229 pound yellowfin caught yesterday out of Grand Isle LA

[captscott]

Been a great season ofr us..something like 60 wahoo caught in the first few trips..then the yellowfins showed up to keep the blackfin company..had an awesome fish come off the kite yesterday..229.25 pounds bled..6 1/2 ft long 48.5 inch girth..more reports on our homesite..www.paradise-outfitters.com..will post the details later.. Pictured is me (5'11" - 220#) on the wet dirty cockpit floor for scale..we both have a serious gut..TL 78" FORK 71" GIRTH 48.5"..229 1/4 pound with one side bled..

[captscott]

Dont take this the wrong way guys but some days are so frustrating it takes a few days to get over it..this day was no different in fact one of the most frustrating days ever and I cant remember working harder excet for days with breakdowns..still as I write this I have a hard time getting over the frustration I felt but it too will pass..but it is slowly sinking in as to what a significant fish this is..I have to admit that its very hard for us to separate the fun from the job some days, and even harder to put aside the self imposed pressures of producing impressive catches while considering that your charter has paid for a good time and isnt always as seasoned as you would like..tuna fishing is easy..tuna fighting isnt..with that said I try and remember that most people are paying for a good time or a vacation and yet I rememeber that some are here for a meat haul..and when frustration builds up in both cases, it sometimes takes all our strength to keep from blowing our cool..this was one of those testers..I will take a risk in upsetting the guys who came to fish but preface everting by quoting Darryl who said.."the stage was set when the guy who charered the boat's party bailed out on him a few days before the trip..I wasnt sure if we were going, whatthe weather would do..he had booked the trip months ago and under the circumstances was coming no matter what he was excited about what we were catching and I was excited about showing him the fish..still it takes time to communicate, but lately time is expensive for me when communications are no longer a right but a rare occurence on grand isle..fast access internet? cingular nationwide coverage? some nights I have 30 phone calls and 40 emails to answer and we as a team are up until midnight dealing with the ones that get through..not to mention weather calls, reschedules..making the right decison on weather and standing by the wrong decisions..guess many of you can relate..from my end I want to load the boat with lots of big fish for it and all my gear to perform and for the weather to be perfect..all I can do is show up on time and be prepared and have a boat that has been manintained..the rest is up to the Almighty God..I usually like to take a deckhand as it is more professional..and it makes my life easier..now I have a short crew looking for a deal and reluctantly I knock off 100$ in exchange for extra help with the all the two man jobs and fish/boat cleaining..otherwise I am double timing for less money..the guy who chartered the boat finds 2 guys off the internet who are going to put up part of the fair - he'll take the majority..thats all the talk about money use you imagination...we get off the dock at the normal hour heading out and since I am shorthanded I let the charter drive out - which I really dont like to do but what choice do I have when I need to run the line off the reel from the previous afternoons bungles and I alwys like to check for bad spots, loops and for the always hidden east to west crossovers..our course today given NE winds of 15 knots runs along a stiff beam sea for 40 miles but we somehow manage to be heading into it periodically..usually when I am sitting or standing in an awkward position..and one time I lost my cool when I had to go into the tower to retirieve a rod and knocked me knee on the way down..I put a second guy on compass watch to aid my first mate with the divergence, leaving a third to shadow me in the cockpit, it was funny at first..in fact I later told him he was like a dog on the wrong side of the door and we laughed about it..but here's the picture I saw before that..I always get the 20 questions (how far, deep, long etc....which is normal and I am happy to answer them..but after stepping on his toes twice and bumping into him everytime I turn around and moving him off my tackle station twice I politley ask him to sit down and clear out..(I am on my 4th day in a row of 4am to midnight and somehow I do it without losing my cool..still I can tell I am a little bitchy and I apologize)..we get to the lump and its rough..I set the hook by myself..I find that I have to move a little more quickly than usual running back and forth to controls and cockpit, but lets face it at 5'11" and 220 as of new years in need the exercise..not long after getting set up I give the short course in how to operate a reel in my version of Chunking 101..we stil manage a birdsnest here and there and ofcourse the run ins with running gear from failure to control wayward bonita... I find myself retying alot and stripping bad "new" line..(this is gauaranteed to happen the day after we change the topshot) I am running around retying hooks in atatempots to keep at least 2 rods in business..one by one all three anglers soon get the Venice flu..it starts on the port side and spreads aroud the cockpit in an epidemic that fully incapaciates two..one I dont see for several hours as he decides to go below..the two of them not staying in the cockpit with me have bad aim when it comes to vomiting..I give them some promethezone and they go down for the count..did I mention that a twice-sipped coke can never stays put in rough seas and certainly always seems to rest high above the console only to waterfall onto electronics, switch panels and gauges...this happens twice..at least it washes away some of the puke on the deck..OK..you get the idea..now to the stellar fishing..I got 4 kite baits from a friend on the way out as I knew I would need them since I would be shorthanded..that way I could be assured to keep on rod in business at all times with a bait fished off the kite..bonita were thick and relentless..what we got through them was picked off by snapper, jacks , grouper and triggerfish..all about 15 feet below the bonita sawrm..hell you couldnt even tell you were getting a bite once you got past the bonita..the line would reach a point and it just wouldnt go out anymore, early on I saw two blackfin in the chum, both we hooked,one we pulled the hook on and one we caught..my lone angler John Chapek would eventually own the distinctiuon of catching all the fish that day..with 3 beeliners and the blackfin by 1:30pm we finaly had a huge blowup on the kite bait, with the attacker hooked for 5 seconds but cutting through the leader ..guessing wahoo..king would have come up from the bottom and the leader was cut clean..after 5 hours of this..I moved..something I rarely do, but with 5 other boats 1/4 mile away into the fish I did it anyway..with very little help I picked up the anchor and got on the hook again..we had no signs of life in the chum once we settled into our new location..reluctantly I put out the kite bait..wasn't out 3 minutes when the first yellow smashed it..killing the bait, running with it and dropping it..no problem..I have 2 more baits..put out the 3rd livie..the second largest one..he's out 10 minutes..I see a 100 pound yellow roll on him and miss 3 more times, then he pulls it under and drop's it after a 20 second run..I feel the bait and reel it back to find its barley moving..all I have left is hardtailzilla..hell I have caught bigger amberjacks..put him out anyway by bridling him and breaking his tail..still he pops the release clip 3 times..in the begining the kite can barely keep him on the surface but thankfuly the wind was ripping by now and we had alreay adjusted the kite for 20 knots..John my angler, who I have gotten to know pretty well at this point loves the tenacity I was reassuring him that on good fish would save the day and this was our last shot..we put out a serious wadof chum atto start and in that 10 minutes we found we had about 10 pounds of chum left and 2 bonita..no signs of life except for a occasional disinterested bonita..then the explosion..nothing spectacular..just a mess of white water about the size of an innertube..looked to be about a 100 pound fish again no take..finally another swirl and the bait goes under..I let him eat and run for 20 seconds lock up and he's off too..I am now ready to throw the rod in the water..I step back before I check the bait because I am so hot I am ready to throw the rod overboard..and as I am walking away to make a wah frickety wah wah radio call..mr big hits..John grabs the rod and I got to get him a harness..the fish is into the backing by the time I start the engines and drop the anchorline fortunatey he's is haeding well behind the last of the boats near us..the other two vomiteers meet John in the cockpit as I make my way to the tower..we chase in reverse for 1/4 of a mile as fast as I can go under the conditions..rod is bent over nicely and this sucker is clear of the last boat running on top the whole way..I even wonder if we have a big wahoo..about 20 minutes later we get on top of the fish and settle in for the fight..once 100 yards of topshot is back on the reel, I hear popping sounds from the friction created by tighly paked line passing over loose loops of line..John was reeling so fast on the bakdown he forgot to level wind..not sure a pro could have kept a bend in the pole and done the same..its OK to let a little line get balled up bet when I can see the loops from the tower I make the decision to put the boat in gear and back the drag off to run the topshot back off the reel..it isnt what John wanted but we just cant afford to loose this fish so we play it safe..I call Darryl who is on my anchor and ask him to pray for a miracle..turns out to be a smart move to play it safe and if I had known what we were dealing with I might have not survived the loss..doesnt take very long to get the line back as the fish moves back to the surface allowing us to get to within 100 yards of the him..at this point I can see my angler - weakened from dehydration statring to falter..the rod is at half mast straight at the fish and he is straining even in the harness, but he doesnt give up..I usually tell people when you are resting that fish is resting, but John is whipped so I let him take 5 as the fish makes a few cirles..we are about to change anglers and I even give the 5 minute gaurantee to which John accepted but if I didnt have oil from my steering pump on the hardtop and under my boots I might have felt safe to climb down and fight the fish..John leans back and resumes..we hooked the fish about 2:20 and its shortly after 3pm..I get a decent look at the fish 5 minutes later that leads me to beleive he's about 130-150..anyway he runs off again for the last time and we now move to 20-25 pounds of drag which is just enough to roll him over 3 or 4 times..I am remebering that I have a 200 pound leader and 80 pounds of topshot and a j-hook so as long as we dont go slack on him I figure we'd have him beat..I get John to cheat with his fingers bending the rod more than its ever been tested and we get the fish to within 30 yards and on top..its rough and hard for John to stand...Still he closes in and the fish stays up along side planning with the boat which is moving downsea at 2-3 knots..fish comes to within 5 feet of the gaff and digs in again to what proved to be his last move away from the boat..I tell my angler to reel with everything and to keep the fishes head up, and with little arm strength he walks back to the center of the cockpit with the windon just inside the top guide..fish comes up astern of the boat with middle of the leader rubbing on the transom..I scream walk forward ..dont let the line touch the boat and as it does Hunter Ledbetter sinks the gaff into the fishes head..I run down with a second gaff and plant it in the other cheek and three of us barely squeeze this bugger through the door..I grabbed the eyes and remember thinking that they were as big as my fists..I got all four fingers in between the eyes and the socket and pull as hard as I can expecting the fish to flip out..it never even twitches...I almost keep one of the eyes as a memento, but since we think the fish might break 200..I dont do anything..I remember saying "thats the biggest tuna ever to hit the deck of this boat"...I quickly climb it into the tower to make the triumphant radio call and turn around to see Hunter with a knife behind the pec fin..NOOOOOO! Apparntly he thought I gave the OK to bleed it..fortunatley he hadnt made it deep to the handle but it still bled pretty good...the three of us took a bunch of pictures including the one of me laying next to it..once we got him in to the box a good bit of tail was sticking out..I packed as much ice on top of him and crammed anything with R-value into the voids..we placed a wet towel over the cooler lid and sped for the dock..I figued the fish to be at least 200 and we discussed either cleaining it or taking it to a scale..Myron Fisher was there to meet us at the dock weigh and verify the catch...I had to climb up with him to read the scale..and verified 229 1/4 pound..when the toad came down from above I remember the measurements being 77 and change on TL 71" on fork and 48.5 on girth..I am still waiting for group pictures from John..mine came out blurry..I still believe the Lump is mostly luck..and I will take beter lucky than good anyday.

[quack quack]

Great job capt. As I read your your story I kept haveing flashbacks. Both about crazy charters and the time I spent longlineing out of venice back in the mid 80,s. The nights at the derby were very educational to a 16 yr old. All those pool cues for two tables? :shock: Then one night I found out what they were for.I remember having to hose down the vomit from the rod so I could set the hook on a fish One day you will laugh about this trip untill your sides hurt. THanks for the memory jog capt.

[jerry]

Dying to find out what all the cues were for.

[quack quack]

Well Jerry lets just say when you hit on a coonass's girlfriend they swing first ask questions later. All the cues are 20oz at the lightest. But all in all the people down ther are some of the nicest most down to earth people you could have the pleasure to meet.

[jerry]

I had a feeling. I spent 5 years in New Orleans. Did a lot of fishing out of Venice. Never did fish the lump though. We mostly fished the rigs. Mars comes to memory. Great town, great state. Still have some really great friends up there.

[Islander]

CaptScott

Great report and an Awesome hail-mary catch I feel you pain brother!!!
I some times wonder why I stop chartering.................Oh NOW I remember :lol: You know, when you end your prayers with.......and please don't let me drown any one today.