[matawest]

Made it to Gunny not too long a go and the fish finder looked great, seemed to be a lot of yellows around. Couldn't get them to eat anything, seemed like they were down deep eating something. Went 1/2 but it was tough work...

 

[Capt.matt]

2/27-28

I had a bit of a different game plan on this trip.
The floaters are pretty much stale right now. Thursday night we fished Hoover and Perdido and I got reports from Magnolia, Gunnison, BV and Nansen and all of the rigs received a ton of pressure in the last 7 days so on this one the plan was to start inshore and get a good box of BFT before moving out to the floaters. After a pretty slow day of bottom fishing we got started at sunset on one of the shelf rigs to a pretty solid bite of stud blackfin and we fished there until we filled the chill box twice by around 10pm.
Once we got a pile of BFT in the box we moved out to the floaters and it was SLOW but we saw good numbers of YFT eating glass minnows and we landed one on a Halco but couldn’t buy a bite after that. We sat there watching yellowfin eat glass minnows for a couple hours right next to our Flyers and Halcos before throwing in the towel and bouncing back to a shelf rig for another good bite of big BFT as the sun was coming up.
To help make up for the slower day of bottom fishing the first day we stopped for a bit on the way home and boxed a pile of big beeliners to end it.
I expect the fishing at the floaters to heat up in the next couple weeks once the fish start to transition off glass minnows.
Trip totals...
130 BFT (mostly jumbos)
1 YFT
1 Warsaw
290 Beeliners
14 Kingfish

 

[Undersize]

Nice grouper on boat rod

Is freelining live piggy perch or dropping one down ever productive for YFT?

I saw these guys pull up two fish about the same size back to back, and it looked like they tossed out live bait in Mississippi Canyon.

 

[Capt.matt]

Nice grouper on boat rod

Is freelining live piggy perch or dropping one down ever productive for YFT?

I saw these guys pull up two fish about the same size back to back, and it looked like they tossed out live bait in Mississippi Canyon.

View attachment 126546

I have not seen many caught on live piggies but have seen it tried a bunch of times. Live hard tails and live flyers are hard to beat though.

 

[Illy]

Damn. Those are some of the biggest Bft I have seen caught on these trips. Looked like a good time even without the yellows cooperating

 

[Undersize]

I have not seen many caught on live piggies but have seen it tried a bunch of times. Live hard tails and live flyers are hard to beat though.

Thanks again for the feedback and sharing experience. Maybe they were throwing hardtails, because I could see the bait from a couple hundred yards away.

Hope we don't get too much crappy weather so you and your crew can make lots of money and fun stories 👍

 

[DaleR]

Looks like a great trip!!!!

My first tuna trip was a fish box full of jumbo blackfin on the La Pesca out of Port A. We caught em behind shrimp boats.

 

[Palomarknot]

Capt. Matt are Gag and Scamp Grouper opening back up April 1st?
(Never mind found it)

 

[jbuyrum]

Does scamp close in Texas?

 

[Mangochas]

You would have to be a lucky SOB to get a Warsaw over here. Only seen two caught in all my years. I had a 15lb Gag on and we think a big Warsaw grabbed it and let it go. It haD scrape marks from it's teeth.

 

[Capt.matt]

You would have to be a lucky SOB to get a Warsaw over here. Only seen two caught in all my years. I had a 15lb Gag on and we think a big Warsaw grabbed it and let it go. It haD scrape marks from it's teeth.

We don’t see them nearly as often as we did 15 years ago but there’s still a few around.

 

[Mangochas]

We don’t see them nearly as often as we did 15 years ago but there’s still a few around.

Our boats don't fish deep enough over here. But some lucky guy got a 70lber next to me fishing southwest of Clearwater in 240ft. Seems they like it in 250ft and deeper. I am sure if you went west of the middle grounds in 300ft or more you could find one.

 

[tngbmt]

we used to chase bft or bonito behind shrimp boats to get the chum/chunking bait we need before heading to tuna ground on the other boat.

 

[Drewzu]

3/14 tuna trip is on the edge of not going 😬. 🙏 good weather please !!!

 

[Mangochas]

3/14 tuna trip is on the edge of not going 😬. 🙏 good weather please !!!

Gonna puff here on that date. Big front coming. Maybe you far r enough west it won't bother you.

 

[Canoeist]

What is the best way to preserve yellow fin? I cut the loins into roast sized chunks that make 2 or 3 steaks. Kept them dry and open in the fridge for 3 to 4 days then wrapped in plastic and froze all together in a beer box. I read a slower freeze and thaw are best but i am open to suggestions.
When i take a chunk out i let it sit on the counter for about an hour then into the fridge until the next day. Should i unwrap as soon as possible while it thaws in the fridge, seems like it takes forever to thaw. Doesn't seem like I'm ruining it by any means but learning sometimes beats guessing. Thanks for any info

 

[Arkansastide85]

@Capt.matt any news from the last few trips lately?

 

[matawest]

What is the best way to preserve yellow fin? I cut the loins into roast sized chunks that make 2 or 3 steaks. Kept them dry and open in the fridge for 3 to 4 days then wrapped in plastic and froze all together in a beer box. I read a slower freeze and thaw are best but i am open to suggestions.
When i take a chunk out i let it sit on the counter for about an hour then into the fridge until the next day. Should i unwrap as soon as possible while it thaws in the fridge, seems like it takes forever to thaw. Doesn't seem like I'm ruining it by any means but learning sometimes beats guessing. Thanks for any info

Goal is to freeze as quickly as possible. Forms smaller Ice crystals and less cell wall destruction.

Best way I've found is create a saturated salt bath, dump in a bunch of ice and vacuum sealed steaks. Will be mostly frozen in an hour or two, then I place in deep freezer.

This is after a day or two of the loins being wrapped in paper towels in plastic bags.

 

[Capt.matt]

@Capt.matt any news from the last few trips lately?

We have not made a long trip this month. Our first 12 hour of the year was yesterday and we did well on big Beeliners.

 

[Mangochas]

We have not made a long trip this month. Our first 12 hour of the year was yesterday and we did well on big Beeliners.

How far you go out on a 12hr trip? The Double eagle has been running 12 hr trips that cost $175 per person and they go out about 35 miles max. They are now running some 12 hr nite trips from 6PM to 6AM for mangrove snapper. They don't burn much fuel and seem to carry around 19 to 28 people. Once red snapper open they will run out to 60 miles offshore. Gags are closed for most of the year over here since they are all but gone. But red grouper is open, but they are in bad shape and i am sure more lock downs on them are coming.