12 August 2014
Offshore Fishing
The last time the winds blew steady from the northeast, I went out in the ocean with my friend Stewart in his 23-foot-center console. We went out to do one of my favorite things—fish with bait in a chum line. We chose a close wreck, anchored up and threw out some ground fish.
The water was cobalt blue and crystal clear. We used a variety of live and dead fish or squid on four different rods. I was using medium weight spinning gear with a wire leader and a piece of cut croaker. I caught a nice Atlantic sharpnose shark which put up a terrific fight. Stewart hooked up to a five-foot Scalloped hammerhead shark and brought it to boat side. The action was fast and steady. After a half dozen sharks, I hooked up with a fish that I had a hard time keeping up with when it ran directly at me. After a great fight, we netted a nice False albacore. The water was full of life and the chum drew it all close to our boat.
We had a Humpback whale show its entire tail. Many pelagic seabirds found us (petrels and shearwaters), plus Loggerhead sea turtles, a Manta ray, a school of small Mahi-mahi, and a quick pass by from a nice Cobia who was not interested in eating Stewart's jig. It was like being at the sea aquarium.
We ended up catching 10 Atlantic sharpnose sharks, two Scalloped hammerhead sharks, and a nice False albacore (little tunny). All fish were released alive and in good shape.
