Fish Report for 11-20-2011
Royal Star Fish Report
11-20-2011
Royal Star
While we are dedicated to the pursuit of trophy yellowfin there is something to be said for fishing for quantity in numbers. And after five days of driving, thankfully in beautiful, calm conditions, we were ready to stop the train and practice the simultaneous arts of fishing and catching. Of course we did piece together a catch on the bigger tuna - an RSW tank near full of dandies, including three over the deuce mark, a couple of handfuls of 175 - 195's, and another few handfuls of 100 to 165's attests to this fact, but overall the action below was comprised of a few bright moments and lots of driving and looking. Despite knowing that we could have at least pieced together another final day on the big fish we opted for a move up the line. It was time to forge ahead.
The objective of distributing all action encountered among every participant was foremost; balance in this category is typically hard to come by in the big fish arena - as it was this time also. So we pushed north in continuing fine weather shifting gears into yellowtail and school size tuna mode fully content with our effort down below. We arrived at our primary destination at 0645 and jumped right in the saddle. We climbed off at 1600 bowlegged, chaffed, and blissfully sore.
By far the stand out detail of the morning was the quality of the yellowtail, both the catching and fish themselves, that were fat and stocky and absolutely jugged to the gills with perfect market size squid. Between cooler water temperatures now and the unabated banquet that has obviously been occurring around this bank these 22 - 30# yellowtail, with a super high fat content, will undoubtedly serve up as delicacies in whatever form they are presented. Combined with only a couple of days in the RSW tanks and flat calm conditions the corpulent "forkies" promise to wow anyone and everyone with their incredibly rich, delicate, fillets.
After wearing ourselves down pulling on big yellows we shifted gears in the afternoon switching the game to school size tuna. They were a little reluctant to answer our challenge but eventually found their courage and rallied a few waves for an assault. Being a little shy of muscle and brawn, though credit was certainly deserved for effort, they were systematically mowed down adding to our bounty in the hatch and rounding out our "limit style" day. It was great fishing; great action, great fun, tremendously productive, and thoroughly satisfying. A full day of sitting on the anchor, fishing, and catching was just what the doctor ordered. We would have had a good time either way, but no doubt the catching component made the experience a whole lot better. There are now many full sacks whereas before today not so much. This evened the score for everybody - everyone got a chance to play.
As such the next inevitable move carries us north to target a few more yellowtail and perhaps a few electives in pursuit of the now imbedded Royal Star tradition of a final day fresh, white meat fish lunch. Executive Chef Drew Rivera has both his bass catching outfit ready on the bow and his knife razor sharpened; his creativity is already flowing. If it is meant to be well see if he can best the previous voyage's offering.
Photo of the day features a humorous blood and gore scene I have debated sharing over the past few days. In the end I had to do it. This is a case of the spiking and bleeding of a giant yellowfin tuna gone awry. Once in awhile the "sweet spot" is grazed with the spike rather than plugged dead center. The result is typically some form of detonation the includes the big tuna doing the proverbial "funky chicken" throwing serious gore far and wide.
And when this does occur the only solution is to get after the mad flapping beast and subdue it with a correctly place second effort - which is easier said than done. It is no task for the faint of heart; both in that one can't be weak kneed at the sight of blood, and one must throw caution to the wind and pounce on two hundred plus pounds of insanely out of control pure muscle. In this respect Chief Engineer Sean Bickel is the perfect man for the job. This guy is all man in mind set, humor, and ability. He is my right hand man for good reason. And in the immediate aftermath of this incident we shared a long, sincerely appreciated laugh. I have been this guy more than once myself; and loved every minute of it. A final word of caution - if you are squeamish at the sight of blood and gore don't look. Otherwise enjoy some good humor; to us this was an intensely hilarious moment. It's an eclectic brand of humor out here. If you're laughing at this picture, and I hope that you are, welcome to the club.
Tim Ekstrom
Photo Here...
The objective of distributing all action encountered among every participant was foremost; balance in this category is typically hard to come by in the big fish arena - as it was this time also. So we pushed north in continuing fine weather shifting gears into yellowtail and school size tuna mode fully content with our effort down below. We arrived at our primary destination at 0645 and jumped right in the saddle. We climbed off at 1600 bowlegged, chaffed, and blissfully sore.
By far the stand out detail of the morning was the quality of the yellowtail, both the catching and fish themselves, that were fat and stocky and absolutely jugged to the gills with perfect market size squid. Between cooler water temperatures now and the unabated banquet that has obviously been occurring around this bank these 22 - 30# yellowtail, with a super high fat content, will undoubtedly serve up as delicacies in whatever form they are presented. Combined with only a couple of days in the RSW tanks and flat calm conditions the corpulent "forkies" promise to wow anyone and everyone with their incredibly rich, delicate, fillets.
After wearing ourselves down pulling on big yellows we shifted gears in the afternoon switching the game to school size tuna. They were a little reluctant to answer our challenge but eventually found their courage and rallied a few waves for an assault. Being a little shy of muscle and brawn, though credit was certainly deserved for effort, they were systematically mowed down adding to our bounty in the hatch and rounding out our "limit style" day. It was great fishing; great action, great fun, tremendously productive, and thoroughly satisfying. A full day of sitting on the anchor, fishing, and catching was just what the doctor ordered. We would have had a good time either way, but no doubt the catching component made the experience a whole lot better. There are now many full sacks whereas before today not so much. This evened the score for everybody - everyone got a chance to play.
As such the next inevitable move carries us north to target a few more yellowtail and perhaps a few electives in pursuit of the now imbedded Royal Star tradition of a final day fresh, white meat fish lunch. Executive Chef Drew Rivera has both his bass catching outfit ready on the bow and his knife razor sharpened; his creativity is already flowing. If it is meant to be well see if he can best the previous voyage's offering.
Photo of the day features a humorous blood and gore scene I have debated sharing over the past few days. In the end I had to do it. This is a case of the spiking and bleeding of a giant yellowfin tuna gone awry. Once in awhile the "sweet spot" is grazed with the spike rather than plugged dead center. The result is typically some form of detonation the includes the big tuna doing the proverbial "funky chicken" throwing serious gore far and wide.
And when this does occur the only solution is to get after the mad flapping beast and subdue it with a correctly place second effort - which is easier said than done. It is no task for the faint of heart; both in that one can't be weak kneed at the sight of blood, and one must throw caution to the wind and pounce on two hundred plus pounds of insanely out of control pure muscle. In this respect Chief Engineer Sean Bickel is the perfect man for the job. This guy is all man in mind set, humor, and ability. He is my right hand man for good reason. And in the immediate aftermath of this incident we shared a long, sincerely appreciated laugh. I have been this guy more than once myself; and loved every minute of it. A final word of caution - if you are squeamish at the sight of blood and gore don't look. Otherwise enjoy some good humor; to us this was an intensely hilarious moment. It's an eclectic brand of humor out here. If you're laughing at this picture, and I hope that you are, welcome to the club.
Tim Ekstrom
Photo Here...
