I took the day off work to celebrate my birthday chasing Ahi.
Temp, moon, currents, weather looked great. Me and my friend Jeremy left the dock at 0330hrs, and ran to Waenae pinnacle. We found some Skipjack there around sunrise, but left them to run SouthWest to the numbers on the corner of the temp break.
Got there at 0800hrs, and like clockwork the long corner took off. 13 minutes later, had a nice 120lb class Ahi in the box. While pulling the lines, noticed the short corner had lost its hooks due to a crimp failure (my first ever).
Worked SouthWest to the 3000fa line and the same bait took off at 1000hrs. Tough fight, and we landed another 100lb class Ahi 35minutes later. The fish had been foul hooked in its side, and the leader had been cut deeply by one 9f type random hooks during the battle. Lucky to stick him.
Ran in towards the HH, and around 1200hrs the same bait took off. A small ~150 Blue Marlin put on a show while running 400yds of line off at 42lbs. 6 minutes in he threw the hook while displaying some acrobatics.
Worked the 1500fa back towards BO, worked several bird piles, then headed up towards Nanakule canyon. At around 1400hrs took a knockdown on the exact same bait in the long corner. Before slowing the boat the long rigger went off. We worked both rods in within 100yds, when we noticed we were fighting the same fish, that had made a mess of the gear. We cut out the jig, and handlines the fish in through the tangle. A third 100lb class Ahi on ice.
Rerigged, continued to work the area, and spotted Ahi jumping. While working a small group of birds off the main pile, we took another knockdown on the exact same bait. Fish stayed high, and we the 4th 100lber landed in 15minutes. We worked back out to the BO, then headed for the gate. Back at the dock at 2030hrs. Dropped all 4 (375lbs Gilled&Gutted) on the block at 10pm.
Beautiful weather, good fishing, great way to spend my birthday.
John
A few more pics..
LOooong day but great work!!!! Did you build those short three-roller guide tips specifically to work with your high right-riggers or is that typical in your fishery? Love the set-ups.
Great day of fishing. Happy birthday!
Happy birthday! great way to spend it too. Thanks for the report.
:) Looks like you got a good work out on your birthday , and a beautiful day to boot.
Yaaaaah buddy. Looks like you'll eat tonight. Have a good birthday.
wow, great fishing and happy birthday amigo.
that fish is still on my bucketlist, there are still plenty still unscratched :-\
Your birthday was a big day,,,big catch,,,great job man ;D
Nice fishing John...Happy Birthday!
Sal
Happy Birthday John.
Great way to spend it too.
Thanks for all the birthday fishes!
This was my best day of fishing so far.
Prices were down at the auction, got $2.90,$2.60,&$2.50/lb for first 3 fish. I cut up the fourth, sold 1/3 of the chunks for a Samoan funeral party to feed 800 people for $10/lb, and gave the rest away to 25 friends and coworkers. I had 375 total pounds of Gilled & gutted weight. The one fish I cleaned was 87lbs GG, and it yielded 63lbs of chunk. Total income off of all 4 fish was $1100-$300 trip costs, 5% ge tax, $300 fixed ownership costs ect... still came out ahead on the day.
I forgot how much work tuna can be..lol
Randy,
BTW, I caught all of these fish on the reel I bought from you, and it performed wonderfully. Drag was smooth throughout all fights with 42lbs of pressure, low gear worked wonders on the fish when they were straight down 600 feet. Much better suited for these fish then the hot-rodded Senators.. IMHO.
John
The Marlin Magic - Baby Blue 4 hole bulleted jet, w/(Ice Ble Flec) G19 Outter, P-1 (Pearl-White) Inner skirts got 5 of 6 bites on the day. I do have high Hope's for the Tanigawa Cracked Baby Blue Glass twin jetted heavy bullet though.
Nothing like low gear for tuna when there up and down. Looking forward to your next report John,hope you keep getting em.
Happy birthday! What an awesome way to make it special. It sounds like you've got everything pretty well dialed in
Nice work!
If you keep that up, you will need a bigger fish box.
Nice job. Great fish and a sore back for your birthday ,,,,,,,,,,,, awesome !
Cheers:
Todd
Happy belated Birthday brother....good to see you catching such awesome fish that the rest of us only dream about.....Bill
Happy Birthday John, and awesome fishing! My birthday was the 14th...all I caught was a few puny bass and a bunch of crappies. The only time my drag was tested was when I snagged a stump trolling cranks! :D
John - I wish you a happy birthday - I could never hope for a days fishing like that - but thank you for the ride :)
Spent the day re-rigging my 9" and 7" Tuna baits. All heads got stripped/cleaned, new skirts, wings, made up tandem stiff-hook rigs in 10/0-9/0, and single hook rigs for 7", all new 300lb floro leaders.
I plan to troll for Yellowfin for the next 3 full days. Hopefully, I can find one.
I heard 10 of 50 boats fishing the hanapa'a shootout today caught a fish. Only something like 6 Ahi for 50 boats though.
What is the best way to clean the head of a lure?
I have some old seven strand lures that need serious cleaning and may be beyond help.
Nick
Quote from: ReelFishingProblems on May 27, 2018, 11:58:25 AM
What is the best way to clean the head of a lure?
I have some old seven strand lures that need serious cleaning and may be beyond help.
Nick
Not sure what the best way is. I just used some dish soap and hot water. I have used 0000 steel wool, and WD-40, followed by dish soap, and a polish on the polishing wheel for old chrome meatheads before. I imagine a soak in saltaway every once in awhile, as opposed to my standard fresh water dunk in a bucket, might help to prevent salt build up to begin with.
John