Clearing the inlet it wasn’t too bad and Kevin got us out quickly. Inside the Ledge we put the high speeds out keeping it between 10 and 11 knots. Seas were the predicted 2-3 foot with winds out of the north, choppy, and overcast. Ten minutes into high speeding we had a SOLID first strike. We kept the speed up trying for a double but after 20 seconds we backed off the throttles. The drag was screaming! Since Chip had not caught a wahoo before he was up first. Line continued to rip off as he got settled in for the fight.
Chip on his first wahoo
After gaining a lot of line the fish made another powerful run as it must have seen the boat. After a lot more cranking and finally seeing first color we could see it was a LARGE wahoo. With the deck cleared, Kirk driving, Chip walked the rod back as I leadered the hoo. At the boat the hoo was still pretty fired up but Kevin made a good gaff shot as it tried to get under the boat. At the gaff shot all I could think of was that we needed another gaff as Kevin struggled to lift it into the boat. Everything happened fast and it seemed there was a stalemate as it remained balanced on the gunnel. It just wouldn’t hit the deck. After another effort the hoo hit the deck solidly with a THUD and didn’t move! As it lay on the deck it looked prehistoric!
After a lot of hooping, hollering, and high fives the guys strained to lift it for a few photos. Estimates were flying all over to predict the weight and our estimates ranged between 68 to 85 lbs. Our day was already made! What a phenomenal first wahoo! A fish of a lifetime.
What a hoo!!
Wahoo!!
Straining: I’m 6’2” and Chip has gotta be 6’ 5”
Putting the high speeds back out we worked around the area but it took awhile before we had another strike.
At the Break
10 knots
The next fish hit in the same spot as the first fish although this fish was smaller. Keeping the speed up trying to get that double there was a lot of line out when it stopped running.
Nice solid hoo
Kirk, me, & Kevin with a nice hoo
Sliding this hoo into the fishbox it looked tiny in comparison to our first hoo of the day.
We started high speeding again but after a dry spell started discussing whether or not to pull meat. Right after that we had a short strike and with that in mind we kept high speeding. With enough wahoo on board we decided to put out a cedar plug on the shotgun to see if we could add a blackfin or two.
After about 30 minutes the shotgun got real heavy but didn’t pull drag. Kirk was lucky enough to be up next and he got the shotgun down and started to work. After a lot of cranking it turned out to be a bonito and we quickly released it.
Putting lines back out we were going slow but before we got back up to speed the bent butt started dancing without pulling any drag. Bringing this in we were surprised to see it was a cuda. We released it and got the line back out. We decided we’d give it another half hour before running back in. About 15 minutes later we had another strike and Kirk got to bring in the third wahoo of the day.
Kirk at the rod
Kevin with Kirk and his hoo
Business end
We ended up going 3 for 3, with one short strike, a bonito, and a cuda. The largest hoo hit a red & black C&H Poseidon 80, with 2 other fish on Mr Bigs; black & purple and a black & red. Our morning was made as the first fish of the day made our trip! Early in the morning we had a few birds in our area but in the afternoon we didn’t see any others. Throughout the day we saw a total of 6 other boats in the vicinity. VHF chatter indicated that it was a slow day on the troll with only a few bonito and a couple of small dolphin caught. Later in the afternoon it seemed the bite picked up for others as we heard one boat mention they finally boxed one and a couple others mentioned they had caught a couple of small dolphin. Water temperature was 67 °F inside the ledge and at the break it was 68.8 °F. Running in the seas weren’t too bad and closer to shore it improved.
In St Augustine we pulled into Comanche Cove Marina to fuel and to use their scale. At the dock we ran into Captain Rick Ryals of the Dos Amigos who had a terrible day. Arriving early to prep his boat for a charter that morning he discovered that DIRTBAGS had broken into his boat and stolen all his equipment! Best wishes Rick on catching those dirtbags.
At the scale we had to jerry rig the largest wahoo to get it on the scale as it was too long in length to hang without touching the ground.
Comanche Cove
85 lbs!!
Back at Kevin’s dock we measured the 85 lb hoo and it measured 69 ½ inches long with a girth of 28 inches. Checking the stomach contents we were all amazed to find a very large mullet! It was still in pretty good shape and obviously it had been that morning’s breakfast. We checked the mullet thoroughly to see if it had been rigged as bait but we did not see anything that indicated it had been. That was really interesting! 55 miles offshore in 178 feet and its eating mullet.
Dock shot
Large mullet
Close up
If you haven’t seen these before also inside the stomach were two digenetic trematodes. These trematodes are usually found in pairs and commonly found in wahoo.
Digenetic trematodes (chapstick for reference)
What a day!!
Hoo Yah!!
Brian
Good job, great fish. 