East coast head boat tuna

newport · October 13, 2015, 11:53:15 PM

Not fair. Fishing gets good when I'm off the boat

Nice to see the pic of the sword. The fact that no one else caught one means you're doing something right.

john2244 · October 14, 2015, 12:21:38 AM

Hello $Bill,

Thanks for the reports and congratulations on the sword fish !!!!! The big eye is nice but I have seen you catch much bigger YFT. If I don't see you at the docks in San Diego good luck on your next AA TRIP.
John

Alto Mare · October 14, 2015, 12:49:22 AM

Very nice!...thanks for the report.

Shark Hunter · October 14, 2015, 04:56:38 AM

My Kinda Guy!

The Big Guns get'er Done.

I just wonder what those big fish are feeling when they realize they are not going to get away this time.
Its hard telling how many times they have until they meet a guy like Bill.
Great Job!

Steve-O · October 14, 2015, 02:08:36 PM

NICE Sword and Tuna! Glad we got to see the pics.

coastal_dan · October 22, 2015, 05:03:13 PM

Awesome to see the pictures and hear the tales. Thanks for sharing. Us young guns learn a lot from you older gentleman, we really appreciate your input and knowledge; keep it up!

Dominick · October 22, 2015, 05:49:41 PM

I missed this thread until now. Congratulations. Nice fish. Dominick

bill19803 · February 28, 2016, 10:02:33 AM

Just returned from 14 day trip to clarion island, mexico for giant yft things were a bit slow in comparison to previous trips fewer fish smaller fish (relatively) and tough fishing ya earned every one of them 3 cows for the boat i got 4 over 100 plus a hoo on flouro (no wire) lost a lot of hoos and couple decent or more yft but thats fishing
great food great group of guys so all in all a good trip just not spectacular like in past- im spoiled.

lots of sportsmanship-- handing off 100+ lb fish to those having a tough day sharing of techniques, knowledge and sometimes equipment, getting out of the way of someone hooked up was the rule rather then the exception.

as always amazing to experience this fishery but the old body cant take the constant pounding of 6 days straight fishing anymore, so this was my last long range

got to handle prototype reels that are in r & d stage look sweet couldnt find out what was inside them but they did perform well for those that used them. with the consultant who is helping with the design it looks like these will be the next generation of big game goodies and be very successful.

will stick to east coast waters from here on and hope for the big one one more time

BMITCH · February 28, 2016, 10:09:09 AM

Bill, sorry to hear it was a slow trip. Like you said..that's fishing. We will hook up as the season progresses here. Just think in another month will be stripers. Glad to hear you made it back safe.

Bob

Alto Mare · February 28, 2016, 11:04:19 AM

I wouldn't call that a bad trip, yes sounds like you are spoiled

.
Now lets see some pics if you have some.
14 days...wow!!

Good to have you back safe Bill.

Sal

coastal_dan · February 29, 2016, 05:06:10 PM

Well done Bill! Post up some pictures if you have any, or email them to me and I'll host them and post them.

Sounds like you've got enough meat to last a while, do you get it shipped home?

bill19803 · September 17, 2016, 05:45:22 PM

well its that time of year again to give the east coast yellowfins and swords a jaw ache. Out on Golden eagle, belmar, nj on Sunday/monday. Did a loooong boat ride to one of the canyons. The weatherman lied a bit on winds just about twice as fast as predicted. Drift was too fast so had to go to anchor. 5 hours into fishing got a bump that took about 2 feet and quit. Nothing nada 15 mins later guy next to me lands a swordie of 125-140. i pull in my squid from 600 ft out yep its been slashed by a sword but he didnt like it. same fish

who knows.
Move an hour south more anchor nada Lines running from stern to bow and seems like always under the boat. Trying to fish deep and away from the tuna guys means i gotta let out some serious line. Was going out 500 ft with 16 oz lead and 2 giant hooks in squid so maybe 20 oz total to get where i needed to be. Shoulda stayed in cabin instead of freezing in the wind for all the good i did.
Total for boat one sword and no tuna. The saga continues Wednesday again

coastal_dan · September 19, 2016, 04:35:56 PM

Thanks for the update Bill! Looking forward to more updates over the next few weeks.

bill19803 · September 24, 2016, 08:43:55 AM

well after 2 trips that were agonizingly long im ready to pack it in for the season
First trip --no tuna one sword maybe 125 no other hits but did have a big squid get slashed at 300 down but no bite
Second trip combo mahi tuna --lots of chicken mahi a few gaffers to maybe 15 lbs one sword of maybe 20 lbs.it was released and swam away Did not hear of any other bites during tuna portion of trip.
I tried deep 300-350 down (600 ft out) with big squid. On top with smaller squid no weight and from 100 down to 200 down with many weights at one point 40 ozs to get to 150 ft DOWN. Nada zilch zero baits came back looking like i put them out.
Ya cant catch anything if you dont have bait in the water so ill try again sunday but beginning to wonder about my sanity.
more after sunday trip

bluefish69 · September 24, 2016, 04:33:20 PM

Bill

I just read the report from the Head Boats Pt. Pleasant N.J. to Montauk. All Tuna Fishing is dead slow. It's even hard to find bait that they would eat since the storm on Labor Day weekend. Also saw the temp. chart only warm water is South of Montauk.

Mike