macala

I had a crew of four (Anna / Ruth from Atlanta) and ( Jack / Jeff from Sarasota). We had planned this trip a few months ago and I could not believe our luck on a good weather window. Friday and Saturday was our only option and seas were forecasted for 1-2. :letsparty We catch bait at the pass and we pick up 15 small hardtails off the buoys. We also cast netted about 100 small menhadens. We arrive at the Marlin rig at dark and we meet up with our friend Meagans Choice and another cat boat. I think we all ended up with a few nice yft and we all really had to earn these fish. we Live baited and chunked with fresh blackfin tuna all night and went 3 for 6. We had a nice fish on for an hour before the hook pulled. Around midnight the dolphins showed up and the bite died down. I was marking the yft around 60-120 feet and when the dolphins arrived, they went down to 150- 250 feet down.







I really wanted a swordfish so instead of waiting for the yft to come back up, we run 20 miles to my sword spot. First hour we get a hit and after a 20 min fight, it's a 4 ft hammerhead shark. :banghead We release it and set the lines out again. I'm so tired at this point I fall into deep sleep. Around 4:00 am, I wake up with one of the reels slowly clicking off one second apart. I get up and the line is under the boat on the opposite side. The swordfishmust have come up on the surface while we were asleep and now was sounding straight down deeeeep. We fight this fish for an hour and half and none of us are tired anymore. He leaped out of the water half into the fight and then sounded off 200 feet of line again. As we boated the sword, the sun came up and all we could think of were grilled steaks for dinner. :hungry









After we clean up all the blood off the boat and us, we head back to the Marlin Rig. This is when we encounter one of the biggest surprises of our fishing trip. I see a huge explosion on the starboard side and think for a second that I saw a bluefin boil. I get closer and realize that it's a whale enjoying the sunrise. We get close and enjoy each other for 15 mins before he sounded down. What a cool moment!! We were so close, we smelled his breath. It stunk like old squid. How cool is that. Enjoyed the pictures.











The oil rigs are in clean blue water right now. I did see a nice weed line 10 miles south of the steps. I had a great crew and it's so nice having 2 captains on the boat as crew members. All I did was drive the boat. It's like a fishing vacation when you have captains fishing on the boat with you. I had a blast.

Jeff Choe

bluffman2

great post.....nice job on the sword.....

Captain Woody Woods

excellent report.

401 Cay

Great report Jeff! How much fuel are you typically burning on your trips? I know you have a nice bladder setup.. Great pics.. thanks for sharing!

hebegb

WOW!



very nice report and great catch :bowdown

Huntinman

Hell of a trip!!! great pics and congrats on the sword!!

macala

From our house in Gulf Breeze to the Marlin Rig - Steps - back to Marlin Rig - trolling 4+ hours, we ran 304 s miles and burned 167 gals.I usually cruise 4300 rpms at 31 mph.

MSYellowfin

Totally Cool! Love it when it ALL comes together! :clap

MScontender

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MSyellowfin
2008 54C Viking "Jacquelyn"
2010 36 Yellowfin "Forgiven"
2010 24 Hurricane Deck Boat
2001 Contender 25 (sold)

nextstep

great fish, great report and great pic's!!!:bowdownletsdrink

Chris V

Great job! congrats on the sword, your definitely in for some good eating.

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