First Dolphin of the Summer

Alex suggested that I get out before the baby comes and the seas cooperated with me. I set out alone at about 10:30 AM after rigging up some ballyhoo on wire with an assortment of Island lures. I was at the inlet at around 11:00 and saw several balls of baby pilchards. I tried casting the net for some, but since I was alone it wasn't a pretty sight. I headed straight out and put the lines in the water. Since I only have three rods, I didn't bother with the outriggers, but I should have - seems that's what made the difference today. In about 750ft. of water, I finally pulled out the starboard rigger and hooked the Penn's line through it. A couple of minutes later, while reeling in another line to check the bait, the rigger pops and the Penn starts singing! Fish On! A couple of minutes later this cow is boat side and I manage the solo gaff shot.

Fresh dolphin sandwiches for lunch! I'm going to have to get a new cooler.
I'm going to have to do this more often, even if just to practice how to filet these things. Since I don't do this often, I end up hacking them up and not getting as much meat as I can from them.

Pair of 'Phins

Went out Saturday morning with Ernesto at 6:00 AM. The inlet bait scene was busy so we didn't spend too much time, but did end up catching one :). Headed straight out into easterly 10-15kt winds and 2-4' seas. Boat handled great. Trolled two fresh ballyhoo with blue/white Iland Sailures and one with pink/blue Sailure. I had a lot of tangles heading out and spent most of my time clearing those up. At about 5 miles out, we pulled the lines in and ran out a little further to about 7 miles. Started seeing weeds forming thin lines along rips and put the spread back out. This time, I extended the out riggers and put the pink/blue sailure on the starboard side back about 80 yards. Weeds were consistently thin, but we started seeing a lot of flyers and the water looked more fishy than before. That's when the rigger popped and the bait caster started screeming. Don't remember the rest too clearly, but this is my recollection. Ernesto took the rod until the another rod started going off. I saw another dolphin jump and told him to reel in the Penn. That's when we realized there were fish on both of the other rods. The Shimano's crank started coming off, so Ernesto took the Penn and brought him in. I tried to gaff, but the little gaff I have is useless. We ended up hoisting the fish over the gunwale and then throwing them in the box. I looked for a bit to see if there were other fish in the water with the first one, but didn't find any. Ernesto brought the other one in and we almost got it stuck on the swim platform. I lost the third when the line on the shimano snapped against another rod. Pure bedlam, but very much fun! Didn't get any other hits the entire day, but saw a bird and a number of other flyers. Made it out to 11 miles. (Link to Forum Thread)





I ended up losing a blue/white and a pink/blue Sailure. One on the one that got away and the other on a reused wire leader that snapped while we were trolling. Note to self: never re-use leader!

Cleaning the fish was an experience. I've done smaller fish, but getting the skin off of these without taking too much meat was not easy for me. I've got to get the knife sharper and get a better cleaning table. The top of the cooler isn't cutting it!