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TUNA & Big Game TUNA - Offshore Fishing for Tuna and Other Big Game

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Old 08-07-2009, 01:01 PM   #1
UserRemoved1
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From someone who was out yesterday....

The plan was simple, run to breaking fish. We'd about bored ourselves to death casting to pushing fish. That's fun and all, but playing bumper boats was getting old. We head towards a meeting point and the other captain heads one way and we head the other. We come across a whale or two and smashing fish. Problem is a friend of ours that is out there trying to make a living is on them first so we yield. In the few seconds he moves off realizing these were smaller fish but now they're down not to show in the next 20 minutes. We move off continuing the original course plan. It's not long before we see busting fish. Good sized schools are up smashing, it's not the one or two fish slashing deal we'd been seeing. We attempt to move up on the first school which we soon realize will be tough to do. The fish are just hauling around on bait and don't stay in one spot long. We move a little further towards the numbers and now we're surrounded by fish in small groups smashing. Distance was going to be the key and after maybe 10 casts I switch to to an old favorite. The plug hits the water, crank and there is resistance...tight! The fish is charging the boat and now diving down under the boat (thankfully). When the fish went down we knew we were cooked. The fish now turns against the current and runs deep but out. We gain line as the fish rises...then dives again. Within 10-15 minutes we're in an up and down battle with the fish which is now 70' down and maybe 40' in front of the boat. Motors are off and we're doing what we do. At about the 20 minute mark we have a half cooked harpoon shot. We're not good with the poon and could see where that would end up. The fish goes down. At about 45 minutes we're back close to the boat trying to get it's head up. For some reason out in the middle of nowhere someone in a white hulled small sporty with a blue stripe decides to buzz wake us. I'm now waving frantically as he's heading for a position maybe 20-30 yards off our stern at 20-25 knots throwing a massive wake. We're nowhere near anyone else, not in a line between two points/spots, just out alone and this guy has to charge us. He finally sees my waving and backs down but not before we're rocked with a 3-4' wake. Of course the fish hears the motors and goes bonkers and takes another long run putting us back to square 1. Even with a 29-30lb drag she ran another 30' at least which put her well out of reach. The guy sets up 100 yards from us and starts jigging. He's drifting faster than us and is heading now to maybe 75 yards off our bow..then 70 and finally maybe 50. Again, WTF? Of course up next is the engines firing up and he moves off slowly this time, but again the fish gets another 20'. Maybe it's just me, but if we're in the middle of the ocean and we see someone tight we stay so far away we can barely see that they're tight, maybe 700'?

Throughout the entire process with this boat we have fish smashing off behind us. For the first 40 or so minutes of the fight the fish were all around the boat, so close we worried about a snap off from other fish at times. They gradually pushed away as we got dragged with the current in the other direction. Around when this guy showed up the fish had pushed further away but were still visible smashing. By about 1.5 hours we're getting frustrated. The fish won't come up, the drag is at approximately 30lbs, it's staying just out of reach. The current is ripping us along and the fish is using it big time...the only time she'd come up to near the surface she'd do it 20' in front of the boat. With the current the big spirals..the upswing portion always ended up out front of the boat as we drifted stern down. You all know how this goes, the longer the fight goes the better chance something gives. We're at 2 hours now, this is not a giant as we've seen it a few times but it is a nice fish in the upper range of the class that's been around. We debate a poon shot but again she's coming down on the wrong side, going up on the wrong side. In both cases we'd have one shot, if we missed we'd likely lose the fish. Adding to the difficulty we see the plug is deep in the mouth. She's chewing on the leader, if we raise the head to much out of the water the fish is going to pop the weak spot in the leader and be gone. Patience, at about 2:10 the current is slowing and we're now able to tighten the spiral. Two spirals left and we'll have our shot, my buddy does the gaff dance and hits it. The fish is still not done, I'm now holding the rod and trying to bury the other gaff lefty...and it's bouncing off the plate. We finally get it in, the fish is walked back and tail roped so we can bleed it. We have the idea to idle forward to maximize blood loss...good thing we had the tail rope as the fish came back to life even bleeding out and would have torn loose of the gaffs. Amazing really at this stage she still had gas.

Long story short it's a nice fish, same class as the others but fat as hell and has a huge tail on it. That's what struck me about the fish, disproportionately large tail for this sized fish. Salty was in the mouth deep which is why we really wanted to land the fish, she was going to have a tough life otherwise. Chock full of...sand eels. Surprised us, not the herring we've heard about lately. I mean stuffed full of barely digested sand eels, cigar size.

The fluro held, had two big dents in it from the mouth. I suspect two because the hook felt like it slipped a few inches at one point. The Salty was dead nuts strong and always is...we know if we get a Salty into a fish it's coming to the boat. The OTI Tuna Popper...impressive rod with one gripe. It casts like a dream at 7' 6", but the condom grip slipped. There's a faux grip that goes over the regular foam grip. It's not glued so mine is twisted like a twizzler now. Still very functional but OTI needs to use a little glue! Saragaosa 18000 groaned some but got it done at 30lbs and with the new drag system from Goose Hummock...held steady and looks new.

Thanks Derek/Nat for the OTI rods, great service, will continue to mate the 18000 with the OTI and another one with the Big Gun from Eric. The beauty of the breaking fish is that's the domain of the Big Gun, heavier plugs cast really well with it and the rod is a beast.

That was the most breaking fish we'd seen all year, was pretty cool really. We could have easily doubled up but with two guys that's not a great thing. Next time we may consider popping into gear to nudge up on the fish but the problem with that is the timing..we'd have to do it so fast the captain probably could not get up fast enough to get the gaff/poon shot. I think we played the right game trusting all the gear and in the end it worked.

We never looked for the fish again and I don't recall making another cast all day. We were shot, were at the dock not long after to enjoy the day.

Full moon has produced for us this season...
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Old 08-07-2009, 01:52 PM   #2
BretABaker
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thanks for the alert on the grip. we constantly strive for the best products possible and are thankful for your feedback. I'll look into it.


glad you liked the blank, thanks for a great report!!!

Last edited by BretABaker; 08-07-2009 at 07:04 PM..
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Old 08-07-2009, 03:42 PM   #3
fish4striper
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Hey Bret,

When you sneak in here! Welcome to the site.

My next rod I get built will most likely be an OTI blank. They seem to be getting it done.

I get a kick out of "the big gun" ,it's just a calstar blank, lol

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Originally Posted by BretABaker View Post
thanks for the alert on the grip. we constantly strive for the best products possible and are thankful for your feedback. I'll look into it.

If you have seen the newer model rods such as the G3 jigging rod or the Tuna Sniper rods - they have a much different and improved grip.

glad you liked the blank, thanks for a great report!!!
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Old 08-07-2009, 04:23 PM   #4
big jay
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But it's so much more than just a Calstar....
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Old 08-07-2009, 06:06 PM   #5
fish4striper
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Bret,

I'm on the fence between the longer popping rods and shorter popping rod. With my old achin back ,not sure I can put enough heat with the longer rods.

decisions decisions
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