# Rig Trip 4-29/4-30



## Chris V (Oct 18, 2007)

I'll keep it short. Had a rough trip out and got banged up pretty good. Hit a rig on the shelf 60 miles out and got our limit of AJs quick with jigs and live bait. Got to Marlin about 5:45PM, put lines out and had pretty steady action with school yellowfin, blackfin and monster skippies. Fish went a little deeper after sundown and we started jigging and trying to chunk. Chunking was next to impossible with the sharks. The guys kept jigging and eventually I broke out the flyrod. 

About 10:00PM we eased over to the drillship Enterprise. Marked some bigger fish and but jigging and chunking yielded blackfin only. Decided to get some rest and wait until the morning. The morning bite didn't happen like I had hoped. Zero surface action and not as consistent of a bite. We did manage a couple more nice YFTs for the box. Went on to Ram after that but it was shark city and after lost tackle and tuna heads, we headed in.

All in all we had a good trip and brought home plenty of tuna. Water was dirty until about 3 miles north of Marlin and Ram. Blended blue out there, around 76 degrees consistently and a lot of scattered grass. All the tunas were feeding on very small tinker mackeral about 1-2 inches long.


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## Capt. Alex Pinney (Jan 23, 2008)

Nice job chris . Sharks have been tough lately ..


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## sniperpeeps (Mar 5, 2011)

Nice work, we are trying to decide between the rigs or the spur for this weekend....leaning towards rigs but we will see what the charts look like later this week. What sort of fly would you toss at those blackfin?


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## reeldog80 (Apr 27, 2009)

Thanks for the report! I wish we could have made it out instead of turning around at 7nm due to a little leak...


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## MSViking (Oct 11, 2007)

Thanks for the post, I wonder what's up with all the sharks this year? I have never seen them like this before that far offshore?? I wonder if it's a sign of overall health of the ecosystem or just the opposite? 

Robert


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## Chris V (Oct 18, 2007)

Dunno Robert. I don't know about the health of the ecosystem, but I do know the sharks are healthy. I've been doing a good job this year of fattening them up on tuna.

SniperP, the flies I use on tuna are nothing fancy. They are kinda like a big deceiver. I'll tie them with craft fur, SF blend or any other material that allows me to make a larger baitfish pattern. As far as what you can buy, we sell some great tuna patterns here in the shop and there are many online shops you can get a good selection from as well. If there is a local fly shop in your area, drop in and tell them what you are wanting to do. Chances are they will have something for you.


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## RollTider (Jun 30, 2011)

Thanks for the post. Any pics?


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## Chris V (Oct 18, 2007)

RT, I don't think we took a single picture this trip. I did take a cool one of the drillship at night but that was it. If we had caught some big fish or some other above average catch we probably would have but....


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## Capt. Alex Pinney (Jan 23, 2008)

MSYellowfin said:


> Thanks for the post, I wonder what's up with all the sharks this year? I have never seen them like this before that far offshore?? I wonder if it's a sign of overall health of the ecosystem or just the opposite?
> 
> Robert


Wonder if it has anything to do with the ban of the long lining within certain distance from shore .


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## superchicken (Jan 9, 2010)

Capt. Alex Pinney said:


> Wonder if it has anything to do with the ban of the long lining within certain distance from shore .


Never thought of that Capt. Alex but I bet that might have something to do with it.

Good report Chris.


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## Captain Woody Woods (Oct 2, 2007)

Very odd. As a general rule out of Venice, once we get past Lena, VK989, Cognac (shelf rigs), we stop seeing the sharks. Even out of Orange Beach, past Petronius and we've never had a problem with them (except for Beer Can, that one is always covered up in those bastards at night).

Good report otherwise. This year has been VERY weird to us as well. In 2011, we had tinker mackerels show up the last week of February. This year, we haven't seen the first one yet, and have really had to work for our live bait.


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## devinsdad (Mar 31, 2010)

Please dont laugh at me guys because I have never been tuna fishing but love to read your reports and pics. OK, here'e my question:
I see most of you guys prefer YF over BF almost everytime. Is that due to table quality or just the fact that YF are generally much larger?!?!


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## Chris V (Oct 18, 2007)

Honestly, I eat plenty of Blackfin too. The Yellowfin is the prize though. Its bigger, stronger and more glamorous. I also like the big steaks you get on a Yellowfin vs a Blackfin. That being said, BFTs have saved god knows how many tuna trips in the northern gulf. They are super reliable and always ready to eat something. I think it has become more of a pompous thing to hate on the poor lil Blackfin. 

This is what we do when we get a Yellowfin aboard. We bleed it thoroughly, get it in the fish bag or fish box and then cover it in iceto make sure it gets cold quick. When a Blackfin hits the deck on most boats, its unhooked and thrown in the box. No special treatment what-so-ever.


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## Head Kned (Mar 21, 2011)

Blackfin are just as good to eat, they are just easy to catch. YFT are bigger and more fun to catch.


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## devinsdad (Mar 31, 2010)

Gotcha. Thanks guy for the info. I had a friend give me some BF a while back from a trip he took. Tasted great to me and was easy to quick-sear on the grill. Maybe one day I will arrange a tuna trip and see what all the excitement is about. For the most part I shark fish from shore and love a good battle but most are catch and release.

Shark damn sure doesnt have the table quality of tuna!


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## sniperpeeps (Mar 5, 2011)

Chris V said:


> When a Blackfin hits the deck on most boats, its unhooked and thrown in the box. No special treatment what-so-ever.


When bled and iced immediately and not bruised all over the deck I think blackfin are just about the same taste as yft...I like them both!


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## Chris V (Oct 18, 2007)

Sniper, that was my point exactly. Treat them like a decent fish and its amazing how much better they are to eat.


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## MSViking (Oct 11, 2007)

In my opinion, once frozen blackfin are horrible tasting. Much like mackerals, great fresh but something happens to the flesh when frozen, YF on the other hand freeze quite well. No idea why this is, but it is true

Robert


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## Chris V (Oct 18, 2007)

MSYellowfin said:


> In my opinion, once frozen blackfin are horrible tasting. Much like mackerals, great fresh but something happens to the flesh when frozen, YF on the other hand freeze quite well. No idea why this is, but it is true
> 
> Robert


I have to say I don't really like eating frozen tuna period after a month or so. It does freeze fairly well, but I have become kind of a fish snob. Yellowfin, Blackfin, Bluefin, Purplefin......fresh please, not from the freeze.


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