We tried to get out at 1pm yesterday, and then 6pm last night and now this morning. We ran into some issues with our GPS connection and ended up updating some of our electronics. We are planning to head further west this time, about 100 miles west of Newport. I have also rented a satellite phone to improve our communication while out of cell service range. We expect a Friday delivery, so those waiting to can on a weekend, this will be a great trip to place an order.

We are about 2 hours away from reaching the river. We had another successful trip with close to 1000 fish. We will be selling off the boat on Tuesday, I think the average weight on this trip is about 12 pounds per fish, slightly smaller then the last trip. 

We reached the fishing grounds around 9am this morning. On our way we drove past a few other boats about 80 miles off the coast that were having poor luck. So we decided to head further south. 

Hoping for another good trip. 

We are leaving for our second trip today. I plan to leave this afternoon after we fill up on fuel and get fresh ice. We are going to be heading south off the coast of Newport.

The weather forecast is looking good and will only improve as the week goes on. Looks like Friday will be our nicest day. We are planning for 7 days of fishing so our next delivery will be Tuesday July 29th.

We caught over a thousand fish last week weighing more then 14,000 pounds. We had a large variety of weights ranging from 11-28 pounds. It was the best trip the Lihue II has had in over 3 years. We are planning to leave Monday before 4pm and expect our next delivery to be July 28th.  

The boat is over half full, this trip is proving to be good so far. I expect to be home to deliver on Sunday afternoon. If we continue to catch so many fish per day we might head home early for a Saturday delivery. 

So far this trip I have noticed the fish are larger then seasons in the past. Last year our fish averaged 13 pounds each, the ones that we have caught so far are closer to 20 pounds each. Keep this is mind when placing your order this week.

I am kicking off the 2008 season with new crew member Matt Brause. We are currently finishing up some painting and plan to leave next week.

Water temperatures are looking better but it still looks like a 500 mile trip to reach the tuna.