riptide
09-10-2006, 03:09 PM
Today I got the pleasure of running a customers 31 Ocean "Smasher" Master for a tuna trip down south. Mike C was mating for me and the weather was perfect for the trip. I ran Tom's boat last year east of Chatham for a few SBFT and this time we were hoping for somethign a bit more exotic.
We met Tom and his two son's in Mattapoisett where they keep the boat. It is a navy blue 31 Ocean Master with twin 250 Yamaha's on the back and all the elctronics one could ever need. We loaded a TON of gear on the boat and by 0445 we were on our way. The boat eased accross Buzzards Bay at a comfy 30 kts. We headed for a temp break about 10 miles south of the dump for our plan "A".
At 0715 we went lines in on the break from 68 to 74 degrees. There was a nice weedline and some signs of life. I made a pass by a big weed island and my homemade Offshore Inovations Green Monsta bar got crushed on the left flatline. Toms' son grabbed the rod and began to work the fish. Then we got the surface show of the day as a nice bull mahi went airborne for us. After a few minutes Mike C grabbed the leader and I sunk the gaff into a 25-30# mahi. Not a bad way to start the day. After a few peanut mahi I decided that there might be a better place to spend our time so we went lines in and ran to our Plan "B" spot about 10 miles from the edge.
We hit the next temp break at the "B" spot and we went lines in. The guys were happy wit hthe mahi especially the big one, but now they wanted tuna. We set the spread and I drag in around all the weeds and floatsom I can find. The guys cleared lines like crazy keeping things clean and it was worth it. After a few passes on a likely weed patch we come tight on the homemade bar again. This time the long deep run spells tuna. After a solid fight Mike leaders and I gaff and we have sushi in the boat. A nice 40# class yellowfin. We work the area some more and end up hanging weeds and more peanuts.
I decide we should work towards the flats near the edge west of west Atlantis. The temps look good there and there seems to be big numbers of fliers there any time I've been there. I like the structure the fliers provide not just for the mahi, but the bigger stuff that eats them. We start trolling towards the edge and after a few miles we hit a massive weedline. I work the line and find a large gap that passes through it. I thread the needle dragging 7 rods down this weed lined corridor. Atthe end of the pass we clear the weeds and SMASH!!!!!!! The right flat GM bar goes off HARD and the 50 Tiagra is screaming. I keep on going hoping for the wolfpack. After 10 seconds one of Toms sons says "you better stop or were going to get spooled" I say it's alright and keep on going. A few seconds later Mike C says "stop NOW!" I look and the 50w's better than half gone. I pull back the throttles and Mike C clears the spread. Young Ben gets on the rod and starts working the fish.
He's on the fish for a good 15 minutes before we get deep color.
http://riptidecharters.com/Coloropti.JPG
The fish sees the boat and dumps 100 yards of line off the 50w at better than 25# of drag! Ben goes back to work as we all get into position for the end game.
http://riptidecharters.com/Gaffwaitopti.JPG
Ben gets the fish up close enough for Mike to take a wrap. I lean in and put the gaff just behind the fishes head and it's in the boat!!! Ben is smoked and we are all pumped. It's a really nice yellowfin and it's Bens first. He's tired so I help him get the fish into position for the photo shots.
http://riptidecharters.com/Helpopti.jpg
Then the cameras record the happy angler!
http://riptidecharters.com/Bentunaopti.JPG
After dressing and icing the catch we get back to work and troll in and around the edge for another hour. We see a ton of life including a bunch of dolphin leaping around the boat. We hang a few more mahi in the 7-10# range and then at 1500 we call it a day. we go lines in and head for home ending what turned out to be a great day trip tothe edge.
Final tally one 40# YFT, one 85-90# YFT and nice 25-30# Bull Mahi and a bunch of mahi under 10#. The lure of choice was my homemade Offshore Inovations Green Monsta Bars. They accounted for all three of the larger fish. Ballyhoo got torn up by mahi and caught most of the peanuts. The water was 74-76 degrees with just a light chop. We fished for about 7 hours and had action of some kind almost the entire time.
Overall a grat way to spend a day with Tom and his sons. Mike C as always ran the cockpit like a pro. Nothing was left to chance and everything was rigged to perfection. We only had three shots at nice fish and we capitalized on every one. Without Mike C. in the pit my job is ten times harder. The boat was a machine! It ate the 3-4's on the way home like a Cadilac. It raised fish on a day when the radio seemed a bit slow. Its a solid platform I look forward to running again in the future. Special Thanks to Tom and his sons for letting us run their boat and spending the day helping them catch fish!
We met Tom and his two son's in Mattapoisett where they keep the boat. It is a navy blue 31 Ocean Master with twin 250 Yamaha's on the back and all the elctronics one could ever need. We loaded a TON of gear on the boat and by 0445 we were on our way. The boat eased accross Buzzards Bay at a comfy 30 kts. We headed for a temp break about 10 miles south of the dump for our plan "A".
At 0715 we went lines in on the break from 68 to 74 degrees. There was a nice weedline and some signs of life. I made a pass by a big weed island and my homemade Offshore Inovations Green Monsta bar got crushed on the left flatline. Toms' son grabbed the rod and began to work the fish. Then we got the surface show of the day as a nice bull mahi went airborne for us. After a few minutes Mike C grabbed the leader and I sunk the gaff into a 25-30# mahi. Not a bad way to start the day. After a few peanut mahi I decided that there might be a better place to spend our time so we went lines in and ran to our Plan "B" spot about 10 miles from the edge.
We hit the next temp break at the "B" spot and we went lines in. The guys were happy wit hthe mahi especially the big one, but now they wanted tuna. We set the spread and I drag in around all the weeds and floatsom I can find. The guys cleared lines like crazy keeping things clean and it was worth it. After a few passes on a likely weed patch we come tight on the homemade bar again. This time the long deep run spells tuna. After a solid fight Mike leaders and I gaff and we have sushi in the boat. A nice 40# class yellowfin. We work the area some more and end up hanging weeds and more peanuts.
I decide we should work towards the flats near the edge west of west Atlantis. The temps look good there and there seems to be big numbers of fliers there any time I've been there. I like the structure the fliers provide not just for the mahi, but the bigger stuff that eats them. We start trolling towards the edge and after a few miles we hit a massive weedline. I work the line and find a large gap that passes through it. I thread the needle dragging 7 rods down this weed lined corridor. Atthe end of the pass we clear the weeds and SMASH!!!!!!! The right flat GM bar goes off HARD and the 50 Tiagra is screaming. I keep on going hoping for the wolfpack. After 10 seconds one of Toms sons says "you better stop or were going to get spooled" I say it's alright and keep on going. A few seconds later Mike C says "stop NOW!" I look and the 50w's better than half gone. I pull back the throttles and Mike C clears the spread. Young Ben gets on the rod and starts working the fish.
He's on the fish for a good 15 minutes before we get deep color.
http://riptidecharters.com/Coloropti.JPG
The fish sees the boat and dumps 100 yards of line off the 50w at better than 25# of drag! Ben goes back to work as we all get into position for the end game.
http://riptidecharters.com/Gaffwaitopti.JPG
Ben gets the fish up close enough for Mike to take a wrap. I lean in and put the gaff just behind the fishes head and it's in the boat!!! Ben is smoked and we are all pumped. It's a really nice yellowfin and it's Bens first. He's tired so I help him get the fish into position for the photo shots.
http://riptidecharters.com/Helpopti.jpg
Then the cameras record the happy angler!
http://riptidecharters.com/Bentunaopti.JPG
After dressing and icing the catch we get back to work and troll in and around the edge for another hour. We see a ton of life including a bunch of dolphin leaping around the boat. We hang a few more mahi in the 7-10# range and then at 1500 we call it a day. we go lines in and head for home ending what turned out to be a great day trip tothe edge.
Final tally one 40# YFT, one 85-90# YFT and nice 25-30# Bull Mahi and a bunch of mahi under 10#. The lure of choice was my homemade Offshore Inovations Green Monsta Bars. They accounted for all three of the larger fish. Ballyhoo got torn up by mahi and caught most of the peanuts. The water was 74-76 degrees with just a light chop. We fished for about 7 hours and had action of some kind almost the entire time.
Overall a grat way to spend a day with Tom and his sons. Mike C as always ran the cockpit like a pro. Nothing was left to chance and everything was rigged to perfection. We only had three shots at nice fish and we capitalized on every one. Without Mike C. in the pit my job is ten times harder. The boat was a machine! It ate the 3-4's on the way home like a Cadilac. It raised fish on a day when the radio seemed a bit slow. Its a solid platform I look forward to running again in the future. Special Thanks to Tom and his sons for letting us run their boat and spending the day helping them catch fish!