Now Andy is a patient man. One has to be when you fish for trophy fish. He came up about a month ago for ten days fishing. He had a spare month between appointments, so we could fish the best days... He likes to fish on his own, so that he gets all the chances.
So the invariable question- when is the best time? I told him I liked May, as the season was late. Also, not too much wind around.
OK, so then from the month he has available, what days do we choose? That was a direct question at me.
What do you say? The dark moon, the high tide, when the baro is high and stable, three days before the full moon. Shore anglers have many theories- when you go deep sea fishing, does it matter much? Im not sure...
Now I log all fishing excursions- I log wind direction, speed, what the baro is doing, water clarity, and colour, where I went, overcast, or not. I do all these things out of habit, so that maybe someday I can understand all this. Fishing is not a perfect science, but when a returning guest books you for ten days, then you gotta produce. We were after some big fish...
Day one we got a cuda, and saw alot of bait fish, but the fish werent biting, day 2, we went deep, and turned back to zig zag the 200m contour line, and work that. We found a nice Dorado, got him, and then turned back tot he reef and were rewarded with a good wahoo of about 15 kgs. Now we had heard about some big Yellowfin Tuna, and were keen for something different on the menu. Day 3, we went back to the deep. This day we saw alot of bait fish, and plenty of Jub Jubs (small bonito tunas). We started getting them on small feathers, rigging them, and swimming them. We swam 6, and didnt get a strike- they all ended up dying. Bad luck!
Bad luck continued into day 4, with an insessant alarm on the one motor going out. I decided to troll on one motor, but it limited my area, and we didnt have much luck. Got some small fish. Day 5 was the worst, where we got skunked, NO FISH!
We decided to get stuck in the bar for the next few days and rethink, and restratigise. We needed a break, so I thought we can break our luck by boycotting Neptune. After 2 days, we were back at it. Now things looked up, with us releasing a GT of about 12 kgs, and got a cuta also of about 12 kgs. We got them on the drift, with bait. Day 7 we found a Wahoo of about 18 kgs, and lost another one- things were looking up. Once again we saw the big Tuna, but couldnt get them- they were very skittish, and sounded when the boat got too close.Day 7, and we got the tuna, but no pack attacks- just soletory. It weighed just under 20 kgs. We also got some bottom fish as Andy just wanted to get some rock cods for the table. I explained to him that we must push through, we have used up our bad luck!
Day 9 was the cracker. We got three big Yellow fin around 20-25, two wahoo of 14-18, and also released a sailfish that gave a srtong acrobatic display. How do you beat such a day? Day 10 didnt dissapoint. We went for sailfish with 4 half beaks, and two teasers. We had a pack attack of Wahoos that first got involved with the teaser, and then all four rods went off. As we were three on board, Me, Pedro and Andy, I knew this was going to be fun! We got 2 out.
I marked the spot, and we worked it. It happened again, but this time we were well and truely beaten only getting one out. Wahoos dont swim in straight lines, and their accelaration is incredible. It all happened so fast.
What did I learn? You gotta put in the time. Sometimes you are lucky, and it happens on the first day, sometimes it happens on day 9 and 10. If we hadn't exhausted the budget, day 11 would have been good, I'm sure. Thanks Andy, unforgettable moments- day 9 was one of my best...