Marlim or Winchester?

[ccsykes]

Centre Punch;
1800lb what? halibut or tuna. If it was tuna I presume it was a bluefin. If that is the case that is a HUGE tuna. The Japenese would love that one. Here in NC, they will wait on the docks to buy the fish from the anglers. The larger fish, go for high prices because of the grain of the meat is so large, it can be carved into just about anything when it is sushi. But the harness just helps to hold the rod straight and lets you concentrate and the fish on the other end instead of fighting your tackle. You end up fighting the fish with you legs, which is nice for tuna and billfish that run long and hard. For the smaller species like dolphin and wahoo and maybe small tuna (20-35lb yellowfin) we do not use a harness, just a fighting belt that makes having the butt of the rod in your gut a bit more comfortable. If that was a tuna, I wonder if it had a NC tag in it. They say they have caught tuna around Spain that were tagged in NC just after a couple of months. It is amazing how far these fish migrate.

 

[4ked Horn]

[ QUOTE ]
4ked Horn, do those sturgeon not run hard and fast? I have actually seen a king mackeral smoke the line guide on a 320 GTi.

[/ QUOTE ]

They will usually come in with resistance until they see the shore then they head for the hole. There ain't no holding them when they turn and run. It isn't too fast but it is hard. It becomes a patience game. The one I caught and the one my wife caught were 4 and 4.5 feet respectively and they came in to shore in about 15 minutes but I have heard of guys that have had fights with big ones that last hours. I have not heard of any burning up reels but I haven't asked about this either.

 

[Buffalobob]

3-6-bits
44 mag for largemouth bass. Only thing that I ever killed with that pistol.

 

[Centre Punch]

Christopher;
You are right it was a blue fin tuna and i seem to remember from the photo that it looked about 12ft long when strung up next to its captor on the dockside, thats a hell of a lot of sushi.
I have no idea what would have happened to this fish,but i dont think there are many japanese in Co.Cork. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

On hearing of this capture, spanish tuna boats(who completely flaunt European Union fisheries regulations)swamped the area and caught everthing in sight before steaming back to spain to sell thier catch.

Ian.

 

[ccsykes]

Centre Punch,
Do you know where I can see a picture of that fish. The largest one I have ever seen is 1200lbs and I would be interested in seeing one that is bigger than that. I thought he was huge. What you mentioned about the spanish coming in and catching all of the fish is a major problem. Do the European countries not have regulations that keep the Spainards from keeping everything in the water? I know that their were some commercial boats catching menhaden with nets here in NC while striper season was in, and they were messing up the fishing, and when 1 boat pulled in a stripper, the marine fisheries was notified and the commercial fisherman had to stop operations in order to be checked. To tell you the truth, people might say that it is their life being a commercial fisherman, but I want those resources to be there for my children and their children. If someone doesn't stop those guys who hold so little respect for the resources that they use, they oneday will use them completely up and you will not be able to find a place where there are enough fish to go.

 

[nickbracewell]

3sixbits

Centre Punch when leaving his local range produced his .357 revolver from his car window and proceded to shoot a duck minding its own business on the pond.Maybe he was taking aim on Pike and the duck got in the way? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[3sixbits]

Once upon a time in a land far far away. A young man on his first foray (with fly rod) for the mighty King salmon broke the gaff on his first fish he brought to beach, being and enterpriseing sort he produced his old trusty S&W .44 maggie and shot the fish. The race was on as the fish came off the hook went skyward and went on a float trip back towards the big water, Being how this young man was fleet of foot it proved not to difficult to collect the floater. the next three followed in quick order and the young angler and friend where soon on there merry way back to the comfort of the loving arms of family and the warmth of hearth. I only pass this info along to remind one and all that the .44 maggie is the preferred ctg. for salmon, NOT BASS! The .357 on the other hand is perfect for pike as who the heck wants to eat the trash fish anyway. It has also been the same young anglers findings that river trout do not need to be hit directly with said .357 maggie to put them on the float. Of course all these findings happened many years ago in a land far far away. The young man in question has repented of his sins and though he has grown to be full of years (and full of other things not fit to print)now uses a net /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif He told me it tends to keep the fish cops off his arse /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif.

 

[ccsykes]

How deep was the fish?

 

[Buffalobob]

3-6- bits

The only reason I managed to kill a bass with the 44 mag was because as you said, you don't actually have to hit them. The only salmon I ever shot said "Chicken of the Sea" on the outside.

In a land far, far, away in a world that was not real, long ago when one was young, one did a little fishing with hand grenades. The concussion grenades that were designed for tunnels worked best. Fishing sometimes attracted attracted the wrong clientele who seemed to take offense to the situation.

 

[bcd]

In that same land far far away 2 or 3 M-80's taped to a rock worked pretty good.

 

[Centre Punch]

Christopher,
The picture of the tuna was published in a British Angling weekly, i will see if i can find the picture, but i am not promising anything. As for the Spanish fishing fleet, well i dont want get to deep into European Union fisheries policies but there are loopholes in the law that the Spanish exploit and the spineless beurocrats in Brussels are to frieghtened to do any thing about it. It seems to me that although Britain is not a fully fledged member (we have not abopted the Euro as our currency yet)of the E.U. we are the only ones who abide by the rules, French and German politicians twisting and convoluting the rules to suit their own needs.
The Brussels beurocrats have imposed catch quotas on our own domestic fishing industry to point where fishermen are going out of buisiness, yet the spanish still come and plunder our stocks. It makes me [censored] angry! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif

Ian.

 

[Waltech Jim]

Len- this happened just up river from you.... I have the motor that was involved, I sure wish it could talk. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

I grew up on a river and lake system that had quite a population of Lake Sturgeon. My dad would often relate stories of the "river rats", some stories with incredible accuracy....??? There was a constant "contest" between the local game warden and some of the locals, some of whom had quite a side business going in smoked sturgeon. Of course the method of aquisition was highly illegal, and proved to be somewhat dangerous to at least one fellow. During the late 50's these river rats would take their 16/18 foot wood boats with the old opposed 4 cylinder Evinrudes and head up into the lake (after dark) and put out set lines for cats and sturgeon. These lines would be set in 10 to 15 feet of water a couple miles from shore. The most well known "rat" hense forth known as R had a set line out for several days and was getting worried. It was November and he couldn't seem to find anyone to go with him to pick it up. R was sitting in the bar, and the local drunk (Shadow) came stumbling in and they struck up a deal to go out that night and get the line. All R needed was someone to row the boat and hit the fish with a "billy" and Shadow looked like he could handle that.

The wind and waves were picking up as R and Shadow stopped the boat several miles from shore in complete darkness. R threw out the grapple and after several tries snagged the set line. R would pull the line in, flip the fish into the boat and Shadow would dispatch them and then continue to row. They were doing pretty well on sturgeon so R decided to throw back all the cats and just concentrate on sturgeon. The boat was starting to fill up with sturgeon and weather conditons were getting worse. Shadow was complaining loadly about the boat taking on water and having to bail to keep from sinking, trying to kill large fish as they flopped around the boat and just generally would have been much happier back at the bar.

Shadow was urging R to cut the line and head in, when R pulled up a sturgeon that was well over 100 pounds. R finally got the fish into the boat and it went nuts, flipping all over the place, breaking one of the oars, and upsetting Shadow beyond control.

Shadow reached into his jacket and pulled out an old 38 revolver he sometimes carried, but hadn't told R about. He aimed in the general area of the flopping sturgeon and pulled the trigger. The first shot out of the revolver missed the sturgeon and put a hole in the bottom of the boat. The muzzle flash blinded both guys, but that didn't stop Shadow. While R screamed at Shadow to stop, Shadow fired blindly at the still flopping sturgeon. Several rounds later R finally got the pistol from Shadow. R was screaming at Shadow for shooting holes in the bottom of the boat when Shadow shouted back," I think I shot my foot!!" R found the flashlight and shined it on Shadows left boot as he held it up out of the water. Sure enough there was a hole, with a mixture of blood and water running out.

R finally got the motor started and headed towards shore. It wasn't long and they realized they were in trouble. They weren't going to make it with all the fish and several holes in the bottom. So reluctantly, R started throwing the sturgeon over the side. By the time they beached the boat on the nearest shore all the sturgeon had been thrown out.

The next day the local water front owners reported an unusual sturgeon kill as dead sturgeon washed up on their beaches. R took Shadow to the local Doc and had to pay for the stitching and cast plus many hours of "recouperation" at one of the local taverns. For many years R bemoaned the night he not only lost the biggest catch of his life, but it cost him quite a sum of money besides.

Jim