July 17 – Red Hook is really starting to fill up for this moon. It’s a little early in the cycle for everyone to be fishing today, only a dozen or so boats going. The trade winds are blowing today at a brisk 20 knots in the morning and even stronger by mid day. I rode along with Bob on the new Paul Spencer boat Southpaw today and he went one for one. This bite started on a short rigger teaser and within moments this fish has taken a look or a bite of most everything in the spread. No jumps and a quick battle had me hoping for some excitement near the boat. Careful for what you wish for. I did get a few shots of a nice clean fish in the air filling the frame at the end of the leader.
 
 
 
And then things changed quickly as I felt the need to dive for the deck to avoid the inbound missile. Luckily the roll of the boat had the fish impacting the hull side just inches below the covering board and bouncing off into the water. A check of my camera had this image below as the last frame captured before I bailed…

 
 
 
July 18 – Riding aboard the 72′ Merritt boat Tyson’s Pride today. More heavy rain and strong trade winds today. Our first bite comes on a short rigger teaser and comes strong and fast to the boat. The pitch goes out but never even gets a sniff. Our second morning bite also starts on a teaser and this fish eats the pitch just right. Ten minutes into the battle the line goes slack. Turns out to be a fluke accident with the circle hook breaking just below the barb. A long afternoon with no more sightings. Rain and lightning all evening long.

 
 
 
July 19 – From the eye of the storm … dawns first light arrives in the form of an amazing electrical storm over the East End of St. Thomas. While sitting on the boat having some coffee, I could see several power line transformers arcing while the power surged and flickered in the residential hills surrounding Red Hook Bay. Not good. The National Hurricane Center reports a 30% chance of the overhead patch of weather forming into something tropical. By late afternoon, this prediction would be increased to 60%. I decide to take a lay day today and stay on island. While visiting Neptune Tackle, I end up running into an old friend Tyler. He is now Captain of one of the Double Header skiffs that specialize in this areas inshore fishing and also are masters of targeting the Yellowfin bite out off the edge. It doesn’t take long before he puts together a plan to dash out between squalls and show me some Kingfish. Like the Blue Marlin a few miles offshore, the kings remain elusive even in an area where they were biting just yesterday. I wasn’t for a lack of talent or effort however. They did catch a few fish and even broke a new high tech jigging rod while applying some heat on heavy braided line.

 

 
 
 
July 20 – Aboard the Paul Mann boat Prime Time today. This is day one of Fin Gaddy’s charter, owner of the newest Paul Mann boat named Qualifier. Big improvement in the weather today, some sunlight and just a little rain. First encounter is a teaser bite that doesn’t play along. Next is a long rigger lure bite, down and tight. Bent butt outfit in the chair for this one. Fin is a tackle enthusiast and this outfit is a favorite for 80lb line. A longer than average blank, cut to stay firm with an old school cork grip mounted with a light weight composite reel. A perfect tool for this job.

 
 
 
This fish pulls off on the leader without showing herself much. The next teaser bite eats the pitch and the 50lb bait. This short lever rod is also equipped with a mini bent butt for stand up leverage. This fish does a few hops on the leader for the camera. A third teaser bite again eats the 50lb pitch and it’s first series of jumps is across the spread with an interesting background. The Hatteras boat Amirita is coming up the drop right behind us and gets a nice show of the action. Within one minute on the line the circle hook pulls and we are done for the day. End up 2 of 3 bites, and see two others.
 
 

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I’m just back from St. Thomas with a Virgin Island fishing report. I arrived on island within minutes of the leading edge of a tropical wave. So it was no surprise that there would be some rain and wind. Little did I know…
 
 
 
Day 1 – Fishing aboard the 58′ Paul Mann boat Prime Time today. Pouring rain and squalls all morning. A mid day arrival of charter party has us hitting the South Drop for a few hours. We end up with one billfish bite in just a few hours of trying.

 
 
 
 
Day 2 – Prime Time again today with a full day and an early start. Continuing steady rain with plenty of wind. Photo conditions were terrible but the fishing was ok. We ended up releasing 1 of 3 bites. A second fish that might have been a catch was cut off by accident. While we were hooked up, Bubba Carter on the Tijereta made a close pass in the hope of getting a bite. Sure enough he did. Happens all the time and it’s the right thing to do. The random part is the initial run by his fish was directly toward the one we had close to the boat. And since the moving line is the cutting line, we lost ours with 50′ to go. The good news is that it makes for some great photos of a neighboring boat (below) and Bubba did end up getting his fish. And I got to say hi to mate Terry and old friend Tony as they roared by. So a happy ending.

 
 
 
 
Day 3 – I’ve been wanting to ride with Ronnie Fields for a while now and today was my chance. The 60′ Sportsman boat Big Oh was hitting the North Drop for the first day of their summer season. Even the light tackle and very light leader they fish didn’t scare me away. I figured I might get some shots of jumps near the boat and some water splashing photos. Sadly, both of the fish they released today did not jump. But the team delivered on the splashing water opportunities. As the backing performance of the boat gets sluggish (below), Ronnie is forced to give back some line and have the crew open the tuna door and let the sea back out where it belongs.

 
 
 
 
Day 4 – The last few days have been spotty on the North Drop so today on the Prime Time Butch decides to give the South Drop a try. His clients also have a flight to catch so they have to be at the dock early. The rain is intermittent today with moments of actual sunshine. We spend most of the day near the FAD and start out with a rare 35lb Dorado. Ahh, another benefit of the South Drop. When the call for lines out comes, we have released two Blue Marlin. What a great way to wrap up a trip.

 
 
 
 
Day 5 – Today I have the good fortune of riding along with an old friend Terry aboard the 72′ Merritt boat Tyson’s Pride. I first met Terry in the Mona Passage when I was working on the Key Venture while we were rafting off Jim Edmonston’s mothership the El Zorro for a few weeks. Terry and the Tyson’s Pride stopped by for a few days of what turned out to be very slow fishing that season. Now 20 years later I get a chance to spend a day with him and his ace crew of Shaun and Newt. Turns out that he is going to try to get his seven year old son Charlie his first Blue Marlin today. A good day for the cameras, despite the return of the steady rain. Since the North Drop is still spotty, we again hit the South Drop and go right to the FAD. Charlie wastes no time and gets right to work on a small Blue Marlin. After watching Charlie catch his first Tarpon the day before, and now a billfish from his dad’s fighting chair … the name Charlie Robinson is one we will be seeing in the future associated with some notable catches. We have a strong day by releasing 3 of 4 marlin bites and seeing 2 other lookers. This turns out to be more action than anyone on the North Drop saw. It’s going to be crowed at the FAD tomorrow…

 
 
 
 
Day 6 – The newest boat in the fleet is the 57′ Paul Spencer boat Southpaw. This state of the art vessel looks like any other sleek, modern, sportfisherman from the outside (photos 1 and 2 below). But what you don’t see is the high tech components within. Most notably the propulsion system is Volvo Penta and their pod drives (photo 3 below). I can’t wait to see this hardware in action. Unfortunately, we trolled the North Drop all day today without a bite. The fishing overall is terrible today with very few bites. Looks like the action today is South with the Chach catching 5 of 9 bites. I will say that the ride is very smooth and there is little or no vibration at any speed. I’ll have to try my luck again next moon.
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