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Since I caught blueline tilefish a month ago on this boat, I was hoping to target grouper, golden tilefish and wreckfish this time. Turned out we didn't go to really deep water (900+ ft) for that kind of fish. We went up to about 400 ft for blueline tiles and black sea bass. (Even though the VA sea bass season is closed, the Captain had a special permit so we could keep sea bass, and boy, did we catch sea bass)
We departed at 2:35 am Saturday on the Rudee Angler with over 30 anglers onboard for this 17-hour trip. It turned out to be a beautiful day. Mostly sunny with winds about 10 knots. Seas were maybe two feet, so fishing conditions were very good.
We rode over 5 hours to get to our first fishing spot. It was pretty rough going out and many guys got sick. Anyway, the standard bait was squid, and so we dropped our double and triple hook rigs in about 150 feet of water with 24 ounce sinkers. We caught black sea bass and tiles. We went on to several other spots and had a pretty good day of fishing with up to 400 ft depths. Everyone pretty much had full coolers.
Ok, the highlight of my day. It was in the afternoon. We were at the third or fourth fishing spot. I looked left and right on the starboard side of the boat and saw well over a dozen anglers with their lines in the water. We were almost shoulder to shoulder. Ten minutes went by and nobody was getting hooked up, not even a nibble. I even commented to the fellow next to me that we ought to move to another location. Then, I felt a tap-tap on my 6' 6" Ugly Stick.
I set the hook, and it was FISH ON! The thing pulled hard. Spooled my reel a few inches. I reeled and pump very gently as I felt strong head jerks. This was not a small fish. During the ascend, the thing made a couple hard pulls. At the most, maybe two feet of line was spooled at any one time. There were several pulls of a few inches. The thing was deep, over 300 ft, so I took my time. I played the fish and patiently worked it up. Every now and then, I'd stop reeling to let the thing have its way as I watched the rod tip jerk down several times. I was in no hurry (plus I needed the rest). After nearly ten minutes, the thing surfaced.
It was a blueline tilefish triple! The mate gaffed the big one and pull the load up. The tiles measured 32, 28 and 24". As I was unhooking the fish, the small one got loose and slipped under the rail and dropped back into the water.
My 32" big one turned out to be a citation at 15 lbs. It came in second place. The winner of the fish pool had a 17 pound tile (see pic, fellow with white cap).
It was a great day. Most everyone had full coolers. My 52 quart cooler had lots of black sea bass, lots of blueline tiles and one blue fish. Next time, I hope to bring a larger cooler.
We departed at 2:35 am Saturday on the Rudee Angler with over 30 anglers onboard for this 17-hour trip. It turned out to be a beautiful day. Mostly sunny with winds about 10 knots. Seas were maybe two feet, so fishing conditions were very good.
We rode over 5 hours to get to our first fishing spot. It was pretty rough going out and many guys got sick. Anyway, the standard bait was squid, and so we dropped our double and triple hook rigs in about 150 feet of water with 24 ounce sinkers. We caught black sea bass and tiles. We went on to several other spots and had a pretty good day of fishing with up to 400 ft depths. Everyone pretty much had full coolers.
Ok, the highlight of my day. It was in the afternoon. We were at the third or fourth fishing spot. I looked left and right on the starboard side of the boat and saw well over a dozen anglers with their lines in the water. We were almost shoulder to shoulder. Ten minutes went by and nobody was getting hooked up, not even a nibble. I even commented to the fellow next to me that we ought to move to another location. Then, I felt a tap-tap on my 6' 6" Ugly Stick.
I set the hook, and it was FISH ON! The thing pulled hard. Spooled my reel a few inches. I reeled and pump very gently as I felt strong head jerks. This was not a small fish. During the ascend, the thing made a couple hard pulls. At the most, maybe two feet of line was spooled at any one time. There were several pulls of a few inches. The thing was deep, over 300 ft, so I took my time. I played the fish and patiently worked it up. Every now and then, I'd stop reeling to let the thing have its way as I watched the rod tip jerk down several times. I was in no hurry (plus I needed the rest). After nearly ten minutes, the thing surfaced.
It was a blueline tilefish triple! The mate gaffed the big one and pull the load up. The tiles measured 32, 28 and 24". As I was unhooking the fish, the small one got loose and slipped under the rail and dropped back into the water.
My 32" big one turned out to be a citation at 15 lbs. It came in second place. The winner of the fish pool had a 17 pound tile (see pic, fellow with white cap).
It was a great day. Most everyone had full coolers. My 52 quart cooler had lots of black sea bass, lots of blueline tiles and one blue fish. Next time, I hope to bring a larger cooler.
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