big e oti 60hr trip

[kidflex]

It was a great trip. We started by meeting up at willie joes, had a few drinks and shot the sh**. Everybody was hyped up with anticipation from the great weather. we called it a night and met back up at the dock around 0500 to load up. I was suprised that there wasnt as many rods brought than i expected, lol. The plan was to make the 211 mile/10hr run to the redhawk spar. Here is a pic of the ride out


As soon as we arrived at the spar there was plenty of action on top. A couple of YFT were caught on lures from the start but then became obsolete. Chunks were to be the star of the show. many YFT were starting to hit the deck.
anthony with a nice tuna


After a few hours the tuna started responding to lures. shibuki/brabus minnows became the lure of choice for many anglers. I reluctantly tied one on since i was in denial about the lack of a topwater bite. I soon hook up into a tuna that took everything i had and laughed in my face. the fish literally had me pinned down and wouldnt bugde. There were a few times where i thought my carpenter tn87 was goin to explode but it held up fine.


After about 40min(according to other people) i did the unthinkable and handed my rod off the doug. This was the last thing i wanted it to do but i absolutely had nothing left. the combination of miller lite and bud lite didnt help either. the fish ended up breaking off and swam off with my pride. thanks to steve for the coaching he gave me on this humbling experience.

Doug with his second YFT of the night



I took a break and got back in the action. Shortly after, i hooked into 2 more YTF that both came in under 5 minutes.


my second tuna


the bite was insane and fish was hitting the deck at a fast rate all the way into to morning. 55 YFT's were harmed the 1st night! i managed to get a 30lb yft in the morning and saved him for some sashimi later in the day.

jim with his first yft of the trip

[kidflex]

The next day we headed to the bottom fishing grounds. the bottom fishing was very slow and off.

later that evening we headed to the tuna grounds. We arrived at Gunnison which only produced a couple of blackfins. We ended leaving and proceeded to go to the Auger spar.
Auger


Althought not as many tuna were boated here(only 27 lol), we still had many successful drifts. This night was slow for chunking but very productive with artificials.
Standing in victory after a short battle

my 4th tuna


jim with his second tuna


a very hungry tuna!


my 5th tuna of the trip


there always seems to be something weird happening in all of the trips i go on... the 1st night a tuna breaks off and circles the boat with 70-100 ft of yellow braid trailing behind. the second night another tuna breaks someone off and just circles the boat with some green braid trailin. the deck hands managed the grab the line and doug quickly spliced the lines and dewayne finished the fight on a rod n reel. i cant believe the tuna was that cooperative while the deckhand held the braid tightly


other interesting moment- chris was using an accurate sr30 and the handle stopped working while fighting a tuna, one of the deck hands began to hand line this fish. As he was pulling in line, chris was manually turning the spool by hand. you had to be there to fully appreciate the visuals.

the trip was a success, met many new anglers and got to fish with some partners in crime. good to see y'all again. The crew was top notch. these are only a few pics i took, hopefully many more will follow. especially the final catch photos. i ended up catching 6 yft and i was no where near the hot stick of the trip. well done guys!

heres the link for more pics from other members
http://www.360tuna.com/forum/f12/big...096/#post73999

[paul708]

Thanks for putting the report up.
trip sounds great,
sorry i couldnt make it.

[mythosbeer]

Sweet!!! Thanks for posting it here as well!

Mitch

[Sea Draggin]

Thanks for putting the report up.
trip sounds great,
sorry i couldnt make it.

X2


I share the same feelings.

[JfISHkING]

Look like you guys had an awesome trip... thanks for the report and the pictures... Im totally jealous, wish i was there with you guys.

Nice work - tight lines

[jig42na]

Looks like you guys had a blast out there. The story of the mate ties on the recovered broken line is great.

Did the YFT respond to jigs at all or where they all on swimmers?

[Custom Canvas]

DAMN! GREAT REPORT FROM AN AWSOME TRIP....

I'LL HAVE TO GET ON THAT TRIP SOMEDAY!!

[BretABaker]

Looks like you guys had a blast out there. The story of the mate ties on the recovered broken line is great.

Did the YFT respond to jigs at all or where they all on swimmers?

I got 2 on jigs. Mind you, I jigged for tuna for about 20 hours on this trip. give or take. the jig bite just wasnt on. i mean, unless you count blackfin. i did hook a monster in the deep (~650') only to have the hook pull

[John from Madison CT]

Sounds like a good time was had by all !