Gambler 30hr tuna

[Pennsy Guy]

Just back--this 'll be a quicky, I'm whipped. (But in a good way). Capt. Mike headed us to the Bacardi and its general area where all the boats are tunaing now. A light tuna chop on the way out under a cloudless sky--1' gentle swell with little wind waves and warm slight breeze. first pull was a Skippy, then a real one, only to be dropped. This happened a few more times with, I think, two y's boated during the day. Since there aren't any temp breaks-everything is 69-70* from canyons to beach-we stayed at anchor most of the night. Tuna turned off, squid and blue sharks turned on. Pulled the anchor after first light, made a short run and drifted. During the day we had several "tuna pulls" mostly Skippies, some were kept. We had some good shots of y's come through-for 3-4 hrs. we could see both yellowfin and Skipjacks darting about in the slick at the boat 15'-25' down. Seas began to build a little with larger wind waves during the night while a few kept fishing and the mates catching squid. The Gambler has a great new live well. Chunks, butters and sardines all caught and I think mates jigged some Skippies and at least 4 baby Bluefin tuna-all throw-backs. Anglers accounted for 2-3 more baby blues and all the little fellows were successful throw-backs. By toot-toot-toot, seas had built to 3'-4' with some honest 5' and more than slightly increased south breeze. Ride in was quite bumpy and didn't really settle down a lot until Jersey was well within sight.
We did boat one mahi (5-6lb) during the night. Average depth was around 180' throughout the trip with 69-70* water.
KUDOS to the crew for their attention to details and always there to expertly deal with tangles, gaffing, their various responsibilities during the trip and comradery with us. A special shoutout to Captain Mike for his ability.
TOTALS: 19 yellows 50-70lbs., too many kept Skipjacks, one mahi.

[2na]

If I had a quarter for every time you said you were too tired to write a report and you did it anyway, I'd be able to buy Tonk a pass to come fish with us...

Thanks Pal

[AndyS]

Thanx for the report. Tuna on the "flats" or Baccardi should be a short ride compared to the East wall.

[Ol Pedro]

Chuck, do you remember when the Bacardi and Texas Tower used to be the spots back in the day on the Old Gambler. Caught Squirrel Hake while chumming , handed them out, and caught yfts, and birds on them. We hooked many big bft that we couldn't land on 6/0s . Around and around we went. Got frustrated and started to handline them with the rod on our shoulders and the customer reeling. Started landing them after that. Didn't hook too many on Internationals for some strange reason. Tech was not there yet. No braid and no 2 speeds. Remember when we could keep more than a couple Bluefin?

[AndyS]

I did a few of those "Baccardi" trips on the old Sea Devil. Pennington liked the shorter ride, plus if there were no bluefin you could bail out with some pollock. One of my most memorable tuna trips was to the Baccardi on the Sea Devil. As we arrived the seas were building and other boats were leaving because the winds started blowing a full gale. We only had 12 fares of which only 8 made it out of the cabin because it was so rough. We took "green water" over the bow that day and I watched a customer get knocked down. He spiked his rod to the deck and went in the cabin and never came out. I remember turning my head to the side and the sound of the rain was deafening on my hood because the wind was so hard. All you had to do was drop a Vikie jig to the bottom, pump 3 times and you were hooked up on an 80 lb. bluefin. I actually managed to boat 3, don't ask me how. One customer hooked a skipjack and as he was reeling it in we got to watch a 12 foot mako shark come up and eat it whole at boatside. One of the roughest tuna trips I was ever on, like being in a hurricane !!

[Pennsy Guy]

Originally Posted by AndyS

Thanx for the report. Tuna on the "flats" or Baccardi should be a short ride compared to the East wall.

It was almost a four-hour ride--getting there and looking. Five hours coming back--South seas 3-5' and South wind.

[Pennsy Guy]

Originally Posted by Ol Pedro

Chuck, do you remember when the Bacardi and Texas Tower used to be the spots back in the day on the Old Gambler. Caught Squirrel Hake while chumming , handed them out, and caught yfts, and birds on them. We hooked many big bft that we couldn't land on 6/0s . Around and around we went. Got frustrated and started to handline them with the rod on our shoulders and the customer reeling. Started landing them after that. Didn't hook too many on Internationals for some strange reason. Tech was not there yet. No braid and no 2 speeds. Remember when we could keep more than a couple Bluefin?

I think that was a little before the tuna bug attacked and took control of me. It was mid-ninety's when Mullen threw me to the bug; didn't know a damn thing about tuna fishing after the first 24hr trip except that I really liked plus the fact I got my first yellowfin-yea, I know, it was a football, but it WAS a tuna. That was a year or two before Otto passed.
That trip is burned into my memory- like it just happened...