Fred and I have been watching the counts every day and after seeing the 3/4 day and overnight boats scoring big numbers of albacore, bluefin, and yellowfin....we searched for a boat with room and were on the road.
Tanner Banks (my boy) decided to make this trip with us, as did Drew (Albacrazy), so they could redeem themselves after the skunk Battle trip.....and boy did they ever!
We made the drive and landed on the steps of the Dominator. They had been fishing hard the last few days and had seen tons of fish, but had trouble getting those fish on the boat.... we hoped we would change that for them. Got to see Randy Dalo....one of my favorite people in the world...Stoked he was running second on the trip!
Tanner Banks (my boy) decided to make this trip with us, as did Drew (Albacrazy), so they could redeem themselves after the skunk Battle trip.....and boy did they ever!
We made the drive and landed on the steps of the Dominator. They had been fishing hard the last few days and had seen tons of fish, but had trouble getting those fish on the boat.... we hoped we would change that for them. Got to see Randy Dalo....one of my favorite people in the world...Stoked he was running second on the trip!
This was my first time ever on the Dominator...The first thing we noticed is how wide the boat was. Plenty of deck space and room along the rails even when people were at their rods. The bunks were awesome and the crew greeted every passenger as they made their rounds on the deck introducing themselves personally to everyone. Pretty cool...we rigged up, listened to the speech on the fishing as we got bait and climbed inside our comfy double bunks WITH PRIVACY CURTAINS!!!!!
The ride was great...woke up instantly as the engines backed down...we were on the tuna grounds by 3am because they are only 40 miles out. Too early for me...I went back to sleep and had Fred wake me up in the grey.
We were sitting on a school of fish...deep meter marks so we waited as the sun came up to see if they would come up to play, but no....the jigs went into the water and off we went searching for a more cooperative school. The skiff traffic was rediculous out there. Three different boat sat in our chum line reaping the benefits of the frenzy we riled up.
Fred didn't want to troll so he gave up his rotation...A few minutes later that corner rod blasted off and the first Yellowfin was on the boat. A nice one in the 30 pound class...we soaked baits for a while but no other takers and off we went again.
We rotated trollers and that was the last time for the day. Capt. Frank found a school on the meter and we started the slow chum...Few minutes later we had tuna crashing all around the boat. Drew is one of the first to hook up..Fred followed. Boils all over the place every direction you looked. My heart was pounding....Rods were bent all around me, but I was snakebit... couldn't get bit if my life depended on it. There a few things more frustrating than that.
Fred was an absolute beast on this trip as usual. He came well prepared with gear and decided to play with his new 15# "Good Riddance" rod and small size 2 hooks.... That paid off huge as he was the high liner on the boat going 4 for 5 on the yellowfin. Not to mention the Marlin, Yes I said MARLIN, that he hooked on the same 15 pound set up which gave him an awesome 2 minute thrill as it jumped completely out of the water....What a show.....what a stud!
Tanner and I watched as Fred and Drew put on a seminar... I kept looking over at Tan and telling him, "don't worry babe....you'll get your turn"...Next time I look over at him he is bendo on his 20# stick. Tan puts the wood to this fish and has it bleeding on the deck in a few minutes.
I am so happy and proud of my boy...felt like crying...not sure if it's because I'm so proud or if it's because I'm dying inside because I still have not got a single bite.
Not a lot of pics to this point because I was fishing so hard I didn't want to leave the rail..In fact I didn't even eat the whole day until the ride home.
I was just having one of those days....every bait I grabbed out of the well was retarded... They swam right under the boat everytime. Finally I grab a fiesty dine out the well and pin it on right as we see a boil in the corner...out I cast and FINALLY, line starts screaming off my reel... I throw it in gear and "Fresh One"!!!!!!!!! I am thanking the fish Gods as I pull on my fish and pray I don't lose it. A few nice runs later, my fish has a gaff hole in it and I am gleaming ear to ear!..
No time for pics...Gotta get another bait in the water....
The afternoon slows down...most people quit fishing and ate lunch..I remained at the rail trying to make the most out of our last couple hours.
After lunch Tanner comes out and casts right on top of a boil of 5 or 6 fish in the corner, hooks up and busts of all in the same minute. He shakes it off, re-rigs, re casts and connects instantly. This time I set my gear down and watched my son kill his second tuna of the trip. Proud moments for this mom... Makes me tear up!
So the boat ends up with a total of 23 yellowfin... 9 of which belong to us... Fish came out of the hold and there are no contenders for the huge 40 pound class tuna one guy hooked, but cool side note is Tanner's fish are the second and third biggest on the boat. That's my boy!!!!
What a great time aboard one of our new favorite vessels...For those of you who fish the "Battle of the Sexes" trip with us, we will be on this boat next year as long as Frank has an opening on a weekend. Great crew, great service AWESOME fishing!
Big thanks to Capt's Frank and Randy, Anthony and Paulie on deck, and especially Mondo in the galley for fixin' me a quesadilla even after the grill closed...YOU ROCK!!!!~
