Instilling Captain Greg Peralta’s ‘Five Fs’ to live by

What are the elements for a great day? For me, it is the Five Fs: Family, Friends, Fishing, Food and Fun. The more Fs I fit into my day, the better that day is. Thankfully, most of my days are filled with the Five Fs.  

 

On a recent offshore fishing trip, Brody, the amazing fish-finding and stock-trading dog and I were joined by my son, Elliott and my brother, Dave. We pulled away from the dock well before dawn and ran 50 miles to the 30-fathom curve. Upon our arrival, blackfin tuna were busting baitfish on the surface. Elliott grabbed a rod rigged with a 6-inch popper and Dave picked up a rod rigged with a 60-gram Shimano Current Sniper jig. Both hooked up on their first cast. Elliott pulled the hook on his tuna. Dave boated a nice sushi dinner.

 

While Dave unhooked and prepared to ice down his tuna, Elliott made another cast. A tuna crushed his popper as soon as it hit the water. This time, Elliott got the fish into the boat. Now, we had enough blackfin tuna for a sushi and sashimi feast! Good thing because the tuna quit feeding on the surface shortly thereafter. 

 

Preparation is often the difference between fishing and catching. We were able to catch the tuna because we had rods with the right lures rigged and were ready to go. When the tuna popped up, Elliott and Dave were ready and able to capitalize on the opportunity.

 

With the tuna down deep, we put away the casting tackle and deployed a small lure trolling spread. Over the next few hours, we added a nice wahoo and a few mahi to the fish box. It was getting unbearably hot, so we called it a day early. On the ride back in, I called a couple of friends on the satellite phone and invited them to dinner.

Family, friends, fishing, food and fun. It was a pretty good day!