Christopher Marlin David's First FIshing Trip

Christopher Marlin David was just over five weeks old when he went on his first fishing trip. The fishing had been good so Jim Hendrix, Donald (a friend of James from school), Debbi, James, Laurel, baby Chris, and I jumped on the L&H early one morning and headed out to try our luck. We ran offshore to look for mahi and Chris seemed very happy with all the new sights and sounds on the L&H! Shortly after sunrise we found some heavy sea weed and in no time began catching nice dolphin. James, Jim and Deb were catching the fish and Laurel was watching the baby. For most of the morning it was easy pickins as we continued to catch the mahi almost at will. Then a little after ten my friend Bouncer called and told me he was catching big ones a few miles farther out. When we got there it was one of the biggest weedlines I have seen in a while. The dolphin were everywhere and we started just looking for the big fish. Baby Chris would sometimes come out with his mom and sister to watch the action and sometimes he would just look from inside the cabin. Mom took him out to wave at Bouncer as we passed by and Christopher Marlin seemed to be enjoying himself just fine. Before noon we needed only a few more fish to have our limit and with the size of the fish the fishbox was full! As Donald battled a twenty pound mahi an even larger fish swam up. Laurel flipped out a bait and we hooked the big bull. The fish raced away and Jim backed the L&H in hot pursuit. Nine year old Laurel put great pressure on the fish and after fifteen minutes dad gaffed the fish and pulled it in the boat! It was truly a wonderful day with over five hundred pounds of mahi for the market and the first of many, many, many fantastic fishing trips with my new fishing buddy Christopher Marlin!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Another Great Day For Art West

Art West had been fishing on the L&H for as long or longer than I have and it seems that we always have a great day. The last time he fished with us on the L&H we caught four swordfish, so he wanted to give that a try. The mahi fishing had been good lately so our plan was to try for the mahi first and then maybe a sword. After loading up on bait we headed offshore to look for the seaweed that had been in close all week. It wasn't there today and before long we were twenty miles out and nothing. Finally we saw a Frigate bird and as I steered toward it another boat was racing to beat us there. When we got to the bird, the other boat went to the north and I went south. A few minutes later we found a big school of dolphin that were biting like mad. I smiled as I looked down and saw our team pulling in fish like crazy and then looked over and saw the other boat trolling out of site. Then, from the deep, a three hundred pound blue marlin came up and jumped nearly all of the way out of the water to grab a ten pound mahi that Art was fighting just fifteen feet behind the L&H! The marlin took Art's mahi about twenty feet down and just sat there. Finally it swallowed the mahi and took off until nearly stripping the reel and finally breaking the leader. From there we continued south until Jim found some birds over a big patch of weed. As I got closer, dolphin started swimming at the boat from all directions and they were nice sized fish. We stayed there and caught dolphin until we had our limit and the box was filled to the top. At this point there were more fish behind the L&H than when we started. Enough!!!! I said from the tower, we have to leave them, there is no more room! It was still early so we tried a drop for a sword. We had one right away, but it was tangled in the leader and pulled off. The next drop we hooked a nice fish and it was fighting hard! After a good battle we had the fish to the top and I could see that it was a big one. Everyone worked together. Jim handled the leader and our friend Abie hit the fish with the harpoon. After placing a couple gaffs, our team slid the three hundred pound swordfish into the L&H!! It was still early, but we had a lot of fish to clean so we decided to head in. It was another great day for Art West, his gang, and the L&H!!

**of the two photos, the four fish was then and the other is now

Triple Limit For John Oulette And The Boys

John Oulette wanted to catch a swordfish for his son Kyle. So we left early one morning in hopes of catching some mahi first and then trying for a sword. When we finished with bait and headed out it wasn't long before we started catching dolphin. There was seaweed and floating debris all over and the action was steady. About mid morning we found a huge flock of birds and when the L&H got to them James and I saw a big tree stump floating. There were fish all around. We got more mahi, a bunch of tripletails, and then started fishing for the wahoo's. For the next hour we pretty much were catching wahoo nonstop. They weren't huge, but decent size and we also got a few tuna mixed in. Then after lunch we found a pallet and got a few more mahi, and limited out on wahoo and tripletail, including a fifteen pound trip that Kyle caught. As we headed to the sword grounds, Travis saw a frigate bird far off in the distance and we went over to take a look. James and I were in the tower and we could not believe our eyes! There were at least fifty mahi and they were all from ten to twenty pounds! For the next two hours our team fought these big mahi and boy did they fight hard. Finally when we reached the limit for dolphin and with the fishbox filled to capacity we had to leave the school. It was an amazing feeling to limit out on dolphin, wahoo, and tripletail all in the same day. From there we made a couple of drops for swords and caught a big oil fish. Shortly after dark we hooked the sword we were looking for. Kyle did a great job fighting the fish from the chair, but unfortunately after a tough battle the hook pulled out near the boat! After that we decided that we had enough and headed for home. Even without the sword it was still one of the best fishing trips in a long time!

Mahi And Wahoo For Venezuelans

Christian, Chris, Miguel, Alejandro, Jose, and Abdel came to fish with us one day before heading to the Bahamas for a three day cruise. I was unable to make it that day so Captain Neil ran the boat for me. They headed offshore and on the way out caught a nice wahoo on the wire line. This was a good start for the crew and with a good fish in the box it takes the pressure off. After a while they came across a pallet. There were not a bunch of fish, but they still managed to get a few nice mahi and some tripletail. When the action slowed offshore, Neil took them inshore where they caught several bonitas. It sounded like a fun trip to me. Hopefully I will be able to make it next time! Thanks Alot Guys!