The "Dreamin On" World Tour

Rarotonga - 20March2010

2010-03-31T06:34:00.000-07:00

The Dreamin' On has a day of rest today in order to re-stock food and take on fuel. So far the Marlin fishing has been just OK, not red hot. We are actively seeking the “Honey Hole” like the one we found in 2008 while fishing out of Sao Vincente, Cape Verde Islands. There has to be one somewhere in this South Pacific Paradise as well. I guess we'll just have to keep looking.

So far, in the South Pacific, the “Dreamin' On” has released 17 Blue Marlin, one Sailfish, one Short Bill Spearfish, quite a few Yellowfin Tuna, and Wahoo. Yesterday, we took a local fisherman with us and released a 150+ Blue Marlin in 7 minutes which freaked him out. He had never experienced anything like the “Waterfall” of ocean water coming over the stern as the boat rattles, props cavitate, and black smoke boils up while Capt. Randy backs down at 8 knots in reverse. Pupuke, the local fisherman, was ready to find the life jackets and jump overboard for he was sure we were sinking. Upon returning to shore, Pupuke was telling some of the other local fishermen about the Marlin catch and they didn't want to believe him. The locals would take 2 or 3 hours of fighting in order to catch the same size Blue according to him.…..More later, “Leisure”

Tahiti At Last!

2010-02-04T11:29:00.000-08:00

Well we finally got the boat cleaned up and ready to fish. We didn't waste any time at getting out to the fish. The first few days were pretty good and we caught a few Blue Marlin and Sailfish...nothing over 300lbs though. On day four we tried the North side of the island on the advice of a couple fishermen who told us the fish were bigger there....So far they haven't been. We did catch and release the smallest Blue Marlin I've ever seen in the wild...he was about 35lbs!!!

David's 1335 Black Marlin caught in Australia

2009-12-29T13:20:00.000-08:00

This Black Marlin is the largest Marlin caught between the 3 brothers. It was caught a couple of years ago and this year we hope to catch one even larger. The "Dreamin' On" a 78' Garlington will make its way to Australia by November 2010.

On the way to Tahiti

2009-12-22T07:40:00.000-08:00

Hopefully this is what we will be hooked up to when we fish the South Pacific. The "Dreamin' On" has been shipped to Tahiti and is sitting in Panama awaiting its turn to go through the Panama Canal . The boat ought to be in Tahiti on the 19th of January. More later. 12/22/09 Lee

2009-12-15T07:44:00.000-08:00

Our Best One Day Release - 10

We have taken the "Dreamin' On" to Ft. Lauderdale to be loaded on to a ship and shipped to Tahiti. We will meet up with the boat in Tahiti in January 2010. Our plans are to fish the South Pacific from American Samoa to Australia. The plan is to be in Australia in November 2010.

"DREAMIN ON"

2009-12-14T17:48:00.000-08:00

This is a very big Blue Marlin. Perhaps a Grander (over 1000lbs). We saw her free jumping and just sort of "lolly-gagging" down sea. Capt. Randy pulled the spread of lures across her path and we hooked her up. This day, 1st Mate Lincoln asked me what spread I wanted to pull and I replied "All Moldcraft Softheads." We went 9 for 11 that day which was our very best hook-up percentage of the year. Cape Verde. "Leisure Lee" Stevens

2009-12-14T13:39:00.000-08:00

This Blue Marlin charged the boat and ran it's bill up into the exhaust so far that she got stuck! Marlin can not swim in reverse, so she continued to swim forward and only kept getting stuck worse. We finally pulled her out, tagged her and watched her swim away wondering "What the hell was that?"

2009-12-14T13:26:00.000-08:00

We thought that this Blue Marlin could have been a Grander. You can see how big it's dorsal fin is and the hump on it's head that only really big fish seem to have. The photo was taken while first mate Lincoln had her on the wire and Randy was backing down the "Dreamin' On" Mindelo, Sao Vincente 2008

2009-12-14T13:18:00.000-08:00

There are 37 Marlin Release Flags among these 4 boats. It was one of the best fishing days out of Sao Vincente, CV. Of course this is the day we chose to perform our maintenance and didn't fish! Zak Conde released 17 Blues a few days before this day. Our best days were 2 - 9 release days and one 10 release day.

Green Lure

2009-12-14T12:27:00.000-08:00

This is a great shot of a Blue that has been hooked up on a Green Lure head that had a Ballyhoo trailing it. Look closely and you can see a piece of line wrapped around his bill. It looks like a piece of net to us, but could be old "hand-line" that the local fishermen use from time to time. We were fishing out of Mindelo, CV 2008

Wired Up

2009-12-14T08:21:00.000-08:00

This Blue is wired up and in position to be tagged. The fish was HOT and jumped a moment later, and of course I missed the camera shot. Click on the photos and they will enlarge full screen. Photo taken while fishing out of Puerto Real, Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico July 2009

GETTING READY FOR "TAHITI"

2009-10-08T02:27:00.000-07:00

THE "DREAMIN' ON' and crew are in Orange Beach, Alabama getting the boat ready for it's year long tour of the Pacific starting in January 2010. The boat will be transported by ship to the island of Tahiti where the crew will meet it and will be offloaded. Until then, there is a ton of work to do in preparation for the adventure!