Wow, what an example of the dramatic contrast in long range fishing. Yesterday - fantastic fishing, rip roaring action, rods bent, muscles straining, the thrill of victory. Today - a struggle to stay awake as we searched offshore the entire day in premium water conditions and a good enough sea state for very close to nothing. This was a classic lesson in how even the strongest fishing effort sometimes yields pathetic results. Particularly pathetic today was the lack of kelps or any other flotsam with the entire day total of kelp found maybe filling one five gallon bucket. Mind you that was five men searching from daylight through dark effectively covering at least two hundred square miles of ocean. This was a long day that undoubtedly goes into that character development category I mentioned earlier in the trip. Unfortunately for all of us, these mathematically inevitable slow (in this case stopped) days are part of the program that fortunately happen much less often that the good ones.

So with this day over and my hubris and bravado temporarily in check, we are continuing the journey up the line with plans to target game fish tomorrow back in the shallows. Honestly, less my B.S. and sense of humor that I hope you all recognize, everyone had a fine time today relaxing and enjoying the complete leisure one can only find in the stress free, unencumbered world of long range fishing. At least, in my opinion, that is how one should approach days like these. Less cell phones, congested traffic, depressing news stories, daily stress, and of course politics, there are very few escapes that compare. Today was a perfect example of such. Reading, relaxing, and eating Chef Drew Rivera's phenomenal creations. That pretty much describes the extent of today's activities for anglers. Of course this is not preferred, but when days like these occasionally come along, no one suffers much. Tomorrow is a new day.

Tim Ekstrom