Howdy all! Just made reservations for my first tuna trip aboard the New Pelican out of Deep Sea Headquarters. I was told we will be primarily chasing blackfin tuna as well as amberjacks, along with whatever else we manage to pull in (they had a big mako last week).



Trip details:

Cost: $320 (thats including the fuel charge)

Time: Arrive at 9am on Saturday Feb.8th for a 10am departure. Arrival will be 10am Sunday morning. 24 hour trip

Capacity: The boat holds 15 and including me we now have 7 people. We must have 10 in order for the trip to make

What to bring: Your equipment, cooler full of drinks and food, bedroll (bunks are provided). No glass bottles allowed on board (cans permitted as well as alcohol)



Hell yeah I'm pumped...time to pop that tuna cherry even if its for a blackfin. Hope to see you out there, I'll be trying to make friends to teach me the art of tuna fishing. So if you see a tall white college kid who looks lost be nice!

We need three more to make the trip. Would be a great opportunity to get out on the water if anyone is interested

If you get your ten you'll have a heck of a trip. I can't make it, but have you posted on 2coolfishing also?

My Trip in November looks like it might be in trouble now too all I can say is pray to the fishing gods

I was down at the harbor in P. Aransas this week, checking out the pictures at the dock. It will be interesting fishing for you coming off this cold-d-d front. I will probably go a second trip yet this month, but only when it warms up. Look forward to your report after. Good luck!

good luck. hope yall get into a group of big nasty yellerfins! sharpen up the hooks on those diamond jigs and let em fly!

Dang, trip just got canceled from too many people canceling. Looks like my first trip will happen a different weekend!

Hey TexReds -- Have you found an alternate trip to get on? I have a trip booked for the summer. I can send you more information if you're interested.

Yeah I actually am going on the Dolphin Docks 36hr trip this weekend (22nd-23rd) on the La Pesca. Should be a fun trip!

TexReds - How'd your trip turn out? How was the boat staff, weather, catches?

I made a post on it over on 360, I'll copy paste it here

Finally made it out on a tuna trip this past weekend, opted with the 36hr out of Port Aransas with Dolphin Docks. I was incredibly impressed with the whole trip from start to finish and would highly recommend it to anyone.



We were told when we boarded that we were going to be allowed to catch a 2 day limit of red snapper while on the trip. We would hit snapper/AJ spots during the day and then hit Falcon at night where we would drift for blackfin tuna.



My trip started off by me realizing that I had started my anti-seasickness medication way too close to the trip and that it was little to no help to me. I was one of 2 or 3 guys who helped chum the water at our first stop. Regardless we got down to fishing and at that first spot we hauled in some really nice snapper and someone caught a 20lb cobia as well. The rest of the day all kinda runs together for me, we hit a ton of different rigs and people were hauling in some nice snapper and a couple really nice AJ as well. I hooked a ~4ft blacktip shark that we released during that time, also 10+ undersized AJ that were released. Nighttime is when the action really picked up though. Our first drift at Falcon I used a 7oz speed jig in pink/glow color and yoyo'd it on about a 10sec drop. First 7 casts I caught 6 blackfin and a big bonita. Biggest blackfin went ~15lbs. Then the shark rod went screaming off and we pulled in a 6-8ft shark (sandbar or blacktip, I cant honestly remember). Second drift was not nearly as productive so I went below to sleep more as I was still feeling a bit queasy at this point.



In the morning we hit another couple rigs and I set up on the bottom to catch my remaining 2 red snapper and something hit my bait hard and fought hard the whole way up, turned out to be a huge African Pompano. After a couple minutes everyone was yelling out for help gaff their pompano. That was the last rig that we hit.



There were 3 big grouper caught as well, I only saw the middle one caught, but the big one weighed in at 119lbs, absolute monster. Overall this was an excellent trip. Despite being sick for a good portion I still had a great time, and the crew was incredible. Patient when I needed help, and also quick to gaff fish and clear rods out of your way when you were fighting a big one. I understand there was some mixup at the end regarding missing fish but I ended up with every fish that I caught. Grand total was 4 red snapper, 6 blackfin tuna, and a big ol african pompano. Weighed in at 113.6lbs before fileting!

Great that you had a wonderful trip. I want to do another trip before spring--- I'm gettin' the fever!

Can't go wrong with the Dolphin Docks crew!!