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Limited Load Long Range Sportfishing
Limited Load Long Range Sportfishing
Oct. 13
Good afternoon from the Polaris Supreme. We returned this morning from our 6 day trip and off loaded our candy of the ocean. I'm not kidding you. Those bluefin are so darn good I could just make a shake out of them and drink them. I had the pleasure of getting my hands on a few this year and had the big fat belly of one last time I was off and the way I did it was so darn good I'm going to tell you how I did it for the people who caught those beauties this year. Salt, pepper and olive oil on the meat side. Put the belly skin side down on the grill and cook it through. If you flip it at all only do it for a few seconds at the very end. On the stove mix soy sauce, maple syrup and a splash of water and heat warm. Pour on top of fish and enjoy.
Big fish goes as follows: The big bluefins of the trip went from 68 up to 123 pounds, the wahoo was 58 pounds, and I weighed a yellowfin at 51 pounds and we caught several of those so some good quality fish there.
We departed on Joe Gigliotti's 2nd annual 8 day accurate adventure excursion quest outing journey tour ride drive cruise stroll trek trip this morning. Our bait looked mostly good. The last box we took scaled up after our first few scoops so I had the pleasure of taking part in my first bait bucketing. That's where you use buckets to scoop the bait as opposed to nets to put it onboard. It has it's advantages and disadvantages and one advantage is that it's a good workout. Holy moly. After that we had a lovely lunch and some lovely tackle rigging. I had a lovely nap as well and I jumped on the band wagon. I now started the Suzanne Collins Hunger Games trilogy. Richie and chef Shawn have book club meetings on them and I just couldn't be left out so here we go. Plus my David Lee Roth bio still isn't in, damn you amazon.
I'm handing the keyboard off to hopefully Richie for your reading sake, Tommy's out but I sure you want to read Richie's writing. I do. See ya!
Drew
Sunday, October 14th, 2012
Today was a travel day for us on-board the Supreme. Well, it was a half-travel, half-fishing day. We completed our seminars after breakfast and once the seminar wrapped up, chartermaster Joe Gigliotti handed out the goods. Everybody received various t-shirts from Accurate Reels, Five-Star Fish Processing, and Magnaflow Exhaust Systems, and everyone also received various jigs, line, and other tackle items. The big winners of the raffle were Steven Lowe, who won an Accurate reel and Charles Tasselli, who won a Calstar rod. Congrats to Steven and Charles and a big thank you to Joe for hooking us up with not only a bunch of Accurate gear for everyone to try out but for the gifts as well.
Anyhow, in our travels we managed to catch a few handfuls of really nice dorado for the galley and the gang also threw a few tags on them as well. We also caught a few tuna for the galley but most of what we caught was released to fight another day. Other than that, it was just a day of closing the distance from point "A" to point "B". We'll be to point "B" sometime in the morning and we'll see what we can do with a good load of bait, a veteran group of anglers, and some good weather ... for now.
We're currently monitoring Tropical Storm Paul and his whereabouts and we'll base our decisions on what his path decides to be. We'll take things one day at a time. With that, we say good night and we'll hit you up tomorrow.
-The Supreme Team
Tuesday, October 16th, 2012
Hi friends. Fishing today was just beautiful today on 16-22 lb. yellowtail down here. We had a few of those "premiums" in the mix and a few shakers but for the most part, it was a really nice grade of 'tail. Our key to success today was finding--as Tommy puts it--fresh balls [of yellowtail]. Classic run 'n gun fishing for the morning as the guys on jigs and fly-lined sardines were getting their fill but once our drift was established, the dropper loop guys got in on the action too. Anyways, it was a good morning bite in the "drift zone" but a little after lunch, things shut off and we toured around trying to find another ball without much success. Speaking of lunch, chartermaster Joe Gigliotti did it again. He owns the pizza game and made a really awesome lunch for the guys. Sausage, pepperoni, olives, barbecued chicken, chicken and pesto, and smoked fish, capers, and onions were being devoured by the gang. Joe rocks. I only had a couple bites of each because my nutritionist, Chef Shawn, didn't think I needed the extra carbs and fat. I had salad and a banana. Eyes on the prize, baby. Anywho, it was definitely a morning thing and we'll be here for one more morning to see if we can't connect on some more fresh balls [of yellowtail] and let the weather fade out before we boogie out of here to get in some offshore tuna and dorado action. Oh yeah, we need to make some bait too.
As I type this, the time is 0245 hours in the morning and it's starting to rain, Gunny is all slicked up downstairs braving the elements, and I'm up here in the cozy wheelhouse contemplating typing a report for another hour and fifteen minutes until we have to wake up Tommy and Mark. Nah, I can't do Gunny like that. Anyhow, bait-making isn't all that great as Gunny has made a couple pieces and a couple of flying fish for next trip and I've made one lizard fish. Pumped.
Speaking of pumped, the gym here on the Polaris Supreme is overloaded with muscle right now. Last night before dinner, Tommy was in the wheelhouse gettin' his leg and core workouts in while I was out back in the "gun zone" getting my diesel on with some upper body workouts. Tommy was rockin' out a few sets of crunches, squats, and toe raises, I was in the gun zone jackin' out sets of chin-ups, tricep dips, push-ups, and leg lifts. It was on. So my fellow pump brother, Riddler the Ripped One, and I were getting all swollen and admiring each others work, and here's Gunny taking a shower. He doesn't have a membership to the gym yet but we'll find a way to get him one, don't you worry, Tommie. If you're nickname is "Gunny", you'd better be shredded to the max and not applying cocoa butter moisturizer when Riddles and I are getting wrenched. I'm proud of you, Riddler, I'll be your spotter anytime. If only we could get him bronzing...
Staying with the last topic, Drew and I took what might be the best photo ever this evening. A rainbow showed itself in the distance and what a beautiful rainbow it was. Instinctively, Drew leaped into my arms and I held him like a baby lamb in my toned arms and Mark snapped a photo of the exchange. The picture is just fabulous, Drew being held up by "Richie Gun Racks", his smile ear-to-ear, and a beautiful rainbow in the background. Just lovely.
So that's all. Life on the Supreme is grand right now and I've got to go and make some bait. Like I said, we'll be here tomorrow trying for some more 'tails. Hopefully, the action is a real fat burner and we're just going crazy all day. We'll see. Okay, I gotta go. Bait, bait, bait!
-The Supreme Team
Wednesday, October 17th, 2012
Hi friends. We had ourselves a very productive morning down here on the yellowtail grounds. We awoke this morning to beautiful, balmy conditions and after catching only a couple of premiums, we bailed back out to the drift zone. The drift zone once again was kind to us, as that quality 16-22 lb. grade bit the jigs and dropper loops for us all morning. Really fun fishing on a really nice grade of 'tail. Unfortunately, as the wind picked up speed around lunch time, our lines went slack and the yellows stopped biting. Bummer. To throw salt on the wound, the weather kept freshening up and we had to make a run for cover for the afternoon.
I'm thankful to say that we did find shelter for the evening. Although it's still blowing thirty-plus knots with gusts up to forty knots, there isn't the washing machine sea conditions that we had in the afternoon. The wind this evening was like the clock concept of the arena in the second book of the Hunger Games series "Catching Fire". It would blow from the east, then the southeast, then the south, and so on. Every time the wind direction changed, we ran for cover and hid until the direction would change again. We're very smart!
Like I said, we're sheltered away for the night and the wind is letting up now, so we're pumped. We'll try for bait throughout the night/morning and then try for some yellows when we're all finished with the bait-making. After that, we're hoping to bust a move offshore and focus on tuna for the remaining three days of the trip. With a favorable weather forecast, our excitement is high and let's see if we can't get on some of that nice grade yellowfin and bluefin. Stay tuned.
-The Supreme Team
Thursday, October 18th, 2012
Hi friends. Bait-making at 0300 hours this morning went very well us. The bait is on the large side but we're hoping to find some large mouths to feed them to. After only catching a couple of 'tails in the AM, we took to the open ocean and were rewarded with lovely weather that was just what we needed. The seas were still kind of confused but with a light wind, the hunt for kelp paddies and breezers was a pleasurable day aboard the Polaris Supreme.
We jigged up some small yellowfin throughout the day, most of which were released, but we had a couple of standout moments to share. First off, Steven Lowe caught a beautiful wahoo on the troll. Sweet. We also had a kelp paddy that kicked out a bunch of really beautiful mahi-mahi's. It was a little crazy there for a minute. Things almost got out of hand, but you know us, we don't let any fish--especially those silly dorados--get the best of us. After calming the situation down and restoring order, we had a box full of flatheads. Booyah. Our last fish of the kelp was caught by our master of ceremonies, Joe Gigliotti. Joe put down the cards and poker chips for a few moments to land himself a 40 lb. yellowfin. That crazy card shark, he's so savvy! Joe pulled off a veteran move: let all of the other anglers fish off the dorado's and then when we thought the game was over, G-Money played us all for fools and landed himself the token tuna. Nice job, Joe.
So that was how our fishing went today. I can't leave you without letting y'all know about what else went down today: I bronzed. I know, right? After nearly having all of my espresso-brown tan blown off by Hurricane Paul, Momma Nature showed us her love and gave us gorgeous weather and sunshine for the day. Our weather today started out pretty okay but by days end, it was flat calm with just a breath of wind - A+. Just a beautiful day for soaking up the sun and burning fat. That's right. Along with the bronzing, hot dorado action, and awesome weather, I managed to get in a couple hours of getting my swell on. Yeah, I said it. Like I told Gunny today," I wish they made a size large shirt with the sleeves of an extra large." He laughed.
Off topic, once again, I would like to say something. This crew is just dandy. If you don't want to party with us, I don't want to live. We're all about getting stretched, Hunger Games book club meetings (Drew is almost headed for the final book), and living a more healthy lifestyle. We aren't just dieting, we're working on our strength and conditioning too. I'm changing my lifestyle, Mark is changing his lifestyle, and next trip, Drew "Chuck Norris Wears Drew Henderson Pajamas" Henderson is changing his lifestyle. It's fantastic! But not to forget, we're fish-hungry fishing machines as well. What the bow and arrow is to Katniss Everdeen, a rod and reel is exactly the same to us. It's like an extension of our limbs. It's just so natural and pure. So you throw in the fact that we are all some pretty darn good fisherman--even Mark with his swing-for-the-fences style of angling--you've got the ingredients to have yourself just a rollicking good time here on the Supreme. We have fun, we fish, we life a healthier lifestyle, and last but certainly not least, we bronze. Sonny Jim.
For tomorrow, I see no other reason not to workout, bronze, and go catch some 18-22 lb. yellowfin tuna in sunny, windless weather. That's our plan, anyways. If we do well on the yellowfins, we get to do my favorite activity that we do here on the Polaris Supreme: fish for BIG bluefin tuna...and bronze while doing it. See ya.
The team you dream about,
-The Supreme Team
P.S. Joe Gigliotti would like to say hello to his striking daughters Nicki and Alex. There are a lot of crayons in this box that we call "the universe" and you two shine the brightest. Very sweet, Joe. Very sweet indeed.
Friday, October 19th, 2012
Hi friends. Happy Friday to all of you back home. How are you? Good, thanks for asking. Let's get down to business.
We awoke today just like any other day. Tommy woke us all up very peacefully but at the same time gave us way too much information and had our eyes crossed before we could even get the boogers out of them, or open them for that matter. I got out of the rack, put on my fishing shorts, came out to the bench in the wheelhouse, grabbed my boots, and proceeded to put on my socks. But these just weren't ordinary socks, oh no. I pulled these particular socks over my heels and up to my calves and when I pull my socks all the way up to my calves, you know what time it is - business time.
I pulled my socks all the way up so that when my boots are at full pop-dog--rather than semi pop-dog, the way I normally wear them with shorts--they don't rub me raw. I know what you're asking yourself right now, "Richie, why on earth have you spent an entire paragraph talking about your awesome business socks and boot length?" Well, the answer is simple - we got down to some major business on yellowfin tuna, flatheads, and wahoo and I don't like getting my legs all dirty and wet. That is why my boots were at full pop-dog today.
After looking around all morning at dry kelp paddies, we got on some ponies (common dolphins) and landed 14 of those beautiful 25-45 lb. yellowfin tunas. Unfortunately, that was our only go-around on those things and they vanished. It didn't take us long to locate a beautiful kelp paddy and it was on like Donkey Kong. The mahi's bull-rushed us and they were a really nice grade too. I'd say that the majority of the fish were in the 15-22 lb. range and they put on quite the show. Not quite a kelp paddy off of Mag Bay action but plenty close enough. No matter where they are, they're the hardest fish to gaff and they get us all wet. After finishing up our Mexican limit on those things, the tuna got in on the action and bit very well for us. For the most part, they're footballs, but a couple standouts were landed after the initial melee had passed. Joe Gigliotti got himself another beauty and Jeff Hauser got himself a dandy too. Good job guys, way to give a hundred and ten percent. The two luckiest anglers of all were Hart Brauer and Skip Hess II a.k.a. "Skipper Jenkins". Hart and Skip were our luckiest of the lucky lambs today and landed themselves one wahoo each. Fine work, boys.
So here we are. About to wrap up our second annual Gigliotti/Accurate 8-day adventure and we're going to bypass the bluefin zone. I know, I know. I'm as disappointed as anyone, but there's no reason to bomb up from where we are to the bluefin zone where the scores have been quite unflattering. The weather isn't very sweet right now either. What was a beautiful morning of bronzing quickly turned into jacket/slicker weather after lunch. As of now, we're traveling up the line to look at another area for a few hours to try and locate some more of those big ole yellowfins. Our ride is OK. We're not pounding or scooping the bow or anything but we're doing a little bouncing, like our car is on hydraulics in the ghetto. Hence, I'm listening to Backspin, channel 46 on SiriusXM radio - old school hip-hop. Bumpin'.
Wish us luck tomorrow and we'll give you a wrap-up report tomorrow. Peace out, homies.
-The Supreme Team
P.S. The Hunger Games epidemic is spreading through the boat like a wildfire. Star galley assistant Patrick is a closet Hunger Games reader. I caught him hiding behind the cooking area, sitting on a milk crate just reading away. He told me that at first, he wasn't all that pumped on reading about the life of a sixteen year old girl but once you get into the world of Katniss, you can't escape it, and Patrick is like a fish in a barrel. You don't have to make excuses to me, Patrick, even old men like you can enjoy the Hunger Games without guilt. Add one to the book club meetings. You know where the coffee is, Patrick.
Oh yeah, before I forget. The other day, Mark Clark celebrated his birthday and I totally spaced on it. He turned 86 years old. Happy Birthday, Mark. See ya.
