OU Trip offshore

CaptFrank 7/8/2012, 7:53 pm

Just got back from another epic trip with the crew of Over Under. Andy took me along on his 30 hour offshore trip with Capt. Joe and Capt. Tyler. Have I mentioned how lucky I am to have a generous friend like Andy? Very lucky! Anyway, we left the dock in Avalon around 6AM and headed out to the Baltimore Canyon. Once there they guys set out 12 lines and we trolled. We got our first know down later in the morning. Andy was first up. He battled a feisty 40# Yellow Fin Tuna but it managed to spit the hook on him. So, back to the troll. Awhile later a second line went down, hard! I was up. So, I jumped in and put the rod into my gimble belt and tried to slow down the pissed off freight train attached to the business end of my line. About 40 minutes into the fight my adversary decided to jump and show itself. It was (estimated) an 800-1000# Blue Marlin, a fish of a lifetime! Capt. Joe said it was easily the 3rd largest Marlin he'd ever seen, and he fished the Bahama's for half the year. Anyway, I wrangled with the beast for an hour before my arms gave out and I passed the rod off to Andy. He fought it for about 45 minutes and passed it back to me for another hour. Then back to Andy for 45, then to Tyler for 25, then me for 25, then Andy for 25... We managed to grab the leader twice during the fight and had the leader up to the tip of the rod 4 other times, but could never get the beast to submit. Finally, during my last turn and then Andy's, the Marlin dove deep, and stayed there. We'd gain a bit, then it would dive further down. Joe felt it might be dead and we were trying to haul in dead weight, but we could feel it pulsing. Unfortunately, we will never know, as the line finally parted and the marlin was free. Anything that can fight that hard for it's life deserves it. Trolling, thankfully, was uneventful afterward. Andy and I were both spent. The Dolphin and Pilot Whale show was quite spectacular, and provided a great closing scene to the first part of our trip.
That night we drifted with 4 lines out at various depths. We deployed a Bunker chum bag and Butterfish chunks. It was quiet for a bit, then the first rod went off. Andy was up. The Yellow Fin damn near spooled the reel on it's first run. Andy gained some back, but was again nearly spooled. Finally he was able to gain on the Tuna, and after being run back and forth across the stern, gave Joe a clean shot with the gaff. Our first box casualty. Next we had a baby Flying Fish cruise into the lights, which we captured and photographed. He quickly flipped back into the water and zipped off. Then the Squid show started. They'd dart in and out of the lights alone or in wolf packs, glowing various shades of red and green. Fun to watch. Next we had a Blue Shark come in after a bait we had reeled up. He ate it, and didn't realize he was hooked. Andy then hauled back on the rod and the Blue Dog erupted to life and darted every which way, finally severing the line. Our new shark rig was deployed and was quickly eaten and broken off before we had a chance to see anything. A bit later we caught a Boston Mackeral (we think that's what it was). Then we all pretty much crashed. Tyler remained on deck and landed a small Mahi. Next thing we knew, Joe was throwing open the cabin door shouting that we needed to get up. He had hooked up a Tuna on a jig and there were hundreds nore on the screen. Andy battled the first one, a 42" Blue FIn. I snagged the second Blue FIn, a fat 53" on a jig. I got another right after when I dropped a Sardine I had hooked up onto a circle hook to the bottom. Of course it was the biggest of the three we caught, but had to be released, which we did at boat side. After that excitement, we went back to the troll. We trolled for about an hour and called it quits to head for home. Had an absolute blast! Thanks again Andy for the trip, and Thanks to Joe and Tyler for being great at what they do.