Seaward Edge

...the rainstorm

The skies grew dark as we headed for shore.  We were in a full blown rainstorm before we knew it.  Waterspouts were almost forming up.  As the rain dissipated we spotted several sailor gulls circling over fish.  The wind was out of the East at almost 30 knot gusts.  The reason it was somewhat calm is the fact that the rain flattened the seas out.  In the downpour it was as tough to see as it is in the fog.  The captain ran up on the birds then got upwind of them to make it easier for me to cast to them.  Using two 30 lb. spinners then one of our 20 lb. rods we got takes on three fish in a quick flash of action.  The wind made for real long casts into the fish the birds were on.  On the first cast I gave the fish a short drop back with a flying fish.  The fish were not in our sight we just knew the dolphin were under the birds.  After hooking into the first fish I took a deboned hoo on another 30 lb. rod to cast. Again it is how it is sometimes.  When dorado are on the surface in a pack of 4 or 5, the feeding fish never hesitate to take if the presentation is right.  The third fish was shadowing the fish we had on so I cast another deboned hoo to it.  After our  navigating through the rainstorm we had a triple header on.  To our good fortune we landed the fish.  As we worked in our third fish two more dorado moved in.  Sometimes things just flow right.  The first was a bull the next was a cow.  What a blessing to catch five dolphin in the 20 lb. range after we got skunked in the harsh weather that morning.



December is a cold month in Stuart Florida. I got held up one morning on A1A driving to the dock because a train was blocking the road. The fog was beginning to lift as the train rolled past. What a hastle man. Charlie flipped on me, telling me I should have left for work earlier. Well, I would have made it to the boat on time if the train wasn't blocking the road. I still got there 15 minutes before our one angler for the morning. The rods were all rigged, plus there were four dozen baits brined on ice. It was a still calm morning. As the sun was rising about 200 or so ravens flew past the dock at first light. The fog began to lift up off the Indian River. The horizon had a distinct red haze to it that morning. I took out the sailfish rods then had a cup of coffee. Charlie was blowing smoke about me getting caught up at the train tracks. Todd pulled up. Charlie said "lets go see what he thinks about the weather." Todd said "we might as well go" So we went. The inlet was rough. We had a wave break over the bow as we were getting out of the inlet. The wind was right out of the east. It was over 20 knots, gusting at 30. Most of the sailfish being caught were offshore of Fort Pierce. There is an edge that we would work about 15 miles east of the shoreline. Even though it is 15 miles out, the edge there is just 150 feet deep. It was a rain gear morning. Man we got drenched on our ride out. The wind was hawkin', so we put out four baits rather than our normal spread of seven. Sometimes that is all it takes. The first fish came right up on the flat. I had the drag set real light so the fish could tug some line without resistance. A sail will pull a little line then drop a bait before charging back in on a bait it is best to wind on the bait a little or hold the rod up in the air. Getting the hoo in sight makes the fish visible also. The more excited a fish is the better the chance of getting it to commit. I hooked the sail. Todd fought the fish. It made several short runs except it was small. We were able to back right up on it. I brought the fish onboard quick to get the hook out of it then dragged it through the water a little to revive it. Our second fish popped up on the left rigger. After banging the clip down I gave it a quick feed getting the hook into the fish on the first take. It was another small sail. It came jumping towards the boat. I had to be real delicate with these small fish, their bills are soft. Charlie cooled off after we landed some fish. Number three came up after our squid chain, then faded back on the flat line. I dropped back to it then hooked up again catching the fish. We called it a morning after landing three sails then ran back to Stuart.



After setting course back towards Tennessee Light.  Dave noticed a wooden board floating.  He gave Jack a 40 lb spinner with a Penn 950 reel, set up with a Yozuri lure.  Jack ran the lure out as Dave made a pass on the drifting board.  Out of the blue came a 20 lb. wahoo.

BRO "man did that fish take some drag fast"  

Dave gaffed the wahoo then went back to the helm to find the debris again.  Bro let the Yozuri out the same distance.

JACK "amazing we just hooked into another wahoo.

DAVE "run the lure out once more Jack"

BRO "far out bro, we just hooked into our third wahoo"

The wahoo were all in the same size range.  After gaffing the fish Dave set course back to shore as the sun was setting.

 

Sails at Sun up

...dialog based on Capt. Richard Quirk

JACK "Ritchie where are we going this morning"

RITCHIE "up to Conch"

JACK "look at the frigate bird, it is all worked up"

RITCHIE "sailfish, there is our sailfish kiddo, this is critical get on the deck, let me get in front of the fish"

Ritchie lined up on a set of birds working in the same area as the frigate. The sailfish were feeding right near the edge of the dropoff. The wind was gusting as it was, along with intense seas, it made it awesome to be going after a fish throttled up.

RITCHIE "get the lines out"

JACK "right man"

RITCHIE "fast kid"

JACK "no worries"

RITCHIE "now watch, look at those seagulls milling around, now look at that frigate bird, it is looking right at a fish"

JACK "right, got it, go after it"

In a short time...

RITCHIE "there goes the right rigger kid, hook that fish man"

Jack dropped back to the fish fast giving it several jabs on the hookup. As the fish went into the first run Jack gave the rod to the angler. The fish went up in the air right after it made the first run. The angler kept his cool just letting the fish go off.

RITCHIE "good work on the deck"

Ritchie hooked a fish on the center rod up on the bridge as that was going on. Now there were two anglers on the deck fighting fish.

JACK "man those fish are freakin', this is wild man awesome"

RITCHIE "watch it now backing up, now one is going off to the starboard side, back the drag off on that reel"

JACK "so let the fish run right man"

RITCHIE "focus on the fish on the transom kiddo, make sure to gain back line as we go after the fish"

JACK "got it, man the drag is screaming on the fish running to starboard"

RITCHIE "the drag goes screaming alright, that fish has a sore jaw, now there is the leader on our first fish, light, light, slow on the leader kid, wait till the fish pops itself out of the water"

JACK "got the bill, right on"

RITCHIE "nice fish, now get it back in the water, tighten up on the drag, lets go get the next one"