Small Boat - Hudson Canyon

[howarda780]

Originally Posted by DMac

Is your cockpit self-bailing? He has two engines, Yes he might take it a little harder on the knees, but his boat will not sink any quicker than the big sportfisher's.

If you take a 10' wave over the bow, it fills your cockpit and you lose power, its really not going to help you if your cockpit is self bailing. You are suddenly in extremis.

[gradyfish265]

Bryan,

It's Tom on the S.T. Barb (26 Grady Express) it looks like you will be running in the dark a bit, when you get about 2 miles outside of SH channel you will run through an area loaded with fish pots that have low lying markers and rarely show up on anything under an open array radar so run with caution. The area should be shown on your chart plotter if its fairly up to date... its between the BA and SH channel. Other then that you will not run into any obstacles until you can see again so it should be a safe ride, I've done plenty of day troll trips but rare do anymore, we overnight instead, a lot more fish time, especially since most of the better tuna bite has been early AM right now. Have 2 guys by the helm, one running the boat the other watching radar for you, it makes life a lot easier and keeps you from taking your eyes off whats ahead. As far as Fri, its the worst day out of the weekend so far, its runnable but I've seen days with 10-15 2-4 become a lot worse so keep any eye on the report and ALWAYS check the weather bouy before departing. Watch the swell height and period as well as the wind wave height and period, a swell under 9-10 seconds can make your run really crappy if its the wrong direction so watch that carefully. You want your first trip to the edge to be safe and successful. We were planning to run the hudson Fri/Sat for an overnighter... tile fish and troll 2-3 hrs Fri pm drift for a sword over night and troll til noon Sat but we opted against it, weather report from my experience has too many inconsistencies and keeps changing and the reports are mixed...water at the Hudson was greenish in many areas the last I heard, but that can change very fast. The 100 sq was giving up some big eyes earlier in the week, but hard to target on a smaller boat and I would assume there will be a fleet on them if they stay there. The tip isnt a bad place to start, or the bombs, especially for smaller boats that cannot always run the 100sq right away. The W wall has given up scattered shots at yft and typically is a good place to troll. The elbows can be productive as well as the 050/150 area. Typically I troll the W wall and chunk the E unless I see something worthwhile on the opposite side like a temp break or change in water quality. The W wall also give you a chance to tilefish and save the day before running home.
As far as lures, rainbow green machines and green machines are giving up nice catches and running some ballyhoo is good as well. Typically we pull 3 bars in our spread, a bird with a green machine behind it, a jet somewhere in the spread, a feather somewhere in the spread and a daisy chain with a ballyhoo behind it and another ballyhoo. We mix up the colors a bit until we find what works. As far as ballyhoo, I prefer moldcraft lil hookers or ilander trackers blue/white or pink/white are good, early and late i like black/purple or black/ green colors. Try and keep the spread looking uniform as far as spreader bars go, it does make a difference when the fish are finicky. If you do get into an area with big eyes around, bring the spread in tight to the boat to increase your chances of hooking up.

As far as making the run, set fuel numbers in your head, whats the MAX your willing to burn on the way out...if you hit this number nomatter where you are you start trolling unless your willing to cut into your troll time. I have set numbers for me. I stop running at 80gal, allow 40 for trolling which is 10+hrs of trolling, and 80 for the ride in, this puts me at 200gal with 50 in reserve. You need 1/5 of a tank min as backup incase it gets nasty out there. also, use good judegment, if it gets nasty and your burning more then you need to aim for manasquan its closer and running up the beach is a lot safer then being beat up offshore.

As far as running the first time, I always recommend having a buddy boat to run with, not necessarily side by side but leaving similar times and in radio contact in case something goes wrong. I always run out knowing other boats heading to the edge. It also helps for locating fish.
I would highly recommend having an epirb with you guys, its one of the most important things to have when heading offshore. The handheld vhf is good, but you need to have a handheld gps to make it effective in rescue. A life rafts great but it only keeps you afloat and out of the water, it does not notify authorities. Sat phones are nice, but you'd have to call home for help which takes time and slows the process up, an epirb is the only way to be safe, plb's are another alternative which are good but not as good as an epirb, but a lot better then nothing.

Have a safe ride and do not be afraid to cancel the trip if your not comfortable with the sea conditions or if something doesn't feel right. We rushed the first year to get offshore and looking back it wasn't worth risking our lives...all went well and we came home with fish but safety is really important and comes first.

As far as channels offshore, I always use 65, but 68 isnt bad either...it really depends mostly on where the fleet is out of each port seems to have there own channels. Whenever we have a network of boats going out we also designate a go to channel, not that its secretive, but it allows us to talk on a channel with less clutter.

Be safe!!

I will be down Fri gearing the boat up, were going sharking Saturday so I will see how you guys made out. If you have any questions pm me.

[penn50w]

Originally Posted by Footballtuna

I am looking to try my 1st canyon run this Friday in my small boat. I have been to the Chicken and Glory several times. I was caught at the glory once and took a beating on the ride in.

24 ft center with twin 135 Optis.
radar
C120 nav
handheld nav backup
life raft
offshore jackets
2 radios + a handheld
sat phone
210 gallons fuel
7 rods 50s & 30s
I plan on trolling daisys and spreaders
I plan on leaving Monmonth Cove around 3:30 A.M. with a planed return around 6:00 P.M.
any advice? Numbers? what to troll and where? What com channel out there?
Thanks all

Bryan

Bryan, I'm on your dock across and down a few boats in the downeaster. With the storms that have been blowing up recently is enough reason alone not to go. If you have satellite weather, it still would be chancy in your boat. If you are running with another boat, then maybe at best. Being 80 - 90 miles off in your boat is very gutsy. I would call the Coast Guard and give them your plan or at least give someone else your info just in case. If you don't have a satellite phone, remember your radio isn't going to be much use that far out in an emergency unless there are other boats monitoring your distress call. Be safe, be smart and good luck if you decide to go. Penn

[NoWorries]

Used to do this on a Mako 25 with twin carbed 140's. Did it quite a few times. Leaving at 3:30 from the dock you will have time to evaluate weather at key times during the trip. If you feel good about night running leave earlier and go slower. Tackle wise bring lots of back-ups. Those big-eyes are nasty and can wipe out several rods/reels in one shot. Seen it first hand ! Bona 4 TUNA