The weather was calling for winds of 10-15 mph with gusts of up to 25. So this would not be a flat calm trip, but do-able in my boat. This was a special trip because I was fishing with my father who had just flown in.
Upon arrival at the fishing grounds we quickly found whales and birds, and decided to start trolling. Unfortunately the life soon dissipated, so I made a few phone calls and gathered some intel on where tuna had been spotted.​
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Thousands Of Birds
After making bait I found my budddy, who had recently spotted a school of tuna breaking on the surface. About 30 minutes later my buddy hooked up!
Yet despite soaking baits in the same area we were not able to put a bend in the rod. The area just did not feel right to me so my father and I decided to pull in the lines and move on.
After cruising for miles without seeing any life we suddenly stumbled upon thousands of birds just sitting on the water's surface. The birds were not flying around looking but were instead just waiting for something to happen.
I felt like these birds knew something that I didn't know so I decided this would be a good spot to set out some baits. ​Around the same time the wind died off and conditions became greasy calm.
Finally late in the afternoon, after a morning of absolutely nothing, things began to change. We spotted whales breaching, bubble feeding and putting on a show a mile or so the south. Then a stick boat began working the area and finally all those birds began to fly around.
I felt like things were about to bust wide open.​
Doubled Up!
Out of nowhere a school of giant tuna began busting like crazy off our bow. The fish were on the surface for at least a minute and I just knew one of our balloon baits would go off. Incredibly nothing happened!
At the same time my buddy boats who were fishing nearby began to hook up. Then the largest feed I have ever seen, hundreds upon hundreds of tuna, began busting like crazy on the surface. Without exaggeration there was at least an acres worth of tuna exploding on the surface.​
Finally the Penn 50W which I won at the My Fishing Cape Cod Breakfast started screaming! I took the rod to the bow and this fish was just blistering line. I have no idea how this reel was not literally smoking!
About 30 seconds later my father and I both turned around at the same time because we heard this weird buzzing noise. The Penn 80W which I had set out was buzzing off in the opposite direction. We had doubled up with two fish!
​My father and I fought both of these fish for about 20 minutes when my friend Jimmy came over the radio asking if we needed help. I said "hell yea we need the help!" and Jimmy began to maneuver over to us-albeit after he landed a fish of his own.
​My buddy ended up taking the 50W onto his boat and let one of his crew members fight the fish on the 50W. My dad and I focused on the tuna which had bitten the 80W, which we thought was probably the bigger fish.
30 more minutes goes by and we are a full hour into the fight. That is when Jimmy comes on the radio saying "The rod broke, the rod broke!" The tuna had broken the 50W class rod.
My dad and I now turned our focus to landing our fish without hearing any more news from Jimmy who was now fighting the 50W tuna on a broken rod. Finally my dad and I had our fish beneath the boat and after 1 hour and 45 minutes we harpooned the fish.
I had been figthing that fish at 37 pounds of drag pressure and it still took 1 hour and 45 minutes to get what would end up being a 75 inch fish to the boat! This bluefin was a brute and was literally fighting for his life and he did not want to give up.​
I then called up my buddy and found out that the line had broke! However, despite the broken line my buddy hand lined the fish all the way to the boat. Incredible!
The fish that my buddy hand lined to the boat taped out at 80 inches. This tuna was a full 5 inches larger than the tuna my father and I had just landed, the rod had broke, the line had broke and my buddy Jimmy was still able to hand line the fish to the boat.
On top of that Jimmy took a gaff straight through his leg. Yes you head me correct...while Jimmy was landing the 80 inch fish the gaff went flying and went straight through his calf.
He ended up getting 9 stitches, but he was still smiling and happy as ever when I spoke to him. This was simply an amazing day on the water which I will absolutely never forget!​
Scroll down to see photos of the fish, and click the orange button to download my audio report.​
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24+ minute audio report by Bob recapping the details, technique
and location of this trip
What do you think? Let me know by commenting below.
I was right where you were, looking for bass that day. I too found all the birds sitting on a pile of huge mackerel. The mackerel were feeding on micro bait, not being molested by tuna or bass. As I was leaving that area I saw what I think is you and your dad fighting a fish off the bow of your boat. I too know Jimmy the master and he said it was Pogie Mike who was on near him. Since there was no bass around and I didn’t have any tuna gear aboard, I made the decision to slowly go back toward ptown hoping to run into the bass inside the 3 mi line. As I got almost there, I heard Jimmy yelling about the full blow tuna blitz going on. Great for you and your dad Bob. My dad passed away a few yrs ago and you too will always remember that day. That’s the real prize here.
Pogy and Jimmy were fishing next to each other when Pogy hooked up. Pogy hung his fish and headed in. Jimmy and I putted south to look for life. There did seem to be a few bass guys motoring around watching us. The bass were tough that week. I run a sea foam green 26′ SeaVee.
As for my Dad, I cherish every day I get with him. I only see him one or twice a year. It seem we always have epic trips together.
WOW WOW WOW LOVE THIS STORY CONGRATS
Thanks Jake!
Great story. Where were you fishing?
We hooked the fish just south of the “Golf Ball” on the east side
This is an amazing history, great work!!!!, especially fighting the fish just with the line in jimmys hands…. That’s a bull dozer attitude…. Strong as an ox and unshakable as a boulder….
The recovery for the incident is nothing compared to the awesome adventure you guys had.
Best…. Mario.
I agree about your recovery comment. This story will be one told years from now.
Awesome trip and report Bob, you guys are on fire.
Gluck out there this week!
great story. What do you do with all that meat? With the price in the crapper right now with tuna I guess you and your friends will be eating good for a while. Congrats.
Thanks! As for the fish, the price is not as bad as the rumors. As long as the fish is a legal length you can always sell it for a decent price if you know the right person.
What a great story! Sounds like jimmy deserves a tuna dinner, to say the least!
Yes, and he got one indeed!
Incredible!
Great story. You certainly worked hard to get these fish. Congrats.
That day was the first day the temp hit 90 and yes, I was exhausted.