July 4th week in review

We made it through the holiday weekend and managed to still find fish among the crowds created by the weekend. There was a reduction in the amount of bass found on the inshore waters that I frequent but if you stuck with it keepers would finally come over the rail. The bluefish however invaded big time which seemed to push alot of the better bass out of the area. Besides Steve and his boys, I had a couple from NY area and another father/son from Turo/Sarasota. Getting calls from Scott and Terry and literally had to turn my cell phone off cuz I couldn't take it anymore...If anybody knows me, they know I am tuna crazy... Yesterday Steve L and I prepared for a full day of tuna hunting. After the day before's tuna fest we were hopeful but with the forcasted SE wind and full moon timing I must admit to a dark hole in my stomach. We arrived on station to some life but not a ton of it...Scott called and said they were tight and before I hung up with him my fishfinder lit up like a christmas tree....I told Steve to cast anywhere and after 3 pops with the Got Stryper bait a very large tuna sucks it down and Steve is off to the races...I had calibrated the drag so that with quarter turn increments I would know where 30lbs was. After the initial run and getting back on top of the fish we cranked her down. Steve did an awesome job until his back started giving out but still managed to put good pressure on the fish. At 40 minutes with the fish under the boat, Steve reared back and the hook pulled....As he tumbled back my gut wrenched as I wondered if the new Sebile knot I learned and used let go. Luckily the knot held fine and the owner 11/0 just pulled. We had a bit more action but no commitments from fish until it was time to move on. The wind kept coming but we kept trudging and found alot of bait and birds which we hung out in for sometime but never developed.. Eventually we ended back where we saw our first group of the morning and had a couple awesome opportunities but just could not seal the deal...SE wind in CCB creates a very confused sea...Not sure why but it is downright just uncomfortable...Cold and defeated, we headed for the barn...