Blackfin Mothership Trip. Sorta.

Ever since my first one in July of 2010, I've been saying...

There are so many stars that have to line up 
for a mothership trip to happen.

We had the right number of people, the right type of people...

with the right amount of funds, and the right schedule...

the right captain with the right boat...

and of course the right weather forecast

Ric Burnley, Rob Alderman, Matt Anderson, Jeff Lockhart, Alex Britland and myself met in Hatteras just before dawn.  After loading our kayaks and gear on the Good Times, we made our way out to the Gulf Stream.  

All the stars had lined up.  

Or so we thought.

We knew it was going to be a little rough going out.  Two of our crew even did their best chameleon impressions going from ghost white to puke green.  And that was alright because the wind was scheduled to calm down after we got out there.

Except it didn't.

 Some of us had done tougher launches from the mothership before, but regardless, we all test dropped our jigs from the boat.  The current was much faster than expected and the scheduled break in wind was way behind schedule.  As the day went on, we kept thinking we would launch the kayaks soon...

as soon as we found a big wad of fish,

or if the wind and current would calm to where we could stay in the target zone.

All the while, we were still having a blast.

Photo credit: Rob Alderman

The count went nearly 60 blackfins (mostly football size with 4 or 5 bigger ones going 10-15lbs), 3 or 4 amberjack (small), and one false albacore (small).  We had a few run ins with sharks, but it wasn't too bad.  By the time we were headed back in, we all agreed that it was the right decision not to launch the kayaks.  We would have been extremely frustrated trying to stay in position and the catch count would have been dismal.  The thrill of catching them from a kayak was far over shadowed by simply wanting to have a good time.  

And a good time was definitely had.

Photo Credit: Ric Burnley

Photo Credit: Matt Anderson

Photo Credit: Ric Burnley

The last star may not have lined up, but we still got to dance with the little rockets like we were hoping to.  

Side note: by the time we got back in, it was slick calm.
Of course.


Big thanks to Ric and Rob for getting this trip together.

If you're thinking of booking a mothership trip down in NC, Rob Alderman is the freaking man.  He knows all the right people and can hook you up.  He's also one of the best inshore kayak fishing guides in the area during warmer months  (link).  Gear I used includes: Trevala medium heavy with Release SG, Trevala S medium heavy with Daiwa Saltist 20 LDH, Terez medium heavy with Sustain 5000, all 50lb braid to 60lb fluorocarbon leader and 175 lb Tactical Angler Power Clips for quick change ups to various 168-200 gram speed jigs.

I can't wait to try it again!

Mothership Connection

Jack Daughtry lead the group in organizing the trip.  I met him and fellow kayakers Mike Rosa, Matt James in addition to another boat angler (Jeff) down in Hatteras, NC.  With 4 kayaks and all our gear aboard the "Good Times" (47' Sheldon Midgette), Capt. Andy took us out to the gulf stream in search of blackfin tuna.  The wind and waves caused issues (and a few upchucks) in the morning, so we started off jigging on the big boat.  Amberjacks were hooked immediately, but the sharks reigned supreme.  Most of our catches ended up being big AJ heads with gnarly teeth marks.  Eventually, when the winds calmed down a little and the captain was positive the marks on the depth finder were tuna, we deployed the kayaks and continued dropping the butterfly/speed jigs down to 150'-175'.  Unfortunately, the tuna were not interested in the jigs that day.  

But the AJs were.

And so were the sharks.

We tried for a while to no avail.  Another boat in the area had luck trolling, so we packed up the kayaks and made it into a meat run.  Within minutes of putting out the greenstick trolling equipment we were hooked up on blackfins.  Visualizing the hits was the fun part, but dealing with the massive equipment and the resistance of the boat still moving while reeling them in was a chore.  None the less, it was a great experience.

Big thanks to Jack Daughtry for getting this trip together.