June 22 2011
We spent a week in the BVI’s (British Virgin Islands) on the Ambush with the Olga and had some great fishing. After a couple of good days deep dropping, we followed these by a swordfish expedition to an area that looked good on the chart.
I had only fished for an hour or so and we had our first bite, and the damn thing stayed on !!!! We caught a nice 225 lb swordfish in about 1550 feet of water on conventional tackle, a great effort by our guest. It is quite amazing how different the bite and fight are on mono with a normal reel, as opposed to 65 lb braid with an electric. The fish fight the stretch and diameter of the mono , as opposed to the minimal water drag of the thin braid. On braid the fish come up jumping and put on a show regularly, but on the mono they are done !!!!
Back at the big boat we weighed it, took some photos and cut the fish up for everyone to get a good feed from on the grill and plenty of nice fillets to take home for future meals.
The next day we went back and had a drift again, but no solid hook ups on swords, but we did get a couple of bites, and ended up catching a couple of bottom fish on our sword baits. That afternoon we fished back down the egde towards Virgin Gorda and tagged a nice blue for the boss on the Pakula sprocket in express color.
After a couple of days swimming and relaxing, we ran back to Puerto Rico for a week off before heading back to St Thomas for a few days blue marlin fishing.
Our June moon ended up being a bit shorter than we had planned, but we sure had enough bites. We tagged a nice fish around 400 lbs and missed a few on the pitch. Our luck was elsewhere as we jumped off a bunch of small blues in a row. It was great to catch up with some old friend son the radio, and looking forward to getting back down next week for a 3-4 week trip with the Olga.
My Cairns season on TRADITION is coming up soon, and myself and the boys are all jacked up about a good long season coming up. I have a few openings in excellent times, including late September, an awesome period in Oct and early Nov as well as a week in late November that will be prefect for getting out wide to the seamount and the tuna aggregation that is always a blast if the fish are not on the edge!!!
Looking forward to getting out fishing again, but have been really enjoying my time in Puerto Rico as well, including a trip to the big Arecibo Observatory last weekend.
If you haven’t made plans for your trip to Cairns this season, send me an email and I can help you make the most of a wonderful trip.
If you have not seen the good work being carried out by my friends at Pacific Marinelife Institute, please check them out and try to support the work to share the history of the Cairns fishery, as well as help explore the wonderful South Pacific.
Till the next report, Capt Tim
Capt Tim Richardson
www.traditioncharters.com
[email protected]
New Club Supports Research
Pacific Marinelife Institute has launched the Oceania Sportfishing Club, a private fishing club established by the Institute to help support fishery research and the preservation of fishing’s history; and Tradition is proud to be a Club Boat. Club membership entitles you to entry in the Oceania Sportfish Challenge, an annual yearlong fishing competition; subscription to the digital Oceania Sportfish Magazine, weekly e-newsletter, Club privileges card, special invitations and club rates for fishing adventures, stays and gear.
When Club Members fish on affiliated Club Boats like Tradition, in an affiliated tournament, with an affiliated Professional Crew member on their own boat, or aboard a Club Syndication Boat they earn points towards the Oceania Sportfish Challenge for each estuary, reef or pelagic species they catch, with bonus points for tag and release. While their supplied catch records and trip information is used to support important long-term research.
As a friend of Tradition, join the Oceania Sportfishing Club; quote the promotional code Tradition and you will receive a second year’s membership for free for only $55.00. A limited number (250) Founding Life Memberships are available for $150.00.
Visit www.oceaniasportfishingclub.blogspot.com and click on the Join OSFC tab for all the details. Remember to quote the promotional code when joining and I look forward to you joining me aboard Tradition to fish the Challenge.
