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S.W.A.T ToadsToadsOnly Sometimes you must take the FAT GIRLS home from the ranch!
I have been taken aback by what this season has bestowed upon us thus far. Zeus graced us with no wind and bluebird skies. This is normally a curse when offshore fishing, but the fish gods were on our side on this day. Like Darwin’s theory, we since evolved and adapted to what was thrown at us. A windless day which would of been quite impossible to fly a kite properly. Poseidon blessed us with very little swell and chop the water was glass.
On this day we had a special crew on board a great group of longtime friends. We had Daron, Tony Ho, David Foster, and I. With Daron’s new 2320 Parker he has been itching all season to have a chance to put a jumbo on deck. The rest of the boys also been waiting for a chance. After fishing this past Friday and decking a fish in the 170lb range with BK and his client Matt I knew what they wanted and the right zone to work to ensure my friends get hooked up on a fish of a lifetime.
Like a pit crew on a NASCAR race, I always make sure we all know what to do when we hook up. We do not want anyone running around like a chicken with its head cut off.
Throughout the morning we metered a ton of fish, tuna frothing up top, and others metering hard down below. I tried chumming them up without avail it was either the time of day or the school was not reacting properly.
We all know the saying “Never Leave Fish to Find Fish”. I leave the fish to find a more active body of tuna, I see some tuna surfacing in the distance and head in that direction trolling the flying fish on a balloon. Once we get to the zone, I see swirls on my bait, more swirls, I see fish slurping the surface about 30 yards behind us. I yell to Daron flip a *****, I mean flip a ***** now! He does a perfect left-hand turn, skip, skip the flying fish is 4’ in the air.
“AN ABSOLUTE JUMBO SUBMARINE SIZED TUNA EXPLODES OUT OF THE WATER AHNIALATES THE FLYING FISH 4 FEET IN THE AIR”
We are bit!!!!!!!!!!! I start winding like crazy and tell Daron throttle forward. The Helium balloon sinks, the rubber band snaps, we come tight, and the line starts dumping. Once the mayhem settles I put Dave on the reel. We knew the fish was a giant and decide to fight it a bit differently instead of chasing it down and gaining as much line as possible. We let it do its thing away from the boat hoping once it gets up and down the fish will be beaten. WRONG, this fish proceeded to whoop 3 of our asses up and down the rail. Our game plan was to make sure each one of us put max pressure on the fish then we switched to a fresh arm, Daron coming in clutch putting major work on the fish. Our blueprinted International 50w II kept clicking out of low gear and even jammed during the fight. The behemoth nearly pulled me overboard multiple times on full strike, after 1hr 40 min the epoxy broke on the roller guides and the guides started wrapping around the rod. By this time the Kid was spent, I knew if we don’t get the fish on deck soon our rod guides will fall off. I take over when the fish gets to colour it was the biggest fish any of us have ever seen. I dig reel deep and pull as hard as I physically could tug and get it to the range. The boys stick it perfectly with the gaff, Tony Ho with the tail rope assist and high fives all around.
Until Next Time
Go Big Or Go Home
ToadsToadsOnly
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