Offshore fishing yields excitement and a beautiful sailfish bounty

For most of the summer, extreme heat and rough sea conditions have limited my offshore fishing.

 

With Brody (the amazing fish-finding and stock-trading dog) being 10 years old, I try to shelter him for tough fishing conditions.

 

On Saturday, the offshore forecast was calm. So, my son Elliott, Brody, and I decided to fish for sailfish.  

 

We left the dock at 5:30 in the morning and ran 60-plus miles to a current break in 300 feet of water. The ocean was calm, and we made the run at 40 mph. We could have gone faster but the fuel burn would have been excessive; 40 mph was a good balance of speed and fuel economy.  

 

Upon arrival at the current break, the ocean was alive. Flying fish were everywhere.  

 

While I set up the boat to troll along the current break, Elliott deployed a strip dredge and four small ballyhoo rigged with 7/0 circle hooks.  

 

Brody looked around and then went back to sleep.  

 

A few minutes later, a sailfish swatted at a ballyhoo in the short outrigger position. Elliott immediately dropped back for a few seconds and then advanced the drag of the Shimano TAC 25 reel. The circle hook set, and we were hooked up to a sailfish.  

 

Brody woke up and followed Elliott to the bow of the boat. I quickly cleared the dredge and lines. Then returned to the helm to chase the fish.  

 

It only took a few minutes to bring the fish to the leader.  

 

I reduced speed and turned on the auto pilot then grabbed the sailfish by the bill. As I removed the circle hook and revived the sailfish for release, Elliott took a few pictures.  

 

Back at the dock, we looked at the pictures. Elliott commented that after so many years of fishing together, it was great to see Brody and I still excited.  

 

Funny, I did not think we were excited, but the picture tells a different story.