Got a tuna! Lost a rod!

[Bucktail]

Hit the blue water again yesterday with our same crew.  Went 3 for 4, losing a nice 120 lb. fish at the boat, and a nicer jigging combo that "fell" out of the boat!   Fortunately for me it wasn't mine.   Great time on the water with a fun group!

For the whole thread go here http://njsaltwaterfisherman.com/forums/index.php?topic=32553.0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asVTiibrU6c&feature=c4-overview&list=UUkp5U_YUTmeNp6JFGvUJ-GQ

[Keta]

Nice, too bad about the rod.

[Steve-O]

YEA!!! TUNA IN THE BOAT!!!!!

yea, sushi in the mouth!

[Bucktail]

Sounds expensive after a while, loosing all that geer.

That rod going over the side was a once in a lifetime shot.  When he threw it down, it just took the perfect bounce off the deck and it was gone.  My friend Kenny and I just looked at each other, stunned, like "Did that really happen?!"  It was about a $600 combo.  My friend, Rod, who threw it, was pretty bummed for awhile.   At least it was his own rod and not someone else's.

I still ask the same question, BTW - what do you do with those Tunas after you have them?  Certainly you can't cook them all up.

These are bluefin tuna that we are catching.  As a recreational boat we are only allowed to keep one fish per trip.  The rest are released.
Believe me, even though there's a lot of meat, it goes fast!  Everybody wants a piece.

[Bryan Young]

You guys are a kick in the pants.  Love it.  Too bad on the gaff job, but you guys gave it to him.  lol.

That first fish looks like it was right there at gaff.  it's amazing how clear the water is and how deceptive the perception is. 

Thansk for sharing.

[Bucktail]

that is on the east coast?

NJ

[Bucktail]

You guys are a kick in the pants.  Love it.  Too bad on the gaff job, but you guys gave it to him.  lol.

That first fish looks like it was right there at gaff.  it's amazing how clear the water is and how deceptive the perception is. 

Thansk for sharing.

We're not pros, but we catch fish and have a good time doing it.   That's what it's all about.

[Mandelstam]

We're not pros, but we catch fish and have a good time doing it.   That's what it's all about.

Amen brother!

[Bryan Young]

You guys are a kick in the pants.  Love it.  Too bad on the gaff job, but you guys gave it to him.  lol.

That first fish looks like it was right there at gaff.  it's amazing how clear the water is and how deceptive the perception is. 

Thansk for sharing.

We're not pros, but we catch fish and have a good time doing it.   That's what it's all about.

We have same gaff jobs when we go fishing too...and we lay it on the gaffer like you guys did...all in sadness and also fun.  Just like the guy that looses a fish because his thumb is on the spool...

there's nothing better...great day catching fish with a great group of friends.

[Bucktail]

You guys are a kick in the pants.  Love it.  Too bad on the gaff job, but you guys gave it to him.  lol.

That was me on the gaff.

[BMITCH]

Bob, your pretty modest. You guys are dialed in. Thanks for sharing.
Bob

[Bryan Young]

You guys are a kick in the pants.  Love it.  Too bad on the gaff job, but you guys gave it to him.  lol.

That was me on the gaff.

   

You buddies sure lay it in on you.  lol

The main thing is FISH IN THE BOAT!!!

[Keta]

I still ask the same question, BTW - what do you do with those Tunas after you have them?  Certainly you can't cook them all up.

I bring home between 20 and 30 albacore a year, some get eaten raw, the bellies get smoked, some loins get smoked and canned and all of my friends get the freshest fish they ever see.

[Keta]

I was thinking I need to find a local smoker.  I wonder how Porgies Smoke.  It is still a lot of fish.  My freezer is packed.

When I lived in Alaska we ate 60-75 sockeye, several Chinook and coho, 10-15 halibut, 6 deer and 2 mountain goats a year as well as around 100 abalone (we could keep 50 a day) and as many rock scallops and clams as I felt like harvesting.  When I got lucky and got the moose we had moose for almost 2 years.

[floating doc]

Before I left the track to go to college, I spent my last couple of years in the Harness Horse racing business living in central NJ.

I booked a party boat tuna trip out of Belmar. I was going to sandwich the trip in between my last work day and returning to Florida to start school.

I spent the entire summer building rods (I had a sideline business) and accumulating reels preparing for the trip. Meanwhile, the fishing was so good that the wholesale price of yellowfin dropped to a nickle a pound at the dock. That's right: FIVE CENTS A POUND!

You've heard the expression, "the fishing was so hot you could sink a boat"? Two guys almost did that in about four hours. They put so many tuna in a 25 foot center console that they almost swamped it.

The day finally came for my trip. I had quit my job, packed up my apartment and was ready to fish for two days, then head home. That night the wind was blowing 50 mph, with gusts to 65. No one left the dock.

I did have a backup plan for all of that gear. My dad's cousin in California went to Baja every winter. The day after I got home, we had tickets to fly to LA, then drive down to Mexico with him. I drove home to Florida. When I pulled into the yard, my dad came out to meet me. "I've got bad news. Bobby died last night."

That was 1986. A broke college student in Florida couldn't have access to tuna fishing, and a broke veterinarian can't either. Other than bonita/little tunny and one true bonita and I've never caught a tuna.