A story that those who know us well have heard many times… A story that still makes me get on my feet to tell…A story that still gives me chills… Exactly why we go out there.
My husband Stephen mentioned the weather was going to be nice. We had one of the most beautiful prostaff Contender 39STs at the time with trip Yamaha 300s. Only weeks before, we had won the Old Bahama Bay Wahoo Charity Cup on this very boat in West End, Bahamas. Some days are hardcore, but this was a relaxed day, just getting out there to enjoy the boat and the weather with our dog, Red. We took only a few trolling rods and one gaff, ran out of St Pete Beach into the Gulf until we hit clean water, and settled into a decent trolling depth around 150.
We put the lines in the water, poured mimosas, and the three of us went up into the tower. I think I only had one sip of the mimosa before I heard one of the most aggressive bites I have heard. The line was absolutely SCREAMING. The timing, the sound, and the hope of what could be on the line combined for an excitement like no other. We looked at each other and quickly found our way down to the deck.
As we were reeling, we felt this was a big fish, and we were going to take our time and get everything ready to land it. Typically, when we gaff wahoo, we can control them with hand lining as they approach the boat. A slight turn of the boat towards the fish usually helps ensure success. With just the two of us, the boat was on autopilot. As the fish was coming in along the starboard side of the boat, we shifted things out of the way, including putting the Yeti cooler in the aft port corner, and (in hindsight, unfortunately) left a bent butt rod in the aft port corner rod holder. Ready with the gaff, I watched as my husband started handlining him in for the perfect landing… or so we thought.
Suddenly, the fish makes its big move and beelines across the engines towards the opposite side of the boat, which was slightly cluttered and not conducive to success in landing a fish of this size. BOOM threw a gaff in the fish, sometimes the moment of knowing you got it–but not this time. I was on the transom of the boat, and the butt of the gaff got stuck inside the bent butt rod. With the strength of the fish going absolutely crazy, the pressure was too extreme to be able to swing the fish under the gaff and around to the side of the boat.
Stephen took the gaff, and I hopped to the wheel to try to steer us out of this insane predicament. Our dog, Red, is in the tower, going crazy! Panic- I hear some strong language coming from Stephen, and I turn around to see the (only) gaff floating away. Slightly heartbroken, slightly hopeful, I run back to the transom and grab the line with Stephen and slowly pull on it as I peer over the edge between the engines. HE WAS STILL THERE.
This fish continued to dive hard to the port side, refusing to go back over to the clear starboard side. We have no gaff. Stephen walks the line up the gunwale a bit and carefully continues handlining the fish in; the line and tension are on the outside of the bent butt rod. We get this fish up, and it is still green. I manage to get my hands on the tail and hang on with a firm grip. The fish is thrashing like crazy and is so heavy, but I am not letting go. As I hold the tail up, the weight of his head is aiming downward deeper into the water. Strategically, I hop back over and try to help by bringing the line up more. Stephen is finally able to avoid the sharp teeth and secure his hands under the gill plate of the fish- yes! We throw the fish into the boat and WOW! Wow. Wow. I don’t know what was more surprising- that the fish was in the boat or the size of this Gulf Wahoo! Once he was calm, we put him on ice in the fish bag, with his tail hanging well beyond the bag’s edge. We brought Red down out of the tower, he hopped up on top of the wahoo in the bag and laid down, very proud of his catch.
We enjoyed an epic ride in to weigh this amazing fish at Don’s Doc, and it came in at 82.05 pounds. Absolutely an amazing fish. We are still chasing the triple digit… check out our Instagrams for the video of landing this fish: @ballyhoo_boylenpoint @seachelle_boylenpoint