Oscar has been fishing with me offshore for 10 years. Today I had the pleasure of helping him on his shakedown  Cruise, even better surprise his wife Carmen was able to join  Us with her best friend Angie. Had the Havana Club rum flowing  And salsa blasting. Took a quick hour ride to the bluefin grounds At lunchtime,put in the Chatter sidetracker lemon/lime bar in and  Had our first bluefin in the box within 15 minutes of getting to the  Grounds. Let the ladies take video of the whales and dolphins and  Took quick sprint back to the dock before the storms hit. Congratulations  To Oscar and his family and many years of good times on the boat! Look forward to placing in some tournaments this summer!

Midshore Mixed Bag with the Amelio Ameno Crew

Had first time charter Amelio,'with Son Mike Luv Bug, And Veto Vin Diesel. Plan was to be a hands on learn  Trip. Told them the challenges of such trip to deal with  My demeanor, but he said, let's do it. Ran out and got  To the grounds and went on the troll, very obvious that  Wasn't the right move, went to the jig, and Amelio hooked A nice fish right away, boys did a great job on the fish and  The 56 incher was in the boat. Worked the numerous tuna Pods for a while till we hooked another one on a popper,  unfortunately chafed him off. After that heartbreaker, Gave the team a break and jigged up some nice cod. Then hit the pots for mahi but no life, went back on the troll But no more takers. Took a nice 40 knot cruise back to the dock. Crew did a great job today!

Canyon trip with Shamrock Eddie

Had long time friend Eddy our with buddies Ryan and Chris. When Eddy booked the trip plan was to tilefish, told him that  There had been a decent tuna bite in canyon so decided to Do a mix bag.'started out with a bang getting for 4 yellows in First 15 minutes. Decided to pot hop to add some variety to  The box, all pots were empty even tough water was clean blue  And 70 Degrees. Changed gears and went tilefishing, lots of  Current and wind made for tough conditions but still managed Half a dozen Golden's and bluelines and Eddy got to pop his tile  Cherry. On the way home we looked for bluefin to jig and pop and  Eddy got his shot hooking one on his first cast but she spit the hook. Great day with a bunch of good guys and congrats to Ryan and Chris For popping tuna cherries!

Good Tuna/Shark fishing with the Regulars

Had longtime repeat customers Jeremy, Gary, Damon
And John. Plan was to hit the canyons but with insane
Action short of it had to stop! Had Tuna all over the surface
Had 2 on first pass, had out over and under limit by 9am and
Was in release mode. Decided to try a shark drift, half an hour
In the right fish shows up. Battled her for about half an hour
And had her tailroped. Back at Hoffman by lunchtime weighing
In a nice 292lb Mako. After we celebrated having mako 3 different
Ways at the Ark, what a way to end a great fishing morning!

44 FA update and New Partnership

Took the flight to South Florida to check out build on my
New boat. Great tour set up by Tony, Cynthia was our tour
Guide and gave us details on boat build from start to finish.
Also spent time with Maria and Ken Plant manager. What a
Great time and could not be happier with my 15 year relationship
With Contender! Looking forward to a great future. In meantime
Set up a partnership with Captain Mike Sisto Jersey Key Charters
Who will help me running my 44FA in the Keys and the Bahamas!
Game on folks! Took an afternoon trip with Captain Mike and had
bunch of mahi for dinner tonight!

Stripers with Dave Rogers

Had Dave back with Buddy Ernie, started trolling
And had our first hit in 5 minutes, unfortunately
We pulled him off quickly. All was quiet for a while
So we went and netted bait and drifted for a while
nothing,tried chunking nothing. Threw a Hail Mary Pass
And made a long run which came up aces. Drifted live
bunkers and it was game on, got our Limit and released
A few before making the long run back home.

Tuna with Brian Kohute and crew

Had Brian back with son Gavin and buddy John.
Trip was originally suppose to be stripers but with
Slow action in ocean we changed gears and blasted
Offshore. Found the life and had a bite in the first 5 minutes,
Landed him and hooked two more fish in the next hour,
Unfortunately we pulled the hook on the next 2 fish. Searched
Everywhere no more bites. Took a shark drift around the life but
No takers. Went back in the troll and no more bites. Happy
To get action early and get our first tuna for 2019!

Mixed Bag with Joe McGinn and Family

Had Joe out with daughter Joanna and grandsons Andrew and
Zack. Plan was to seabass got set up and ripping current and tons
Of flies pestering us. Kids were miserable as was I and we heard
Tuna conversations on the radio. Told Joe with the flat conditions
We could get to the grounds in half an hour and the kids would be treated
To Nat Geo/Blu Planet stuff to witness, he agreed and we were off.
Got there and saw whales feeding, dolphin, turtles, sunfish, and tuna
Pushing in all directions. Put in the spread and got covered in Albies
The entire time, entire family had a blast after a few hours they had
Enough and we went home. Never in my career did I have a better
Time without putting a Tuna in the boat!