It looks like a beautiful day, wish I was offshore. Since I'm not I managed to accomplish a few things in the shop this morning.

I have waited for days to recruit a volunteer for an hour to help me rip some mahogany for the bumpers on the skiff. Justin dropped by a couple days a go and gave me a hand. I ripped them out of a 20' 3"x6" piece of wood that was simply too much for me to handle. Anyway, in between other chores yesterday I built them and fit them to the skiff. This morning I glued and screwed them on. I had already applied fairing compound and sanded it, so a little bit more sanding and she'll be ready for primer.

I haven't been out since last Saturday, so that's my excuse for the lack of fishing updates.

Last Saturday we bluefin fished for half a day, till the winds were up to 30, but never caught one. Since then there have been a few boats out, and reports of a few bluefin to the east, and scattered yellowfin and blackfin tuna up and down the line. Today we started out with a nice calm ocean, but the northeast winds increased throughout the day and were gusting to 25 when we left for home. Fishing was fair, I think everybody had some action. As far as bites go, you didn't have to wait long between albacore bites, but the albacore to tuna ratio wasn't that great. We did wind up catching two yellowfins and eight blackfins. We had a couple other heavy bites which were probably yellowfins as well. One boat did catch a blue marlin today, and there was some bluefin action east of where we were fishing.

Today, for a change of pace, we headed south in search of yellowfins, or something other than bluefins.

Not long after we got started, the bluefins found us and completely rim racked our yellowfin spread. We hooked ten, broke off four and landed six. They were all about the same size, but the one we boated weighed 110 pounds. My group asked me politely to leave the area! Anyway, we headed out further where I came across a current edge with some grass made up along it. We didn't have a lot of action, for the time we spent on it, but we did scrap out a catch. We found a pallet floating, and managed to catch seven dolphin and a small wahoo around it. A while later the yellowfins hit us and we landed two out of five bites. The boats that hung around the first change found place after place of bluefins, so it's good to know that they are still more on the way. Thanks Bob!

We had great bluefin action again today, but the fish seem to be starting their trek to the north.

The best part of the action we had today was what we saw and not what we caught. We did land four out of ten trolling bites, and the ones we caught were nice ones. The one we boated weighed 215 pounds. Today there were big areas of fish swimming down sea, rolling and busting the surface. It was a lot of fun just being there to see it all. The fish have moved to the north quite a ways, but we are hopeful that they will circle back around like they did last spring. Thanks Bunky for another great day...oh, and thanks Megan for joining us!

Today the bluefin bite was on, but the fish were a size and a half bigger!

We caught eight or nine bluefins today, but the average fight time was much greater than normal, due to the size of the fish. We kept the only one that we caught in the under 73 inch, recreational size limit. It was a 65 inch, 155 pounder. The rest of the fish were 80 inchers, plus. One fish was over 90, and an easy 400 pounds. I was happy to get some good photos today. Right at the end of the trip, we hooked in to a mako shark, which was wound in by my friend Jim, and greeted at the stern by Justin, with a gaff to the head. NIce way to finish with a bonus! Thanks again Jim!

Today my friend Gary brought his two sons for a day of bluefinnin'!

It was marginally rough this morning, but these guys were totally in to it, so we charged. After an hour of fishing, I turned offshore to investigate some birds, and when I got there it was a total bluefin "air show". For fifteen minutes or more, there were bluefins in the air everywhere I looked. We hooked two out of three, and the brothers, Tom and Tim, tag teamed them. After boating Tom's and releasing Tim's, Gary caught a single that we released. These were big fish today. The one we kept weighed 230 pounds, and the two we released were about the same size. Thanks again Gary, and thanks to the boys for their service. See you again soon!

I got a half day in on the skiff yesterday a few hours this morning.

Now I'm just waiting on epoxy to dry. The skiff is "smeared", and will be ready for the first round of grinding tomorrow.

We fished in a good ol' Hatteras southeaster today.

The thing about a southeaster is that there is no decent angle to take on the ride offshore. It's right on the chin, and the swell usually builds pretty quick. This morning was no exception, and we just took our time as we headed off to the warm water. I went to the same general area that we fished in yesterday but there were no bites. The fleet worked to the northeast and we finally got on some fish around lunchtime. We started off catching a 30 pounder, but the next four were 100 pounders, just like yesterday. We probably missed and pulled off as many as we caught. There was a sign of bigger fish further up the line, late in the day. Thanks for a great trip Jason, see you in the fall!

What a great way to spend a bachelor party...with your buddies catching fish!

The bluefins that we caught today all looked like they came out of a mold. In fact, the fish cleaner said that every one that was brought in was 58 inches and 100 pounds, give or take a pound. It was good and rough, but we made a day out of it, caught five bluefins, and missed that many more. In the afternoon, the fishing was a little better, but we struggled to get a bite. Some of the guys had better action than we did. Still a great trip, and I appreciate you getting the trip together Jonathan. Thanks!

My buddy Scott celebrated his retirement today, in the chair doing battle with a bluefin tuna!

It wound up being a really nice day, and I think that there were some fish around, but the bite was a little slower than usual. Everybody caught a fish or two, but just not hot and heavy like it has been. Scott caught our only fish today, a 170 pounder. Dan you'll just have to wait till next time! Thanks guys!

Another windy day spent in the shop.

Yesterday I cut out and attached the gunwales. This morning I routed the edges and rounded them over so the fiberglass would wrap nicely over on to the hull. I spent half the morning and a couple hours of the afternoon glassing everything. Next comes more grinding and smearing. Luckily I am gonna be in the ocean tomorrow!