Idaho Spuds Bag First Tuna

 

Well, Chris popped back over the hill from Idaho to spend a couple weeks fishing.

During this trip, a friend of his from Idaho, and his boy, joined us.  It was their first time out on the ocean, and fishing for tuna.  We couldn't have asked for a calmer day, either.  The ride out started out with a slight breeze in the morning.

Throughout the day, the wind died off and it just turned to glass. We found warm water just 24 miles offshore and deployed the lines.  The first couple fish came one at a time.  They had a blast gaffing fish!

The fish were very cooperative throughout the afternoon!

We ended up the day with just over 20 fish, and the Idaho boys were amazed at this fishery that we have out here. 

Happy Birthday, Dad!

On July 21st, Melissa and I went out to Siletz Bay to take my Dad crabbing for his 79th birthday.

He and my Mom had the greatest time out on the water.  The weather was absolutely perfect as well!

  We didn't end up hooking any salmon, but didn't really try, either.  We mainly crabbed and enjoyed the day.  This day was his.  So, whatever he wanted to do, which was relax and catch some crabbies.. 

So we did!

My parents enjoyed seeing the seals that inhabited the bay.

 If you hook a fish, you need to get it in quick, because these seals would swipe your salmon so fast your head would spin!

Dad helped pull the crab pots and keep the back deck organized.

We ended up with a few crabs...enough for some crab cocktails, but no limits, that's for sure.   The plan was to sneak a cake out with us, and sit on the beach and have steamed crab, some wine, and some cake and celebrate his birthday.  Well, everything went well, except we didn't catch our crab... soooo, we just headed back to Salem to celebrate.  Little did he know that we had a cake with us during the WHOLE trip, out in the cooler in the front of the boat!  Needless to say, he was VERY surprised and LOVED it!!! 

Happy Birthday, Dad!  I love you!

4th of July Tuna!...err, 5th!

Well, it wasn't exactly the 4th of July, but we DID get out to fish for some tuna on the 5th of July.  My friend Chris saw a nice weather window for a week of calm weather so he loaded up the boat and headed over from Idaho. 

I drove over the night before and met him in Newport to launch the boat.  We set a plan for the next day, which entailed a later start.

 
 We loaded up and took off under the bridge, through the thin layer of fog.

 
The fog quickly dissipated and sun broke through.

We made it out to the 33 line and dropped in.  We instantly hooked up!  A nice single to start the day!

 Right after that fish was bled and chilled, we had a double. ...then a triple. ...then a QUAD!  We landed all 4 fish during that quad, too!

It eventually slowed down and the fish went off the bite for a while during the late morning and early afternoon.

There were plenty of signs of life, and lots of birds.  We found a few friendly albatross that danced along the water beside us, looking for a meal, themselves.

Its amazing how large these birds are.  It definitely takes them a few waves to create a runway to take off.  They almost run along the water until they finally glide up into the air. 

The bite turned back on and Rapalas and swim baits were the meal tickets.  

We ended up with plenty of fish for both of us, along with a great day full of memories.
 
Thanks again, Chris!!