Monday-Tuesday November 23-24 Report
Alex with 163 big eye
George with 197 big eye
Captain Scott Leger had his family on board Monday. He managed to go 5 for 7 on wahoo; they ranged from 40 to 70 pounds. Still waiting on pics from his trip…
Hunter had a mixed group from Mississippi and Georgia with Lane and Ken and company; first bait in the water yielded a nice yellowfin in the 100 class. Right as the fish was coming to wire, an estimated 450 pound mako came up and sheared off the fish’s tail. We were at the same spot as last week when we encountered the previous makos. After some quick work by the crew, we managed to get Ken hooked up to the shark. After a brief aerial show, the shark took to the depths, only to eventually cut us off. This was heartbreaker number one out of two days. Over the next few hours, the bite was steady, and we ended the day with 5 yellowfin, with the biggest going around 150; and all but 2 over 120.
Tuesday was another trip for the record books. Left super early, in hopes of catching the early morning bite to beat the incoming weather. This didn’t exactly turn out as planned but we stuck it out. First two baits in the water yielded a double header on yellowfin; we went 1 for 2 on those fish. After a 45 minute break, we hooked up with a fifteen pound yellowfin. This little tuna had company however; as a nice blue was in hot pursuit of the tuna. The marlin then proceeded to knock the tuna off the hook and proceeded to circle the boat for the next ten or so minutes. As Woody rigged up a marlin leader, one of the kids hollared out “Look at that tuna!” Hunter free-gaffed the tuna (same fish we had hooked up before) and quickly set him out behind the boat. Fish on! Almost jumped into Kevin Beech’s boat upon devouring the helpless tuna. Fish provided a nice show on the surface before pulling the hook. Heartbreaker number TWO. Wasn’t until about 11 oclock that the bite turned on good; good fish started jumping but they weren’t yellowfin…they were big eye tuna! First live bait out, 12 year old 60 pound Alex grabbed the rod and was determined to beat this fish on his own…with the help of Woody and Hunter, was able to land this fish on his own after an hour or so battle. This fish weighed in right at 163 pounds. Great accomplishment for this young man. Box was looking good at this point, but the livewell wasn’t yet empty. Next two baits out-both got inhaled by big eye tunas…AGAIN! We fought the first of this fish for every bit of forty-five minutes; thank goodness he was hooked on heavy leader. George fought the fish and it tipped the scales at 197 pounds and some change. Pending Gulf of Mexico record. Next fish was a bit more determined, and after a solid hour and a half fight, Loss brought this fish to gaff. Almost identical to the previous fish, this one weighed in at 194. Pending runner up Gulf of Mexico record. Not a bad day in Paradise…the fishing is hot; the big fish are here; we have open boats for this weekend. If you want a shot at a solid 150 plus pound tuna, now is the time. In the last two days, we have had four fish over 150 pounds. We’ll add some more pictures in the next couple of days.
We were fishing at the same place that Hunter was on Tuesday. We were able to get some pics of your crew landing the Big eye’s. Some of the pics are posted over on Bloodydecks.com
That place was indeed on fire for a while.
send them to us..I will include them here..