So much and So Little "BLUE" (6/7)

[Latimeria]

Finally getting out on a weekday when the marine forecast is good.  Met up with my buddy at 3:30 am and headed to the ramp.  We contemplated the Butterfly where everyone's been catching or look around the local banks since the 3/4-day trips have been seeing them.  We opted for the inner banks which gave us many more options over just heading out 60 miles.  We got bait and the receiver guys mentioned the butterfly, but we were sticking to our plans... or were we?

Man, it was almost drizzling out with that heavy marine layer.  I put on my rain gear and took a quick nap.  When I awoke, I realized we were 6o miles out!  Well, we're here, so hopefully we could capitalize.



There were the boats you wanted to see out there including some sporties, some big private boats and Duane Diego flying his kite.  BLUE whales EVERYWHERE and looked to be feeding also, or just playing.

Also, the water was almost purple it was so clean, but it was a bit chilly at 63.5.  So plenty of Blue, but no tuna marks or sighting yet.

We drifted baits at a couple of paddies and had some Blue Doggies take the bait, but they were on the smaller side.  One paddy probably had a dozen 3 footers around it.

All the boats switched from long soaks to trolling, so we followed suit.  We trolled Mad Macs, Spreaders, and a few other things we had in our kitchen sink



We finally got a screamer on the Spreader, but it was off before we got to really start cranking.  We aren't 100% sure what it was, but it did scream like a tuna.  Oh well, trolling onward!  All of the boats have now disappeared, so we put another plan into action.



We ran to the East Butterfly and trolled a bit.  Even hit a few dry paddies.



We had the gyros out all day looking for signs of life. Not much radio chatter, so we had no idea what to do.



We opted to head east and try some of the other inner banks and see what we could see.  The banks definitely had more bird life and we were metering some SERIOUS fish!  Now confidence was high!
...But we could raise a single fish.  On the other end of the boat, I hear "What's that?  a Submarine?".  It really looked like a submarine, so we drove in to investigate.  Fishing was so bad we needed something to get out of this trip, even if it was just to discover something new.

As we got closer, I was even more puzzled.



AWHALE!?!?!  A big one and awfully bloated!



We stayed upwind the entire time, but my buddy did wind up on the wrong side at one point and HOLY HELL!  Makes a skunk smell like In-an-Out.

Sharks everywhere on it!  Big one's too!  No Great whites, but all big Blues!  They were feeding on the carcass and lifting their heads out of the water to eat!  It was super cool to see.  We got some video, but the pics didn't come out too well.



You literally heard the gas ripping the flesh apart and it was only a matter of time before this thing Blew its cork!





I have to figure out a way to post video here to show how many 6-7.5 foot Blues there were swimming around.  Most were trying to bite my buddy's motor which was annoying him, but we couldn't stop them as they were infatuated with it!  LOL





I put a rod out with two sardines pinned on a big hook and dropped it in front of their face.  Nothing... They were full, so I just let a little line out to see if there was a yellow hiding below.  As I was watching the sharks feed on the carcass and looking for a GW, my rod got bumped and then doubled over!  I put the reel to 40# of drag and the fight ensued!  I just knew it was a big Blue!  It only took less than 10 minutes to get it boatside, but it was a BIG Blue!  7 to 7.5' I would guess, but neither of us wanted anything to do with handling this thing!





Well, we got our fix of things all Blue, except the Sky and Tuna.  No luck besides my PB Blue, but that salvaged the day since that's not something you see every day.  Hell, I've only see one other floating dead whale in my entire life of fishing so it was pretty awesome. 

Long ride back to the docks (35 miles) and it was dark.  Probably went 160 miles for no meat was a real bummer, but it was my first offshore trip of 2024, so I was pretty stoked.

Hopefully, the tuna get closer and the water warms up a little.  But until then, I'll still be hunting my first real Gamefish of the year.

Thanks for reading!

[jrodda]

Aw, you didn't want all that tasty blue shark meat?

Pretty crazy scene to pull up on that whale carcass. Good try out there.

[Tim524]

Mother Nature put on a good show for you, pretty cool to witness !  Luckily that thing didn't rupture while you were next to it.  I only put 40 miles on my boat yesterday, Baby Steps  Ha ha

[vdisney]

Could have done without the bloated whale, yuck!!!!!!!!!

[KogaHead]

blue sharks are the carp of the ocean