Sorry this report is late!
As you may have already heard, Saturday was a gorgeous day to be fishing that crystal clear bluewater in the gulfstream. It was the prettiest day I’ve spent on the water since taking the Reel Dream to the Bahamas. I figure that when I die and go to heaven I’ll get to live out days like that everyday…except hopefully the fish will be biting too.
I got the opportunity to go out with my good buddy, Parrish Sasser, in his boat. Things worked out really well for this trip and it was meant to be. My crew for Saturday in the Reel Dream was unable to go so it looked like I’ld be working Saturday. Parrish’s crew had to bail out on him Friday evening. Luckily Parrish and I hooked up and Friday night we planned our trip for the next morning.
Now to say that Parrish’s boat rides good doesn’t even begin to do it justice. Parrish has a 26 ft Southport with twin 225’s. I had been hearing all types of great rumors about this boat from a lot of different people. And like most “stories”, I always took them with a grain of salt figuring that the story may have been embellished a little or a lot. Boy was I wrong, his boat deserves all the raves it’s been getting plus some. I’ve never rode in a smoother boat…and I’ve had the opportunity to ride a lot of boats. As one of my other buddies put it last year after a ride with Parrish, “it’s like the boat has hydraulics to soften the blow from the waves”. It was incredible. A GREAT ride, well thought out fishing amenities, and quality construction. My next boat will probably be a Southport thanks to this trip.
When we left the docks we were both a little nervous about the fact that we had had a mostly full moon all night in a clear sky. We were afraid the fish may have fed all night and wouldn’t be interested in anything during the day. It turns out we were right for the most part.
Parrish and I cruised to our fishing grounds (cruise has new meaning to me now thanks to Parrish’s boat) 63 nm offshore (that’s 72 statute miles) at a very comfortable speed of 35 to 40 miles per hour. We were heading for some numbers one of Parrish’s buddy’s gave him about half way between the Same Ole and Steeples. When we arrived, it was obvious that the rest of fleet would also be fishing…and more and more boats started showing up.
According to the radio, a few boats already had a fish but had gotten them early. We quickly deployed the lines and went to it. It was a slow day, but a beautiful one. We fished for several hours before we even had something cut a bait in half. Considering there were probably 100 or more boats within radio range, it was obvious that it wasn’t just us.
About mid morning we came up on a huge pod of porpoises. There must have been 50 or 60 in total. The boat was surrounded with these graceful beauties. When you looked straight down off the bow, there would one of two there, pacing the boat in what looked like a joy filled game for them. They seemed to be as interested in having fun with us as we were with them. Parrish and I took turns taking pictures and enjoying their shows. Here’s a few shots.
Around noon time about half the fleet gave up on trolling for Tuna, Wahoo, Dolphin, or anything else tasty out there and they went bottom fishing in attempts to save the day for either themselves or their charters. We continued trolling, listening to the radio, and patiently waiting. Every now and again a boat would report a few knockdowns, a lost fish at the boat, and occasionally a lucky captain would have boated one. Mostly wahoo for the day although one boat reported having a Marlin hooked up briefly. We were offering quite a variety in our spread, blue & white seawitch, pink & white seawitch, chartreuse seawitch, planer with black & red bullet head, blue & white cedar plug, black and purple seawitch, and a squid daisy chain.
About noon time is when we started having a little action when we found some warmer water. We had been fishing 74 degree water but we found some 77 degree water and things picked up at least a little bit. A bait cut in half, a few baits stolen, etc. but we never even saw the strikes. No rhyme nor reason to the hits, they didn’t prefer any one bait over another. Luckily we did see one big strike on the left outrigger…it sure looked like a Marlin! Based on it’s measurement from it’s belly to it’s Dorsal fin, it was good size. It stole the bait off our pink seawitch and we never saw it again. It didn’t even snap the line loose from the release clip on the outrigger.
It was maybe 20 minutes after redeploying the pink seawitch that the shotgun rod with the blue & white cedar plug screams for a brief second. I grab it out of the rod holder, turn the handle several times…nothings there. I make several more turns of the handle and there he is. I can feel his weight and he’s swimming towards the boat. I come tight on the line and set the hook…he doesn’t react well to that and proceeds off in the opposite direction in a blistering run making the drag hum while taking several hundred feet of line with him. Parrish did a great job of quickly clearing the other lines and we hunkered down to fight the fish.
This fish was a relatively quick and easy fight for the first 10 minutes, but then the last 30 feet when he repeatedly decided to flex his muscles. The first time we got color on him we both said “Wahoo”, and then it sprinted off in another run. After two more times of getting it close enough for color we realized it was a big Yellowfin Tuna. It’s length had thrown us off during those first couple of glimpses.
This fish was a fighter, every time I would get it within 30 feet of the boat, it would take another 30 yards of line. This went on time and time again until the fish had about whooped me. I’m not jesting here either…I have to come clean because will Parrish will be the first to rub it in. At one point I promised to start going back to the gym. Parrish even got me a drink of water ¾ of the way through the battle. The fight went on so long that we starting to get really worried about the fish coming unbuttoned from wearing a hole in it’s mouth where the hook was penetrating. Out of the few Yellowfin hookups we had heard about on the radio, most came off the hook beside the boat before they could get gaffed.
The entire time Parrish did a great job of maneuvering the boat and keeping me where I needed to be. Well after more than 30 minutes of battle, I had finally worn the fish out (he had already worn me out) and Parrish gaffed that fish like the best of the pros and brought it in the boat. We don’t know what it weighed; it easily bottomed out my 50 lb scale, but we’ve had estimates between 53 lbs to 65 lbs from several guys that "should know".
Unfortunately that was the only fish of the day trolling. We continued drowning ballyhoo for another hour or two over some of the most beautiful bottom and bait pods we had seen all day. According to the radio, there were more boats without fish than with them so we were feeling pretty good. Late in the afternoon we decided to head towards the hill with a quick stop at 23 mile rock in hopes of a grouper but no luck after several drifts and we decided to call an end to such a gorgeous day.
After all that work for one tuna I was going to make sure that I got all the good out of it because nothing compares to a fresh tuna. After cutting out the loins and cleaning it, I cut out all the little pieces that even the sharpest knife and most guided hand can miss for some extra fresh sushi with some soy sauce…I don’t think I’ve ever had better. A perfect end to the perfect day; a glass of wine and fresh sushi on the porch with my gorgeous wife. Sunday I boiled down the rest of the carcass and made the best fresh yellowfin tuna salad I’ve ever had…over five pounds of it; never waste any fresh Tuna!
I can’t wait for the next gorgeous day on the water with good friends. What a good week! Grouper on Wednesday, Tuna on Saturday! Go catch some!
Weekend TUNA w/pics 
2003 F250 Crew Cab Fx4 7.3L Turbo Diesel
