jseven

Trailered the boat over to Orange Beach and stocked up on some goodies at Sam's around 7am. Caught a load of herring and 2 hardtails and were on our way to Petronius by 10. We hit a few small weedlines 10 miles north....they were not well formed and didnt produce for us. Nothing happening at Petronius....nada and nothing on the machine. Trolled over to Marlin to YFT busting everywhere. Managed to catch two on the popper....that was cool watching them inhale it right in front of me. It was the first offshore trip for my two buddies and they did pretty well. I only caught the first tuna and passed the rods off to them after hook up. We also hooked the biggest bull dolphin I have ever seen but lost him a few yards from the boat. He ate a hardtail and I think he was gut hooked because he sawed through the line. We then went to the Ram around sunset and caught two more on bait. In the evening we lost a swordfish after soaking a squid at 250 feet for 30 minutes. The drift was wrong and to keep the bait down straight I had to manuever the boat....pain in the ass. Anyway, the fish starting taking line. I let him have it for ten seconds or so and then let him have it. He was swimming straight at the boat as I was reeling as fast as I could. He came out of the water a hundred or so feet from the boat and spit the hook. It was depressing but having four YFT in the death box helped me get over my frustration. Overall it was a great trip and the weather was unreal. Headed back to Orange Beach about 2am Sunday and never felt a bump. Great trip.

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Captain Woody Woods

nice daytime tuna stomping

Chris V

Sounds like a fun trip. I'm curious about what you meant with the drift being "wrong", how much weight did you use? I usually start with 1lb. and work my way up according to what is needed.

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jseven

I try not to use much weight to provide for a little better presentation.....I had onthree ounces at the top of a 15' leader of 200lb monorigged next to thelight stick. The current was running pretty good in an opposite direction from the wind (which was light). I had to keep kicking the boat in gear to keep thebait down. I would have preferred to shut down and go to sleep and wake to the sound of a screaming reel!!

Captain Woody Woods

I wouldn't hardly sweat the presentation. Swordfishing is a bit different than bass fishing or bottom fishing. I have caught them on 5 boston macks speared on a J-hook before, as well as a squid bridle rig that I spent 5 minutes making.

Chris Hood

Wow Woody!! A whole five minutes??!!! I bet that swordy bait looked incredible!

Captain Woody Woods

Oh it did. Because you didn't have your slimy little Saban-fondling paws on it.

David Ridenour

Good report. Sorry about the bull and the sword. i'd love to have an opportunity to lose a sword. One day................