CaptainRickyWheeler

We ran an overnighter Monday into Tuesday on Exile out of Cape May, NJ. Without a solid SST SAT image we went where we thought the water we were chasing would be and got on the troll around 2 pm. Unfortunately we missed and found the water late where we managed to get 2 yellowfins out of a quad all on tuna flares and ballyhoo and then two more single yellowfins on spreader bars just before dark. All of our bites were in 500 fathoms in the edge of the water but it was a very gradual break.

We setup on the drift specifically targeting sharks and sword hoping to get into a quality fish. As luck would have it, the sword rod goes off and the fish is stripping line at 22 lbs of drag and just going. Todd settled in for the battle and after a good 45 minutes Frank sunk the gaff into a nice 60” bluefin tuna! Awesome surprise.

We slid south to catch back up to the water and got on the troll just before first light. At 4:50 am we had a quad of yellowfins. We boxed one and released one that was small. Another pulled the Hook and we had a little bad luck with the last one boatside and lost that one. We kept working the area in 600 fathoms along the gradual break without much life or any bait marks and managed to grab two gaffer mahi and a double header of 40# class yellowfins.

Very fun first trip in NJ aboard Exile!

Let’s go fishing!!! Finished up all the tweaks and cosmetics in the yard and Exile 65 is ready to go fishing. Charter is in NJ all Summer long and then on the beautiful island and fish filled waters of Grenada starting November 2018! Check us out at http://www.ExileCharters.com for more information or the Charter section of my website right here. Hope to see you fishing with us!

The end of last week we moved Exile 65 up from Palm Beach after a little engine TLC to Wanchese, NC where she will be getting some other TLC to get her ready to fish hard for the upcoming year. We most likely will get to NJ middle of June and get everything settled in for what we hope to be a season full of great fishing! We did chug all the way up and caught some pretty awesome fish as well which was a cool bonus. Plenty of mahi, a 125 pound Alison Tuna, a 150 pound blue and a 700 pound blue marlin. So much fun!

We were living at anchor for awhile throughout the Southern Bahamas the end of our season so the reports were lacking. The tuna fishing action was great, some mahi marlin and wahoo in the mix, plenty of bottom fish, and lots of laughs on Exile 65. #GoodTimes

Well the first week of our jaunt through the Southern Bahamas with Bob, Todd, Doug, Andy, Ben, and Bill has went by pretty fast. We made our way fishing out of Cat Island, Conception Island, Rum Cat, Long Island, Crooked Island, Diana Bank, and the Acklins. The weather has been mediocre with a fair amount of rain and some wind in the mix but that never stops these guys. Plenty of small to medium tunas on the troll with a few mahi and Billfish in the mix. The bottom fishing as night has been hit and miss but the yellowtail action last night was game on, and they were nice ones.

Plenty more action and good times to come.

Well today was a great day of fishing but bittersweet. We released 2/3 white marlin, 2/3 sails, and finally at the end of the day we had the blue marlin we needed pile on the teaser. We switched him to the 50 pitch with a select ballyhoo with a Party Skirt easily came tight and pulled the hook. AHHHHH! Bummer. We also had a nice box full of mahi so overall great day yet again here in Cat Island!

Today we we had SE winds at about 15 knots. We released a blue marlin that piled on both teasers multiple times before finally eating a Fish Downsea Party Skirt with a medium ballyhoo on the long rigger. We also released a Sailfish, lost a white marlin and missed a white marlin. Also put a few gaffers in the box. Great fishing continues!