Our First School Bluefin on the Good-Ship CHOP~CHOP

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Chop~Chop

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Location
Parker River, MA
Sharon, my Admiral, and I set out for our first tuna trip together this past Friday morning. We got off the dock by about 0600. We had about a one hour run to the south side of Cape Ann. A 15kt NE blow made for a fun ride down the Stellwagen Bank. I took it slow so as not to instigate a premature mutiny. We were on the troll by 0800.

As we approched the fleet I knew I'd have to make it easy for Sharon to navigate through and around the other boats as I tended to the lines.
I thought it wasn't going to be too difficult for her; I told her these guys know how to troll in a pattern so as not to cross each other up. As the seas built to 2-4 footers I soon learned, anything goes. After a hour or so Sharon commanded we troll away from the cluster F#@! of boats. Within 15 minutes, with no other boats closer than 3/4 mi, Sharon alerts me...

When I picked up the rod, initially, I thought oh, rat bluefish; then the Penn 850 on my 7' Ugly Stik started to scream. Just about the time I saw
the dacron backing with very little power-pro left on the spool I was able to put enough pressure on it to slow it down.

Now for the fun part;
Sharon would require concise directions "suggestions" on how to maneuver the boat :roll: Initially, from the cockpit, I thought it was best to
fight the fish heading down-wind. That was rather easy for Sharon as she was able to quickly pick-up the position of the line and keep it from getting forward of midship.
Then once we had it within 30 ft. of the boat I wanted to fight it from the bow and "ask" Sharon to keep the bow into the wind, all the while in reverse, in 2-4 ft. Chop... :roll:
Evidently, this worked; but since, I have thought through how more concisely I could have instructed my beloved.

Thanks Sharon, :oops: :oops:
 

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Nice going! I was out there too ... on someone else's boat, but we didn't hook up.

Love that last photo ... my Parker is pictured right off your starboard bow ;) .
 
I've been there! :shock:

"Honey... hold it steady into the wind."... No... into the wind! :shock:

BTW - Nice fish... and nice sunset shot of Dales boat! :mrgreen:
 
Were you guys out there this last Saturday morning? Thought I saw you.

We didn't hook up, but at least the ride out wasn't bad.
 
Thanks Guys,

I'm still kinda still wound-up over our first sbft. I recently thought through how I conceded with my Admiral when she declared "game-over let's go home", it was only 0945; I had plenty of time to try to hook-up again with a 47 in. fish...

Saturday last weekend was very humbling though. We were all planning to bag our 3 fish limit (excluding the 73 in. trophy fish). But it was a wonderous day and I'm still rewinding every decision/indecision that left us empty handed. Next time when we start marking them really well we've all agreed to abadon the troll and start blind casting and jigging.

I'm a little disappointed in the pics of Dale's Classic Parker. I think I allowed the auto-focus to pick up on the bow of my boat leaving the beautiful dawn sky and "MISS TEAK" a little fuzzy...I'll do better next time, and hopefully Dale will be home sleeping or OSEB.

I have aquired a new piece of equipment, circa 1970. My Uncle told be I could trade it in for some new modern rig. But I'm thinking of outfitting it with a bent-butt and adding a swivel rod holder to my boat...I'm not sure that makes sense. It's kinda hard to really see how monstrous this 14/0 130lb class really is next to my 114. Next time I'll take a picture of it in the rod holder.

Any suggestions on how to use it will be greatly appreciated.
 

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Chop~Chop":38phs3xr said:
It's kinda hard to really see how monstrous this 14/0 130lb class really is next to my 114.

Kind of looks like a boat winch. :D
IMHO... Fish her as she is. It was good enough in the 70's... it'll be good enough now. :wink:
 
Holy smokes! Just so you know, you can upgrade that reel's drag from thick card (asbestos?) washers to HT100 material. I upgraded some 30+ year old black sideplate 6/0 Senators my Dad gave me. He used to use them sharkin' . Yeah, I could use newer tackle, but using something in my hands that my Dad had used before? .... priceless :) !
 
I'm still looking into more recipes for seasoning grilled steaks; I think the "Old Bay" is ok...But I'm zeroing in on olive oil with a light sesoning of salt, pepper, and tyme or basil. One time I used too much garlic in a marinade and the kabobs ended out a little like lamb; I enjoy lamb too.

I am also fortunate a particular colleague is of Japanese decent. She has been very helpful preparing all the fixn's to go with Toro, Sushi, Spicy Tuna, and some other rather complicated dishes that I can't pronounce, nevermind spell...

My Admiral would just assume I spend more time ($$) chasing another sbft. She's a little concerned the next time around it will have to be>= 47"; upwards of 60-80#, we could get hurt if we're not careful. Lucky me!

I'm not sure I will be prepared to get a 46.5' fish into the boat without fatally wounding it before I realize it's not a keeper. The first time it was easy to "guess" it was greater than 27".
 

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Chop~Chop...

You're close to my recipe !

My ol' standby is: "TAH DA" (drum roll, please :!: )

Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Fresh Basil, Balsamic Vinegar (a few good dashes..not too much), Frank's Red Hot Sauce (a couple of dashes...more or less to taste :twisted: ), black pepper, a couple tablespoons of FRESH lime (or lemon) juice...I really like lime better with fish, and a couple of healthy dashes of garlic powder. I don't add any salt.

You'll have to play with the amts of each.

Please give my kudos to the Admiral. I wish I could find a girl who would look that comfortable holding a fish :shock:. Hmmm...does she have any aunts that she could fix me up with ?...as long as they would look just as happy next to a fish :lol:

Mac
 
We had a good week with the footballs on my charters landing 21 on them, all 35-60 lb fish, but my buddy (tip n ring) who some may remember from the old Parker message board did MUCH better,
he fought and landed this giant, a bit over 800 lbs !!!
 

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Oh my gawd ... that's a biggie!

Raider, I heard you out on the NWC corner last weekend in the radio chatter. I was on a Grady, so I didn't hail you ;) .
 
DaleH":t469slf8 said:
Oh my gawd ... that's a biggie!

Raider, I heard you out on the NWC corner last weekend in the radio chatter. I was on a Grady, so I didn't hail you ;) .


Dale,
Next time hail me and say hi !!!


ps,

I'm still having loggin in problems, can you help ???
 
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