# has anyone been spooled?



## huntmarlin (Jun 21, 2009)

Has anyone seen any video of a reel being dumped &#8230;. At least a 50 or bigger..????????? has anyone been dumped or spooled here in the gulf???????


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## High Hopes (Oct 10, 2007)

Only on a 4/0 senator.


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## Ernest (May 21, 2004)

I was semi-spooled in the Pacific. Meaning, with about 10 yards of line remaining, I cranked the drag as a last ditch attempt, and ended up breaking off. 

I was also spooled in the gulf, but that was a flipper simply running with my fish in his mouth. I was using snapper tackle, so clearly that was a mis-match. One really should use 80's as a minimum for flipper. If you don't control their head early in the fight, you are in for a long day.


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## Chase This! (Jul 20, 2007)

I had a buddy that had an 80W get spooled. Two of them i think. At the same time. Three rods went off, they got to one and the others got spooled before they could do much. Bowling Pin teasers got crushed, and ripped off the transom. The one they got to eventually broke off.


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## James Howell (May 21, 2004)

Here's the list-
TLD 15- 80+ lb wahoo while we are on anchor, never had a chance.
TLD 25- big yellowfin at boomvang that spooled us going STRAIGHT DOWN, had 600 yards of line, but he still had another 700 yards of water depth to work with
Penn 80W- a bluefin tuna the size of a volkswagen crashed the starboard rigger, by the time I got to the reel he had smoked it and burnt it up.
Trinidad 30- multiple times on wahoo and kings, but we were always able to turn and get on them most times.


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## myprozac (Feb 7, 2006)

We had an avet EX wide loaded with 65 braid out for chunking a few trips back right when the sun was going down on our boat at boomvang. Something hit it and never stopped. It went straight down realllly fast and we had the drag pretty much all the way. Once we saw the spool I told me buddy to hold on real tight and press that little button in on the side that stops the spool. Well this stopped the fish, and then it started swimming up and out. We gained a little line and then the line broke. Took my buddy 10 min. to reel all the line back and then we saw the leader! We still had 3.5 ft. of a 4 ft leader and there were a few little frieghts where it broke. STILL TO THIS DAY WE WONDER WHAT TYPE OF FISH THAT WAS.......


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## Danny T (Sep 19, 2008)

aaarg !!! There be monters out there !!!

We dumped an 80W once. Massive strike, never saw the fish. The fish stayed near the surface, we were in less than 300ft. By the time we got on her it was over.


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## REELING 65 (Aug 18, 2009)

Not yet here off the Texas coast.In Florida in the gulf like a freight train,4/0 with 50lb test.Just running out ,strait out westbound.To many times this has happened.
Though I am sure it will happen here-lol
It is known that there are some big big monsters out there. You just have to love it.:cheers:


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## myprozac (Feb 7, 2006)

Danny T said:


> aaarg !!! There be monters out there !!!
> 
> We dumped an 80W once. Massive strike, never saw the fish. The fish stayed near the surface, we were in less than 300ft. By the time we got on her it was over.


PLEASE tell me yal were anchored. If yal where backing down, thats just crazy....... flipper?


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## aggieangler09 (Apr 11, 2009)

I talked to a guy out of venice that hit a school of bluefin about 10 years ago and had 5 80wides spooled all at the same time and two bowling pin teasers ripped of the transom. Thats about the most insane thing i've ever heard of.

Grant


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## Chase This! (Jul 20, 2007)

aggieangler09 said:


> I talked to a guy out of venice that hit a school of bluefin about 10 years ago and had 5 80wides spooled all at the same time and two bowling pin teasers ripped of the transom. Thats about the most insane thing i've ever heard of.
> 
> Grant


LOL. Sounds like my post. Except my friend had that happen in Texas.

Brandon


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## rambunctious (May 30, 2004)

*spooled*

Had a 10-0 spooled off spi at the 100 fanthom curve in 70 or 71. Just like you hooked bittom. Just took off and never stopped,had three people holding rod and reel. Snap and gone. People back then said it was probably a big Blue Fin. Will never know.
Terry


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## huntmarlin (Jun 21, 2009)

my old man told be a story about 25 years ago about a blue fin that dumped a 130w and they thought about dunking it but it never ever slowed down. thought it was a fish story but seems somewhat common. what time of the year are these supposable blue fin here?????????????


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## rambunctious (May 30, 2004)

*Blue Fin*

I don't know, has anybody caught one off Texas coast?
Terry


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## Bill Fisher (Apr 12, 2006)

Chase This! said:


> I had a buddy that had an 80W get spooled. Two of them i think. At the same time. Three rods went off, they got to one and the others got spooled before they could do much. Bowling Pin teasers got crushed, and ripped off the transom. The one they got to eventually broke off.


similar story outta SPI but i don't remember any bowling pins being lost.......t'was a fast moving school o'giant bluefin

hard to do much of anything with that much chaos going on but when a single runner threaten's to spool sumpin', that's when you attach your biggest rig to it, hammer down the drag, and throw it overboard................(if ya can't chase it down)


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## kennyrobinson (Jun 28, 2004)

Guy next to me got spooled on the big E at boomvang a couple of years back. avet 2 speed reel with 300yards of braid with a mono backing that the knot didn't hold and it wouldn't have made any difference cause the tuna had him. i only hooked up one time and straightened out the weak *** hook on a topwater.


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## luna sea II (Jul 11, 2009)

huntmarlin said:


> my old man told be a story about 25 years ago about a blue fin that dumped a 130w and they thought about dunking it but it never ever slowed down. thought it was a fish story but seems somewhat common. what time of the year are these supposable blue fin here?????????????


 I don't know about over there but they are around the mouth of the river may-june.


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## Team Blister (Oct 13, 2009)

Had a Senator 6/0 get down to 25ish yards left before breaking off, Also had a spinning reel in a bay, get hit by something that didn't care that it was hooked and just kept running, never saw it, destroyed the reel.


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## [email protected] Sportfishing (Jun 10, 2005)

Bluefin are supposed to be here in April and May. I have heard stories of fish being caught but never seen a picture.

David


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## MilosMaster (Aug 18, 2005)

I'm pretty sure bluewatertx had a 50W dumped by a big marlin out at Colt 45 a few years ago. Maybe he will chime in with the story. 

I've had TLDs and Penn 309 size reels get totally spooled by large sharks nearshore, but nothing too exciting or out of the ordinary.


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## Bill Fisher (Apr 12, 2006)

Bill Fisher said:


> that's when you attach your biggest rig to it, hammer down the drag, and throw it overboard.....


or you can just do like i do...........

send guy harvey's arse out there to attach another line to it...


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## aggieangler09 (Apr 11, 2009)

I think the common denominator in this thread is BLUEFIN!!!! wow I would love to catch one



> what time of the year are these supposable blue fin here?????????????


Scientists tagging them have found that a huge stock of the fish migrate and breed in the north/central gulf of mexico in May/June and then turn around and head back to the east coast. It seem like every other year or so a monster is caught out of venice or somewhere near. in '07 an 837 was weighed in at the Biloxi Billfish tournament. Out of Texas I've read that they used to be pretty good around Keathley Canyon and Alaminos Canyon but the American and Mexican commercial guys did a good job of wiping them out.

Grant


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## Never easy (Mar 20, 2006)

MilosMaster said:


> I've had TLDs and Penn 309 size reels get totally spooled by large sharks nearshore, but nothing too exciting or out of the ordinary.


x2 but not nearshore

sucks to be under gunned when a big fish shows up. 
sucks evan worse when you think you have enough rod and reel and still get smoked. it is one of the most helpless, depressing, aggrivating, and exciting things to happen all at one time.


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## James Howell (May 21, 2004)

I believe we hooked ours in late may (I think it was 1991), we were on the hilltops trolling around a whale shark that had a school of blackfin around it. That sucker came greyhounding up the wake from about 200 yards back and went airborne and came down on the lure. Looked kinda similar to one of those nuclear subs when they do an emergency blow and surface. Pretty exciting stuff for a wet-behind-the-ears deckhand at the time.


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## Bill Fisher (Apr 12, 2006)

VENICE - It had been a grueling 35 hours for Mike and Paul Ippolito, of New Orleans. Aboard the 50-foot Hatteras, Miss Cathy, the veteran big game anglers, along with Pat Fitzmorris, of New Orleans, and Ron Roland of Plano, Tex, had been scouting the deep waters of the Gulf for monster tuna and blue marlin.
The journey had been a long one. The crew had piloted the boat from the mouth of the Mississippi River to the semi-submersible oil platforms, such as Mars and Ursa, and drill ships in 5,000-foot depths nearly 70 miles out. But from 4:30 a.m. Saturday to Sunday at 3:30 p.m., they had not brought the first fish to gaff.
But when a fish finally did crash their lure, the wait was worth it all. For the next 5-½ hours four men battled a 1,152-pound giant bluefin tuna in a story that is likely to go down in angling history. It was an epic battle between man and beast, involving a fish of monstrous proportions. The experience would have even impressed the late, great Ernest Hemingway, who reportedly spent several of his gin-soaked afternoons at the legendary Big Game Fishing Club in Port Eads, ironically where the fish was weighed later that evening.
Visions of Hemingway's classic The Old Man and the Sea come to mind when hearing the story, particularly the end. During the fight, the leviathan actually pulled an 86,000-pound boat 10 miles out into the Gulf, before it finally succumbed to exhaustion some 35 miles off the mouth of the Mississippi River. After it was determined that the fish would not fit through the transom door of the Hatteras, the crew tied its tail with a rope and slowly pulled the beast back to Port Eads.
Fortunately unlike the Hemingway novel, sharks were not a problem.
Because of its enormous size and stamina, the giant bluefin is one of the most rare species that has ever been caught off the Louisiana coast. The







tuna shattered the former record of 891 pounds caught by Darlene Fischer in 1981. Just how rare is this creature? Capt. Myron Fischer, who piloted the boat when his wife caught the former record 22 years ago, estimates that fewer than 25 bluefins have been caught on rod and reel in the history of Louisiana fishing.
Fischer, a veteran charter captain, is a voting member of the Gulf of Mexico Fisheries Council (GMFC) The council makes recommendations to the National Marine Fisheries Council which sets rules and regulations in the Gulf of Mexico.
Significantly more bluefin tuna are caught by rod and reel on the East Coast because frankly, they are easier to reel in from shallow water. A large fish that has sounded deep is very difficult to retrieve from the depths because of the added weight of billions of gallons of water it must pass through.
The Miss Cathy's catch set the new all-tackle state record, breaking the previous record - a 1,018-pound blue marlin caught by Linda Koerner of New Orleans in 1977. The current world-record, a 1,496-pound bluefin tuna, was caught in 1979 off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada.
This highly migratory species are known to travel thousands of miles, cross entire oceans to seek out suitable spawning habitat. And each year around Memorial Day, anglers tell tales of watching these silver submarines slowly move underneath their boats, while their jumps from the water are often compared to "flying Volkswagens."
If you've ever seen this phenomenon it's a sight you won't easily forget.
The Ippolito brothers, Fitzmorris and Roland were within an inch of calling it quits when they heard on the VHF radio that there was something going on at the rip. After logging many hours and miles on their trip, they were ready for something to happen. So they headed toward this perpetually moving weed line, drawn together by the Gulf's unpredictable loop currents. Smaller fish seek out the safety and sanctuary of the rip, while larger predators lay ready to violently ambush them.
"We were getting tired and frustrated" said Mike Ippolito, who began fishing off the coast of Venice more than 20 years with his mentor Clio Blue Sr. "I'm sitting in the chair watching baits - but thinking about going home and having a drink."
The Hatteras was now slowly clipping eastward along the well-defined grass line that had moved within 25 miles south of South Pass on Sunday. After a few more minutes, Ippolito told Fitzmorris he was ready to call it a day.
"I told Patrick '15 more minutes,'" Ippolito said. "At four-o-clock we going to leave - no `matter what."
But no one expected what was about to happen. First came a significant disturbance about 300 yards in front of the Hatteras.
A massive surface explosion sent hundreds of chicken dolphin, or small mahi mahi, literally flying into the air. It didn't take a genius to figure out that a huge predator was crashing these schools of smaller fish on the khaki-colored weed line. Then came a series of other splashes, scattering forage fish in every direction imaginable.
Suddenly the mood aboard the Miss Cathy was different. The afternoon had become much more interesting.
"Get the teasers up," Ippolito bellowed, as he increased the speed of the Hatteras from six to 22 knots. "Leave the lures, but get the teasers up now."
As the Miss Cathy sped toward the area of disturbance, pandemonium had broken out on board. Ippolito knew had what probably caused the commotion ahead - a giant bluefin tuna. He had seen this kind of activity before. And he knew how valuable this species is. As one of the most desirable fish in the world, the bluefin tuna fetches big bucks on the commercial market. Foreign brokers regularly fly to a port to test the grade of the meat, and make a bid on the fish.
Professional tuna captain and sashimi fanatic Peace Marvel recalls one time in the early 1990s, when a 445-pound bluefin was auctioned off in Japan for $175,000. Imagine what a properly handled 1,152-pound bluefin may have brought under the right circumstances.
To this team the goal was not money but the thrill and challenge of fighting and landing one of the most powerful fish in the Gulf of Mexico.

Sportfishermen are not allowed to sell their catch. This chase was purely for the thrill and the glory!
The giant bluefin is a highly migratory species that seeks out the prime spawning environs of the warm waters of the mid-Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico. Biologists say bluefin are seen frequently in Gulf waters between December and March. But veteran offshore captains in south Louisiana say these monsters have been making surprise appearances around the Memorial Day weekend.
When the Miss Cathy approached the area the crew saw evidence of not one, but several big fish. Like 12-foot silver surface missiles, they locked onto their targets and blew up thick schools of dolphin and flying fish. They were on a mission and everything in their paths was marked meat.
"I really couldn't put a number on all of them," Mike Ippolito said. "I do know that it was more than one."
Paul Ippolito and Fitzmorris began placing baits over the stern of the boat. They used some of their sturdiest and most expensive rigs, Shimano Tiagra 80-W reels seated on Stuart custom rods. Each of the reels were spooled with 900 yards of 100-pound Suffix mono, and tipped with 18 feet of 400-pound leader. The baits were Joe Yee (pink) skirted lure and a Cajun Yap (with a yellow bird teaser). Double 10/0 Mustad hooks with wire were placed under the skirts.
Particularly with bluefin tuna, hooks are critical. The crew uses double-hook rigs, Mustad 7731-D (Sea Demon series - Go to: http://www.mustad.no/latinamerica/omsla_catalogue/commercial/comerciales9b.htm ).
The hooks, a typical tandem billfish rig are placed at 180 degrees, or at different anglers so the prey will become hooked at the top and bottom of their jaws.
As soon as the baits were set back, the crew watched in awe as one of these roaming leviathans wasted no time pouncing on the starboard flat line attached to Cajun Yap. Then came the sweet sound of a screaming gold Tiagra.

*For scale, Paul Ippolito, standing on the right, is over 6 feet tall.*

_*Click this image for a larger view*_​
"All of a sudden water is flying everywhere and I'm screaming 'it's a monster bluefin - clear the cockpit," Ippolito said.
Fitzmorris described the scene aboard the boat as frantic. The fish continued to dump the spool at an alarming pace - even with Ippolito backing down on the fish at 5 knots. There seemed to be no stopping this fish. Roland sat helplessly in the chair and prayed that the beast would slow down.
"It happened so fast. Before we could even get a full spread back out the fish hit," Fitzmorris said. "The tuna hit hard and just kept on going."

Roland, who had just returned to Texas to nurse sore muscles and blistered hands, recounted the first few minutes of the run he'll never forget.
"We had five other lines in the water when the fish was running," Roland said. "There was no time to get all of them in. So they had to start cutting the lines."
Others said it would have been no problem getting a second or a third bluefin to strike. But that would have probably resulted in a tangle and losing one or both of the fish.
Roland took his seat in the chair and the fight began. The crew described the first run as unlike anything they had ever seen or imagined. The big blue ran hard, stripping an estimated 700 yards of line off Tiagra in about three minutes.
"At that point we were just trying to figure out how to stop the fish before he took out all the line," said Fitzmorris. "But Mike did a great job at the helm. I think he should be nominated as Captain of the Year."
Ippolito had rushed back on the bridge and threw the Hatteras into reverse. He instructed Roland to reel back in as much line as he could. Forty-five minutes into the battle and he probably got back half of the line that had been initially taken. But he had no idea that the heat of the battle was still hours away. He briefly entertained thoughts of a brief fight when the leader became visible at the end of the first hour. But the others knew better - they didn't even consider getting the gaff.
"The fish was green," said Ippolito. "There was no way I was going to gaff him. I don't think he knew he was hooked at that point."
"When the fish saw the boat, he took off," said Fitzmorris, nephew of former Louisiana Gov. Jimmy Fitzmorris. "We were backing down on the fish the whole time."
Roland, meanwhile, was furiously cranking as the crew worked non-stop, clearing rods and the deck, watching the movement of the fish, and checking the extremely critical angle of the line."
*The crew of the Miss Cathy set the state abuzz with the news of her record catch.*
_*Click this image for a larger view.*_
They knew that regardless of their fine vessel and tackle, the giant bluefin always has the edge. This is why so few have ever been caught in Louisiana on rod and reel.
The team worked feverishly on the deck. While not pouring Gatorade in Roland's mouth, they would grease up the "slider bucket," with liquid detergent. On this style of fighting chair, the angler uses his legs to pump their legs and torso (and the rod) back and forth. While this is happening, the angler cranks the handle of the reel.
Occasionally the non-stop movement of the spool and line roller builds up considerable friction. The crew would then douse the rod and reel with water to keep it from smoking and locking up.
The crew came together and worked feverishly as a team. They knew that one mistake and it would all be over. As the pandemonium continued, there was more bluefin madness reported a few miles west of them on the rip.
Nary Cannon and Barry Viosca on the 33-foot Gulf Stream Not Too Much were cruising along the rip and watching and the thousands of colorful chicken dolphin, darting in and out of the line of Sargasso weeds. The visibility of the pristine blue water must have been at least 15 feet down and the view was spectacular.
But Cannon's eyes lit up and he shouted a string of choice words as he watched possibly a dozen silver submarines passed directly under their boat. The fins, the heads and the baseball-sized eyes were a dead giveaway - these were monster bluefins.
"I called Barry over to see, and they were big bluefins," Cannon said. "They were like stacked up, each was probably 10 to 12 feet long."
Unfortunately, Viosca's boat was not equipped with a fighting chair or rods and reels capable of reeling in a half-ton fish. But there was a boat approaching them on the rip, the White Marlin that probably did.
"I got on the radio and told them what we were seeing," said Cannon. "They moved into position, dropped their baits, and had an immediate hookup."
Cannon and Viosca watched the crew of the White Marlin battle the blue for a couple of hours before decided to target some smaller species. And while they didn't catch many fish, he described it as the best fishing trip of his life.
"I was so excited to be a part of it," he said. "It was the best."
They watched the crew come together as a team and battle. And there were jubilation on the radio - big bluefin on - BIG BLUEFIN ON."
Now there were two boats, the Miss Cathy and the White Marlin fighting fish.
By 6 p.m. Roland had retrieved the fish once again to the leader. But it saw the boat and made a move that everyone feared. It sounded, going straight down in the 1,000-foot depths.
_The planing technique_
About four hours into the fight and Roland's muscles ached, his fingers were blistered, and his arms began to cramp up. When the word made it up to the helm, Mike came down to the cockpit to give Roland some words of encouragement.
"You've gotta understand, Mike's a big guy," Roland said. "By this time my knees and elbows had locked and I guess I started complaining and *****ing. The reel is in full lock, so there's no more drag."
And the big tuna continued to swim straight down.
"If we don't stop this fish now we're going to be here all night," said Mike Ippolito. "You're going to fight this fish now, or I'm going to cut the line."
As Roland pumped, retrieved and cranked, a call came over the radio at 7 p.m. that the crew of the White Marlin had lost their bluefin. And the four men on the Miss Cathy had no intention of losing a fish they had invested 40 hours into.
If a 1,000-pound fish sounds to a depth of 700 feet, the weight of the fish and the millions of gallons of water above it creates an almost impossible situation for the angler. This becomes an even stickier situation if the fish overheats and dies below.
Fisheries biologist, Jerald Horst said that these giant muscle machines can reach internal temperatures of 150 degrees Fahrenheit in the heat of battle.
However, if the captain of the boat knows how to "plane" the fish up, an angler's chances improve dramatically.
"Roland described to me that there was a slight tapping on the rod," Ippolito said. "I knew the fish was getting ready to die of exhaustion. I told him to hang in there for just a little while and we'd get this fish to surface."
By 8:30 it became dark and it was even harder for the anglers to determine the direction of the line. Even dead, the fish was taking off line as it sank into the mighty currents below. Meanwhile, Ippolito bumped the throttle in and out of gear to get the fish to assume a position where it could be slowly glided up.
"(Mike) would bump it into gear, then back into reverse," Roland said. "Every time I'd get about three cranks. We must have done this hundreds of times."
Veteran offshore Capt. Mike Frenette has hooked nine bluefins in his career, but has never landed one. He said landing the 1,152-pound bluefin tuna was nothing short of remarkable.
"Planing is a common technique used in big game fishing," Frenette said. "It happens. Some fish exhaust themselves and go down to the thermocline to cool off. The currents move them around and it feels like their still alive."
Retrieving a big fish from these depths straight up can take hours. But planing can save time as well as heavy pressure on the line.
"You put the boat in forward slowly and bump the throttle, slowly bringing the boat in and out of gear," Frenette explained. Slowly go forward and the fish will begin to rise up in the water column."
Capt. Peace Marvel said this planing technique is often the difference in boating a big tuna or marlin, or breaking one off.
"It's not unusual for a fish of that size to fight till the death," Marvel said. "And there's no way to get it up without planing."
Bluefin tuna have the ability to dive extremely deep, Marvel said. They have been recorded to going down beyond 3,200 depths.
"You've got to give it to those guys," Marvel said. "The fact that they landed that fish is remarkable."
"I've never landed one," said Frenette. "Haven't even come close. Everything has to go right. And there's quite a bit of luck involved. Big game fishing is an ultimate display of teamwork. All the efforts of everyone on board have to be perfectly coordinated."
Capt. Myron Fischer has no regrets to see his wife's 22-year record beaten.
"I think it's phenomenal," Fisher said. "I can't believe the record stood for as long as it did.
Darlene Fischer set her record exactly 22 years ago - on Memorial Day weekend.
_The journey home_
It was dark when the fish finally broke the surface of the water. The crew stood in awe, amazed at the size of this tuna. It was 130- ½ inches long, and 118 inches long from the fork. The bluefin had a 98-inch girth.
The crew of the Miss Cathy attempted many different methods of trying to get the fish into the 50-foot boat. Ippolito even called his old friend and mentor Cleo Blue for his assistance. Blue told him to pull the fish in by a rope while running the boat in reverse. However, Blue had no idea how big the fish was. It soon became obvious that this tuna was not going to make it through the transom door.
At that point the crew tied a rope to the tail and began to drag it back to Port Eads, a 7-hour journey.
When they arrived at the Big Game Fish Club at 5 a.m. they were greeted by about 10 men (armed with ice chests and filet knives). The men helped them hoist the beast onto the scale.
Even Ippolito was surprised when the weigh master gave the news.
"I'm going to call it at 1,125 pounds," he said.
"****," said Mike. "I figured it would have gone about 800 pounds. You never really know."
After a celebratory cocktail they had waited almost three days for, the butchering ritual began. It took nine people nearly three hours to clean the new state record bluefintuna. And nothing, NOTHING about this fish, Ippolito said, came easy.
_Nothing good ever does!_


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## Chase This! (Jul 20, 2007)

aggieangler09 said:


> I think the common denominator in this thread is BLUEFIN!!!! wow I would love to catch one
> 
> Scientists tagging them have found that a huge stock of the fish migrate and breed in the north/central gulf of mexico in May/June and then turn around and head back to the east coast. It seem like every other year or so a monster is caught out of venice or somewhere near. in '07 an 837 was weighed in at the Biloxi Billfish tournament. Out of Texas I've read that they used to be pretty good around Keathley Canyon and Alaminos Canyon but the American and Mexican commercial guys did a good job of wiping them out.
> 
> Grant


We have two Tiagra 130s that will be in use during that time. Just in case. 

Brandon


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## Chase This! (Jul 20, 2007)

Watch the end of this. HILARIOUS!!!!


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## nelson6500 (Jun 8, 2007)

Chase This! said:


> Watch the end of this. HILARIOUS!!!!


LMAO that was great


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## huntmarlin (Jun 21, 2009)

love the end that look on his face priceless


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## RGV AG (Aug 15, 2005)

Has two 130's basically spooled and an 80 just get vapor locked just north and east of Camels Head in early May in 1990. Later that day, and the shock still had not worn off, did get to see what looked like volkswagens doing ballet about a half mile from where we trolling. Had to be bluefin or maybe a wayward sub. 

That was the only trip I have ever taken where I came back to the dock thinking "we got our *** kicked big time".


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## tunaCRAZY (Apr 29, 2009)

had a 30w filled up with 130 jerry brown spooled at ursa in june..it hit a blue an white illander an never slowed down..


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## Shredded Evidence (Jun 25, 2007)

Ernest said:


> I was also spooled in the gulf, but that was a flipper simply running with my fish in his mouth. I was using snapper tackle, so clearly that was a mis-match. One really should use 80's as a minimum for flipper. If you don't control their head early in the fight, you are in for a long day.


LMFAO!!!!!:an4:


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## DFoley (Sep 11, 2007)

I got spooled in the gulf. Ten 80Ws werent big enough for the cracken.


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## ol' salt (Jun 11, 2006)

Saw two old men fishing alongside 61st St. Pier many years ago. They were seriously into trout on second bar. I went into the water at least 300 yards south of them and went to second bar. As you know they will, the fish worked their way down to me. I had stayed away from the old men, but as I was turning with about my fifth trout, one of them was about 3 feet from me demanding to know what I was throwing. I showed him an orange/silver Shifty Shiner. He had a Rattle Trap on his hat and just started fishing right where I was standning.

His first cast produced a smashing strike. He thought he was into a big trout, I knew he was into a big jack.

The jack never slowed and broke him off at the spool of his reel.

Now that was justice.


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## Trey_cde (Jan 20, 2010)

DFoley said:


> I got spooled in the gulf. Ten 80Ws werent big enough for the cracken.


Hey come to the dock after work we are playing wii and drinking cervesas

Haha remember when we were king fishing late one evening and sonthing spoiled your gold fin nor 20 and never stopped and got a look. Always wondered about that being so close to the jetties.


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## wampuscat (Jun 30, 2009)

yes


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## trout250 (Aug 24, 2005)

i had a estimated 6ft wahoo spool a 50 penn international II out about 50 miles


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## awesum (May 31, 2006)

The Texas Record Bluefin Tuna is listed as 808 lbs. caught *May 4, 1985.*


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## Bill Fisher (Apr 12, 2006)

trout250 said:


> i had a estimated 6ft wahoo spool a 50 penn international II out about 50 miles


dang...... that's sad

did ya use too heavy o'line that kept ya from having enough yardage on it???.......... or was the drag busted


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## Never easy (Mar 20, 2006)

Bill Fisher said:


> dang...... that's sad
> 
> did ya use too heavy o'line that kept ya from having enough yardage on it???.......... or was the drag busted


x2 i watched my dad catch a 63 lb wahoo that was about 6ft long on a abu garcia 7000. it got pretty hairy for a while and it took a good bit of boat manuvering and some chasing but we got him. had to go back and get the rig hook later cause i started the motors, just untied us and left the hook hanging there.

bet your hoo was bigger than 6ft to do that to a 50!!!!


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## Chase This! (Jul 20, 2007)

LMAO. A 6 ft wahoo, ie. 72 inches is a 120 pound class wahoo. 

6ft is NOT a 50 pound fish.

Brandon


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## Bill Fisher (Apr 12, 2006)

Never easy said:


> i watched my dad catch a 63 lb wahoo that was about 6ft long


that musta been one anorexic sumbich!...........

caught a sail like that once............ well over 7' and prolly weighed 35lbs

you coulda read the newspaper thru'im


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## aggieangler09 (Apr 11, 2009)

LOL This is why I love fish stories

Grant


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## Never easy (Mar 20, 2006)

Chase This! said:


> LMAO. A 6 ft wahoo, ie. 72 inches is a 120 pound class wahoo.
> 
> 6ft is NOT a 50 pound fish.
> 
> Brandon


63lb fish and i will try to post the pic shortly.


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## Never easy (Mar 20, 2006)

ok here is the fish. may have a video also but i have to figure out how to transfer from the old vhs tapes. sorry about the pic quality they are scans from originals. he is about 6'3" and 240 for a size comparison. and yes he still dresses like that but hey thats dad. fish was caught in 92 i think, he also had another that was around 60 about a year later.


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## luna sea II (Jul 11, 2009)

looks more like 73.


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## Never easy (Mar 20, 2006)

may have been bigger, weighed it at the brite-light bait shop in san luis pass. bet their scales could have been off. my family owns a house there in Treasure island. i thought that little reel was going to explode!!! here is another pic.


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## fishtruck (Aug 9, 2004)

Note to self: Fish more during May!!!!


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## wildbill (Aug 11, 2005)

I had an 80W dumped one day, and we hadn't even started fishing yet. We were busy rigging the rods and getting ready to fish when it all of a sudden it sounded like someone shot at us. Apparently, someone put the rod in the rod holder on freespool. The swivel worked itself down and hit the water without anyone noticing. Then a few minutes later when it got to the end of the spool and popped the knot we thought we were under attack....:headknock


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## pipelayer2 (Jun 5, 2006)

When I was a kid and before we caught our 803lb out of Venice ('84) which dang near spooled an 80W, Buzz Frichter told of a double strike of bluefin on 130's. While they were trying to clear lines, the fish ran then crossed heading in totally opposite directions. The line on the right crossed over the rod on the left cutting off the fish and the tip of the rod. That fish then spooled the 130 in just a couple minutes. He said they never had a chance on it. They do look like flying volkswagons.


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## Never easy (Mar 20, 2006)

Chase This! said:


> LMAO. A 6 ft wahoo, ie. 72 inches is a 120 pound class wahoo.
> 
> 6ft is NOT a 50 pound fish.
> 
> Brandon


Here is one the same weight. kinda looks like the same length as the one i posted.

http://2coolfishing.com/ttmbforum/showthread.php?t=221811&highlight=WAHOO


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## capt mullet (Nov 15, 2008)

Wow I cant compare since I am an inshore guy but here goes. Last here I had a customer hook a 20 lb crevalle and it spooled us before I could get the boat started and chase him. This was on trout gear of course but my other spooling is while I was tarpon fishing at the sunshine skyway bridge in Tampa. I had a vanstall 250 loaded with 80 pound braid and a really really big dolphin picked up my bait and never stopped. I cranked down the drag hard but it never phased him. He did break off on a pylon after about a solid 5 minute run but there was no stopping him whatsoever. I was completely amazed at the strength because I thought a tarpon was strong.


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## Chase This! (Jul 20, 2007)

Never easy said:


> Here is one the same weight. kinda looks like the same length as the one i posted.
> 
> http://2coolfishing.com/ttmbforum/showthread.php?t=221811&highlight=WAHOO


I don't care what pics you post. Pics can be deceiving. You are not getting it. Here are FACTS based on actual measurements and weights

1st Place WWI fish weighed in this past weekend was *67 inches* and *87 pounds*.
1st Place Hall of Fame was *68.5 inches*s and weighed *94.5 pounds*.

72 inches would be at least 120 pounds. The END.

Brandon

Ps. Since you need pics, here is the 94.5#. And that's me. The pretty one on the left.


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## Snap Draggin (Nov 11, 2007)

Bill Fisher said:


> dang...... that's sad
> 
> did ya use too heavy o'line that kept ya from having enough yardage on it???.......... or was the drag busted


Nope, it's because he was using a Penn. He shoulda used an Avet. :tongue:


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## Bill Fisher (Apr 12, 2006)

Snap Draggin said:


> He shoulda used an Avet.


but then'e'dda been picking shrapnel outta'is face after it blew up! :biggrin:


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## Razzorduck (Oct 14, 2005)

Pier fishing in PC Fla when I was about 10 yro. Catcking small jacks spotted 3 Bonitas coming down the beach. Pitched a jack and of course the biggest hit and headed for Cuba. Little Michell 300 was spooled in about 5 seconds
2 years ago fishing in Orange Beach Ala. Trolling live bait out of my kayak offshore and jumped a huge tarpon. 2 jumps and kicking my King rig's arse finally tightend down with about 4 wraps left just to save the line


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## Bird (May 10, 2005)

Not in the GOM but we hooked a nice blue marlin in La Guaira, Venezuela around 250 to 300lbs on a International 30. The fish hit the left long so he had a little head start but man was he ******. He took me down to the last full row of wraps before he stopped. Wound him up, removed hook, revived and released. The fish swam away, I crashed on the settee with a few icey cold Polars.


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## REELING 65 (Aug 18, 2009)

*Bustin out!*

Oh yeah, The sunshine skyway.I used to go out there in a twelve ft sears john boat and get lots of mangroves,sharks,groupers etc.Big-ens roll through there all the time.Monster Tarpon,Also in my Lowe Line Flats boat.I have been out there in all kind's of boats.I have had some incredible run's.Red Snapper from time to time.Monster Snook will run jump and bust it out.The tarpon have cleaned me once or twice-lol.Yes you can eat Jack crevalle.Tastes like Pompano if you bleed them well. Soak in fresh water with a slice of lemon.You have to soak them for about 30 minutes.Then rinse again with fresh water.I dont know how good they are over here though.I know in Florida Mullet is big business.Mullet spread, or fish spread as it is called over there.Those Jack's are strong and will give you one hell of a fight.Though I never had one spool me.


capt mullet said:


> Wow I cant compare since I am an inshore guy but here goes. Last here I had a customer hook a 20 lb crevalle and it spooled us before I could get the boat started and chase him. This was on trout gear of course but my other spooling is while I was tarpon fishing at the sunshine skyway bridge in Tampa. I had a vanstall 250 loaded with 80 pound braid and a really really big dolphin picked up my bait and never stopped. I cranked down the drag hard but it never phased him. He did break off on a pylon after about a solid 5 minute run but there was no stopping him whatsoever. I was completely amazed at the strength because I thought a tarpon was strong.


You cant eat the mullet here though,to nasty.I hope the crevalle's are not.Texas you can keep Bull Red's -
:texasflag


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## REELING 65 (Aug 18, 2009)

Nice whoo!


Chase This! said:


> I don't care what pics you post. Pics can be deceiving. You are not getting it. Here are FACTS based on actual measurements and weights
> 
> 1st Place WWI fish weighed in this past weekend was *67 inches* and *87 pounds*.
> 1st Place Hall of Fame was *68.5 inches*s and weighed *94.5 pounds*.
> ...


That's what Texas is all about-:texasflag


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## redseeker (Aug 21, 2005)

http://extremecoast.com/multimedia/multimedia.php

Click on: 
PINS Large Shark 
Spooling an Avet 50W

not sure how to post the video directly, but .... cant think of a better video that explains why we keep looking for the big one.


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## Chase This! (Jul 20, 2007)

redseeker said:


> http://extremecoast.com/multimedia/multimedia.php
> 
> Click on:
> PINS Large Shark
> ...


DAYYYYUUUM. That is sweet. My brother and I almost got spooled on a 50W during a shark tournament a couple summers ago. We were able to chase it down. We got her boat side briefly and estimated 900-1000# Tiger. BIG fish. Lost her 7 hours later. Broke the 150# top shot. It was INSANE. Total fight time was 9 hours. And two completely exhausted fishermen, emotionally and physically.

Brandon


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## El Capitan de No Fish (Sep 20, 2007)

Chase This! said:


> I had a buddy that had an 80W get spooled. Two of them i think. At the same time. Three rods went off, they got to one and the others got spooled before they could do much. Bowling Pin teasers got crushed, and ripped off the transom. The one they got to eventually broke off.


Submarine?


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## aggieangler09 (Apr 11, 2009)

bluefin


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## aggiemulletboy (May 31, 2006)

REELING 65 said:


> You cant eat the mullet here though,to nasty.I hope the crevalle's are not.Texas you can keep Bull Red's -
> :texasflag


I disagree. I've kept left over mullet from shark fishing and ate them. Extremely good, and these were from a murky cove in west bay. Just put a little salt and pepper on them and sauteed in butter. It's all a myth.

As for getting spooled, we had big sharks run all the braid off our reels back when we liked fishing from the third bar after swimming our baits out. We got dragged and then spooled a few times during the years when the cownose rays come inshore en masse.

Not really a suprise but got my curado spooled by a big cobia til I cranked down the drag with little line left and broke off when I was yakking and found a whale shark last summer. Had some of the biggest ling I've ever seen with him, and of course left my big guns at the truck.


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## lurepopper (Apr 25, 2007)

4lb test got spooled by a bull piggy perch!


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## jcturnerjr (Feb 20, 2006)

Back in the early 80s I was fishing for shark near 7 Mile Bridge in the Florda Keys. Was using a Penn 50W with 80lb line and 800lb leader set at about 3/4 drag. Something hit on a slow run just as I was dropping my bait down. If my Dad hadn't grabbed me I would have gone for a swim. After about half the line was gone I went to full drag (my 280lb Dad holding my belt the whole time since I was clipped onto the reel). It took probably 3 minutes to spool me but I never slowed it down. It was a slow steady pull the entire time. I honestly don't think the fish knew it was hooked. I had previously caught lots of sharks in the 300-400lb range so couldn't imagine what this one had to be. Until his dying days, me and my dad laughed about the submarine I hooked ;-)

I was also on the spring Big E trip a few years ago when the guy got spooled at Boomvang. Dumped several hundred yards of line in just a few seconds.


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## yakfisher (Jul 23, 2005)

Was on a 40 hour trip with DD in my teen years, tied up to a platform in the wee morning hours, had my 114HW Penn dumped of 80# in what seemed like a minute. Live piggie was eaten about 50 feet down, what ever it was headed due east and didnt even slow down at the end of the spool. Not sure what that reel could put out drag wise, but it was buttoned down pretty firm for AJ on structure..also burned my thumb nicely in a last ditch effort to turn the fish


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## stryper (Nov 10, 2008)

It happens out here often enough most boats carry back up rigs with floats attached. I have personally seen 4 thrown out only to have the fish die. Tried like heck to pull a dead 300# YF but it was not to be


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## Digitalone (Jul 7, 2009)

After a party down the creek last January 1, 2009 I came home well after midnight and grabbed my kids pole and tossed a plug into the lights off the dock on Caney Creek... I got spooled.... so I grabbed my other kids pole and tightened up the drag and got broke off on the second cast... Ok lest find out what's under there... so I stumbled back to the shed to get my off shore spinning rod with 25lb p-line and rigged up another plug... next cast 30" spec...


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## troutomatic1488 (Jun 18, 2006)

I got spooled with a 6/0 with 80# braid I had the drag a little to tight when the fish hit and bent the rod over I could not get it out of the rod holder. If I had video of my buddy and I pullin and yanking on that rod I could sale it.


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## broadonrod (Feb 26, 2010)

huntmarlin said:


> Has anyone seen any video of a reel being dumped &#8230;. At least a 50 or bigger..????????? has anyone been dumped or spooled here in the gulf???????


 



#


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## haparks (Apr 12, 2006)

i was fishin off crystal beach rig and had somfin reel big im thinkin shark or ray was fishin with 3 lb whole fish it did no even know it was hooked never stopped never changed cadence


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