| It was the beginning of another overnighter aboard the Nyati.
Capt. YT, Ashton, Lindsey, and I were also out the previous day scouting
around with some other good friends of YTs. After about having a Tiagra spooled
before a breakoff and having seen a couple Marlin, we thought that this may
be another great trip. Moose and Nate showed up and then subbing for Scott
on this trip was the Third Coast Hustlas... Mako, Tunakilla, and Bundy.
We headed out at the crack of 3am headed straight out of Port
Aransas. We get out and there things are off to quite a slow start.
The sun comes up and the water calms down. We troll around for several hours
before we find a good rip in over 1000' of water. After trolling that for
a couple more hours we get a fish in the spread and it nails a bait down.
Nate and I were on the Tuna Tower keeping watch and saw the fish come back
a second time and take another lure. Still missed the fish but appeared to
be a of the bill variety. We troll around for a couple more hours wondering
what's going on and then start picking up a couple small Dorado next to a
forming weedline.
With the late afternoon bite as of recent, we were hoping it
would begin to pick up. Not much later and we get a taker.. Moose hauls in
a nice Wahoo.
A couple minutes later and we have our full spread back out. We journey
back to closer waters and see one of the only other boats out there hooked
up on a nice Marlin. Shortly after our spread gets nailed and for a
split second have a double hookup on Blue Marlin. One throws the lure and
Nate is hooked into and battling the other.
While Nate is fighting the fish like a champ, we see another Marlin
destroying bait on the surface about 200yds off the starboard side of the
boat. The waters were absolutely coming alive with billfish.. very cool.
Nate handles the fish like a pro and after about a 10-15 minute fight
we grab the leader and its an official catch. Nate gets the boats 4th billfish,
and the 2nd Blue Marlin of the month.
Moose hangs on about the get the hook out when it comes loose on its own.
After a couple quick pictures of the sun glaring off the beautiful fish,
she is ready for release.
We troll around for another hour or two and head in to a deep
water rig for the night. The seas remain calm and this could turn into an
interesting night.
As soon as the sun went down and the new moon's darkness took
over, we moved in and starting jigging the rig. Bundy immediately pulls up
a Kingfish. On the next pass Moose hooks into a 4' Silky Shark that fell
prey to the jig. We cut the hook and the shark takes off to steal someone
else jig.
We make a few more passes picking up countless hardtails. I
put out a ribbonfish in hopes of a large King but end up with a Silky of
my own. Not long and this repetitive action gets old and we tie up to try
to get some baits down. Bundy and I stay up and start slaying Silky Sharks
between 4-6', all which were released. I get one small enough to board on
the boat to get the hook out and get a quick pic with.
Bundy gets in another Silky before heading to sleep for a couple hours.
Meanwhile Sam 'Tunakilla' comes out and we start chumming. With
all the chumming we did not bring up anything other than Chubs and Sharks..
but there were LOTS of sharks. The Silky-Slaughter continues as we release
yet more.
Both the Sharks and Blue Runners were so thick, we couldn't
get any baits down to the AJ's or Grouper. There something interesting
happened. Having hooked into a runner I get him up only to have him get eaten
by a 3 1/2-4' Silky. Now I am battling a shark on Moose's Cabo spinning reel
thankfully loaded down with braid. However, it gets really interesting when
we see a shadow following that shark in the underwater lights. Then just
like that the unintentional shark gets eaten by a larger shark an the reel
starts smoking like a wildfire and screaming like a banshee.
The line does not cut and I continue to endure the chaos for
about 5 minutes before a splice in the line finally gives. Ended up losing
a butterfly jig, a Blue Runner, and 2 sharks at the same time on the one
rod.
Not long and we are back to the grind. Sam ends up nailing a
Horse-eyed Jack and we begin to believe there is more on the rig then sharks
and hardtails.
After a few minutes we were convinced our theory was blown out
of the water and all that was there were sharks and hardtails as we begin
to catch them on a non-stop basis. All of our Snapper and Grouper baits were
untouched and was wondering what was going on. We eventually see a larger
shark buzz the tower and begin thinking. Sam gets a fresh runner and I rig
him up on the 50W under a balloon and let him swim just outside the shadows.
Sure enough he gets hammered within seconds and begin aiming higher with
larger sharks.
After about 3 or so more shark's it slows down. It is around
5am and everyone has crashed out inside the cabin and I thought I would duke
it out solo for an hour until the day crew got up to start trolling. While
rigging up one bait, I see the 50W that Sam earlier dropped down near the
bottom with large slabs of runners on it start moving. I hook in and know
this ain't no junior grouper or moderate AJ. After a couple minutes I finally
get him away from the rig and starts to head due straight to Cuba...slowly
and strongly. I bang on the window to get someone to come out and help with
the harness. Gabe, Bundy, and Sam come out and strap me in and I lay into
the fish for several minutes only to get my butt destroyed.
At one point in time I had him 100' from the boat but used its
body size and the current to its advantage. It would take a slow powerful
run after powerful run. I clicked it into low gear and would get some back,
however the fish would take 3' for every 1' I gained back. Gabe goes and
wakes YT up to un-tie from the rig so we can chase the fish down. I am getting
spooled on a 2-speed 50 wide Tiagra by the king of the rig. We throw the
hammer on the drag to no avail. This is a beast. Just when YT unties the
boat the leader gives. The heavy mono leader had stressed at the hook itself
and finally gave. In 350' of water picking up the scent of a freshly caught
bait, the culprit in my opinion for so many reasons was an mammoth Warsaw
Grouper who used its shear size and the water's increasing current to evade
us. Whether 100lbs, 200lbs, or even more.. we will never know. But what is
certain.. it is good to know there are still some monsters hanging in the
deep.
After getting perhaps the biggest beating vs any fish ever,
I decide it is about time to crash. Ironically the only other fish to
kick my ass to that degree was last year's tanker-truck Goliath Grouper which
did end up getting landed from the surf.
The morning crew is now awake and the sun will be up very shortly.
While I crash for a few hours, the trolling commences and the
morning is absolutely on fire. Tunakilla (renamed hoo-killa for this trip)
lands a nice Wahoo.
In the mix Bundy nails a cow Dorado.
Ashton strikes early with a nice smoker 'hoo.
Gabe lands a hefty 20.5lb Blackfin Tuna.
A couple more Wahoo are boated and I wake up and get in the action with a
sashimi-hoo.
We trolled around for the rest of the afternoon hit or miss.
After a long, but very fun trip with many friends, we make it
back to dock and begin the mighty fish cleaning. We ended up with some quality
fish (some caught and some released) and Nate gets his first Blue Marlin.
Nate also got the ritual dumping overboard (unexpectedly) on our trip back
in. We'll pitch in bro and get you some new shades.
Overall, thanks to Nate, Moose, Jason, Sam, Gabe, Ashton, and
Lindsey for another great adventure aboard the Nyati. And once again, a special
thanks to Capt. YT for allowing us to fish aboard the fish catching Nyati.
We'll maybe see you guys again on the longgg trip in a couple days.
Great trip and thanks for the fun guys!
- Oz |
