A True Castafari Giant Tuna Story That Is Hard To Believe

[cappyD]

Well if you havnt noticed, the air is crisp, the sky is clear, and you can see your breath on the way to work. That can only mean one thing....tuna season!

The Castafari is in full on bluefin mode. We had a good year fishing the bluewater, and though there are still some fish around out to the south, we are chasing bluefin full time.

Our last venture had us welcoming first time guest Nick Shneider and crew onboard for a 2 day giant expedition. We were originally planning to hit georges bank, but the bite out there has slowed waaay down, at least it did last week. So we opted to fish in close...right in my own backyard within sight of land in 3 directions. I could almost see where we would fish from my sons bedroom window...cape cod bay in October. For those of you who have given the bay a shot, its not for the impatient or novice fishermen hoping to learn about giant fishing...not by a long shot. But it does have a pulse this time of year, and when Chatham is out of range, its a decent option. I was unaware that the Regal Sword was literally ON FIRE.

Out we blasted in the dark on Monday am...looking for signs of life and a few draggers which we found meandering through the dark lit up like fenway. I picked my spot, down went the anchor, and out went the ball. This is where we would call home for the next two days if there were fish present. Out went the sabikis and in came the whiting...and a few dogfish lol. Out went the chum on a slow pace. Fishing the bay is work...non-stop effort, and the Castafari was now a tuna calling factory in motion. Nick and his crew helped out as we summoned every tuna fish in the area. Not long after we started marking an occasional fish. And within an hour I "marked" 45 boats setting up shop around us....some a mere 100 feet away. I exchanged words with one of our friendly nieghbors.

Some boats got bites, and many didnt get even a sniff from a fish. Typical bay fishing. We got lucky this time around. We caught 3 fish in the 2 days we fished, but the real story was on fish number 3. It was late in the morning, right on the slack. It was just scotty in the pit for this outing. Nick had to cut out early and hop a plane back to Texas for work. I knew we would have our hands full.

The silence erupted. The long balloon bounced and the rod swung hard and then down. The 130 screamed out a cry that never gets old...a sound that keeps some of us racing around the track like a salivating greyhound. There it was, the chinese firedrill...performed by a bunch of young americans. Stay Tight! is always my first commentary after a hook up. Maybe followed by a few...Reel!'s. Scotty ran for the bow to get us free of the anchor. The Castafari lunged forward. The fish charged the boat like they often do, and within seconds the rod was pointed straight down as the fish raced forward...now beneath the boat...and soon...probably well in front of it. By the time Scotty returned to the pit, the line was chaffing against the running gear...still screaming. Neutral! was now the focus of conversation. We were against the ropes only seconds into round one, and it looked like a knockout was in favor of the fish. The crew piucked up the screaming 130 and tried desperately to manuever around the rudder without success. I ran back to help out and noticed the fish had turned. I also noticed that we had a shot to do something I had done before to save this situation. We would gaff the mainline(which was tought but not moving anymore) and straight out off the transom emerging from under the boat, pull in 10 feet of slack, cut it, and retie it to another spool/rod...in 10 seconds or less before the furious fish decided to make another run. Scotty performed the blood knot surgery as if his life depended on it...while all three of my crew held the line as it stretched out into the abyss. Of course the fish decided to run and faces cringed and line ripped. I thought for sure someone was going to get cut. And just as the last coil raced through 3 sets of gloves....Scotty screamed GO!...15 seconds later amidst a lot of yelling and sore hands and deisel smoke, we had removed the running gear from the equation and were back in the game on a different rod! wow....great...right? WRONG

As I backed the Castafari down hard toward the fish to gain line(most of it gone), we all realized the fish was nmow tangled in another boats anchor line. As the Castafari's transom plowed backwards, the guys jumped off their ball and we would engage in obstacle number 2. Seconds later we were pulling in the anchor...by hand hoping to find the line. The drag was back to almlost in free spool...line melting. Then we saw it...there it was...not one...not 2...but 3 wraps aropund the anchor line. The fish had made 3 WRAPS! Theres nothing quite like trying to pass a 130(without a safety line attached) around an anchor line...attached to a fish headed in the other direction! The reel screamed...even with the clicker off...as if to say in a nervous whisper..."youre running out of time!" Lots more screaming and a game of tuna twister. Im sure there were more than a few fishermen in the fleet getting a kick out of this one. After the last wrap with about 100 feet of line on the spool we were clear....,YES! GREAT! right?....WRONG!

The fish had gone back into the running gear. At this point I began to realize it was probably just not meant to be. Scotty and I made one last ditch effort to force the rod down into the water and around the rudder. I was now seeing mostly gold on the spool. We tightened the drag and snap....the line slid off the rudder and poipped back into a straight position and out off the port corner. We were clear! I slammed the Castafari in reverse and the guys took turns reeling hard as we backed through the fleet gaining line. We were gaining line on the fish and soon would be in great shape. All is good...right? WRONG!

As we coiled line back onto the spool we reralized we had a grim reality on our hands. The reel was too full of line!! Yes...we would have to cut and retie all over again and transfer back to the old spool. We had done it before and we would do it again! Gloves went on, line was coiled, and feet stayed clear of the potential slacking disaster if the fish got wind of what we were doing. And has Scotty's trembling hands negotiated the 2nd on the fly blood knot, the fish had a change of heart. Its goin! Faces cringed again, and the sound of stretching mono slipping violently through three pairs of gloves sounded...this time more violently than before. I ran to the helm and slammed the boat in reverse to try and help diminish the tension. Scotty finished the knot a half of second before the rod swung violently and the old reel began screaming again where it had left off 20 minutes prior.

We were back in the game...this time for real... 20 minutes later we put a tail rope on the 80 inch fish. It took me hours to internalize what had just taken place. What a day...certainly one of the most awesome adventures my boat and crew will ever experience. I hope not to have to do that again in the near future!

For those of you who are interested, the 2011 Cape Cod OCTUNAFEST tourney is next thurs thru sat...Oct 13 thru 15...www.hyannistunafest.com/octunafest

[bankrat]

that is a freakin awesome story. about a 3% chance anyone gets through all that and lands the fish. congrats!

[maz888]

Good stuff way to sramble

[JoeyM]

crazy story, nice job!

[wshouldice]

sounds like scotty needs a raise!

[gmoney]

you said it yourself...... sometimes its just meant to be!

[Dauntless]

Whew! F*i*n*e*s*t*k*i*n*d !

[Hrdhittin]

Great read.

[riggedandready]

Hey Damon.....great read and what a ball....thats the rush we all want!

[c parks]

Nice team effort-how many high fives after that one?