Oceanographer Canyon Report – July 26-27, 2015

In Edgartown harbor at 2am this past Sunday, July 26 our crew of 6 loaded the last of the gear, food and rods onto RAPTOR, our 36’ Yellowfin center console. With everything iced up and gear stowed for the 130 mile run to Oceanographer canyon we pushed off the dock and out past Edgartown lighthouse. The whole crew was anxious and excited, ready for whatever.

It was a dark night with thick cloud cover. No horizon in sight as we headed out Muskeget channel and made course for Oceanographer. Hit some thick fog banks that kept things very dark, wet, and cold on the run out.

As we approached the canyon the fog lifted and clouds began to break up. The sea calmed and we were somewhat surprised to find ourselves in perfect conditions. Lines in! Sterling Tackle bars and lures always hit the water early, because the tuna love them. Then we rig up ballyhoo and put some Joe Shute lures to work with some other offerings mixed in.

Got to work stowing gear and getting the spread of lures running how we like. An hour later the center rigger rod bends over and starts taking drag. Short fight on the 80w reel before a nice size longfin met the gaff and was brought over the rail. First fish on deck, such a great feeling!

We trolled down the west wall of Oceanographer watching the spread, clearing weeds, looking for life and keeping everything sorted onboard. After a good while of no action another rod bent over and line started screaming off the reel. Not a long run but fast. We got in our positions for the end game. “OK boys, it’s a wahoo and we don’t have wire line!” I grabbed the leader as gingerly as ever and pulled him in the last few feet. Perfect gaff shot thru the head capped things off. We were more than a little excited.

Things quieted down a bit and we decided to try our hand at catching some mahi with a spear gun. Our first experience using the spear gun out there. You probably need a few screws loose to willingly jump in the water in the canyons. Still, I must say it was a truly breathtaking experience. The mahi were small but plentiful.

When we got back on the troll things were heating up. Flying fish skipped across the surface trying to escape the boat as we approached. We worked the area for a while, keeping the spread clear of weeds and swapping out lures. Then two small yellowfin tuna attacked. First yellowfin of the trip! We hammered the area a while longer and the center rod went down again, hard. Nice long run on the 80w reel, plenty of time to rig up the harpoon. Good long fight, then out of the deep we started seeing color of a big yellowfin tuna. Sent in the harpoon, second gaff, and then brought a big yellowfin on board.

We trolled for a bit longer while rigging swordfish baits, then pulled up for our first drift. Sword baits in. While launching the first bait it gets eaten and we are on. Short while later, ready with the harpoon and up comes a huge tiger shark. When it sees the boat it starts fighting and pulls a bunch of line off the reel. Knowing now it’s a shark we push the drag pressure up but cannot move it. Went to full drag on the 80w in the harness. Thing still would not budge. In the end we hand lined him up from the depths for a clean release on an estimated 13 foot tiger shark. Very cool shark, our first time catching a tiger.

Got back in position for our second drift, and got back to work. Launching the second sword bait we feel a hit, then realized no weight on the line. “Reel, he must have picked it up!” A few moments later we were tight once again. It came up easy at first, we even got near the leader and saw in the lights the purple glow of a swordfish on the line. Then it came to life and sounded, diving for the bottom. It pulled line off the reel for about 3 minutes straight down into the darkness with the boat in neutral, it felt like hours. After a long and daunting battle we saw the glow again and the swordfish came into view, backwards! Hooked in the body near the tail! Sunk a perfect gaff shot, second gaff, gloved hands on the bill, then there was a 100 lb swordfish in the boat. We knew we were lucky to get a side hooked fish, especially of this size! Seemed like the hook pulled from the mouth at some point during the battle and hooked in the side. The boat was filled with excitement, relief and a great sense of accomplishment. We took as many pictures as possible, then got back in position and started setting out lines again.

It was just past midnight, and we finally got to chunking for tuna. Didn’t take long before the squid were darting around in the lights and we got one in the net, then another, then a flying fish and a few other visitors. We rigged a few live squid, sent them down and settled into chunking. We were making fish periodically but no bites on the live squid for a few hours so I sent down a jig. On the first drop small yellowfin tuna came charging up into the lights after the jig. “Tuna in the lights!” That woke people up quickly at 3:30 am. Got one little guy on the spinning rod jigging setup then the live squid rod went off. Tuna on spinning! Crazy excitement. Just when we thought they had moved on, the second live squid rod bent over and started taking line hard. After a nice long fight another big yellowfin was pulled to the gaff, beautiful fish.

We got back on the troll around 4am. Picked away slowly at yellowfin tuna for the next few hours. Some nice big yellowfin were mixed in with a bunch of smalls. Had a couple four or five rod hookups, even three women anglers fighting yellowfin tuna at once!

Around 10 am we made the call to head for home. Stopped and casted on some Bluefin in the lanes on the way home but couldn’t get them to bite. Ride home was long but uneventful, put us back at the dock at 2:30 pm. Everything washed, dried and put away safe, ready for the next run. Four hour fillet session was epic as well.

Thanks to everyone making this all possible: Crew, family, friends, OTW, buddy boats. Much appreciated. This was a trip I will never forget.