Max roared his terrible roar...

Had an excellent half-day trip with Lathan and his crew. Could hardly ask for better conditions, with 2' swells and just enough breeze to keep it from getting too hot. Took a bit to find the fish, but once we did the fun really kicked in. At first there were a couple of stray Spanish, but then we ran into the blues. Some folks don't want these fish, but when you fix them up fresh, they are pretty tasty. We were chasing birds and fish on the surface, and suddenly found ourselves on the shoals in pretty shallow water. All of a sudden three lines went off. The fourth line was rigged with a small Rapala shallow diver. I call it the "hail, Mary" line, and run it in case we cross paths with a hungry king. Most of the time, nothing hits it, but it's fun to put out and it gets everyone excited. Well, today something did hit it, and it hit hard! Our angler did a good job of working on the fish and finally got it to the boat... A solid 20+ pound king! As usual though, the fish wasn't done and made a couple of hard runs away from the boat, keeping itself just out of reach of my gaff. On its last run, it managed to cross under the motor and the line parted. Five disappointed groans echoed across the water. Shortly after that we found the Spanish. They were all pretty good size for July fish. We pulled all the way to Wrightsville, ending up with 17 Spanish and 8 blues.

Belated reports are better than no reports, eh? Well, here it is. Had back-to-back short trips on Saturday, starting with Sean, his wife, and their two youngsters on a 3 hr Kids' Trip. It's the time of year, apparently, and the short Spanish are all over the place. But we managed to pick through the culls (and the bluefish) and grab a small handful of keepers. The smiles tell the tale! Later in the afternoon, I did a custom trip for a group of young men who were celebrating the end of bachelorhood (three out of the four of them). Their charter earlier in the week had been cancelled due to the wind so I took them on for a blast of an evening. The Spanish were more cooperative and there were some bigger fish in the mix as well. Still, no giants in the mix. Highlight of the evening was when a king took off with a 00 Clark Spoon. It must have stuck right in the corner of his mouth because any other time they'd just bite it right off. Client stuck it out and after an impressive battle (all things considered), I had the fish all the way to the 20' leader. Unfortunately, that's when he apparently remembered he had a mouthful of razor sharp teeth, and he clipped right through that 30# mono. Fish gone. Spoon gone. Oh well. I expect they'll be telling that story over drinks for a few days! Sunday's booking bailed out on a gorgeous day, so I took advantage to get offshore with my brother. I was hoping to get into the dolphin again, but it was slower going this trip. Ended up about 28 miles off where we picked up one slinger and missed some peanuts right behind the boat. Leave it to me not to have a pitching rod aboard on this trip! Also managed to stick about a 15# king along with a smaller one, so at least we came home with meat. Long term is looking a little bumpy for the coming week and the 4th, but we'll see. I've got spots available on the weekend for nearshore, and some slots open for 3/4 day or longer next week (weather permitting).

It's reasonable to be skeptical of the forecast this time of year. For example, when I checked the NOAA buoys offshore this morning, I saw 2-3 foot swells, rolling gently at nine second intervals. I was pretty excited because that meant I could get my 3/4 day clients, James and Jay, out to the deep water in relative comfort. So, imagine my surprise to roll out into a brisk, 10-12 knot breeze, blowing up a sideshore chop that made every mile feel like a ride on a jackhammer. Instead of racing along at 30mph, I was beating into the head sea at about half that. Fortunately, I had a fallback plan so we stopped at an artificial reef about halfway to the original destination. I was marking a lot of fish in the spot, but they didn't seem very interested in my cigar minnows. We worked the area pretty hard until, finally, one of the long lines went off. Jay, the youngster, jumped on the rod and after a bit of back and forth, brought the fish alongside. I put the gaff down when I saw what was pretty obviously an undersize king mackerel (they have to be 24"). I reached down to see if I could pop the fish off the hook when I noticed the black dorsal fin. This was no short king, it was a hoss of a Spanish mackerel! We pulled through the area for a while longer with nothing to show but a short strike on the other top line. Finally, I asked if they would be up for making the run the rest of the way to our original destination, about 8 miles further out. After some consideration of the rising breeze, we decided to go for it. I don't think we had completed our first circuit of the artificial reef area when the long line went off hard. Jay, quick with the speed of youth, jumped at the opportunity. I looked back in time to see a hefty cow dolphin cutting acrobatics (aerobatics?) behind the boat. Jay followed the fish while I adjusted the boat to keep it in a good position. There was a good bit of give and take, but the fish finally came alongside and I sank the gaff and brought the beauty aboard. We made a few more rounds in the area when the other rod bent and the reel started screaming. A brilliant blue dolphin burst out of the water as James beat Jay to the reel this time. This fish also put up a classic fight, and despite a gaffe with the gaff, we were able to reduce this one to possession as well. It wasn't long after this that we picked up a full-grown Atlantic sharp-nose shark on the downrigger. Jay fought this one to a standstill, but not before it managed to cross the other lines. After deciding they didn't want to eat this shark (they're delicious and boneless!), I released it to swim again and turned my attention to the mess it had made. While I worked to clear the tangle, the wind caught the boat and spun it back on its own track. Suddenly one of the other reels was screaming. At first we were all excited, but then I realized that this wasn't a fish... the line was caught in the propeller. This is a potentially dangerous situation, as the line can bind up the prop and cause overheating. Or worse, it can cut the seals allowing water into the lower unit and making a very expensive problem. I killed the motor and raised it up to see the extent of the issue. It wasn't great. I spent the next half hour or so working to get the line cut and cleared. Under ordinary conditions this is a challenging process, but in the pounding seas and wind, it was all I could do to hold onto the motor, the knife, and my pliers. At one point, I was ready to give in and call for a tow, but the prospect of waiting for a tow to arrive from 18 miles away was too much, so I went back at it and finally got all of the line cut away. Fortunately, the motor started and operated properly. Nevertheless, we decided to move closer to shore just in case. We ran in and put Clark spoons out to troll along the beach. The Spanish were cooperative, and we put several in the boat, adding to the haul. Finally, the winds were getting to be too much. We had pretty much filled out the 8 hours anyway, so we hauled in the lines and headed for the hill. Overall, despite the challenges it was a really good day. But I won't lie... I'm sure looking forward to some glassy slick days.