40-1 Longshot Down The Back Stretch
Trying to make a move on the Leader Board , last Saturday 8-13 we headed south 30-50 miles looking to fill the yellowtail and Dorado classes and get back in the race; with all the tuna action out west we felt the paddies might be holding inside so we could limit out in the morning and still have time to catch the afternoon marlin bite inside the 182 or Nine Mile Bank, wherever they showed up Sat morning. Started @ the 425 at greylight, no life or paddies; headed 20nm. south down to the Hidden Bank and saw 3 separate birds heading west, nothing on the meter, no porpoise or other life, a complete desert! Stopped at 4 or so paddies for nothing but mini-macks.Turned west towards the 390 23nm. away; at 10.5 from it we saw 2 Dorado jumpers off the bow, headed over and my son Chris dropped a mini mack off the stern which led to a 26.8 female dorado in the fish hold. We headed west again and stopped 2nm later and hooked 4 YT and landed one 23#, I had a nice one which became tangled in the kelp; I asked Chris to back the boat up, get on the swimstep, cut the kelp off my line so I could retrieve the 25# YT sulking 30 feet below the kelp. Everything was going fine until Chris thought he was a gang banger in a knife fight; on the fourth swing I became detached. After a few choice words we headed past the 390 and got within 10nm of the 60 (which was dead) so we turned around and hit the same kelp 90 minutes later for 5 more tails up to 25.5#. We were 39nm. from the marlin action at the upper 9, 2.5 hours later I had just finished setting up the jigs and drop back mackeral rod, got back up on the bridge when Chris and his buddy see 3 tailers paralleling the boat on the port side. Our bow caster was not set up and in the stern racks so I turned the boat towards the fish and then one pops up behind the port short corner beeper lure and won't bite it. After 30 seconds (which seemed like minutes) I had Chris drop the mackeral back; he thumbed it until it was right next to the beeper and the fish would not switch! I then made the decision to cut the throttles and slow down so the mack might be more visable - NOT! The fish sinks out and then the starboard Mean Joe Green rigger goes off but doesn't stick even after I gun the throttle. I goose it and pull off a couple of times but they don't come back up and are gone. Nothing like Choking Under Pressure!
It was still a great day and we picked up a few points on the leader board but No Slack Mike's Marlin on Saturday took a little wind out of our sails! We are in good shape though as all we need is a marlin and a mako and we're right back up there. We might have missed our shot at the threshers but the albies are gone with the bluefin on their way out also. It should go down to the wire and it might take 500 points to get it done this year. These points are getting expensive, we paid $253 in fuel plus $50 in bait to earn our 133 points on Saturday. I have pics and weigh slips but I'm having trouble posting the pics; Chas is helping me work through it.
No fishing this weekend, we're taking our daughter up to Sonoma State to get set up for her first year of college which begins on Monday, I might need to tap her student loan for a little gas money in the next couple of months!
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