Tom must be having some technical difficulties so I'll jump in.
This was the most intense fight I've ever seen! I've only been out on the ocean a handful of times and the last time was probably 15 years ago.
Tom is sweating like crazy, I'm trying my best do everything he's telling me to, getting gear ready, steer the boat, more throttle, less throttle, not fall overboard with the swells pitching us around like crazy!
Every time we gained some line this fish took it all back. A couple of times we thought we saw it, a flash of blue here and there. Tom's explaining what I need to do when we get it to the boat and how/where to gaff it (I've never gaffed a fish!). All I can think about is how bad I'm going to feel if I screw up and we loose it.
Then I start thinking about what we're going to do with a 200+ lb. bluefin when we get it gaffed?? How will we get it in this little boat??
Finally it seems to be tiring out and slowly Tom is able to put more line back on the reel. Little by little we get it closer and finally see the trophy!!
A dolphin! No, not a dorado, but a dolphin, like Flipper! A huge full grown adult!
Visions of fame and pictures in the paper after landing a trophy bluefin on a two man boat are dashed and we're left contemplating how the heck we're going to get this thing unhooked
After trying for a bit longer to get it closer, it was clear that the only way was to cut the line as close to it as possible.
Once it was gone, we just drifted a bit so Tom could recover and we could decide what to do next.
We decided to keep tolling and see if we could find the reel thing but the weather was tough and no one out there was having any luck. We did get to see the Mako and a big mola which was really cool! Stopped on the way in for some rockfish and I beat the skunk with a Johnny bass.
Even though the dolphin was a bit of a disappointment, it was a really cool experience to see Tom fight the fish and learn how to control the boat.
I had a blast and can't wait for my next time out!
Thanks again Tom!!!
