Last weekend I had the opportunity to hop on a boat, cruise 75 miles away from the shore, and try my luck with some fish. Although I have been out on a boat party fishing before, I had never been out to the Canyons in search of bigger game fish – especially Tuna and Dolphin Fish (Mahi-Mahi, not Porpoise). After waking up and prepping the boat, we were on our way out of Ocean City, NJ to the Baltimore Canyon. On the way out, the water went through a few phases, eventually changing to a clean, deep blue. We dropped the rigs and within 20 minutes most of the poles were bent (6 poles, 4 people) with everyone shouting at each other. We landed 4 of the 5 fish – one broke off and one was a throw back.
Energy pumping and ready for more hits, we ended up hanging out over the next few hours with nothing coming after our rigs. The radio was silent. Although the fish weren’t hitting, we had the pleasure of whales and porpoise coming up to hang out to the side of the boat. Deciding to lay down for a well needed rest, I was suddenly awakened by the reel zipping out and my brother shouting. We had a Mahi on the line. Bringing it boatside, one good wiggle and he broke off, swimming away. We cruised for another hour, called it quits, and took our three Yellowfin Tuna three hours back to the dock.
Reid Pikul 