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I have a couple. First the fluke thing is pretty common I think while trolling for stripers. I've caught 4 or 5 of them over the past 3 years with swimming plugs. Even caught one on an umbrella rig. I use downriggers a lot which increase the fluke hits.
Also was trolling off East Beach (MV) and caught the biggest Sea Robin you ever saw. It was so big I did not know what it was at first. Total length was over 20 inches, probably a 3 lb fish.
The creme de la creme: Me and 2 of my buddies are trolling for tuna down by Butterfish Hole (off Mauntock). Near days end we decide to head back to Block Island where we were staying. One of my buddies doesn't get out much and he wanted me to pick a spot on the way back to do some bottom fishing with clams. He was hoping to catch a cod. I didn't have the heart to tell him that I thought the water was too warm (August). Anyway I find a little structure on the chart and we head over and all 3 of us rig up tandem hooks with clams and give it a shot. Well he's reeling his up to check his bait and about 30 to 40 feet below the boat he says, "I think I got a bite". I look at him and not much is happening when suddenly line starts stripping of the reel and ripping through the water sideways. The line ripping through the water made a sound that I definately want to hear again. So this is 50 lb test line on a cod rod with a significant drag setting. Anyway he says "I think it's a bluefish". My other buddy and I say at the exact same time, "It's no bluefish!". Are there any guesses yet? So the fish takes line 2 or 3 times before we finally get our first peak at it about 20 to 30 feet below the boat (very clear 78 F water). I see bright yellow mostly and gorgeous green. So I'm not a complete expert so I'm thinking maybe a small yellowfin tuna, which would have been great by the way. Anyway the fish sees the boat and says "no thanks" and goes on another tear towards the stern. The line starts creeping towards horizontal so we know this thing is coming up and bam! this thing clears 5 feet out of the water and is ........?????......... are you ready.......you experts probably already figured it out with the coloring and the behavior........well.......it was...........a.....................22 lb 46" Bull Mahi Mahi! What a blast and what a meal........well several meals.
Funny but the thing barfs up a small fish and my buddy throws it overboard. It sinks about 5 feet and woosh it's gone. So the same guy that caught the first fish is the first one to get his rod back in the water. This time he uses the tail end of one of the mackerel I had for bait. 3 seconds later bamm, he hooks another and a several minutes later he lands the 12 lb cow that was his mate. That was it. No more to be found, just a single pair cruising out in the middle of nowhere.
Hope you enjoyed.
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