Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Feeding Hand Feeding in the BIG pond

I am sitting on a rig in the Atlantic, about 100 miles off the coast of Brazil. We had a BBQ on the deck yesterday, so I was throwing the scraps overboard. You should see the schools of tuna attacking anything that hits the water. If you throw in bigger piece that does not go down in one gulp, they jump out of the water over the close ones to get to it. But I haven�t seen any of the big sharks like off the coast of Africa.

What % protein do you think I should feed them?

100% Protein, else they get angry! I hope you brought a Tuna pole and some 100lb test line!!! Take lots of pictures!!!!

Cameras are not allowed. Neither is fishing, anymore. It used to be allowed, but now that the wells are deeper, most of the rigs are floating, dynamically positioned. Fishing line wreak havoc on thrusters. In Gulf of Mexico, the commercial fishermen complained. Add to that few greedy guys who didn~t know when to quit and were trying to take tens of pounds of frozen fish on the helicopter, and you see why it is much simpler just to prohibit the whole thing.

But I tell you, when you do find a rig that still allows it, it is a blast. The fish you catch are too big to be hauled up on the deck on the line. So they make a gaff like a treble hook, clip it on the fishing line, and let it down on a rope. If you get really big one, you can use the winch. They are set up with stainless tables, water hose and freezer. But when they start biting (almost always), and everyone hauls up a big fish, there is blood everywhere. That is the only thing that bothered me a little. I am a also big believer it taking only what I can eat now, no more. It is addictive though.

Ed, Go ahead and say it. "it's a tough job, but somebodys gotta do it".

The last ship I was stationed on was a LSD and had a stern gate that was lowered to allow the LCAC air cusioned vessels to head for the beach. We had a great skipper and rigged up some pole holders and then would troll for tuna. If someone hooked up the aft lookout would let the bridge know and they would do an emergency stop drill! It was a blast and when we got some we would fire up the BBQ and invite the rest of the crew to have a taste of fresh tuna. One time we were in the middle of the San Diego Charter Fleet and looking through the Ships Binoculars it was great to watch the suprise on the faces of people seening a 400' long ship trolling for tuna just like they were.

Bob

Yea, it's a tough job...