Fish Report 12/11/24
Offering Two More Tuna Trips..
(Will return to sea bass when easterlies subside - promise!)
Several weeks ago my crew (Joey & Jeff) and I did several experimental tuna trips. Found my sea bass/tog/fluke skills didn't truly prepare me for 200lb fish, but we persevered & learned while breaking gear & fish off. Then we started catching them.
Tuesday 12/10/24 I had 7 anglers boat two bluefin of around 150lbs. Everyone was in the harness reeling and everyone got lots of fish!
I HOPE we'll be busy with reefing activities Saturday. Am not relishing bottom fishing with heavy currents in ENE winds so I'm offering another pair of bluefin tuna trolling trips - one Friday (12/13/24) and another Sunday (12/15/24) Boat will leave earlier still at 5:30 (5 if all are aboard!)
Seven clients at $375 sells out. (My anglers keep their fish!) Not likely to get back before dark.
This is trolling - not chunking. First on the rod and following order will be pulled from our daily reef raffle tix - $20 to play because there will be no fish pool.
On my for-hire trips we've had full rounds with anglers fighting fish - an angler would reel until they couldn't and then switch off to the next angler. This way we keep a fresh angler in harness until a tuna is harpooned..
These tuna fight unlike anything I've ever known..
I've not been seeing shorts under 47inches, but some boats are. As a partyboat I'd be allowed 12 under 47 and two between 47 and 73 inches. Don't count on unders..
There have been reports of monster tuna much larger than I'd care to hook ..and have to release!
Lots of 'overs' have been boated though.
I have no commercial licenses. Am not selling clients' bluefin tuna. All legal tuna will be split between paying fares with a very short share for crew. (if we want any!)
One fish makes a LOT of steaks!!
Anna is a one person operation. She might be slammed when I hit send. (or maybe not!) If she cannot pick up, Leave her a message. She has a method to her madness..
Reservations at 443-235-5577 - She has other jobs too. The line closes at 8pm and reopens at 8am. She won't take reservations for trips that are not announced.
If you want a spot call the reservation line at 443-235-5577.. Emailing me is no good (unless after hours) her service handles reservations. I'll have no idea what spots have been sold. I do check email for questions; check FaceBook messenger too..
Be a half hour early! We always leave early
..except when someone shows up right on time.
Clients arriving late will see the west end of an east-bound boat. Seriously, with a limited number of reserved spots, I do not refund because you overslept or had a flat.. If you're reserved and are the last person we're waiting on - you'll need to answer your phone. I will not make on-time clients wait past scheduled departure because of a misfortune on your part.
I post after action reports (or lack thereof) (and sometimes detailed thoughts on fisheries issues) for every trip on my personal FB page and Morning Star page. Posts including OC Reef Foundation work will be included on that page as well.
No Galley. Bring Your Own Food & Beverage.
It's Simple To Prevent Motion Sickness, Difficult To Cure. Bonine seems our best over the counter because it's (supposed to be!) non-drowsy. It's truly cheap & effective insurance. If it makes you a bit sleepy - but not chumming? That's a great trade!
"The Patch" of Scopolamine, however, is a prescription only that beats all comers.
If the ocean still wants to get the better of you? Zofran (anti nausea) can be a day saver if you have it left over from a prescription.
Honestly - If you get to go on the ocean once a month, once a year or even less; why risk chumming all day? And then there's the ebullience of youth! Of course you can party hard and go on a moderately rough ocean!
No you can't!
If you howl at the moon all night, chances are good you'll howl into a bucket all day.
Bring A Small Cooler With Ice For Tuna Steaks.
No Galley! Bring Food & Beverages To Suit. A few beers in cans is fine for the ride home.
Greetings All!
Hoping to offer a great Reef Report in coming days! Here's my Facebook report from Tuesday's (12/10/24) tuna trip..
Cheers
Monty
My Facebook Report 12/10/24..
As pretty a December morn as ever there was; we tied her loose into a near calm and steamed on off to Capt Bob's Reef where Andrew & Frank made a small contribution to our region's marine seafloor habitat. We quickly pressed on.
Just 13 miles out we found our first signs of life, a good sized pod of saddleback dolphin (aka common or crisscross dolphin.) They were feasting on sand eels, very much what our tuna are feeding on too. Though a small disappointment, we enjoyed the dolphin show as the hunt continued. Wasn't too long before we were seeing tuna blowing holes in the water.
Everyone's adrenalin now running ..it didn't help the bite any.
It was soon after Shelly insisted we put out our heaviest planer with a ballyhoo, however, that we found ourselves hooked up. Because George had won the 'first on the rod' raffle; in just 24 minutes he proved himself worthy of the task & brought a 60in bluefin tuna boat-side.
Nice.
While clearing lines for George's fish we had another bite that didn't stay tight long. Then, as we were putting lines back over, another bite at clutch speed that also quickly came unglued..
Three and a half hours later Shelly pulled another rabbit out of her hat - insisted we try one of my new diving plugs. Then, with dozens of tuna and hundreds of birds sighted and yet no bites, a rainbow appeared to our north and east after a light rain. We could see both ends, and, so help me, the east end of that rainbow is where we found the most tuna we'd seen all day
..hooked one right too.
You already know what it bit on.
Lady luck?
I'd say!
The second tuna had a lot of spirit; took almost two full rounds of my anglers working the rod - which had snapped halfway through the 54 minute battle (Yes! We fought it on a broken rod!) Then, just as the boys ran him through the gill plates with a harpoon, the 250lb swivel straightened!
An amazing bit of luck that we didn't see it swim away..
George's (yes, that George; the guy who caught a 13.5lb flounder a few weeks ago!) his was 59.5 inches and 134 pounds. The second, a group effort, was 62 inches and 147lbs.
All told?
A fine day on the rip.
We'll do it again!
Will announce a sea bass trip in the next couple days - perhaps a tuna trip too..
Another project is coming to fruition that looks likely to interfere with scheduling trips ..but that will be a good thing for fishing's future.
As always seems the case in fishing, such a fine day couldn't be allowed to finish without penance. A dense fog enveloped us just before we reached the inlet. With radar, horn signals and both mates as lookouts we found our way in without incident.
Now for some seared tuna..
Cheers All,
Monty
