I spoke about the weed situation last week. It is no better. It is making trolling very difficult. We have been spending most of our time on the Tuna instead. We have had some really great days. The medium size Tuna are being very cooperative this year. One day last week, in an attempt to combat the weed we put marlin lures on the downriggers to try and keep them below the worst of the weed. We got a little dolphin, but it didn’t work on Mr. Marlin that day.

The weather sure seems to have settled into normal August weather – hot and calm. These calm days are great for kids. We had a trip last week where a couple of kids kept themselves busy all day with the Ocean Robins (Speedos), tuna, barracuda and Mackerel (Little Tunny). It is a nice change to see someone get so excited about catching half a Speedo because she couldn’t reel faster than the barracuda could swim.

We will be out quite a bit this week with no holidays to interrupt us. Let’s hope I have lots of fish stories for Sunday.

- Capt. Allen DeSilva

It never fails. The tournaments over, Colin Barnes went out on the Indigo Blue and it took him 20 minutes to get a bite from a fish he figured would have made the minimum 500 pound weight had it been a day earlier. MAKO took Sunday off but we were out on Monday and had similar action. We went 1 for 4 for the day. That included a doubleheader of blues each over 500. They both came loose, but it sure was fun for a while.

I gave Mate Peter Lewis kudos a few weeks back for pitching a Blue on a big lure so it is only fair that I relate a story from this week that went the other way. We had a fish come up in the spread that was hot. It went after my bridge teaser very aggressively and I felt confident we would get a bite out of her. Peter had the pitch bait rod ready and dropped back to just before the second wave so that when the teaser disappeared and the fish turned, she would see the pitch. All went well except the fish did not seem at all sure about that pitch lure. In fact, after following the pitch for what seemed like a minute, she cut over and ate the short right lure – which was covered, covered, covered in weed. So much for that pitch attempt. At least we got a bite!

The weed is really, really bad on both banks. So bad that trolling is awfully difficult. Normally, the weed starts coming in in September and gets really bad by December. Who knows why this year is so much earlier – but we all wish it would go away. If you are trolling 5 or 6 lines, it feels like half of them are covered in weed at any one time. Later this week the Sea Toy and Challenger went down North of the island and found some relief from the weed. As I recall, they both got a fish up there; Challenger might have caught two.

While the weed is the bad news, the Yellowfin Tuna remain the good news. On the outside edge of Argus you can see them on the surface in pretty good numbers. A good class of fish too, 50 to 100 pounders. Live Robins fished deep seems to be the best way to get a bite. It sure is fun fishing and those Tuna can PULL!

Most of our firends on the visiting boats have made their trip home or will do so this week, we wish them all safe trips. It was great to have you here. It’s going to feel empty out there for a while.

I got an email from my friend and Black and Blue member Mike Sandusky that said the bite is on off Hatteras. They had great weather this week so I look forward to hearing all the stories out of the Outer Banks.

The pictures were kind of sparse this week. We will do better next week. Talk to you next Sunday.

- Capt. Allen DeSilva

The weather for the trip was much better than expected. We left North Carolina in calm conditions with the ocean like glass. We made good time that first day, despite all the fuel weight aboard. We averaged in the low 20 knot range all the way until dark.

View MAKO’s First Crossing in a larger map

We had a quiet night making about 10 knots until dawn. The new Garmin electronics sure performed well. More on that later — Garmin is a new brand to me and relatively new to the sportfishing market but I think they have a really good set of products and I want to do a report on just that in the coming weeks.

Around 6:00 am we sped her up with about 220 miles to go to Blue Cut (the most direct cut in the reef system). Things continued to run well, with an average speed again in the low 20s to conserve fuel. We pulled into the customs dock on Ordinance Island around 4:00.  Not too shabby!

To the crew at Briggs Boat Works, thanks for building such a great boat. We cannot wait to put her through her paces in Bermuda.

Joe, Brian, Peter…thanks.  It was a great trip.

- Capt. Allen DeSilva

Coming to the end of finishing a boat consists of trying to get a thousand details remembered and completed.  That is what we will be up to over the next week or two until we bring her over to Bermuda.  We are dying to go fishing!

Thanks to all the friends that have been calling to arrange their trips.  I can tell you that you will enjoy the new ride!

- Capt. Allen DeSilva

MAKO

Captain Allen is going to Carolina to oversee the frantic details from here until the end.  We are confident that MAKO will be ready to go by June 1.  More pics after his upcoming visit.

I woke up this morning to find that the Easter Bunny had left me a plane ticket in my basket.  I am leaving shortly to bring the De Mako to the Pacific this week and wanted to provide a construction update on the new MAKO before I left.

Sunny and the guys have been MOVING.  The boat is pretty much painted, a major undertaking and one which was 

completed very quickly.  Thanks to all involved!  As you can see, she  is Carolina Blue – the picture makes it look darker than it really is. 

On the right is a shot of the cockpit and aft bulkhead.   All looking pretty spiffy; I hope you agree.

This delivery of the De Mako is probably the last trips before the season really gets going.

It has been great to hear from so many old friends (and new ones) about the new boat and upcoming season.  I glad to know that I am not the only one that is excited.  Give us a call and let’s get your days booked – we have a lot of fish to catch this summer!

- Capt. Allen DeSilva

PS – If you are interested, there will be a number of fishing reports covering the Pacific shenanigans of De Mako over on www.blackandbluefishing.com – check them out.