giant using Black Hole Giant rods in PEI

[ksong]

I was tired from Korea trip, but I had to drive to PEI as I soon as I arrived from Korea for taking pictures and video as Mel's group are using his custom Black Hole Giant rods.
I left 1:00 am and drove all ngiht to PEI to overcome jet lag.
I met Mel's group in the evening with Capt Greg Norton and mate Slim. 
The first time I fished with Capt Greg Norton was 1998 or 1989 with Dennis Braid when PEI giant fishing was not known except a few.



We fished out of Tignish, northwest corner of PEI. This is the first time I fished out of TIgnish. Capt Greg ran his boat for 8 hours to get here as normal spots in the East don't produce giant.

Capt Greg's new boat






All standup giant rods are custom Black Hole Giant rods.


custom taggig device


Mel's reel. He is very accurate and mark drag on strike and on full.


First fight by Mel. He uses 6' Black Hole Giant 6" off the butt. He loves the soft action of the tip and utilizes the bouncing back of the tip to gain lines.


















He loosen up the drag and fought the 700 lb giant using 40 - 45 lb, but still landed the 700 lb giant within 30 minutes.
He didn't pump as he is old ( 72 years) and he knows how to use the rod tip action. 


I got to go fishing now and I will conintue to post.

[Dominick]

Keep it coming.  Dominick

[broschro]

Wow that is Awesome!

[Benni3]

Nice fish,,,the rods must be great 

[ksong]

Mel is very artuculate and he changed all 70' 200 lb mono leader line by splicing every trip no matter what and Capt Greg changed the 200 lb fluoro leader line after one fight.



John Kim is next turn.  He used Thomas' 6' custom Black Hole Ginat 6 inches cut off the tip.  The rod looks much stiffer than Mel's no cut rod.
He fought smaller tuna than Mel's 700 lb, but it fought much harder. It took about 35 minutes to get the leader.





















Now it is Thomas Lin's turn. He is very experienced tuna fisherman.  He loves to fight with power. So he immidiately his custom Black Hole rod 6" cut from the tip.
He brought the 750 lb - 800 lb to the fluoro carbon leader in 20 minutes, but the giant was green and took offf. He brought the leader line three times and giant took off every time.  It took another 25 minutes to subdue the giant. Thomas fished in PEI last 5 years and he thinks the giant was the meanest he ever experienced. He was using drag upto 65 lb.















I have been fishing PEI since I fished with Dennis Braid 7 - 8 years ago.
I observed many tackle failures to fight giant in 600- 1000 lb.
Black Hole Giant rods were developed for giant standup and caught over 200 giant last 4 - 5 years.
From my direct experience and observation, Spiral wrapped rod with regular Fuji SIC guides with curbed butt is the best.
High sitting roller guides are no good as it twists much more with tremendous power of giant while spiral wrapped rod ease the twisting pressure.
Some prefer whole 6' Black Hole Giant rod and some pefer to cut tip section about 5" - 6". I think it depends on fighting style of each angler as some prefer soft bending and some prefer stiffer for power. The general length of the rod is about 5'5" - 6'.

[ksong]

[ksong]

Capt Greg Norton's son Keon is trying to break junior world record of giant using custom Black Hole Giant rod.

[alantani]

kil, this is very cool.  i don't think i'll every to a PEI trip, but it looks like fun.  assuming i get a clean bill of health in 3 weeks, i'll be headed to puerto vallarta the first week of december, then back again the first week of january.  200 pounds is a good weight for me.  not really interested in something in a 300 plus range.  thanks for the report!   

[ksong]

kil, this is very cool.  i don't think i'll every to a PEI trip, but it looks like fun.  assuming i get a clean bill of health in 3 weeks, i'll be headed to puerto vallarta the first week of december, then back again the first week of january.  200 pounds is a good weight for me.  not really interested in something in a 300 plus range.  thanks for the report!   

Hi Alantani,  PV trip is always great.  I will fish in second week of Dec in PV. 
Good luck on your trip.