A Big Fish Tail

As I picked up the rod, the tuna raced to my left across the back of the boat. Captain Kurt was working frantically trying to get the other lines and lures back into the boat in order to avoid any entanglements. As the fish raced across the back, my line cut the line of the inside starboard rod and the rig sunk out of sight.

We thought we had lost the starboard rig and that it might jeopardize our ability to get the fish. Instead, to our surprise, we found two spreader bar rigs on the outside starboard setup as he retrieved the inside starboard rig. We considered that positive especially since these lure rigs could easily exceed $150 each. With all of the other gear onboard the boat I began the fight. The Tuna made a turn and went directly away from the boat peeling off line at a very rapid pace. The Shimano LRS-50 reel and Big Game Rod seemed to be up to the task even though the fish took the spool well down below 50 percent of the 800 yards of line that was on the reel.

Captain Kurt instructed me to go take the fight to the bow of the boat where it would be easier to maneuver and chase the fish to gain line if needed. Captain Kurt asked what I thought of the fish and I said I thought it was a pretty big fish, definitely out of the "schoolie" category.

I fought the fish for 15 to 20 minutes and realized that this was a big fish and that I was not making any progress in bringing it to the boat. As I tired, I told Fran that he should come over and get clipped in and take a turn fighting this fish. I unclipped the reel, clipped Fran in. Then Fred unclipped the safety lines from me and hooked Fran up.

As Fran took over, he concurred that this was indeed a big fish. Captain Kurt instructed Fran to pull up on the pole and reel down in order to get back some of the line that the fish had reeled off. Fran did as told. He would gain back a few turns and then the fish would take drag again. Fran did this stalemate for 15 to 20 minutes and then told Fred that he should get ready and take a turn fighting the fish.

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