As I was loading up in the morning with Eddie Burger captain Mike Jeffcoat of R&J Hunting & Fishing asked me to deck for him the next day. This is how my life is. One day I am running my own inshore or offshore boat the next I am going on somebody else's boat. If I'm available and you need something I am ready. We were blessed with a beautiful sunrise and great weather.



We left the marina expecting to find dirty water all day. As we approached our targeted rig the clean green water eased into blue water. There was no rip line or any weeds around. We had fish marked on the rig but they were not in the feeding mode. We managed 2 small blackfin and 1 undersized yellowfin. A very tough day for us. Another boat there went to a nearby rig and was striking out also. The tuna did come up one time but we did not get any to hit our lures or baits.

Late in the morning a line moved in our direction. We went to it and set up a troll of Russelures. This move paid off. A very nice Bull gave us a wonderful aerial display as we battled it to the gaff. The red head lure was once again the ticket.



Once we located the mahi we put a few in the boat. This line actually stopped moving at all when it got to us. It just broke up right there. The mahi were not thick so it was not the super bloody boat, fish all over the decks, type of fiasco.

Once the line broke up we went back chunking for tuna. They still were not hungry. We only had one live bait left and it was a very small one at that. Mike tied a 5/0 hook directly to 65 or 80 pound braid on a spinning setup and put on our last bait. It was just out there drifting as we chunked.



Evidently a tuna came into our chum and saw this little guy swimming out there alone and nailed our bait. The battle lasted a very long time but we able to get a gaff in it. This was our first, last, and only yellowfin.



God, Luck, Karma, and everything else good was with us on this catch. When I took the very small 5/0 hook out of the tuna there was a chaffed area about 3 inches up the braided line from the hook that had almost wore through. Had we not stuck that fish and it made another run or maybe even another circle we would have lost it. Do not know if you can see it in this picture but it gives you the idea of the "what you should never do" type of setup we had.



That was our last bite of the day. As we started in we spun a hub on the center motor. Nice to have 2 more as backup. Although a bit slower we were able to still come in at a reasonable speed. Overall a good day on the water with happy customers.



Life is Good!

Fishing is not a matter of life or death. It's more important than that.

CAPT HOOP -- OUR FREEDOM

Nice post & pics Capt Hoop

Solid Post. Thanks for sharing.