Today was going to be a bass trip, but at the 11th hours (literally) Mike C, Shaun Ruge and I decidedd to make it a tuna trip. We met at 0500 and scrambled to get the boat together for tuna. Riggers and rods were all stored and had to be readied to go. We were so out of step Ruge was using a strap wrench on the run to the Bank to tighten the reels to the new rods.
At around 0600 we were trailering to Plymouth. A guy in a van nearly killed us with a sudden stop in the middle of an intersection. 16,000# got a serious brake check. We splashed the boat and ran out of the harbor. Since I needed to make sure everything was done and ready to go I had Mike Jr. steer the boat out the channel. Mistake #1 for the day. Out of the corner of my eye I saw breaking waves. I knew it wasn't a baot wake so without even looking I reached over and chopped the throttles to neutral. It was a very sudden decelleration, but no where near what was about to befall us in another 50'. A dry sandbar. Jr' had drifted out of the channel and the dead low tide was NOT going to be forgiving. So now with 2 strikes against us we pressed on.
We saw pushing tuna in the middle of the bay and tried a few passes on them to no avail. A call from DOuble Happiness that he was tight on the Bank got us moving again but in the short time we were trolling we managed to break a rigger line on the left short. Strike 3 and I'm getting REALLY cranky at this point.
We get on site and set up the troll. I run over some old numbers I had and we use the new Navionics Fish N Chip (Bathy Chart) to follow the contours more closely. After a half dozen HUGE bluefish released I'm about ready to pull the plug on this trip. I'm tired and things are just not going our way. Then we get 4 rods knocked down. Three stay bent without giving out any line, one is doubled over and 300 yards deep into the reel and going FAST! We clear the 3 bluefish'd rods and Jr. belts up for the tuna. THe fight is on and the initail run has us around 500 yards down and the fish is still taking line at 30# of drag. I'm feeling good that I put 700 yards of spectra under the 200 yards of mono on the 30's. With 900 yards to play with we know it's not going to spool us. Jr.s belted up, the spread is clear I turn on the fish and Jr. cranks like mad as we get back most of the lost line.
We get back near the fish, but he won't let us get closer than 100'. We can see him pushing a bow wake on the surface and we can't see color. Thats allot of beef pushing water for sure. The fight goes on for almost a half hour. Mike C is like Jr's crew chief helping with the form and stratagy. Jr's good with fish but he's in deep with this one.
After another 10 minutes we get the fish close. Mike's the leaderman, Ruge is on the 6' main gaff, I'm backup with a 4'er. Mike takes a gentle grip on the line just above the bar (no leader, lines clipped direct to the bar). No wraps just subtle pressure. The fish gets closer and Mike grabs the 130# main bar line. He lifts slowy and Ruge gets ready. Ruge must have worked for a bank at one time because his gaff shot was MONEY!!!! Right between the eye and the back of the gill!!!! The fish is stunned. Ruge lifts hard but can only get the head out of the water. I come over the top with the backup gaff and mirror his shot on the other side. We both life and THUD!!!! We own the fish!!!
High Five's all around this is Jr's biggest fish EVER and the biggest tuna for my boat this side of North Carolina. The crew waits as I grab the tape............66" to the fork! What a fish on a Penn 30VSW and 50# mono.
We fished until around 1500 and then headed for home. We saw a ton of tuna pushing water later in the day but they were not eating. Final tallya bunch of big bluefish and one slob tuna. This trip was a last minute effort that was thrown together. I was kind of angry that we had some of the issues we did. As a rule the gear is flawless and thats how we get it done. This trip was thrown together at 11pm for a 0500 start. Not too tough normally, but when its the first tip of the season and allot of the gear is new it becomes problematic.
A quick thanks to Basil from BHP for overnight shipping those Wind-Ons! I guess they worked Basil
. Thanks to CMS for a killer set of Custom CalStar rods they made up for me in the off season. Of course a HUGE thanks to Offshore Inovations and Capt Chris Godino for the Green Monsters I used to rig the bar. Chris is a good friend and his gear always puts me on fish! Last but not least thanks to the crew. They kept me (somewhat) calm when my temper was getting the best of me. The always cover off when I need a hand!
Overall..... Congrats Jr!!!!! Fish of a lifetime!!!!!!!!
