Ft. Bragg Albacore

 Friday September 11, 2020

Earl, Greg and I towed the boat up to Ft. Bragg yesterday (about 4 hours). We spent the night at a motel. Earl barbecued steaks and veggies for dinner. 



We washed it down with red wine. Greg and I studied the fishing reports and strategized our fishing adventure. I was in bed by 9:30.


Up at 5 a.m., we launched the boat about 6:30 in the dark. We navigated our way up the river and got into the ocean about daybreak. 

The ocean was incredibly calm. Greg picked a great day to go out.



We had to go far to reach the warm water which held the albacore we were after. The water was about 56 degrees near the harbor. We wanted water over 60 degrees. We went out about 50 miles. Not a typo - fifty miles. The water was a deep deep blue. 

We began trolling at about 8 a.m. At about 11:30 a.m., after reaching a location that someone said was promising, I noticed a big patch of floating kelp/seaweed.  I made a u-turn to try to get close to it. We couldn't find it again. While looking, Earl's reel started to buzz with the exciting sound of a fish on. He brought it in and I gaffed it. The skunk was off.

We trolled around that area a few times with no luck. I started trolling south. Greg said, lets not leave fish to find fish. So, we went back to Earl's lucky spot. As soon as we got there, we got a triple hookup. Three fish at once. We landed them all.

We ended the day with six nice fish. 





Back to the dock at five p.m. for the four hour drive home. I finally made it home at 11 p.m. - a 17 hour day. Just in time to write my blog. zzzz.

the bear


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