[gilhop2]

fishnwrestle, on 31 January 2012 - 11:39 PM, said:

didnt the bite last year not start until the middle of feruary? i think i remember going down around the 20th last year and the bite had only just begun. also mabey it hasnt gotten cold enough to force them down south to NC and school up there. it has been a really mild winter and it wouldnt surprise me if the bait and bluefin are staying further north. an example of this would be that the cod are just showing up to block island when it strted last year the very end of december and early january and the cod are only showing up in the shallower water, which is generally colder.

we had them good out of hatteras first week in feb 2011 on the bite me

[Kilsong]

Feb 4 report

One boat had 4 on troll on Sat. But two boats out of Oregon Inlet which tried jigging didn't get any.

[Enoch]

seems like the bft are atarting to school up.
i anticipate the performance of the new 2-piece rods.

Kil or Scott, can you make comment in whether the smaller diameter tip is "lighter" in performance over the one piece?

cheers

[bowguide]

Enoch, on 05 February 2012 - 03:10 PM, said:

seems like the bft are atarting to school up.
i anticipate the performance of the new 2-piece rods.

Kil or Scott, can you make comment in whether the smaller diameter tip is "lighter" in performance over the one piece?

cheers

I hope to give it another try this week Ill let you know after a hopefully successful trip so I can give an honest comparison between the two.I havent really noticed a difference while jigging with a 340g labo

[Kilsong]

Feb 11 report

I talked with Capt Andy of the Good Times today. They had a great trolling trip today by landing 6 bluefin. One is about 70 inches and all five were over 80 inches.
The Bite out of Hatteras Me tried jigging briefly and they didn't land any on jigs.
The See Breeze out of Oregon Inlet couldn't get out due to boat problem today.

[Kilsong]

Feb 13 report

There were great bites on jig today.
Tuna Duck and the God Speed had good days on jigs.

[Kilsong]

Feb 14

I heard bluefin still bite today.
I am going down to fish Wed and Thurs and I hope they are in biting mood.

[LouT]

Kilsong, on 14 February 2012 - 04:01 PM, said:

Feb 14

I heard bluefin still bite today.
I am going down to fish Wed and Thurs and I hope they are in biting mood.

Good Luck Kil

Hope you put together a great trip, catch'em up.

Tight Lines
Lou

[fishnwrestle]

good luck Kil catch em up!

[Kilsong]

We found tuna and we fought tuna though we found banana in one guy's cooler.I was accused of as a human banana on the way out and I thought I thought I was when we could not locate fish in the morning even fishing was hot last two days.
We jigged hard and we marked lots of tuna under the boat, but I was the only guy who could get a hit on FCL LABO 340g with spotted glow. Thanks Scott for the tip.
However we had a great topwater action
They were cruising just under the surface. Detailed report and pictures will follow tonight.

[Kilsong]

We found tuna and we fought tuna though we found banana in one guy's cooler.I was accused of as a human banana on the way out and I thought I thought I was when we could not locate fish in the morning even fishing was hot last two days.
We jigged hard and we marked lots of tuna under the boat, but I was the only guy who could get a hit on FCL LABO 340g with spotted glow. Thanks Scott for the tip.
However we had a great topwater action
They were cruising just under the surface. Detailed report and pictures will follow tonight.

[Enoch]

nice work. can't wait to hear your thoughts

[ExtremeFisherman]

Nice Kil ,lets see some pics

[bowguide]

cmon kil fill us in. How did the reels hold up?

[Kilsong]

Tried to post detailed report and pictures last night, but I slept right away as soon as we arrived at Seaside Inn after dinner.
We are heading out now and hope they respond to jigs today.

[Kilsong]

It's been frustrating tuna disappeared whenever I fished in NC This year.
It was not a good we found banana in a cooler which one guy brougt on the boat. They teased me I am a human banana. When we couldn't locate tuna in the morning, I thought I was.
Finally Capt Andy located tuna. We jigged hard. You name it. We used all sort of jigs,but tuna just ignored them. Finally my like got tight. But it didn't stay long because of knot failure.
I usually tie a knot directly to the eye of a jig. But I used swivel/split ting this time. The knot went through the small swivel was not perfect and I was lazy enough not to retie it.
It cost me a big tuna. That was the only tuna we hooked up on jigs. The jig was FCL LABO 340g with spotted glow. I usually don't use any jig heavier than 300g for tuna, but I tried it as Scott said he had good bites with the jigs and curreant/wind was pretty strong.
While tuna didn't cooperated on jigs, we saw lots of tuna just below the surface. While jigging, we saw a few tuna on the surface not far fro the boat. Greg castes a OTI Komoda and tuna hammered it a few times without hookup. On the next cast, finally line got tight. He used a custom Race Point rod. He had a Braid full harness and harness ring attached right above of reel base. I was not comfortable of the ring because it touched my hand when casting, but Greg said it doesn't bother him much with gloves on. The fight lasted pretty long and we knew it was a big tuna. But unfortunately spliced line failed. Spliced line or loop to loop connection usually don't fail even in extreme pressure. But it has to be perfect. There must be defect/damage on the line as Greg is very good at it.

Now my opportunity came. After I cast my 150g HERU Skipjack against wind, we saw big explosion on my lure while I was cranking slack line caused by wind, I thought I lost the fish because there was too much slack, but to my surprise tuna was still there when I finally got rid of the slack line. After a brief fight, I asked Dan to fight because it could be a last fight of the day.
I watched how the Black Hole 2nd generation reacted/performed carefully. And also I was very curious how the Chinese 20000 reel, which I brought from Beijing Show last week,performed for big tuna on heavy drag. Dan fought relaxed and comfortably on full haress and Braid harness strap even it was his first try on a popping rod. We saw the big tuna, but the tuna got freedom when 130 lb leader line got broken when the leader line got wrapped the tail and tuna charged.
While Dan was fighting, Greg cast out and several hit. I think the use of single hooks on the lure attributed to the low ratio of hookups.

[Kilsong]

Greg fighting big tuna. He had several hit on OTI Komodo before he finally had a solid hookup.
The Race Point looks nice.









I had an explosion on 150g Heru Skipjack while it was sitting motionlessly.
The reel I was using was Chinese 20000 which I brought from Beijing Show last week.
After I spooled the reel on the boat, drag was sticky when pooled. Indeed, drag was hesitant while fighting tuna though it didn't give any problem. It seems it is not a major problem and I got a bad batch reel. They claim the reel has a max drag of 30 kg (66 lbs) as most spinning reels maide in China claim. The reel looks solid after one hour fight with heavy drag, but my Saragosa didn't give any problem until I landed several big tuna with it. I am going to test the reel more for big tuna before I post my review of the reel.

The rod is 7' one piece Black Hole Cape Cod Special 2nd generation. I haven't decide whether to go with 2nd geration and 3rd generation for normal cow popping rod on the long range boats and for 300 plus lb bluefin on the East Coast. After observing the fight, Greg and myself felt 2nd generation is better and 3rd generation could be too stiff. But I'll decide after more testing with big tuna in NC and on the 8 days trips to Socorro Island for big cow in April.

I fought the fish briefly and Dan took over the fight.





















Greg hooked up a few times casting a popper behind the stern, but lost all after brief fight.
Greg used 11/0 single hook and Capt Andy suggested to use bigger hooks as they are having success with much bigger hooks on trolling lures.

[Kilsong]

Feb 17
Capt Andy said today was very rough though weather forecast was light wind.
They caught two on troll.
He said Sami's group on the Tuna Duck had 2 - 3 bluefin on poppers and no tuna on jigs.
Scott/Courtland group lost tuna on a jig and caught a couple on troll. But it was not confirmed yet.

[Kilsong]

Feb 18
They said tuna were bursting on top, but most boat didn't hook up them.
Very strange day. I got a phone call that one boat had a bluefin only 16 miles out of Hatteras, but it was not confirmed.

[Kilsong]

Feb 21 and 22

It was hit and miss. One boat had 2 - 3 and the other boat had zero on jig and poppers out of Hatteras.

They encountered strong current on Feb 22 and had to travel far to east.
One boat had 2-3 on poppers and another boat had bluefin on troll.

It seems you have to be at the right place at the right time.

[Kilsong]

Feb 26
It seems bites were good and some boats had bluefin on jigs, poppers and troll.
I arrived at Hatteras, NC tonight to fish tomorrow.

[Kilsong]

Feb 27

We just left dock out of Hatteras.
It is calm now. I hope fishing is as good as yesterday.
Capt Andy said he had 7 bluefin on troll and other boats had bluefin on jig and popper yesterday.

[Courtland]

Well? Everything OK?

[Angelo Ruvio]

Apparently Kil really is the human banana, or at least a walking donut

[Kilsong]

Angelo Ruvio, on 29 February 2012 - 10:32 AM, said:

Apparently Kil really is the human banana, or at least a walking donut

I tried not to see banana on the way down to Hatteras.
When I entered a grocery shop, I tried to stay away from fruit/vegetable section.
I thought I succeeded. I stopped by a Starbucks to buy a coffee and they were selling banana right in front of counter !!!

After having dinner, we checked in the Seaside Inn in Hatteras. They serve light breakfast. When I entered the breakfast room, there were bananas !!!

I met Capt Andy of the Good Times and he said he had 7 bluefin on troll and most boat had at least one bluefin yesterday. Another bad sign because they rarely bites well two days in a row this year.

I fished on the Hatteras Fever because my usual boat the Good Times was booked.
I counted 23-25 boats. But no boat found tuna until 11:00 am.
Finally we heard the Good Times had a tuna on troll. When we approached the area, The Sea Breeze had a tuna on a jig just before we got there. That was it. Most boats got skunked.
I feel sorry other boats didn't get any tuna just because I am a human banana.

[hafnor]

Very nice Kil! btw. You have PM

[Kilsong]

Tomorrow(Friday) looks the only day to go out for a while


Friday 3/2
Morning

Light and variable winds with smooth seas. Small short period wind waves.
Winds: ESE 4 to 5 knots
Seas: SSW 4 feet at 6 sec.
Afternoon

Breezy whitecapping conditions with moderate choppy seas. Small long period swell.
Winds: SSW 11 to 14 knots
Seas: ESE 4 feet at 10 sec.

Saturday 3/3
Morning

Very windy with large choppy seas. Small craft advisory. Moderate short period wind waves.
Winds: SW 24 to 32 knots
Seas: SW 8 feet at 6 sec.
Afternoon

Very windy with large choppy seas. Small craft advisory. Moderate short period wind waves.
Winds: SW 25 to 33 knots
Seas: SW 10 feet at 7 sec.

Sunday 3/4
Morning

Windy conditions with choppy seas. Small craft advisory. Small short period wind waves.
Winds: N 17 to 24 knots
Seas: SSW 6 feet at 7 sec.
Afternoon

Windy conditions with choppy seas. Small craft advisory. Small short period wind waves.
Winds: NW 16 to 21 knots
Seas: S 4 feet at 7 sec.
Monday 3/5
Morning

Windy conditions with choppy seas. Small craft advisory. Small short period wind waves.
Winds: W 15 to 21 knots
Seas: WSW 5 feet at 6 sec.
Afternoon

Very windy with large choppy seas. Small craft advisory. Moderate short period wind waves.
Winds: W 23 to 31 knots
Seas: WSW 7 feet at 6 sec.

Tuesday 3/6
Morning

Very windy with large choppy seas. Small craft advisory. Small short period wind waves.
Winds: N 20 to 27 knots
Seas: N 5 feet at 5 sec.
Afternoon

Breezy whitecapping conditions with moderate choppy seas. Small short period wind waves.
Winds: N 15 to 21 knots
Seas: NNE 4 feet at 5 sec.

Wednesday 3/7
Morning

Windy conditions with choppy seas. Small craft advisory. Small short period wind waves.
Winds: NE 17 to 23 knots
Seas: ENE 5 feet at 6 sec.
Afternoon

Breezy whitecapping conditions with moderate choppy seas. Small short period wind waves.
Winds: ENE 15 to 20 knots
Seas: ENE 6 feet at 6 sec.

[Kilsong]

They catch some yellowfin, but very few bluefin were caught.
We caught big bluefin in 300 lbs range, but we caught only 60" - 68" smaller tuna in last two weeks. Bluefin in 300 lbs range might left the area.
Due to warmer weather this winter, it looks bluefin spread out. We have only month of bluefin season in NC.

[Kilsong]

March 7
I got a report that fishing was good. One boat had as many as 15 on troll. One boat had them on jigs, but no report on poppers.

[Courtland]

I have room for one or two on Monday out of OI. About $400 a head. Courtland38@gmail.com

[Kilsong]

March 8
Fishing was great on popping and on troll. Most tuna were 68" - 80"

[Kilsong]

March 14

Trolling was pretty good, but we didn't hear any boat had blufin on jigs or poppers.
We kept 65" and 82" trophy tuna caught on green stick.

[Kilsong]

After jigging/popping for a while for nothing, we decided to troll for scouting.
This time, two lines were screaming. We had double header bluefin !





We kept one (65") and released the other.


Nice 82" bluefin


You can keep only one bluefin over 73" per boat for a year and Coast Guard checked the fish and documentation at the dock.
After they checked this fish was the first trophy tuna killed on the boat, they released the fish to us.





Even I didn't land a bluefin on jigs/poppers, it was a big improvement for me because I finally saw tuna. My time will come soon.

[Kilsong]

March 15,

I heard that the Bite Me had one on popper and two on jigs and landed one.
Fishing was pretty slow today and some got bluefin on troll after 1:00 pm.
The Good Times had great jigging action with blackfin tuna and landed 48.

[Kilsong]

March 17/18

Tuna were located north/east of normal fishing ground on Sat which was too far for Hatteras bots, but tuna moved down again on Sunday.
Smaller tuna under 100 lb appeared which provided good jigging and popping opportunity.
Tuna moving around everyday and you have to be in the right place at the right time.
Due do warmer water temp this year, I don't think they are going to stay there for long.
One boat out of Hatteras enjoyed excellent blackfin jigging last week.

[Kilsong]

March 19

I talked with Greg who fished on March 18 and 19.
He had a great trip on March 18 by hooking about 20 big bluefin all on surface lures.
Today was slower as they land one bluefin in 200 lb range and three yellowfin.

It is a nightmare of tackle.
I heard several popping rods including Japanese rods got broken and Greg even broke Shimano Talica 25II. Fortunately there were no casualty of Black Hole Cape Cod Special rods.

[Kilsong]

March 24

It looks bluefin are out of range for Hatteras boats as they moved up to the north.
Boats out of Oregon Inlet ware still catching bluefin along with yellowfin. But it is a matter of time they are out of range for Oregon Inlet boats.
Bluefin were caught around Baltimore Canyon and a couple of small bluefin were caught on a net off Cape Cod already.