July held something for everyone. Our yellowfin and even a few bluefin seemed to be scattered from the deep canyons of 60 miles all the way in to our nearshore hills of 20 miles. Trolling was best in the beginning but by mid month the chunking bite was turning on.  Unfortunately after just a few days the fish turned “leader shy” forcing us to use 30# leader on fish that were averaging 50+ lbs.  Not only does this turn what should be a 10 minute fight on trolling tackle into a 45+ minute battle the energy and finesse  required to land these buggers can be more than most anglers have in them, it can be a brutal struggle. Many of our charters said “no more” after just a couple fish. For the crews who didn’t want to chunk there were still a few fish around that could be caught on trolled bait but certainly not in big numbers. Deep drop fishing held on strong throughout the month as well as a surprise deep water sea bass bite. A few mahi were scattered in here too. Surprise of the month was when a 55# cobia crushed on of our tuna baits.