Lung and I got up to Eastmans about 6:00 AM. Lung brought his "coffin" of a cooler and I brought my new virgin 36" long igloo (shoulda bought a bigger one, but this one barely fits into my car). Boat launched at 7 and we were on fish shortly after 9:00 at 300' depth. Went with a blue tube teaser above the jig and never switched. Only 40 people on the boat, so tangles weren't too much of a problem (though there were a few). Moved off the first spot after a few were caught and landed a few more at second location. I had 5 in the cooler and Lung had 3 when Capt. Mark decided to move further out. This was the right choice. I can now say I have experienced a Pollack Slam.
Jig hit the bottom at 310' depth and fish on, and I mean everybody!!!
Three mates were so busy, Lung and I didn't even bother to wait for a gaff half the time. It was either swing em over or hand pull em in. Didn't eat or drink much, since there was no time. Lung went for a nice stretch of hooking doubles and started filling his cooler FAST. When all was said and done at about 1:30 or so, we couldn't fit another fish into either cooler.
As the mates were filleting our catch, they kept asking if they had made a dent in Lung's cooler. They were hoping there were ice blocks in the bottom, which was not to be. When they finally finished Lung's, they moved to mine and asked if I was in the same "group" that Lung's cooler was from. I just said yes, because they thought we had to have multiple people in our group, and I didn't have the heart to tell them it was just the two of us. If there was an available crate, we would have kept loading up.
I have learned two things from this trip. NO cooler is too big when you hit a slam, and Lung needs to get wheels under that damn coffin of his. I ended up with 72 lbs of fillets (weighed when I got home), and Lung's cooler felt like it was filed with cement. Not fun getting it off the boat. Thanks Lung. That was a blast. Not many pics, as didn't have time.
My "virgin" cooler
Lung's coffin
We packed a couple more fish on top after these photos were taken.