Not a bad day on the ocean

[mpester]

My father took me out on the Miss Hatteras headboat out of Hatteras, NC today. We only got two fish but they were a couple of nice citation sized fish. My father got a 73 pound wahoo first drop of the day. I got a 31 pound king mackeral on one of the last drops of the day. Not too bad for a slow day.

[Ufatz]

How did they taste?

[traveler]

Thats one sweet Wahoo! I know how that one tasted:)

[dobiel]

Wow, nice hoo!

[mpester]

The wahoo tastes great. I gave the mackerel to a guy and his family who were on the boat but did not catch any fish. King mackerel is an oily fish with a bit of a strong taste but that is the kind of fish I like best. The wahoo is a mild flavor between swordfish and yellowfin tuna.

You should see the size live bait we were using - 12-14" menhaden. The bait is bigger than most of the fish I will catch all winter!

[BoxMN]

Nice pics Mike! That is "fix number 1" for the year!

[harvey lee]

Looks like a fun day even with 2 fish.

Wahoo is great tablefare.

[BartmanMN]

When we caught a mackerel (smaller) while Red snapper fishing they cut it up and used that for bait. Worked like a charm on the big snappers.

[wahoo]

Super wahoo. Probably one of the very best fish to eat--and what fun when they take off with your line.

On a Headboat! How far you did you go? I assume you were in the gulf stream in realtively warm water?

Excellent job!

[mpester]

The wahoo was great eating. My father kept most of the fish since I did not feel like dealing with it on the flight home. He had it cut up, vacuum sealed in two pound bags and flash frozen for $35. That sure seemed like a good deal.

We were not too far offshore. We were around the edge of Diamond Shoals off Cape Hatteras. We were about 15 miles out on the edge of the cold dirty inshore water and the warmer blue offshore water. The wahoo was caught right on the line between the two waters. I think the front of the boat was in the cold water and the back was in the warm water. The temperature change was about three or four degrees. It is always cool to see the two different waters come together.

Now I just need to wait for two months for my ten day trip to Costa Rica. This is the first winter I have left MN for someplace warmer. Looking forward to catching some sailfish and roosterfish.