Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Heartbreaker

Fantastic pictures and account (as always). Thanks for sharing.

We better get you tight. If not, you're going to freeze to death.



BTW, my buddy owns both boats. Depending on how we fish, we'll be on one or the other. Or both. Better get those tickets, Tex. You wait too long, sticker shock might slap you across the head...

Thanks, John. I appreciate it. BTW, not sure how many folks are familiar with bioluminescence, but steaming for the barn last night the boat's wake, wash and hull was glowing an eerie neon green. So amazing. You can practically almost read by the light when they're thick. If you run your hand in the water and swish it about, your hand will glow.

Too dark for pics, but it's incredible to witness. This is a random vid that gives the idea, though ours are neon green, not blue.

That looks like a LOT of fun!

It is. The long steams, hours of getting beat up, sweating, preparing flat after flat of herring for chumming, jigging bait fish, running lines and rigging are all part of the game. As are the hours of waiting for something to happen once the work is addressed, hoping hard for something to happen--something that sometimes just doesn't. But let me tell you, once it gets in your blood, being OTW is addictive, and when things come together and one of the big 130s start screaming? Holy shyt, man.

I'll never tire of it. Won't be able to do it forever, though, so when I get a free day and things work out timing wise, I'm in. In the fishing world, to me, there is nothing out there more challenging and exciting than fighting a giant on rod and reel in the north Atlantic. Nothing.

Homeboy on the Grady must have a phd in dragsetology, one good kick and he is swimming. Good on the small boys for workn it.

Nah, not really. It's not as precarious as it appears. Smaller CCs rigged for giant fishing often have boats set up for fighting fish from the bow. It allows some serious advantages.

1. The man at the helm can see exactly what the man fighting the fish is doing.

2. As the fighter is in the bow, the helmsman can often see where the fish is, roughly, based on the line's angle to the bow.

3. It's a tactical choice. When fighting big fish, particularly those that can and will sound in waters hundreds of feet deep, with the heavy drag of the 130 class winches we run, with the drag cranked to the stops on a tired, but sulking fish staying down, the seas themselves can be used to beat the fish, especially when the seas are pitching several feet. As the bow rises with the ocean, the force of the lifting can be used to gain line. With every fall of the boat, you crank like a bastard. On every rise, the fish is pulled up with it.

It's not visible in the pic, but here's a few shots of what the resting/fighting post on the bow looks like on a CC rigged that way. That rod and reel combo is mounted on a ball bearing swivel rocket launcher. It's not going anywhere. You wouldn't want a greenhorn out there, especially in sporty seas, but it's a common setup here for smaller boats. I call it the Monkey Seat.

KG,

please do not mind this silly kraut. I could not have misread your post more, if I had been trying.

I am 100 % with you. I see why you go out any chance you have and pull your weight.

I thought, the shark was the one that got away...



Thank you for the pictures and your tales.

No worries, and my pleasure, sir.

Kamo that is badass, you are a lucky man to be able to tag along!

Keep the pics comin, this Pacific guy appreciates em!

Dat is a long way from "where I live" but waaay cool. Thanks.

Gracias again, gents. By the bye, the fish that I said was estimated at 750 that was towing that Grady by us? Turns out it weighed over 900, and the fat content was superb. Tough to say how well it'll do at market (Tsukiji in Tokyo), but the buyer that brokers the bluefin sales, packs and ships for lots of the boys, including my guys, predicted it would bring upwards of $15K. Same guy got a 630 pounder today. Sometimes, lady luck smiles wide on the tuna hunters...

Very cool indeed, The monkey seat is a an awesome concept. Always remember gravity works always has always will and it just so happens we don't have gillz. Just sold my 31 contender and have landed many a fish over the 5 mark. Used to have anglers fight standing or sitting on the bow as shown, it only took one buddy spilling off the front to end that practice. I switched to standing them in the anchor locker, worked better than a greased pig in preschool lunch line.