My Blue Heaven!

Our Rail Time departure was 6:30 PM after losing Cathy Needleman and Andy.  Andy was in Cabo with his Mirage boss trying to work out insurance issues on the new 80-foot boat.  Cathy had to fly to San Francisco to be with her daughter who was in the ER with an unidentified infection.  We were really going to miss them.  The remainder of our group, Captain Gary, Jake (his only crew member) and anglers Jeff, Steve, Jim, Rick Uribe and me.  After stowing gear, we had a pizza dinner (courtesy of Rick) while loading up on sardines at the receiver. Gary's plan was to fish smaller bluefin tuna first then go trophy hunting. He advised us to set up a 40-pound test rod with a #2 circle or “j” hook.

 

It was a leisurely ride to Catalina Island where Jake scooped Flyers to add to our bait supply.  When the tanks were topped off with flyers, Gary tucked the boat into a cove so he and Jake could catch a few hours of sleep before heading out to the bluefin grounds.  I slept soundly and didn’t even hear the engines start when the boat headed out on the path towards bluefin tuna.

The next morning, I reluctantly got out of my bunk. Gradually the others did the same.  Soon the boat was filled with smells of freshly brewed coffee and toasted bagels (courtesy of Cathy who had the bagels delivered to my home when she had to drop off the trip).  Everyone agreed that the bagels were very good. 

The weather was pleasant with scattered clouds, sun breaking through and reasonably calm seas with just enough surface chop to make our lines less visible to the fish below.

 

Gary came down and said, “change of plans.”  He said to get our 40-pound outfits and our big fish gear ready.  Both the big tuna and smaller tuna were mixed in the same schools.

As we were rolling up to the first school of bluefin, Jake came down and started chumming.  Gary said “ these are small ones.”  Go ahead and bait up and let them go!  Great Sardines!  Mine raced away from the boat then picked up more speed when it was picked up by a bluefin.  Another burst of speed then Bing!  Yep, it was the “J” hook that got bit off.  I know better than to use a “J” hook on bluefin.  I rerigged with a #2 Mutu circle hook.  The school didn’t stay with us though so Gary kept looking around.

We were relaxed and we all just wanted to bring home enough fish for a couple days of fresh sashimi.  None of us wanted to bring fish home for the freezer.  We just wanted to have fun.  I love fishing with this group.  Everyone is calm, courteous and generous.  Some charters are very competitive and high strung but not this group.  I’m very appreciative of that.

Gary kept searching for the right school – one that wanted to bite and one that would stay with the boat.  Around 8:45 am he found a cooperative school.  As we baited up with sardines, Jake started chumming then Gary said “let them go.” As we let our sardines run away from the boat, Gary said “Jake;  let’s get the flyers out.”  I liked the sound of that.

My rod was set up with 130# fluorocarbon and a 9/0 Mustad xxx circle hook.  Gary and Jake put my rod out with a live flying fish on a helium balloon.  Live flyers were flylined on two other rods.  We were all set.  Suddenly I heard Jake say “the balloon is bit.”  It took me a moment to realize that it was my rod that was bit.  

I quickly shed my jacket, put on my gloves and strapped into my harness.  This fish took one long run straight out on the ocean surface, as if it were going to jump, but it just stayed out there on the surface.  It acted very much like a large shark or a big black seabass and there was no tail beat.  What had I hooked?  Whatever it was, I was getting a good workout.  For the next 30 minutes, this fish took me for a stroll around the boat several times.  My rod was heavy and really loaded up so that I needed Jake to help me in and out of my harness each time we changed positions on the boat.  

Another 10 minutes passed going round and round the boat, each time bringing the fish a few feet closer to the boat until finally the fish started to sink down ever so slightly.  At that point, I thought I saw a feint tail beat and was hopeful there was a gamefish at the other end of my line.  It was another 10 minutes before I got the fish within gaff range at the Starboard bow.  The first swing of the gaff hit but caused the fish to blow up and pop the gaff out.  I had to pull on it for another 3 or 4 rounds before the two gaffs were firmly imbedded in the fish’s head.  I looked over the rail and was thrilled to see a bluefin tuna. 

I followed Jake, Gary and my fish to the stern where they put another gaff in the fish, opened the back door and pulled the fish in.  It was a fat fish and Gary thought it would be over the “two” mark.  After the fish settled down on the deck, Gary taped the fish.  Then he taped it again and Jim did the calculations.  290 pounds!  I was truly shocked it was that big.  I knew it was heavy but it didn’t fight.

 

Sometime while I was fighting my fish Sheepie and Rick hooked fish on 40# test and Jeff hooked one on a flyer.  Sheepie's came in shortly after mine.  It was smaller.  Rick landed his next.  It was a decent fish - 80 to 100#'s.

I went next to Jeff and noticed his fish was way out on the surface like mine had been.  He had been fighting it for a while too.  It looked like a heavy fish.  Jeff made good progress and was getting the fish to move closer to the boat when it suddenly shot to the surface, shook its head and spit the circle hook.  That was a devastating loss as it acted every bit as large as mine.  It’s very unusual for a fish to spit the hook from a live flyer like that. Bummer!

 

The wind came up and the water became choppy.  Gary was headed to Pyramid Cove when he heard that the cove was closed so we fished schools of fish closer to the island.  By day’s end, Rick and Jim had each caught another a nice tuna on 40#.  That made 5 tuna for the day.

As dark approached, Gary headed back into the island and found a nice place for us to have dinner.  Jim had been tasked with picking up the ribs Cathy had ordered for the trip.  They were a hit, as was the pasta and salad Jeff brought to add to the meal.  Jim supplied ice cream sandwiches for dessert. 

I was exhausted and hit the bunk early.  I never heard the boat move while replenishing the live flyer supply nor settling into the cove for the night. 

The second morning dawned much as the previous morning.  The water had calmed down from the previous afternoon. Skies were still overcast but the temperature was pleasant.

When we reached a school of fish, Gary advised 30 or 40 pound line as these were smaller fish.  We had decided to release most of our fish this day as we already had more than any one of us wanted to take home.  In fact, we all just wanted a portion of the big fish because of its size and fat content.

This was a very fun day.  I don’t know who hooked fish first or in what order.  I know I landed a fish early on.  I also know that in the morning, Sheepie was fishing 20 pound test at times ensuring a released fish.  Jim was using light line as well preferring to break them off before finishing the fight.  He got spooled on 30#! I know that Sheepie, Jim and Rick each fought one fish to the boat before releasing it.  I released two that way and Gary fought one on 40 pound that took him around the boat a couple times and refused to break off.  These were the 60 to 100 pound fish.

I also hooked a nice fish that spooled me right down to the knot on 40-pound fluorocarbon.  I don’t know why it didn’t break off, but when I finally got it to the boat, we stuck it. 

Then we hit a school of big fish.  Out went the flyers again and we all got bit except Sheepie who said “No thanks.”  We decided to keep just one more fish.  We were all pulling on big ones.  I think Gary decided we would keep my fish and release the others which were all 150 pound plus fish.  This fish had more fight in it than the previous day’s fish but didn’t take as long to land.  When it hit the deck, Gary said:  That’s another 200 pounder!  Then he told us he was giving the school to his friend who needed fish and we would find another.  Last I heard, he had landed three fish out of our school.

 

What a day! We had released 6 fish and landed 2 in the morning and released 3 big fish and landed 1 big fish in the afternoon!  We had 7 fish in the hold to be processed.  At that point, Jim suggested that I call Shig and have him come to the boat to pick up fish.

It was time to head home so we took down our gear then helped Jake with the fish processing.  Jake filleted all the fish while Jeff, Steve and I bagged it.  We made sure everyone got a big chunk of the big fish including Jake and Gary.

 

This trip was especially sweet for me as I was truly afraid I couldn’t pull on a big fish anymore.  I surprised myself by landing two fish over 200 pounds in a harness plus fighting 4 other fish on 40 pound tackle without the aid of my harness.

We were later than usual returning to dock, arriving around 7:30 pm.  Shig was waiting and helped me carry my gear to the car.  We loaded up the back of his pickup truck with bags of fillets.  He planned to share with all his family and friends.  I took one bag that still ended up being too much for us.

That big tuna had lots of fat throughout the different parts of the fish.  To me, it tasted better than any other fish I’ve eaten.  We’ve had it 3 days in a row now and would have it again tonight if we weren’t attending an evening event.