Couldn't have asked for a better setup for the day. Well actually, there were a few things that could have been better but can you really have it all at once? I mean if it is flat calm and you can race around at 30 knots hunting for fish the water is so crystal clear you will have trouble getting them to take the bait anyway. If the live-bait are jumping behind your mooring or slip just before you head out then the fish might be so hungry a shiny piece of tinfoil and a hook will get the lines tight. Today I had a single throw for my live-bait (10ft cast net- Old Salt) and was sitting on the dock waiting for my brother and friend Scott at 7am. Winds North East at about 17knots meant it was fairly tight 4-5ft waves heading the 11 miles out to the South Drop off of St. John, USVI. We made 18knots ourselves and just before the edge I dropped my four lines. Down-rigger, first outrigger and looked up to see a flock of 30+ birds, Booby's, Frigate, and the Tuna birds dive bombing the water a mile off. I set the second outrigger with my tuna rig (no ballyhoo) and sped off at brisk 8-9 knots going after the birds. After 15 minutes I was barely making ground on them so I pulled the downrigger up and went ahead full speed. Ahhhhhh, thats why they were moving so fast. . . . .PORPOISE! I thought there was probably a tuna school ahead of them so I made my play, but it was to no advantage. Since we really only went out to the edge to see if anything was going one, not to spend the day searching we ran past the edge a couple times with the downrigger and outriggers before calling it a morning. We weren't out to search and destroy today, just stumble and get lucky. We pulled it all in and went to the beach on Jost van Dyke. What an awesome day, fishing in the morning and sitting in a palm tree hammock with a rum drink just slightly before noon. Sometimes a good day fishing doesn't mean catching fish.
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