The Blitz blitz the tuna!

Albacore Tuna Captain · 07-07-2003, 06:51 AM

What a fantastic day 7-6-03!

First charter of the season for me and we caught 48 of the biggest baddest bullets I've seen in a long time! None under 22 pounds and some up to 30 pounds. We were catching them 6 at a time and never left the spot we found them.

LOCATION: 44 53.8N/124 36.5W

Would have stayed for the afternoon bite but my crew were exhausted and didn't want anymore. FYI for the size comparison, after processing just 3 fish into pints I have 22 pints!

Thankyou Pilar for getting out there and finding them this early in the season. And to find them so close, I love it!

You the man!

Captain Mike

P.S. The Blitz has scheduled the 17, 25, and 31 of July for the next trips.

Albacore Tuna Captain · 07-07-2003, 06:58 AM

Oops! Correction. That number I gave was where I hook the first fish. The large count was at;

44 43.36N/124 53.2W

Sorry for the goof [img]graemlins/dork.gif[/img]

Weather started out iffy but came down and we had a beautiful day out there. Water temp at the first fish was 60 degrees and at the high count was 62 degrees.

Captain Mike

puffins crew · 07-07-2003, 07:30 AM

WOOHOO!!

WTG Captain Mike. Thanks for the report. Glad to hear you got into some nice fish.

Peace, Tom

07-07-2003, 08:23 AM

[img]graemlins/applause.gif[/img]

CrazyFish · 07-07-2003, 08:28 AM

Way to go!!!! [img]graemlins/applause.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/applause.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/applause.gif[/img]

Salmonator · 07-07-2003, 08:29 AM

Bravo Capn' Mike. Rod and reel? Handlines? Experimental technics? [img]graemlins/eek13.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/eek13.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/eek13.gif[/img] :grin:

Albacore Tuna Captain · 07-07-2003, 08:41 AM

The crew wanted to use rod and reel. I used green,orange and yellow zokers on the poles. I used two hand lines for myself and used green and yellow clones on them. All caught fish well. The fish were spitting up kreel, small bait fish and squid but I never detected any bait balls. Water was 62 degrees and clear as a bell. Very few birds in the area but a lot of horse kelp. We trolled around the big kelp pads to get consistent hook ups. Obviously the bait was hiding in the kelp and the Albies were picking them off when venturing out. They loved artificial bait too! :grin:

blubeast · 07-07-2003, 08:54 AM

So Cat'n Mike... how far out (in miles) were you from Newport?

Soft Plastic · 07-07-2003, 09:14 AM

Blubeast

That point is about 34 miles from the whistler buoy.

skein · 07-07-2003, 09:19 AM

Let's see, Blubeast, 34 miles at 34 mph... why, that's just ONE HOUR AWAY! We could leave now and be back by supper time. :grin:

Weld, Ed, weld!

Skein

Albacore Tuna Captain · 07-07-2003, 09:45 AM

The furtherst out from the Jaws at Newport I went was 35.4 miles. The last fish I caught on my troll for home was 28 miles from the Jaws in 58 degree water. :grin:

Are there any questions about the Albies being here yet?? Me thinks not!

Pilar · 07-07-2003, 10:10 AM

No problem Mike. My number one gripe is that soooo many people drive right past the fish. Going 50 miles out does nothing except burn gas and push you even closer to the edge if things go wrong.

You can catch tuna 20 to 30 miles out on most days if you pay attention and see the things that give away the right location. Things like ...

1) Currents converging. Look for debris in the water, two water colors and a line or a slick line.

2) Porpoises ... Dahl porpoise look like mini Killer whales without the long back fin. They hang in the same water as the Albacore.

3) Numbers from your buddies that were there yesterday. I don't know about you guys but that was why we started this whole Salty Dogs thing. Teamwork kicks butt!!!

4) Diving birds or bird that are sitting, too fat to fly. The brown tuna birds and the Albatross are the main ones but there is a small grey and white bird like a sandpiper sometimes also.

5) Jumpers and fish thrashing the surface.

6) 60+ degree water and any temperature breaks. Sea Jypzee found a beauty on Saturday. 60.1 to 61.5 and they did not even have a thermometer. They just found a trash line and started whacking and stacking fish.

7) Radio fish.

Together as a team we are unstoppable. When a group like the one that sailed out of Depoe hits the water, how can you miss the fish?

I love you guys! :grin:

Albacore Tuna Captain · 07-07-2003, 10:19 AM

Hey Pilar, why don't we do a tuna report topic and post catch numbers with the locations. Anyone who wanted to advise where they got them would be helping all and we wouldn't have to go through so much mail to find what we are looking for.

I have no problems with giving out the location of Albies. Commercial guys tend to hold all that secret so they don't get hammered by all the other guys coming in on their find. But that would not apply to us because we want to help each other.

This way we could just look at the most recent catch locations and plan trips accordingly.

CAPT KUJO · 07-07-2003, 10:34 AM

Hey Big Mike,

I was able to get out Sunday and whacked them also. And they were all big! yes all in the 20 to 25 lb class. I'll be out this week end for sure. Although when I left the beach this morning. There wasn't a breath of air on the ocean and it was flat as a lake.

CAPT KUJO

Miss B Haven · 07-08-2003, 12:13 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Albacore Tuna Captain:
Oops! Correction. That number I gave was where I hook the first fish. The large count was at;

44 43.36N/124 53.2W

Sorry for the goof [img]graemlins/dork.gif[/img]

Weather started out iffy but came down and we had a beautiful day out there. Water temp at the first fish was 60 degrees and at the high count was 62 degrees.

Captain Mike

<font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helv">Sounds familiar Mike, we had similar temps at similar numbers up North (46 degree Lat). I'm really glad we went bottom fishing first. I don't think anyone was prepared to deal with a boatload of Tuna. Gives me a reason to go back out too!