Brandon with his Big Boy

Brandon Langel and Cameron with Big Dollies

Back to La Florida we have been waiting for a good weather window to make the long run offshore to hunt Yellowfin Tunas.   Brandon Langel from Fort Pierce has the fishing for them down pat and when the seas lay down we were poised to go long.

Weather the night before was less than appealing with solid 15-20 knot winds while we were catching bait and it kind of set the standard for the next day. ie. If it could go wrong it would….

First things first, we had planned to catch a bunch of bait so we had chum but of course it was blowing a gale and the bait was running scared as hell and we only got about 150 or so.  

 Next morning we wake up to find calm winds and plenty of left over swell and only three of the original 6 man crew showing up therefor assuring us of a hefty gas bill. Bastards.

We slammed our way out and hoped that when we hit the gulfstream it would calm down but I think it was more mental than anything else and we got punished for 3 straight hours.

Once on the tuna grounds it was so rough that we had trouble hitting the pods of birds with the radar and ended up finding only some small schools of tiny yellowfins and lots of skipjacks.  

Excitement spiked when we were putting out the baits enroute to one of the schools and I caught a movement in the wake out of the corner of my eye and immediately identified it as a big blue marlin!

I freespooled the bait he was looking at and after seeing him turn pushed it up slightly and he immediately took to the air as Josh  set the hook when I handed it to him.  The sight of a solid 250 lb Blue Marlin clearing the water and tailwalking for 100 yards had us all hooting and enjoying the lack of Tuna for a few minutes.  As soon as it began it was over with only 60 lb Fluorocarbon leader the big fish and rough bill wore through and left us laughing at the spectacle. 

Brandon quite the underwater acrobat. A lack of Gracefullness while showing your personal best of a species is acceptable.

Giving up on the tunas in the building seas we headed in and crossed an excellent weedline and before long came upon a good looking spot.   

ZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!!!!!!!

That wonderful sound of a screaming reel and a nice bull dolphin dancing at the other end and we were back in the game.  Gaffing it and bringing it into the boat thinking our luck had changed I held the gaff while Brandon removed the hook and four foot of golden fish came alive and smacked me in the face sending my Costa Del Mar sunglasses sailing into the purple blue.

Son of a !!!!

“Go Go GO! Dive in there!!!”  As Brandon is screaming at me to go I’m trying to figure out what I need to take off before I dive in. Fumbling around for a quick few seconds I realize that the only thing I need to take off  IS MY SUNGLASSES and they are already gone so I dive in fully clothed and with my shoes on and start stroking down and catch them at about ten feet which luckily is only a fraction of the 2500 ft of water that we are in.

Good guys that they are they stopped the boat and I jumped in water logged but determined to get in as soon as possible with the proper gear and actually enjoy the good vis.

Working the weedline with the baits we caught sight of a huge shape below the surface and as I went in to turbo mode and started putting on my gear a 12 ft Tiger shark coasted under the boat and wouldn’t stick around for me to film despite copious amounts of chum being thrown in the water.

Back trolling another 200 yards down the weedline we come across a good school of Dolphin and within seconds of the first strike, the boat is in neutral and I’m in the drink avoiding a trio of hooked fish looking for the big bull which I know to be amongst the 20 or so fish 15 lbs and greater surrounding me. 

Brandon and Josh are yelling at me to shoot and I’m doing my best to hold off as 20 and thirty lb Dolphin surround me and the other hooked fish.     Just as I’m about to cave in and shoot a great fish on the outskirts I see the one I’m looking for and he makes a Bee line straight for one of the hooked fish just meters away from the boat.  INtercepting him to the guys on the boat are cheering as I pull the trigger in full view of them both and the big Bull is in my hands in seconds and raising hell on the surface!

Trophy in the boat and some quick pics and I’ve got Brandon in the water with the 120 EuroX and a float line and he is swirled by the school and selects the best one taking a practiced shot in the head and securing a solid 30 lb bull!

Over the next hour we landed 10 fish from 12-40 lbs and enjoyed some crystal blue waters below the giant weed patches. The bait wasn’t nearly as thick as I would have like to have seen but the fish were there and the day was definitely worth the run across.

here is the video from the trip 

Gear:

Riffe Euro 130 with new Horizontal Reel and Riffe Green Cryptic Rash Guard for Cameron

Riffe Euro X 120 for Brandon with a 100 ft bungey and single 2 ATM float. ( this is the rig that I had brought  to use on the Yellowfins which we had guessed would  be in the 40-110 lb range)