The strong temperature edge on the charts was really interesting. June Bug had the Hutchinson Gang out for their annual offshore adventure and we headed to where fish had been for well over a week. The charts predicted a 6 degree break and we found that in the dark 16 miles inshore of the Lindenkohl on the 40 line. The break was a 4 degree concentrated break in little more than 1/4 mile with a further 2 degree change over the next mile or so. There was not much of a weed line to speak of so we kept going to the drop.
The weather was not bad at all. Seas were 2 to 4 from the Northeast with a little Southeast swell mixed in. A nice ride out.
We worked the edge and after an hour or so decided to move back in to the temp break. We caught one 20 pound Yellowfin on the way and another once we got back to the break. Nothing much happened for several hours. No bait, no whales, no porpoise. Some boats on the radio were reporting whales and porpoise but we never saw any all day.
After about 4 hours with no action, we noticed one member of the charter group was sitting down in the main cabin eating a BANANA. Not only was he breaking with tradition, he was likely the cause of the four hours of no action. Further, he not only was eating one BANANA, he had two more of them. After a round of hazing from everyone on board, Paul came up to the bridge deck and threw the 3 BANANAS overboard behind the boat. Just as the 3 BANANAS hit the water, the long bait went off with a good strike. It was as if the BANANAS had hit the fish on the head. Dave Rinear got the rod and worked the catch to the boat. A plastic bag. At least we had had a good laugh out of the BANANA fracas.
We caught one Fat Albert later in the day and that was it.
The wind picked up a little mid-day but settled down the later it got.
The trip in was uneventful. Sea conditions were pretty good and we made a fast trip. For some reason, lots of people were calling us on the radio thinking we were in trouble. We never found out why they were all so excited since the sea conditions were fine especially for our boat.
21 September 2011
Capt. Lindsay
