A real character builder on the southern end of things as we traversed over one hundred twenty miles of new ground for a mere handful of unfortunate small yellowtail whose courage, though noble, betrayed them in the face of our desperate circumstances. Fortunately there were only a few though and they will undoubtedly serve up well in a variety of dishes.

That is about as much humor as I can muster following a long day of looking for disappointing results. The bluefin that were so prolific just a few days past pulled a near no show today in the lower zone. Of course this raises the age old offshore question of did they relocate or are they just down? And the answer can be presented in whatever level of complexity one chooses. As the mechanism turns thus far, relative to what we have seen many times in years past, I would venture that the overall bluefin sign and behavior is typical for this time of year; there are plenty of them around but conditions are extremely unsettled. The real key to our offshore success - water structure, is still far from defined.

Needless to say we had our fill of looking on the outside today. One positive is that the lack of results made the decision to relocate real simple. We will shift gears for at least one day targeting coastal variety before venturing offshore again. And another positive, never to be overlooked, is fine working weather that appears to be locked in for at least a couple, if not three or four more days. With any luck, and plenty of effort, we will put the window to good use. First things first however, we have some catching up to do tomorrow.

Tim Ekstrom