Official Tuna Armada Reports/pics/ 4-11 thru 4-13

[Nick C]

That reel has a level wind.... it's pretty much the coolest reel ever.

[Uncle Buck]

Like I said... you can walk away and make a sammich.

[lt20]

We had a great time. It was a pleasure to meet some of the notorious members of this forum. I thought everyone was very hospitable and BMC is a great place tohang out for some hard core fishing. The question is when's the next trip. I hope to make it back in May maybe the weekend of the May10th. Any takers?

Richard, congrats on the big dolphin, we had our chance at one but did not get a good hook-up.

[quack quack]

It was nice meeting you and your dad Brian.Did you guys get any phins off that weedline?We will get together soon for a trip.

[bajakian]

Originally Posted by lt20

We had a great time. It was a pleasure to meet some of the notorious members of this forum. I thought everyone was very hospitable and BMC is a great place tohang out for some hard core fishing. The question is when's the next trip. I hope to make it back in May maybe the weekend of the May10th. Any takers?

Richard, congrats on the big dolphin, we had our chance at one but did not get a good hook-up.

Thanks Brian. We actually had a chance at a second one that was with the big bull but popped her off. Sorry we didnt meet at the BMC. I hope to see you out on the water in Boynton.

[BillFish32]

Where's the pic of the shark, Ivan?

Bill

Originally Posted by Ivan11

and last pic of the crew!!!

want say thanks to shawn for inviting me on the trip, it was a blast. was nice meeting everyone and hope to do it again in the future.

[BillFish32]

Richard - I'm clear for a trip on the 10th, probably have to come back Sunday but can leave Friday... let me know ...

Bill

Originally Posted by bajakian

Thanks Brian. We actually had a chance at a second one that was with the big bull but popped her off. Sorry we didnt meet at the BMC. I hope to see you out on the water in Boynton.

[Ivan11]

Originally Posted by BillFish32

Where's the pic of the shark, Ivan?

Bill

here are all the other shark shots.

[PUMPKIN]

I am open to returning to BMC without question (probably bring a few pounds less of bait this time . The 9th - 11th should work on this end.

Richard, do you want to start a new thread with a potential round #2 fleet?

Best,

Frank

PS will post up pics and trip report by cob today; we had a phenomenal day of fishing on Sunday after the fleet pulled out catching big mahi, skippies, cero, all the 5-7# yellow eyes we wanted (that the sharks didnt , some nice fat yellowtail snapper, an AJ (that beat out the 20# red for best bottom category, in addition to losing a big wahoo on the deep drop reel (looked to be around 50#) as well as what had to be the ultimate black grouper in 60 feet of water hooked on straight 15# test and a little yellow jig.....she took me to school after about a 5 minute battle....what a beast.

[quack quack]

Good job Frank sounds like a great day.It was nice meeting you and I look forward to fishing with you.Maybe a big tuna trip with the Celia P crew.

[PUMPKIN]

Roger that Eric; the pleasure was all mine; too bad we didn't have a chance to fish together....ahhh the P boat and memories of "tuna bite" being shouted from the cockpit....i will have to drop the coconut a line; he may already be over there...

Lets hook up out on the water soon.

Frank

Originally Posted by quack quack

Good job Frank sounds like a great day.It was nice meeting you and I look forward to fishing with you.Maybe a big tuna trip with the Celia P crew.

[PUMPKIN]

The offishal catch report from the Billfish32 crew:


Day 1 - Left LHP around 6AM armed for bear; after clearing managed to put pull two big mahi over the gunnel. As we were approaching BMC we saw the yellowfins clearing water, in the 40-50# range. We thought oh boy, we should have doubled down on the sardine flats, but couldnt get one to jump on the hook as they were movin fast down the line. First one was our biggest of the trip, hit a yellow Zucker feather on the short port rigger and put on an amazing areal display. Of course he hit the lightest outfit we had out at the time; out of a spread of 50s, 80s and 30s she piled on the 30 (with the least amount of line on it . After a series of headshakes right behind the boat which were quite the site, Matt (the bat) tustled her in and I sunk the aftco into him, weighing in at 40#s and change. Second one was a cow in the 30# class, which jumped on my favorite spring time lure, the little williamson flying fish chugger, and into the box she went.

(Great meeting all of the forum members at the dining room; Richard, your boat rocks!! as well as your crew; good to meet you one and all including QQ, the now infamous Polar Bear, and all the other hard core forum members. The mac and cheese alone is almost worth going going back to BMC for regardless of the fishing.

Day 2 - Left BMC around 7AM (a few too many cervezas and Bill's fine wine on night #1 ) and put a whopping 13 straight hours on the water, fishing all the way up to Mantinilla shoals. We had the perfect conditions and worked weekdlines, rips, eddys and birds all day long in and out of the northern canyons and managed to catch one beautitul barricuda on the short flat line . Tried bottom fishing off Mantinilla and had a ripping current; marked tremendous amounts of fish but between the southerly current (go figure?) and the ripping wind we ended up doing more drinking then catching for the day. Glad to hear the the Bananaman crew as well as the Fish Magnet put some nice fish in the boat.

On the way in we saw our second pack of yellowfins, with 30-40# class fish clearing the water; no birds, just busting fish. We trolled and then tried the chunking thing to no avail until the sun went down below the horizon.

Day 3 - We gave the traditional sending off the all of the boats in the flotilla early morning, who headed back due to the impending weather and bid them farewell. The good karma paid off in spades as we caught fish practically non-stop all day. Started off with losing a 35-40# class mahi right out front, only to turn around and see a frigate working only yards away. Captian Bill (of Flemish Cap fame) immediately put us right on the money and this time the big bull jumped on the wrong rod; the 80wide pulling a dolphin colored Braid Blackjack lure in the wash. She still put up a tremendous battle, and was lit up like no other fish i have ever witnessed (and thats quite a few over the years); Bill has this on video from his i-phone and we will try to post it at some point. Over the gunnel comes a 30# class mahi to start the day.

After fueling up at west end, and having some excellent turkey and avacado sanwiches (thanks to Matt the bat); we pushed off to the deep drop grounds where we located the mother lode of 5 - 7# yellow eyes, getting doubled up on every drop, we limited out for the day, as well as fed a few sharks along the way. Also put a 30# aj in the boat on the dd rig, and lost what appeared to be a 50#ish wahoo on the dd rig as well.

Pulled into the shallows around 60 foot and proceeded to chum the waters; really had a blast at this spot as it was my favorite kind of fishing; quickly proceeded to put a nice mess of yellowtails in the boat in addition to 2.5 ceros and lost some big nastys including what could have only been a big black which hit a yellow jig as we were about to leave.

After cleaning fish for well over an hour, and putting a few mojitos to rest, the crew of the BillFish32 fed like kings, inclusive of Bill's famous fried mahi, and some delectible yellow eye ceviche....yummy....

Day 4 - Splet in a bit, packed up, gave our regards to Marvin and company and then shoved off around 9AM; put a four spread out for chits and giggles, and of course right out in front a 30# class mahi jumps on the smallest outfit (this time an Avet 20) and proceeds to attempt to digest a Williamson ff chugger. Matt (who reinacted the Rodney King episode on multiple times during our trip) the Bat fought her galiantly and I gave her a head shot to welcome her aboard.

Say a few birds on the way home; seas were manageable thanks to Capt. Bill and his incredible helmsmanship . Back at LHP around 5PM.

Am posting a link below; not sure if it will work but will post up images if necessary.

Lets do it again guys, and this time put a bunch of the tuners in the boat. May is right around the corner.

Best,

Frank

Link to pics:

Image hosting, free photo sharing & video sharing at Photobucket

[WhItEoUt 23]

No Pics

[Ivan11]

click the link at the bottom, need adobe flash, and u can watch the slide show off of photobucket.com

[WhItEoUt 23]

Thanks

[bajakian]

Nice report Frank. Good to meet you and see Captain Bill once again. I'm sure that our paths will cross again soon, hopefully back in the Bahamas or on the swordie grounds.

[PUMPKIN]

Roger that Richard; look forward to fishing with you at some point in the near future.

Frank

[BillFish32]

Excellent reporting skills, Frank! why are all the pictures of you with fish taken up so close????

Bill

Originally Posted by PUMPKIN

The offishal catch report from the Billfish32 crew:


Day 1 - Left LHP around 6AM armed for bear; after clearing managed to put pull two big mahi over the gunnel. As we were approaching BMC we saw the yellowfins clearing water, in the 40-50# range. We thought oh boy, we should have doubled down on the sardine flats, but couldnt get one to jump on the hook as they were movin fast down the line. First one was our biggest of the trip, hit a yellow Zucker feather on the short port rigger and put on an amazing areal display. Of course he hit the lightest outfit we had out at the time; out of a spread of 50s, 80s and 30s she piled on the 30 (with the least amount of line on it . After a series of headshakes right behind the boat which were quite the site, Matt (the bat) tustled her in and I sunk the aftco into him, weighing in at 40#s and change. Second one was a cow in the 30# class, which jumped on my favorite spring time lure, the little williamson flying fish chugger, and into the box she went.

(Great meeting all of the forum members at the dining room; Richard, your boat rocks!! as well as your crew; good to meet you one and all including QQ, the now infamous Polar Bear, and all the other hard core forum members. The mac and cheese alone is almost worth going going back to BMC for regardless of the fishing.

Day 2 - Left BMC around 7AM (a few too many cervezas and Bill's fine wine on night #1 ) and put a whopping 13 straight hours on the water, fishing all the way up to Mantinilla shoals. We had the perfect conditions and worked weekdlines, rips, eddys and birds all day long in and out of the northern canyons and managed to catch one beautitul barricuda on the short flat line . Tried bottom fishing off Mantinilla and had a ripping current; marked tremendous amounts of fish but between the southerly current (go figure?) and the ripping wind we ended up doing more drinking then catching for the day. Glad to hear the the Bananaman crew as well as the Fish Magnet put some nice fish in the boat.

On the way in we saw our second pack of yellowfins, with 30-40# class fish clearing the water; no birds, just busting fish. We trolled and then tried the chunking thing to no avail until the sun went down below the horizon.

Day 3 - We gave the traditional sending off the all of the boats in the flotilla early morning, who headed back due to the impending weather and bid them farewell. The good karma paid off in spades as we caught fish practically non-stop all day. Started off with losing a 35-40# class mahi right out front, only to turn around and see a frigate working only yards away. Captian Bill (of Flemish Cap fame) immediately put us right on the money and this time the big bull jumped on the wrong rod; the 80wide pulling a dolphin colored Braid Blackjack lure in the wash. She still put up a tremendous battle, and was lit up like no other fish i have ever witnessed (and thats quite a few over the years); Bill has this on video from his i-phone and we will try to post it at some point. Over the gunnel comes a 30# class mahi to start the day.

After fueling up at west end, and having some excellent turkey and avacado sanwiches (thanks to Matt the bat); we pushed off to the deep drop grounds where we located the mother lode of 5 - 7# yellow eyes, getting doubled up on every drop, we limited out for the day, as well as fed a few sharks along the way. Also put a 30# aj in the boat on the dd rig, and lost what appeared to be a 50#ish wahoo on the dd rig as well.

Pulled into the shallows around 60 foot and proceeded to chum the waters; really had a blast at this spot as it was my favorite kind of fishing; quickly proceeded to put a nice mess of yellowtails in the boat in addition to 2.5 ceros and lost some big nastys including what could have only been a big black which hit a yellow jig as we were about to leave.

After cleaning fish for well over an hour, and putting a few mojitos to rest, the crew of the BillFish32 fed like kings, inclusive of Bill's famous fried mahi, and some delectible yellow eye ceviche....yummy....

Day 4 - Splet in a bit, packed up, gave our regards to Marvin and company and then shoved off around 9AM; put a four spread out for chits and giggles, and of course right out in front a 30# class mahi jumps on the smallest outfit (this time an Avet 20) and proceeds to attempt to digest a Williamson ff chugger. Matt (who reinacted the Rodney King episode on multiple times during our trip) the Bat fought her galiantly and I gave her a head shot to welcome her aboard.

Say a few birds on the way home; seas were manageable thanks to Capt. Bill and his incredible helmsmanship . Back at LHP around 5PM.

Am posting a link below; not sure if it will work but will post up images if necessary.

Lets do it again guys, and this time put a bunch of the tuners in the boat. May is right around the corner.

Best,

Frank

Link to pics:

Image hosting, free photo sharing & video sharing at Photobucket

[PUMPKIN]

ive got short arms, smart azz....better with which to whip you with....

[BanannaMan]

Frank,

It looks like we will be goin back across round first or second week of May. Runnin over my my unks rowboat the "Knot Content" this time. Ivan.. you are welcome to come with us if you can swing it. Dunno if stayin at BMC is in the cards at this point... but if not his boat sleeps 4 nic'n comfy and the A/C is strong enough to hang meat in ... just bring lotsa ear plugs as the chainsaws will keep ya up all night. Looks like I will get a chance to run some lines instead of playin capt'n the whole time. Anyway... saw u fellas yacking bout goin round same time... lets try to get sumthin put together.