I fished the Fathers Day tourney wih my dad and my son. I tried for bait in SI before the tournament start at 6 AM to no avail. Went out to the ocean and had some difficulties getting bait, but we finally got some with the help of a good friend. Thanks again Phil.
It was calling for a strong south blow that day later in the afternoon, so I ran far south while the running was good. Past the bridge, past the rocks, past the church, past the convention center, probably past a lot of fish!!! But when you get a hunch.....
Started out a long drift with zero signs of life. Had a bass runnoff and we could not hook it. 20 minutes later, we had another and my son grabbed the screaming stick. It was really moving so we let her go about 10-15 seconds-----she ate it good. Lost Sailor Jr engaged the drag and set her like a pro!!! That was a great Fathers Day gift, let me tell you. I knew it was hooked good, and 10 minutes later, we had her in the net. Not a giant, but we threw her into the fish box with the ice.
Nothing for the next 2 hours. It started getting sloppy----honest 4-5 footers were building when the tide started to leave. We stopped on a nice spot I really like about halfway to the hook and set out 4 lines. 15 minutes into the drift, the rod with the biggest bunker on it started screaming. Jr again beat everyone to the pole and he laid the wood to her. This fish took drag for about 30-40 seconds and then took a break for a moment. Then she started screaming drag again. The rod was doubled over and the drag on the Shimano Thunnus was smoothly going out when the rod just went limp. She was off. The leader was 100% clean, so it was probably a nice bass that the hook turned into the bunker on.
No further action, so we took a slow ride to the weigh station, not knowing what to expect. Jr's fish weighed in at almost 32 pounds----not a monster, but a good fish. We were in second place, and I figured that wouldn't last as there was about an hour left to weigh fish, and alot of striper pro's were still out. We headed back to SI where I launched the boat at 3:30 AM...
Our luck held out and we finished a respectable 2nd out of 40 some boats. It was a fathers day to remember.
