With the wind howling and short, beach chop standing up straight from strong northerly current a goal as clear as producing a catch was the priority for night time anchorage. Thankfully, a little local knowledge garnered about twenty years prior led us to a piece of heaven where the night was passed in blissful tranquility. It is amazing how such a simple maneuver has a profound effect on the entire demeanor of everyone on board. In today's case it was as if the glorious night time reprieve reset the tone. Anglers awoke to a completely changed ocean becalmed by a gentle breeze and charged with life as the profound weather change elicited what we call a "float day". The simple term describes the ocean when everything, all the sea life comes alive on the surface voraciously feeding and providing an incredible visual demonstration of just how much fish is actually down there.

So, after six days of effort, we finally landed smack in the middle of a huge float combining 25 - 35# yellowfin tuna and 17 - 22# yellowtail in a maelstrom of activity that amounted to full speed action for this deserving group of anglers who earned the opportunity with admirable poise. The irony of it was in short order we were doing our best to avoid the yellowtail that did their best to disrupt the stops on yellowfin tuna a number of times showing up out of the clear blue while we drifted along catching tuna. When the yellows did arrive they came with knife and fork in hand annihilating everything in the water to the surprise of many anglers who thoroughly enjoyed the introduction to "potluck" style long range action. For the most part however, we quickly discerned the pattern and focused on the tuna that were fat and spirited giving anglers a thrill both at the end of their lines and on the surface. Several stops, but one phenomenal stop in particular, found Royal Star perfectly centered in a huge foamer as the rapidly moving fish pushed a giant ball of doomed sardines to the surface and absolutely destroyed every individual as we observed with jaws agape at the genuinely amazing show described by one angler as a "National Geographic" moment. With the entire array of sea life in on the destruction, the layers of activity were astonishing. I have to admit however that many anglers probably missed a lot of the details as they were fully engaged in battle focused on hauling in their opponents amidst the borderline chaotic activity associated with wide open tuna fishing.

The big show finally petered out by mid afternoon so we figured to put the finishing touch on the day with a quick sustenance stop targeting just enough calico bass for lunch tomorrow then attempting to close out the day with a few trophy yellowtail. On the bass front I can only say that there was no fishing going on at all as the zone we worked produced straight catching on perfect 2 - 3# Calico's that were so voracious they let nothing, and I mean nothing, sink more than three or four feet before bona fide hoards of bass chased and competed for whatever target was presented. Needless to say we caught our fill in short order and gave it an extra twenty minutes of catch and release because we were all having so much fun. And finally, the last move to target a few trophy yellowtail produced exactly that and a few "extry's" from a classic "sundowner" where the big yellows came up crashing around the boat. Perfect targets for the surface iron enthusiasts and vulnerable to the live mackerel as well, we picked off just enough of the trophies to produce the profound effect the sight these incredible fish has on anglers while taking a reasonable amount in light of what we already have in the hatch.

All told it was as near a perfect ending as we could ask for once again demonstrating the merits of pure tenacity in the equation of fishing success. That said there is also an undeniable amount of luck in timing. It just as easily could have been another day of cruddy weather and tough fishing so it is appropriate to assign a proper amount of success to good fortune instead of taking full credit. I'll be the first to admit that even the best fisherman can wind up on the losing end. Not for us this time though. Thank goodness.

Finally, enjoy today's photos one of which I took from the bridge looking over the bow as the big foamer I described rolled through us. I know the photo is a little small but look at how close the fish were tearing through the bait literally right under the anchor. The second photo is of anglers lined up at the rail in action during the same stop. For a few minutes there everyone had one on; just how we like it. The boys were blissfully busy yesterday. Finally. Enjoy your day and look for the final report and photos tomorrow.


Tim


Photo Here...
Photo Here...