Venice 11/30 with pics
I had the privelage of fishing with Capt Eddie Burger with some of my customers(Paul, Marvin, and Harley), who have become some pretty damn good friends of mine in recent years and JCC123(Jim) and a coworker(Tom) who is taking my place here in Jackson when I move next month.
The day started off at 5:45 when we met Capt Eddie and deckhand Will at the dock. Shortly after we were in the river throwing the net for Mullet for bait. The ride down river wasn't quite as cool as I had planned, which is a good thing since I forgot my thermals at home. After clearing South Pass we made our way to a rig a few miles out where Jim and Will caught us a few Hardtails in case the YFT weren't digging the Mullet that day.
We then headed out to a floater where we hoped the fish to be. Well, apparently some kind of fish were there b/c the downcurrent side of the rig was absolutely covered up in pods of Porpoises. Instead of wasting our time there, we headed south another 20 or so miles to another rig and set up the first drift.
Eddie and Will put out the first two baits while I jigged for some Blackfin or Skipjacks in case we needed some chunks. It didn't take long before both Mullets were getting whacked. Thinking we had some nice YFT in the baits, I was nonchalantly looking for the camera and shortly after while still looking for the camera I hear an expletive followed by "Blue Marlin!!!!!" I looked up at the last second and saw a Blue tailwalking across the choppy surface of the water. The fish went through my 3 customers while the drag was tightened down on the fish and we pulled the hook about 10' from boatside. Chalk it up as a release. It was 2 of the 3 guys first bluewater trip and their first fish is a 250# Blue. Can't get much better than that.
We go ahead and motor back towards the rig and get in position to set back up. I'm still jigging to try to catch the seemingly elusive Blackfin or Skipjack for chunks when all of a sudden both lines go off again. I put down the jigging rod since I am close to one of the heavy outfits while Eddie and Will hook up both fish. I take one rod and my counterpart Tom takes the other. By the time I get a belt on I look down and the fish has dumped half a spool of a Tiagra 50 and was still going. I looked at Capt Eddie and as soon as I say "It's a hoss" the line goes slack. After reeling in a bare hook for what seemed to be an eternity, we notice that the gap on the circle hook was straightened by the fish and that's the reason it came unpinned. Meanwhile, Tom has decided he has had enough of fighting the beast on the other end of his line so, me being the idiot that I am, step up for some more punishment and work the fish for a little while before eventually tiring and passing the rod off to Harley to finish the fish off the last few feet. The fish is hauled aboard by Eddie and Will with two gaffs and some high fives and picture taking goes on before Marvin speaks up and calls all three of us female dogs and that he could whoop a fish by himself. We estimate the fish to be 130-140#.
We motor back towards the rig and set back up and I am finally able to jig up a fish to chunk. Not too much longer, another Mullet is demolished by another YFT. I've known Marvin for a while and he is a man of his word. With a little assistance from a full on harness, he whipped a 115# by himself. He was a little winded, but proceeded to talk smack to everyone on the boat as the fish hit the deck.
After that fish, we were unable to drive the hooks home on any more fish. We had 12 bites on the Mullet but it seems the strike to hookup ratio isn't quite as high as using a Hardtail, despite letting the fish run for what seemed like an eternity before hitting the brakes on him.
All in all it was a great day, despite a rather bumpy ride on the way back in.
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