Ocean Fishing

Last Saturday I went ocean fishing with a friend of mine, John. A passionate and experienced fisherman, I was pretty sure that if fish were biting, John would find them.

Ken, another friend of Johns and an experienced fisherman joined us on John's 22 ft. Galcier Bay Catamaran. (Shown here, the fellow on the boat is Ken).
I tried to get a better picture of Ken but we were under way and it was difficult to hold the camera steady. With the ocean swells and wave action (residual from previous days of high wind) the ride was pretty bumpy but the boat handled it well.
John picked me up at my home at 6:30 am and by 7:00 am we were under way. This was shot as we left the marina.
We sped out into the ocean at 23 knots and arrived at the first fishing location, the "Horseshoe" at 8:15. I believe we were about 30 nm out from the harbor. I took this next shot so I could find the same location again. This is done through scientific study of the exact wave configurations, their frequency, period, height, and DNA.


And here is a picture of the coastline (right). Okay, we were too far out to see it but it was there - I think, or maybe in another direction.


The weather was perfect with light winds. The fish, however, were sleeping in and we didn't catch anything so after 45 mintues heading to a new location, the "Tower".
Our luck was better and within a matter of minutes we started catching King Mackerel and had caught four within 20-25 mintues. We also caught an Amberjack (no idea how big but maybe 20lbs). That necessitated bringing in the other lines while Ken wrestled with it and finally got it aboard. We had at least three more hits but those got off the hook before we could land them. Then it became quiet - no bite, nibbles, anything.

We continued to fish and listen to other fishermen nearby either catching nothing - like us - or catching Dolphin, Kings, Amberjack (someone called them Donkey Jacks). Most were having no better luck then we were.

Later, after lunch we anchored and started bottom fishing. The fishfinder showed good bottom with plenty of activity. The top left number is the ocean depth and the number below it 76.7 is the temperture of the water. The string of fish running across the upper part of the display was the outrigger weight holding one of our long lines. The fishfinder reads density and not actual objects so still proclaims a lump of lead to be a fish (not very good eating). Lower in the display more fish are shown and they are the real thing.



Our luck was better although I don't know how many fish we landed. These were smaller fish - some were to be used for bait, and some found there way to our dinner table. I caught 3 sea bass and 3 or 4 other kinds.

We then tried trolling for dolphin before heading home but had no further luck.

We returned to shore, stopped at Tatum's fish house and sold part of our catch.



The kings and Amberjack are shown here (sold).


Cleaned the boat and remaining fish and were home by 6:30 that evening.