This was my second day out this year.

I really wanted to get the action back in my bones because I felt a little shaky in whatever I did on the boat on my first trip.

Off we went on Kou Maru.  My first ride on this boat.

This is one of a few boats that operate on the east coast of Okinawa island.  The fishing field was pretty close, within 90 minute range away from Naha area.  The captain said we were going to hang around mostly 200m.

 

We stopped around 130m first.   I got a little amberjack, which I released.

Slow Jerker 603-4
Ocea Jigger 2000NR-HG
Supre Fireline #2.5
Seaguar FXR #12
SFC Arc 230g

 

The boat was silent for a while until I brought a 2-meter red stick on board.

SFC Abyss 290g on 603-4, at 200m deep.

Red Cornetfish is slimy any yucky.  But this fish is priced very high for high-end Kyoto restaurants.  Sashimi is good.  Soup is good.  The fine oil has a little sweet taste.  Only thing you should concern is that, if you heat it for too long, the meat gets firm easily.

The disappointment was that you only catch this fish when the tide is not moving and fish is not active.  We knew the tide was loose, judging by the water resistance on the line, and this catch confirmed it.  One of my fellow anglers got another cornetfish, and the captain decided to move on to deeper.

280m deep.

This was supposed to be a good field for Ruby Snapper, and also big AJs are possible.

 

2 guys got the fish on the first run.  Unfortunately not Ruby Snapper, but Pale Snappers.  Totally different grade.

Spunky 360g (left) on 603-4 and Arrow 350g test model (right) on 603-4.

 

This captain is a fisherman.  Not doing fishing charters so often.  He wanted us to line up on one side of the boat to stay vertical.  He only had a small handmade spanker sail, and maybe that’s why.  His techniques were not bad at all.

But 5 anglers were lining up so close at 280m deep, and it didn’t feel comfortable.  What the captain did was that he let us drop in order as he drove forward, then he neutralized so that everyone was vertical by the time our jigs reached the bottom.  Precisely, in a little radial alignment.  He spread our jig drops so that they were much more apart from each other 280m below.

Anyway, because the captain operated like this, I assumed I had a lot of line slack.  My jig was probably directly down, but my line was slacked.

I noticed this about the captain’s operation.

So, I put Cranky 350g on 603-6, with SOM L50Hi, Super Fireline #3.0, Seaguar FXR #14.
I decided to give up the first attempt.  Everytime we dropped, I did fast lift all the way up 30m, just in order to take out the line slack on the first attempt.  And then drop back down for the full-scale second attempt for a contact.

 

I felt this tactic was working.
I got a contact on the third attempt when I was feeling that the action became a little lighter.

But a yellowfin tuna from 280m deep???  Do they dive that deep to hang around???

 

Yes, yes, yes.  It’s working.  A 3kg AJ with the same setting with Cranky 350g.

I was outfishing other anglers, going for the head rod.  I was probably right about what washappening with this captain’s operation.

 

Another AJ with the same setting, along with 2 other anglers with Pale Snappers.

Then I stopped to think.  I was getting small amberjacks and tuna, while others were catching different fish.  Everyone was using 603-4.  I was using 603-6.  Is that why???  I thought everyone was generally doing the same kind of actions.  Maybe my actions were too energetic with the stronger action tone?

Maybe I should switch to 603-4 and see if that makes any difference.  Strong actions attract these curious juvenile amberjacks.  Maybe with slower action tone, I could reach a bigger AJ behind these juveniles.

 

But my 603-4 was with OJ2000.  I got a snag earlier and I lost good meters of line on this reel.

OJ2000 is a narrow spool and easy to lose speed (retrieve length per crank).  I didn’t want to use it at this depth.  I didn’t have a backup reel…

The captain announced that we were moving.  There was a little time to switch reels.

What the heck, I switched the reels.  I took L50Hi from 603-6, onto 603-4.  When we reached at 230m point, I set it up in time with Arc 290g.

 

Boom!

A 7kg Amberjack.  This catch made me happy for sure.

Slow Jerker 603-6
SOM L50Hi
Super Fireline #3.0
Seaguar FXR #14
SFC Arc 290g

 

I’m a happy man.

My body is tired from doing 200m all day in a windy day, but what a great fun it was.

Gotta love this game!!!