Thread: Trolling tactics don't Just work for crappie

Decided on taking a break from the Rez, I found myself watching a beautiful sunrise from the co-captain's chair on a 26 ft. Robalo headed 40 miles out from Nags Head, NC with a good friend.. We followed the charter boats out to the edge of the Continental shelf . It was a nice ride out and we had baits in the water by 7:15 am. We pulled our rigs for miles with no luck at all , staying fairly close to the "big" boats who, from hearing their radio reports to each other, were having about the same luck as we were. Theo ( the captain) and I were taking turns behind the wheel. Getting close to noon with no luck at all, I saw on the navionics screen a place several miles away where the depth lines narrowed considerably indicating a steep drop or sharp ledge so I headed in that direction. Thirty minutes later we were there and all the other boats were mere dots on the horizon. I decided to start criss-crossing back and forth working our way along that ledge when we suddenly had a triple knock down. Three fish on at once and the fight was on. We only managed to land one of the three, a beautiful bull Mahi-Mahi, but there were more on the way. Theo took the helm and it was my turn on the deck. BAM! another hookup....another bull Mahi....With aching back, legs, arms, shoulders I managed to get him finally to the boat and into the cooler. By this time there were suddenly more boats around us. Those charter captains must carry some good binoculars because it didn't take long for them to find the fish (following us).....
We were having such a good time that we didn't notice that the waves were getting bigger, and that the big boats were disappearing one by one as the wind picked up. Suddenly we were out there all alone and the seas had turned mean and nasty. That beautiful setting that we had been enjoying was to be no more. We reeled in our rigs and hunkered down for a 40 mile ride home in 8 to 9 ft. seas. I knew that we would make it back safely, I just didn't know if it would be by boat or by U.S.C.G. helicopter..... Either way I just wanted my feet back on solid ground. I had so much salt water spray on my glasses that I couldn't see a thing when Captain Theo turns to me and says " Land Ho" and it was a wonderful feeling as we passed under the bridge into Oregon Inlet.
Back at the home base as I soaked in a big bathtub to wash the salt spray and fish blood spatters off my aching body I could still feel that boat rocking or was it the bathtub moving????
I can hardly wait to get back out on the Rez now to hook a few fish that won't try to pull my arms off, knowing that if the weather turns bad suddenly I'm only a few minutes from solid ground and that there are no sharks underneath.......

Dramamine Priceless!!!!!!