| Nyati Offshore Tuna Report
Port Aransas,
TX
November 18th, 2006
Report by Oz |
It was one of those perfect yet uncommon windows in mid-November
which allowed us to journey far out to sea and hopefully give us the opportunity
to hook into some large Yellowfin Tuna that we have been seeking as of late.
Capt YT had just installed yet another secret weapon on the boat and we were
anxious to get back out on the Nyati for another adventure. We got the call
on Wednesday looking for a possible trip to see who was in... naturally it
was all of us. With Scott out of town on business, Ronnie's buddy Jared joined
a regular cast of die-hards for the slaughterfest.
We broke the Port Aransas Jetties around 3pm on Friday heading
out to the floater. Taking it easy we cruised out at a conservative speed
on calm seas, however anxiety was all around. Moose took a moment to pray
and sacrifice to the Tuna Gods.
The crew was in high spirits with Moose and Shindle powering up mojo in
the pre-fish rituals.
We get out to the floater and begin fishing roughly around 10:30pm.
Explosions burst out of the water all around the halo of the rig. We are
also greeted by a large pod of Dolphin which begin to aggravate us on our
top-water attempts. Meanwhile Shindle hooks up on a jig and puts his spinner
to the test. After a short hefty battle he gets in a Smaller Yellowfin..
the first of the night. Shortly after I obtain my first Yellow on a jig as
well. We begin drifting away from the rig to where there are more Tuna explosions
and surface activity, however also encountering the dolphin feeding and playing.
Everything from this point became a mixed blur with chaos so the chronological
order of fish may be slightly out of order.
It pretty much began with Ronnie, Gabe, and Shindle hooking
into Yellows while Moose and I were attempting the Top-Water sport of
things up on the bow. Moose hooks up first to a massive Yellow but eventually
falls victim to the trim-tab. I jump a large YF only long enough for him
to straighten the hook on the topwater. Moose crawls back to the deck
and begin catching flying fish. Shindle and Moose then get their first nice
Yellows of the trip.
Gabe soon follows suit and is hooked up on a nice YF.
Gabe powers the fish in on the Avet and the natural brilliance of the Tuna
is lit up underwater.
Gabe is rewarded with his efforts and we begin to stack up on the fish.
I later go back up on the bow and free-line a live flyer into
the darkness and very quickly get hooked up on my own. While I maneuver to
the back of the boat on the catwalk, Gabe gets hooked up again and we both
land another nice double for the boat.
After a while Shindle gets hooked up on another nice fish and puts his reel
to the test.
After a solid fight Shindle is also rewarded with his efforts
with a very nice Yellowfin Tuna.
Things slow down and pick up again. The flying fish became harder
to obtain but are still available if you are able to go through the wait.
Meanwhile, Jay puts out a chunk bait and we continue to chum. He finally
gets hooked up and game on!
After a very solid battle, Jay conquers the fish and gets him
to the boat. We get two gaffs in him and finally into the boat. Jay
is excited and evenly exhausted. The fish is lit up with an amazing iridescent
glow.
Jay grabs hold of his prize.
Congrats to Jay on the boats first triple digit Tuna of the trip!
After the victory celebration we continue to hammer the fish.
Ronnie slays another of his limit of Yellowfin.
After Ronnie's fish, he heads in to grab a bite to eat while
Jared hooks up on a massive Yellowfin. After a very short fight we get the
circling Tuna within inches of the gaff before spitting the hook. A
tough loss but Jared gets back at it again. He hooks up on another monster
and after another short fight we make sure this one gets into the boat. Jared
gets his largest Yellowfin ever and the boats second triple digit fish of
the early morning.
Both Jay's and Jared's Tuna bottomed out the 100# scale before getting the
fish off the deck.
Ronnie and Jared and I continue to stick at it in the early
morning hours chasing down Flyers and getting bit off by cuda and sharks
on chunk baits. As the morning rays begin to lighten up the horizon, I land
back to back Yellowfin to secure yet another limit for the boat.
With the sun coming up we see the beautiful calm conditions we are blessed
with.
We nail a few small Blackfins and decide to bridle them up and
slow troll for monster billfish. After over an hour of quiet one of the baits
are hit and the reel goes screaming. Moose lets the fish eat it then he sets
the hook.
A solid but interesting fish, we are fairly convinced its not
a Marlin. After a short battle on an 80W Moose gets the fish to boat and
our expectations are accurate... Moose has hooked into and now lands another
triple digit Yellowfin this time cannibalisticly falling prey to live Tuna.
While troll the remainder bait as we pull up to a weedline and
Gabe and I jump on the bow as we're trolling and nail some drive-by Dorado.
We rig up some more victims and troll them around with little action.
Being maxed out on fish capacity, we make an executive decision
to head to the inshore drill ship and fish for some last minute Tuna and
maybe even put out a Swordfish and Shark rig. After cruising for a few hours
we finally arrive at sunset.
As we get nearer we see little surface activity but despite
that and the seas picking up, we decide to give it a shot. The coldfront
was on its way but we had a few hours to get some last minute action.
The crew continues to slaughter the Blackfin but no signs of
any Yellowfin in sight. The guys head to get some sleep while Jared, YT,
and myself are left to experiment on a long drift. I put out a live
Tuna about a hundred yards off the stern. During the drift we see Blackfin
shooting in and out of the lights and I get a few on Topwaters. YT eventually
makes an executive decision to head back and beat the front. Maxed out on
Tuna this is a good idea and we begin a slow cruise back to port.
We get back at sunrise just as the front hit. It was dry but
rather chilling which was good for the fish until we get to fillet them.
We unload the boat and get a pic of the amazing Tuna, which is almost as
amazing as the rack that is still supporting them.
What trip wouldn't be complete without a great group photo!
It happened to be one of those great trips where things work out the
way you want.. and at times better. While originally going to fish the floater
for two nights, it really only took us 7 hours to max our capacity giving
us reason to head in early. The Nyati has had a such a great crew and captain
throughout the year it is no wonder great trips are always being shared and
continually planned for the future. Thanks again to YT and thanks guys
for a mega Tuna Harvest!
'Giving thanks to Tuna and the Deep Blue...
- Oz and crew
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