Nantucket BillFish Ride

JamesDean · 08-14-2007, 09:28 PM

Well it's down to one week and counting.... the Maggie B will be headed to Nantucket on Wednesday 8/22 and then fishing from Nantucket out to Hydro and Oceanographer Thursday 8/23 and Friday 8/24 and maybe one other day during the weekend. The target species will be billfish.....primarily big blue marlin... we've stacked the odds in our favor by hooking up with one of the local marlin legends.... Jimmy Shaw. He will be coming aboard the Maggie B and sharing some of his local knowledge. Jimmy's record out of Nantucket is an 1109# blue marlin three years ago. The fighting chair will be put into place this weekend.....

Hero or zero...we'll be posting up a report or two next weekend....

Possum · 08-14-2007, 09:59 PM

Looking forward to it JD. Keep us posted.

ARCTEKJim · 08-15-2007, 06:23 AM

good luck jd.....

74Formula233 · 08-15-2007, 06:51 AM

Good Luck.......PICS......

Albatross · 08-15-2007, 11:15 AM

Good Luck...they are out there! I cant wait for the Hyannis Billfish Tourney on 9/7!

Bob & Mag · 08-15-2007, 12:33 PM

Good Luck!

JamesDean · 08-29-2007, 07:50 AM

Sorry for the late report, but work called right after our trip.I'm posting this up from Annapolis, MD.
Our plans totally changed due to the weather last week. It was suppose to be an overnighter for big blue marlin out of Nantucket to the east as that's where the VERY warm water "was"....and "was" is the key word here. The weather was a little sporty on 8/23-8/24, so we decided to reschedule the fishing part of the trip trip until Saturday - Sunday (8/25-8/26). When we finally got a decent temp shot on Friday, it was clear that the constant east winds had pushed the warm water (75 deg) west...VERY west. So we decided to go find the water. Left Nantucket Saturday morning at 6 AM and did the downeaster shuffle at 9-10 knots to conserve fuel as the plan was to troll from north of Veatches toward Block canyon on the 1000 fathom line. Nantucket shoals is definitely not for the faint of heart.
About 15 miles north of Veatches, began marking lots of fish on the bottom and lots of bait in about 68 degree water. The consensus was that this was most likely bluefin. This was a big change from the 58 degree water off the south side of Nantucket. Had a 150# class bluefin air out about 100 yards in front of the boat. Put lines in which included some 12-inch Schneiders and a couple Jimmy Shaw spreader bars. Got a small blue marlin knock down in 72.6 degree water about 5 miles north of Veatches. Continued to troll down the west wall of Veatches on the 100 fathom line as the sun set in the west. We were hoping for a potential big eye bite.....but no luck.
Continued to troll down the 500 fathom line toward Atlantis and decided to set up for the night drift in West Atlantis. We were the only boat in the area with the exception of a longliner. Had 14-inch squid in the lights and nabbed a couple and rigged them deep for swords. Also, chunked up 3 flats of butters. It was a tough night in 4-6 footers out of the SW. We initially drifted 3.2 miles in 2 hours. As we were getting unconfortably close to the longliner, had to pick up around 3 AM and reset. There was no luck on the overnight.
Began to troll at first light in 4-5 footers with a big eye spread of 12-inch Schneiders....it was too rough to run any spreaders. Trolled west for three hours and still no 75 degree water. Trolled down to the 1000 fathom line and was getting 73 degree water. Put out the big blue marlin spread which consisted of 19" Black Bart Brazilano's, 16" Choi Lees, and Moldcraft senior chuggers all on 130's. As we approached Block canyon in the early afternoon we finally found the 75 degree water. After what seemed like an eternity, we finally got a solid hook up on the left short....line was leaving the 130 VERY fast and was down to the dacron in about a minute. I eased the drag up to full strike and began to retrieve some line. All of a sudden the line went slack and I was reeling as fast as I could...thought the fish was off as the line was slack and she had not aired out....still kept reeling like a mad man..... all of a sudden a nice 70# class white marlin appeared below the boat lit up like no billfish I've ever seen... she had been swimming toward the boat the whole time. We got her along side for a clean release. It was not much of a fight on a 130, but was still exciting.
Continued to troll the 1000 and 500 fathom line in 75 degree water until 5 PM on Sunday with no further action. Changed over to the big eye spread and started trolling up fish tails. Got a 40# class YFT up on the flats. At 7:15 PM and 36 hours of being on the water, we called it and headed to the barn.
Not quite the adventure we were hoping for, but learn a LOT about trolling for big blue marlin in the NE canyons and had a great time. Hope to have some pics posted up in a couple days.

TASHMOO 2 · 08-29-2007, 01:11 PM

Sounds like a good trip to me JD, given that you were after marlin not tuna. 9/10 knots DE isn't bad either with fuel over $3 a gallon. We generally run a little faster at 11/12. I don't mind the long ride when we get back to fuel up the boat.

That 44" OY. (nice looking boats) covered a lot of ocean ? Did you carry extra fuel?

You write the best stories and I cannot wait to read this one

JamesDean · 08-29-2007, 04:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TASHMOO 2

Sounds like a good trip to me JD, given that you were after marlin not tuna. 9/10 knots DE isn't bad either with fuel over $3 a gallon. We generally run a little faster at 11/12. I don't mind the long ride when we get back to fuel up the boat.

That 44" OY. (nice looking boats) covered a lot of ocean ? Did you carry extra fuel?

You write the best stories and I cannot wait to read this one

Tashmoo-

I have twin J&T/DD 671-TI's and at 9-10 knots I burn about 8 gal/hr total. We ended up burning a total of 405 gallons with about a total of 37 hours of running at 9-10 kts, trolling and running at cruise (18 kts at 2000 RPM for 5.5 hours). The Maggie B holds a total of 500 gals currently..... I'm looking into installing a reserve tank under the cockpit for these "long range" type canyon trips.

Thanks!

TASHMOO 2 · 08-29-2007, 05:10 PM

Nothing wrong with 8 gallons per hour at 10 knots for boat your size. I investigated extra fuel tank and bladders too. Bladders were very expensive and I was told to expect a 5 year life. The only advantage was storage after use.

Ripping up deck for another tank didn't make sense either for # of times I would need extra fuel. I bought 2 30 gallon plastic barrels from Hamilton Marine and tie them to stern cleats. We empty them when we get to edge and then tie them off on bow pulpit to keep out of way.

I heard you fishing in deep for Swordfish last year about this time. We were a little north of you.

08-14-2007, 09:28 PM	#1
JamesDean NBS Member User Gallery Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Noank, CT Posts: 68	Nantucket BillFish Ride Well it's down to one week and counting.... the Maggie B will be headed to Nantucket on Wednesday 8/22 and then fishing from Nantucket out to Hydro and Oceanographer Thursday 8/23 and Friday 8/24 and maybe one other day during the weekend. The target species will be billfish.....primarily big blue marlin... we've stacked the odds in our favor by hooking up with one of the local marlin legends.... Jimmy Shaw. He will be coming aboard the Maggie B and sharing some of his local knowledge. Jimmy's record out of Nantucket is an 1109# blue marlin three years ago. The fighting chair will be put into place this weekend..... Hero or zero...we'll be posting up a report or two next weekend.... __________________ JD Maggie B Ocean 44 SS

08-14-2007, 09:59 PM	#2
Possum User Gallery Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: CT / Summer in RI Posts: 2,745	Looking forward to it JD. Keep us posted. __________________ ________________________ NBS Sportfishing Affiliates

08-15-2007, 06:23 AM	#3
ARCTEKJim User Gallery Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: VOODOO GRILLE MYSTIC Posts: 2,806	good luck jd..... __________________ custom built t tops/towers/hardtops etc www.arctekmarine.com CLINTON, CT

08-15-2007, 06:51 AM	#4
74Formula233 User Gallery Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Exeter, Rhode Island Posts: 3,324	Good Luck.......PICS...... __________________

08-15-2007, 12:33 PM	#6
Bob & Mag User Gallery Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Clinton, CT Posts: 2,679	Good Luck! __________________ Due to recent budget cuts and the rising cost of food, electricity, gas, and oil, the light at the end of the tunnel has been turned off. Smoke free 4 Months!

08-15-2007, 11:15 AM	#5
Albatross NBS Member User Gallery Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Warwick, RI Posts: 314	Good Luck...they are out there! I cant wait for the Hyannis Billfish Tourney on 9/7!

08-29-2007, 07:50 AM	#7
JamesDean NBS Member User Gallery Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Noank, CT Posts: 68	Sorry for the late report, but work called right after our trip.I'm posting this up from Annapolis, MD. Our plans totally changed due to the weather last week. It was suppose to be an overnighter for big blue marlin out of Nantucket to the east as that's where the VERY warm water "was"....and "was" is the key word here. The weather was a little sporty on 8/23-8/24, so we decided to reschedule the fishing part of the trip trip until Saturday - Sunday (8/25-8/26). When we finally got a decent temp shot on Friday, it was clear that the constant east winds had pushed the warm water (75 deg) west...VERY west. So we decided to go find the water. Left Nantucket Saturday morning at 6 AM and did the downeaster shuffle at 9-10 knots to conserve fuel as the plan was to troll from north of Veatches toward Block canyon on the 1000 fathom line. Nantucket shoals is definitely not for the faint of heart. About 15 miles north of Veatches, began marking lots of fish on the bottom and lots of bait in about 68 degree water. The consensus was that this was most likely bluefin. This was a big change from the 58 degree water off the south side of Nantucket. Had a 150# class bluefin air out about 100 yards in front of the boat. Put lines in which included some 12-inch Schneiders and a couple Jimmy Shaw spreader bars. Got a small blue marlin knock down in 72.6 degree water about 5 miles north of Veatches. Continued to troll down the west wall of Veatches on the 100 fathom line as the sun set in the west. We were hoping for a potential big eye bite.....but no luck. Continued to troll down the 500 fathom line toward Atlantis and decided to set up for the night drift in West Atlantis. We were the only boat in the area with the exception of a longliner. Had 14-inch squid in the lights and nabbed a couple and rigged them deep for swords. Also, chunked up 3 flats of butters. It was a tough night in 4-6 footers out of the SW. We initially drifted 3.2 miles in 2 hours. As we were getting unconfortably close to the longliner, had to pick up around 3 AM and reset. There was no luck on the overnight. Began to troll at first light in 4-5 footers with a big eye spread of 12-inch Schneiders....it was too rough to run any spreaders. Trolled west for three hours and still no 75 degree water. Trolled down to the 1000 fathom line and was getting 73 degree water. Put out the big blue marlin spread which consisted of 19" Black Bart Brazilano's, 16" Choi Lees, and Moldcraft senior chuggers all on 130's. As we approached Block canyon in the early afternoon we finally found the 75 degree water. After what seemed like an eternity, we finally got a solid hook up on the left short....line was leaving the 130 VERY fast and was down to the dacron in about a minute. I eased the drag up to full strike and began to retrieve some line. All of a sudden the line went slack and I was reeling as fast as I could...thought the fish was off as the line was slack and she had not aired out....still kept reeling like a mad man..... all of a sudden a nice 70# class white marlin appeared below the boat lit up like no billfish I've ever seen... she had been swimming toward the boat the whole time. We got her along side for a clean release. It was not much of a fight on a 130, but was still exciting. Continued to troll the 1000 and 500 fathom line in 75 degree water until 5 PM on Sunday with no further action. Changed over to the big eye spread and started trolling up fish tails. Got a 40# class YFT up on the flats. At 7:15 PM and 36 hours of being on the water, we called it and headed to the barn. Not quite the adventure we were hoping for, but learn a LOT about trolling for big blue marlin in the NE canyons and had a great time. Hope to have some pics posted up in a couple days. __________________ JD Maggie B Ocean 44 SS

08-29-2007, 01:11 PM	#8
TASHMOO 2 NBS Member User Gallery Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 13	Sounds like a good trip to me JD, given that you were after marlin not tuna. 9/10 knots DE isn't bad either with fuel over $3 a gallon. We generally run a little faster at 11/12. I don't mind the long ride when we get back to fuel up the boat. That 44" OY. (nice looking boats) covered a lot of ocean ? Did you carry extra fuel? You write the best stories and I cannot wait to read this one

08-29-2007, 05:10 PM	#10
TASHMOO 2 NBS Member User Gallery Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 13	Nothing wrong with 8 gallons per hour at 10 knots for boat your size. I investigated extra fuel tank and bladders too. Bladders were very expensive and I was told to expect a 5 year life. The only advantage was storage after use. Ripping up deck for another tank didn't make sense either for # of times I would need extra fuel. I bought 2 30 gallon plastic barrels from Hamilton Marine and tie them to stern cleats. We empty them when we get to edge and then tie them off on bow pulpit to keep out of way. I heard you fishing in deep for Swordfish last year about this time. We were a little north of you.

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