yellowfin1
09-18-2006, 08:23 AM
Got a late start after a difficult time making some macks. Got to the 9MB about 09:30 to find more boats than I've ever seen on the bank. Water was electric blue and 68.8 degrees. Trolled through the armada with the zukers out but, no luck. Passed the good looking boat Malu Lani who had gotten a couple mako pups earlier. Lotsa bait, birds, and porpoise on the north end. Continued west to escape the madness and found several very large paddies. A lot of bait and tiny yellowtail on the paddies. Good to see all of those baby yellows. Finally hit a huge paddy with nobody around. Trolled by no fewer than 50 dorado charge the wake. Wait 5, 10, 15 seconds and nothing! Ok, pulled in the trollers and get ready to put the macks to good use. Spot the main school and the macks fly to a perfect splash right on the edge. Ok hold on tight......Nothing again! They'll surely eat the baits slow trolled. Bumped the motor into gear and the macks go right over the top. Again nothing! Dropped down to 15lb main line and 25lb flurocarbon and a 1/0 hook. Pinned on a small smelt and put it way back. Finally, a solid thump followed by a good 10 minute battle with a lot of acrobatics. Sunk the gaff into what looked like a 20+ dorado. On the scale she only went 16lbs. Could not get any more to go. Marked the paddy and scouted further west for nada. Returned to the paddy to find the dorado crashing all over the place. Small baits could be seen jumping followed by multiple boils. We had no small baits or small shiny lures. Tried for another hour but, no takers. Passed the numbers to Malu Lani and headed in for a nice blackened Mahi dinner. Beautiful day on the water.