Larry, want to read my fish story/report? Capt. Devon
Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2011 11:15 am
The news from Icy Bay is that George has been paid off and moved north. However his brother Gary and wife Shine still own a large stake in the company. Pete Grimm is now the main man in the company and has rehired me to Capt. the ICY CAPE. I am a young gun @ 32yrs old and have spent my life looking for fish not money. In fact I have just enough cash to put in the boats gas tank this coming weekend in North Carolina for fun fishing. Anyway, I hope you find the time to make it up to Icy Bay if not this year then sometime in the future. I will not be leaving it is my dream job come true. Now in the winter and early spring I live to fish in and around Virginia.
If you did not know already the Bluefin Tuna bite is the best it has ever been out of Oregon Inlet North Carolina. Two days ago they landed the new state record @ 805lbs. So we will be dragging the boat back down next weekend.
Larry, let me tell you a true fish story from two weeks past. Day one me and my fishing buddy Brad took his 24’ twin 150 outboard McKee Craft out off shore during a break in the weather between gales. We sailed out of Oregon Inlet as soon as the seas calmed down around 1pm on Saturday February 26 2011. This time frame allowed us to fish the whole trip without seeing another boat on the fishing grounds. After making it out through a few eight foot breakers at the mouth of Oregon inlet we were blessed to meet with a truly epic feeding frenzy offshore the moment we hit the 63F warm water. It all went down around 40nm out on the edge of the continental shelf in 300 fathoms of blended green water.
Mr. Dahlberg, it was the coolest thing I have ever seen on the water. The giant Bluefin tuna had corralled a school of 20 inch blue fish into a ball the size of a baseball diamond. On the surface of the ocean was a layer of dead blue fish pushed to the top of the bait ball. The helpless blue fish were packed so tight the live ones were floating the stunned or dead. Looking down into the clear green water in every direction huge tuna were swimming lit up as if charged with electricity. It was surreal like in a computer generated cartoon. All around us in the air over and into the blue fish the tuna flew like neon green and yellow cruise missiles.
Needless to say any bait or lure we put in the water was greeted with an open mouth moving at 35 mph. I learned that day it’s not a good idea to tighten the drag just because the reel is half empty after 10 seconds. We broke two off before we even got close enough to see what was happening. Then we witnessed the most spectacular strike. I put out a pink squid bar and when we dragged the bar past the bait ball it was engulfed by explosions as if being shelled by artillery. The tunas managed to get that spreader bar broke off within 30 seconds. On the next pass we got a tuna hooked up with a ballyhoo. I remember Brad holding the rod as the fish made its first run strait through the middle of the bait ball. I was thinking oh no the line will never hold with all the massive tuna exploding on the surface. Like a tiny thread the fishing line came off the screaming reel. Moments later the hooked tuna sounded and we settled in for a 1.5 hr fight. When the tuna finally came up boat side we marveled at the great fish truly, it deserved our utmost respect. Without hesitation I hit her with the harpoon and the fight was over.
After pulling the BIG fish through the tuna door and icing it down we looked around to find the action never stopped nearby the tunas were still busy eating the blue fish with not a care in the world. I sent out a single ballyhoo rigged with a pink islander and that’s when the Megaladon size Bluefin struck. There were three of us on the boat and over the next 6.5hrs we all battled this monster late into the night. It was crazy in the dark with the seas building. For a time during the fight we were joined by a large pod of porpoises. In the dim light cast from the boat they seemed like white ghosts. On this night the porpoises were calling in an eerie tone inviting us down to join them underwater in the graveyard of the Atlantic. For only a moment we got a look at the Megaladon tuna it was a tremendous fish. The end
Capt. Devon Fernandez
PS get your butt to North Carolina ASAP. I would recommend Capt Tom Krauss on the 50’ HOOKER @ the Oregon Inlet Fishing Center. Tom is my big game fishing mentor and has always been cool.
If you did not know already the Bluefin Tuna bite is the best it has ever been out of Oregon Inlet North Carolina. Two days ago they landed the new state record @ 805lbs. So we will be dragging the boat back down next weekend.
Larry, let me tell you a true fish story from two weeks past. Day one me and my fishing buddy Brad took his 24’ twin 150 outboard McKee Craft out off shore during a break in the weather between gales. We sailed out of Oregon Inlet as soon as the seas calmed down around 1pm on Saturday February 26 2011. This time frame allowed us to fish the whole trip without seeing another boat on the fishing grounds. After making it out through a few eight foot breakers at the mouth of Oregon inlet we were blessed to meet with a truly epic feeding frenzy offshore the moment we hit the 63F warm water. It all went down around 40nm out on the edge of the continental shelf in 300 fathoms of blended green water.
Mr. Dahlberg, it was the coolest thing I have ever seen on the water. The giant Bluefin tuna had corralled a school of 20 inch blue fish into a ball the size of a baseball diamond. On the surface of the ocean was a layer of dead blue fish pushed to the top of the bait ball. The helpless blue fish were packed so tight the live ones were floating the stunned or dead. Looking down into the clear green water in every direction huge tuna were swimming lit up as if charged with electricity. It was surreal like in a computer generated cartoon. All around us in the air over and into the blue fish the tuna flew like neon green and yellow cruise missiles.
Needless to say any bait or lure we put in the water was greeted with an open mouth moving at 35 mph. I learned that day it’s not a good idea to tighten the drag just because the reel is half empty after 10 seconds. We broke two off before we even got close enough to see what was happening. Then we witnessed the most spectacular strike. I put out a pink squid bar and when we dragged the bar past the bait ball it was engulfed by explosions as if being shelled by artillery. The tunas managed to get that spreader bar broke off within 30 seconds. On the next pass we got a tuna hooked up with a ballyhoo. I remember Brad holding the rod as the fish made its first run strait through the middle of the bait ball. I was thinking oh no the line will never hold with all the massive tuna exploding on the surface. Like a tiny thread the fishing line came off the screaming reel. Moments later the hooked tuna sounded and we settled in for a 1.5 hr fight. When the tuna finally came up boat side we marveled at the great fish truly, it deserved our utmost respect. Without hesitation I hit her with the harpoon and the fight was over.
After pulling the BIG fish through the tuna door and icing it down we looked around to find the action never stopped nearby the tunas were still busy eating the blue fish with not a care in the world. I sent out a single ballyhoo rigged with a pink islander and that’s when the Megaladon size Bluefin struck. There were three of us on the boat and over the next 6.5hrs we all battled this monster late into the night. It was crazy in the dark with the seas building. For a time during the fight we were joined by a large pod of porpoises. In the dim light cast from the boat they seemed like white ghosts. On this night the porpoises were calling in an eerie tone inviting us down to join them underwater in the graveyard of the Atlantic. For only a moment we got a look at the Megaladon tuna it was a tremendous fish. The end
Capt. Devon Fernandez
PS get your butt to North Carolina ASAP. I would recommend Capt Tom Krauss on the 50’ HOOKER @ the Oregon Inlet Fishing Center. Tom is my big game fishing mentor and has always been cool.