Mid July had a great live bait bite only 15 minutes from the harbor. Baits were easy to catch at V V buoy and we would wander into the deep with live skipjack. We starting seeing the Ahi on the sounder and they would bite every other time. On the 16th of July Terry Fohey hooked into an Ahi of massive size. Tracy got the leader in 5 minutes and the tuna took off for a second run. Terry put the drag up and had it to the boat in another 2 minutes. The tuna circled 6 times on the leader and gave me a great chance to get pictures of it. We also had Dingo on the boat to gaff so I was able to shoot away. The series of circles ended with a catch in less than 10 minutes. It is the biggest tuna the boat has caught and ended up the biggest of the year for 2008. They are rare these days in this this size range and to find one right in front of the harbor in the calm summer weather was an event of a life time. For Terry it became his personal best, beating the tuna he and Hutton his daughter had caught in 2000 that was 212 and the biggest of that year.
(Originally posted on July 16, 2008)