# Rig Trip Saturday to Sunday



## panhandlephinsphan (Aug 25, 2008)

Well the seas finally cooperated. Me, Al, Mark, and Zac headed out of Sherman Cove around 12:45 in the afternoon on Saturday. Cheryl Sue was loaded for bear! The seas were just as called for- 1 foot or less. BEAUTIFUL day. 

Any charts I normally would use had not had a good shot/update in a while so I pulled up SST chart on Hilton’s and planned most of my course by temperature changes to find the hopeful rips. I set it up to give me a range from 72 to 78. 

We hit the double nipple area as the sun was getting low and started trolling the temp break running east to west. No takers. 

Brought out the grill and cooked a few steaks, watched the sun go down and enjoyed adult beverages. 

Headed to Appomattox (even though in cool water) because we had not seen it yet this year. WHOA is that a sight to see. Fish marking all over it. Al had never caught a tuna. Well that changed on his first drop- BAM! BFT in the boat. That continued for a while.. A weed line drifted by with Mahi. By the time we got over to it and realized what was happening and adjusted, we had missed it. Had one on but he spit the hook and then it drifted out into the darkness and we went back to jigging for Tuna. I was hoping for YFT so we moved to warmer waters over at Delta House. Same thing- loaded with BFT. We got wore out! Thank you, Delta House for turning on the heater- that flame was just what we needed on a cool night.

After the moon went down the bite died. We headed in between horn mountain and Delta House to get a few ZZZZs. 

Up at sunrise, put the lines in the water and trolled the rest of the day. Circled a drill ship and Marlin Rig but nothing was showing on the bottom machine so we just kept moving.

Heading home this evening to clean fish and finish cleaning the boat. 

Water temps ranged from 76 down to 68. I don’t think we saw blue water once we left Delta House. Lots of Water Hyacinths, green and dirty water all the way home. Not even a knock down- but with the water temp, and water quality I did not really expect to hook up. 

We did not have a lot of leeway to explore or go on any direction but towards the hill on Sunday as I was at the edge of my fuel window

I know the troll was dead and sure, all we caught were BFT, but I’m telling you it was just an awesome trip and looking forward to doing it again. 

I finally was able to use my Penn Torque II reel/rod combo with the shimano butterfly jigs that I bought around this time last year. Perfect combo- it is bad a$$


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## Jason (Oct 2, 2007)

Glad ya got to get out and enjoy it....


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## Solace (Apr 23, 2009)

Glad you made it and thanks for the report. It was a bit too chilly for me. I agree Appomattox is amazing! Jig em up!


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## cwalla1420 (Apr 22, 2012)

How do you and your crew manage the sleep schedules offshore? Do you guys always have someone at the help while the other catch some sleep prior to sunrise?


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## WhyMe (Apr 21, 2013)

Here are a few more pix of the trip. 
Whyme


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## FelixH (Sep 28, 2007)

That sounds a lot like our trip this past weekend. The bite was not on. But it was a beautiful weekend to be out there! We put together a decent box of nice mahi to save the trip and not get skunked.


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## iJabo (Jul 6, 2013)

Can I ask what boat you made the trip on? Looks like a single motor CC. I would like to plan a similar trip on our CC, but that would push our fuel capacity to the absolute limit.


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## panhandlephinsphan (Aug 25, 2008)

Our ride is a 1999 proline 251 walk around with a single Yamaha 300 and a 165 gallon fuel tank. It was at the edge of our fuel limit as well. We also bring about 40 gallons in 5 gallon cans with us around the bow and refuel with a siphon hose as needed. This particular trip it was needed. Hope that helps!

My disclaimer- I am not recommending that making this particular trip on a single motor on a 27 ft boat is a great idea for everyone or anyone. Know your gear and limits and take a lot of precautions.


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## Qwkslvr1971! (Dec 16, 2018)

Its great to get out on the water I gonna give it a shot tommorow


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