7/20-21 Fishing the Monster Shark "The Hard Way!"

Riptide Charters · 07-22-2007, 02:29 PM

I was supposed to be fishing the Moster Shark Tourney out of Oak Bluffs on a new 29' Hydra Sports and we were to be representing Team Navionics for the event. However with the weather forcasted to have winds over 20kts and wave heights ranging from 6-12' depending on your location we decided to opt out of the event for obvious safety reasons.

Around 2000 hours Thursday night I was sitting at home eating a pizza withing the weather would ahve co-opertated for the event when my phone rang. it was a regular customer of mine Tom, looking for my advice on the best course of action for fishign the MS under the challenging weather conditions. I told him we were out of the event due to the small boat - big wave situation and that I'd share our old game plan with him. We discussed the game plan and then he asked if I wanted to join them and fish on their team. I was almost ready to say no thank you since I really wantedto fish it with my team when Tom said "you REALLY want to come out on this boat with us". So since I was without any plans I took Tom up on the offer and quickly readied a bag of gear to bring to the marine the next morning at 0400.

I woke after a restless nights sleep and ran out the door. I hit Dunk's for a Box O Joe and some doughnuts and muffins. You can't show up empty handed. Boy was I in for a culture shock on this one. I arrived at MacDougals Marina in Falmouth and went down to the dock to look for "The Hard Way" and my new crew. I found the boat and WOW what a surprise!

This is The Hard Way!

The Hard Way is a 2001 FIFTY Foot Viking with 2600 hp

She is a true hotrod in every sense of the word!

When I arrived I was met by Captain John the boats full time captain from the Florida Keys. The Owner "Doc" was our host for the trip and was below getting ready. My regular sport Tom, Ivo (of the Monster Tiger Shark last year), and Chris (the owner/chef of NJ #1 rated resturaunt.... He'd be cooking for us as well as fishing)
were en route.

Once everyone arrived we cast off and ran down to the canal and out into CC Bay. The plan was to fish east of CC Bay to avoid both the weather and the hords of boats we expected in the sharking spots close to the Vinyard because of the weather. While the odds were definatley lower of catchig a shark out east, we figured that it was better than drifting with 50 boats on the Claw, Dump and Fingers in a 6-9' sea.

We hit Race Point on the way by for some fresh live bluefish. In just a fw passes we loaded the wells and iced a few more for fillet baits. We ran out to a spot thats been holding loads of tuna, bait and whales hoping to find a few nice sharks as well. We set up in 180 feet of water and set out a sweet slick and depolyed the baits.

Ivo and I prepped the baits and tended the rods.

Chris did his thing in the galley and soon breakfast was served! Now my normal chow on the boat is Powerbars and Mt Dew. If we are lucky we get Pop Tarts for breakfast. Today we would have 7 grain bread French Toast with fresh blueberrys, strawberrys and Manderin Oranges, along with some Honey smoked bacon.
My sport Tom

"Doc" our host and boat owner

Ivo insisted I take this picture since he put off the temptation to eat with the others and continued to prep baits.

We fished for only a few minutes before the plague decended upon us with asstonishing numbers. DOGFISH! They ate everything we put in the water. Even our live bluefish "Waldo" was run down and devoured by the little hords.

We had to break the slick and move. A push out to 320' of water and some nice structure proved to be too short a move and before the second bait went out DOGFISH!

Break the slick again and this time we double our depth to around 750' and again DOGFISH!

Finally in around 850' of water we found no dogs. The issue was we also failed to find sharks. The slick ran for miles but we never drew in anything. Thank goodness for Chris and his Peking Duck wraps with a special soy dipping sauce or the day might have been a total disaster

At 1530 we went lines out and headed for home. We hit the race again to restock on live blues and fill the cooler with fresh dead baits. A short stop at Sandwich topped off the 1000 gallon fuel tank before the run accross Buzzards Bay to port.

We ran through the canal to a killer sunset.

Capt John got to see the best of Buzzards Bay that afternoon. A stiff SW wind had the west running tide of the canal stacked up in 6' short whitecaps. What he called "getting the snob beat out of us" in my world equated to a mild jostling that would ALMOST spill an unattended cup of coffee.

Day 2 had us looking to go long for a big fish. the forcast looked good for the big boat and the plan was to run towards the canyons and try for a true beast. We ran out of the marina a bit behind the other boats, but with 2600 hp we began to reel them in one by one. The boat ate the big seas of Muskeget Channel and keeping a 30+ kt cruise even in the big seas was easy and comfortable... not to mention DRY!

About 10 miles short of our intended stop we found some excellent rips, a temp break and a fair amount of life. The decision was made to go lines in here and fish this area. We deploed the slick and within an hour we had visitors. The bluesharks responded well to the slick and soon blues from 100-250# were eating everything we could throw their way. About mid morning we did hang one small Mako around 125# but it was well unter the tourney limit so it was not kept for weigh in.

By 1530 we had gone through a 50 pack of hooks, 3 dozen bluefish, a ton of chum and over 40 bluesharks. The action was overwhelming but the species was not what we needed. We finally pulled the plug and headed for home at lines out. The ride home was soft and smooth and even afforded me a nap on the leather sectional down below. A welcome change from the typical butt kicking I get running home after a long day on the Riptide. The highligh of the ride is was a race with Team Yanmar going past the Vinyard. I guess they didn't expect our big 50'er to run better than 50 mph, oops! The twin 1300 hp Manns pushed the big Viking like a water ski boat.

After the end of the day clean up we all went over to the Flying Bridge for a nice dinenr and a few drinks. It was the perfect end to a great weekend. Final tally over 40 bluesharks, 1 small Mako and a ton of dogfish. The bait of choice live bluefish and fresh bluefish filets.

Overall this was an eye opening trip for me. I've never been out on a boat like this and it was impressive to say the least. Everything was top notch, the boat, the crew, the food and most of all the people. Doc and company were the most gracious of hosts and it hope that I was able to at least help out enough to earn my keep. I am truely grateful for the chance to team up with such a great bunch of guys for an over the top weekend of fishing.

..... and that's how you do it THE HARD WAY!

ChuckA From "Land of the Lost" · 07-22-2007, 02:56 PM

Great report and pics .Too bad you did,nt hang a big one but better than left over pizza for the weekend.

gman · 07-22-2007, 03:49 PM

great report terry sorry we missed you out there

fightingcouch · 07-22-2007, 05:52 PM

if you don't mind me asking what canyon did you end up fishing the last day????

thanks

pete · 07-22-2007, 06:09 PM

sounds like a nice tourney on a great boat, congrats. Fishin to the east was a great idea to get out of the weather. we made it out 15nm on fri and turned her around, nasty stuff.

pete

babanch · 07-22-2007, 07:11 PM

great report

Andy · 07-22-2007, 07:19 PM

Great report ,,what a sweet looking boat

Riptide Charters · 07-22-2007, 07:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fightingcouch

if you don't mind me asking what canyon did you end up fishing the last day????

thanks

We were shooting for a temp break between Vetch and Atlantis. Temp charts were sketchy at best. We got down just south of the lanes on the line we were running to the break when we found the rips and life. No tuna busting, but had I been tuna fishing I'd have still stopped since things looked so good.

fightingcouch · 07-22-2007, 08:24 PM

thanks

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