The day started with a brisk wind out of the NW, and it never let up all day, increasing to 15-20 by 11am, making for one hell of a wet ride back in!!
The Contender 28' handled the seas quite nicely, albeit a bit on the wetter side. Met my 2 guys at 4:30, off the dock by 4:40, and headed due to south to the 35 fathom line. Pulled up short because the guys were sick of getting pounded(I ran it out at 34 knots, just to test her ballz
) in an area just north of the Horns. We got covered up by doggies right away, so deeper we went. Jaunted east more than south to ride the tops on the 2-3 footers, and pulled up at my first choice for the am......
Laid down a 1/2 mile power slick, and got to work on drawing in a toothy friend for a visit around 6:50am....
Had the new 80 wide down at 110 feet, fishing 223 feet of blue gray water, the only bait actively fishing; I anticipated another blue dog fest, so wanted to sight fish right off the bat. Everything about the spot looked good to me, shearwaters and tuna chicks instantly, bluefish in a matter of 5 minutes, and a quick rush at the chum bucket by a mini blue shark within another 5......and that was it till 8:45 am......
I had started to doubt my intel, then my chum, then my intel yet again, as it was getting ridiculous, I had talked up my prior weeks results big time, and the 2 guys were getting anxious. I started to wonder what they thought of me, and was running over the likely "nicknames" they were silently willing at me, when the deep bait absolutely exploded. The short stroke rod actually hit the gunnel on the strike, there was a brief pause, and then line roared off the reel like it was hooked to greyhound bus headed for NY city!!
I quickly threw the boat in gear, and chased down the fish, which by this time was starting to come up, while dumping over half the spool. Just as I told the guys to grab the rod, and get situated, a monster thresher cleared the surface to the port bow, and started tailwalking and porpoising at a rapid pace across the bow....it was then I murmured my thanks that we were in the CC instead of Fortuna, as this fish abruptly turned towards the boat, and proceeded to make like he was going to ram us. I spun the boat, roared off on the opposite angle, and got some distance. This fish was a beast, well over 300 pounds, and pissed off sumthing good. He decided to go deep from that point on, and stayed there for the next hour and a half, while the guys took turns on it. I was wishing I was with a regular crew, as neither guy had too much experience, and actually thought about jumping on the rod while my new mate Ariel(only 2nd trip out with me so far
) took the helm, but never went through with it......
I goosed the engines every so often, trying to plane this bastard up, and was making great headway. He surfaced about 50 yards behind the boat, and it was over just like that. He dove straight down, that scimitar tail kicked once, only once, and parted the mono above the leader, as my guy did not react in time to come tight on it.
I simply shrugged this one off, but the other 3 guys on board looked like they were going to cry. I motored back onto the slick, and told the guys we had better think about heading in, as the wind had really started to come on, and the seas were rapidly getting ugly. I tried consoling the rod man, who was beating himself up pretty badly, when Ariel screams mako, just as the short rod goes screaming!! The scramble that ensued was nothing short of hilarious, as all 3 guys went tumbling to the deck as I roared off in the opposite direction, screaming, HANG ON!!! My cell phone went skittering off the console, and right into the North Atlantic, and all 3 guys stayed put on their butts or knees for a good 30 seconds while I battled the swells and the wind to get us in position to bring this guy in.
I use circle hooks almost exclusively unless fishing tournaments, so the fish are usually pretty hot immediately, and this guy was no exception. Nothing all that large, but man was he flying, darting back and forth, tailwalking, but no real aerials as of yet. I kept the boat in gear until I was sure he was a safe distance, and let the guys pick up the stick and begin working on him. The 120 pounder was no match for the Taigra 50, and he succumbed to the iron with only a bit of effort from just one guy this time. The fish weighed in at 128 pounds, a perfect eating size male. We packed up quickly, and took a pounding back in from 53 miles out, satisfied that we had made good on the heartbreak of only minutes before...
A great day despite the horrid sea conditions. The new CC roved it's mettle, and handled her first offshore jaunt with authority. The new rods got their first bend in them, and one of the short stroke 80's has a nice fresh ding near the underside of the tip from smacking the gunnel on its first fish. I always say new rods and reels are lucky, and this time was no exception.