Sunday, November 21st, 1999
Fogged in along the coast and a bit rough on the way to the Nipple. Thought we would be the only boat out there, but enroute heard Time Out, Pop Top and The Reel McCoy well in front of us. Pop Top jumped off a Blue in the morning. Our first action came around 1245.....big Wahoo that was to weigh-in at 53#. Less than an hour later Pop Top caught a Yellowfin Tuna and observed several White Marlin swimming in the vicinity of their Tuna. As Venture trolled to their position we got hooked-up with a nice White Marlin which I billed some 20 minutes later. This was to be the last action of the day. Water temp was hanging around 73° and with the billfish still near the Nipple, went for it again the next day.....got 8 miles out and had to turn back due to rough seas. Hope we get to make another trip before the season ends. How sweet it is!
/s/Steve Kaiser on the VENTURE (PBGFC)

Wednesday & Thursday, November 10th-11th, 1999
On Venture's run to blue water at the Nipple Wednesday 10 November Pop Top was hooked up with a Blue Marlin----they tagged the fish an hour later. At 1030 in the same area Venture hooked up with a Blue and tagged her about 35 minutes later. Xanadu jumped off a Blue that morning. We went back again next day and got skunked.....The Reel McCoy tagged two Whites that day. So November is shaping up to be a great month for Billfish.....water temp remains near 75°-76°.
/s/Steve Kaiser on the VENTURE (PBGFC)

Wednesday, October 27th, 1999
The Fall Run of Billfish in the vicinity of the Nipple is very much alive and well. Put the lines in at the 47000 line and by the time we got to 60 fathoms had a White Marlin on and jumping.....tagged & released at 0915, but not an uneventful release. Could not get the hooks out at boatside so brought the fish onboard....fish was still somewhat uncooperative, but finally freed the hooks of my favorite Knucklehead. No harm done to the White....he was still very active and swam away smartly. Next strike came at 1315 and Mr. Whitey put on quite a show. No problems with this one at boatside. That was to be the only two hits of the day for Venture, but any day you T & R two White Marlin it has been a great day. And now for the real fish tale of the day! Kenny McCoy on the Reel McCoy caught three Blue Marlin....had a double hookup on Blues at 1030 and tagged both of them.....as they worked the second fish near the boat they observed still a third Blue Marlin but were too busy to fool with him. About an hour later they hooked up with another Blue which they tagged....it was estimated to go around 250#....the other two were somewhat smaller around 125#. And to top off a rare day of Billfishing they pulled the hooks on a White late that afternoon. It doesn't get much better than that.
/s/Steve Kaiser on the VENTURE (PBGFC)

Wednesday, October 20th, 1999
dropped lines at the edge- headed toward the nipple- caught blackfins - crossed over the nipple stayed in deeper water and headed toward the 131 hole-this was about 11 am - at approx 11:30 to 12 flat line went off- taking lots of line-thought it was a wahoo - had fish to the boat in 15 minutes and surprise- it was a 200# blue - wired fish and tagged him- then the show began for about 1 to 2 minutes he stayed in the air more than the water- shaking his bill and tailwalking all within about 1 to 2 feet of the transom- it was great!!! took another hour to get him back to the boat and release him- angler and crew were pumped!- great day!
/s/ Mike Pate on the CURRENT AFFAIR

Saturday, September 18th, 1999
Fished the Nipple area on Saturday with no hits in that area. Trolled south and caught one white 5 miles North of the Elbow in 620 feet of water, which was the only hit we had all day. The water seemed to get better the farther south we got.
/s/ Charlie Saleeby on the HOOK'N'BULLETT

Sunday, August 29th, 1999
We reached the Spur at 6:30AM and started trolling southeast. At 7:30 we found some nice yellowfins crashing some balled up baby butterfish. We put out some ballyhoo and a Boone Bird with a red and white cedar plug and I pulled them right next to the tuna and immediatly got a double hookup. We caught both tuna which were around 80#-90#. We continued trolling around the tuna and the ball of bait, which was growing smaller by the minute, and caught another nice yellowfin of about 70#. We were taking turns trolling around the tuna with several boats from Destin. They were also doing well with birds and cedar plugs. We caught some smaller ones also that we released and by 11:00AM we were out of ice. Being our first trip on Jack and Keith Cantwell's new/used 39' Topaz, we were very pleased and headed back to Pensacola Pass. I hope everyone has a great white marlin season!!!! headed home.
/s/Zane Godwin on the CONNIE B (PBGFC)

Saturday, September 4th, 1999
Fished the Nipple/131 area most of morning in unclean green water...two knockdowns(no ID). Heard from other boats that water was cleaner to the SE. Ran to 470/870 and found blue-green water....three knockdowns in about 30 second period....unable to ID. Chico Runner in same area had just broken off (like in broken rod)a 400-450# Blue after a 53 min. battle.....they tagged a White earlier that morning. Phoenix tagged a White that morning at the Spur and Gem Dandy tagged a White that afternoon at 450/850 about the time Venture was making her unproductive 52 mi. run home.
As statistician for the PBGFC received this report after Labor Day holiday....you need to be sitting down for this one! George Ballard was on the Phoenix(1st trip out for this 54' Bertram) and not only did they catch the previously reported White on Saturday, but pulled the hooks on a big Blue after a 15 min. encounter. On Sunday they caught FOUR Blue Marlin. Narrative follows: "Missed a White, then had three Blues up and hooked....lost one of them but tagged two--(back to back trips with double header Blues). 20 min. later fought a Blue for 50 min.---measured 98¼" on one side, 96½" on the other--had to tag her. At 1530 tagged a 160-175# Blue at the Elbow---4 Blues in one day! Each of the 4 anglers caught one....Gaither King took 2nd place T&R Angler and we won Top Boat Award." Now that is a record that's going to be hard to beat. They were down in DeSoto Canyon for the first three Blues....250/690. Now you can stand up.
/s/Steve Kaiser on the VENTURE (PBGFC)

Friday, September 3rd, 1999
Cleared Destin Pass at 6 am local time, put lines in north of the Spur around 9am. Flat calm, blue water with no grass. Saw bird working over small tunas, worked the area and caught an 80lb yellow fin tuna. Continued working the same area, when a blue marlin came up under the left rigger. Ed Goebel, popped the horse ballyhoo out of the clip, dropped it back, and hooked up. Released the blue an hour later (250lbs). Heard several other boats in the area had shots and both blues and whites.
/s/ Melanie Mitchell on the ANONYMOUS

Saturday, August 28th, 1999
Fished with Kenny McCoy on Reel McCoy and one of Kenny's friends also named Ken. We began fishing at 07:30 a little bit west of the Spur. Conditions were very pleasant with 1-2 foot seas, cloudy and a north breeze. Water was clean green with no grass or debris whatsoever. Moderate amount of bait swimming on the surface. We fished around the bait schools and the slicks waiting for the Tuna to start busting. Caught a small Yellowfin (25#) at 09:15. At 10:45 we had a double hookup and boated two nice Yellowfin Tuna (69.75# and 77#). Stayed in the area with sporadic action. Had 3 or 4 knockdowns with really nice fish, but couldn't get the hook in them. At 12:45, we had a nice hit and the fight was on! 45 minutes later we boated a 119# Yellowfin Tuna. After that we had to head for home, because we were getting low on ice. On the way home, we passed a floating garbage bag that had several Tripletail under it. We stopped long enough for me to get my spinning rod and catch a 15# Tripletail (my first Tripletail ever). All in all, an excellent trip. See you all out there next weekend. Catch 'em up!
/s/ Eddie Small on the REEL MCCOY (PBGFC)

Friday and Saturday, August 20-21, 1999
Fished the Ram Powell rig Friday. Water was green and lot of hard tails with a few tuna mixed in. Caught 8 small tuna (blackfin &yellowfin) all on spinning rods. Had a Blue Marlin crash some rainbow runners right next to boat. We live baited for an hour or so but never saw him again. Pretty weekend for fishing weather wise but mighty slow fishing. We stopped at the Black Beauty Rig on the way back to let my son scuba dive and he said as soon as he got below 25 ft. the water was as clear as any he had ever seen. Good Luck and tight lines! Gem Dandy
/s/ Gary Malone on the GEM DANDY (PBGFC)

Saturday, August 14th, 1999
Fished Sat. 8-14 at Rock Cliffs. Lines in at Rock Cliffs at 6:00am. Seas were flat, water was green, several tide lines but minimal structure floating. Trolled 30 fathom edge from Rock Cliffs south west toward Tenneco. Five knock downs. One on Stretch 30, others on ballyhoo. Saw bait, birds, and breaking fish as long as depth was 180' to 220'. Squall kicked up at 4:00pm and pounded us all the way home. Call me if you have a good recipe for bonita.
/s/ C Staveley on the CHICO TRIO (PBGFC)

Wednesday & Thursday, August 4-5, 1999
Went to nipple/elbow on wednesday and thursday and hooked a white and caught a 25# yellowfin at the west edge of the nipple on wednesday -water best at nipple- on thursday got fed on by what we think was another white west of the nipple and got hammered by a big wahoo north of the nipple- took 100+ yards off center rigger on an 80 wide with 20lbs of drag and came unglued -lure all chewed up! later went to tenneco rig and caught aj,s and barracuda (lots) - good fun!
/s/MIKE PATE on the CURRENT AFFAIR

Saturday, July 31st, 1999
Left out at 4:00 am and planned on going to the new texaco rig. Water was dirty and I headed south to the double nipple. Found blue water at 13050 and 46650. The rip was semi-formed with most of the grass located several miles to the south. The rip got better as the day went on but the fishing didn't. There was slow action for most of the boats in the Orange Beach Classic tournament. We had one knockdown all day and tagged a sail. The rip was at a 13225 and 46600 when we left it at 3:45 pm. Seas were 1' to 3' with strong easterly current on the blue water side.
Good fishing, Joel
/s/Joel Asmar on the CHICO RUNNER (PBGFC)

Thursday, July 29th, 1999
Got the word there was a rip with clean water down around the 875 line, so headed in that direction. Talked with Gem Dandy and Pop Top who were already on the line......it had moved out to 850. Got there about 0900 and what a day of BULL DOLPHIN fishing. Had action about every hour...caught five Dolphin between 24 and 44 pounds. The really big one ignored the Ballyhoo and hit a Schneider Yap(black/purple)in close to the boat.....took us twenty minutes to boat him and the initial run was over 200 yds. The other boats also caught 4 or 5 big Dolphin. The previous day Xanadu caught 9 big Dolphin off the same line. We were at 350/825 when we made the 52 mile trip home....line was breaking up and hard to find...water was a blue-green. Pop Top had two shots at a White and we had one.....no billfish were caught, but what a day of Dolphin fishing to remember!
/s/Steve Kaiser on the VENTURE (PBGFC)

Saturday, July 17th, 1999
Left out of Destin Pass 6am Saturday morning, ran just east of the Nipple, put two lures out on flat lines as we were putting the riggers out. Before we could even get the riggers out,the left flat line (small pink and white softhead) goes off and we're hooked up within 60 seconds of putting lines in the water. Figuring this must be a wahoo bite, we are ready with the gaff and we have the fish up to the boat with a minute. And what do you know, but our wahoo is a small Sailfish. The fish never jumped, but was all lit up and beautiful. We take the hook out and send him on his way. Fished west towards the Nipple, the water was dirty with scattered grass. Trolled for two hours with no action at all. Ran north to the SW Edge where we had seen a fairly decent line on the way out in 350 ft. Got there late in the afternoon, water was clean with blue tint, trolled the line with ballyhoos with no luck. We decided to change up and live bait with live herring. Immediately had a double header of wahoo on 20lb spinning rods, caught one 25lb wahoo, pulled the hooks on the other wahoo right at the boat. Put live Baits back in the water, immediate double header of dolphin, catch one 25 lb and break of the other. Spend another hour live baiting, caught several more small dolphins, all released. Flat and glassy calm on the way back in. Beautiful Day.
/s/Bart Mitchell, on the ANONYMOUS

Thursday, July 15th, 1999
We started at the 47000 line and went to the nipple. There was a lot of scattered weeds. We saw alot of bait fish. A whale shark came to the boat and he was bigger than we were. We headed south but couldn't keep our baits clean. We picked up and headed to the elbow. About a mile to the east we saw some bait so we stared fishing ag. At 10:00 Rick Bryson hooked a blue on a chugger. At 11:30 we were tagging her and taking pictures of it. It was about 80 inches and very fat. We trolled back through the 131 and saw some pretty big tuna. We had only one more knock down back at the 47000. but of course it was time to go. We did see about a 50+ wahoo shoot almost 20 feet into the air . Not a bad trip considering neither Rick or I had ever been on aboat when a blue was caught.
/s/Jeff Clements, on the WORTH THE WAIT

Friday, July 2, 1999
Hoping to generate some more updates by posting our report from PIBT. Started in area of Ram Powell Friday at 6:00 AM. Dirty water. Fished SW. Hit slightly better water for a while with some good weedlines. Caught one 27# cow dolphin here on a Pakula lure. Finally hit blue water a few miles East of Ocean Star. Caught one 68# Yellowfin and lost a nice one at the boat. Mostly hitting bird/squid/Pakula chain. Hooked up on a Blue on a blue/white Wide Range here but he quickly pulled off. Went in to Port Eads for night and to fuel up. Towed a tournament boat in out of South Pass that had problems with auxillary fuel tank. We had some fuel problems as well, so we got a late start Saturday...about 12:00PM. Fished back East in building seas. Caught a few more tuna and wahoo (along with a huge Barracuda) on bird chain at VK989 and nearby rig. Headed home into 6-8', which luckily diminished as we got nearer to Orange Beach. Made it to dock at 3:00 AM. So needless to say we missed weigh in by a mile. Sounds like several blues were caught (including Sun in a NOBGFC Tournament) around Lena and 25 miles SSW of South Pass at the rip.
/s/Scott Hartley on the JOB SITE, - Atlanta, GA

Wednesday, June 23, 1999
Fished with Paul Grimes - Left the house at 5:00 am and headed to the spur. Water was blue with SE winds at 10-12 knots and seas at 1.5' to 2'. Had excellent luck with yellowfin with a total of six boated with five being 45-50 lbs and the largest going 98 lbs. There was a nice weedline around a 13375 and 46950 to a 13400 and 46850 (north-south orientation) . Lots of current, grass with excellent form and slight color change. Fished the line for 3 hours and caught one dolphin and two wahoo. No bilfish raised on our trip. The nipple was the hot spot for billfish - Gem Dandy, Venture and Carpetbagger fished this area and all had billfish tagged and/or raised. Good fishing, Joel
/s/Joel Asmar on the CHICO RUNNER (PBGFC)

Sunday, May 30, 1999
Got late start from dock (6:45). Dropped in North of the Nipple and began pulling South. Had nice wahoo crash baits and finally decide on port rigger. After brief battle, brought the 55lb. fish on board wher he decided to take revenge on the wire man. Only a flesh wound plus a good story maker. Found good line of grass around Elbow which we fished most the rest of the day with no results. Pulled back towards Nipple before heading home with still no action. At least we broke the new "ride" in with some sort of finned creature. By the way, he was most excellent on the grill so the wire man is feeling a little better about the "battle wound".
/s/Eric D. on the LIVEWIRE

Friday-Sunday, May 28-30, 1999
FISHED THE MEMORIAL DAY TOURNAMENT-LEFT ORANGE BEACH AT 11 PM FRIDAY -
WAS ON THE SPUR AT 6AM WATER WAS BLUE- PUT LINES OUT AND HOOKED BULL
DAULPHIN 20 LB FAIRLY QUICK- FISHED PARAMORE BANKS TUNA ALL OVER IT-NO HOOKUP- SAW 3 0R 4 OTHER BOATS-SAME RESULT- GRASS PATCHES EVRYWHERE-LEFT THERE AND TROLLED TO CANYON-WATER GOT BETTER BLUE JEAN BLUE- HOOKED 60 LB YELLOWFIN AND SMALL BLACKFIN (COULD NOT BRIDDLE BEFORE HE DIED) TROLLED CANYON 2HOURS PLUS NO OTHER ACTION LEFT THERE AND TROLLED UP TO THE DUMPING GROUNDS WATER TURNED DIRTY GREEN SAW 1 OTHER BOAT-GRASS WAS WORSE HERE COULD NOT RUN THE SPREAD PICKED UP AND RAN TOWARD THE DOUBLE NIPPLE DROPPED LINES IN THE WATER SOON AFTER FINDING BETTER WATER AND LESS GRASS 10 MILES +/- FROM THE DOUBLE NIPPLE - GOT SHORT CENTER BAIT NAILED RAN OUT ABOUT 100 YARDS AND ATE NEW $50 LURE SAW NO MORE BOATS AND GOT NO ACTION UNTILL WE GOT TO THE DOUBLE NIPPLE- IT LOOKED LIKE THE PARKING LOT AT WALLMART -WE COUNTED 15 TO 20 PLUS BOATS THE RIP WAS GREAT ! - GRASS WAS HEAVY BUT IN A LINE IN MOST PLACES- HOOKED UP RIGHT AWAY WITH A 40LB PLUS DAULPHIN - WE SAW HIM ON THE CENTER RIGGER- GOT HIM HALF WAY TO BOAT AND HE DOVE IN UNDER A LARGE GRASS PATCH AND CAME UNGLUED TROLLED THIS LINE -NO MORE ACTION BUT MORE BOATS SHOWED UP- NOBODY WAS TIRED SO WE DECIDED TO NIGHT TROLL IN THE FULL MOON- PUT OUT 4 LINES WITH ALL THE FAVORITES AND HEADED TOWARD THE STEPS AT SLOW SPEED TROLLED EVERYTHING IN SIGHT NO ACTION-
SUNUP SUNDAY WE TROLLED RIGS FOR TUNA BITE- TUNA EVERYWHERE ALL HAD LOCKJAW TRIED EVERYTHING - HAD 2 GOOD WAHOO STRIKES AND TROLLED TOWARD ELBOW ON 100 PHATHOM CURVE WATER GOT GREAT SAW WHALE -SKIPJACK TINA AND BONITA WERE ALL OVER THE PLACE- WE PUT ON OUR SEATBELTS AND MADE SURE THE FLYING GAFF WAS READY AND GOT SERIOUS-
GOT A GOOD KNOCKDOWN AND GRASS PATCHES BECAME SO THICK YOU COULD NOT TROLL IT- BY NOW IT WAS 2PM SO WE THREW OUT THE SPEED LURES AND RAISED OUR FLAGS OPENED UP ANOTHER CASE OF BEER AND HEADED FOR THE PASS-MUCH FUN!!!! WILL DO IT AGAIN!
/s/MIKE PATE on the CURRENT AFFAIR

Saturday, May 29, 1999
Started fishing at the Elbow went down through the Dumping Grounds then due to an approaching Thunder Storm at 2:00 pm we decided to pick up and run to the 100 fathom line west of the nipple and troll east towards the nipple. 2 minutes later we had are first knock down of the day and 1 Hour and 45 Minutes later on a 30 TW we had are first Blue Marlin (250 lbs)of the year to the Boat. The angler was Jack Cantwell. The blue was caught with in a couple hundred yards of the white we caught last Saturday and with in 30 minutes of the same time 3:30 PM.
/s/Keith Cantwell on the PAIN & PANIC

Wednesday thru Friday, May 26-28, 1999
We left for Venice, LA on Wednesday the 25th and did not fish due to time constraints.

Thursday (26th) - Left Venice at 6:30 am and headed to the Mars rig - +-50 miles 185 deg out of South Pass. Slow action and green water with no fish caught. Fished a sister rig (Ursa) and caught a 50 lb yellowfin. The water was still green and we picked up the lures and ran SE looking fror blue water - short run with blue water within 2 miles of Ursa. The rip was poorly formed and we primarily fished around grass patches. Caught wahoo and dolphin. Saw a swordfish or blue marlin free swimming but no luck with the baits. Quit at 4:00 pm to get up the river before dark.

Friday (27th) - Left Venice at 6:00 am and found the blue water rip 55 miles SE of South Pass. The rip was gorgeous with strong color change, grass, and debris; 800-1,000 fathoms. Caught several dolphin and raised a blue around 1:00 pm. Meri was the angler and after a 22 minute fight she tagged her 2nd blue. Had two sails up in the afternoon with no luck in the hookups. Started running at 4:00 pm to South Pass and made 10 miles before the tuna started busting. Hooked up two immediately and boated a 60 lb fish on baitcasting gear.

Saturday (28th) - Ran to rip and found it at 9:15 am. It was just as pretty or better than the previous day. No action so trolled to the drillship Discoverer. The ship was surrounded by bait and blue water. We live baited bonitas for 3 hours with no luck. At 3:30pm, the tuna started busting and Eddie Small caught a 63.5 lb fish immediately. Lures went back out and we hooked up a large fish immediatley. This tuna took about 25 minutes for Meri to get it to the boat and weighed in at 172 lbs at Cypress Cove Marina.

Sunday (29th) - Ran to the Ram Powell rig and fished for 45 minutes - saw a bunch of tuna. water was blue/green. Beer Can rig also had some tuna and we picked up a 50 lb fish after 30 minutes of trolling. Fished the new rig briefly and headed to the house at 2:15 pm. The trip was great with calm seas and sunny skies. I've got a bunch of rig numbers for anyone heading that way. Good fishing. Joel
/s/Joel Asmar on the CHICO RUNNER (PBGFC

Monday, May 24, 1999
Got a late start due to weather - cleared pass around 7:00 am. Seas were rough at 4-5' with occassional 7 footers. We stayed shallow due to seas and targeted wahoo. Pulled the hooks on two wahoo early and slow action otherwise. Started heading to the rock cliffs for a shorter ride home and tagged a blue marlin at a 13400 and 47010. Fish was +-175 lbs and was in excellent shape. Water was green with scattered flyers. No grass lines formed due to heavy winds and seas. I'm planning on heading to Venice, LA, Wednesday morning for 4 days of fishing. I'll post another report when I get back. Good fishing - Joel
/s/Joel Asmar on the CHICO RUNNER (PBGFC)

Sunday, May 23, 1999
Saturday - Fished same depth as Friday and found large grass patches in the northeast corner of the dumping grounds. Caught a 66lb yellowfin next to one grass patch. Slow action until 5:00 pm when the tuna started showing up around the shrimp trawler. Caught two more yellowfin and lost a few more. Meri caught one (46 lbs) on a spinning rod. I was able to drink about three beers during that fight. Quit at 6:00pm and headed home. Seas were calm with sunny skies.
/s/Joel Asmar on the CHICO RUNNER (PBGFC)

Saturday, May 22, 1999
Went to the NC Muck of the Green Grouper in Morehead City 21-24. Fished up on the outside Fri for Spanish and kings with no luck but great head clearing after so much wind. Sat had us heading for the Big Rock at 6AM but I noticed some of the big guns in the charter fleet heading west.....Yes, this coast is parallel to the Gulf coast. At 35 fathoms had a double hook-up on tuna. Anglers had never caught yellowfin. They were crying at 10 minutes and I was howling in the tower at 15 minutes. 55# and 39# in the box. Found a tremendous weedline forming at 97 fathoms. Thought we were getting ready to load up. Not so. Just a 20# dolphin. Wind picking up and looking at a 46 mile run home, we troll toward the beach. Just before me saying let's pick 'em up, the starbord flat line goes off. Acts like a medium king until it gets to the boat. Then it rips a lot of line off. 46.5 wahoo in the box. Pictures are on the GG board and the WMI board. I'm really glad to finally get out. Enjoy seeing your reports that the fishing is good in P'cola.
/s/Johnnie Turner on the JEWELS (PBGFC)

Saturday, May 22, 1999
Fished a weed line northeast of Spur with no luck. We saw the boat Hookin Bullet tag a Blue Marlin. This boat was fishing the Atlanta Saltwater Fishing Club tournament. Left the weedline and trolled over to the 200 fathom line and fished around shrimp boat Carla Jean with one knockdown. Started back toward nipple and Gary Malone caught nice 60lb Wahoo around the Spur. Had one more nice knockdown with about 100 yards taken off a 50 TW but didn't get it to the boat. We did catch one small dolphin. Saw pretty blue water and 1 ft seas. A beautiful day to be off shore.
/s/Chuck Haskell on the Lucky Lady (PBGFC)

Saturday, May 22, 1999
PUT LINES IN AT 7:00 am JUST NORTH OF THE SPUR, FISHED AROUND THE CARLA JEAN ( SHRIMP BOAT ) FOR ABOUT 30 MINUTES WITH NO LUCK , PROCEEDED SOUTH INTO THE CANYON. BIG MISTAKE, HEARD ON THE RADIO THERE WERE SOME NICE TUNA BEING CAUGHT AS THE CARLA JEAN CLEANED THE NETS. FISHED THE CANYON FOR A WHILE THEN CHANGED OUR COURSE TOWARD THE 131 HOLE. ABOUT 8 MILES NORTH OF THE SPUR SPOTTED A NICE BLUE FEEDING ON A SCHOOL OF BAIT FISH, HAD HIM LOOKING AT OUR LAST CHANCE WHICH HAPPENED TO BE A BOONE BIRD AND A CEDAR PLUG WHICH HE WAS NOT INTRESTED IN. TROLLED THAT AREA FOR ABOUT 45 MINUTES, MR BLUE WAS GONE. HEADED TO THE 100 FATHOM LINE THEN TURNED EAST TOWARD THE NIPPLE AND CAUGHT A NICE WHITE. GOT MOST ON VIDEO, WHAT A DAY.
/s/Keith Cantwell on the PAIN & PANIC

Friday & Saturday, May 21-22, 1999
Friday, May 21, fished a weed line 8 miles north of the nipple. We had two knockdowns before hooking about a 200-300 lb Blue. He almost spooled a 30SW before the hook pulled. Caught two Dolphin and one Wahoo. On Saturday we fished the same area and released a small Blue early and caught two Wahoo. The Blue jumped over a longliner's bouy and when he motored his boat over to the bouy the fish jumped six or seven times right beside the mate standing on the bow. It was quite a sight to see this fish almost landing on his boat! Lucky Lady trolled by as we were fighting the Blue.
/s/Charlie Saleeby on the Hook 'N' Bullet

Friday & Saturday, May 21-22, 1999
Plan was to go to "Steps" area, find the blue water, and return by dark.Venture departed at 0500 21 May and proceeded to the Elbow....trolled an hour with no action. Ran to "Swiggles"....at about 1000 while trolling at 90 fathoms near Swiggles observed a Sailfish jumping some 50 yds. to starboard....turned in that direction and moments later the Sailfish went into the attack mode with part of sail extended....struck the starboard flatline with no hook-up...then proceeded to the starboard outrigger(ballyhoo)showing full sail. Never got hooked-up and never saw fish again. While trolling same area some 10 minutes later observed a really big Wahoo greyhounding to hit the wayback knucklehead....fish ran off some line and then cut the 300# mono....lost lure but the hooks should be firmly in that Wahoo. By midday got to the Ram/Powell rig....what a monster she is....big and most impressive. Water was green and that's in 700 fathoms. Was chatting with Caroline and Mac Attack who were proceeding to South Pass for the annual Pratt Martin fishing expedition....the weather was so beautiful....calm and forecast to hold for several days. Thats when Wally and I got the idea that maybe we could go to South Pass for the night....we were already 86 miles from Pensacola and were a little closer to Port Eads. After some cellular calls (roaming worked quite well that far out)...cleared our trip with home base. Advised Mac Attack we would see them at the seafood cookout. Arrived at Port Eads about 1800...that's 156 miles from Pensacola....still had 25 gals. of gas left, but no tooth brush/shaving gear/clean clothes....this was an "unplanned" spur of the moment trip. Hypertension, Mac Attack, Pair-a-Docs, Little Buddy, Time Out, Commotion, Gud Tyme and Venture were all there for a great meal at boatside cooked by Gary Sluder and Bill Flowers. Caroline hit bottom coming into Port Eads and proceeded to Venice(possible prop damage)....extremely shallow in the cut to the marina....they were dredging as we came in. Departed 0700 next morning for trip back to Pensacola. Found "rip" at 120°/26 nm. out of South Pass....trolled for a couple of hours toward home....only action was a Cajun radio call saying they had boated a 100# Wahoo. Ran to Ram/Powell rig which now had blue water....still no strikes. Talked to Karma along the way. About 1330 near the Petronis rig(middle of steps)hooked-up with a big Bull Dolphin....lots of jumps and lots of action at boatside....weighed in that night at 38.5#. Got back to Pensacola before dark....a 25 hour round trip with more running than trolling, but what an experience! Only caught the one fish, but expecting lots of catch cards from the rest of the boats...Pair-of-Docs tagged a Blue on the way over Friday near one of the rigs, and Commotion tagged a White out of South Pass Friday....Time Out had a Blue on for some 8 minutes Friday. Lots of Wahoo and Tuna were caught and they had the weekend to go. It was rumored that fuel would soon no longer be available at Port Eads and that it might even close down. Well the Venture finally made it there by water after trailering over to Venice three times the past ten years. Never was able to get that South Pass Blue Marlin which they are so famous for.
/s/Steve Kaiser on the VENTURE (PBGFC)

Friday, May 21, 1999
Fished Friday with Paul Grimes. Ran 50 miles to 200 fathom line and fished around the Parramore Banks, a shrimp trawler. Slow action and caught one 50 lb yellowfin. Followed several blackfins schools around the Spur area and caught three more similar size yellofins. Sea conditions were excellent with water temp at 78 degrees. Quit fishing at 2:30 pm to prepare for Saturday.
/s/Joel Asmar on the CHICO RUNNER (PBGFC)

Friday, May 21, 1999
HEADED TOWARD NIPPLE FROM ORANGE BEACH- BUT 4 MILES OUTSIDE OF PASS FOUND GRASS AND CAUGHT 50 PLUS CHICKEN DAULPHIN INCLUDING 1 - 10LB BULL NEVER MADE IT TO THE NIPPLE
/s/MIKE PATE on the CURRENT AFFAIR

Sunday, May 16, 1999
Spent the the night at the Ram-Powell rig @86 miles southwest of Pensacola. We had beautiful weather, 1-2 ft. seas, and only one other boat around the rig. Our catch for sunday afternoon and Monday morning included three 60-80 lbs.Yellowfins, ten Blackfins, four Wahoos, Seven Dolphins. One free jumping Blue Marlin was seen but none raised. Several good weed lines were seen coming home @40-60 miles from Pensacola but no room in the coolers!
/s/Strick Mays on the STARBUCK

Saturday, May 15, 1999
Headed SE about 7:00 looking to work the drop off down to the nipple. Found huge grass line about 9:00 on the 400/060 lines. Worked it for a little and came up empty. headed south and picked up a 50# wahoo at the 380/025 line. Fish hit "new" calcutta bullyhoo lure ( creme color ) w/ a blue/pink king buster in front. tight lines
/s/Chuck Mckinney on the FIN-ADDICT

Friday, May 14, 1999
Fished solo today. Put lines in at nipple on working bird. Fished south for about 5 miles, water did not look that good and no floatsum. Worked back northeast and water got better. Fishy water between 100 fathom line and Tenneco with scattered grass. 2 knockdowns but lost wahoo at boat. Had 10 - 12" hammerhead in the plastics. Saw blackfin tuna jumping in area. All in all a good day.
/s/Charles Stavely on the CHICO TRIO (PBGFC)

Tuesday, May 11, 1999
Put lines in the water at about 7:00 AM around the 29 edge and trolled south. Water temp about 72 degrees and very blue! Lots of scattered grass but could find no lines. Fished down to a 46885 and got into big storm. Started fishing our way back about noon and got our first knockdown about 2:00 PM. After about a 1 hour battle against fish , seas, and rain we released an estimated 250 lb Mako shark. that was only bite of the day, however, with the amount of bait and beautiful water it should turn on any day. Sure was nice to see blue water in close for change!
/s/Gary Malone on the GEM DANDY (PBGFC)

Sunday, May 2, 1999
This is not a offshore trip but it is pretty interesting. Working the bar close in shore I mean right off of the beach in about 15 foot of water we saw the darnest thing a huge wahoo in the range of 70 lbs just swimming along on the surface of the water we worked the fish for about 15 minutes before he decided to leave the aera just wasn't hungry. For what it is worth we saw flying fish in close to the beach also a lot of chicken dolphin. Jim Ward saw a sailfish this week and some tarpon at least the fish are showing up its time to make a offshore trip. Also some talk around the dock that there has been some pretty nice wahoo caught at the edge.
/s/Curtis Johnson on the MISS ASHLEY (PBGFC)

25 & 26 Feb 1999
Fished the floaters SW of Orange Beach last Thurs night and Friday. Caught about 25 Yellowfin averaging around 40#. Largest was about 60#. Also caught a few small Blackfin jigging at night. All the Yellowfin were caught trolling. Saw one Blue chasing bait, but couldn't get him to bite.
Scott Hartley, Atlanta, GA