Kayak fisherman
03-10-2010, 09:56 AM
We went Tuesday. Finally got the first BFT in my first boat. Thanks HIT N RUN for the last minute update on the fishing spot and thanks to "ms ginny" who turned us on to the fish when we were about to call it quits.
We didn't go out of HI. Went out of OI to the 390-400 @ 100 fathoms and the water went from 41 to 70 degrees. (Glassy ride out, glassy ride back). Fished from 8:30am until noon with no knockdowns. Everybody around us seemed to be hooked up. I WAS able to mark fish with my 500w transducer, for some reason. Gave up and went deepdropping at my secret hotspot, but hot it was not. MS Ginny called us back and we got three knockdowns, and caught 2 (released 1). It felt good. :yes:
And, Yes, everybody. I was the doofus on the radio asking everybody how to tell a BFT from a blackfin. There was some disagreement on our boat as to whether we had landed a "school" BFT or (what would have been a gi-normous) blackfin. I thought it was a BFT so that's why we released the second one. Got to the dock and the fish cleaning guy gave us citation papers for what he said was a huge blackfin tuna (at that point everybody was mad at me for releasing that second fish). Then the NMFS lady came up - God bless her - and said to the fish cleaner guy and the rest of us "Don't you know what a bluefin tuna is? That's a bluefin tuna! Read a book." So, in summary, we got a tag for a bluefin and a citation for a blackfin, all from the same fish. I guess they will figure it all out.
BTW, you veteren fishing guys may not have been impressed, but I was amazed at how well-defined the temp break was. My boat was sitting in 71 degree water while my baits were all in 62 degree water. There was a very distinct color and current change and "smoke" everywhere. I have never seen it that way. (I'm new).
We didn't go out of HI. Went out of OI to the 390-400 @ 100 fathoms and the water went from 41 to 70 degrees. (Glassy ride out, glassy ride back). Fished from 8:30am until noon with no knockdowns. Everybody around us seemed to be hooked up. I WAS able to mark fish with my 500w transducer, for some reason. Gave up and went deepdropping at my secret hotspot, but hot it was not. MS Ginny called us back and we got three knockdowns, and caught 2 (released 1). It felt good. :yes:
And, Yes, everybody. I was the doofus on the radio asking everybody how to tell a BFT from a blackfin. There was some disagreement on our boat as to whether we had landed a "school" BFT or (what would have been a gi-normous) blackfin. I thought it was a BFT so that's why we released the second one. Got to the dock and the fish cleaning guy gave us citation papers for what he said was a huge blackfin tuna (at that point everybody was mad at me for releasing that second fish). Then the NMFS lady came up - God bless her - and said to the fish cleaner guy and the rest of us "Don't you know what a bluefin tuna is? That's a bluefin tuna! Read a book." So, in summary, we got a tag for a bluefin and a citation for a blackfin, all from the same fish. I guess they will figure it all out.
BTW, you veteren fishing guys may not have been impressed, but I was amazed at how well-defined the temp break was. My boat was sitting in 71 degree water while my baits were all in 62 degree water. There was a very distinct color and current change and "smoke" everywhere. I have never seen it that way. (I'm new).