You are currently browsing the monthly archive for July, 2007.
Kathy and John Watts made it down to Venice from OK City for the eigth year in a row. If I had their luck, I guess I would keep coming back too. Learning from past experience that a strong back and a weak mind are great qualities to find in a partner for an offshore trip, they brought along Timmy to do the grunt work. The tunas eluded us one day one, but we did find several nice jacks and some some good dolphins, as well as some blackfin and skipjack tunas. but on day two we had their number. We caught 8 tunas and 4 dolphins in about 2 hours. Four of the tunas were throw-backs, but 4 were nice 70 pounders. Once again, 2 days of fishing sent Timmy and the Watts back to OK with a truckload of fish and a reason to come back again.
Tim Giraud and crew were dealt a tough morning. I hate to start a trip by turning around in the river, but with lighting bolts and black clouds looking like a Poltergeist, it was the thing to do. These guys waited patiently around the marina for about an hour and a half until it looked like we might be able to sneak out. We poked our nose out the pass and caught a quick limit of snapper. We snuck a little further and caught a limit of big amberjacks. Then we made a move and found some pretty blue water in close to the pass. The first bait in the water produced a bull dolphin in the upper 40# range. We caught another dolphin and a nice yellowfin and it was time to head in. All in all, despite a rocky start, it turned out to be a great day.
Inga and I snuck away for a quick 5 day reprieve from the heat. With lows in the upper 30’s and highs in the 60’s, Alaska sure wasn’t a bad place to be during the summer. What do fishing guides do on vacation? Go fishing, I guess. Here’s a Kenai River king salmon that made a mistake last week. Thanks to Mike and Michelle for being great hosts.
Summer tuna fishing has really heated up over the past week, with several tunas over 100# and some red hot bites. The dolphins are still pretty thick in areas where the water is pretty blue, but fishing the green water has really paid off with the tunas this week. We’ve only got a few summer days still open, so give us a call before you miss the boat
That’s what I said when the previous clients for July 7th called to say they wanted to cancel their trip 5 days out because they didn’t feel the tuna fishing was going to be good enough. Fortunately Tim Frederick and his crew from St. Amant were more than happy to jump on the last minute opening. Talk about lucky winners. We saw an awesome aerial show with tunas busting on 100’s of flying fish and flying squids and were lucky enough to catch 15 yellowfin tunas before noon. Four were thow-backs, but the rest averaged 60#. Awesome trip and a great crew.
After proving himself last year with the bait net, Scooter graduated from baitfish to big fish this year, catching his first bull dolphin. At age 8 he knows more about Peterbuilts and Kenilworths that most people ever will and now he’s starting to sharpen up on his offshore fish as well.
Brothers Cliff and Phillip Blaylock started their offshore careers off right. The first bait at the first rig produced their first tuna: a 140# yellowfin. I almost had a heat stroke just watching them fight the tuna in the blistering heat. Even though the picture looks like it was taken at midday, it was actually before 8:30AM. We added some dolphins, wahoos, and jacks to the fish box and sent these guys home as heroes.
If John Rae and crew don’t feel lucky after this trip, they never will. How do you top a 142# yellowfin in the dead of summer? How about following up that tuna with a 98″ LJFL blue marlin? We’ll that’s what these guys did on July 3rd. Even crazier was that we caught the blue at the same rig that John’s son Wes caught his white marlin a few years ago, also aboard the KRAKEN. We were also fortunate enough to get one of our Texas A&M satellite tags into the 325# marlin, so in 60 days we’ll know a lot more about this fish. Here’s Dedo with an awesome summer yellowfin.
Fortunately amberjack, cobia, red and mangrove snappper, and triggerfish must be color blind because they bit despite the loud green team shirts of the Lancaster, MO Animal Heath Center’s fishing team. After day one, these guys were calling for anything but tunas. With dolphins and tunas from day one on top of this mixed rig bag, these guys made off with quite a haul.
I don’t know how many grandkids Doc Foster has, but he keeps coming back with more each summer. Fortunately he brough a little back-up as well. This 128# yellowfin made its way through the rotation a few times before the chef from Nebraska got him within gaff range. I hadn’t seen a big tuna in weeks, but the boys from Missouri, Colorado, and Nebraska put a 116# and a 128# on the dock in the same day. In Venice, it can happen anytime, anywhere.
Some crews are just lucky. For a while I thought that Don and crew would have to have at least one slow day eventually. Yet they keep coming back and hammering the fish year after year. I’ve got to get with him and find out how he’s picking his dates because he’s certainly doing something right. With Dr. Harry fresh off a double knee replacement and a torn tricep, I wasn’t sure if this crew would have it’s same mettle. Shame on me for even wondering. These guys are fish killers. Here’s Don, Harry, Frank, and the new guy with their latest tuna haul.
Dwight Jones of St. Louis, MO returned to Venice for some more offshore action. Here’s me and Dwight with a nice yellowfin we caught in open water. While we didn’t catch a marlin ourselves, we saw five other boats hook up with blues in one day. Don’t know what that means about my marlin catching skills, but Dwight and Maria had a great day with both tunas and some bottom fishes.
