7/01/14

Real long range fishing today - exactly what, how, and why avid anglers come for. The surprise, or better said bonus, that these July eight day anglers enjoyed today came in the form of steady wahoo action offshore. Not exactly a freak occurrence, but not the norm either, opportunities at wahoo this early in the season are encountered in maybe one out of seven or eight years. The warmer water cycles are usually the trigger.

Consistent with conditions we put together a nice score on quality "skin" with fairly steady action on the jigs and occasional instant pandemonium when a school was found. True to form when we did find the right zone the odds favored the wahoo by a wide margin. That said I have to give credit where due to this group of anglers: they definitely held it together in the face of extreme challenge in our best hit of the day..

While the final tally following the extreme stop would not halt one in their tracks, or even strike the big hitters as exceptional, the relatively brief action was as good as one will ever find when it comes to wahoo offshore. Exciting is an understatement in attempting to describe the tenor of such fishing. Intense, extreme, astounding, then exhilarating fairly describe the sentiment sequence, but really can't make good on the sights and happenings that occur.

I remember a scene from one of the original "Star Wars" movies when one of the characters fires a laser pistol or some such device inside an enclosed metal space and the burst of light bounces and ricochets off the walls around them almost faster that the eye can follow. The speed with which that beam of light bounces around provides excellent perspective into wahoo antics when hooked. Now consider that and multiply it times ten or fifteen fish on the lines simultaneously. One can somewhat appreciate the intensity. But as much as I attempt to describe it one still has to be there, to live the unimaginable, to believe it is possible.

In the end perhaps the most unbelievable aspect of such fishing is that anything survives. With so many potential obstacles and disasters one could easily envision such wrecking ball style action making mincemeat of the best opportunities. Sometimes it does. But more often than not the boys on deck make sense of it, maintain composure in the face of pure chaos, and skew the odds in our favor; that consistently calculate around fifty percent - on a good day.

Today was a good day, in relative terms. Between righteous conditions and real deal opportunities this one lands square in the success category. Conditions promise to hold and nothing from elsewhere compels us to move. Wahoo are on the docket again tomorrow. Now to see if they agree. Photo today features long time Royal Star veteran Eric Lovett enjoying the sweet flavor of wahoo victory.

Tim Ekstrom

Photo Here...