The wife and I meet up with my bud Allen and his wife at OI 530 Monday morning. It was our first trip together this year and the plan was to hook up with some of the big eyes everyone has been catching the past few weeks. Got to the ramp and the parking lot was packed! Looks like everyone had the same plan!
Left the inlet to a very calm 2-3' swell and cruised out to the point at 33MPH. Got there and put lines out. We trolled, trolled and kept trolling, nothing doin.
Picked up lines and headed north, found a nice weedline, and the short and long lines on the starboard side pop, the fight is on!...Theresa and Christy both bring in 2 nice gaffer dolphin 25 & 30 Lb respectfully.
Kept trolling and nothing until around 3 when we decided to bring lines in and move to a different location. While reeling in line we see 4 very nice dolphin right under the boat, quickly we start jiggin and bam!, we hooked up to a 30 lb dolphin. Kept jiggin and nothin else.
After the lines come in, we move and re-set lines, finally we hook up to a small gaffer dolphin and then another knockdown, this time is gotta be a big tuna! Christy takes the pole and tightens the drag....in the fighting chair the line is just peeling away..after about a 15 minute fight...the most horrible thing happens...the line pops! I couldnt beleive it! We bring the line in and sure enough it was my fault. The knot I tied was not good, the line didnt snap, it came loose from the swivel...the curly pig tail and the end of the line was enough of an indication that i had placed a terrible knot leading to a lost fish..lesson learned!
Fished until about 5:00 PM and headed back in with a stiff south breeze...ended up with 4 nice gaffers.
Full Version: OI report 5/26
Virginia Beach Sport Fishing > VBSF.net Sport Fishing Forums > Offshore, Gulf Stream & Canyons (Ocean City MD to Hatteras NC)
QUOTE (catchntales @ May 28 2008, 01:40 PM) 
The wife and I meet up with my bud Allen and his wife at OI 530 Monday morning. It was our first trip together this year and the plan was to hook up with some of the big eyes everyone has been catching the past few weeks. Got to the ramp and the parking lot was packed! Looks like everyone had the same plan!
Left the inlet to a very calm 2-3' swell and cruised out to the point at 33MPH. Got there and put lines out. We trolled, trolled and kept trolling, nothing doin.
Picked up lines and headed north, found a nice weedline, and the short and long lines on the starboard side pop, the fight is on!...Theresa and Christy both bring in 2 nice gaffer dolphin 25 & 30 Lb respectfully.
Kept trolling and nothing until around 3 when we decided to bring lines in and move to a different location. While reeling in line we see 4 very nice dolphin right under the boat, quickly we start jiggin and bam!, we hooked up to a 30 lb dolphin. Kept jiggin and nothin else.
After the lines come in, we move and re-set lines, finally we hook up to a small gaffer dolphin and then another knockdown, this time is gotta be a big tuna! Christy takes the pole and tightens the drag....in the fighting chair the line is just peeling away..after about a 15 minute fight...the most horrible thing happens...the line pops! I couldnt beleive it! We bring the line in and sure enough it was my fault. The knot I tied was not good, the line didnt snap, it came loose from the swivel...the curly pig tail and the end of the line was enough of an indication that i had placed a terrible knot leading to a lost fish..lesson learned!
Fished until about 5:00 PM and headed back in with a stiff south breeze...ended up with 4 nice gaffers.
Left the inlet to a very calm 2-3' swell and cruised out to the point at 33MPH. Got there and put lines out. We trolled, trolled and kept trolling, nothing doin.
Picked up lines and headed north, found a nice weedline, and the short and long lines on the starboard side pop, the fight is on!...Theresa and Christy both bring in 2 nice gaffer dolphin 25 & 30 Lb respectfully.
Kept trolling and nothing until around 3 when we decided to bring lines in and move to a different location. While reeling in line we see 4 very nice dolphin right under the boat, quickly we start jiggin and bam!, we hooked up to a 30 lb dolphin. Kept jiggin and nothin else.
After the lines come in, we move and re-set lines, finally we hook up to a small gaffer dolphin and then another knockdown, this time is gotta be a big tuna! Christy takes the pole and tightens the drag....in the fighting chair the line is just peeling away..after about a 15 minute fight...the most horrible thing happens...the line pops! I couldnt beleive it! We bring the line in and sure enough it was my fault. The knot I tied was not good, the line didnt snap, it came loose from the swivel...the curly pig tail and the end of the line was enough of an indication that i had placed a terrible knot leading to a lost fish..lesson learned!
Fished until about 5:00 PM and headed back in with a stiff south breeze...ended up with 4 nice gaffers.
Well, that's a sad story, but it's not anything that everyone of us has done one time or another, so don't beat yourself up too much. We have found what rigging holds up with gaffers - may not hold up with a yellowfin, but sure as hell - when it comes to big bluefins, big eyes and blue marlins, you are going to be rigged absolutely right or you are going home empty handed. I have lost quite a few to a simple mistake that I should have seen--at least you got some meat and learned a good lesson -better luck next time.
Kent
Sorry to hear about that knot, but congrats on those mahi...nice job!!
That's unfortunate about the knot. Nice gaffers though.
This is a "lo-fi" version of our main content. To view the full version with more information, formatting and images, please click here.