Tony's Big Yellowfin Tuna

Solid Yellowfin Hurt

Tony and Lisa live in Auckland. However, Tony is a Cook Islander so they spend a lot of time there. Tony is a very keen angler and he catches lots of mahi mahi and juvenile YFT which are abundant in the waters surrounding the islands. Recently they decided to come and check out Samoa and of course Tony had to go fishing. He was yet to land a big yellowfin tuna, so that became our mission on the day we took them out. Lisa had never caught a fish and was a little apprehensive when I suggested that today was not going to be just about Tony and his YFT, but also about her getting to land her first fish. So we headed straight to our marks on the 2000m line, a few miles west of Apia. As we approached the first mark I could see a few birds (5) working in a tight circle. Excellent, the perfect setup for a yellowfin. Bang, the Tiagra 50W starts screaming as the Baby Dingo running on the long rigger is inhaled by a hefty fish. Tony takes the rod and after the tuna's initial run he settles in for the fight. He goes hard, but the fish is big and strong. The fight continues as Tony starts to realize that playing a big tuna is not easy. That Samoan ball of solid muscle on the end of the line is really going to test him. After 30mins Tony looked up to the fly bridge and exclaimed "this is starting to hurt" I advised him to take it easy, concentrate on his technique, conserve his energy and he will land the fish. Fifteen minutes later he had the fish boat side and Tautua sank the flying gaff. Then, once Olsen had added a second gaff, the big fish was hauled aboard as Tony gasped for breath. What a ripper of a fish mate. Congratulations, you got him! Now it was Lisa's turn, so as Tony recovered we went searching for her fish. So we hit the reef and found her a couple of beautiful Spanish mackerel. They too, were solid fish and she did well to land them. What a terrific afternoon. The smiles on Lisa's face says it all.

Yee ha! Before we got back to port Tony and Lisa had booked another charter. Gotta Love That! To be continued..