Awesome day on the Julie Rose III .. Pics

OceanBlue · 07-21-2003, 07:51 AM

Great day on the Julie Rose III 7/19/03 with Popeye, Pilar and Blubeast. We departed Newport and proceeded NW. Found some jumpers and threw lines in. Had a drive-by and continued to troll toward "61 degrees". Saw some dahl porpoise along the way. By the time we reached the spot, we'd already boated approx 11 fish - in GREEN water. What started out as a little bit bumpy day turned into one of the flattest oceans we'd ever seen.

Stand-up rod action was pretty hot (running lines WAY back) with Dale and myself taking the brunt of that action

We were looking for the "big dumb fish" so we opted to head out to TUNA! Town with Puffin tagging along. Along the way, we enjoyed looking deep into the blue/purple water. From my vantage point on the flying bridge, I easily spotted sharks swimming at 20ft below the surface. at one point a pacific sunfish seemed to wave at us as we passed by

Once we reached TUNA! Town, we turned south and trolled toward the spot where the research derrick was last year, still in search of the "big dumb fish". We never found the big schools of feeding fish, or lots of birds sitting on bait, but we did find some big, dumb fish. All 37 were wonderful grade and they almost all fought really hard. Maybe I was just tired, but it sure seemed like they fought harder that most of the fish inside.

At one point, Pilar spotted a shark in the vicinity of a hooked tuna. That might explain the fish's desire to dive 1600 ft to the bottom. It took a little coaxing, but I managed to change his mind and with Pilar's expert gaffing :grin: , finally boated him.

Happy and tired, we headed for shore with an ETA of 8pm.

At about 20 miles out, we noticed a thick fog bank laying up against the shoreline.

Several miles from the jaws at Newport, Popeye played the soundtrack to "A Perfect Storm". I can't speak for the men, but with the sun low on the horizon, the mirror-like ocean, gray whales breaching in the distance and memories of a very close to perfect day (unfortunately, Julie wasn't with us), the addition of the music brought tears to my eyes.

Looking east, we noticed that the fog had cleared and the beach lay glimmering in the sun.

What a magical day that was. Great ocean, great company, great fishing, wonderful fish.

Oh, if one could only bottle that feeling!

Thanks for making it possible, Popeye!

P.S. I could tell Bruce was having fun - he was doing the "Bruce Boogie"

P.P.S. Thanks for letting me "drive" the boat! What a blast!

[ 07-21-2003, 04:08 PM: Message edited by: Pilar ]

PeterMac · 07-21-2003, 08:12 AM

Jen, sounds like an awesome experience, good for you guys! :smile:

I was salmon fishing saturday off nehalem, only a few miles out, and I hear this crazy sounding guy on 78 talking about slayin the fish and smokin cuban cigars! I then realize it is Puffin, I hail him but he can't hear me. We must have been a long ways apart.

PeterMac

Tacklebuster · 07-21-2003, 08:30 AM

Wow, that's what dreams are made of [img]graemlins/hearton.gif[/img]

Pilar · 07-21-2003, 09:04 AM

Popeye .. Thanks, friend .. that was one of the good days on the big blue lake with kindred spirits that I will remember for a very long time.

Yes, Jen the music and the terroire got to me too. Sometimes you have to just take it all in and do the thinking later.

'If you get confused, listen to the music play'
Jerry Garcia

I'm afraid the 'Julie Rose III' is a little bit worse for wear because of the blood spilled on Saturday. Popeye was talking about stain remover getting the blood streaks off the cockpit and transom. We used an contraption which Popeye built to cark the fish outside the boat. This worked well and kept the bloody nasty fish out of the boat. But as anyone knows about tuna they bleed like pigs with fins and then they thrash and spray that blood everywhere. The full limit on the fish box now stands at 37, one better than the previous record. I think we could have jammed at least 50 in that big white box.

Any time you want to test that theory, Popeye, just let me know.

Later at the cleaning station we discussed an intervention program for Tunaholics that can't stop carking fish before they overwhelm their ability to clean them all.

So on Sunday we spent a few hours scrubbing the flagship and trying to clean up the carnage. The blood was sprayed up to the upper deck and all in the cockpit and overhead.

A big thanks goes to 'Team Pilar' for the hard work and grit it takes to fish a big boat and clean up the mess afterward.

I emphasize the word 'Team'

A very impressive bag my friends and we looked pretty good doing what we love to do.

OceanBlue · 07-21-2003, 09:13 AM

Yes, John, carking all those fish was hard work, but every last one of them got cleaned and the meat stowed back in the coolers by what? 1:30am? by the time we hit the hay, we were pushing 24hrs without sleep (well, if you don't count the couple of

I managed to catch befor the "ZZZZZZzzzzzZZZZZZZ!" woke me. :grin: )

Popeye · 07-21-2003, 10:53 AM

I would like to thank the crew on the Julie Rose Saturday for all of their hard work cleaning fish, and cleaning boat! It's a beautiful thing when the crew sticks around for the chores! Dale, John, and Jen....we'll definately do it again sometime

Pilar · 07-21-2003, 12:33 PM

Tom, the boat is awesome. And I can tell you that the skipper, Popeye takes a special pride in his dream boat. It's not just another pretty boat full of martini drinkers plying the dangerous waters of Hayden Island. This is a serious fishing boat with an experienced fisher as a skipper. Bruce has probably forgotten more in his 40 years at sea than many of us ever knew.

One thing Popeye said that really stuck on Saturday. And you would all do well to take it to heart .... "There are no experts on the ocean." Well said and sage advice. We are all trainees and always will be.

The ride was much better but I cheated and medicated myself with Meclizine. I had to make sure that I could be a worthy deckhand on the flagship.

Pilar · 07-21-2003, 03:07 PM

Photos .. more to follow as film gets developed.

My babe, Jen. She's a boat driver, A fisher and and a dose of cold hard reality. It took my whole life to find her. Here's to you, my love.

A fish comes to the boat

A box full of Albacore

She's mine .... all Mine!!

4 REEL · 07-21-2003, 05:19 PM

WOW!!!!! That sound like a dream come true [img]graemlins/applause.gif[/img] . What a day, Bet you all slept well that night!
You are so right, it is very obvious of Bruces love for fishing and the pride he has for his vessel. He displays great respect for the big blue and constantly demonstrates his love for it . What a great Captain

.
Can't wait to see more pictures. And can hardly wait to get my next chance at it.
My wife found out that she loves tuna the way Bruce told me to cook it. Man that stuff is good, we just need more!!! I'm ready anytime.

blubeast · 07-21-2003, 11:10 PM

Jen & John... you beat me to the post. Yes, I too wanted to say a very sincere THANK YOU to Bruce for the chance to join him on his beautiful ship and John for the continuing lessons on the fine art of tuna catching & carking and Jen for the assists in getting the catch on board.

Truly a day memories were made... Great boat, great fishing, great company.... Thanks again...

[ 07-21-2003, 12:11 PM: Message edited by: blubeast ]

puffins crew · 07-21-2003, 11:40 PM

Thanks for the post,

Sounds like a great day on the Big Blue Pond for the Julie Rose and crew. 37 Tuna, and a nice ocean with friends is a wonderful memory.

Hey John Boy, how was the ride on the "Big Boat" for you this time?

:grin:

Capt'n Bruce, WTG getting your crew on the fish.

Maybe one day, I could have the honor of being part of your crew.

Peace, Tom

ANDYCOHO · 07-21-2003, 11:51 PM

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

WOW! Way to go guys.

I was stuck in Ocean Side for a wedding all day Saturday and saw how beautiful that ocean was, I am glad that you guys were able to enjoy it!

OceanBlue · 07-22-2003, 06:45 AM

Okay, now I'm :blush:

But I sure can feel the [img]graemlins/hearton.gif[/img]

Thank you for making me part of your world - and for introducing me to this awesome community called Ifish! [img]graemlins/applause.gif[/img]

By the way, seems to me there's a pic of our Captain missing.... hmmm.... Bruce? :grin:

[ 07-22-2003, 07:47 AM: Message edited by: OceanBlue ]

DipSeaDiver · 07-22-2003, 07:09 AM

Sounds like another awesome trip on the Julie Rose! The modest captain is one of the best!!

It's been a real treasure for us to meet so many REAL people, REAL GOOD people!!

We are looking forward to the arrival of our new boat so we can join the fleet out there. :grin: It promises to be a good one and with all the great information and lessons to be had, we are looking forward to some great fishing adventures.

Congratulations on the successful trip. Thanks for sharing!! [img]graemlins/applause.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/applause.gif[/img]

blubeast · 07-24-2003, 07:09 PM

Sorry for the delay in posting these... been busy canning & freezing the day's catch.

Here's Popeye & Pilar 'blessing' the bay with fresh tuna blood.

Inside Popeye's fishbox reside the day's catch... 37 prime tuna!

Amazing end to a truely glorious day!

[ 07-24-2003, 08:10 PM: Message edited by: blubeast ]