8 hour battle

[gminors2000]

FISHING REPORT 14 FEBRUARY 2011- Andrew Card brother to Capt. Alan Card of the charter boat CHALLENGER was fishing offshore in his boat "REEL ACTION" in ideal weather conditions when he hooked up on a large fish at about 9:00 am; the fish had him on the other end of the rod (apparently looking like a candy cane for most of the day) until it broke off about 8 hours later.He confirmed the fish to have been a very large bluefin tuna,as it rolled up to the surface at one point and he was able to get a good look at it......

[BlueH20Boss]

All of us have has at least one of those big "what if" bites or runoffs....but when you battle one for 8 hours and lose it...you have that fight engrained in your mind for the rest of your life.....and in my case at least the fish grows larger every time i close my eyes and remember.....

(mine was what I believe the biggest sword I had ever hooked and pulled the hook after 2 1/2 hours in the deep of the Baltimore in 2007!! These are the moments that make us all fishermen/women love the sport, and living the good life trolling the oceans for "The One"

This could be a cool thread...... I don't want to hijack or discredit the original post (incredible by the way) , but does anyone else have a 'great loss' story etched in their mind that will forever remain? That huge one that passed the boat and disapeared forever, or the one that pulled like a ton of bricks? orrrr? Anyone out there have a good fish tale??

[C-Duck]

You bet. When I was 23, we used to run our little 19' Grady out to the Jackspot in OCMD to try and catch bluefins on the chunk or troll. It was glassy calm one day during the WMO, so we knew we would have the "Spot" to ourselves. So I grabbed my 14 or 15 year old cousin, loaded the boat and off we went one hour 20 miles SE of the inlet. As we are setting up anchored on the chunk, my fourth rod in the water, a Penn 209 Levelwind on a small bay rod, starts screaming....fish on baby! (We didn't own a single decent offshore rod at the time). So, we throw the anchor off on a poly ball, and start the chase. That fish dragged us four miles from our anchor in 3.5 hours. It completely burns through the drag on the reel and now I am thumbing it. Then we are starting to get it close and realize its a decent fish over 100#s... Then we realize we have no gaff. We decide we will tail it if we have to, and figure it will be gassed by the boat from such a long fight anyway. Then we hear my dad trying to call shore on the radio from the boat he is fishing the WMOpen on. So we start calling him back, and he is thinking we are calling from the beach. We explain we have been hooked up on a nice BFT for 4 hours and have no gaff. So the "Sally J" comes hauling in to us. We transfer dad and a straight gaff to the Grady just as I am getting the fish to come in boatside. We MISS the gaff shot...hook falls out...fish is gone!!!!!! Cruise home on vapors beaten and dissappointed but elated TOO. That was the experience that got me and my cousin hooked on offshore fishing for life.

Curtis Campbell
Reel Estate Sportfishing
Ocean City, MD

[KEY-LIME-PIE]

This is a good thread! Many of have lost the ONE!!! However there are many of us.... ie (ME) that have lost the one several times. You know and its never due to the same thing twice. Once during the Tuna tournament (Bluefin well into the triple digits) it was a strightened hook boatside due to an over zelous leader man. That HURT!!! Another time the cable snapped on a large Thresher shark, that was just last year! It just seems that when the big one is on, I start to (secretly) panic inside, because I really want "THE ONE" to get boated on my boat! I know it will happen one day and the epic battle will end in my favor. That will be the day I will not have to tell a story of the one that got away!

Capt Tom

[frankypettolina]

The only 500+ mako i have ever had on was lost at boatside back in spring of 1989 (I was 15). Fish came in to the slick, swam up to the chumpot, did not eat, and kind of faded off. Several hours later we got a lethargic bite- never really fought like a mako. fought the fish for 2 hours or so and got a look at it- easily 500, probably more of flying purple people eater. This was the first really big fish i ever had on the leader and in hindsight we rushed it a bit, dad left the controls to come stick it a wee bit early (at my request), and i didn't have proper control of the fish on the leader. I swear the fish looked at dad, looked at me, dug in and took off towrds the bow KAPOW when leader meets boat- drug me from the corner of the transom up against the overhang on the stbd side- bruised my ribs.

If/when I find the magic lamp and the genie gives me my three wishes- one will be to be back on that leader with a little bit of what i have learned in the past 20 some years- love to see if we would have got her or not!!

[KEY-LIME-PIE]

We ALL know that in 1989 you were 23 years old....not 15! Wow how time can hurt the long term memory. LOL! How is everything going with you?

Capt Tom

[Squidnation]

In 1990 my brother hooked a big bluefin on the Hotdog while chunking. we saw the fish twice. 6 hrs later he broke off. I drank a case of beer waiting for him to land it. It was a boring day on the water for us. I am sure he has a differnet account of it

We have lost the "big one" a couple of times. Almost always its a bluefin and almost always its the same problem of not enough pressure on the fish to keep his gills shut during the fight.

I got so sick of it one time when fighting a big bluefin during the scallop boat days that I told my buddy that if he can't but enough pressure on the fish to tire it out then free spool and keep your thumb on it to avoid the backlash. He freespooled it and I drove back to the scallop boat and said now reel as fast as you can. by the time he came tight again the bluefin was 15 ft under the boat at the scallop boat feeding again. He cranked about ten times we stuck it and had our trophy. But I have never tried that again.

[frankypettolina]

Tom- there were a few months in 89 when I was 16, but for the most part when i was 23 it was a whole other decade... Things have been good buddy.

Squiddy Bill- Dick Collins from the Gin Ricky was a firm believer in freespooling a stubborn fish- Guy Talbot would recommend it time and again too. I have always been to chicken to try it.

[BlueH20Boss]

You bet. When I was 23, we used to run our little 19' Grady out to the Jackspot in OCMD to try and catch bluefins on the chunk or troll. It was glassy calm one day during the WMO, so we knew we would have the "Spot" to ourselves. So I grabbed my 14 or 15 year old cousin, loaded the boat and off we went one hour 20 miles SE of the inlet. As we are setting up anchored on the chunk, my fourth rod in the water, a Penn 209 Levelwind on a small bay rod, starts screaming....fish on baby! (We didn't own a single decent offshore rod at the time). So, we throw the anchor off on a poly ball, and start the chase. That fish dragged us four miles from our anchor in 3.5 hours. It completely burns through the drag on the reel and now I am thumbing it. Then we are starting to get it close and realize its a decent fish over 100#s... Then we realize we have no gaff. We decide we will tail it if we have to, and figure it will be gassed by the boat from such a long fight anyway. Then we hear my dad trying to call shore on the radio from the boat he is fishing the WMOpen on. So we start calling him back, and he is thinking we are calling from the beach. We explain we have been hooked up on a nice BFT for 4 hours and have no gaff. So the "Sally J" comes hauling in to us. We transfer dad and a straight gaff to the Grady just as I am getting the fish to come in boatside. We MISS the gaff shot...hook falls out...fish is gone!!!!!! Cruise home on vapors beaten and dissappointed but elated TOO. That was the experience that got me and my cousin hooked on offshore fishing for life.

Curtis Campbell
Reel Estate Sportfishing
Ocean City, MD

Awesome story! All of your stories so far have been great. What a great way to suffer through a soaking wet February day! Ok lunch break is over, back out in the soup.....Keep the stories flowing!

[mvfish]

Fall of 2009, East of Chatham NE of the Figs. We boat a fish one day 114" 800+. That night we steam way to the East outside the fleet and try to get some sleep. We put 2 baits out and hit the bunk. I get up about 1am to check the radar and have a piss. Everything is fine no boats within 2 1/2 miles. Just as I turn to head back to my bunk...... we go off! I'm yelling to my buddy that we are on as I clear the other rod. The 130 is bent over in the holder and we are losing line at a steady pace. Capt awakes and sees how far this fish has us stretched out. Fire up and begin to back down to try gain some line. 45 minutes later and we are still in reverse very slow. We pulled the hook shortly after that. Now the real story. We hear on the radio another boat goes off about the same time. They fight their fish for almost 14 hours! This fish brings them WAYYYY East, about 8-10 miles. The entire fleet is listening to this unflod as the day goes on. 2 guys on board with no other help. They fight the fish without ever seeing it. They decide to cut it off because they were running low on fuel and the weather forcast was not pretty. What a shame. It wasn't a whale because it never surfaced. Maybe a White, I doubt it. Keep in mind that these guys catch fish, alot of tuna over the season. I can't remember the name of the boat, but am sure someone will.