01/12/14

The early morning found us well on our way toward a strong beginning. Plenty of action, good conditions, and a boatload of fish (and then some) in the vicinity promised the results we had been pining for the whole ride down. Then came daylight and the whole thing turned. True to their predictably fickle nature the tuna changed.

The steady morning fishing of the prior five or six days fizzled as the sun rose higher. The fish didn't leave, plenty of the buggers performed tantalizing drive-by's stoking an appetite barely whetted in the early morning show. But only a few more of the bravest provided the action we were looking for.

Maddening? Disheartening? Not yet. In the grand scheme, taking history into account, I would qualify today's results as typical. The fish don't bite forever. And they certainly don't bite with abandon, but for the odd exception to the rule, for weeks on end. Today's "correction" was about as normal as anything can be in fishing. The question now is how long will the down side of the cycle continue?

Ride it out? Hit the panic button? Grab our rear with both hands and kiss it goodbye? Hardly. We'll hang tough and see how it all unfolds. The main thing is that the fish are still around in sufficient quantity to make us believe. At the beginning such affronts to our desires chap to be sure, but they are just that - affronts. After this many years we are no strangers to adversity; time to get to work.

I was delinquent in the photo department today missing on a couple of good opportunities to capture trophy yellowfin in the 190 - 198 pound class. The demands of day one, and stress of the occasion, placed my focus far from the camera. Brian did manage to grab an image of Royal Star angler Tony Vultaggio with his 198 for a quick Facebook post. That said I thought I would inject a little levity into today's account with an image of the ever familiar, tropical welcoming committee. Enjoy.

Tim Ekstrom

Photo Here...