Fish Report for 12-2-2010
Royal Star Fish Report
12-2-2010
Royal Star
I can't get too wordy about the fishing today. About the sign of fish, about the most gorgeous, flat calm weather imaginable, about Chef Drew Rivera's stellar creations in the galley, or any number of other positive features of the day I could. But I won't. The masquerade would be too obvious. The straight up, zero spin delivery is hard to swallow, but necessary to provide contrast at the very least.
We landed nothing today. Zero. Hooked a couple, saw plenty, worked our tails off, and caught absolutely nothing. We even threw the towel in, took off prospecting, and found good sign of 50 - 100# yellowfin on one of the other banks in the late afternoon. Mid grade class fish were jumping everywhere scattered all around the bank in perfect sport fishing concentrations. Salvation was at our door. Within one minute of arrival we had a good spot under us, offered plenty of incentive, had twenty two anglers revved up with hot baits in the mix immediately, had fish crashing all around, and still caught zero. I do recall on that first round that one angler had a skinned up bait from a half hearted bite. That is about as much humor as I can add to the narrative today. This is a tough go.
And while I recognize and empathize with our anglers' colossal sense of disappointment there is no one suffering more than yours truly. This does not happen very often. In fact, this is one of two or three times in my twenty two years of running ten day voyages that we are in this position at this stage of the trip. The big difference between this case and the others is the sign of fish we are seeing. I recall the other tough times were the result of there simply being no fish to catch. This time it is loads of fish that absolutely will not bite; or at least not bite with the kind of abandon we require to satisfy our expectations.
This is not a sob story however. My intention is to report accurately and provide everyone reading a realistic perspective. Slow fishing does happen. It is not the rule in long range fishing. In fact the exact opposite is true. Ninety five percent of the time, perhaps more, we get on the fish and build fantastic catches through the knowledge we have gained and incredible resources we have developed. But nowhere is insulated from the fact that it is fishing. My dearest mentor Steve Loomis used to comment regularly about the fact that we can only maintain and control the professional effort and service we offer. The fishing, and to some extent the weather, are not ours to command.
Needless to say we are all desperate for a change of venue and pace. Enough is enough. So we will see how tomorrow unfolds as we scoot up the line in search of some yankin' and crankin' to restore spirits and enthusiasm for the effort this voyage. Beyond that we will see. We still have time and options available. Other than the fact that we are presently in a tight spot nothing is set in stone. With any luck we'll be singing a different tune tomorrow with a few fish in the hatch and confidence lifted by some good fishing action and fun.
Photo today features the familiar "derby" of living long range legend Frank Matsuhara who had an epic battle on his hands fighting this devil fish of a yellowfin tuna. Every once in a while we experience a yellowfin with mutant strength that defies all reason. There have been a handful prominent in my memory as possessed demons that absolutely ruined both anglers and crew. The fish in this photo, at a mere 170 pounds, made the list. After Frank gave it his all, and crewman Steve Gregonis got his ass handed to him, it was time for me to step in and demonstrate how it is done. Right. Twenty minutes later, with the fish at color the entire time, I was huffing and puffing, sweating buckets, still pulling for all I was worth, and gaining little ground. Every time I pulled this fish would pull back harder with jack hammer tail beats punishing the rod. Under the boat, in the wheels, up the side, around the anchor line, back under the boat - all the while pulling like a tractor trailer on the end of the line. I'm happy to report that I did prevail. I also report that I had some choice, unsympathetic words for this rotten S.O.B. when he hit the deck. What a warrior. The battle continues.
Tim Ekstrom
Photo Here...
We landed nothing today. Zero. Hooked a couple, saw plenty, worked our tails off, and caught absolutely nothing. We even threw the towel in, took off prospecting, and found good sign of 50 - 100# yellowfin on one of the other banks in the late afternoon. Mid grade class fish were jumping everywhere scattered all around the bank in perfect sport fishing concentrations. Salvation was at our door. Within one minute of arrival we had a good spot under us, offered plenty of incentive, had twenty two anglers revved up with hot baits in the mix immediately, had fish crashing all around, and still caught zero. I do recall on that first round that one angler had a skinned up bait from a half hearted bite. That is about as much humor as I can add to the narrative today. This is a tough go.
And while I recognize and empathize with our anglers' colossal sense of disappointment there is no one suffering more than yours truly. This does not happen very often. In fact, this is one of two or three times in my twenty two years of running ten day voyages that we are in this position at this stage of the trip. The big difference between this case and the others is the sign of fish we are seeing. I recall the other tough times were the result of there simply being no fish to catch. This time it is loads of fish that absolutely will not bite; or at least not bite with the kind of abandon we require to satisfy our expectations.
This is not a sob story however. My intention is to report accurately and provide everyone reading a realistic perspective. Slow fishing does happen. It is not the rule in long range fishing. In fact the exact opposite is true. Ninety five percent of the time, perhaps more, we get on the fish and build fantastic catches through the knowledge we have gained and incredible resources we have developed. But nowhere is insulated from the fact that it is fishing. My dearest mentor Steve Loomis used to comment regularly about the fact that we can only maintain and control the professional effort and service we offer. The fishing, and to some extent the weather, are not ours to command.
Needless to say we are all desperate for a change of venue and pace. Enough is enough. So we will see how tomorrow unfolds as we scoot up the line in search of some yankin' and crankin' to restore spirits and enthusiasm for the effort this voyage. Beyond that we will see. We still have time and options available. Other than the fact that we are presently in a tight spot nothing is set in stone. With any luck we'll be singing a different tune tomorrow with a few fish in the hatch and confidence lifted by some good fishing action and fun.
Photo today features the familiar "derby" of living long range legend Frank Matsuhara who had an epic battle on his hands fighting this devil fish of a yellowfin tuna. Every once in a while we experience a yellowfin with mutant strength that defies all reason. There have been a handful prominent in my memory as possessed demons that absolutely ruined both anglers and crew. The fish in this photo, at a mere 170 pounds, made the list. After Frank gave it his all, and crewman Steve Gregonis got his ass handed to him, it was time for me to step in and demonstrate how it is done. Right. Twenty minutes later, with the fish at color the entire time, I was huffing and puffing, sweating buckets, still pulling for all I was worth, and gaining little ground. Every time I pulled this fish would pull back harder with jack hammer tail beats punishing the rod. Under the boat, in the wheels, up the side, around the anchor line, back under the boat - all the while pulling like a tractor trailer on the end of the line. I'm happy to report that I did prevail. I also report that I had some choice, unsympathetic words for this rotten S.O.B. when he hit the deck. What a warrior. The battle continues.
Tim Ekstrom
Photo Here...
