Well I am back from my fishing tournament from abaco island in the Bahamas. The bad news is that the tournament was fairly slow fishing due to 3 out of the 4 days had 10 to 12 foot seas which made it difficult to set up baits how you would want them to run behind the boat. The good news is that I got a chance for four days before the tournament to fish in ideal conditions. The tally on fish for my trip ended up being 4 white marlin in the 80lb to 120lb class. 5 blue marlin ranging from 200 lb class to 700 lb class. The biggest blue that I caught took me 3.5 hours to land which explains my raccoon eyes from wearing my shades the whole time. One thing i enjoyed is that I tagged and released every billfish that i caught so hopefully i will hear about the fishes progress in the future. During the tournament a lot of the participants including myself ran into some big bull dolphins (mahi- mahi). I managed to catch the biggest dolphin i have ever caught it dressed out to 54 lbs. which could easily be a 65 lb fish.

Congrads! sounds like you had a blast!!! I cant speak for the others but I know you have at least THIS girl jealous!!! HA!HA!

Mr Kav, glad you made it back safe and sound. Sounds like you had an awesome time. Nice fishies, hope you got some great pictures!!!

WOW, what a fishing trip!! It sounds like you do that type of fishing alot. That is one MASSIVE mahi mahi! I'd love to see a pic. of that one . It sounds like a record, that is huge it must have been an awesome fight, those things love to jump around. Good to hear you had fun before the rough water anyway.

Wow, sound like a blast - too bad about the half million (that was the prize, right?)... Let's see some pictures...

Yes i did indeed have fun and there are plenty of pictures which i should be getting e-mailed to me soon. Slip, you are right those dolphin are known for there jumps and bright green and yellow color but unfortunatly the fight was not that much of a fight. we were trolling with 30 ft of 400 lb mono leader on 130 penn international reels. Once the fish hit the lure i picked up the rod and jumped in the chair because we were in the tournament and assumed it was a marlin because it was such a big lure. I knew almost right away that it wasn't marlin and with almost 30 lbs of drag on that reel the fish tired quickly and it was basically winding him. We couldn't slow the boat down with all the other lines out and in case there was something bigger around chasing him. As for a record I believe it is in the 75 to 85 lb range, so it is just a personal best and nothing more. Ideally you would want an 80 lb leader on a much smaller reel then the jumping and great fight will begin.

Good stuff! 3.5 hours? Bet you slept good that night.

Sounds like an awesome time and good that you got some good fishing in before the weather turned. 10-12 footers... doesn't sound very comfortable.

I'd like to give bills and big tuna a shot someday, but for now, we got STRIPER season in front of us!

Congrats Mr. Kav.

Those Dolphin are great fighters and I think the bulls are just spectacular in coloration. Never done any serious offshore fishing, but it sounds like fun.

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Welcome back, hope you brought some warm weather with you.

Good stuff! 3.5 hours? Bet you slept good that night.

Sounds like an awesome time and good that you got some good fishing in before the weather turned. 10-12 footers... doesn't sound very comfortable.

I'd like to give bills and big tuna a shot someday, but for now, we got STRIPER season in front of us! I can't stand it anymore, get me outta here.

Congrats Mr. Kav.

um.....schoolie you feeling ok??? :D