Sheeww....still groggy and a bit tired :P
My 30th B-Day was Wednesday and I wanted to do a Deep Drop, spoke with Stan from this site and bing bang boom all set up.
It was fantastic.
I drove 2 hours down, met my brothers and Dad in lower DE. Then we spent about 3 hours heading down to Norfolk VA. Great time to catch up and shoot the breeze.
The fishing trip!
Fairly snotty conditions going out, 4 hour ride to get about 70 miles out. Seas were 3-5 some bigger, some smaller. My Dad and brothers stuck it out and were quite happy once we reached the fishing grounds, haha.
The trip ended with 24 or so Blue Line Tilefish, 3 of which were citation fish @ 10.2 lbs, 10.6 lbs and 10.6 lbs. Coming up from 300 ft they are a blast to catch and put quite a test on your gear and muscles ;)
No Goldens this trip, we only made two drops then decided to head shallower and get a few more Blue Lines, but I will be going out with Stan again to hook up with them @ 600'+ with heavier weights that will be a stamina challenge for sure!
To test her out I brought my freshly completed Jigmonster 501 w/ 55 lb Daiwa braid mounted to the Jigging World rod (both seen in a few of my other posts). This combo is a Blue Line slayer! It was great for the 24 oz. weights and the Tiburon handle made the reeling in a breeze. Can't wait to Seabass with this in November. The Scotty gimble mount was great too, saved my Hernia from too much gimble rash.
All in all I recommend Stan and Blind Date charters, this is a FISHING boat, not a casual fishing boat with ammenities. No TV, no couches, be ready to get salty and wet and bloody. To me this is the epitome of fishing, perfect in every way. Man vs. Nature...bring it on! (Sorry, still excited about it).
A few pictures to bring you along....
(http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg170/funferdriver/_2_zpsvrjsaiql.jpg) (http://s248.photobucket.com/user/funferdriver/media/_2_zpsvrjsaiql.jpg.html)
(http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg170/funferdriver/_1_zps8krjrn4b.jpg) (http://s248.photobucket.com/user/funferdriver/media/_1_zps8krjrn4b.jpg.html)
(http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg170/funferdriver/_3_zpsmqfe70pi.jpg) (http://s248.photobucket.com/user/funferdriver/media/_3_zpsmqfe70pi.jpg.html)
(http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg170/funferdriver/_5_zpslgtpwis4.jpg) (http://s248.photobucket.com/user/funferdriver/media/_5_zpslgtpwis4.jpg.html)
(http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg170/funferdriver/_4_zpsyrmaotjf.jpg) (http://s248.photobucket.com/user/funferdriver/media/_4_zpsyrmaotjf.jpg.html)
(http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg170/funferdriver/_6_zps7hssozmd.jpg) (http://s248.photobucket.com/user/funferdriver/media/_6_zps7hssozmd.jpg.html)
(http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg170/funferdriver/_7_zpssujs7tfs.jpg) (http://s248.photobucket.com/user/funferdriver/media/_7_zpssujs7tfs.jpg.html)
(http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg170/funferdriver/_11_zpsilsyzjva.jpg) (http://s248.photobucket.com/user/funferdriver/media/_11_zpsilsyzjva.jpg.html)
(http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg170/funferdriver/_12_zpsfcwkpc0n.jpg) (http://s248.photobucket.com/user/funferdriver/media/_12_zpsfcwkpc0n.jpg.html)
(http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg170/funferdriver/_13_zpsttrgmfrs.jpg) (http://s248.photobucket.com/user/funferdriver/media/_13_zpsttrgmfrs.jpg.html)
(http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg170/funferdriver/_9_zpssh0ekmpw.jpg) (http://s248.photobucket.com/user/funferdriver/media/_9_zpssh0ekmpw.jpg.html)
(http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg170/funferdriver/_14_zpsgab7ks7o.jpg) (http://s248.photobucket.com/user/funferdriver/media/_14_zpsgab7ks7o.jpg.html)
(http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg170/funferdriver/_17_zpsxc1voyf9.jpg) (http://s248.photobucket.com/user/funferdriver/media/_17_zpsxc1voyf9.jpg.html)
(http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg170/funferdriver/_15_zpshddi59cm.jpg) (http://s248.photobucket.com/user/funferdriver/media/_15_zpshddi59cm.jpg.html)
(http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg170/funferdriver/_16_zps2pttzdur.jpg) (http://s248.photobucket.com/user/funferdriver/media/_16_zps2pttzdur.jpg.html)
(http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg170/funferdriver/_18_zpszppxhrp2.jpg) (http://s248.photobucket.com/user/funferdriver/media/_18_zpszppxhrp2.jpg.html)
(http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg170/funferdriver/_19_zpst36ecssw.jpg) (http://s248.photobucket.com/user/funferdriver/media/_19_zpst36ecssw.jpg.html)
And my 1/4 of the fish...YUM!!!!
(http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg170/funferdriver/_20_zpsraifjoce.jpg) (http://s248.photobucket.com/user/funferdriver/media/_20_zpsraifjoce.jpg.html)
Thanks for following along!
Thanks for taking us along. Dominick
great trip and write up....dunno which i'd rather see again: that many tiles or my thirtieth birthday.....
Haha, looking forward to going with him again... Maybe an AT.com trip?
Just ate some for the first time...awesome meaty whitefish!
Tile is great eating fo sho. You get straight props for cranking that much weight up on a Jiggy!
Great trip Dan! Looks like a blast!
Happy 30th Dan!!! Nice trip and love to eat them tiles! Nice work.
.........................Lou
great trip, time with your dad and brother, caught fish, a homerun, thanks for sharing. harryk
Very nice Dan, thanks for taking us along...Happy 30th by the way, I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate ;).
Sal
Dan: It was a pleasure to have you guys aboard. I was going to send back the snacks you left, but my wife ate them !!
Take care,
stan
Happy birthday and thanks for the write up. It's always fun to see and read about our upgrades getting worked out on awesome fishing trips, brothers and dad it doesn't get much better than that, until you get to bring your kid along, and then they bring their kid along! Damn 30 was so long ago. Seems like yesterday especially when reading posts like this.
Happy Birthday and glad you had a great day on the water.
Awesome trip. Good to see the jigmonster getting a work out. I see a Jaguar fan on the boat go Jags
Thanks all! Yeah, it was a great start to a long relationship with that 501 ;D