We only had a half day trip today.
Conditions have been about the same all week. A strong east current up against a strong east wind with an amazing color change on the edge. We had good conditions for both dolphin and sailfish today. We have been mostly dolphin fishing but did have a sailfish on yesterday. Unfortunately, it got off. It just happens sometimes.
We were dolphin fishing again today
and we had a couple in the boat when we hooked another sailfish today. My 1st mate Paul did not see the fish bite. he just saw the line pop out of the outrigger. He gave it a dropback automatically. It’s what you do with both dolphin and sailfish so actually seeing the bite isn’t always important.
We hooked the sailfish
and it jumped a couple of times and came to the boat relatively quickly for a fish this big. Once the mate got the leader in his hand the fish went crazy. It put on a great show jumping right next to the boat. Usually, Sailfish start the fight by doing all the jumping. It’s great to watch, but it’s usually a couple of hundred yards away when it’s putting on it’s “show” it’s tough to get a good photo of a fish jumping that far off when you are on a rocking boat. I’ve gotten a few over the years, but when the fish is close, I have to concentrate on driving the boat and can’t take pictures even if the fish starts jumping close to the boat.
Sailfish can be dangerous
when you get them next to the boat. That bill on the front of the fish is it’s weapon. You don’t want to get hit with it. It’s even more dangerous if you get poked with it. it is not sharp, but with the weight and power of the sailfish behind it, it can penetrate. This one poked my mate in the arm with its bill, but fortunately, it did not break the skin
These photos were taken
by one of my customers, not by me. I would have missed most of these jumps so I’m glad he was ready with his camera. I think he got some really good shots.
We released the sailfish today,
tired but unharmed except for a sore lip. It swam away easily and should be ready to fight another day