We had expected it to be windy and rainy, but the forecast turned out to be wrong. We arrived at the dock in Hollywood to see clear skies and Capt. Josh and the deckhand Nick prepping the boat and gear. After some greetings and a welcome back on the boat, we set out through the intercostal. There were a few times when we had to stop and wait for bridges to open up to let us pass through; they operate on a schedule, but Josh had to call the operators when we showed up to ensure that they would open for us. They only open on the schedule when a captain calls to let them know. As we drove through to the inlet, we went over the gameplan. We would troll mostly over a ledge and also the edges of wrecks and reefs that would hold fish. We went through the inlet and set out the lines on outriggers and with diving planers to keep our spread from tangling and with baits at different depths.
Not too long after putting the lines out, Dod Shlome sees a bump on one of the rods. Nick reeled up on it a little bit to check whether a fish was on, and sure enough he declared that there was. Shlome took the rod and reeled it in. He said it didn't fight too hard, which is especially true with the fact that the trolling gear is strong and the boat was still moving as he was reeling it in. But he pulled up the fish over the transom and we had one on board, a Blackfin Tuna. Jakes had been wanting to catch a Blackfin for very long, even once giving a presentation in school about the species. Seeing one in person was surreal for him. It wasn't the last Blackfin Tuna we'd bring on board either.
At one point, as we were trolling, Captain Josh pointed out a Mahi he saw from the flybridge that we went after. Nick pitched a freelined bonita strip on a spinning rod to it around the structure it was hiding under, but it didn't work. That being said, I respect the dedication to doing what we can to get on the fish. While we did not catch that fish, we did however see some flying fish, which was a good sign. Anxiously watching the rods, I saw a rod pop and Josh called it. I went up to it and reeled in another Blackfin Tuna, this time a little bigger.
The next fish to be hooked came a few minutes later, and it was Jakes' turn. He went to the rod and reeled in like a pro. It was a huge Blackfin Tuna - the biggest one of the day - and it got everyone on the boat hype and excited. Jakes called it "the catch of my life" as he held his fish in disbelief at having finally caught one himself. Dod Shlome doubled up with another fish at the same time, but that one unfortunately came off.
As we were driving over the reefs and ledges, waiting for another bite, Nick explained why the rod tips seem to pop whenever a fish bites. The divers attached to the line are at angle when thy are trolled. However, when a fish bites, it rotates around due to the pull to then go straight. That quick rotation of the diver makes the rod tip pop and notifies us when we have a strike. Speaking of, we soon saw another rod pop and Dod Shlome took it. He reeled in a new species, a False Albacore. Similar looking to to the Blackfin Tuna and a type of tuna on its own right (although technically closer related to Mackerels than Tunas), they are not as well regarded for their table fare. We kept the fish for the sake of using its meat for bait.
As we were trolling we saw a floating pallet, and any kind of structure you see out on the open wall er likely holds fish. We stopped to check it out and unsurprisingly Nick saw a small Mahi under it. We pitched more strips of false albacore to it but in the end we couldn't get a bite. We kept on trolling to see what else was out there. When we got the next bite, I manned the rod and reeled in another Tuna. We were really on a roll today, and while we were having a great time catching fish and enjoying the water, we kept at it.
We saw frigate birds diving in the distance near floating sargassum. Nick and I were joking about how the conditions were actually ideal; we had weed lines for structure, baitfish as we saw with the flying fish, birds as a sign of life, and blue water. Blue water is good, as opposed to green water, because the bluer looking saltwater is cleaner. The fish tend to prefer the blue and can also be found on the edges of green and blue water, since the greener water is more murky and they can use the cover to their advantage while hunting. The depth at which the green water ends and the blue water starts changes daily. For example, yesterday the water was green as far out as where it was 450 ft deep. Today it was blue where we were fishing in about 400 ft of water depth. Nick also told me that in his experience, wind coming out of the east was good. Wind is helpful because it churns the water for oxygen and, as he suspected, the extra effort the fish need to put in to swim means they have to eat more.
The last fish of the day was a final Tuna that Jakes reeled in. Right before that, one of our outrigger lines had gotten hit, but the fish came off. Needless to say, we were satisfied with our catch. We got everything filleted, including the false albacore, and we headed for home. We asked my mom to prepare some sushi, as we were getting ready for a feast. Dod Shlome, ever the chef, put together some great marinades and sauces so that we could make sashimi, poke bowls (with some ingredients we picked up at publix), seared tuna steaks, and more. The food was truly delicious, and we were glad to share it with the family. After the meal we were very full, but we still had the False Albacore for bait. Dod Shlome's itch for more hands on fishing wasn't satiated yet, and I'll never complain about an opportunity to do some more fishing, so we went over to North Bayshore Park to fish off the dock/pier they have there. I set up the rigs while Jakes and Dod Shlome went fishing. Admittedly, the tide looked low, and nothing much was working for them. But I used a three way swivel to make a traditional dropper rig and gave it to Dod Shlome. We baited it up and he cast it out, only for him to get a bite almost immediately. Sometimes it really feels like he has the magic touch. He reeled in a nice sized Pinfish. Jakes was busy that afternoon so we left shortly after, but it was a nice end to a fantastic day of fishing.
