Vagabond Fishing

Nov. 29, 2009
Today was my 1st day of fishing since I arrived here 3 weeks ago.  It was a slow morning, at noon we had had 2 bites and no hook ups to show for our effort.  Around 1400 I came a cross a small piece of float on the outside of the bank, that yielded 3 Mahi and a Wahoo in one go.  Circling around we picked 6 more Mahi.  Working the South side of the bank late in the day saw another Wahoo and a few more Mahi in the box.  We ended the day with 16 Mahi, 2 Wahoo, a 'Cuda and missed a sail.  It was a beautiful day  on the water, good weather, good fishing and  great company.

Nov. 10th 2009
On Sunday I rented a golf cart and toured the resort with Ramon and William.  I would compare it to Casa de Campo on the south coast, but the development is not as far along here.  The golf course, 18 holes with 36 more on the way, is highly rated, absolutely beautiful.  There are great restaurants, 3 at the marina, shops, a health spa, etc.  I am will put up a page with resort pics/info shortly. 

Yesterday morning Ramon and William returned to Venezuela.  It was a pleasure to have them aboard for the trip across.  My 2nd crewman in Venezuela, Yilson, does not have a passport, hence William doing the trip across.  I enjoyed working with the 3 of them.

William and Ramon on top of the cliff overlooking the resort. 

Nov. 7th 2009
After a days delay due to paperwork, Ramon, William and I left Venezuela late Tuesday afternoon.  As we crossed the bank at dusk some tunas popped up and we managed to catch a medium sized blackfin.  Wed. was rather uneventful, not a bad thing on a 480nm crossing.  Thursday brought some heavy rain squalls with greatly reduced vis. in the am. The real fun was Thursday night when I spent 5 hours dodging lightning storms.  It seamed like every time I side stepped around one area of lightning, another would start to form just in front of us.  By midnight we were out of harms way.  As the sun came up we put a couple of teasers in the water, taking a few turns on the bank out front, before tying up at the 1st class Cap Cana Marina, on the SE coast of the DR. 

Customs and Immigration in the DR involves 7 different officials.  Unlike Venezuela, clearing in is easy, strait forward, timely, and does not cost a arm and a leg.  The marina staff contacted all the required officials, they came down to the boat together and we took care of business.

I have not yet had the chance to explore the resort, but at first glance it is 1st class and huge!  As soon as I have the time to look around I will post some more details and pics.   

Oct. 30th

Looks like a stretch of docile winds the next 4 day or so, unusual for Venezuela.  One of my dock partners fished today, releasing 3 white marlin on a otherwise slow day. 

Oct. 28th

There are a few whites around, as well as some blues and small tunas.  All in all it is good fishing, just not the red hot, off the scale marlin fishing that Venezuela is know for.

Oct. 21st, 2009
The marlin fishing in Venezuela continues to be spotty.  We started by missing a Blue a White and a Sail.  Finally scored with a pair of 30# Yellowfins, quickly adding a white.  I know of one boat that had 6 or 7 shots, coming up blank.  Another that caught 2 blues and 5 whites.

A couple of Yellow Fin tunas

Oct. 12th

6 boats out today, everyone saw 5 or 6.  We caught 3 out of 5 that bit, seeing 4 other tailers that we did not get a bite out of. 

Sept. 28th 

The past week has seen the fishing be rather consistent at 5 or so shots a day.  Yesterday I rode as an observer for the 2nd day of the Grand Slam Tournament.  The boat I was on caught 1 sail, missed 3 or 4 whites and raised 1 other that didn't bite.  The "Alina" won the tournament, I believe they had a slam with a extra white the 1st day and 3 whites the 2nd day.  Congrats to Eric and his crew.

Sept. 23rd 

Yesterday, due to the slower action the day before, the fleet spread out.  We raised and missed a Sail early, followed in short order by a lazy Blue that never ate.  30 min. later in the same spot we released a 125#  Blue.  Get back over the spot, release a White.  I am figuring "game on" at this point.  Alas it was not to be.  We did have a couple more quality shots at Whites, which we did not convert on, but all in all the res of the day was slow.

Sept. 21, 2009
We fished the same general local, west of the bank, as yesterday.  A half hour into the day we raised a 200# Blue to the right teaser.  He was on it all the way to the boat, then wheeled around and ate a leader length back.  The angler did a great job on the drop back, but as he was coming tight we fish turned back to the boat looking for more.  Before I could get out "don't come tight" he had done so and the circle hook did not find a good home.  I put the boat back in gear, he came up on the right long and another angler hooked him.  The fish stayed up top and 20 min and some nice jumps later we had the release.  While Rob has caught blues before, this was the first that he hooked on his own.  Around mid day we raised a triple of Whites, 2 ate and we caught one.  Circle around and here comes another on the right long.  We hook that fish and as I start to circle around a 125# Blue pops up on the right teaser.  Dave hooks that fish.  Double header White and Blue!  We quickly get Rob's White and get close to the Blue, but with the cockpit half full of water I had to pull her ahead to empty her out.  After 20 min. we had her on the surface again, going down sea.  We were storming back inches from the leader when she wheels around 270 deg. and dives under the boat.  I just managed to get the boat spun around, while Dave backed off the drag to keep from busting her off.  The fish goes down again and 15 min. later we chafed her off.  We raised one more White the rest of the day, but no bite.  1/2 on Blues and 2/3 on Whites, with 2 more raised was the final.

Sept. 20th

Our first day on the water brought losts of action.  We raised 14 or so Whites and Sails, getting bites out of 8 or 9, catching 2.  Today was the second day in a row that there were a lot of fish seen.

Aug. 22
This tournament played out a lot like the P.C.B.T., the fish were shallow, greenish water and mostly sails.  Once again it was good for some, but slow for most.  All in all the fishing was slower than last week, with 8 boats to fish to day the lead stands at 10.  There have been a fair number of white marlin up off of New Jersey and Maryland, if they move down the line or not remains to be seen.  The word from Venezuela is that the whites are their already.  Rumor has it that a boat caught more than 30 in three days the 2nd weekend of Aug.  That is unconfirmed however.  I'll be heading to Venezuela this week to get the boat ready for the fall bite.  I have some days available in Oct. and Nov.

Aug. 15th
Friday dawned a beautiful day, not quite slick calm, but close.  We ran south, along with a few other boats, in hopes of finding a nice Blue Marlin.  The Hatteras fleet had a good bite behind the "Rockpile" on Thur.  They had seen more Blues than the Oregon Inlet fleet, so we headed that way.  Unfortunately we did not see a blue.  

The tournament was won by the "Sea Toy" w/Capt. Bull Tolson and Mate D.J.  2nd was the "Pelican", 3rd "Caroline".  The "Sea Hag" boated the only Blue, sweeping the Blue Marlin categories.  Congrats to the Anglers and crews of the winning boats!

Aug. 13th  P.C.B.T. day 2 & 3

We fished our 2nd day on Wed.   For us and many other boats it was a slow day.  There were a few boats that managed to scrap out a good day, 7 releases being tops.  The big new was the "Sea Hag" bringing in a 755# Blue Marlin.  P.C.B.T awards 70 points for the release of any billfish.  A blue of 400 - 599.5# is 1/2 point a #, and a Blue of 600# or greater is 1 point a #.  It is a format that I really like, as the tournament can be won on releases, a big Blue boated, or a combo.  

We took our layday today, it was another hero or zero day.  Top boat had 10 releases, but may good crew had only 2 or 3, some none. 

Aug. 11th
Today was the 1st day of the P.C.B.T.  I'm 2nd Mate for the tournament aboard the "Bi-Op-Sea" with Capt. Jesse Granitzki and 1st Mate Chris Stine.  We fished east of the inlet going 2/5 on White Marlin.  Around 90 fish were caught by the tournament boats today.  There are 76 boats fishing the P.C.B.T. this year, with over $600,000 up for grabs.

Aug. 9th

I fished the Tri-State Canyon Shootout aboard the "Independence" with Mike, his son Nick, Mike M and Carl.  We arrived at Block Island early Sunday evening after a fog bound transit from Saybrook, CT.  The tourn. is a 2 out of 3 day overnight Tuna tourn, with additional prizes for Swordfish, Mahi, Wahoo and Billfish (release).

We took our layday on Monday.  I was able to spend the afternoon biking around the south end of the island.  Departing on Tuesday morning we once again encountered dense fog.  Luckily it burned off as the sun came up and we were able to push her up for the long ride (107nm) to the Hudson canyon.  A nice temp break near the mouth of the Hudson had us, and many others, thinking Bigeye's.  We set out around 10 am, picking a few Yellowfins, going 1/3 on Whites and missing a couple of Bigeye bites over the course of the day.  The chunking that night was unproductive.  The next morning saw us release an other White and a few undersized Yellowfins.  Overall the tourn. had some great fishing with numerous Bigeye's up to 270# weighted, two Swords over 300# as well as a handfull of Billfish.  The folks at J and B Tackle of Niantic, CT. (www.jbtackle.com) put on a great event out there on Block Island. 

July 24, 2009

July 20, 2009

 

I just finished fishing 3 days in Hatteras with Bobby on the "Islander".  We pre-fished the tourn. on Thurs., missing a White Marlin.  Friday we released 2 Sailfish.  On Sat. we were blanked.  Congrats to the "Gambler", winning with 5 releases. 

Denny boating a small Dolphin.

I fished the last 4 days in Madeira as gaff man aboard the "Grander" with Capt. "Jonboy" Kelmer, 1st Mate Tracy Epstein and 2nd Mate/hostess Jessica Kelmer.  July 1st we caught 2 Blues, a 450# and a 600#.  The 2nd we raised one that did not bite.  On the 3rd "Jonboy" pulled one out of the hat late in the day, putting us on a active 500#.  The fish made some nice jumps on the leader.  The 4th dawned a beautiful day but we did not see a Blue Marlin.