Good tuna bite off OC - 06/08/08 Reel Buster

[David]

Changed plans and headed stright out to the poor mans, hung right, water looked way too cold to fish but we tried anyhow. Great idea - first fish was on in 5 minutes (before we even had 3 rods out). Fish on every half hour. 3 doubles and 1 triple. all bluefin- 25 - 34 inches, too bad we couldn't have kept them all (17-18). Best day on teh Reel Buster :)

Crew members Van and Tom begged me NOTto go back to the man overboard for fear of getting hooked up again.We went 17 for 18.


What a day :)

[VanN]

Wow - what a nice day. I've never seen so much life and so much bait anywhere as today between the Poormans and the Washington. Large pods of bait with small school bft's, pods of bottlenose dolphins, pods of pilot whales, many large sea turtles, and many large sun fish. We actually briefly hooked a large sunfish - luckily he got off after ruining a blue witch w/hoo. We zig-zagged from 500-900 feet from the Poormans all the way to the Washington with bites every few minutes. Again, many thanks to Klunatic for the post which put us onto this bonanza of blue fin tunas. And thanks, Dave, for an incredible ride on the "Reel Buster".:thumbup:

Van "Classic Hooker"

[whitebite]

Very nice Dave and Van. heard of a couple fish close to 100lbs caught as well. Did you'all run into any bigger fish or yellowfins!

[VanN]

Bill - everything we saw was 27-33" bft, and they were everywhere along the 90-150 fathom line between Poormans & the Washington. There also were large pods of pilots and bfts just north of the Washington and we called several other boats in since we were needing to head towards OC, and one of those boats called us and said he caught bfts and a couple of yfts just north of Washington along the 150 fathom line. On the radio, someone caught a large bft on the lump just south and outside the Washington (412?) and one of the boats we called in already had 2 yfts caught inshore of the Washington. So the bft migration is in full swing - unfortunately, they all are small right now. We were hopiing to run into a school of the 48" plus class or the yfts, but no joy there. Still, we had a ball with all the little footballs.

Van

[David]

Bill No all were of the cookie cutter variety still 18 fish was great...:D
Van it was a Good day for sure it will take one heck of a day to break the 18 record.:eek2:Talk to you later in the week, Hopefully Ed @ Martek can get the Hooker back up and running.Only bad part was to only KEEP one and then those CRAZY Gremlins...:D

[Reel Draggin Tackle]

Nice fishing Dave. Sounds like you guys were busy. Looks like we missed that water by running to the Norfolk and south on Friday.

[BlueFin II]

Congratulations!

Glad you guys got into 'em. You certainly put in the time and effort this weekend, and it paid off for you - big time.

Thanks again for the trip on Saturday!

Steve

[KLUNATIC]

Dave,

Nice Day! Glad the fish hung around for you. Did you still have the fog? Anyone else out there with you today or were they all still inshore sharking?

Eric "Klunatic"

[Finfever21]

Nice job fellas way to go ...

[guzzi]

that same school of bluefin moved past va beach about 10 days ago and was down at oregon inlet almost 3 weeks ago. That'll give you an idea of how fast the fish move up the coast. Sounds like you had a great time, congrats!!

[VanN]

Dave,

Nice Day! Glad the fish hung around for you. Did you still have the fog? Anyone else out there with you today or were they all still inshore sharking?

Eric "Klunatic"

Eric - The fog was almost gone - just occasional early morning hazy spots, and flat seas, so Dave's Grady was moving us fast all the way out and back. We didn't see another boat all day, until around 1:30 we called in the "fleet" of 5-6 boats that were vicinity the Washington. With large school of breaking fish every couple of miles, we figured the tuna would dive if there had been lots of boat pressure. But it was fun seeing these tuna right at the back of the boat several times trying to tear up our little squid spreader bar. And thanks again for the intel. We passed that favor on to other boats before we left.

Van

[alby man]

Dave great report !! glad to see the fish are here .

BTW how ya been ? mated on succession in OI last week caught 250 lbs of mahi on the first day , friday we released a 400lb blue one , caught 1 yft & 14 mahi with one topping out at 52 lbs . it was great fishing . hope to fish with you & Van this year .
Kevin

[derekd]

Congrats on the great day. You definately deserved it after all the work we did to just get on the water Saturday. See you soon.

[WildeOne]

Dave, WTG. I had an early trip three years ago with similar results. Multiple 3's and 2's. About the same total. It was a ball, and it looks like you all had a bunch of fun.

==============================
Jim
23' Grady White Gulfstream "Get Reel"
Ocean Pines, MD

[TEAM BILL ME]

David,, nice day out there,, we ended up near the driving fish,, Do you have a grady? and was callin everybody over...if so we were the yellow center. we ende up with 1 little football size blufin and one that got unhooked.

[Ed Nelson]

Looking to go out this Saturday from Wachapreague looking for a crew, just message me if interested. Fast Eddy out of Wachapreague Marina

[TerpHeels]

That will certainly get the blood flowing. When them pups show they show in force that's for sure. They can get so thick you feel bad for them hookin them up that u run so u don't hurt them.

[Casca Dura]

At $5+ a galon for fuel, I think the "fleet" is going to be a lot smaller this year. There may be more fish available for the people who do venture out.

[David]

Team Bill Me Yes Grady Sailfish.I was giving out Lat.Lon on VHF to make finding me easier.My guys had had enough (naa)Fun and we were helped by a TF guy(KLuNATIC) and wanted to help others.Maybe one day when the bites good for you but bad for me it will payback...:D
Rob thought you might be out but no reply.
Jim lost your # again please email or bmail it to me.Do you want to go w/us this weekend?
Ralph I agree there did not seem like alot of boats out Sat/Sun.
Kevin Love to have you in w/us let me know which weekends you are free.
Derek I wish you and Steve could of been there.
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[KRISTYANNE]

Thats great news. Glad you guys had an action packed day.
Ken

[David]

Ken it was action packed alright BUT we were really looking for 17 YFT after the 1st 27-47 BFT,maybe next time.:D

[scott w]

awesome trip guys! 2 more weeks and counting.....