I love it when a plan comes together even when it is not planned out. Yesterday while Capt Curt was out catching haddock, cod wolf fish and pollock, I was home deciding when to put the tuna gear back on RELENTLESS. The rods, bars, harnesses and other gear was all placed on board last night and my 0400 planned start was changed by the rest of the crew and we met at the boat at 0600.
Fishing with me on Father's Day were my two sons, Greg and Shian along with one of our mates Hans and his daughter Nicole. After steaming across CCB and reaching the backside we found a few whales, bait and birds making it look fishy and interesting. It was not long before the port rigger popped and a very large bluefish was now part of our squid bar.
After clearing the lines and back on the troll for about 15 minutes the same rigger went off, this time it was no bluefish as the Momoi Diamond line ran off the reel and I thought for a moment I was going to be spooled by a large fish.
After reeling in the other lines Hans settled into the harness and cracked away. It was soon he found out he was not gaining a whole lot of line. Once he started gaining line he was in control and did a nice job till the fish had a good look at the underside of RELENTLESS and took off again. After getting back most of the line and now the fish was on for 35 minutes I noticed what looked like a chaffe in the line at the waters edge. It was not pretty and after working the rod the chaffed section was now on the spool. A few more pumps and the fish was within reach as Greg leadered it towards the door and into the boat.
Nicole was full of inspirational comments for her Dad when he was fighting the fish and was in awe when she saw it laying on the deck. After peeling back some line to the splice we found it looked like fiber optic cable being split into several thin layers. I believe we were fortunate to land this fish which measured 66" and estimated to be 180 LBS on the length and girth scale.
On the way home we were looking for a few bass and Shaun noticed birds working a pile of bait. As I got closer I told Terry on the Riptide to get over here now and break ou the heavy artillary. I stopped the boat and shut off the engine. Between the tide and the tuna feeding on this massive school of pogies the fish were actually being pushed towards the boat. Terry came in and had his two anglers on and Shaun dropped a fish on the Shimano Butterfly Jigging Rod. As I was in the cockpit watching I noticed the bait was pushed alongside the hull and the tuna feeding on these pogies were within 10 ft of the boat. Greg reached into the water and was pulling pogies out with his bare hands. They soon went down and the we were on our way again towards home.
After arriving and having a camera delivered we cut up the fish into loins for many folks including Curt and Jerry who came down for some frsh sushi and steaks.
This was a great fathers day that neither myself, Hans or our children will never forget and this is what it is all about.
RELENTLESS CHARTERS runs both private trips and open boat charters for tuna fishing. Give us a call at 781-871-2113 or send an e-mail to captdave@relentlesscharters.com if you want to tangle with a large tuna.
