Kyle Hovak of North Tonawanda poses with the giant bluefin tuna he caught in Cape Cod with four other family and friends, a fish that tipped the scales at 556 pounds dressed.
By Kyle Hovak of North Tonawanda
I was able to talk my salmon fishing crew (my dad, George Hovak, of Broadalbin; Mark Waselauskas, of Broadalbin; Uncle Steve Warren,of Lake George, and Mark McDonald, of Florida) into a giant bluefin tuna trip out of Marshfield, Mass. It all started when I received a tip from our best project manager at work that her husband ran charters out of Cape Cod and did well. We booked with Captain Tom from Big Fish Charters.
We started the day at 5 a.m. and headed out to catch a bunch of haddock. After an hour or so, we had about 50 haddock and we were ready to go for a giant.
Our boat cruised about 12 miles from the haddock grounds, anchoring just inside the hook of the cape in 185 feet of water. We ran a 4-rod spread. Our rods were rigged with porgies anywhere from 20 to 60 feet from a balloon. There was no weight on the first 3 rods. They were varying lengths behind the boat. It reminded me of a spread you would run off big planer boards back home. Then we had one rod 40 feet down.
About 1 p.m., we asked Captain Tom how long we would fish. His response: "I want to catch a fish just as bad as you guys and will stay out as long as you want!"
We got a hit in the first 30 minutes, but it just stole the bait. Around 1:30 p.m., my uncle and I decide to make a sandwich and the rod 40 feet away takes off screaming at 1:40 p.m. The fish almost spooled the entire reel on the first run. We had to back down on him to gain line back.
Honestly, what you see on the TV show for fighting the fish is accurate.
We fought the fish for more than four hours before landing it. We all took turns on the reel, which is unlike anything we have ever tried. It was a lot of fun and proved we are not in shape for this kind of fishing. No fighting chairs here – the rod is stationary, and you must stand to reel.
The huge fish kept circling deep below the boat for the last hour and a half until it came close enough for the harpoon. We finally had our fish – a 556-pound giant bluefin tuna (dressed) that stretched 99 inches long. It was incredible. We returned to the dock at 9 p.m.
We found out that any fish over 73 inches is considered commercial and must be sold. Unfortunately, we did not get any of the meat. We will find out in a couple of weeks the price per pound. The great thing about this commercial outfit is that we get a third of the sale price from the fish. We have already elected to roll that over into a two-day trip next year.
Overall, it was a great experience. I was able to share it with my dad, uncle and two good friends both named Mark. We are all looking forward to doing it all again next year. If anyone is looking to give this a shot, check out bigfishcharters.com. Our two mates were 15 years old - one being the captain’s grandson. Both did a great job!
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September 19, 2020 at 06:00PM
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Sportsman's Tale: A giant experience fishing for Cape Cod tuna - Buffalo News
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