11/18/04 - qualifier 105 10 day

[alantani]

this was my first 10 day trip and my first time on the qualifier 105. we started out at alijos and found nothing more than a dry hole. it was a gamble that could have paid off big, but it chewed up two whole days with only a few wahoo to show for it. then it was down to the ridge and finger bank for the dozen big yellowfin and lots of smaller ones. we had one wide open dorado bite, a couple of good bites on yellowtail and pretty much scratch fishing the rest of the time. even though i didn't catch a big one, just having a shot at a 200+ pound tuna was worth the time spent.

looking back on it, it's a little embarassing. i get a little hot under the collar sometimes. here we are on day one of fishing, we're at alijos, it's a scratch bite and i already had two problems....

the first was the small size of the baits. i understand now that it's a common problem for this time of year. i am used to sardines in the 6-8 inch range that are fairly easy to cast with even a tld 30 two speed. what we had were sardines 4-5 inch sardines with half to a third of the weight. they were impossibly tough to cast. i couldn't get them out far enough away from the boat using my big reels so that they'd swim away. :mad: finally i grabbed the daiwa saltiga 30t that the charter master had let me use. with the small spool size, i was able to pitch that little sardine out about 20 yards, he ran hot, straight and normal and was picked up in 30 seconds. 50 yards of line peeled off my spool in literally 2 seconds.  i flipped the reel in gear, the line tightened, he started pulling drag and then the line went "zing, pow!!!!!!"  then there was an "oh, $hit!!!!!" :mad: that was to become my mantra for the week. i had a circle hook straight tied to the mono. i figured it was wahoo and retied a wire leader. we replayed the exact same scenario two more times, "zing, pow!!!!" and "oh, $hit!!!!" in the next hour. both times with wire leaders. i was fit to be tied. :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: i yelled to chris on the top deck, demanding to know what kind of line he had on this stupid reel, and the answer came back.... p-line!

i respooled with big game the next day and tried to gather my wits. a couple of guys were using the same spool of p-line to practice their knots and they came in saying that every knot they tied went "pow!" i think that was when chris respooled his saltiga with 40# berkeley. good thing, because first fish he picked up on that reel weighed in at 267 pounds. so granted, it was probably a bad spool, but you will never find p-line on my boat, unless it's the rod that fishbelly is going to use.  we have a strict zero tolerance policy towards failures of this type.

there were some things that definitely worked out well....
the new 25 cubic foot freezer in the truck
new handles by pete kolekar on every shimano reel
berkeley big game
the braid back brace and the skb belt
calstar rods
roller tips and gimballed butts on every rod
the t-series daiwa saltiga (absolutely awesome!!!!)
4/0 penn senators with accurate frames and international handles
the shimano tld 20 (not the 30) two speed with pete's handle
avet reels
glenn's (fisherman's warehouse) penn internationsl 50
owner ringed circle hooks
wire leaders for wahoo
soaking a knot with spit before cinching it down
milk every morning to stay regular (hey, i'm lactose intolerant)

things that definitely did not work out....
p-line
tld 30 two speeds (one cracked!!!!)
small reel handles
small gimbal belts for big fish
not having a back brace for a big fish
trying to cast a small bait with a big reel
getting frustrated


things i'm still not sure of....

single uni versus double uni
fluorocarbon
an even LARGER handle design (pete, let's talk)
wahoo bombs


things i'm going to change for next year....

a more complete selection of ringed live bait and circle hooks
large forged stainless steel tuna hooks
better gloves
smaller reels, more spectra and shorter topshots
paying more attention to the good friends i had on this trip
staying positive, no matter what!

those of you that have landed fish like this already know. these are magnificent creatures. fighting a large tuna is a truely humbling experience. no one ever lands a big fish and then celebrates with an "i win" dance. both you and your gear are taken to the absolute limit. more often than not, the fish wins. for those of you that have never done long range before, you need to do this. just do it! it will forever change the way you look at fishing.