I sat out today and Clark and DirtyE ran Shake N Bake today.
I don't have too many details other than a text that says "Running in. Beyond plugged." It looks like the bite is still on. Saturday is calling for 40 knots of wind, so we are going to sit out Saturday and probably Sunday and Monday too. Captain Mike
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Fishing is red hot right now.
We ran west and stopped 5 miles short of our target when we saw jumpers. We slid into them, threw some bait, and started the bait stop the ended the day. It was pretty much wide open and we plugged the boat and were back at the dock by 1:30. We had some epic tangles (photo below) but Clark was amazingly able to save almost all of the fish, as well as one rod that he snagged as it went over the side. It was only a six hour trip, but our crew was not complaining about the best fishing they have ever experienced. I am tapping out for a day or two of rest, but DirtyE and Clark are at it again in the AM. Captain Mike Clark and I were dog tired after yesterday, but charlie was waiting and we did not want to let him down.
We went back to the honey hole on the south side of the Astoria Canyon and got a bait stop going right away. We dinked a few off and the fish went down. The learning curve was steep, but we had a motivated crew of salmon fishermen who wanted to be tuna fishermen. We were marking HUGE schools of tuna on the sonar, but they were 300 feet down. Around noon we only had 7 in the box and we thought this was the day our "plug the boat" streak would end. Everyone on the air was crying about how bad fishing was. Then it happened. A double on the troll turned into a wide open bait stop. Pretty soon we had 6 fish on and all hell broke loose. Fish were boiling all around the boat and every bait got bit. 45 minutes later we started doing the math and realized we had to stop, as we were plugged and then some. The crew was worn out, covered in blood, and already talking about their next tuna trip. Six more tuna addicts. Six more lives ruined. I can't wait until the alarm goes off tomorrow. Captain Mike Today was silly good.
Like I can't believe this is really happening good. We ran west, trolled a little and saw one jumper. We stopped and Clark pitched some bait on the jumper and it was game on. It started slow and then built up beyond all belief. An hour into the stop the tuna were swimming around 40 feet below the boat and we could see them. Two hours into the stop they were right up to the boat and all hell broke loose. We were able to WATCH them inhale the anchovies. We broke out the jackpole and everyone jackpoled a tuna. We had so many fish on the boat that Clark would not let our crew catch any more, so we pinched some barbs and they caught and released tuna while we processed tuna. We literally fed the tuna after we quit fishing. They boiled around the boat for hours. They boiled on live bait, dead bait, pieces of bait out of our scuppers. Unreal. Clark carked tuna for three hours as we idled in. I am beat and I am sure Clark is twice as beat. I can't wait until my alarm goes off at 5 am. If I can sleep at all. Captain Mike We ran around 35 miles out on a great ocean and it was slow for an hour or two, but lit up around 11.
The crew quickly figured out live bait tuna fishing and we started stacking the deck. We got a call of a boat taking on water, so we ran south at 30 knots until we got there. They stopped the leak so we decided to standby until a tow could show up. In nothing flat we were into a wide open bite and stacked the deck. A couple hours later we were plugged. Great crew, great ocean, great fishing. Captain Mike ![]() The forecast was for strong winds in the PM. They were off by about 8 hours. Shake N Bake and a crew of killers headed west early to beat the wind and instead met it head on. It was a little scratchy until Clark saw a big log and we stopped on it. An hour later, we had around 20 fish in the box. Despite the sloppy conditions, our crew put the hurt on the tuna with live bait. We kept at it and by around 2 PM the boxes were full and we were headed east. The boats ahead of us were taking a beating, but we ran in around 23-24 knots and had a nice ride. Tomorrow's forecast is really lousy, so we are taking a day off and hitting it hard again on Monday. Captain Mike Great crew of killers and great fishing.
It was a pretty good tidal exchange, so we did not leave the dock until 9. We ran out to where we left the fish yesterday and trolled west. After about 20 minutes, two rods went off and it was game on. Our bait stop lasted 1.5 hours and we drifted 4 miles, but the tuna followed us the whole way. We plugged the boat and were headed east a few hours later. Great crew. Great fishing. The ocean is blowing up and the swell is rolling in, so we are taking a few days off. Captain Mike The forecast for today was a little sporty, but we have been out in a lot worse.
All of the other charters cancelled their trips today, so we were the only tuna charter running. Our buddy boat from the Ilwaco Tuna Club, the Opportunaty, was a little ahead of us and called us in on a wide open bite. We put our lines in and got bit right away. It went wide open almost right away and after an hour, our crew had all the tuna they wanted and we headed in. Despite the whitecaps and 15-20 knot winds, Shake N Bake ran in at a comfortable 25 knots. DirtyE and I are headed out in the AM to get in one last trip before the big swell shuts us down on Wednesday. Captain Mike We ran out on the back end of a big tide and headed around 35 miles due west.
Great ocean and sunny skies, not what we like to see for tuna fishing. We hooked up in the first 5 minutes and put one on the deck. After that, it was hit or miss with very skittish fish. One minute they were boiling around the boat and the next minute they were gone. The crew ground it out and we ended up with 20 fat tuna in the box. Tomorrow is supposed to blow up BIG, so Sunday is a day of rest (for everyone else). Our crew from Eugene was hard at work canning up a few hundred pounds of tuna loins. There was no rest for us either. Clark and I are stripping off the topshots, rigging up some new reels, and getting everything ready to go at it again on Monday Morning. Captain Mike DirtyE (Captain Erdman) and Clark are headed in at 3pm with a plugged boat with the lumber company crew.
Fishing is still very good. I will be at it again in the AM. Captain Mike |
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