This week, Team ReelTime had the pleasure of running a Spring Striper Trip for Mr. Jeff O'Dell, his dad, Carol, Brother Greg and friend, June. Overall, the results were pretty good for this time of the year and our Guests caught and kept 2 nice Rockfish at 34.5" and 39" and several nice chopper blues at a pound or 2 each:
Awesome Job and W.T.G, guys!!!
The O'Dell party work well as a team and catching these hogs on light tackle proved to be blast for them!
Here are the details - With the wind and seas calm, water temp at 70, we departed the dock at 0630 and headed out. We stopped briefly at the "secret spot" and loaded up on 2 dozen hand size Croaker and Spot in record time ~ about 10 minutes. Our guests did a great job with that and First Mate, Carl was slinging Croaker and rebating hooks with FishBites quicker than a Sushi Chef on a Saturday Night !!!
From there, we headed straight to a couple of our proven hot spots on the CBBT to hopefully put these guys on a couple of nice Rockfish. It wasn't long after we started trolling a casting to structure when we had a our first knockdown, a nice 34.5" Striper...
Both Jeff and Greg were working the pilons, casting bucktails and shadbodies like a couple of pro's and as luck had it - Greg hooked up first with this nice 34" Rockfish. Nice, job Greg! (Greg did a nice job on managing the rod and was quite and so humble, too  )
The current was waning and the silversides were everywhere. And the big fish appeared to be feeding on the surface. With this, the top water action continued with hits and bumps and then a while later, Jeff's dad, Carol had the pleasure of landing this nice 39" Rockfish:
Nice Rockfish, Carol & Great Teamwork Guys !!
The entire crew did an awesome job of managing the rods and deck. When this striper saw the boat, it made several strong runs and dived deep. On light tackle it was a blast and it took all hand to clear lines and get the net ready to bring aboard. The video is forth coming, as soon as I can reduce it in size and post it.
We shifted gears when the current kicked in and casted live bait around the Islands for a while with little result. Then on the top of the tide we trolled for a while to see if we could interest a couple spanish. Not much as happening with Mr. Mackeral, so we headed over to the Middle Ground to Chum for a few Cobia...We saw signs of Cobia and Rays, and even raised a few Sharks which were Awesome Pulleage for folks! However, it appeared that the Cobia have not moved into the lower shoals in full force just yet.
It was getting late and guests needed to get back, so we headed for the barn mid afternoon. These guys were a blast to fish with and it was fun bantering about the fishing, joking each other and getting to know them and hear about there background and family. Here's couple of closing pictures before these hogs hit the fillet table!!!
Jeff, Greg, June and Carol - Once, again a great time was had by all and it was a real pleasure Team ReelTime to put this day together for you all!!!
Let Carl and I know how those "beefy" RockFish Fillets turn out on the Grill this weekend and give us a shout when you're headed back down this way!
* * *
Thanks again and Best Regards to All, Captain Fletcher Dunton - USCG Liscensed, OUPV
PS - We still have key dates available though July for inshore trips, so let us and we'll be glad to setup your next charter aboard ReelTime! Call Fletcher at 757-292-7702 and book today!
|