A rip between the rockpiles and the Virginia wreck
Crew:
Bob, Ronnie, Tommy & Steve
We were supposed to fish on Sunday 7/13. The weather was predicted to be much nicer. Once again, we were going off shore in hunt of the elusive Mako. I had heard that only 1 in 10 trips produces a Mako shark. We were 1 for 2. I didn't have much hope.
Then on Friday night my phone rings and it was Tommy. He was babbling something about NOAA predicting better weather for Saturday and his brother Steve not being able to make Sunday & he dropped a HUGE mako in this secret spot on Thursday… The call came in around 7:30 PM. By 8:30 we were all set for a 5:30 am Saturday trip. We got a late start and made 2 stops to try to get some bait. It was 10 am before we had our chum in the water. Now, I don't know what world Tommy was in with his weather report, but, NOAA said 6 to 10 footers and we were measuring 6 to 10 footers on the depth finder (we were in 134' depths, no, now 142', then 134 again…) Well, after some arguing about our spot, we passed 2 great looking spots and a bunch of tuna to go to Tommy's spot, we arrived and, as I said, the chum was in the water around 10. By 10:10 we had 2 small blue sharks in the slick. One took a bait and I hit the other with a gaff handle to spook him off. It was now 10:40… 11:am… a rod bends deep. Tommy grabs it and slams the hook home. Ronnie suits up and takes the rod. We thought it was a small Mako because it came in so easy, but once boat side we knew she was a good fish. But green. So, I decided to harpoon her instead of gaffing. I wanted to let her run a bit. Bob, who was seasick all morning got up and expertly wired the fish and I grabbed the poon and through it hard into what I thought was the gills. Well, I missed about 4 inches too far back. It was a mortal hit but the dart came out and the fish woke up. In a flash she was under the boat and heading for greener pastures bleeding heavily. Oh no, both chums were still in the water along with 2 other rods and the engines were off. I started the engines & turned the Megabyte so that the dacron was no longer under the boat. The chums behaved and the other two lines passed over the bow. We brought in the fish and another harpoon shot went in deeper and she was ours. We tail roped her and tied her to the side of the boat. With the sea conditions worsening we dragged her in and headed for home in some of the sloppiest water I have ever been in. It took over 4 hours for the 55 mile trip. All in all, it was a TREMENDOUS day!!!
Good Fishing - Captain John
