# 355 mile fishing trip



## macala (Oct 4, 2007)

3 of us headed down from Atlanta to fish the short weather window. From looking at the Roffs and Hiltons report, finding some fishy water looked like a long way. Plan A: Troll 10 miles south west of the Spur toward the double nipple, put sword baits for the night and look for Yellowfins in the morning. The water was very nice west of the Spur but current was very weak. We saw a lot of flyers and some large patches ready to form pretty soon. We did see a crazy 500+ bluefin tuna jump clear out of the water grabbing a 3 ft long flying fish. We trolled the area for a while and he never came up again. I think if he didn't catch that huge flyer, we would have had some fun and broken reels. As we neared the double nipple, it was clear that the water was dead and green. We arrived early around 4 pm so I made the move to go for it at the Deepwater Nautilus. 










The water was very clean with a lot of flyers. First pass between the 2 supply ships, we get a triple knockdown. 2 pull the hook and we land a nice yft. Paul's first and I make him eat the heart later.



















We end up with 5 yft and set up sword baits for the night. Not expecting a fish like near the steps, I gave us 20% of landing a sword in 8000 feet of water. Well i was right but when i pulled up the bait in the morning, all the baits were bill slashed. I'm kicking myself for not checking during the night like i normally do. Maybe next time, but we did catch a few dozen small hardtails under the light. In the morning, we limited out on yft tuna at the Deepwater Nautilus and Horn Mtn. Horn was in blended blue/green. We used ballyhoos and live hardtails that were 4 inches long.














































One other thing, the forecast for the week said 1 foot until Monday. Well it was until Wednesday afternoon when the sea built up toa steep 3-4. It calmed down around 20 miles near shore but it made for a bumpy ride back. The next morning it looked very scary with huge storms and the buoy calling for 5 foot seas. I hope no one was out there Thursday. 

Jeff Choe


----------



## amberj (Oct 1, 2007)

Awesome report and great pics!!!!


----------



## FishinFreak (Oct 2, 2007)

Nice!!! Looks like you guys had a fun time.:letsdrink


----------



## lobsterman (Sep 30, 2007)

Looks like you guys had a blast. Good report.


----------



## PELAGIC PIRATE (Oct 10, 2007)

Unreal 

Nice Job 

All these reports are killing .........I have got to finish the work to tghe new boat and get out there and get some beofre the seasons over .

Congrats on the great catch.


----------



## Corpsman (Oct 3, 2007)

Way to go Jeff! Once again, you the man.


----------



## Buzzbait (Oct 3, 2007)

Nice work! Pretty die-hard in a 26' cuddy!!


----------



## Matt09 (Jun 6, 2008)

Bet that was insane to see that Blue Fin.


----------



## hebegb (Oct 6, 2007)

> *macala (8/28/2009)*
> 
> 
> 
> ...




http://pensacolafishingforum.com/fishingforum/Topic412326-27-1.aspx#bottom



they found out the hard way!


----------



## Corpsman (Oct 3, 2007)

> *Buzzbait (8/28/2009)*Nice work! Pretty die-hard in a 26' cuddy!!




The cat rides pretty darned good.


----------



## NaClH2O (Feb 14, 2008)

Great report you guys are badazz.


----------



## Xiphius (Oct 10, 2007)

Wow Jeff nice catch..weve been missing your posts.Good to see ya back on the water. Keith and I were looking at the photos and the second and last fish look like Big Eye Tuna. The lateral irresdescent blue on the last fish, and the short dorsal and anal fins look suspiciously like a bigeye vs the first pick of the yellowfin. When you going next?


----------



## Tom Hilton (Oct 4, 2007)

Howdy,

The Nautilus has been good all summer, but unfortunately, it may be getting ready to shove off - FYI. I will have more definitive info next week I hope.

All the best,

Tom Hilton


----------



## macala (Oct 4, 2007)

Thanks Craig. About the Big Eye Tuna, I can't confirm it. Those pictures are all we have and my sushi chef had finished cleaning up all the tunas. He did say that one of the tunas was a lot darker than the others. Since I'm 90% healthy, I'm fishing every weather window through mid Dec. I have notcaught a single billfish on my boat this year so swordfish is on top of my list.

Jeff


----------



## GaffShot (Oct 30, 2007)

Craig should know what a big-eye looks like now. He corrected me after I tried to call one "the state record black-fin" at midnight after a brew or two. 



Gaff-Shot

Hattrick


----------



## Joey_d133 (Feb 16, 2009)

Whats the word on nautilus moving? And did yall see any weedlines out there?


----------



## bond007 (Jun 16, 2009)

awesome report.....:usaflag


----------



## 401 Cay (Sep 30, 2007)

Great report as always!


----------



## Chris Phillips (Oct 1, 2007)

Awesome trip!


----------



## team_A_II (Mar 31, 2009)

When is the Nautilus moving, and about how far south of the spur is it?


----------



## macala (Oct 4, 2007)

I don't know where the Deepwater Naut is but we can ask Tom Hilton. Hopefully he can confirm the location. It's a long long way and it would really suck to find it gone.

Jeff


----------

