Trip Information:

A group of Project Managers (My father among them) and their Boss Willie Kramer from H.B. Zachry Company Chartered the Samaki for a Team Building meeting, These are the guys building the new Causeway. We headed to the Semi-submersible 80 miles offshore late Wednesday night (10/16/02) at 12 knots to save fuel, because the price has gone up 33 cents a gallon. We got there before day light and started trolling picking up a Blackfin immediately, then action then died off. So it was time to start chumming which didn't produce anything but a Mako eating everything that didn't have a hook, including live bait. When the sky got light we started trolling ballyhoo and immediately had a double Yellowfin on our 50's, we pulled the hooks on one after a few minutes and landed the other about 45 minutes later. We made another pass in the area with bait and got another double with same scenario, lost one boated another. Over the next couple of hours we lost several more Yellowfin and the bite turned off, except for the occasional Blackfin. Like magic a weedline appeared a couple off miles off the rig and it was headed only about 5 degrees off coarse of our homeward destination, like a dream! About Noon Thursday (10/1702) we got on the rip/weedline, shortly after that we saw the Get Reel with Capt. Brain Phillips work a big channel buoy a couple hundred yards off the weedline, both of us had billfish in the pattern but they would turn off to chase bait on the surface. Brian ended up with a couple of nice Mahi-Mahi and Wahoo from the buoy and we got a good Tripletail on it with a live piggy perch. As we headed up the weedline trolling lures we caught a number of small Mahi-Mahi on Billy Baits, we released most to grow up. As we where going over one of the Dutra rocks we hooked a medium size Mahi-Mahi on the Billy Bait, then BAM the left rigger went down with an unknown Billfish on the Pakula. This fish fought harder than any fish I have seen, it did back flips, gray hounded, sounded, tail walked and made numerous long runs, after over an hour Deckhand Wes Paddy got the leader on him for the second time and released a 150 pound Blue Marlin. Now I have caught fish that took a lot longer, but for the hour plus we had this fish on was packed with excitement, and he was on a 80 pound outfit. After things settled down we headed back to Port Aransas since it was getting dark and we had six exhausted anglers.

Summary:

Date:

October 17, 2002

Boat:

Samaki a 37' Bertram Tournament Sport Fisherman

Where:

Marlin: Dutra Rock on a Weedline

Blackfin: 80 mile Semi-Submersible and Weedline between Dutra and rig

Yellowfin: 80 mile Semi-Submersible at 104 degrees from Port aransas Jetties

Mahi-Mahi: Weedline between Dutra and rig

Numbers for the Rig:

Noble Homer Farrington 3238' water - 27 22.1938 / 95 35.4043

*note: this is a temporary rig

Crew:

Captain: Scott McCune, Port Aransas,Tx

Co-Captain: Wes Paddy, Rockport, TX

Anglers on trip:

Craig Patterson,SA,Tx

Willie Krammerf,SA,TX

Doug Hutzler,Castorville,Tx

Bruce Mccune,SA,Tx

Sam White,SA,Tx

Mike Jacobson,SA,Tx

Angler's with big fish:

Tuna: Craig Patterson,SATx

Tuna: Willie Krammer,SATX

Marlin:Doug Hutzler,Castorville,Tx

Lure's:

Yellowfin: Ballyhoo

Blackfin: Ballyhoo and Billy Baits

Mahi-Mahi: Billy Baits

Marlin: Medium Pakula

Tripletail: Piggy Perch

Picture:

In the picture is Capt. Scott McCune, the others were not available for a photo since we got in at 10:00 PM the night before. I took the fish to be cleaned a Fisherman's Wharf.