A FISHING TRIP TO REMEMBER FOR A BIG
242-POUND TUNA OUT OF HOTEL PALMAS DE CORTEZ

July 25, 2004, Jim Anderson, San Clemente, Calif., East Cape tuna fishing, Baja California Sur, Mexico:

A TRIP TO REMEMBER:

Sunday July 18, 2004 was our fourth day of fishing out of East Cape's Hotel Palmas De Cortez. In the past we have always tried to make this a day for our children. Hoping they will get one final chance to pull on a fish or two.

We boarded the Time Out with Captain Gilberto and Mate Christian. The fishing crew consisted of the Fosters, Steve, Chase and Chad, along with Jim and Ashley Anderson.

Three miles off the beach at 7:20 a.m., our captain spotted a fin (we all thought Marlin) off our bow. Our mate quickly baited up our biggest green back and made a perfect cast just in front of the fish. Within two seconds Chad was hooked up to his first billfish. After a few seconds the fish made several jumps and put on quite a show for all of us. After seeing the fish come out of the water we soon realized it was a sailfish. The fight lasted about 20 minutes on a Calstar Grafighter 700M coupled up with a Trinidad 30 filled with 30lb Izorline. The fish was released and after several high fives we were on our way in search of tuna.

Twenty miles off shore we encountered our first pod of porpoise. Several attempts were made trolling through the pod with no success. Captain Gilberto told Christian to bait up another green back and we would try again. Success!!!!! Chase was now hooked up on a large yellowfin tuna, judging from the amount of line being ripped off the reel. The fish came to within ten feet of the stern of the boat and was estimated at 60 pounds. Just as we saw the fish the inevitable happened, sawed off on 30lb (The setup was the same as mentioned above). Needless to say Chase was pretty bummed out.

Moments after being sawed off Captain Gilberto asked me if I had any fluorocarbon, I said you bet. We retied another Owner 6/0 to the same setup only this time with a 10-foot leader of 60lb P-line fluorocarbon.

We ran back to the head of the pod of porpoise and tried the same technique. Instant hookup, this time Ashley was up, she got in the chair and was hanging on for dear life. This fish took off like a freight train; I let her hold on until there were only about 30-50 yards of line left on the reel. I said sweetie let me see that real quick. I started yelling to Captain Gilberto; do you want to throw in a backup? His reply was hang on and lets see if we can get some line back.

With the Time Out in full reverse and waves crashing over my head we were able to get about half of the line back. The fish made several runs just like the first one, never loosing any strength. With expert boat maneuvering by Captain Gilberto, we were able to keep about half the capacity on the Trinidad 30. This went on for about 90 minutes when the first catastrophe happened. The Trinidad let go, straight into free spool. The line was a mess; I thought it's over now for sure!

As I frantically scrambled to undo the bird's nest, Mate Christian held constant pressure on the tuna by free handing the line. Somehow the line came free and I was back on the fish.

Captain Gilberto and Steve both thought I had inadvertently bumped the lever while reeling and put the reel in free spool. Deep down inside I knew there was no way I put that reel into free spool.

The reel held for about another 15 minutes and let go again, luckily I was resting with my reeling hand and had it on the spool. This time the reel went in and out of gear three times consecutively. I yelled to Captain Gilberto I told you I never bumped that lever.

I held as much pressure as I could on the spool with my hand. Captain Gilbert flew out of the tower and said, “We must get new pole”. Mate Christian proceeded to pull off about 40 yards of line from the Trinidad 30. Meanwhile Captain Gilbert grabbed Steve’s 40lb setup, a custom wrapped rod with a Shimano TLD-20. Within seconds they had tied the two lines together (with what knot I don’t know) and I was back on the fish.

Within seconds we noticed another problem. The eye on the tip of the rod had a burr and was shredding the line that was being pulled from the TLD-20.

Again Captain Gilberto came to me and said “We must get new pole.” I thought to myself “man there’s no way I’m going to get this fish”.

We did the same drill as before, pulling 40 yards of line off the TLD-20 and this time tying onto my 40lb outfit, a Calstar Westcoast 865XH with a Shimano TLD-25.

Again the fight was on, all I could think about was how many knots were in that line. The one at the hook, the one tying the fluorocarbon to the 30lb, the one tying the 30lb too Steve’s 40lb and the one tying Steve’s 40lb to my 40lb.

After another hour and a lot of sweat the yellowfin tuna was at deep color. It looked the size of a house door; all the kids started yelling (what I’m not at liberty to say). Mate Christian told me to back up and keep the line tight. Christian grabbed the leader and sunk the first of two gaffs into this giant tuna.

The total fight time was at two hours and thirty minutes. Luckily the Time Out has a door in the transom, the fish was pulled into the boat. I couldn’t believe my eyes a true fish of a lifetime for me.

I surpassed the 50, 100, 150 and 200 pound clubs all with one fish. The yellowfin tuna taped out at 81 inches in length with a girth of 49 inches. The scale at Palmas De Cortez gave us a reading of 242 pounds. I give all the credit in catching this fish to the crew of the Time Out. It’s true I battled this fish with all my might. However without the expertise of the Time Out’s crew there’s no way I would have landed this fish!

I would like to give a special thanks to my daughter Ashley who had to give up the fish. To the Fosters, Steve, Chase and Chad who gave me the support to keep on fighting.