It’s not due to lack of effort. Sixty boats (of the 84 registered) ventured offshore this morning in the hunt for tournament billfish. Most came back to the marina with bare outriggers. A few scored, usually in bunches. But the action is definitely atypical for this time and place.
“It was slow, very slow,” said Capt. Carson Ruffin on Diamond Girl, a 68 Weaver. “We caught the only one we saw all day. The water was blue, 82.5 degrees and we saw bait, birds, weed lines. I just don’t think the piece of water we need is here yet. The fish are not here yet and I don’t think they will be in the next couple days. Maybe in a couple weeks.”
Re-Leased was one of the productive boats on Wednesday. The 60 Jamie Chadwick released a pair of blues and a sail to take the daily prize in the Omni sonar division. That tally put in the boat in second place overall with 700 points.
“We had a fun day. We went south and there weren’t too many boats around,” explained mate Chase Pake. Pake said all their fish were singles, caught on naked ballyhoo pitch baits. “The bite was scattered. We caught what we saw, so we got lucky. We fish out tomorrow, so I hope it turns on. That would be great.”
Goombay, a 62 Weaver, also had a good outing, releasing three white marlin, which have proven to be scarce so far. In normal seasons, the majority of the billfish caught would be whites.
In the non-Omni division, Sniper, a 58 Paul Mann, released a blue and a white for a top daily score of 350 points. The PCBT has two separate divisions for those boats without Omni directional sonar installed and those that do. Omni boats can choose to compete without the sonar on, though. The 360-degree scanning capabilities of the Omni allows a technological advantage, since operators can use it to pinpoint schools of bait and even individual billfish. Because of the cost and space needed to accommodate the system, the PCBT Board of Directors established the two separate divisions to level the playing field between the older charter boats and the larger private sportfishers.
Only one game fish changed the leaderboard on Tuesday. Herb Gray, competing on Double G, a 57 Dixon weighed a 50.7-pound yellowfin tuna to vault into first place.
The PCBT format allows teams to fish three of the four days, with a choice of lay days. This will also be a topic of discussion in salons tonight. Boats may opt to lay Thursday if they haven’t already, hoping the bite improves. A big swell from Hurricane Ernesto is expected, however, by Friday. The waves are predicted to be spaced far enough apart to not be uncomfortable. But the mixing water and changing barometric pressure may impact the bite as well.
This is competitive sport-fishing on the highest level and a couple double- or triple-headers can change the standings in minutes. Eighty-four teams are hoping that’s the case and the slim pickings are now a thing of the past.
