I grabbed my rod and ran down the stairs hoping he hadn't given them all away. I saw him at the stern with two people in-tow. They each got one and I took the last. Moose rigged it for me and I went over to the stern corner and free-lined it out. I was using my Spinal Series II 400g jigging rod with an Alutecnos Gorilla 12C loaded with Diawa 80lb Boat Braid. The braid was tied to a swivel outside the top guide, which in turn was tied to a 4' section of 100# flouro-carbon leader with a Owner 3/0 circle hook.
After a couple of minutes I felt a few taps on the line, then the line went tight. I engaged the drag and then I felt th e rod flutter and I knew I'd hooked a black-fin tuna. I cranked my line in a little and then the fish took off towards t he bow at great speed. At that point I knew it was no black-fin. Moose stayed with me and cleared people away from the rail so that I could follow the fish. Fortunately there were no tangles. At the bow the fish dived deep. There was no stopping it.
I fought it for a while with the rod under my arm and then switched positions and placed the fore-grip onto the rail. I had much more leverage and control this way. I was able to crank and gain line back but after a second or two, it peeled off my gains. I applied a lot of pressure in an attempt to turn it's head up. My rod was horizontal with the tip bending down.
Captain Raul was watching from the upper deck and shouted out that I should be careful otherwise the rod could break. I looked at the rod and thought the rod should be capable of handing that curve. It didn't seem that unnatural.
After about 10 minutes there was an explosion. I though the line broke but it was the top section of the rod that broke off and was nowhere to be seen. I realized that the fish was still on and fight began.
The braid now went through guide two then guide one then onto the reel. The first guide was in tact, but the second guide was crumpled left 90 degrees. There was some metal and epoxy were the third guide was. It was difficult to reel because the line was catching the sharp edges on the third guide. To avoid this, I had to hold rod at an angle.
I fought fish a little longer then handed the rod to Moose and he worked the fish for a solid 15 minutes. Then I took over for a while. Then Moose took over. The Sprout appeared and took over. He cranked in line and the fish peeled it right off. As he cranked we could hear guitar-like twangs coming from the line as it rubbed on the broken guides. Quite a crowd had gathered around and everyone was shouting out to him to be careful of the sharp edges.
After about an hour long fight, we could start making out the fish's profile. The fish started to circle. Sprout cranked to lift it's head up. He gained line but the fish still pulled line out. After doing this for a while we pushed the drag to the full position and made slow progress lifting the fish to the surface. Moose and one other deckhand gaffed the fish and hauled it onto the deck.
At the dock, a day and a half later, we hoisted the fish into the scale. I tipped 132lb -- a true trophy!
This was a true team effort. I can't thank Moose and Sprout enough for being there for me and for making this memory. This is a story I will tell till I'm old :-)
The Gorilla 12C worked flawlessly. It's truly an impressive reel for it's size. Alonso at Alutecnos, thank you for doing an excellent job servicing the reel before the trip. I told you I was going to catch a big one on this reel :-). That Diawa 80# Boat Braid held up remarkable well. I'll definitely be using it a lot more of it on my reels from now on.