Woke up early on Wednesday to a nice morning with light winds out of the east. Started packing up the boat for an offshore trip, and woke up the crew around 7:30am so we could make an 8:30 departure.
Headed south southwest about 28 miles to an area which was showing the possibility of weed lines. This is in about 900-1000 feet of water and right in the middle of the shipping lanes. Luckily the boat has an AIS-capable radio integrated with the GPS so you can see the heading of all large ships on the GPS screen which is helpful in staying out of their way.
Passed up a decent weed line about 10 miles out in 350-400 feet of water to continue towards our original destination. Luck would have it that we didn’t see much of anything else. Stopped near the destination and decided to head back to the original weed line rather than blind trolling, which is trolling without seeing birds, weed lines or some sort of indicator of fish. The ocean is one big-ass desert for the most part..
Started trolling back at the weed line and driving around the larger patches while trying to avoid fouling up our lures. Didn’t take too long and FISH ON! Cindy was first up to bat on the jumping mahi and did a great job getting it boat side for a clean gaff shot and into the box.
Cindy’s first mahi in a long while
Reset the lures after a celebratory beverage and got back on the troll continuing to head up and down the line. Next fish we caught was while making a u-turn near the end of the weeds. FISH ON for Steve!
Got Steve up from a nap to reel in this one
Was getting to be about 1pm at this point, normally the time of day when trolling gets very slow. Best times are early in the day and late when the sun isn’t so bright overhead. So we trolled until about 1:30, then decided to try some bottom fishing instead. Lot of boats out on the reef for some reason, so a few of our spots were already occupied. Ended up anchoring in about 50 feet of water and dropped a chum bag over the side. Current wasn’t moving much = tough reef fishing conditions. Then the rain showers from offshore started moving nearer, so the group decided to pack it in and head back before the heavy rain started.
Nice to see some mahi again and looking forward to enjoying the new type of fish in our meals.
About to be mahi sandwiches
Chris, Cindy, Charlie and Cecily’s Adventure Blog 