[RIROCKHOUND]

Quiet trip over all. We don't have a range to reach Welker for the bite there, so settled on the Atlantis' rather than fight the crowd at the tails.

worked some warm but stale looking water from West Atlantis to Atlantis. trolled over 80 miles over Fri afternoon and Sat AM.

started well. hit 12 small mahi around a high-flyer (pot) south of the dump. got on the troll in W. Atlantis and had a knock down w/in 30min that turned out to be a 35lb Longfin (Albacore) tuna. Nothing else.
trolled off the edge from there to East Atlantis where found some whales. another boat said Sperm whales in the area, we only saw the back which can look much like a finback, so who knows.

Worked some 75 deg water for a while and had a good knockdown on a bird/chewy hoo (plastic ballyhoo) on a jet head. Let it dump 400yds while looking for a second tuna. no love. single hook-up. seeing a long color profile deep, we were thinking nice tuna, but when in came closer I saw a small tail. Wahoo, and a big one. after an epic battle boatside (w/o a wire leader) we got her up and I sunk the long gaff as she dove again (a foot back into the meat, oh well). A second gaff into the head and she was aboard. Total length 74", fork length probably closer to 70" and 27" around. well larger than 65lb 'Hoo we had two years ago. Chased some splashes that look like a marlin chasing a skippy for a while on the troll, but no hook-ups. With the skippies around we were hoping for a big-eye in the area. Nothing the rest of the night except a couple of light (skippy?) knock downs. chunked/drifted squid all night for nada. Trolled the AM off the edge for Bigeye and found no love. worked on the flats for nothing. trolled the edge in 550ft to the tip of Atlantis and up to 60 fathoms. pulled the plug and steamed home.

not a banner trip, but added another trophy tail to the dock piling.

for the Wahoo David Oakley (single-man pic, no relation) was the angler, I was on the wire/gaff George (Tautog) ran the boat and sunk the second gaff. great team work. hook fell out when she hit the deck.

Bryan