The action was great again today, as it was yesterday for the boats that fished. My group fished exclusively with vertical jigs, so it was a challenge.

Yesterday I heard of mostly 120 pounders but today they were all grown up. We started off the day with a 100 pounder, then an 80 pounder. The bites were kinda scattered out, so I worked to the northeast, for no better reason than to get out of the crowd. After a dry spell, I found a mark offshore and east of the fleet. I hollered for the guys to drop their jig over, and BAM, four out of four were hooked up! These fish were a different class. We wound up breaking the leader on two, pulling one off and fighting one for three hours before landing him, a 200 pounder. As we drifted up the beach fighting that fish, I had plenty of good marks and we did deploy another jig at one point, and catch a 150 pounder. Justin threw some chum in one mark and we had the big boys busting on the surface in the chum. It was exciting. Good job guys, and especially Mike for sticking with that fish!

I can't believe how pretty it is. Calm winds, clear skies...

Anyway, I spent the morning shaping, glueing, screwing and glassing the combing boards on the skiff. If I didn't have something to do I'd go nuts on a pretty day like today! Anyway, next comes gunwales and bow cap, then more glass. Almost done!

My crowd has been here since Sunday, waiting for the weather to break. Today was their last shot.

At least the weather forecast indicated that the winds would subside throughout the day, so we had hope. It was blowing northeast 25 + all day, oh, and i t never fell out. Well, at least the fish were biting. SWe fished till lunchtime, had five bites and caught three. Today the fish were a much larger class. The one we kept weighed in at 220 pounds. It sounded like the bites were getting more frequent after we left. Anyway, it was good to get out there, and kill. Thanks Vito for spending the day on the Godspeed!

Today's charter had to cancel due to a family emergency, so I spent the morning in the shop.

I cut, glued, screwed and glassed in the blocking for the gunwales and combing. I need to round up some plywood to build the gunwales next. Supposed to fish tomorrow, but the weather looks "iffy". We'll see.

Yesterday was the first day since mid November that I have actually worked on the skiff.

Today was a breezy sou'wester, so the "shop" conditions were very nice. T-shirt weather is much better for fiberglass and epoxy work than "long john" weather! I admit, my motivation level has been low. After being tied up with the holidays, then a couple weeks in the boatyard, followed by a week of vacation, now with spring right around the corner, we have been getting things ready for a busy spring on the Godspeed. All that to say, the skiff has been on the back burner. Yesterday I glassed the thwarts and glued in cleats to fasten the thwarts to. Today I glued, screwed, and glassed them in place. I also cut and glued/glassed the deck beams for the bow cap. I bought a motor a few weeks ago, a Honda 40, and I expect it to run nice with that power. I'll update with more pics when I get more done!

Today my buddy George from G&B Fishing Systems and AVET reels, got his crew together from Jersey to angle some bluefins.

One thing about these fish, if you want to test out your gear, they'll do it. It wound up being a picture perfect day, and the fish cooperated. All we used today was jigging tackle, conventional and spinning. I don't know how many bites we had, but I think we landed close to a dozen fish which ranged from 80 to 120 pounds. We killed the first one we caught, which was probably one of the smaller ones, and also jigged up a few blackfins as bi-catch. We did have one fish on a popping plug first thing this morning, but the hook straightened out and he got away. Everybody in the group managed to catch at least one, and by the time we packed it in, they were ready for a rest! Thanks George for setting up the trip, and I'll see you guys soon.

You know how fishing can be sometimes.

Today was reported as one of the best days of bluefin fishing thus far, this winter. Boats caught them trolling, chunking, jigging, and on popping plugs. There were a lot of marks, and fish rolling and busting the surface. Wish I would have had a trip. The weather turned out to be really nice too, so I guess today was the prettiest day of the weekend.

Today, the fish seemed to take a break. Yesterday they bit, but not today.

It was a let down for me and my guys who drove through the night to go jig bluefins, but I guess thats fishing. Yesterday the fish were marking good, and biting. Today there was one bluefin caught in the fleet. I don't know what makes them turn on and off, but the fish haven't left, they just weren't hungry. We did stop on a wreck this afternoon and spent an hour jigging some amberjacks. That seemed to somewhat satisfy the need to feel a rod bend. Thanks guys for stickin' it out with us today, we'll crush 'em next time!

My hard core buddy Al drove down from West Virginia last night for a day of bluefin action.

The weather was perfect, and the fishing was as good or better. We arrived on the scene to find marks, flat spots and bluefins rolling on the surface. We started out hooking a double on the troll. We greased the first one, a 120 pounder, and then concentrated on finding marks to chunk for the tunas. We had them up on the surface, rolling in the chum a number of times, and enjoyed pitching baits to the fish and getting the bite close to the boat. Al released six more after the first one we kept, all of them were about the same size. The boats that were jigging had plenty of action too. Thanks Al for another great day on the water!