Three Days with Buffalo Burgers – Orange Beach, Gulf Shores 5-3-2012

May 20, 2012 in Alabama, Deep Sea Fishing, Dolphin, Fishing Report, Grouper, Gulf Shores, Orange Beach, Sportsman Marina, Tuna, Wahoo

Three day fishing trips aren’t the normal overnight trip if all you want is just Tuna Fish and maybe some Dolphin (Mahi-Mahi).  With only six anglers on board we headed out on a Thursday afternoon for a three night, three day trip. It’s not normal to leave that early in the afternoon and then run all night, but when you have three days to do it in, you just don’t need to get in a hurry. We left Orange Beach from Sportsman Marina around four pm and headed south around 10 knots. The seas were between 3-5 ft. with an occasional 4-6 ft. coming out of the south east with a 15-20 knot wind. I know it sounds bad and it was but this was actually better conditions than what they said it was going to be. For the first five miles or so out of the pass it was pretty rough and then it spread out and got a little smaller which made the ride tolerable but not comfortable at all. We just knuckled down and dug in for a slow ride and before you knew it we found ourselves in the dark and the boat wasn’t rocking near as much, Thank the Lord. That was pretty much the worst of the whole trip and it was behind us now. It got nicer and nicer for the next two days till it was as slick as a mill pond with hardly a breeze of air.

We traveled out at night for around eight hour s till we came to one of the offshore rigs that usually hold good fish so we stopped and checked it for some sign of life by Jigging for Tuna under the lights. The rig didn’t show much on the fish finder but we tried it any way and ended up catching one Black Fin Tuna. So, we headed on to the next one further out about 15 miles. Now it’s around 3 am in the morning and everyone is unconscious, except me. Once we got some coffee in us, it was game on! First line out, “Fish On!”  We ended up catching a couple of huge Yellow Fin Tuna on live bait and chunk fishing. The fish bit all day pretty steady, our problem was keeping a fresh and lively angler on the business end of the rod, seems that the ride out and the long hours of the night took its toll on the crew. One of the best parts of these trips is the meals on the Big Green Egg. These guys have some buffalo Hamburger and I’d never tried any before. “Delicious!”  Being the red meat guy that I am, that was awesome, not to mention the Prime Sirloin another fellow brought from Brazil like they serve at “Fogo de Chao” original restaurants. We ate like kings for three days. Sausage on the grill for breakfast, Buffalo burgers for lunch, rib-eye steaks for dinner, and like a good deckhand does, we had some cookies and cream ice cream for desert that he brought just to make sure we had all of the comforts of home, you know!

We wrapped up our trip with some 4-5 lb Mingo’s and a limit of 40-50 lb Amberjack to go along with a box full of Yellow Fin Tuna, Black Fin Tuna, Skip Jack Tuna and a couple of Wahoo in the 40-50 lb range. Yes, we did catch some huge Gag Grouper which do not open until July 1rst. and we properly ventilated  and released them after taking some great pictures. It turned out to be a great trip for everyone, even the couple of guys that didn’t see daylight for about 36 hours. They have already booked a trip in the fall for another overnight Tuna trip.

Emerald Spirit Maiden Fishing Voyage

June 1, 2009 in Action Charter Service

She was a lean mean “fishing machine” as we headed out on our overnight maiden fishing voyage aboard the new Emerald Spirit.  The excitement had built as the month long anticipated trip had finally arrived.  Some anglers came to the boat the night before as they pulled into town to find last minute preparations taking place.  They went to purchase a Saltwater Series Tournament ticket and were off to get a good night’s rest for the 36 hour fishing marathon.

About twelve men gathered at daybreak to board the new vessel.  She gleamed metallically as the sun rose awaiting her captain and crew to charter into unknown territory.  The first stop brought us Mingos and a few Scamp.  We caught Red Grouper, Gag Grouper as we fished out to the rigs where we got Amberjack.  As the afternoon went on we got our evening Tuna as we grilled on the Big Green Egg.  We shut down about 2 a.m. for a few hours rest and then were back up after the Tuna for the early morning catch.  When the Tuna quit biting we moved on to more Amberjack and Grouper, Scamp and Mingos to arrive back at 6 p.m. with 1200 pounds of fish (see picture).  It was a great first trip for an experienced captain and crew.

When we arrived at the dock we were so pumped up exclaiming how much fun had been had, how much food eaten and how it had been the best fishing trip ever.  We weighed in for the tournament and ended up with three fish on the board, an 11 pound Trigger, which currently still holds 1st place; a 55.6 pound Amberjack which was third and a 4.8 pound Mingo which is big for that species. 

Come on down and catch fish with us – GUARANTEED FUN!
Captain George Pfeiffer
Action Charter Service
888-558-3889