My NJ buddy Eric showed up at the pad at 4:45am and we headed to the ramp in hopes for big yellows or something big for the cooler bag! The Curmudgeon was ready for its maiden voyage and I was stoked to see how she did on the open ocean.
The run out the inlet and up the coast was smooth and effortless. I ran her at 4,500 rpm's and with a full load with 2 on board was getting about 25mph. Very comfortable and fast enough. The hull was doing a great job at blowing any spray right back down into the water and it was dry sailing all the way to LJ. We stopped and filled the bait tank. It's only a bubbler system, so I was not feeling very confident it would keep my bait alive. We made some bait and it ranged all over. We got Spanish, Greenbacks, Round Herring, Sardine, Smelt, Brown Baits... and everything including half the sardines stayed alive all day! Wow, go figure!?!
I had ZERO waypoints entered into my Lowrance electronics. It's the 4-Chirp or 4" screen which is WAY too small for me. Trying to read the plotter and sonar at the same time was like needing a magnifying glass to see anything. We decided to work our butts off for yellows and did everything. Slow troll macks, drift macks (top, middle and bottom), surface irons, yo-yo irons... all for nothing. I had one spot that showed some great marks, but could not make anything happen. Did I mention there was red crab EVERYWHERE!!!!?
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We finally decided to switch it up and look for some structure after 4 hours of working hard for yellows. Unfortunately at this time, the wind kicked up something fierce and the downhill current was BLAZING! Even when I found a small rockpile, I couldn't stay on it for long.
We did get a few skunk busters before things turned really bad however.
We finally started drifting for halibut, but was definitely drifting so fast that 10oz cannonball sinkers were getting pulled up 25' off the bottom in the matter of a few minutes of hitting the bottom.
We called it quits as he had to get back to the family for easter, but that left me scrubbing the boat and breaking things down for the next 3 hours. LOL, Not a problem as he paid for all the fuel, ice and food today which was worth it just for that. LOL
What I learned today:
1) The boat runs fast on flat water - not as much when there is a strong swell and surge on a loaded boat. It ran good, but at times lacked some of the cajones to get the fully loaded boat up during some situations where the swell, wind and current made the acceleration a little sluggish initially, but took off when the prop caught up with the swell. In the bay, she popped up like no ones business without any hesitation, so the wave energy was definitely a factor. A 90hp would be perfect on this boat.
2) Gas Milage. I read that I should get around 230 miles per tank with this configuration... yeah, only in a bay situation with no swell and without a fully loaded rig and two grown adults on board. It will still get great milage, but I won't trust those published numbers.
3) The closed "bubbler bait system" actually works and keeps the bait alive all day!
4) Super stable and dry running boat
5) I need a bigger screen Sonar System
I'm sure there is more, but that is a few of the more notable things I thought of today.
Until next tide!
