| Coming off some rather rough conditions from last week,
we had to be crazy not to journey out on what was being predicted as some
of the calmest seas of the year. After losing a couple solid fish the previous
trip we re-rigged several lures and got down to business.
We left departed from the Port Aransas Jetties around 10:30pm
and rocked out into the darkness of a near new moon. Joining the regulars
on this beautifully calm weekend was Tyler from 'Corpus Fishing', Clark,
and Moose's cousin Brian. Our arrival to a deep water floater was on time
as scheduled and begun trolling instantly.
Right off the bat we start nailing small Yellowfin and Rainbow
Runners with a few Blackfin and Skipjack Tuna mixed in. While landing nothing
big as of yet we move away from the platform and head towards another location.
Mid-morning we are greeted with a quick storm that thankfully drenches the
boat with freshwater. Ashton remains the on-deck knight of the rain shower
cleaning and continuing to watch the spread.
We troll for another hour or two and things clear up. Shortly
after we get hooked up on the first solid fish of the trip. Ashton hops in
the hot seat and goes to battle.
After a rather short fight he brings in a beautiful White Marlin
while Moose and I leader the fish. White Marlin are the mini-versions of
a psychotic Blue Marlin and their bite is as big as their bark and usually
full of energy.
A few quick pics after the hook removal and a tag is inserted before the
release.
Around noon or so we continue to troll and get another knockdown
on an aerial Billfish. We get Brian into the chair and his hooked up to his
first ever Marlin. While fairly unfamiliar with the offshore adventures,
he fights the fish as if it wasn't his first.
Battling it like a pro Brian subdues another White marlin to
the boat where we once again tag another Billfish aboard the Nyati. The fish
is tagged and released back to the glassy blue. Congrats to Brian on his
first bill!
We get lines back out and 2 hours later get another solid knockdown.
We get wild-man Shindle into the chair and he begins his brief battle. The
sun blares down with pure hotness but Shindle reigns dominant for the moment
in the chair.
We know it is another bill but didn't find out it was a nice
Sail until we got it next to the boat. Congrats on an awesome Sail Shindle!
The fish is tagged and released and has no problem sailing off back to the
deep.
We continue to troll a few more hours to sunset with a couple
miss hits. Overall a great day of trolling adding 3 more Bills to the Nyati
record book. We finish out the remainder of the daylight trolling and then
pack it up for the night time Tuna Slaughter.
It takes an hour or two after dark before we see any real action
and Scott is the first to hook up and nails a sweet Yellowfin. Shortly after
Moose matches his and they both pose with a double.
Shindle soon follows suit and picks up his first of two nice Yellows.
Clark jumps into the actions and finally nails a nice Yellow after an interesting
fight.
Brian gets his first Yellowfin Tuna and is all smiles. The fish gets safely
released into the ice box.
After a bit of wear and tear, Tyler is finally rewarded with his efforts
as he nails a nice Yellowfin.
The rest of the night was hit or miss for Yellowfin. Blackfin
continue to show up the entire time and Tuna of all sorts of sizes were nailing
countless flyers. The morning approaches as we near another floater platform
for an early troll. The conditions resemble the closest possible thing to
an offshore image of heaven. The clouds echoed in the glass calm conditions
of the water and flying fish glided as if they were micro land based jets
on the Bonneville Salt Flats.
Early in the morning Ashton and I maintain a good spread and
jump a nice White Marlin that threw the hook in mid-air. About an hour later
we encounter chaos as a rod gets slammed and airborne goes another Marlin.
During the aerial display we see two other Marlin tearing through the spread.
Ashton hops in the chair and battles his second bill of the weekend.
Another gorgeous White Marlin is Tagged and Released.
We cruise back the same area of the chaos and a lure in the
spread gets hammered. I set the hook and the Marlin tail walks on glass for
several seconds. We finally get Tyler into the chair and he is hooked
onto a rampaging Billfish.
Battling it no problem we get it into the boat and Tag our 5th Billfish of
the weekend.
We continue to troll our way back home and are amazed at the incredible
conditions.
Some point during mid-day while trolling across open water we
come upon something quite interesting. At first glance it appears to be a
large Tuna floating on the surface and not far from it is a circling shark..
a Mako.
Upon further inspection on a close pass we notice that it is not a
Tuna but infact the remainder of Blue Marlin carcass. YT notices a
tag in the Marlin and we back up to the carcass as the Mako cruises around
the boat several times like a predatory aquatic airplane.
We wake Shindle up and finally convince him that there is indeed
a Mako hanging around and get him to rig up a quick bait to pitch to it.
The shark while pushing a solid 300lbs, it continues to move slowly and its
thick girth evident of its marlin lunch that had been feeding on for an unknown
amount of time. Shindle finally rigs up some bait we had left over and throws
it out under a balloon.
Staying fairly persistent at the game, Shindle hangs in there
and finally convinces the Mako to take the bait. Rigged up with a small circle
and mono leader, we just wanted to get a couple good jumps hopefully before
it bit through.
After letting the shark eat the bait for a few seconds, Shindle
lays into the fish hoping for a jump or two. However, the fish has become
more like a heavy-bodied submarine intoxicated from a full days feast of
Marlin and is slowly cruising below the surface. A couple minutes later and
not wanting to become airborne, the shark finally bites through the mono
as planned and swims off only to show back briefly 20 minutes later. We decide
to let him have the rest of his feast and we continue to troll for a couple
more hours on the way in.
We pack it up and rock on in and make it to the dock right after
sunset. We once again get a group picture with some of the bounty we are
rewarded with and a couple new people get some nice bills on the boat. For
us we have been greatful every trip and thank YT and Lea for the continuing
invitation to experience just one more weekend on the open sea. For the Nyati
this weekend proved to bring us our 22nd Billfish of the season, a feat never
imagined before by YT himself much less any of us. Each trip provides for
a new adventure with new thrills and on the most beautiful of conditions
everything else is just a welcome bonus.
Thanks Capt YT and rest of the Nyati... can't wait for the next screaming
reel on the open water.
- Oz and crew
Click HERE for a super secret look at the crazy man from the trip...
courtesy 'Moose'
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