Fishing

March 18, 2009

Outer Banks Angling:
Hunting the big bluefin tuna

By ROB ALDERMAN

Imagine taking a fishing rod and lure to Highway 12 and casting it as a small vehicle goes by and then hooking that vehicle's bumper. That is how it feels to hook a bluefin tuna. This species of tuna can weigh upwards of 500 pounds, but, on average, you will see them in 100- to 300-pound class.

My film crew and I had the opportunity to jump onboard the Bite Me charter boat with Capt. Jay Kavanagh out of Hatteras Harbor Marina. It was 6 a.m. just two days into spring, and it was time to go fish hunting on this 51-foot Buddy Cannady boat.

This boat is state-of-the-art when it comes to its electronics and tackle, and it is a very roomy boat, which is nice considering how much equipment our crew has to bring for a shoot. A few of my crew had doubts about our success on this trip, since the wind had blown northeast at 15-20 mph or stronger eight of the last 10 days. The concern was that the seas would be way too rough to film -- or fish for that matter.

Now I do not pretend to be some Outer Banks fishing professional, so my thoughts are to never challenge the captain's experience, and Capt. Jay assures me we would be able to fish, film, and, more than likely, catch fish. So, I turn to the crew and say, "Let's do this." And we climb on board and head out.

We charge out for almost two hours before we slow down and start dropping lines. The sea couldn't make up its mind on whether to be upset or semi-calm, so we had 8-foot swells for a while, and then 4-foot swells for a while, and then it would start all over again. But the wave period was far enough apart for all of us to fish and do our jobs.

We trolled for the monster bluefins for about 45 minutes, and we had yet to experience any action, but we had heard of numerous fish over the radio, so we knew it was just a matter of time.

Sure enough, as we were thinking "any minute now," one of the reels takes off. Now, we had all just been in the parlor hanging out and sharing stories, so I am the first person out of the door, but I really didn't want to fight one of these fish early in the a.m. because I was hoping there would be more fish to come and I wanted my energy for filming. But no one follows me out the door, so I was going to be the one doing the fighting for the first fish of the day.

Jeremy Hicks, the mate on the Bite Me, hands me the rod, and instantly I can feel the explosive power of this fish. I proceed to sit down in the fighting chair and wage a man-versus-fish battle. Unfortunately for my arms, this fish had smacked the smallest rod-and-reel setup on the boat, so the fight was mighty intense. Most times I would rather fight fish on light tackle, but these bluefin tuna had me reviewing that thought process. I managed to get the fish to the boat five times, and every time that fish would take off again -- along with 100 yards of line. It was the sixth time to the boat that was the grand finale for the magnificent fish.

You never know if you will catch more fish, so we decide to put this one in the box. North Carolina law allows for only one killed bluefin tuna per boat per day. Jeremy and Kyle Perry from Frisco Rod & Gun tackle shop proceed to set the lines back out, as I am sitting there feeling like I had just gone through a street gang initiation. This fish was only 140 pounds, so I could not imagine hanging one 200 to 300 pounds. Most importantly, this was my first bluefin tuna.

It took only 10 minutes before we hook another bluefin, and Christinia Hicks ( the mate’s wife) was battling the fish and another 100-plus pounder was brought to the boat. This one is released.

The lines are put back out, and 10 minutes later there is the third fish of the day, and Missie Smith from the Beach 104 radio station and who is the sales and marketing rep for the Outer Banks Angler is in the chair taking her turn on a fish that went over a 100 pounds. Both of these female anglers fought their fish like pros, and it was a joy to witness and film them both catching their first bluefin tuna.

As we brought each of the first three fish to the boat, our underwater cameraman, Russell Blackwood, would slip into the water and capture the action below. All day, we had seen very large great Atlantic hammerhead sharks cruising the surface, and I felt like at some point Russell would encounter one. Now I've encountered one of these sharks up close and personal in the past with Russell, while we were filming some spearfishing, so my experience had taught me that, in the clear bluewater, when these sharks see a human in their area they turn and bolt. So I wasn't worried about Russell's safety, but I still remained on high alert. As the producer of this show, I remain on edge when it comes to my crew's safety on or off the boat.

Now, wouldn't you know it, while Missie is fighting her fish, I hear Russell yell out, "HAMMERHEAD!!" One of these large predators is on the tail of the tuna and looking for an easy meal. When we reviewed the footage, you could clearly see the shark come up on the tuna, but it immediately sees Russell and turns away. Russell follows the shark and you can see that the shark flexes his muscles and in his own way said, "I am leaving, but don't mess with me." As a host and producer, I was thinking, "awesome." We got it on film and no harm was done to the fish or the guy in the water.

Here we go setting the lines back out and this time it only takes five minutes before a rod doubles over, and Kyle Perry takes the rod and sits down for his challenge. Kyle has caught his share of these tuna commercially, but never on hook and line where he could obtain a citation. Again another fish over 100 pounds is brought in and released. We are all feeling very lucky about the consistent bites, and it takes only another 10 minutes before Jeremy is hooked up with a fish on the largest of the rod-and-reel setups on the boat. He absolutely punishes this fish and had it to the boat in a short period of time. Jeremy may be a mate, but he had never caught a bluefin tuna.

We set the lines out for the sixth time, and when this fish hits, I look at Tony "Kramer" Britton, our onboard cameraman, and say, "You’re up." I took the camera and filmed Kramer putting down his first bluefin tuna.

Now, as Kramer's fish approaches the boat, Russell is about 15 feet away from the boat and had just dived down to get an up-close shot, when the rest of us on the nice, safe boat see a 2 1/2-foot dorsal fin cruising just behind him. We yell out, "Hammerhead behind you." Russell spins around and gets within 10 feet or less of this 400- to 500-pound shark, and, as usual, Russell and the shark share the same space for all of five seconds, before the shark takes off.

By this time, we had been trolling and catching fish for more than three hours, and every person the boat had caught a fish.

Capt. Jay looked at me and said, "Do you want to keep going?"

Now, contrary to some people's belief, this is a job and a lot of work. Yes, we do love it and have a blast doing it, but it's still labor intensive. We have fought fish, swells, currents, and raising or lowering 60 pounds of underwater housing, so, overall, the crew was beat.

So I tell Jay we have an incredible episode of big fish and six anglers catching their first bluefin tuna ever -- not to mention that a few of the crew had a 1 1/2-hour ride home once we hit the docks -- so let’s take the almost two- hour ride home now, if you do not mind.

Jay says, “That's cool, but I think I will troll a little ways heading home.”

A good deal of time goes by now without a bite, because we had left the main stomping grounds. But, sure enough, another fish hits and Christinia jumps up and looks at this sad display of men and says, "I got it." She goes out there and puts down the seventh and final fish of the day. My hat is off to her.

At the docks, we all recapped our day and our thoughts on the bluefin tuna. We all agreed it was like fighting a car and that it's a must for every angler. To follow more of the Bite Me adventures check out www.FishBiteMe.com.

Thanks again to the crew of the Bite Me, the anglers, and my crew. Until next time, "Good Luck and Happy Fishing."

(Rob Alderman is the host and producer of the “Outer Banks Angler” fishing program and the owner of The Outer Banks Angler store located in Buxton. You can find out more on his adventures at www.OuterBanksAngler.com.)