"Big E-Sept 1-3

[Minnow]

Great report guys.

Next time if you see a guy using BASS tackle hook into big fish, all you have to do to end the game is jig up a black fin and bring your fish close to him. Keep coming closer to him and remember to loosen your drag as you move closer. Make sure your line cross his and let your fish run, if your fish don't wanna run just jerk it a few times and it will run like hell. This move will end the game soon but it might start a new boxing game . PLEASE DO NOT DO WHAT I SAYS.

[Ragman]

I was guilty of using a 700TE at one time and Hawk had tweaked it to get almost 17#'s of drag really hammered down.

I sold it after it took 1 1/2 hours -and Team Rick & Bret's splicing-onto-a bigger-rig feat- to best a 109# YFT.

But I didn't use it again.....He shouldn't have done that.

Good point Russ about the hook size matching the bait size, not the intended fish size. They do have to be strong though!

The act of jigging is a workout, especially in a pick bite, and you get bit hard after jigging an hour or so with nothing! Ouch!

[Drifter]

Here's a few pics - Trip was great!

L to R - Drifter (Louis) 50lb, Gimmedeal (Fred) 50 lb and Uncle Russ 70-lb YFT's.
Big E YFT.jpg

Louis with Amberjack
Louis Amberjack.jpg

Jason with BFT
Jason BFT.jpg

Russ with his 70lb Tuna caught on a Beeliner 1\4 inch opening circle hook - amazing but I'll stick with my super mutu size 5 hooks!
Russ 70 lb YFT.jpg

[Uncle Russ]

One minor correction: I never actually caught anything on the little hook. I lost it to a 'Cuda (we had lots of big 'Cuda hanging around both Redhawk and Auger), then didn't want to take the time to go back to a deckhand to get another one, so I just tied on a 4/0 Super Mutu myself and that is what the tuna hit.

One funny thing about when those pictures were posed. I have heard several Asian guys on various boards make statements about how they could not handle as much drag as big Western guys could. After the pictures were taken, with me holding my fish barely above the ground and praying for a time when I could put it down, I was approached by a gentleman who I think was Vietnamese. He said: "Nice fish. Would you mind if I had my picture taken with it?" I told him no, go right ahead. So he handed his camera to his buddy, walked over, picked the yellowfin up by the tail, and lifted it up cheerfully about a foot off the ground, smiling the whole time. The guy was about half my size. So much for another myth busted!

With regard to the big one that got away from JasonL, I saw it in the water and I agree that it was probably the biggest yellow hooked on the trip. The fact that he lost it was no fault of his own--unless possibly the drag was too tight at the end. The fish ran toward the boat and Jason ripped the line onto his reel very fast and efficiently. Then when it ran out, he must have had a lot of drag on it and the boy has tree trunks for arms because he wrestled it up to the boat, I would guess in under 3 minutes. The fish was very, very green, and at the boat it was shooting back and forth so fast the two gaffers couldn't hit it. I haven't talked to him about it but he might have had the drag too tight at the boat.

[jig]

Congrats on a good trip.

That guy is probably the same I have complained about, repeatedly. Plenty of others have as well. There is a 'regular' who feels his specialty is light tackle big game fishing. Older guy, kinda tall. Last trip I was on with him he had a nice YFT on a calcutta. He could not move it, or put pressure on it, and so just sat there with the rod resting on the rail and the tuna swimming casually along as the boat drifted farther and farther away. After about 2 hours, the line broke of course. I guess he just hopes eventually the tuna will volutarily swim into gaffing range and he can bask in his glory. The only way people land big fish on that light of tackle is when you can back the boat to the green fish and gaff it. It basically cannot be done in a party boat unless blind luck is involved, IMO. I thought this situation had been resolved. What a selfish SOB.

[Bret]

Nice tunas you guys got there!!! Thanks for the pics..

[SkeeterRonnie]

nice trip!!! sounds like you guys had a blast!!

Bass tackle shouldnt EVER be allowed on an offshore boat.... those yahoos can use thier jiggin sticks for catching bait.....

[Uncle Russ]

skeeter: I exaggerated just a little. I too have an unmodified Calcutta 700 and it really isn't bass tackle, but it surely was inadequate for YFT fishing. I heard that this fellow was one of the Big E regulars, and had been on 8 trips or so. I have no idea whether that is true or not but giving him over two hours to land a fish was, with all respect to the Captain (who really worked hard) out of bounds. I sincerely wish that the guy with the 700 had got on a really huge fish--the fish of a lifetime--near enough to the boat to actually see it before it spooled his ass. I don't know why this has gotten to me--I really wasn't that hacked on the boat but the more I think about it, the more it pisses me off in retrospect. If I had a shrink or one of those Indian Gurus, he would no doubt tell me to let it go and calm my inner spirit. But I sort of feel like Tommy Lee Jones in Lonesome Dove when that horse trader whips his son into the dirt and Tommy Lee comes close to killing him. "I can't stand rude behavior in a man and I won't tolerate it."

Another "scene we'd like to see" would be the dude going out on a trip with Gunsmoke and managing to keep the rod under cover until he hooked a good fish. I suspect both the rig and the rigger would end up consulting with Davy Jones in his locker.

Russ

[gimmedeal]

Jig, sounds like the same guy. The reel isn't even a 700, looks more like a 400 and after the fish was gaffed, he turned around and to no one in particular said " I'm sorry guys" making me think he realized his mistake. About 15 minutes later he started casting with the same set up.

Fred

[Uncle Russ]

Seeing Fred's picture usually reminds me of Carey Grant. (For you young people out there, Carey Grant was an actor who was not quite as cool as Brad Pitt.) This time, seeing Fred just reminded of a fact I left out of the report--He caught a marble grouper which, at first glance, the deckhands thought might well be a state record. Turns out it was only a couple of pounds shy at what, Fred 22 or 23 pounds? Fred's comment was: state record or not, he kept picturing it on the grill.

Russ