Boarded the Success 11 am Friday morning, got bait and motored south. The whole fleet was approximately 60 miles out. Saw a fair amount of whales and a few dolphin pods in the area where the fleet was fishing. Got my 1st fish Saturday afternoon, the fish taped 196# and weighed 184# gilled, gutted and bled at the processor. Fish was hooked on a balloon rig that suspended a mullet with a 20/0 circle hook. The reel was the boats 50W 2 speed Avet spooled with 130# braid and a 250# leader. Fish had power like I've never felt, ever! Probably took 30 minutes from strike to gaff. I was spent.
Caught a 100# +/- fish that weighed 85# gilled, gutted and bled @ processor. Got the fish Sunday afternoon on a sinker rig using a sardine for bait. Rod/reel combo was my personal rig, a 2 speed Avet spooled with 80# mono and a 80# fluoro leader. That fish took me 30 minutes from strike to gaff. Again, I was spent. Missed a few strikes and broke off what was likely a very nice fish. Caught a 30# fish too. My friend caught his limit, the fish were 30 - 60#.
My buddy and I were among the least experienced anglers on the boat, fellow anglers came well prepared and had a ton of experience. They caught a lot of fish and shared their knowledge, cool people who were fun to fish with. Learned a lot on this trip. Not sure of the actual fish count but I'd say there at least six 100# +/- bluefin caught including another balloon fish that went 150# IIRC. Cary put us on fish, he is relentless. Deckhands were good, food was a "B", good but not great. Great trip, go now!