Offshore adventure scores Mahi

[SkunkBoat]

I know... I know...I warned ssiredfish about the unexpected perils of a 50 mile trip offshore BUT... forecast inshore and offshore was 1 to 2 ft Sat night thru Sunday...and I knew where the bluefins and dolphin were biting all week.....Sooooo...
Could find no one able or willing to go with me.
Gassed up the V20, took an extra 5 gals for "oh crap!" sake, and headed EAST out to the Glory Hole 40 miles. Left at 5 am first hint of light cause I didn't want to go in the dark solo. got to the hole at 6:30. Found the first string of pot markers and started to troll. Hooked up a tiny dolphin on the second pot! First dolphin ever on the SkunkBoat. Got one in the high teens, maybe 20 lbs, GAFFED it, swung it in. As I was making a fist pump and yahooing, it went ballistic, wiggled off the gaff, floppin' all over, spewing blood everywhere, could not stop it as it got closer and closer to the transom and then...bye bye!!!! Over the side. Went south and farther out to check out the tuna fleet near the Princess. I guess I was late for the show or there was no show, so I went back to the Glory Hole and trolled a couple miles of pot markers. Picked up two 5 pounders. Headed back via the Mud Hole to try my luck at cod on a wreck. Fed bergalls 2 clams and broke of on the wreck...called it a day. Finished cleaning at 5PM...Exhausted.
Made longest trip and caught first Mahi ever on SkunkBoat. Got a great fish story too! My cheeks hurt from smiling so hard!:sun:
watch the video http://youtu.be/Nirk_FRviqc

~110 miles and 32 gals ... 3.44 mpg running at ~5K rpm and 30 mph
I LOVE MY BOAT!:love:

[RWilson2526]

wow, great trip!....I have visions of giving that a shot some day. The weather forecast was definitely solid for Saturday... you must have been some sight coming into the dock with mahi on your 20' boat! Nice job.

[RidgeRunner]

Very nice. I was hoping for a dolphin trip in the keys this past weekend. Unfortunately this makes the third time I carried the outriggers to the keys without getting to use them. You are making some long trips. No way could I make that in the V. I am on fumes at 70 miles tops. I get near 3 mpg with the Whaler though and that is why I been using it of late. With the 160 gallon tank it has some serious range. I need to repower my V and give it some more range, Jealous here...AND Congrats.:beer:

[joe7670]

Nice writeup and sounds like a great trip.

[Shawsee]

Great write up Skunk! I can't believe you went out that far by yourself. Awesome report and great work for being all alone that far out. Great video and love the music, hats off to you! Thank you for sharing.

[reelapeelin]

Proof positive...when you gotta go, YOU GOTTA GO!!...:clap:

[Redneck]

You guys and your Mahi :bat:. I wish we had them out west
NICE!

[Blue_Runner]

Good job!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sorry you "gaffed and released" one but that is understandable.

TRY not to let them off the gaff and put em in the box asap......THEN fist pump!! :sun: Never lost one the way you did YET but have been VERY nervous before. I caught a 23 lb cow once and my gaff man got her in the throat/gills. He stood in the middle of my boat holding her and she proceeded to paint the ENTIRE cockpit and crew red. She thrashed on the gaff for every bit of 1 minute solid. Wish I had a pic.

p.s. Oh and if you ain't careful, those tails will slap you in the nuts! Ask me how I know. :zip:

[jasoncooperpcola]

That is awesome! Like a few others said, i hope to do that when i repower my V20. I like what you have done to your boat. I love the hardtop. :love:

I went fishing with a friend last week and we got in a school of small chicken dolphin and between 5 people we caught 48 chicken dolphin.

I am not too sure about eating them though. They seemed "mushy." (I filleted one and after seeing the meat, i froze the rest for shark bait/chum.)

Are the chicken dolphin good to eat? Are they the same as the big dolphin?

[SkunkBoat]

here in Jersey, you gotta go 40 miles to have any reasonable shot at dolphin and the little ones 5 lbs and under are the norm. So losing that big one really hurt. But the little ones are just as DELICIOUS! In fact, my experience in Florida has been that really big ones over 30 are mushy and grey. I did have to resort to my brothers technique of skinning them with pliers first, then filleting. When I did the first one I filleted then skinned and kind of squished the meat. Its not like cleaning Fluke!
By the way, I saved belly strips for Fluke (summer flounder) bait. Nice and firm and bright yellow skin. I bet they rock as bait.

[awthacker]

Great trip! I couldn't dream of going that far.

Last Wednesday we took my V (175 HP two-stroke) with four guys and full dive gear on a lobster trip. 28 miles out. The current was ripping and we were having trouble with the anchor, so we ended up idling all day to stay on top of our divers. Then ran back nearly 35 miles due to making an out-of-the-way stop on the way in. I gotta admit, I was starting to get nervous about fuel (I have no gauge). We burned 50 out of 60 gallons.

[Blue_Runner]

Regardless of size I've never had a piece of fresh dolphin I didn't like. We always skin em like in the pic. Then cut the meat out and cut out the bloodline and red meat that was next to the skin - kinda like double filleting. Belly definitely make nice durable strip baits for flounder when we don't have flounder belly. Holds up real good to multiple bites and unsolicited attacks by Mr. Crabby.

I don't blame you for being bummed about losing the big on that way. On my first offshore trip on my V out of Hatteras, NC I was on the gaff when the first 12 lber came to the side. I wiffed about 3 times and the hook pulled. I was totally bummed out for about 10 minutes until the next one hit.

[bgreene]

Maybe we'll do a V offshore run some time.
I usually launch from Belmar - the ramp behind Mac's Bait & Tackle.

That WAS a perfect marine forecast to go offshore and I'm PROUD of you.
Never mind losing the fish..........doesn't matter. You went out there, you got on some fish, and made it back.

Good for you.

[Mulv80]

Nice video! I've been wanting to make a Mahi trip in my boat for a while now. What kind of lures where you trolling? I heard Mahi can be had around 15 miles out this time of year of Cape May. I have an Aquasport 215 DC with a 200 Johnson 2 stroke. I have plenty of fuel capacity to make a run (100 gallons) but I just don't like the idea of being much further than 15-20 off.

[ssiredfish]

Why make runs that far or by yourself or even when the forecast ain't that great????????

Cause you cant catch dolphin from your couch baby:clap: Way to buck up Skunk!!!!!

A buddy of mine had a Suzuki D175 on a 21' Pioneer, we could fish 165mi on 45g's.....Zuk's are good about that......

Alright, I'm only gonna show you once but this is how you control a wild Phin in the boat.
(he needs to work on his time, 4 secs is way too slow:you:)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijPpvSPzGxU

[Road King Cole]

Great stuff.

I too will splatter some blood on my boat and say a big one just got away!!!:hi:

Maybe one day I will go out far (stellwagon) and do some cod fishing, but not just ready yet.

rkc

[Blue_Runner]

See if this works.
http://s33.photobucket.com/albums/d73/stinkery/?action=view&current=0527070857.mp4

[RWilson2526]

Hog tie a fish....never would have thought of that.

[ssiredfish]

The Mahi Hogtie is a secret now fellas and should be treated as such. If word gets out we no longer get to laugh when they go apesh*t on other peoples boat

Its easy to do but difficult to refine. I saw a guy on Norm Isaac's BGFW do it in about 3secs from start to finish and it was a beautiful thing.

Best technique Ive found is to grab the leader and detach it from the mainline(you can do this after the tie-up also but I find it easier before). Then grab the tail and force the fish into the back corner of the boat, it will naturally bow up. Get about 4-5 wraps leaving a hole/gap in the last wrap to feed the leader back into creating a hitch, repeat if necessary. Turn around, give a sh*t-eatin grin and ask why they haven't got lines back in the water yet:you:

[SkunkBoat]

Thanks for the tip, thats a neat trick, but in this case it threw the hook as it fell off the gaff.
But I'll try to remember next time I'm trolling 3 rods, driving the boat reeling the fish, clearing the other lines, and gaffing the fish all by myself....

[Giorgio]

Skunk where do you port your boat? My friends are thinking of doing that same trip, but not sure if the boat would make it. They will be coming from Breezy Point and I'm not sure of the miles to the hole. I always went from Point Pleasant and it wasn't that far, I think 25 or so. I wasn't looking for Mahi Mahi, Tuna and Sharks. No Tuna but two Sharks, one Hammerhead released and one Mako, that was two years ago.
Does anyone know the distance from Breezy to the Glory Hole or can they catch Mahi Mahi a little closer. I told them to head out to the pots or any floating lumber and give it a shot. I'm still not sold on taking a 20' into the ocean that distance. Skunk nice going. :clap:
Thanks for any input.

[Giorgio]

I pulled up my charts and it's around 50 miles.

[willy]

Just saw your post Skunk, well done, met a fellow in Brick NJ years ago that came over to me when I was launching my V, said he fished one for tuna and mahi all the time out there when he had his.
maybe we should do a buddy boat out, now that I got the etec it is definitely doable,
I fish wrecks ten to twenty-five out often.
I am in Raritan Bay

[SkunkBoat]

Company would really be nice. Planning a trip is the problem.
Gotta have a great forecast and the ability to go during that window.
I mean, even that trip, I wasn't positive I would even go all the way and I couldn't get any of my fishing buddies to commit to that Sunday.
It helps to a have a reasonable expectation of catching fish too. I knew because I had been out there in a bigger boat earlier and caught tuna and had reports that it was still happening.
Also, gotta be willing to get all psyched up, do all the prep, and then bag it 5 minutes out the inlet cause you realize it ain't the right day to go 50 miles. And a backup plan if your cutting it short.
I run out of Manasquan Inlet and I dock right at the RR bridge.
I will certainly post here if I'm going to try it again. We can try to set up a rendezvous of V20s. I really want to put a tuna on my deck. And a cod and a maybe a Mako. I got my dolphin!

[willy]

I am up for it, getting psyched up is no issue, been psycho for years.
Only issue I have is I do not have any off shore rods or reels.
Oh well one more thing to work on.

[SkunkBoat]

Decent 30# outfits like you would use for bluefish, stripers, and bottom fishing will handle most of what is there. We're talking schoolie bluefins to maybe 50#s. Spool up with 50 # spectra for extra capacity. Will you get spooled by a 100# bluefin?...IF YOU ARE LUCKY!!!!
You can pick up a PENN 6/0 and a standup rod combo pretty cheap. 60# mono...Caught a lot of big yellowfins on that setup. Then you'll have a reason to take a canyon trip on a head boat!

[step up here]

the tred barta way ! good for you! i know your fuel consumption was less then anyone out their. as far as safety. well another person on board . you tend to think about these matters when your my vintage. oh by the way i launch out of belmar so i might see you fishing one day. just look for the aluminum hardtop and a i/o powered v-20 :sun:

[captpete13]

That's awsome Skunk. Lots of people at my marina have been comming in with tuna and mahi. I also am tempted to go out there with my V. But I would rather go with someone who knows what they are doing. If you ever need someone else to go with you just let me know.

[reelapeelin]

That's awsome Skunk. Lots of people at my marina have been comming in with tuna and mahi. I also am tempted to go out there with my V. But I would rather go with someone who knows what they are doing. If you ever need someone else to go with you just let me know.


That guy that gave you the tuna you shared w/us on Tice's ..sure sounds like he knows what he's doin!!...bet he's got a spare seat...:clap:

[bgreene]

Keep watch on the tropics guys.......for storms that can produce heavy swells offshore regardless of the wind.

Hum....thinking about this....... how about 1 V boat tows two more out.

Then we have two V's with full fuel tanks out there.

Never mind.