deep circles. With Mike's coaching and Josh's ability the fish never had a chance. Josh took two steps back, Mike leadered and I stuck the fish in the head withthe gaff. A big heave ho and we had the curse off the boat.... OR SO WE THOUGHT!  The tale of the tape showed Josh's first tuna was 60" on the button. A rock solid first effort!  Alan was so happy that his sone did well with the tuna he decided to celebrate so he broke out a snack. Problem was Alan's snack was ........ BANANAS!!!!!   I thought the curse was off, but we began to think it was just starting. We trolled around and began to hang bluefish after bluefish until finally we broke the cycle with a EEZ striper around 40". Nice fish (released) but not what we wanted. The banana curse was on. We had a few swings and misses and one fish that popped the rigger but pulled off right away. The yellow fever was upon us. After several hours of slow going and a TON of bluefish expertly handled by Mike C. we finally found some more good water and then it happened. FISH ON!!!! We were able to work through the banana curse and Alan was tight to his first tuna of the day.  Mike watched over Alan as he fought the fish (to make sure he didn't take any banana breaks) Before long Mike leadered and I lip gaffed a nice school tuna. This fish was 43" long. It was unhooked, a quick pic was taken and it was released.   We worked around the area for a while longer and had another swing and a miss on a bar. Finally we called it a day and headed home. Final tally one 60" tuna kept and one 43" tuna released. The lures of the day were all from Offshore Inovations. The Green Monsta Bar took the bulk of the hits and landed the big fish. The bird/Monsta combo landed the smaller fish. We were in 170-220' of water and it was 57 degrees. The wind was NE @ 15-20 then went SW lite and Variable and laid down flat calm. Overall it was a fast start and a solid finish, but we worked our asses off in the middle. Mike C must have cleared 30 bluefish if he cleared one. He would weave those blues through the spread without hanging up other lures. It was a HUGE help to have him on board today. Alan and his son were great to fish with. I fish with Alan every season and it's always a pleasure. Thats all for now..... so wave good bye!  __________________ |
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06-18-2007, 08:17 PM
| #2 |
  Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Exeter, Rhode Island
Posts: 3,324
| Sweet trip!  Hope he learned the banana lesson !!!! 
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06-18-2007, 08:19 PM
| #3 |
 Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Marshfield, MA
Posts: 475
| Congratulations Again Captain Terry, Another great report, could you tell me more about these bars and rigs you are running? I rigged the outriggers today and tomorrow will get rest of the gear on board and on Thursday make the first trip. Keep it up Terry, it sounds like your having a well deserved awesome season. |
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06-18-2007, 08:53 PM
| #4 |
| Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Bourne, MA
Posts: 185
| For all the folks looking at those Offshore Innovations Spreader Bars here they are: http://www.meltontackle.com/catalog/...ader_Bars.html I run the 36" bar with the 13 mini's and the full size stinger. |
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06-18-2007, 09:52 PM
| #5 |
| NBS Member  Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Branford, CT
Posts: 624
| Interesting report and nice pics, thanks. |
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06-19-2007, 08:34 AM
| #6 |
| NBS Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Westfield, MA
Posts: 18
| Great report and nice pic's. |
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06-19-2007, 10:32 AM
| #7 |
| NBS Member  Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: New Jersey
Posts: 1,196
| great report and pictures |
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06-19-2007, 03:09 PM
| #8 |
| NBS Member  Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: North Haven, CT
Posts: 268
| WTG Capt  Bass trip turned Tuna trip.......they got there moneys worth |
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