March 2010 Archives

Seas were calm and the weather perfect. The blue water was around 20 miles offshore, with a gradual color change from the green closer to shore. Just a few days ago the blue water was over 30 miles away, so it's welcome to see it moving closer to shore. If this sounds like a complaint, remember that we're pretty spoiled here. Nothing is better than to have the blue water right up against the shoreline, and a good marlin and/or sail bite going on just 5 or 10 miles away.

The stripey came up on a short teaser, a Wide Range Senior clone made of soft silicone. We fed it a large ballyhoo and hooked it up on the tiny little Accurate BX2-500, loaded with 80 lb. Spectra and a 100 yd. topshot of 30 lb. mono. The fish was about 120 lbs. and the pectoral fins were brightly lit up on the release. Check out the photos to the left and right (by the way, just click on any of these photos to see a larger version).

The blue came up on the same purple and black teaser as the stripe, and we fed it a dorado belly bait on the Accurate ATD 30, which we've got loaded with 130 lb. spectra and a 100 yd. topshot of 80 lb. mono. The fish topped 400 lbs. and gave us quite a show. Omer got a shot of the fish on the wire with Manuel, although in the excitement the lens got slightly smeared with sunscreen. Great fish though!