Fished 3 days last week at the local islands (had to stay close as work was being done on my cabin).
First day caught 1 firecracker yellowtail on blue/white iron at the 90' reef south of Hoursehead. Fished some huge sardine balls on the rock wall
just west of Punta Malo. Trolled that for an hour on light rigs for a gagillion bonita.
Second day fished the 185' reef between Horsehead and Punta Malo and caught 1 nicer yellowtail in the 12 to 15 pound range and so many bonita I just
left. No bait on the wall.
Third day went north to the north tip of Smith and came upon a pod of finbacks feeding on a huge ball - maybe a half mile round. Cut the engine and
just drifted for 30 minutes and enjoyed the show. Tied on a white Yozuri with a red head (ala Juan @ Asuncion) and in 5 minutes the rod went crazy.
Thinking I had yet another bonita I casually lifted the rod and almost lost it when the fish made a powerful dive. Had a great fight and brought in a
yellowtail in the low 20s. First time catching a yellowtail on the troll in 2 years. Had my first beer early that day.
The bonitas were pesty all 3 days - couldn't even catch many baracuda.
I was stopped by a boat with 3 men and 2 women who were taking a survey of what was caught. I offered to show my license and boat permit but they
weren't interested. The driver was very stern and serious but everyone else seemed friendly - anyone know what that was all about?
Also spun a prop on my 115hp Merc for the first time but I have no idea why. My RPMs just started increasing from 5000 to 6500 and I pulled into a
cove on Isla Ventanna and pulled the prop off. Couldn't get it back on or my spare so I fired the kicker and trolled back to camp. Wiser men than I
immediatly diagnosed the problem and we had the spare on in 2 minutes. Know I can appear wise to some rookie when he spins his prop for the first
time.Barry A. - 11-12-2007 at 01:30 PM
Santiago-----
Being a small outboard kinda guy (15 hp), what does it mean when you say you "spun a prop"?
Do the bigger engines have a "key" between the prop and the shaft? and is that what you "spun" off?
------and if so, why would that prevent you from putting the spare prop on?
barryvandenberg - 11-12-2007 at 01:53 PM
The prop is pressed onto the prop hub with "mucho" force and when you, either hit an obstruction or gun the prop too many times, it looses it grip
between the hub and the prop housing and the prop starts to kind of freewheeling. At first, if you keep the RPM's down you can still travel at slow
speed. However, each time you try to advance the throttle a little, the prop looses more grip on the hub and and the going will get slower until it
will loose its grip completely and you're dead in the water. However, once you're familiar with the procedure, you can travel a long ways if you take
care and avoid any kind of excessive pressure on the prop. Like keeping the RPM's at below 1500 and are very careful while advancing the throttle.cpg - 11-12-2007 at 01:58 PM
how was the water temp?Barry A. - 11-12-2007 at 02:00 PM
Ahhh haaaa-------thank you Vandenberg
So is the prop ruined when this happens (unlike a small outboard where you just replace the "key") ?
----and why is it difficult to replace the old prop with a new one?comitan - 11-12-2007 at 02:13 PM
And if its too bad and you have a couple of screws, screw them into the rubber for an emergency get home.
[Edited on 11-12-2007 by comitan]Santiago - 11-12-2007 at 02:15 PM
Water temps about 72 degrees - whale sharks had been gone for a week.Paulina - 11-12-2007 at 02:17 PM
Santiago,
If you are still online, tell us about the town in regards to prepping for the race to come through manana.
P.vandenberg - 11-12-2007 at 02:40 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by Barry A.
Ahhh haaaa-------thank you Vandenberg
So is the prop ruined when this happens (unlike a small outboard where you just replace the "key") ?
----and why is it difficult to replace the old prop with a new one?
Can't answer your second question. But the prop repairshop will just force another hub into the prop and it'll be like new.
And Comitan's solution works great in an emergency and if done with care won't even ruin the prop.Santiago - 11-12-2007 at 05:12 PM
Paulina: I really didn't see any prep for the race unless the road grading is part of it. Maybe I don't know what I'm looking at though, not ever
seeinga race. I do know that everyone was disapointed in the timing of the race as most of the action would be after dark. I left Saturday about
11:00am and I will tell you, southbound traffic was nuts. Lots of dually Dodges pulling empty flatbeds.David A. - 11-13-2007 at 06:39 AM
Thanks for the report. We are pulling the boat down Friday morning. Hopefully the wind will cooporate with us. We might make one run to
Burn a lot of gas. It usually produces this time of the year.
It usually produces this time of the year.