Nantucket Sleigh Ride

Man vs 157# Bluefin Tuna

article
http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091106/NEWS/911060327

youtube interview


in a 12' SInK

Cool story. Thanks.  Interesting that he had to fight the fish to death because it was too dangerous to try to kill something that big right next to his yak.

That interviewer is annoying at a Ned Flanders level. 

Cool story. Thanks.  Interesting that he had to fight the fish to death because it was too dangerous to try to kill something that big right next to his yak.

yeh, i'm thinking incidents like that are what give us a black eye as a community, when in reality we are far more apt to leader it and let it go

That interviewer is annoying at a Ned Flanders level.

How diddley so neighbor-roonie?    

Hummm. He's thinking the largest unassisted catch is 187#, but don't know more than that. His 157# tuna is pretty bit

But

How big was Zee's Puget Sound Dino Monster? 84" so around 175#??

Cool story. Thanks.  Interesting that he had to fight the fish to death because it was too dangerous to try to kill something that big right next to his yak.

yeh, i'm thinking incidents like that are what give us a black eye as a community, when in reality we are far more apt to leader it and let it go

Why does keeping a 157# tuna give the community a black eye?

  I never meant to infer nuthin' 'bout a black eye. Was just commenting that it was interesting, because if I ever hook something that big, now I know what I'll have to do.

Make a "bang-stick" first. Anybody ever think of carrying one? Or a .357 mag?

i was talking about fighting the fish to death just to land it. i gots no problems if someone does the right thing and either lets it go safely, or makes the decision to keep it and kills it quickly at boat side.

dragging the fight on just because your skills tackle or other equipment  are inadequate just doesn't seem  ethical.

I really hope he isn't serious about making sashimi with that thing when it's been dead for that long and not on ice. Maybe I'm just paranoid, but that things' body temp goes up during a fight like that. Then, after it's dead, he has to paddle 2 mi. back to shore, load it and his kayak stuff up, make his way to the shop and weigh it while b.s.'ing with the locals, take it home, and THEN cut it up! And imagine how long it would take him to cut that thing up and get it cold! that's a long time for raw meat to be sitting out! There's another thing to think about when you're pulling in a very large fish that you think you want to take home. Are you going to be able to get it processed into the freezer quick enough to not waste a lot of meat?
I guess just because he said sushi, doesn't necessarily mean sashimi, but I think I'll pass on the sushi from that guy!

I agree, fighting a fish that long will cause the quality of the fish to worsen due to stress. Not cooling the fish down quickly will also start spoilage sooner. The fisherman seemed to care more about breaking the record and personal recognition then being responsible for his catch. I don't think he was going to eat it.

http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSKUA04639320070710?feedType=RSS

SD

I never meant to infer nuthin' 'bout a black eye. Was just commenting that it was interesting, because if I ever hook something that big, now I know what I'll have to do.

Make a "bang-stick" first. Anybody ever think of carrying one? Or a .357 mag?

I'll not carry a firearm on a kayak.  Salt water will quickly destroy a handgun.  Shooting while maintaining control of rod, fish, and yak, seems fraught with peril.  Much easier/safer to bonk it.  Also to kill a fish you want a large caliber, not a powerful caliber.  Something like a short-barreled Taurus Judge with a 2" barrel loaded with .410 shotshells.  Although the frame of a firearm may be stainless steel the inner workings are common steel and probably would not last a year.  I suggest a bigger bonker or a bigger knife. 

A commercial bang-stick might be okay - single shotshell, long stick, light.  Seal the shotshells with nail polish around the primer and case head/hull join, and silicone seal for the business end.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taurus_Judge

I have seen bang sticks, and could probably make one. There's a very good gunsmith locally who could probably whip one up for me, too. But I don't really think I'll be tangling with a fish that big around here, unless I accidentally hookup with a shark.

There are some pretty "large" (up to 8 feet long and several hundred pounds) Seven Gill sharks lurking in the Twin Harbors, and I have heard how a few guys fish for them. They use grapefruit-sized chunks of dogfish or blue shark fished on the bottom in some "secret" locations in the Harbor. Those things are known to fry up salmon reels, burning up the bearings and smoking the drags. Those might be some formidable sled dogs, though! Wheeee!   I'd need larger, heavier gear before I went after them. Don't want to fry my mooching reel.
With the gear I've got, I hope to run into some big Lings, and hope to hook another large Chinook some day, but those can be dispatched with a club.

Might take a few good placed blows with a club to stun a really big fish, but just joking about the .357 and I wouldn't carry one on my yak. Would probably only need bullets for a huge halibut, and I don't fish for those (yet).
I don't even own any handguns right now, but I've been thinking of getting my CWP.  
All I have now is a Remmington 870 12 gage magnum pump, and an ancient .303 British bolt action, and I don't hunt anymore. Just keep 'em around for "home defense."  That Taurus that Demonic mentions has been highly recommended to me by a friend as a convenient carry for self defense against muggers and car-jackers. Didn't know they were that popular.

Yeah, now that I've thought about it some more, that guy did put that tuna through some extended anxiety and "discomfort" (word used by my former dentist to describe intense pain). But how else could he have gotten that fish in any quicker fishing from a kayak?

Hummm. He's thinking the largest unassisted catch is 187#, but don't know more than that. His 157# tuna is pretty bit

But

How big was Zee's Puget Sound Dino Monster? 84" so around 175#??

Howard's halibut went 183#.  Completely unassisted.

-Allen

i was talking about fighting the fish to death just to land it. i gots no problems if someone does the right thing and either lets it go safely, or makes the decision to keep it and kills it quickly at boat side.

dragging the fight on just because your skills tackle or other equipment  are inadequate just doesn't seem  ethical.

I wouldn't go there with this catch.  Plenty of 150+ pound tuna take people 3+ hours on a PB to land.

And I don't think that meat would have gone bad in the time frame we're talking about, unless it was sitting out in 80+ degree sunny weather, which I'm pretty sure is not the case in Provincetown in Nov.

-Allen