# "Fresh" Tuna



## Bulldogbacchus (Feb 26, 2012)

Sometimes they can be very finicky and almost impossible to catch.....sometimes not

http://m.youtube.com/index?desktop_uri=%2F&gl=US#/watch?v=jmtzQUh4fXY


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## Johnny.B.Good (Feb 26, 2012)

Bad link?


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## Deckhand (Feb 26, 2012)

Bulldogbacchus said:


> Sometimes they can be very finicky and almost impossible to catch.....sometimes not
> 
> http://m.youtube.com/index?desktop_uri=%2F&gl=US#/watch?v=jmtzQUh4fXY




Entertaining the pelagic guys are in costa Mesa remember when they started.See them at tackle stores,day on the docks, and the Fred Hall show run by Bart Hall. Some friends do rep work for them, but i was doing it for Seeker rods. Tuna boils are always fun. Wouldn't catch me swimming there. Have you seen big sharks like Guadalupe:eek2: I got chased out of the water by a tiger shark spearfishing at Andros in the Bahamas. Once was enough. Now I just catch them. One of the original Pelagic guys used to try to get me to take him Mako fishing on the Topaz at Mako Matt's Marine. Damn can't wait til my kids get bigger.


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## Eamon Burke (Feb 26, 2012)

[video=youtube;jmtzQUh4fXY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmtzQUh4fXY[/video]


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## Bulldogbacchus (Feb 26, 2012)

Thank you sir. I don't know how you did that, but thanks.
I've seen a few baitballs, but never one with as many big yellowfin as this one had. I've fished with Wade quite a bit, but wasn't on the boat the day they shot this video
And I agree with Deckhand, I'd stay in the boat.


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## Johnny.B.Good (Feb 26, 2012)

Thanks for inserting the video Eamon...not sure why I wasn't getting to it from the link.

Wild video. It would take a lot for me to jump into the water like that guy did!


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## jmforge (Feb 27, 2012)

I have seen some pretty wild baitball frenzies in Isla Mujeres, but I missed the one where the party was broken up by a whale shark coming straight up from underneath the ball. We have raised like 75 sailfish and released 56 on our best day in january down there. When the species get mice dup in late spring, it gets really fun. The best day we had the last year we went, we released 15 sailfish and one white marlin and the meat fish we kept added up to 15 blackfin all over 15 pounds, 14 dolphin all that same size or bigger and a 35 point wahoo. if you count the damn bonita, we probably released another 40 or so fish. When the bait gets balled up like that, fish will behave differently. You don't have to worry much about tuna getting spooked and diving when they are feeding like that.


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## Deckhand (Feb 27, 2012)

Love love wahoo. On one long range trip out of San Diego told my wife we would get married if I caught a wahoo. Ended up with a 65lb wahoo and got married soon after. When the fish are boiling and every fly lined bait gets hit instantly it is such a blast.


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## Bulldogbacchus (Feb 27, 2012)

I like to eat wahoo too. This is the first one I caught.I knew nothing of them,thought they would always be this size. Boy, was I naive.... I'm the guy on the right.


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## Deckhand (Feb 27, 2012)

Wow awesome wahoo. Nothing like watching a rooster tail come off your line. Very nice!!!


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## jmforge (Feb 28, 2012)

My first wahoo was a 50 pounder that I caught on the Hump off of Islamorada when I was 16 or 17. I sat in the chair and watched it strip pretty much all of the 80 pound dacron braid off of a Penn International 80. That was about it for a fight, but it was pretty wild watching a fish that size almost spool a reel that was there in case we got a hit from something big and toothy like a mako. The last wahoo that I caught in Mexico was turned into a Rubbermaid shirt box full of habanero laced ceviche right at the dock by our local mate. THAT was some tasty stuff and it fed half of the marina.:biggrin:


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## Deckhand (Feb 28, 2012)

******* said:


> My first wahoo was a 50 pounder that I caught on the Hump off of Islamorada when I was 16 or 17. I sat in the chair and watched it strip pretty much all of the 80 pound dacron braid off of a Penn International 80. That was about it for a fight, but it was pretty wild watching a fish that size almost spool a reel that was there in case we got a hit from something big and toothy like a mako. The last wahoo that I caught in Mexico was turned into a Rubbermaid shirt box full of habanero laced ceviche right at the dock by our local mate. THAT was some tasty stuff and it fed half of the marina.:biggrin:



Wahoo is absolutely my favorite to catch and eat. Wahoo caught on a ten foot jig rod vs heavy gear are definitely going to put on more of a show. Mexico is a lot of fun. Fished out of San Quentin, and Cabo. If you can ever do it try a long range boat out of San Diego 8 days to places like Roca Partida. 12-13 day for 200-300lb tuna. Mind blowing. People from all over the world fly in to do it.


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## El Pescador (Feb 28, 2012)

Deckhand said:


> Wahoo is absolutely my favorite to catch and eat. Wahoo caught on a ten foot jig rod vs heavy gear are definitely going to put on more of a show. Mexico is a lot of fun. Fished out of San Quentin, and Cabo. If you can ever do it try a long range boat out of San Diego 8 days to places like Roca Partida. 12-13 day for 200-300lb tuna. Mind blowing. People from all over the world fly in to do it.



As the price of fuel becomes more and more expensive and the Mex-ies keep messing with the licensing process, this might be going away. I got out of the chartering business for this reason. Sport fishing on party boats might be a thing of the past in a couple of years.


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## Bulldogbacchus (Feb 28, 2012)

El Pescador said:


> As the price of fuel becomes more and more expensive and the Mex-ies keep messing with the licensing process, this might be going away. I got out of the chartering business for this reason. Sport fishing on party boats might be a thing of the past in a couple of years.




Which knives do you guys think would be best to dress the big tuna? Dexter Russell at low end, and maguro kiri at the top end.....what's inbetween??? Especially for those of us who dont know how to sharpen the single bevel deba...


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## Deckhand (Feb 28, 2012)

El Pescador said:


> As the price of fuel becomes more and more expensive and the Mex-ies keep messing with the licensing process, this might be going away. I got out of the chartering business for this reason. Sport fishing on party boats might be a thing of the past in a couple of years.


I know it's a major bummer. I knew the late Bill Poole and went to the tribute dinner before his passing. Frank Lo Preste took over and was there when it was good. Guys like Bruce originally on Shogun who just bought a boat. He just got the Fortune. Don't know how he is going to do it. It's a headache just figuring out when and for how much just to go to Guadalupe. The Mexican government has gotten carried away. It's not just mordita it's bans. It is really a bummer. Such a cool industry. Never mind the MLPAs United Anglers fought on that but it's an uphill battle.
Your avatar looks familiar. Did you used to go on Bloody Decks?


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## Deckhand (Feb 28, 2012)

Bulldogbacchus said:


> Which knives do you guys think would be best to dress the big tuna? Dexter Russell at low end, and maguro kiri at the top end.....what's inbetween??? Especially for those of us who dont know how to sharpen the single bevel deba...


This is a knife forum. I love fancy knives, but honestly I will stick with my forschner it has a blue handle says 40455 and under that 5.7302.25 on the blade for my fish cleaning. I would like a hancho hocho or maguro for the novelty, but doubt I would use it on fish if I had it.


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## El Pescador (Feb 28, 2012)

I'd probably get my as kicked if I showed up on a long range boat with a Tuna Sword, so if I had to bring a cool knife it would have to be a Phil Wilson Punta Chivato. I live a block from Frank Lo and have worked for him and he's not real hot on the way things are going right now.


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## Deckhand (Feb 28, 2012)

El Pescador said:


> I'd probably get my as kicked if I showed up on a long range boat with a Tuna Sword, so if I had to bring a cool knife it would have to be a Phil Wilson Punta Gorda. I live a block from Frank Lo and have worked for him and he's not real hot on the way things are going right now.


No one is happy with what's going on right now. Many many years ago Frank lived in Costa Mesa:biggrin:
I hang out with Joe Pfister every week with a really cool group of guys. I am very lucky.
Frank has treated a lot of employees well. Sorry about whatever the Norm thing was for all involved. Nothing will ever top the Rollo thing wish I had meet him. Not a day goes by I don't wish I was down there working it is where I belong. When I am out on a fishing boat working or fishing. Everything is right in the world for me. I just can't do that to my kids. Have them see me a few hours a month. Hope we go fishing sometime.


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## El Pescador (Feb 28, 2012)

Franks going to be fine. Its the young guys coming up that are having a hard time. The half day and 3/4 day guys that is. I'll spend the money for a mex license on a long range but making me buy a Mexi-day license for a 3/4 day off the Bullring is stupid.

pesky


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## Chifunda (Feb 28, 2012)

You people are really making me feel old...reading this thread made me realize my last long range trip was almost thirty years ago.:bigeek:

Yo Yoshida used to charter the Royal Polaris for a nine day invitational trip and I was fortunate enough to be asked aboard one year. Must have been 1983 or '84. Frank Lo Preste was the skipper and he worked his butt off putting us into fish despite the mild El Nino conditions. I was so exhausted by the end of the trip I slept all the way back to San Diego. Good to hear that Frank is still in the business and doing well.:thumbsup:

For what it's worth, my big fish cutter upper is a Forschner scimitar 40634. Nothing fancy but it works.


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## Deckhand (Feb 28, 2012)

Chifunda said:


> You people are really making me feel old...reading this thread made me realize my last long range trip was almost thirty years ago.:bigeek:
> 
> Yo Yoshida used to charter the Royal Polaris for a nine day invitational trip and I was fortunate enough to be asked aboard one year. Must have been 1983 or '84. Frank Lo Preste was the skipper and he worked his butt off putting us into fish despite the mild El Nino conditions. I was so exhausted by the end of the trip I slept all the way back to San Diego. Good to hear that Frank is still in the business and doing well.:thumbsup:
> 
> For what it's worth, my big fish cutter upper is a Forschner scimitar 40634. Nothing fancy but it works.



Ah.. yo's tackle. I have been on the Royal Polaris,Shogun,Red Rooster when Jorge and Julio were still on it. Really want to get on the Intrepid. I still use a forschner, and my buddy is catching 200lb+ tuna with a pacemaker. I don't ever want to be too old too fish. In the 80's I worked Art's landing,Davey's locker and managed fisherman's supply center. Before building reels for Carl Newell.
Saw Ralph Mikkelsen at the Bill Poole Tribute dinner he still had the same mustache.



Copy from recent post.

Feb 02, 2012

Ralph Mikkelsen, 80, shows he can still land the giant tuna
Ralph Mikkelsen of Northridge, Calif., is one tough angler, who on Thursday posed in San Diego alongside a 306-pound yellowfin tuna he landed during a 15-day excursion into Mexican waters.

The catch, made aboard the American Angler, gives Mikkelsen, who will be 81 next month, six yellowfin weighing 300 pounds or more&#8212;a feat that is unrivaled. 

"I&#8217;ve been waiting for the next 300-pounder to come for 24 years," he said of his latest catch, made after a 30-minute battle that included several runs up and down the rail. 

Mikkelsen caught his first "super cow" in 1980, a 321-pound yellowfin. His last, before the recent catch was, a 308-pounder boated in 1988. 

As veteran long-range anglers are aware, these are specialized trips and not for the queasy or faint of hard. Giant yellowfin tuna are incredibly powerful and landing them requires strength and stamina.

Of course it helps to have high-tech fishing gear and multiple-speed reels, which were not available back in Mikkelsen's heyday.

"He made several runs up high, so I had to keep changing gears," Mikkelsen said.

The top catch aboard the American angler was a 320-pound tuna by Dennis Saylors.* It was Saylors' first super cow in 20 years of fishing on longe-range boats.

The American Angler was skippered by Brian Kiyohara, whose passengers landed 27 yellowfin weighing 200 pounds and three topping 300 pounds. 

That's a lot of sashimi.

-- Pete Thomas


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## Chifunda (Feb 28, 2012)

Deckhand said:


> Ah.. yo's tackle. I have been on the Royal Polaris,Shogun,Red Rooster when Jorge and Julio were still on it. Really want to get on the Intrepid. I still use a forschner, and my buddy is catching 200lb+ tuna with a pacemaker. I don't ever want to be too old too fish. In the 80's I worked Art's landing,Davey's locker and managed fisherman's supply center. Before building reels for Carl Newell.
> Saw Ralph Mikkelsen at the Bill Poole Tribute dinner he still had the same mustache.



God bless him, that's mighty impressive! 

I've been on the east coast since Yo's trip, in fact I had to fly back to California to go on it, but I've done a fair amount of fishing since then; from bonefish on Andros to tiger fish in Zambia. Arthritis in my back and knee have slowed me down considerably lately but all in all I feel like I've had a pretty good run.

As the saying goes, if I'd known I was going to live this long I'd have taken better care of myself. :razz:

As for Newell reels, Carl got a fair amount of my money back in the day, including the upgrade kits he sold for Penn reels. Got them all from Yo, of course. My wife and I used to visit the store and then walk down the street to Sizzler. No, wait! This might not be the best forum to admit that.:spankarse:


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## Bulldogbacchus (Feb 28, 2012)

Sounds like some great times......


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## Chifunda (Feb 28, 2012)

Bulldogbacchus said:


> Sounds like some great times......



Never hooked a tuna as big as yours though! :wow: Nice job!


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## Chifunda (Feb 28, 2012)

And another thing! That wahoo makes me feel positively...inadequate.

(Chifunda retreats to dark corner and sits all alone, playing with his toes and blowing bubbles in his own spit.) (As opposed to blowing bubbles in someone else's spit.)


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## Chifunda (Feb 28, 2012)

Just figuring out how to download pictures. Here's a shot of Yo Yoshida on the Royal Polaris.


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## Chifunda (Feb 28, 2012)

Just figuring out how to download pictures. Here's a shot of Yo Yoshida on the Royal Polaris.

Any advice on how to make it larger?


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## Bulldogbacchus (Feb 29, 2012)

Chifunda said:


> Never hooked a tuna as big as yours though! :wow: Nice job!



Thanks.I was just the winder! I have been fortunate to fish with John and Wade Richardson a number of times. They have two sportfishers (a 43 Merritt and a 48 G&S) and a mothership in Panama. They are very talented fishermen and their Panamanian crews are top notch. They drive the boat very aggressively when fighting a fish.....makes for a lively time on the leader. Also leads to releasing a very healthy fish. We keep some tuna and dorado to eat, release all billfish.





The wahoo was in the Gulf of Mexico and was just plain luck.....


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## Bulldogbacchus (Feb 29, 2012)

This would have been a new world record for 50lb. line but they released it.....


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## Deckhand (Mar 1, 2012)

Chifunda said:


> Just figuring out how to download pictures. Here's a shot of Yo Yoshida on the Royal Polaris.



Thanks for posting the photo.
I went on a fujimoto memorial trip on the Royal Polaris. I remember Bruce on the Shogun yelling compliments from his boat on my three 10ft ulua jig rods. Good times.
Getting a free ticket to the Long Beach Fred Hall Show next week. It's the Mecca for fisherman. I will get to see a lot of old friends.


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