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- Bisbee's from the Badger
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Bisbee's from the Badger |
- By Steve Lassley
- Published 10/25/2009
- Fishing Reports
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Rating:
Going into the Bisbees this year was difficult for me. We just weren't firing. It wasn't the team, this year it was straight on me. I couldn't get a bite. I couldn't have bought a bite at McDonalds with a $100 bill. Still trying to figure out what was wrong. So many thoughts race through your head. It's kind of like being on a merry go round that just keeps speeding up. It keeps spinning faster and faster with the music keeping pace. No way to slow it down. Still in the end the team was always behind me whatever we did. That was the best part of the tournament for me. The guys were awesome right to the end. Great group of guys. I am grateful to have them.
The shotgun start the first day is always awesome. The anticipation of what lies ahead, what may be. There were 3 of us way out in front, the Bandit, Badger and the Merlin. As we are blasting off at 36 knots and almost to the bank I look back and see a puff of smoke from the BOTTOM LINE. I figure turbo, I have seen it so many times before. Within minutes there is a lot of chatter on the radio of a fire. I already new it was bad because of the amount of smoke. They were in the middle of a pack of about 40 boats so I was sure they were going to be ok. Glad Sammy on the SNEAK ATTACK was there so quick and got everybody off. Horrible beginning for the tournament. So glad everybody is ok.
Well for the 3 day event we caught a Striper, had a huge Tuna short bite a bait and missed another Billfish when the bait got knocked off the bridle. Conditions weren't great on the bank but still we we couldn't leave with the grade of Black Marlin that had been biting there. Had to look at it everyday to see if they would come back after the hurricane rolled through. They never did.
In the previous tournaments the Black Marlin bite ended at 11 am, every day. So we showed up and gave it the whole day the first day just to see if they had changed there pattern. I marked 1 Black on the first pass, that was the only one I would see in 3 days. Nobody had a bite on the bank that first day out of something like 40 boats.
As the bank can be super pressure sensitive we went back the next day. Less than 20 boats, much better. As soon as we get a bait in the water we get bit. It turns out to be Tuna. I am marking several spots of Tuna on the bank. Probably 5 spots of those 300# Tuna. Every day the Tuna have been on the bank the Blacks have bit. High hopes. We stay until the Skipjack spawn (You can see the eggs and sperm release, it looks like a huge light blue patch) we never catch anything after that. I blast off for the Seamount using a 1 day old Plankton chart and get screwed by dirty water. I can see the Porpoise schools in the clean water just 2 miles out of the grid, we can't get to them. Pretty good bite about 20 miles away on small fish. We get there after it is over. 10 minutes left in the Tournament and the FISHERMAN hooks a big Black on a bait on the Iman and they lose it 30 minutes later.
Last day we look at the bank again and head to the Iman after 11. The Iman looks awesome, Skipjack and Tuna everywhere. No bites. I think the Blues were all on the Pacific side. We were looking for a Black. Every Black caught on the bank for the 2 prior weeks would have won the whole thing.
Looking back I think it was the lack of prefishing the last 2 years that has really hurt us. We are just showing up and fishing. We don't know where we can catch different types of bait. No back up areas. Really we have nothing, no feel. After being on the other side of it for so many years it is almost painful to be stumbling around during the Tournaments trying to figure it out. We should know....The other thing that is killing us is we have lost our edge. Nothing that seperates from the others. We were always fishing learning new techniques, twisting up our electronics, tweaking this and that, learning. The hurricanes and a schedule beyond our control have kept us stagnant and it is showing.
Allready looking forward to next year. Planning, making mental notes what to do differently. Look out next year.
Way to go MI NOVIA on the win and EXTRACTION for second.
Anthony, Ron and Team , thanks for hanging with me
The shotgun start the first day is always awesome. The anticipation of what lies ahead, what may be. There were 3 of us way out in front, the Bandit, Badger and the Merlin. As we are blasting off at 36 knots and almost to the bank I look back and see a puff of smoke from the BOTTOM LINE. I figure turbo, I have seen it so many times before. Within minutes there is a lot of chatter on the radio of a fire. I already new it was bad because of the amount of smoke. They were in the middle of a pack of about 40 boats so I was sure they were going to be ok. Glad Sammy on the SNEAK ATTACK was there so quick and got everybody off. Horrible beginning for the tournament. So glad everybody is ok.
Well for the 3 day event we caught a Striper, had a huge Tuna short bite a bait and missed another Billfish when the bait got knocked off the bridle. Conditions weren't great on the bank but still we we couldn't leave with the grade of Black Marlin that had been biting there. Had to look at it everyday to see if they would come back after the hurricane rolled through. They never did.
In the previous tournaments the Black Marlin bite ended at 11 am, every day. So we showed up and gave it the whole day the first day just to see if they had changed there pattern. I marked 1 Black on the first pass, that was the only one I would see in 3 days. Nobody had a bite on the bank that first day out of something like 40 boats.
As the bank can be super pressure sensitive we went back the next day. Less than 20 boats, much better. As soon as we get a bait in the water we get bit. It turns out to be Tuna. I am marking several spots of Tuna on the bank. Probably 5 spots of those 300# Tuna. Every day the Tuna have been on the bank the Blacks have bit. High hopes. We stay until the Skipjack spawn (You can see the eggs and sperm release, it looks like a huge light blue patch) we never catch anything after that. I blast off for the Seamount using a 1 day old Plankton chart and get screwed by dirty water. I can see the Porpoise schools in the clean water just 2 miles out of the grid, we can't get to them. Pretty good bite about 20 miles away on small fish. We get there after it is over. 10 minutes left in the Tournament and the FISHERMAN hooks a big Black on a bait on the Iman and they lose it 30 minutes later.
Last day we look at the bank again and head to the Iman after 11. The Iman looks awesome, Skipjack and Tuna everywhere. No bites. I think the Blues were all on the Pacific side. We were looking for a Black. Every Black caught on the bank for the 2 prior weeks would have won the whole thing.
Looking back I think it was the lack of prefishing the last 2 years that has really hurt us. We are just showing up and fishing. We don't know where we can catch different types of bait. No back up areas. Really we have nothing, no feel. After being on the other side of it for so many years it is almost painful to be stumbling around during the Tournaments trying to figure it out. We should know....The other thing that is killing us is we have lost our edge. Nothing that seperates from the others. We were always fishing learning new techniques, twisting up our electronics, tweaking this and that, learning. The hurricanes and a schedule beyond our control have kept us stagnant and it is showing.
Allready looking forward to next year. Planning, making mental notes what to do differently. Look out next year.
Way to go MI NOVIA on the win and EXTRACTION for second.
Anthony, Ron and Team , thanks for hanging with me
1 Response to "Bisbee's from the Badger" 
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said this on 26 Oct 2009 2:07:49 PM PST
You will get them next time. BTW: We watched from our balcony (Hacienda Encantada) as most of the boats blew by heading to the banks. That yellow hull really stood out as you guys blasted by every morning. What a graceful looking rig. We got some great shots being up high. Would have rather been on a boat but this was an R&R week.
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