Into the Blue was the CHAMPION of the Waypoint series showdown, meaning that we will be having a 24 hour marathon of the show on Friday, July 10th! You can view the marathon on Samsung TV Plus and Stirr TV ALL DAY Friday!
Once the fish is done you can just pull the meat off the bones and start building your tacos. Add some lime juice and bring the pulled meat back to the grill while you wait on the corn to finish. Once this is all done, you can add your street corn sauce, and build your tacos with your preferred toppings.
S12:E10 - “Great Bait! I’m Hooked” (2020)
Capt Scott Walker and Capt Steve Rodger break down the best-kept secret bait spots in the Keys.
S12:E9 - “Hawks Cay Wrecks” (2020)
Capt Scott Walker and Capt Steve Rodger explore the fertile waters around Hawk's Cay
Last week we saw Scott Walker change his Swordfish rod over to a rig to pull a 60 pound dredge for Marlin fishing and he taught us how to properly make a crimp. Today, we see him rig his hook baits in a 4 step process.
Of all the Captains I have ever fished with, Capt. Scott Walker has always impressed me with the way he prepares his tackle. It is meticulously rigged with great concentration to details and it all looks exactly the same. Scott has found what works for him and he does not deviate from the winning formula. The result is success in tournaments and success for his anglers.
Scott goes through the way he rigs his hook baits for Blue Marlin step by step in an easy to follow instructional video. Notice how he doesnt fully rig 1 bait at a time, rather, he gets everything ready, measured and perfect and then starts to rig the baits.
Check out this video:
sunrise at the marina, looks like a good start to the day. nikon d800, 16mm, f/4.0, 1/30 sec
fire in the sky. nikon d300s, 70mm, f/4.0, 1/80 sec
The day we shot the Red, White and Blue show was probably my favorite day of the trip. We arrived at the marina and loaded gear into the two boats while an amazing sunset exploded the sky with color. As we rolled out into the channels that led us to the Mississippi it became clear that this would be by far, the calmest day we had seen. We stopped on our way out to cast net some mullet, then headed out a little ways to Sabiki up some blue runners as well. I was on the fishing boat from the start, so was able to shoot some good bait catching shots and some other detail stuff that I hadn’t been able to do from the camera boat.
a nice run out the mississippi. nikon d800, 16mm, f/5.6, 1/800 sec
The little sharks were quick to join the blue runner party, so as Scott and Steve loaded up the livewells, I shot some underwater of the little bait stealers. I use a GoPro on a long extendable pole for this kind of shot, it allows me to stay dry and to switch quickly back and forth between underwater and regular photography. The little sharks were fired up after eating a couple of runners, and would come right up to investigate the GoPro with mouths open. I had to dodge the teeth and bump them a few times, but got some fun shots. In about 20 minutes, we were full of bait and settled in for another half hour run out to a deep rig that Captain Billy Wells hoped was holding tuna.
Quickly after arrival at the rig, we saw tuna busting the surface, so they tossed out a few freebies and dropped back a couple of baits and quickly came tight. Scott made quick work of a little Yellowfin, which Steve handled and released. Scott dropped another bait back and a few minutes later called out “white marlin”. He had just seen a quick glimpse of a rounded dorsal working his bait and blurted it out. He came off the declaration a bit as he talked through what he had seen, “could have been a shark…” But he was determined to find out, a moment later he felt the bite, and dropped the bait back so that the fish could eat. Then he reeled down on it, setting the circle hook, the line came tight and the rod bent under the pressure, but there was no jump. Probably just a shark we all thought. But Walker had just come from a summer of amazing white marlin fishing in Maryland, so certainly nobody would want to call his instincts into question. A moment later it launched proving his call correct, and then kept jumping putting on a great aerial display.
Scott loves white marlin almost as much as sailfish, so hooking this fish 1200 miles from where he was catching them a couple of days earlier was awesome. The fight lasted about 25 minutes and when they pulled the fish along boatside, they realized that it was about a 100lb fish, which could have won a lot of money at the tournaments that Scott had been fishing back in Maryland. After a nice release we circled back around to the original position a little ways off the rig.
Now it was Steve’s turn. In the next half hour or so, they caught a few little tuna and worked through some sharks then Steve got a big bite. It became apparent quickly that he was locked into a pretty big yellowfin and that this might take a little while. After about a half hour, he got it to the surface, but with a cameraman in the water and the camera boat coming over for a shot, each time it came up, it would sound again. I was able to use the extended battle to my advantage to get some underwater shots of the tuna and a hammerhead that was investigating the activity. Eventually they brought the tuna on board and again we circled back to deploy more baits.
blue marlin launching. nikon d300s, 150mm, f/4.5, 1/5000 sec
another blue jump. nikon d300s, 200mm, f/4.5, 1/5000 sec
This time they dropped back a little tuna with the other baits to see if there were any bigger marlin around, and it turns out there were. A half-hour after catching the tuna, Steve’s marlin bait got hit hard, and a big blue marlin went airborne. Next, it did a series of jumps right past the rig before circling back around us. The fight went on for about 10 minutes before the big fish broke off, leaving us in silence. Despite losing the big blue, it had been a great day. They went on to catch a few more little tuna before a nice relatively smooth ride back to the docks.
blue marlin tailwalking past the rig before breaking off. nikon d300s, 70mm, f/4.5, 1/5000 sec
Deep sea saltwater fishing is what we are all about. We love the adrenaline surge that comes from fighting these deep sea fish. This is not for beginners, but we are here to help educate you to become the best deep sea saltwater angler you can be. We have blogs to help you catch fish and recipes to help you cook your catch. Ask us any questions about fishing and we would love to answer and help you catch some fish!
