$ea $ickne$$ and her crew are back from a 1200 mile journey in search of Giant Blue Fin Tuna off of Morehead City, NC. It was a last minute trip put together after our Midnight Lumps trip was cancelled due to weather. This is our story:
Crew – Tom ($ea $ickne$$ co-owner), Tim (Tom’s brother), Brent (good friend) and Martins (AKA Sam)
Jan 16 – make a 9 hour drive to Morehead City. Arrive at Captain Joe Shutes Bait and Tackle at 5am on the 17th. Load up on Horse Ballyhoo, a few hooks the size of our gaff and a Tiagra 50W with 130lb braid / topshot setup on a custom tuna rod. Seems our tiny TLD 50’s and 30’s wouldn’t stand a chance.
6 am – pull out of the public boat ramp headed for the Atlas tankers.
6:30 am – make the turn around the Knuckle buoy. We are no longer in the protected waters behind the Cape Lockout Shoals. Greeted by 5-7 foot Atlantic waves.
7:30 am – Radar going nuts, yellow dots covering an entire area of the screen. "That can’t all be boats, turn the gain down.” “Let’s take a look”. WOW, a parking lot of at least 50 Sportfishers all circling like a swarm of bumble bees. We’re Here!!!!
Radio is full of traffic of boats hooked up. Some have doubles. There are 2 chase boats, going to boats with leadered Blue Fins to transfer them over for measurements and special tagging. Total chaos in all directions.
9:30 am – no bites
10:30 am - no bites
11:30 am – no bites, I am secretly losing hope.
Noon – Starboard Tiagra starts screaming. Finally - Fish on!!!! All heck breaks loose. Tim is up. Harness won’t fit, too much clothes on. We adjust it. 30lbs of drag will bring a man to his knees in rough seas, with a wild Blue fin Tuna on the other end. Tim gets dragged around like a rag doll. Looks a little like Pee Wee Herman roping a Bull. Sorry Tim. We go after this fish hard, as we are surrounded by boats and don’t want to be cut off. $ea $ickne$$ backs down on top of it in no time. The giant Tuna comes to the surface. One word, “HolyCrap!!!” That is one big fish. Tuna runs under the starboard engine, I think it’s over. Line is wrapped around the prop. Tom lunges out with Brent holding on to his feet. He gets the line unwrapped. Tim’s back in the game. 20 minutes later it’s all over. Tom has the leader and the giant is beside the boat, looking at us with those huge eyes. We all admire this beautiful fish. He is very green and anxious to get back below, so we send him on his way after a few photo shots.
He is over 7 feet in length and Captain Joe Shute estimates his weight at around 500 lbs after reviewing our photos.
2 pm – Starboard Tiagra starts screaming again. Fish on!!!! All heck breaks loose again. Brent is up. He’s putting up a good fight. We know we have another monster on. We start backing down on this fish that has run off several hundred yards of line. Brent is getting the advantage on the giant and has him turned around. He can feel is powerful head jerks. Then suddenly the line goes limp. He’s off. No terminal tackle failure, no line failure. The hook simply pulled out. Very disappointing for all of us.
Ended the day with a sight none of us had ever experienced. Two giant whales swimming through the armada of fishing boats. Wow we were all blown away.
Jan 18 – Down day due to weather. Take advantage of free time to give $ea $ickne$$ a little TLC, and rig up for Monday.
Jan 19 – Rough seas keep us from going out at dark. Attempt a run out at 9am. Seas are 8 foot with a 25 knot NE wind. ROUGH!!!! We make it out to our spot but have no luck the rest of the day. Call it quits at 3:30 pm.
We all left Morehead City with the hope of one day returning. For all of us, it was the trip of our life-time.
To sum it all up:
$80,000 boat that brings you to near bankruptcy
$40,000 electronics & gear that drains every spare cash you have leaving barely enough to pay a one-900 number divorce attorney
11 hour drive through the night towing 11,500 lbs. of boat leaving you dizzy and red eyed looking worse than a crack addict
8-9 foot seas that beat every last ounce of energy from tired, numb minded, state of partial consciousness
CATCHING A 500 LB. TUNA WITH YOUR BEST FRIENDS - PRICELESS!!!!
=
Opens new window
