Rick's Big Catch
by John Travers aka Crabby
 

We had often talked about making the trip to Morehead City, North Carolina, in search of the Giant Blue Fin Tuna, but never could we have imagined the sort of adventure we found ourselves encountering on the morning of December 9, 2004. After keeping up with the prospects of the reopening of the Blue Fin Tuna season, Rick Thompson, Bud Wildman and I were glad to learn that Wednesday December 8, had been designated as the date for the reopening for the general and angling categories. It looked like our best opportunity for optimal weather would be Thursday the 9th, so we gathered our equipment, hooked up the boat, and headed south.

Arriving in Atlantic Beach, North Carolina, at 6:30 Wednesday evening, we first checked in at the Day's End and then rounded up some horse ballyhoo from the local tackle shops. Waking at 4:30 am the next morning, we knew that the trip out to the fishing grounds would be in the dark. After putting the boat in the water at Anchorage Marina at about 5:30 am, we left the dock. Upon leaving the inlet at Beaufort, we encountered what appeared to be a city of lights from the fishing boats ahead of us. We ran about ten miles out and noticed that boats were beginning to fish. Still in the dark, we turned on our interior lights and began rigging our rods to troll our ballyhoo. The seas were flat calm and the temps were in the 60s.

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Rick's Big Catch - continued - 1
by John Travers aka Crabby
 

Our plan was to troll toward a fishing area of the Northwest Places-an area that we knew held fish. When we first put the lines out, we were about three miles from the spot that we had originally intended to fish. Upon our arrival at this spot, at 8:15 am, our starboard side down line went tight. Our excitement soared as we realized the possibility of having hooked up with a Giant Blue Fin Tuna. Rick grabbed the rod and held on while Crabby cut the motors and turned the boat toward the port side. At the same time, Bud began strapping the fighting harness on Rick…and then the battle began!

After the fish had run off about half of the spool on our 50, we began to regain line. About half an hour into the struggle, we had the swivel at the boat for a short time, but the fish was gone again. There were several more run-offs, and about 50 minutes into the fight, the fish came to the surface and his head came out of the water-that's when we began to realize what a large fish we had! After bringing the exhausted fish to the side of the boat, we hooked the flying gaff into its mouth and bled it as it lay in the water. Then we looked at each other and said, "Now how are we gonna' get that huge thing in the boat?" We decided our best option would be to drag the fish through the tuna hole at the back of the boat-a decision that paid off.

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Rick's Big Catch - continued - 2
by John Travers aka Crabby
 

Upon returning to Anchorage Marina, we checked the fish in and hoisted it out of the boat. He weighed 404 lbs, was 86 inches long and 5 feet in girth. The largest fish any of us had ever caught. While hanging on the hoist, the fish was cut up and packed away on ice-but not before we had the opportunity to take plenty of pictures to share with our fishing buddies back home! There were lots of high-fives and congrats given that afternoon, and we all agreed that it was a very memorable experience.