"The One That Got Away"( A Good Thing?)

[Gfish]

I know huh, what kind of a post is this? To top it off, it's just a report, no pictures.

I had friday off and was thinkin that they are gettin alotta Ahi(Yellowfin) for the roadside fish markets here. Can I find some, maybe closer to shore? I have yet to land even a shibi(football sized Yellowfin).

Took awhile but I finally got a nice 10" Hawaiian Goatfish(a saltwater carp lookin critter with long chin barbels) for bait. Did a slow 1.5 mph live troll near the surface in 110 ft. deep water well past the reef. "What's that!" The shallow water alarm is dingin, and the depth reads 3.5 ft.?!? Happened again a couple of minutes latter.Start thinkin: something right below the transducer? The wind is about 15mph from the NE(trade winds) whitecaps and rather nasty sea and swell conditions for a kayak. So I can't see below me: turtle?, no, not way out here, shark??? Passin over an Ahi school? Cool, settle on that one. Ha!


About 10 min. latter I get bit. Immediately there's that "I'm way undergunned here" feeling: solid power and mass on the end of the line, doin whatever it wants to, despite the pressure I'm applying. Got my Sealine 30H with 65lb. braid, a 50lb. Fluoro. leader/150lb swivel, and unfortunately a short 30lb. topper. The 30lb. was a left over from a lure trolling rig change-up to a bait set-up. The Sealine drag got warm but performed perfectly.

When I could think clearly, I was gonna try to take a sled ride to tire 'em out, but yeah, he's just gotta be pulling me into that stiff wind and it isn't going to work with a 30lb. weak-link. Wait! Is this how an Ahi fights? Heading down(looking for reef?), runnin but not goin real fast like a pelagic would, A shark maybe?

I'll never know. 10 min. in (seemed like it, prolly more like 5 min.)after stripping bout 100yds. on a run, "It" was able to bite through the 50lb. fluoro. Gradually it dawned on me; may well have been a shark, and maybe I was better off not gettin eyes on it, way out there in rough conditions and sittin right next to the water in a tippy kayak. Scary, mysterious, FUN! Ha!, lot's of room for speculation on this one.

I've had similar experiences over the reef in ~ 30ft. waters, but the unknowen monster always went straight for the coral. It's a sickening vibration and sound when the braid starts rubbing on that stuff. I'm 0/5 on these type of hook-ups now and it sure seems like it's the same species of fish...

After that adrenaline rush, I got tired of staring down swells that might break on me and went back in, living to fight another day, perhaps.

[Crow]

sounds like an exciting day, G !!

[alantani]

this is why i gave up on kayak fishing......   

[foakes]

Probably better off not knowing what it was, Greg --

Great report!

Best, Fred

[philaroman]

mermaid...  good thing, she had a sore throat

[Donnyboat]

Hi Greg, thanks for the report, sure would have had your blood pumping, better luck next time, cheers Don.

[Tiddlerbasher]

You're in the water - sharks in the water - fair thee well etc.

[oc1]

That's spooky, especially if whatever-it-is wants to hang out right under the boat.
-steve

[Aiala]

~A~

[philaroman]

https://www.ladbible.com/news/weird-scuba-diver-gets-caught-on-fishermans-hook-20200704

[mo65]

   Thanks for sharin' the story G...maybe next time eh?

[Gfish]

Yeah. Living to fight another day, means making adjustments. Forgo one lure trolling rig for an 80 lb., roller guide broom stick, narrowed 6/0 Senator with a couple of feet of terminal wire line, and waiting for better sea/swell/wind conditions. Now I'm approaching "White Whale" obsession. If not a shark, possibly a huge Barracuda?

[Benni3]

When we lose a fish,,,,, Marlo ask me what kind of fish do you think that was,,,,, that was a marlin,,,,,,,

[scrinch]

Greg,  do you ever read the comic strip Sherman's Lagoon? I think that there was a shark out there that day trolling for a kayak-bottomed human. You're lucky that you got away!

One time my brother and I were sitting on a school of football yellowfin on the East Cape, catching them left and right. I got out my light spinning gear for some fun, and pinned on a sardine. Pretty soon the sardine was hit, and before I knew it there was a 100lb striped marlin dancing out of the water about 100ft from the panga at the end of my line. I decided that I wanted to lose the fish before I got spooled rather than afterward, so I grabbed the spool and broke him off.   Moral: you put your bait in the water and you never know what you're gonna get!

[Crow]

" Moral: you put your bait in the water and you never know what you're gonna get!"   Yup ! Same when I first "fished" or my wife ! Got her "in the boat", real easy....but the "battle" afterwards has lasted over 53 years !