posted on 22-Aug-2003 2:19:42 PM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hey there folks, what's shakin'? Well, my buddy Capt. Paul wasn't going to be fishing for a few weeks; due to work and vacation, and so, my fishing prospects were looking slim until I was contacted by Phil on the boat High Risk... Phil and I had met a few times at the Salt Pond's and Paul mentioned to him to, 'Take Zigh fishing so he doesn't go thru withdrawl or something dreadful like that', while he wasn't around. Well, VERY Thankfully, Phil and Joe invited me along for Thursdays adventure to the Fingers...... and here's what happened.......
It was 2:15AM and I piled in Phil's truck with he and Liz en route to Salt Pond's. We arrived, met up with Joe and Neil, loaded up the handsome Albemarle, and zoom, we were gone. The trip out was very calm and fast as we cruised at 26knots out to the fishing grounds. Along the way we encountered a large group of porpoise, which is always enchanting, and then had to do some maneuvering to avoid the live ammo testing the Navy was conducting. We were advised to stay clear of said area 10 miles, and plotted a course around the activity, yet still landing us in the desired start off point. Only slightly discouraged, we were able to get lines and and trolling by 7:30AM. It wasn't to long before one of the flat lines goes off, but we missed that one and then another before a solid hookset on a 15lbs. Gaffer. Nice fishy; skunk out of the boat, and we're all smiling. We ran an 8 line spread consisting of 2 flats(daisy chained jet head purple/black and green/blue), 2 shortriggers with daisy chained small jetheads, 2 longriggers with jet heads in blue/white, a bird off the shotgun with a trailing daisy chain and hoo, and what I now call the, 'STINGER', which was the inline run Drone out of the chair. The spoon was a 3 1/2 in blue/silver, 20ozs. of weight and 30ft. of Fluorocarbon......... All day we experienced short strikes. We started out going 1 for 5 on hits before we started boating some more fish. As we fished the E side of the Finger's we worked NE where the water was steely blue for the most part and 76* to 78*.... so I was surprised when we nailed some Albert's. The bites continued and the seas remained smooth and tranquil. We saw a good amount of life including a solo sea turtle, several groups of LARGE Manta Ray's, Pilot whales, porpoise, and plenty of Petrels. Absent from the list were sharks and Flying fish... We spyed some lobster bouys in the distance and worked our way towards them hoping to pick up some Mahi, but there were only a few lowly Bailers with lock jaw. So after a couple passes and cotemplating a drop of some fresh Albert, we head S from the bouy's and then it happens. First flat line clip pops, then shortrigger, then the spoon rod bobs, then finally there is something actually on the wwtfb blue/white longrigger as it sings out it's cry of mercy. At first the fish shimmers and flashes on the surface like a huge Gaffer getting ready to go airborn. Then after giving it a good look as the rod bends, and the huge fish thrashes about, we realize it's a Billfish. A BIG fish! The fish stayed on the surface way behind the boat and was there with the bait not taking line really, for about 60 seconds... Then the line went slack..... Now, I'm no Billfish expert, but that fish was way to BIG to be a White Marlin. I've been part of catching those fish before and this fish was too broad and so we concluded, a Blue Marlin. It was so strange watching all the lines get pulled on and retrieving them to find no tooth marks, just skinned or lightly torn baits. Sneaky fish..... So, we trolled on and had short strikes seemingly all the time. We had some hits passing over Manta Ray's too, but they were Alberts. We also had a fish Phil saw cut a flatline bait in half just after being put back in the clip. We went thru a lot of bait, and it wasn't until after noon time that we got a little bit larger fish on. Again, the wwtfb blue/white jethead was the ticket and this time we landed a 37lbs. YFT. Sweet! Had to give the boys doing the leadering and gaffing a hard time as I drove the boat, they did a GREAT job! A little ribbing just adds to the fun... Kept working that same area as there were good slicks, eddies, and fish. Had a quintuple knockdown we thought were small YFT's and ending up landing 3 BIG Fat Alberts... Maybe should have weighed one to see there proximity to citation size.... Anyway, things slowed and the afternoon lazed on before we had another good fish on the 'Stinger', we were thinking possibly Mr. Hoo, as we gladly brought another YFT to gaff. Again, good work fellas. This fish was probably 20-25lbs. and was a nice way to finish off the fishing day. Also, proved the inline gig is still working on the YFT's and maybe you don't always have to go planer. Pulled the spread and ran 26-28knots on the way in, even thru the slight chop of the Cape Henry area and Bay. It was awe inspiring to watch the rain storm over Va. Beach from the vista of the sea, and the perfect way to end the adventure.
THANKS to Joe and Phil for having me along. I had a really good time guys, and hope to do it again sooner than later. That's a nice rig you fellas are sporting. Keep up the good work........... Fish On
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Laughing so hard, the devil gets scared....
Zigh
><((((*>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hey there folks, what's shakin'? Well, my buddy Capt. Paul wasn't going to be fishing for a few weeks; due to work and vacation, and so, my fishing prospects were looking slim until I was contacted by Phil on the boat High Risk... Phil and I had met a few times at the Salt Pond's and Paul mentioned to him to, 'Take Zigh fishing so he doesn't go thru withdrawl or something dreadful like that', while he wasn't around. Well, VERY Thankfully, Phil and Joe invited me along for Thursdays adventure to the Fingers...... and here's what happened.......
It was 2:15AM and I piled in Phil's truck with he and Liz en route to Salt Pond's. We arrived, met up with Joe and Neil, loaded up the handsome Albemarle, and zoom, we were gone. The trip out was very calm and fast as we cruised at 26knots out to the fishing grounds. Along the way we encountered a large group of porpoise, which is always enchanting, and then had to do some maneuvering to avoid the live ammo testing the Navy was conducting. We were advised to stay clear of said area 10 miles, and plotted a course around the activity, yet still landing us in the desired start off point. Only slightly discouraged, we were able to get lines and and trolling by 7:30AM. It wasn't to long before one of the flat lines goes off, but we missed that one and then another before a solid hookset on a 15lbs. Gaffer. Nice fishy; skunk out of the boat, and we're all smiling. We ran an 8 line spread consisting of 2 flats(daisy chained jet head purple/black and green/blue), 2 shortriggers with daisy chained small jetheads, 2 longriggers with jet heads in blue/white, a bird off the shotgun with a trailing daisy chain and hoo, and what I now call the, 'STINGER', which was the inline run Drone out of the chair. The spoon was a 3 1/2 in blue/silver, 20ozs. of weight and 30ft. of Fluorocarbon......... All day we experienced short strikes. We started out going 1 for 5 on hits before we started boating some more fish. As we fished the E side of the Finger's we worked NE where the water was steely blue for the most part and 76* to 78*.... so I was surprised when we nailed some Albert's. The bites continued and the seas remained smooth and tranquil. We saw a good amount of life including a solo sea turtle, several groups of LARGE Manta Ray's, Pilot whales, porpoise, and plenty of Petrels. Absent from the list were sharks and Flying fish... We spyed some lobster bouys in the distance and worked our way towards them hoping to pick up some Mahi, but there were only a few lowly Bailers with lock jaw. So after a couple passes and cotemplating a drop of some fresh Albert, we head S from the bouy's and then it happens. First flat line clip pops, then shortrigger, then the spoon rod bobs, then finally there is something actually on the wwtfb blue/white longrigger as it sings out it's cry of mercy. At first the fish shimmers and flashes on the surface like a huge Gaffer getting ready to go airborn. Then after giving it a good look as the rod bends, and the huge fish thrashes about, we realize it's a Billfish. A BIG fish! The fish stayed on the surface way behind the boat and was there with the bait not taking line really, for about 60 seconds... Then the line went slack..... Now, I'm no Billfish expert, but that fish was way to BIG to be a White Marlin. I've been part of catching those fish before and this fish was too broad and so we concluded, a Blue Marlin. It was so strange watching all the lines get pulled on and retrieving them to find no tooth marks, just skinned or lightly torn baits. Sneaky fish..... So, we trolled on and had short strikes seemingly all the time. We had some hits passing over Manta Ray's too, but they were Alberts. We also had a fish Phil saw cut a flatline bait in half just after being put back in the clip. We went thru a lot of bait, and it wasn't until after noon time that we got a little bit larger fish on. Again, the wwtfb blue/white jethead was the ticket and this time we landed a 37lbs. YFT. Sweet! Had to give the boys doing the leadering and gaffing a hard time as I drove the boat, they did a GREAT job! A little ribbing just adds to the fun... Kept working that same area as there were good slicks, eddies, and fish. Had a quintuple knockdown we thought were small YFT's and ending up landing 3 BIG Fat Alberts... Maybe should have weighed one to see there proximity to citation size.... Anyway, things slowed and the afternoon lazed on before we had another good fish on the 'Stinger', we were thinking possibly Mr. Hoo, as we gladly brought another YFT to gaff. Again, good work fellas. This fish was probably 20-25lbs. and was a nice way to finish off the fishing day. Also, proved the inline gig is still working on the YFT's and maybe you don't always have to go planer. Pulled the spread and ran 26-28knots on the way in, even thru the slight chop of the Cape Henry area and Bay. It was awe inspiring to watch the rain storm over Va. Beach from the vista of the sea, and the perfect way to end the adventure.
THANKS to Joe and Phil for having me along. I had a really good time guys, and hope to do it again sooner than later. That's a nice rig you fellas are sporting. Keep up the good work........... Fish On
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Laughing so hard, the devil gets scared....
Zigh
><((((*>
