Hey guys......wow what a week, I become a sponsor for this site and get to make this as my first post......First I would like to thank the folks at the MRMTC who put on a great tournament with an exciting and fishy format for the Tuna and Marlin fisherman a like. Secondly I would like to congratulate all of the participants in the tournament on their stellar catches, there were a ton of beautiful fish put on the scales.
We were originally scheduled to fish earlier in the week however we decided to keep delaying our fish days due to potential weather and ended up having to fish the final fish slot available. Arriving at our destination about an hour before daylight I decided to scout out the area and see what I could get to pop up on the screen. We covered a good amount of ground and just as the horizon was lighting up I decided on a location that appeared to he holding fish about 50 ft below the surface……..we got the lines out……made a pass…….but didn’t get a touch. As soon as we got turned back around and were close to my marks………..BAM……a rod went down. With one fish hooked up for about 30 seconds and no other knock downs I decided to work the boat into a tight zig zag………BAM 2 more rods get taken down.
This is the part of the recap where I have to really credit the awesome reels that Canyon supplies me with…….I have fished with plenty of other brands and would have been very hesitant to go for more hook ups had I not been 110% confident with the performance of these winches.
With the 3 fish now hooked up it was now a delicate dance to get the boat turned to a following sea……..with three Eyeballs hooked up and limited hands on deck (due to very understandable circumstances from the other usual Jersey Nutz crew members) it was our only shot. During the turn we popped the hook on one fish leaving us with just the two remaining fish to do battle with. We settled in and focused on getting the first fish in the boat. This is the fist time I have had to put one of these reels in low gear and HOLY CRAP!!!!!!! The fish does not stand a chance (I really am not a sales man and would never say these things if I was not truly taken back). We continued to work the fish for another 30 mins steadily gaining line…….When all of the sudden the fish that was still hanging on the hook of the other line received a lucky break……my brand new 130 lb hollow core failed right in the middle of the line….not at a connection point…… for no particular reason (this is still really bothering me). At this point I know we have to get this fish in the boat, because hey……That might have been our only shot at getting the hook ups. Any way we continued to steadily gain line on the beast and with the spool becoming closer to full with each crank I knew it was reaching the point in the battle were the fish was going to play hard to get. I could now see the fish 20 ft below the surface and with each swell was able to gain line in 3 feet increments.
The gaffs were prepared and so were we, when the swivel hit the rod tip, it was no more then 5 seconds later that the fish was gaffed and about 30 more seconds before a tail rope was on her. The fish was subdued in under 45 mins thanks to the best gear in the business…..Canyon Reels……..and Jersey Coast Tackle.
Once again I would like to thank the MRMTC crew for putting on a great tournament and social events. We are looking forward to fishing again next year.
If anybody has any questions in regards to trips or trip rates please take a look at my site(which was put together by NJ Outdoor Media!!)……all the trips are out lined there…..if you are interested in doing something different or if you have any questions about anything please call me…..even if you are not interested in a trip and just want to get a heads up on what is happening on the water give me a call. As you can tell by the catches that have been reported the fish are there to be caught so give me a call and lets set something up.
