Before going out on Saturday I checked the SST’s which didn’t show any significant features. But you know how it is, the charts don’t show everything so we went out in great conditions and expectations after last Monday’s effort.
Again the idea was to go wide and try to find the Yellowfin that can’t be too far away, there are plenty at the fish markets.
Trolling out there was some bait down deep inside the shelf but no temperature breaks. At around 300 fathoms there was a 0.5 degree rise which we worked for a while but it appeared devoid of life so we continued on our way.
Until near Heatons the temp was constant then it dropped nearly a degree and we found quite a few Sperm Whales in fact more than I have ever seen at any one time as well as several pods of Pilot Whales all moving South. I figured that if everything else is vacating the area so should we so I turned around and headed for the Bait Station.
At around 500 fathoms, basically in the middle of no where the cry went up there was a Stripy following the shot-gun. It made a couple of half hearted hits at the lure then must have become Bill wrapped as it ran for about fifty metres then just fell off.
And that was it for the day other than seeing some Sauries taking off around the shelf. It was a frustrating but pleasant day at sea.
The only action I heard on the radio was of small Gemfish and the occasional Blue Eye on the mountain which had twenty or so boats on it.
Tight lines,
Ivan