North Carolina Bluefin and Yellowfin Tuna 3/4 to 3/5/20

March 23, 2020 by cudamanadventures

Right as we heard news on the Corona virus erupting all over the world I received a last minute call, I was invited by Bill to go fishing on the Sea Breeze with Captain Ned and mate George. Luckily that at the time of the trip there were no warnings here in the U.S. The fishing trip was to be a jigging and popping trip for Bluefin Tuna. The weather was iffy and the tunas had been caught in previous trips so our trip seemed to have a good outlook. After Bill called on Monday night I had to rush and get my gear ready through the night then started driving Tuesday 3rd of March at 1am. It was a long road towards Georgia for me. I was to meet Bill and then make a decision on whether I kept driving or drive with him and get some shut eye. Well, I slept while Bill drove. Upon arrival we prepared our rods and reels and the next morning off to fishing we were.

We arrived at the dock and loaded our gear. We met with Dan who was to fish with us for the next 2 days.

Soon after Captain Ned introduced us to George the Mate, he gave us a safety talk and a bit about the fishing plan. We were to look for Tuna schooling up under dolphins and whales or simply find them and jig or pop for them.

Off we went and after an hour the Captain spotted some two-tone dolphins so we stopped to give it a try. We tried jigging, different depths and had started with 200 gram jigs; then I ended up using 400 gram jigs. The jigs were not working so we switched to pencil lures. We were unsuccessful since the fish were deep and very sporadic. We moved several times, then Dan suggested we just try trolling our lures and so we did. Bill and I ended with two small Yellowfin tuna. The tuna were regurgitating small squids and puffer fish. Below is a small video of catching one of the tuna on spinning gear using a Maria Loaded while trolling it at 6 knots. That was to be the end of day one.

This is now day 2 of our trip. We got to the docks at 4:30am and departed at 5am. This time the plan was to troll for the fish then jig and pop when we found them. The day started with Dan on the troll catching another small yellowfin tuna. Then we took turns each getting more small keeper yellowfin tuna.

As Bill was reeling in a Yellowfin Tuna the other rod went off, with Dan inside the cabin not wanting to use the heavy boat gear I picked it up. At first it seemed to be another small Yellowfin Tuna but as I was reeling it in it got heavier and heavier. The fight lasted about 20 to 30 minutes on the heavy tackle provided by the boat. I just wish I was able to have fought in with my own gear, I think it would have been a lot easier. Well, maybe next time it will be. Below is a video of the last minute or so showing the release.

Here is another video of the trolling action.

Below is a combination of Yellowfin Tuna caught trolling lure and ballyhoo with skirt.

Below is the boat, a 58′ custom built Carolina Sportfisherman. It is a very comfortable boat. I even forgot many times that we were in 5 to 7 foot seas.

Commercial fishing season ended but this boat was still at the dock. This is a very nice boat.

Cudaman Adventures , fishing report, fishing photos

As we were packing up I took a picture of Dan’s sweet setup of his van. He was going to stay fishing for ten days after the trip. Next time I go I will try to do the same. I now have a better idea on what I wanna do to my tackle box of a car 🙂

Below are a few pics of the ways I ate the tuna.

Cudaman Adventures , BBQ Yellowfin Tuna belly with skin on.

Cudaman Adventures, #keto #sushi and #sashimi

Cudaman Adventures , #yellowfintuna #ceviche #keto

Once again a big thanks to Bill for the last minute invite that put me on my very first Bluefin Tuna. I sure enjoyed it and enjoyed the yellowfin tuna in so many different ways for the next 3 weeks.

Tight lines everyone and take care of yourselves and those near you.

2019 Pulley Ridge Trip coming up

April 9, 2019 by cudamanadventures

On July 11th we will take our annual trip to Pulley Ridge, where we hunt for trophy fish while trying to best each fisherman on board. We run a mini tournament where we battle for biggest fish, and biggest fish per specified species. Sometimes we offer prizes for bad luck or for whomever caught the most fish. Most of us will be Slow Pitch Jigging as we have been doing for the past 5 years on these trips, some will fish bait at night and speed vertical jig or slow pitch jig for black fin tunas, snappers and groupers.

These trips started on http://www.boatlessfishing.com and spread through www.floridapsotman.com/forum and http://www.360tuna.com with fellow forum members as well as with those that want to adventure where not many can go and catch species they’ve never heard of. We always have sponsors that are on board, so far we have:

CM Tackle from www.tacklenow.com that has donated a nice reel and assists hooks.
http://www.Strikertackle.com has offered a few prizes as well

As in previous years we also have http://www.H4Ljigs.com that has sponsored with many slow pitch jigs
Like last year we have Suarez Liquors located at 799 West 29 st Hialeah FL 33012 donating a bottle
And a print shop Island Girl EVSM Prints has offered printed art work on canvas.
Rods By Ralph will be giving out a custom made Gaff
http://www.13fishing.com will be sponsoring special jigs great for groupers
This blogs is giving free slow pitch jigs as part of a free raffle

I will be updating this post as we go.

If anyone else would like to sponsor this trip please contact me by leaving a message on this blog. This is a good way to give exposure to your tackle shop, rod building business, Charter business or any other fishing related business.

Tacklenow.com donaion is below:

I will be giving away the 200 gram slow pitch jigs below.

StrikerTackle.com donation is below, every jig here can be used for snapper, grouper, blackfintunas and amber jacks.

Island Girl EVSM Prints has donated 4 small prints and one large print to be given out as prizes. These are valued at around $50 to $100 each. Good luck winning these!

Below is http://www.H4Ljigs.com donation of 35 jigs.

Below is Suarez Liquors donation.

Rods by Ralph gaff to be raffled

Puerto Vallarta – the one that got away :)

January 11, 2019 by cudamanadventures

Well, fisherman always say “you should have seen how it battled, it must have been the biggest I would have caught, but I lost it!”. Yes, unfortunately it happened to three of us. But that’s how it goes since it’s called fishing not catching.

Bill invited me once again to go on his yearly trip to La Cruz de Huanacaxtle, Mexico which is next door to Puerto Vallarta but closer to the fishing grounds. On this trip we were to fish with the Osuna brothers of the Marlas Sport Fishing charters. Fishing with me were Bill, his wife LB and Neil. They got to the Bed & Breakfast a day earlier so when I got there it was enough time for me to get comfortable, walk the streets of La Cruz de Huanacaxtle, eat good local food and share some stories.

The following morning we had time to eat breakfast and relax a bit.

After, it was time to setup our gear.

I added my 50 lb flouro leader to the 50 lb test main line on my Valiant 400 and secured it with a PR Knot.

Next was adding the 100 lb flourocarbon leader to the 80 lb test main line on my Gorilla 12 reel.

Below is my gear ready to go fishing. Stella 8,000 on a 7 foot popping rod for small tunas and other fish if present. The Alutecnos on a 400 gram jigging rod to be used as a jigging/bait rod for the tunas. The last two are 7 foot slow jigging rods for the snappers and groupers that may be lurking the waters in the 200 to 25 foot depths we were fishing.

After setting up our gear we went for a nice lunch at a local restaurant called La Glorieta de Don Enrique. Very well recommended to all. From the clam sushi to the shrimp on avocado bed to the local beer and the different hot sauces, everything was tasty and excellent on that day.

Cudaman Adventures , fishing report, fishing photos

Once filled to my limits we went back to the Bed & Breakfast and gather our equipment to load in the boat.

Cudaman Adventures , fishing report, fishing photos

As the mates finished preparing we just watched the pangas come in and out of the marina.

Cudaman Adventures , fishing report, fishing photos

On the way we were.

We did stop to get some bait called Caballitos, these are what we call goggle eyes.

Cudaman Adventures , fishing report, fishing photos

The bait commercial fisherman showed us his hand made sabiki rig, which was a long line of hooks with fish skin and what looked like feathers added to them. It was very interesting to see.

We continued our adventure into the sunset and to the fishing grounds.

Cudaman Adventures , fishing report, fishing photos

We got there at night and caught some squid to be used as part of the live bait in the morning. As morning came we decided to do some slow vertical jigging and slowpitch jigging while there were baits on the flat lines and the kites. Below I hooked up with a Pacific Almaco Jack.

Later it was a nice size Hachinago Pargo, wich is a kind of red snapper.

Next up I decided to try a new jig on the market, it looks like lobster and to my surprise it was a favorite to skip jacks and pacific bonitos. Both of which were needed as bait for the big tunas. Unfortunately I lost the $25 jig to a rock at the bottom of the sea.

Bill closed the morning slowpitch vertical jigging with a Cabrilla also known as broomtail grouper.

The flat lines and kites were not producing so the captain decided to start trolling live skipjacks. It was my turn as one of the lines got hit. I really wasn’t ready as I did not have my fighting belt on so I had to rail the rod a bit until Bill let me borrow his belt. I fought the fish and tough I was gaining line when the line went slack and then I started reeling real fast fearing the the fish was actually swimming southeastward the boat, then again I felt the pressure and started to reel but to our dismay it was no longer a fish I was pulling but the buoy of a commercial long liner, AAARRRRRGGGG!!!!, I lost the first big fish of the day.

We started trolling again. We had about 5 baits to start with so we were good for a bit.

As we kept trolling we saw some commercial fishermen pulling their long lines filled with yellowfin tuna.

Then the lines started singing and it was LB’s turn, she fought the fish for about half hour or perhaps even 45 minutes but got fatigued and had to hand the rod to her husband Bill whom fought the fish for about another hour and fifteen minutes. The fish was up a good three time as we saw it’s fins skimming the waters. The leader came in the rod;s guides and as soon as it would do so it would find energy and make another run for it’s life. Unfortunately for Bill and fortunate for the fish the hook came off about 15 feet from the boat. We now lost a second fish. This one was a big fish over 250 pounds without a doubt.

They always say three times a charm and it sure was. On Neil’s turn bill set him up with his fighting belt. Neil started the fight on the transom and when the fight started to be a tug of war between Neil and the fish, the Captain recommended the fighting position be moved to the bow where a few minutes later the fish was gaffed and sent to the transom to be hauled in the boat.

Below is Neil and his catch of a lifetime. By the measurement the fish was around 237 pounds.

Once that fish was caught the sunset came upon us and with high winds and rough seas decision was made to take refuge in the bay of the island and spend the night there.

It was dinner time now so the captain decided to surprise us wit a delicacy prepared by his own hands, Yellowfin Tuna Belly cooked on the grilled with spices and seasoned with a mayo, ketchup and mustard base sauce. I must say it was delicious.

Adding to that was chicken and beef fajitas.

Below is the captain grilling the tuna bellies and corn tortillas.

The ending plate of deliciousness.

As morning came we started jigging again. A few Huachinangos snappers and chicken groupers were caught.

Once the bite slowed down it was time for first breakfast; fresh fruits and yogurt.

We trolled and trolled without success so second breakfast came in handy :)

Then it was lunch time when we ate delicious tuna rolls, sushi and sashimi.

We had plenty bait and this day we lost at least three hook ups. Then a nice hookup ended being a porpoise that was released. Night time came and bottom fish and flat lines were the order. We got no hits on the flat lines but bottom fishing ended with plenty of Perro Jacks (horse eye jacks) and a couple of yellowfin snappers.

At dinner time we had a nice plate of seared tuna, spaghetti and salad.

The trip was a bust for me as I was not able to land a yellowfin tuna this time, buy hey it’s fishing not catching. All in all next time I will request the use of the kite and flat lines more often to give us a chance to do some slow vertical jigging and slowpitch jigging. At the airport I had nice meal ad one drink, then I was on my way back home.

Good by La Cruz de Huanacaxtle and Puerto Vallarta!

Until next time, tight lines!

Herbert

Capt. Yuri Dry Tortugas Slow Jigging and Bait 9/14/18

September 28, 2018 by cudamanadventures

I was invited to go fishing on a trip to the Dry Tortugas. I was asked to replace a fisherman that was not able to make the trip so I jumped in. Many times you arrange a trip in advance things come up and people can’t make it. I was in their shoes as well looking for a replacement but ended going fishing as I was able to resolve my plans. On this trip my goal was to test my back and jig as much as I could. I’m glad I’m able to enjoy jigging a lot more now. I jigged the first two days and had to rest on the third, but I made it.

We left the docks around 9:30 pm and got to the fishing grounds around 12:30 am. On the first stop the current was fairly strong, Rory was able to get a pig of a mutton snapper but then shortly after it turned into a sharknado. No matter what you would put down it was shark after shark. Morning time came and current was still fairly strong. I was able to use 220 grams slow pitch jigs hooking up to several American Red Snappers and small mutton snappers. Then things got a bit better and was able to land a nice Scamp Grouper then again we were hit by another sharknado and ended up moving away as they were even hitting our jigs making us loose several of them until I added some flexible Tyger wire. This is a pretty good wire that is very hard to kink and is so flexible that almost acts like heavy mono filament and you can tie knots with it making it very easy to handle.

Below is Rory with his nice Dry Tortugas mutton Snapper.

One of my American Red Snappers.

The sharks started hitting the jigs.

My scamp grouper below was caught with a slow pitch jig .

Rory getting ready to release an American Red Snapper.

Bill and his American Red Snapper.

Having moved only a few minutes away it was donkey kong time! Ben was able to land a 70 pound class amber jack with the help of Rodney the rod holder. I was able to somehow get away from them and landed another scamp grouper. Fishing hadn’t been as good as we wanted and so the Captain suggested we do some deep drop fishing and out came the electrics but me and Jongsoo tried jigging with 500 gram jigs anyways and was able to get down successfully only to get tangled with the electric reel lines as the Captain kept trying to stay on the spot by power motoring. We decided to get a rest and Jongsoo got in the electrics while I helped a few times bringing in the fish. I should have helped more, my apologies to the guys for that.

Ben and his Amber Jack that was released. The pic does not do justice on the real size of this fish.

Below is my second Scamp Grouper of the day. I got a total of 3 Scamps on the #slowpitchjig.

A sample of the deep drop fishing snowy groupers caught by Rory and Bill.

Sunset came and no black groupers, no mutton snapper just sharks and sharks and more sharks. We decided to just eat a nice dinner prepared by Captain Yuri then rest and went to sleep waking up at night to try again but the sharks were just too thick. Morning came and things went for the better. A few porgies were caught as well as a couple of red groupers. Rory’s dad Bill got some nice mutton snappers and Greg got his first ever mutton snapper and it was a pig of a fish. Way to get a first with a 12 to 14 pounder. I also got into some mutton snappers on the slow pitch jig. By this time it was already 3pm and the Captain decided to move.

A nice Dry Tortugas Sunset.

Below is Jongsoo on a battle with a big shark.

below is Jongsoo with a porgie caught on a slow pitch jig.

Then again a Red caught on another slow pitch jig.

At this time of the day it was #slowpitchjigging time and worked nicely. Rory with a mutton snapper caught on the slowpitch jig.

And another mutton snapper caught by me on the slowpitch jigs.

What I call a white grunt caught by Greg.

Below is Bill with another mutton snapper.

Rory with a nice porgie.

Here is Greg with another nice Dry Tortugas size mutton snapper.

i also took a turn with a nice size Dry Tortugas mutton snapper.

Next spot was not so great we power drifted to keep vertical but all we hooked up again were sharks and re sharks. Sunset move was also not productive, no black groupers just more sharks and the rest of the night proved much of the same, sharknado! Jongsoo took the cake with a shark over 200 pounds or so.

Morning time came and it was basically the same so the Capatain took us to a shallow water flag yellow tail spot. The boys were able to land many nice flag yellow tails but I was not prepared for that. I was able to land a nice mutton snapper and a nice Barracuda but that was it. It was the end of our trip.

Here is the nice cuda.

All in all it was a sharknado trip with slow catching and some quality fish in the mix. In the end we took dinner home for a few weeks if not a couple of months so this was an ok trip.

Below is me with two of the fish not in the above pics and the overall catch from the trip.

Until next time, Tight Lines!

Yankee Capts Halfway Ledge 7-12-18 Awesome Times!

July 16, 2018 by cudamanadventures

It is always a tedious process to put together a fishing trip a year in advance, yet I always love looking forward to the next. Being a Charter Master isn’t something easy but it’s fun and it’s where my fishing trip starts. Many got on the trip, many dropped off due to new jobs or family issues, others because of health issues and so on. But finally in a crunch of a few weeks we were able to get all replacements done and as always with the exception of once, we found all great people to fish with.

I started collecting bait very late as I had many family outings that preventing me from going in the search for bait on a daily basis. I usually start one week before the trip and load up on as many fresh baits as possible. This year it got tough I looked for goggle eyes and spedos but was only able to get a few goggle eyes and a few baby bonitos. That was not a problem as I was planning on jigging in the daytime and using baits at night time only. Below is my bait setup at one of the local piers and before you ask there isn’t a specific pier where you can get your bait, you must visit all of them and then when you find the bait you go there as often as possible.

Before I loaded up the car I made sure to include 3 pitch rods, 2 bottom rods, and 3 jigging rods and one of the jigging rods to double as a heavy grouper rod. The Capt had contacted me through the office as he was out there fishing and told me to bring heavy weights as the current was very strong. I notified everyone and was glad I did since some times I needed to use 2 pounds to keep my bait on the bottom, but vertical jigs of 200 grams and up were no problem to hit the bottom.

As we were driving up I noticed the old trailer park in Sunshine Keys that was next to the Missouri Ohio bridge was completely gone, but as always in the keys rebuilding after a hurricane was already in progress and many new stores, houses, and projects were already started or completed before the last hurricane, hell, my roof is still being replaced jsut now after many months of humid battles against the rain and the Keys are looking amazing in comparison to my house. “We survived, now we thrive” is always the motto of the keys and they have proven it.

An awesome sight along the highway was to see the rebuild of the old 7 Mile Bridge is back on the way again.

A dream for me had been to see this bridge in Big Pine Key reopened to fishing once again (Spanish Harbor West End). As a teenager this was my favorite bridge to fish from. Even when I had a boat I spent a few weeks fishing under it with my family. I am so exited go see it again, there will be no more taking a long piece of 4×4 to sneak in the middle of the night to fish from this bridge. Oh boy! Oops did I say that?

Well we got to the boat and as always it was on to the Hogfish Grill for a nice Hogfish lunch and a drink.Once lunch was over it was back on to getting the boat loaded. Sorry for the pic below it is not meant to offend anyone but its towards Captain Rare who on the last minute made us all look for a replacement. I know he was glad to see this picture. He was missed as he is always part of the fun.

With the boat mostly loaded it was just time to wait for a few straggler running late.With everyone there all the trucks, cars, and vans were parked it was time to go on this adventure.

While on the boat, we all got together upstairs and talked about the plans and giveaways of goodies donated by Osage. Everyone got a bag with 3 items or more in them, randomly given to everyone of the fishermen. Plus a white hat in case they needed one.

And while on the way another middle finger for Captain Rare. Why not!

We got there early morning and the bite started. Here is William with a nice Red Grouper.

Jordan with a Mutton Snapper.

The fish started flying in the boat, we had a nice hot bite!

I hooked up a decent Scamp Grouper on the slow pitch jigging depot jig right before sunrise.

Can you complain about a nice fish filled sunrise?

Eugene hit it hard with this nice Porgy.

I kept on the slow pitch jigs and hooked up on this Amberjack that was released.

Dan got a nice Red Grouper while jigging.

I saw some top water action so I threw an H4L Wingman to get me this nice Black Fin Tuna.

Alex got this Grouper pool winning Fire Truck Red Grouper.

On Jose’s first trip he hooked up nice on the Red Grouper as well.

This is what the first box looked like by 10:30 am. It was full!

Well, morning have to start with nice fishing and a nice breakfast right? So here my my custome breakfast by Chef Chad. Here is his menu.

https://yankeecapts.com/yankee-capts-galley/

The day went on slowly but surely, Robert hooked up another nice Red Grouper.

Well, why not show the rest of the sotry? Even the small fish were aggressive, look at this 2 lizard fish hitting a jig. They must have said I’ll get half abd you get half?

Double hook ups trippele hook ups were still seeing around noon.

Dan got a Nice Scamp Grouper right before we drifted into sand and the the Slippery Dicks started to show up.

Lunchtime came so I was ready to eat my bun less sirloin and bacon burger.

The Red Grouper kept on coming I think just about everyone got a few of them or even their limit.

As I kept on and off with the slow pitch jigs I hooked up another Blackfin Tuna.

The current was getting out of control so the sea anchor was deployed.

And in again came the double hookups but this time jigs were king.

Another nice Scamp Grouper this time by Robert.

And a nice fatty Red Grouper by Eugene.

While at the bow Victor was getting his Mutton it ended up in a double. This is a Father and son in law combo!

Robert had been doing slow on the first day and then woke up and killed the next day! Here he is with a nice red grouper.

Well we were at sunset city and things started to slow down a bit.

We filled the second box around midnight when the blackfins started to shoe up in bigger numbers!

The next moring came in and Art wok up and it was a rotation between him, Jordan, Little Chris, Miami Chris, and Mario. They got plenty Mutton Snappers while us at the bow were just looking at one another.

Things got so slow after that, we even found someone trying to fish with an orange! The jigs were king again, here is Chris on his slow pitch jigging Red Grouper.

My back started hurting so I stopped jigging and decided to go big and pay the price of not catching fish for the opportunity to get a big grouper. I used spedos and big squids I kick my self for missing 4 bites that almost pulled my in the water but hey! It’s fishing not catching! (kicks my self again!)

Rory with a broken leg made the best of his trip fishing at the rail as much as possible. Here he is with a nice Mutton Snapper.

Robert did great with the slowpitch jigs and his 10 bucks plastic squid, here he is with a nice wahoo.

The Shake and Bait double D’s Dan and Dan also did great vertical jigging all styles.

Lunch time came up and a nice meal was at hand. A Chef’s Philly with out the bun.

As you know all good things must end, it was our last chance at fishing and we we got to the spot it was filled with hundreds of Barracudas and Amber Jacks, but William was able to get through them and catch this last mutton of the trip. after that it was home bound.

On the way home we got our last dinner. With an awesome starter of Avocado and tuna.

The shrimp scampi was amazing!

And one last look and a Florida West Coast Sunset.

And what a way to enjoy it with a nice beer, meal, new and old fishing buddies! Even if there were a few name callings, a few screams for getting lines crossed, a few “HEY who drank my Gatorade? In the end we all ended up smiling and drinking the night away on the way home.

When we got back to the dock it was only a short wait to get our fish. The totes were overloaded with them and we had had a nice sleep before we got to the docks in the morning.

Here is Donald who won biggest Snapper with this about 14 pound Mutton Snapper.

Not only did he win the pool but also a nice goodie bag with the Havana Club Rum donate by Captain Rare and Churchill cigars donated by Osage.

Here is Robert again with biggest fish. He also won the pool for biggest fish and a goodie bag with a Stag knife, braid tantrum, Yo-Zuri Chrystal 3d, and detachable rod butt.

Below is Alex with biggest Grouper. He won a bottle of 12 year Old Flor de Caña Rum donated by Suarez Liquors located at 799 West 29 st Hialeah FL 33012 and Churchill cigars donated by Osage.

Mario got a goodie bag from donations by Osgage and my self. This was for catching the first grouper.

Victor got a goodie bag from donations by Osgage and my self. This was for catching the first Mutton Snapper.

Robert got a goodie bag from donations by Osgage and my self. This was for catching the first and only wahoo.

And now some of the fish pics and cooler pics to make some people jealous for not coming on this trip.

I hope you have enjoyed the report. Keep your lines Tight and until next time!

And my apologies to Captain Greg for getting so loud on the last day while coming back home, but we threw a party to celebrate our success.

A great thanks to:

Captain Greg for making this trip affordable to all of us.
Osage for donating the vast amounts of items for the giveaways
Captain Rare for supplying the rum for our celebration and for biggest mutton
Suarez Liquors for supplying the 12 year old Flor de Caña rum for biggest grouper

Rebecca Shoal and Marquesas Keys 2018

June 20, 2018 by cudamanadventures

It was nice to finally be able to go out and fish. After a car accident last year I was sent to the side lines and had to stay away from hard activities. I did my therapy exercises and and worked very hard on strengthening my back, but still was only able to fish 2 times and it was not pleasant once I got home. This time it was different, I went to catch the bait and felt good, I went fishing and did not spend weeks in bed suffering pain. I am very glad to now know my back is at least 95% good. For this trip our plan was to catch fresh gogs for the trip, make fresh chum, and hope for good weather to make a long trip as far as the Marquesas and perhaps as far as Rebecca Shoal near the Dry Tortugas Florida just in time for the grouper bite. We accomplished all.

As we got to the docks in Key West we loaded the coolers and got rid of a few, we had to play Tetris to get them in the 22′ Sea Cat. 4 fishing rods each, 3 tackle bags, 2 food and drinks coolers, 2 bait and chum coolers, and 2 coolers filled with ice for the fish is what we packed.

Once the boat was loaded we left the docks around 8am and got to our destination around 11 am. It was nice to ride on 1 foot seas so we went passed the Marquesas to near Rebecca Shoal area.

On the way there we were pleasantly surprised to see a school of young Tarpon migration through the distant shores, it was roughly 40 miles out near the Marquesas when we spotted them. We stopped, took a few pics and and threw a few casts but they just wanted to swim, below is a photo so you can get the idea.

Once we got far enough, well, as far as Bill the Captain had calculated we would have enough gas to get back, we looked for rock bottom and barely had any markings of fished but we tried anyways. It was about 11:25 am and to our surprise the fish showed up and started chewing like the was no tomorrow.

First up was Bill with this Porgy.

In second came this nice Black grouper,

We caught a couple of Mutton Sappers and then to my surprise after a big hurtful battle in came my Goliath grouper. I thought I was done after catching this fish but kept on fishing.

Below is one of Bill’s Mutton Snappers and a nice Scamp Grouper.

The fish were chewing well so I took out my slow jigging rod and my jigging depot slow pitch jigs. In came a Porgy, a few legal size mutton snappers of which I released a couple to let them grow bigger and a nice black grouper which I also released. Below are the pics:

After hooking up to a small Mahi Mahi using an H4L Wingman lure, things died down so we decided to go to a Public listed wreck around Rebeca Shoal that was in about 60 feet of water and it was Donkey King fighting all the way along with a few groupers and snappers. Below is my Amberjack which I released. I could not get a bait past the Amber Jacks so after this fish I decided it was time to take a break as I was hurting a bit.

Mario had caught a couple of Mutton Snappers already when he got the American Red Snapper below.

Bill saw the screen loaded with AJ marking and so decided to start speed jigging for them. He hooked up some nice fish along with a big Jack Crevale.

Mario was able to get a bait pass the Amber Jacks and hooked up this very nice Mutton Snapper.

In the end we were able to fill two 120 quart coolers with fish and no Amberjacks were kept. I got my limit on Mutton Snappers and groupers plus my porgy. It was a nice load. I have fish for quiet a bit now.

The main baits used were Google Eyes, Cigar Minnows and Flying fish. The gogs and cigar minnows were caught ahead of the trip, the flying fish just literally started jumping in the boat at night. Thank goodness for LED lights that attrack them and for the sharks and other fish that were scaring them enough to fly in our boat.

We butterflied the gogs as shown below:

I used an 8500H Calstar Rod. My reel was an Alutecnos Gorilla 12. My main line was 50 lb braid with 25 feet top shot of 80 lb test line. The top shot was already on my line and it wasn’t going to get in the way of catching mutton snappers but ideally it should have been 50 pound test mono line. The terminal tackle used was 5/0 4x Strong circle hooks with 10 to 15 feet of 50lb fluorocarbon leader. And yes, this is what I used to bring up that Goliath Grouper as well as the Amber Jacks.

As for the slow jigging I used my SJ& Shark and Cudaman jigging rod. My reel on this rod was an Accurate Valiant 400 2 speed loaded with 50lb test Daiawa J-Braid and 20 feet top shot of 50 lb flourocarbon leader. For the jigs I used http://www.jiggingdepot.com 230 grams slow pitch jigs. We were mainly fishing 180 to 300 feet of water and bare a knot of current. For my pitch rod I used a Calstar 8 foot rod and a Shimano Sustain 8000 with 30 lb test and H4L wingman lure. I did take a speed jigging rod with a narrow Alutecnos Gorilla 12 loaded with 70 lb test Daiwa J-Braid that I had to use to fish with after loosing the knob on my main reel. I gotta remember to use lock tight so this won’t happen again.

Thanks to Captain Bill for a great fishing trip!

Thanks for visiting my humbled blog. I hope you at least enjoyed the pictures. Until next time.

Tight lines!

ShoreBound Adventures

Fishing, fun, reports, and some reviews

Category Archives: Vertical Jigging

North Carolina Bluefin and Yellowfin Tuna 3/4 to 3/5/20

2019 Pulley Ridge Trip coming up

If anyone else would like to sponsor this trip please contact me by leaving a message on this blog. This is a good way to give exposure to your tackle shop, rod building business, Charter business or any other fishing related business.

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Rebecca Shoal and Marquesas Keys 2018