Saltywater Tackle

Corpus Christi Texas 56hr Trip

2012-01-25T00:19:00.001-05:00

The trip that was planned a month ago finally happened!
Four fishing hungry blokes from New York (Jose, Sami, Tom and myself) made our way to Corpus Christi and met up with Chris from Hot’s equally hungry for some Tuna action.
Loaded up our rental truck with food and off to Port Aransas. We were warmly welcomed by the Texan hospitality and met up with some friends whom we have not seen for ages.
It was good to be in Texas, the weather was beautiful and warm and for the next 56 hour, we will be fishing onboard the Scat Cat some 150 nautical miles offshore.
The 15-hour boat ride to Perdido rig was long and rough but the seas started to calm down as soon as we reached the floating rig a very very big RIG.
They were not wrong when they say everything is big in Texas.
Daylight was still a couple of hours away so we started casting in the dark with big lures and poppers trying to get the YFTs to come up.
For the next 16 hours we were loading up the boat with YFTs ranging from 40lbs – 120lbs (guesstimate) and for some of us lucky few, limited out before sunrise.
We were bringing in these fishes at lightning speed and the tackle we brought were all performing at their optimum keeping the tunas away from the 80 feet long catamaran hull.
When we were done with the limits with everyone onboard, we headed to a different rig for some bottom fishing.
The next spot yielded vermillion snappers, groupers, blue runners, amberjacks, jack crevalles, makos and even a big squid!
When it was time to go, everyone shared food, drinks, stories and experiences on the open deck enjoying the beautiful weather for the last 5 hours of our journey.
Thumbs up to the Scat Cat crew, Fred and Steve who helped us with the logistics and all the information about fishing in Texas.
Kevin for the zip lock bags at the fillet station!!!
Mark for the directions, which saved us from getting lost.
Thank you everyone who was on this fantabulous trip, we will be back!
Tackle used,
Rods – MC Works, Saltywater Tackle Race Point 200, 250, Saltywater Tackle Prototype Jigging Rod, Spinal Rods,Hot’s, Valleyhill Exploder, Yamaga Blanks.
Reel – Shimano Stella, Trinidad, Daiwa Saltiga, Studio Ocean Mark.
Jigs and Lures – Craft Bait, CB One, Hot’s, Moutoukenmaru, TB Lures, Siren Lures, Tackle House Shibuki, Deep Liner, Shout.
Lines and Leader – Sunline, YGK, Shout Sasame, Varivas, Yozuri.
Now for the photos!

Tight Lines!
Paul
Saltywater Tackle.

Epic Bluefin tuna season opening, Oregon Inlet Jan 14 2012

2012-01-15T09:56:00.000-05:00

For the past 3 years Saltywater Tackle have been opening the jigging and popping season in North Carolina, it is a like a tradition to us and we will very much keep it going,
We have been talking on a daily basis with Captain Ned Ashby from Sea Breeze and Captain Dan Rooks from Tuna Ducks to check on the bite and most important to find out if the fish showed up!
We got the call last week but the weather was not in our favor and a major decision needed to be made as Chris, Hot’s field tester is flying down from California,
I wanted to go badly as I know we will do well, many guys are waiting for the bite report to start before pulling the trigger and commit to a trip, while I know it is a matter of going out and putting in the time, so off we go with a total 4 anglers,
Chris, Paul Ilya and I took the drive and made it right before light,
Greeted by Captain Ned and first mate George and off to the spot.
After 15 minutes trying to raise the fishes up with a spreader bar we saw a fish annihilating the teasers, all 4 of us casted but no love, then all of a sudden Captain Ned shouted, I am marking fish, 4 jigs cut through the water column,
Chris came tight and fights the fish and loses it right next to the boat,
30 minutes goes by and again 2 jigs goes down and I came tight on the new Saltywater Tackle Outer Banks prototype jigging rods, more detail will follow as we are in the process of testing a couple of jigging rods that we are designing for the massive Blue fin tunas in the Outer Banks.
After 40 minutes I landed my first Blue fin tuna and we opened the season, the fish estimated at 320lb and measured 81 inches,
Again I made a cast and came tight with the Race Point 200 and the Shell Shaping twister lure, fought the fish and brought it to color in under 20 minutes, the fish measured 84 inches and estimated at 340lb,
Chris came tight next and he lost the fish right away as she bit through the leader, dropped the jig again and Chris came tight again and he finally landed a nice 80 inch fish estimated at 300lb,
All fishes landed free style and none of us used any harness !!
What a day for us and to open the season, another group will be arriving on Monday. We will keep you guys posted!
Tackle used:
Hot’s One Pitch Slider 56XH
Race Point 200, 250, 300
Valley Hill EXP-55XXB The Maori Spirits
MC Works Southern Deep Ultimate Monster SD538XX
Saltywater Tackle Outer Banks 400 jigging rod (MORE DETAILS TO FOLLOW)
Line used: Sunline PE Jigger 8HG, Shout Sasame PE Premium, Varivas SMP
Popping Leader: Saltywater Tackle twisted leader
Lure & Jigs: Shell Shaping Twister,Shout Shab Shab & Stay, Hot’s drift tune, Deep Liner
Enjoy the pictures guys !!

Tight lines
Sami

Saltywater Tackle Outer Banks 400 prototype Jigging Rod!

Saltywater Tackle Race Point 200 In Action!!

2012 New Year Fun Fishing Trip!

2012-01-02T19:49:00.001-05:00

As we say goodbye to 2011 and usher in 2012, Our good fishing buddy, Raymond chartered a trip with Tuna Duck Charters captained by Dan Rooks in Hatteras, North Carolina.
What a blast we had! Nope, no tunas this time but D R U M S! Big Red Drums! All of them were way over the limits and we had to release every single one of them. Biggest one broke the 50lb scale we had on board and the average were 30lbs - 40lbs.
We were jigging for them in 60ft water and it was non stop action as soon as we hit the spot!
Later in the afternoon we tried heading to deeper waters to try for the yellowfin and blackfin tunas but unfortunately the tunas were out celebrating New Years Day and were no where in sight.
Thank you Captain Dan and Mike from Tuna Duck Charters, we'll see you guys when the blue fins season starts!
Enjoy the photos and Happy New Year Everyone!!!
Tackle used,
Rods - MC Works, Saltywater Tackle Race Point, Smith, Synit and Valleyhill.
Reels - Shimano Stellas, Studio Ocean Mark, Daiwa Dogfight and Accurate
Jigs - Deep Liner, Sevenseas Hooker, Shout Shab Shab, CB One, Diamond Jigs, Nasout Jigs.
Line - Sunline, Varivas, Daiwa, Jerry Brown.
Leader - Sunline, Varivas and Yozuri.

Paul.

Rigging up!

Getting out of the inlet

The Spot

Tuna Duck!

Fishing Dogs!

Busting Bluefin Tuna with Captain Adam Sherer from Shore catch December 3,2011

2011-12-04T17:32:00.001-05:00

I got a call from Captain Adam from Shore Catch stating Bluefin tunas are in good numbers and close to shore.
New Jersey Bluefin tunas offer the ultimate challenge to many and to catch one on top water, one will have to be blessed with “a lot of luck”, skills and determination. Fortunate enough I know that I am fishing with one of the best Captain in New Jersey and was confident that he will put me on the right feed. He has done it in the past and I know that he is capable of doing it again this year!
During this same period last year I had the opportunity to land a nice fish on topwater with Adam and I am hoping today to set the pace of last year that was my attitude while I was driving from Princeton to Barnegat Inlet at 4:00AM.
We launched at 5:30AM and made it to the fishing ground at the right time, just when the sun was peeking out from the horizon. It took a while before we started seeing tuna rolling and crashing lazily all over the place and by the time we reached them…they went down under. We couldn’t get a good shot at them in the beginning but as the day progressed, things started to get better and better until we got into a nice feed with diving gannets and birds diving all over the place.
I made a cast to come up tight with a blue fish, we were a little disappointed when we notice that they were mixed in with the Bluefin tuna, it was pretty frustrating when we saw the blues and we all know how hard it is to score in New Jersey.
The Tunas started crashing again and this time, I saw bait flying out of the water, for a second I thought they were Anchovies or half beaks, is it possible? We all know that most of the times these fish are gorging themselves with sand eels but hey! Anything is possible!
Once I saw what kind of bait (FISH) were present, I switched right away to my trusted Moutoukenmaru Minopenmaru which was lucky enough to have the same profile as the bait.
A nice pod just busted not far away from us and in a split of a second they disappeared,
I made a cast to that same spot and saw my lure getting inhaled almost immediately,
I set the hook twice to secure it on the Race Point 200, got it to gaff within 4 minutes and Santa presented me with a nice fat 58 inch on the deck!
My day is made and now and I can rest, after a frustrating day we finally got the job done!!
I can’t thank Captain Adam enough for the incredible opportunity (we got blown out at least 2 times!) he gave me to get the job done again this year!!
Thank you Captain!!
Enjoy the pictures :)
Tight lines
Sami

Tokara Japan November 2011

2011-11-29T05:27:00.003-05:00

Tokara Island has always been a dream that finally, became a reality,
I planned a business trip to Japan and decided to top it up with a bit of fishing. I contacted Mogi-san and ask him if I could join him in on one his trip, kind enough Mogi-san offered me 2 trips to choose from, stating it is not a prime time for GT Fishing, and the whole idea is to explore the area and gain more experience.
I was greeted at Narita airport by Mogi-san and beerman Okubo-san, they picked me up from the airport and we headed straight to Tokyo, we had a great dinner amongst nice people talking about fishing and discussing future destination.
I spend the 2nd day with Mogi-san touring and getting introduced to tackle shops, it is amazing how well the tackle shops are stocked up with products and how the Japanese in general are into fishing, I spend almost and hour in one of the shop and saw a variety of anglers from 16 years old to 70 years old buying tackle, I guess fishing in Japan is more like a cultural thing :)
Mogi-san had arranged the trip for me which made my life easy; he picked me up from the Hotel and off to the airport to take the flight to Kagoshima and then transferred to Amami island to be greeted by Fukui-san the master of the infamous boat in the region ( the big dipper),
We arrived and the weather was not looking good, heavy rain and big swells,
Fukui-san suggest to fish around Amami Island for the day and take off to Tokara on the second day, we landed one GT that day and made it back to one of the lodges on the island which is a typical traditional Japanese Inn, it was a great experience and reminded me from where my Mom comes from in the South of Lebanon.
Fukui-san pushed the big dipper in heavy rain and big swells and we finally made it to the first island, the scenery was out of this world and the structure added to it to make it look so unique, our second day was slow!
Right around dark Fukui-san called the day off and puts the big dipper next to the lodge on Takara Island,
Takara Island has a little story to be told: it is also called Treasure Island!
The story goes back to May 23, 1701. On that date in Scotland, just as he was about to be executed, the famous pirate Capt. Kidd shouted, “I have hidden treasure,” but the executioner paid no attention and carried out the sentence without hearing Kidd’s explanation.
It is believed that the treasure is still on the island.
We launched from Takara island on our third day and I can finally see the harbor and the marina, the harbor is build with high concrete barrier wall and on the other side you have natural rocks with about 7 to 10 feet from the sea level, this is where all the top water GT action happen in the past 20 years, and there is a prime time for it, the GT’s will push the flying fish inside the harbor and the top water bite will be on fire, it happens every year and it last for about 2 to 3 weeks , Mogi-san pointed to me where he landed his 60kg GT from the shore, I spoke to Fukui-san and manage to gather more info about casting from shore.
I decided to jig due to the slow action and manage couple of fish here and there, we popped in some area that you would imagine it to be loaded with fish but NOT!
Right before dark I start getting doggies on almost every drop and I lost a good one, lost 4 jigs that day due to cut offs, I jigged from 40 meters to 150 meters and had most of the strikes around the 60 meters mark. The guys manage 2 nice doggies on top water.
On our last day we made a couple of stops near Takara Island and caught more doggies and lost more jigs, at least I am going back home light J
The guys where only focusing on popping and none of them had any jigging outfit, some of them are not interested to do any jigging while others don’t even own a jigging rod.
We get a couple of fish and called the trip off.
I had a great time regardless of the fishing, adding Tokara Island experience to my log book is something that I was always keen to do,
I thank Mogi-san for his hospitality and friendship; he was so kind to me,
Delighted to have the opportunity to fish onboard one of the most famous Captain in Japan Fukui-san, a very humbled person!
Till the next trip TOKARA!
Enjoy the photo!!!
Tight lines
Sami

Takara Island Harbour

Where Mogi-san landed his 60KG GT from shore on Takara Island

Southern Oman October 2011

2011-11-01T18:40:00.000-04:00

Since my last visit to Southern Oman in April 2011 we have had many inquiries from friends and anglers that wished to fish with us in this amazing destination,
I contacted Nick from Ocean Active and we set up dates for 2011 and 2012.
Raymond and Igor are my companions for this trip, we made it to Dubai airport and got picked up at the gate by Nick and Kegan, Nick took the 10 hours drive to Southern Oman and we finally reached our destination to be greeted at the villa by Ashraf the owner of the lodge.
Our first day was full of excitement as we where all waiting to hit the water and see how long it will take before we get our lines tight.
We landed some nice size fish on that day, the biggest estimated to be around 44kg to 45kg by Nick, Yes Southern Oman still hold big fish right at the beginning of the season, the only problem we had is that the water clarity is poor, but for the first day everybody was happy and we all had the opportunity to land GT’s,
The clear water was only at a specific part of the islands and we manage to land 7 out of 9 on our first day, the trip was set with dedication to jigging as well,
Due to the limited time that I had on the previous trip we did not get any chance to jig,
As for this trip the plan was to jig for at least a day or 2, prior to the trip I was talking to Nick on a weekly basis to sort out the spot and the point for the potential Amber Jack. And boy did we hit JACKPOT!
On our second day the water clarity remained the same and we had the slowest day on this trip, we decided to jig and we had some fun and good time, right before we called the day off, Nick said lets give popping 30 minutes before we run home,
I looked at the water and said to myself there is no way that this water will hold GT’s,
Raymond get a massive swirl’s behind his popper, the fish missed his popper, came back again and hit it with revenge!
Raymond fought the fish like a champion and landed his first big GT’s, Nick estimated the fish between 47kg to 48kg, took a quick pictures and released and off we go back to the lodge with a smile on everybody’s face, Raymond saved the day for us!
On the third day the water start to get better at some point and we decided to stick to that particular spot, we doubled out and landed 2 nice GT’s, looking at the water and the way the current was forming we knew sooner or later we will have our shot at that point,
We put the time and all our effort knowing that the big one will come from here!
I get inhaled by a big massive fish that took my stickbait 2 feet from the surface; the fish took a prototype lure and with all it’s power; started peeling line like no tomorrow!
I tightened my drag 3 times until it became locked and from the side of my eye I could see where it is heading, yes right towards the edge of the drop off,
This fish will mark a memory in my life; I had never fought a fish with a complete locked drag and not been able to stop it!!!
I get reefed with anger but again this is part of fishing!!!
We decided to jig and got rewarded by black tip trevally, spangled emperor, grouper, brassy trevally, yellow dot trevally,
Our 4th day was dedicated to jigging and with the knowledge and the intel that Nick gathered, we where right on the spot to be rewarded big time, I won’t comment much about it and I will let the pictures do the talking,
We where sore from pulling fish after fish and decided to call it off and head to one of the island to take a break and have lunch, we popped for 2 hours and we manage to raise and hook a couple of fish.
On the 5th day and our last day started we launched from the marina at 6:00 AM in the morning trying to benefit from the early bite, we found a new spot and right after 2 minutes of popping I saw a black shadow coming towards my popper and hitting it twice, unfortunately he missed my lures but I saw over 8 GT’s chasing my popper, I shouted to Raymond to cast on the right direction and there it was, the dream shot, Raymond was tight followed by myself,
Raymond get rewarded with a nice black GT pushing every inch of the 35KG,
Igor right after us comes tight with a black tip trevally, we then decided to move to a different spot and landed a couple of GT’s ,
We had an amazing trip complimented with great company good laughs, I can’t thank Nick from Ocean Active and Ashraf the owner of the lodge for the hospitality and the service provided to us on this trip!
all pictures provided by all anglers so i can't take full credit for the shots.

Tight lines
Sami

Prince Edward Island, Canada September 2011

2011-09-24T23:20:00.003-04:00

Prince Edward Island .... all the rage

Listening to all these stories about giants, catching them in super sonic times and people boasting about crazy drag settings our group of four decided to come here and see what it takes to actually land these fish. This place is magical no other way to describe it, a fisherman's dream. Literally 10 minute boat ride, then another 5 seconds before your bait gets inhaled by a pure giant.
Its really easy to get carried away once you get here but in admiration of these fish our group decided against taking any fish in the boat for pictures. Today was slated to be Sami's day on the rod and boy was it. Sami was able to release a giant over the grander mark in 75 minutes with only 50 pounds of drag during that time. Masterful performance. Captain Tony of Tony's Tuna fishing was the single most gracious captain I have ever met. Massive cooler stocked with food, drinks, beer, followed by fresh lobster rolls for lunch and fresh PEI mussels cooked for us before we headed in.
We had no gear failures to speak of, Okuma Makaira 80w's performed perfect along with the stand up rods. Enjoy the pictures from Day 1 ... more to come after day two

OMG were to begin. This was the single best fishing experience of my life. Today was my day and I had the opportunity to fight and land a tremendous bluefin. The fish dumped over 700 yards of line at 45 pounds of drag on the initial run. 40 minutes later at a max drag of only 55 pounds I was able to get her boatside.
Based on her massive girth and thick body the Captain put her around the grand mark, could be a couple shy either way but Ill take it.
** A huge thank you to Dennis Braid for his guidance and for discovering this fishery for stand up giants. Talking to you about PEI for the last 2-3 years inspired me to do this and make my dreams a reality ... In addition the captain, mate and other anglers all agreed that your 48 powerplay rod was the best stand up rod on the market.
Enjoy the shots guys ... stay tuned for day 3 & 4
Another day in Jurrasic Park has ended along with another success. Tom was up today and battled another beast to perfection. The fish was landed in 70 minutes as Tom really put the heat to him. Captain put her right around 900. On top of being an insanely funny guy he is a great angler. Fish were eager to eat live or dead bait and was hooked within 5 seconds.
Khalid, Khalid, Khalid seems like everyone is asking about Khalid. Well today was his day and not only did he shine but he did it in approximately 40 minutes which is amazing. He was so eager for his chance he was pacing the boat because of all days today the fish didnt show until late and thats when he took his shot. He hammered the fish right away and kept up a ferocious pace using my braid rod and Okuma Makaira 80w reel. Honestly this fish which was in the 700 pound range didn't have a shot.
Great job man, way to take charge of your opportunity. Circle is complete all four anglers have their releases and time to get home.
Glenn Kross

2nd part of the trip
PEI, Jurassic Park Part II
First I would like to thank Captain Dom who organized this trip and unfortunately couldn't make it.
we fished for 2 days with Bruce Brother and all I have to say that we had another outstanding trip. Paul flew from DC to Boston and got picked up by Jason and Eric while I was waiting in PEI.
Jason was the first on the rod to land an estimated 900lb in 85 minutes, had it to the boat side, took a couple of shot; then Jason decided to take a plunge with the fish. we called the day and tossed a couple of lures without hooks to see the fish explode on them.
On our second day we had Paul at the rod that unfortunately lost the fish after 10 minutes, the hook came out loose after a sudden run, I guess Paul has an unfinished business for next year,
Captain Eric decided to take his shot on the chair, he landed an estimated 650lb in 55 minutes.
I would like to thank Captain Troy and Jamie from Bruce Brother for their service. What a great fishery they have up North but now our Bluefin tuna fall run should start in Cape Cod and who knows maybe we can hook up a giant this fall!
enjoy the pictures guys!
Tight Lines
Sami

Cape Cod 7/28 and 7/30

2011-08-10T14:39:00.000-04:00

7/28
Tuna crashed everywhere in small pods up to football field sized mega schools. Missed many opportunites when the tunas go down as we approached them. Jason landed a nice 58" on a soft plastic dead sticked to the gunnel.
7/30
They showed up again and i got a hook up which lasted a couple of minutes when the hook pulled, sami was next but his excitement too was short lived.
Later in the morning a 57" took Sami's lure when he was blind casting. Tunas are back in good numbers for sure!
Thank you Captain Eric of Snapshot Charters for the amazing photos!
Tackle used,
Rods - Race Point 200/250/300 MC Works SM778CR
Reels - Stellas
Lures - Moutoukenmaru, TB lures, Daiwa dorado sliders, Carpenter Gammas, Shout Entice and many more.
Enjoy the pics!
Paul

Cape Cod with our Brazilian guest! July 22&23

2011-08-04T12:08:00.000-04:00

Nakata and Paulinho joined me from Brazil for 2 days in the Cape on the 22&23,
I reserved the dates with Captain Josh to be informed 2 days prior to the trip that the engine on Josh’s boat is gone!
Josh did the impossible to get us a boat and we manage to get on board with Captain Dom and Captain Jeff,
The fish showed up more on our first day with many occasion and we blew our chances when everyone was so excited seeing fish busting all over, finally Paulinho came tight and manage to land a nice 58” on the new Race Point 200,
The guys were so happy and I was relieved to see the happiness on their faces took a few pictures and back to work to see another fish blow up twice on Nakata’s lures 5 feet away from the boat.
Good day with good shot!
On our second day we met Captain Jeff in Pamet and off we go for the hunt to be greeted with pushing fish and many boat, we had some nice opportunity but the fish did not stay too long on top,
I had a shot to see a fish boiling twice on my lure and missing it, it seems my luck in the Cape for this year keep on going in the wrong direction.
Enjoy the pictures.
Tight lines
Sami

Musandam, Oman May 2011

2011-06-24T16:17:00.003-04:00

Milton, Jose (Papa), Matt, Mark and I jumped in to fish with Ocean Active in Musandam,
Jose and I took the earlier flight and get greeted by Nick and FC at the airport to be followed later by Milton and Matt from Dubai,
We had a good start in the morning with a couple of hits and miss and the lion jaw offer his best with such a great flow of water, Matt was the first to score followed by a double hook up at “popper rock” until the current started to die down and we decided to give a shot at jigging, the jig bite was amazing with many bites and lost jigs, Milton was the first to land a small king fish followed by Jose that managed to get a very nice size fish and right at the boat side we saw a king fish charge Matt’s lure with a aerial acrobatics display until the hook came off and the fish gained it’s freedom, Milton also got an Indian mirror fish on jig, the day ended with great surface action and fish were busting all over the place,
On our second day and right as soon as we made it to the lion’s jaw we saw GT, Queen fish and big eye trevallies by the hundreds cruising under the boat and charging bait, it was a great 30 minutes of unforgettable action and we manage to land 4 GT all at the same time, we missed many other good opportunity that day until I get the chance to pull up a nice 42kg GT that made it to boat after huffing and puffing, the fish spooled me with a locked drag and reminded me how strong is the GT when they at charge you using the current to their advantage, from my experience I still believe that there is no other GTs in the world that could fight as hard as those in Musandam, took a quick snapshot and released the fish to fight another day, we called the day off and was greeted again halfway with busting fish on top water, we managed to land some Queen fish and Big eye Trevallies and some Mahis.
Matt fished with us for 2 days and the time came for his departure as tomorrow we have Mark flying from Qatar to fish with us for the rest of the trip,
I really had a great time fishing with Matt again and it was such a pleasure to have a comrade on board that shared with me one of the best GT trips that I have ever done (Southern Oman)
Our third day was such a hard day, Nick had joined us on board, I have to admit that our last 2 days were so slow, the fishes were there we had over 20 bites each day but we only manage to land 4 to 5 fish in the last 2 days resulting in a lot of aggravation, for some reason the hook up ratio was low and I believe that the fish where not committing to the lures all the way, we had a great time cooling down from the heat on the island and we had a great laugh at the villa between friends, it was such a great pleasure to see Milton setting down the hook and fighting those fish right in the middle of the boat using his body as a leverage, I thank Team Ocean Active for the great services received and hope to see you guys soon again, Musandam is in the heart!
Tackle used:
Rods:Saltywater tackle Race Point 250 & Prototype 200 in production, El Maestro (under testing), Carpenter DJ83ML & Light Advantage, Sevenseas Big Pop, MC-Works Southern Blue 556MS & 516SS,
Reels: Shimano Stella 1000, 18000 & 20000.
Line: Sunline, Varivas SMP, Tuf line,
Tight Lines
Sami

Southern Oman & Musandam April 2011

2011-04-25T21:13:00.002-04:00

Before I start writing down about this amazing journey I would like to thank Nick from Ocean Active for organizing this memorable trip.
I took the 13 hours flight to Dubai to be greeted by Nick and Mattew at the airport and off for the 10 hours drive to Southern Oman.
The desert and the mountain blended together in a harmony along this road; it was a peaceful ride all the way while crossing the Omani boarder.
We made it at the guest house with one concern, the Weather!
I took the chance and flew knowing that we might end up not fishing but as always somebody up there watching. Thank God for all the good things and the bad things that happen in our life, as we say from where I come, it meant to be!
Upon our arrival the wind began to die down looking for a promising tomorrow.
The mooning came in with full excitement to hit the water and take the challenge.
What I have seen in these 3 days of fishing in Southern Oman is compared to none of the GT trip that I have ever done.
We landed a total of 25 GT and 8 of those GT are over 50kg.
We worked very hard with consistency and got rewarded big time! It is going to take me awhile to forget that I landed 5 fish over 50kg in 3 days fishing and only get reefed once.
Day 1
While the skipper was stating to me that stickbait doesn’t work, I decided to go against the odds and landed the first Spangled emperor, then came in my first 50kg+ of the trip on the Shell Shaping twister. It was such a great fight, but I was not expecting the first GT of the trip to hit the mark of 50kg+.
Again I got greeted with another monster GT hitting the 50kg+ mark that hit a Deep liner prototype stickbait, could I ask for more!
Half a day passed and I felt my mission is accomplished as I came in with the purpose to test the new Race Point 200 series.
Both fish been landed on the prototype Race Point 200, the rod is meant to target tuna and GT by using a Stickbait lures, I push it to the extreme with locked drag and the rod performed beyond my expectation.
We finished the day by landing a total of 5 GT and a couple of other species.
Day 2
As we were pushing our way to the far island, the wind started to blow and Nick was talking to me with a concern about the condition, we might have to come back guys!
I looked at Matthew and he seemed to agree with me and I said lets push it and see what is going to happen. Luckily after 1 hour the wind died down and we made it.
The current and the water looked very promising; we landed a couple of descent size GT in the mid 20kg to the upper 20kg until I saw a big shadow that came in from nowhere and hit my deep liner stickbait. My lures were in 4 meters depth and the fish took it while approaching a ledge that actually got exposed to the crushing waves.
I get reefed and lost the fish knowing the risk that I took to put the lure where I wanted.
We hit a couple of spot and landed more fish but nothing really was as big as yesterday until Nick’s get hit by a train, after huffing and puffing he landed a nice 55kg GT on the Race Point 250, and lucky enough he landed the fish when the belly swivels gave up to the power of the GT. The fish measured 140cm X 110cm.
We finished the day with a total of 9 GT and many other species.
Day 3
By this point Matthew was struggling.
He has been getting good shot and manage to blow it away but not for too
long!
We saw the fusilier early in the morning and start casting but there was no GT under, I get a black spotted trevally.
We moved and start hitting the point and saw a big shadow trying to inhale the Shell Shaping stickbait, lazy enough I decided to run 5/0 hooks and the big fish missed it twice but got tied up with a smaller one. Not bad to start the day!
The current was pushing and Nick asked the skipper to put us in position.
First it was Mattew who got chased by 3 GT to the boat and missed his lures but Nick was quick enough to put the lures back on the strike zone and got rewarded big time, they doubled up!
Right after that we start casting a bit parallel to the current as we noticed that the fish are coming in pack of 2 and 3 and most of them are swimming in the same direction. We basically discovered the pattern.
Nick did it again: a nice 50kg+ hit the deck with so much excitement around followed by myself, another 50kg+ on the Shell Shaping lures.
I decided to switch to popper and get rewarded again by another 50kg+
We landed a couple of small GT before we hit the sandy beach for a quick break and to enjoy that amazing scenery that the area offers.
We were back to business when we found Nick on the floor at the bow trying to keep the fish on his line. Nick was literally on the bow with both feet in the air trying to stay on the boat that was a monster GT that he lost due to pulled hook. It didn’t take so long; Nick’s lure got a hit by monster GT 10 feet away from the boat that actually wetted all of us. Nick was so furious and lost another opportunity so did Mattew.
I changed the lure to the Orion Cono Cono and landed another 50kg+ that put the boys into working power.
We called the last drift to encounter the best moment of this trip!
Mattew lures get inhaled by monster GT 20 feet away from the boat, I yelled and screamed at Mattew as if I knew him from ages or we grew up together. I think Mattew still gets the echo in his ears with my voice asking him to set the hook.
It took 3 guys to hall Mattew’s fish to the boat, finally!!!
Mattew’s fish measured 144cm; an estimated 60kg hit the deck by all means.
It took consistency and determination, well done my friend and welcome to the club!
You earned it!
If it was somebody else I think he would gave up.
Took a quick shot and released the fish healthy to fight another day, Mathew’s fish has been landed on one of the Race Point 250 prototype.
We landed a total of 12 GT whish 4 of them over 50kg and one of them was close to the 60kg mark.
I want to thank our skipper Tom and Saud for their great service and special thank you to Ahraf and Sultan at the guest house, your hospitality was beyond what we expected.
Thank you guys!!!!
Our mission has been accomplished successfully to Southern Oman and tomorrow we will head north to have a taste of Musandam.
Day 4
We had a nice dinner at the villa at Ocean Active and in the morning we headed to loin jaws to see bait flying out of the water and being chased by long fin tuna. FC had the ultimate shot and put his lure in the strike zone; had a rush of adrenaline for 30 second before his line departed but still managed to land a very nice King Mackerel after his loss.
We saw a big shadow that missed Nick’s lures a nice 40kg that fail to commit again.
Did couple of drifts and we doubled up on GT up to 32kg till the current start to die down and I asked the guys to hit to lion jaws to jig. First drop and my line were tied.
I had a nice Indian mirror fish followed by 2 small GT’S on the jigs.
Started to head back to encounter bait as big as a football field getting crashed by Queen Fish and Big Eye Trevally, we spend 40 minutes chasing them till we decided to head home and take to the drive to Dubai.
Nick, I can’t thank you enough for what you have done to make this trip so memorable, I am sure we will share those great memories with our kids in the future.
Mattew, it was a great pleasure meeting you and fishing side by side with you, I will see you in another 2 weeks my friend.
Tackle used:
Race Point 250 and 200 (new model 8'2") under production
Smith Komodo Dragon
Reels: Shimano stella SW18000 & SW20000, Stella 10000FA with 20000 spool.
Lures: Deep Liner (Prototype),Shell Shaping twister, Orion, Craft Bait,Heru,
Line: Sunline, Varivas SMP, Jerry Brown, Tuff Line,

Tight lines
Sami

Great way to end the season!

2011-04-12T20:26:00.007-04:00

We started the season amazingly and ended it sweetly!!
A total of over 50 fish caught and 6 or 7 fish kept for the season!
Below are the reports for the last 3 days we fished in Oregon Inlet North Carolina with our guest from Hot's, Chris before the closure of the inlet.

Day 1 4/7,
Adrian, Chris from (Hot's), Khalid, Tom and myself went on the Sea Breeze with Captain Ned and mate Ronnie.
Left the dock at 6am and found the fishes in the afternoon.
First to hookup was Khalid who fought the fish for a good 20mins before the fish found its freedom. Next up Chris and i had a double hookup, Chris got his fish alongside the boat in less than 15mins (fish was tailwrapped), quick measure of the fish taped at 77inch and released. Mine was next and had it to leader in 35mins (fish with a v bad attitude) taped at 74inch and released. Chris was "on" again when we returned to the spot. Fish almost emptied Chris's 20000sw max spool after 2 runs and refused to budge, battle ended when hook pulled from the fish and Chris had to reel in ~300m of line.
Great crew, lots of laughs and cheering!

Tackle used,
Fatigued arms and back.
Rods - MC Works, Hot's, Valleyhill, Blackhole.
Reels - Stella's and Studio Ocean Mark.
Jigs - Hot's, Shout, FCL Labo.
Line - Sunline, YGK and Varivas.

Day 2 4/8,
Crew on board Sea Breeze, Anthony, Brian, Carl, Chris (Hot's) and Sami.
Nice 70 degree weather and a nice ride out in the morning. Fishing was pretty slow with 100s of porpoises greeting us, the tunas showed themselves only later in the morning at 11am and everyone immediately dropped their jigs, Anthony was the first to get a hit and miss; next was Carl who hooked up but the orgasm lasted seconds as the fish was lost due to leader chaffing, next up Chris from Hot's had a hit and miss
Day ended when the weather started to look bad and the guys made the call to head back to the inlet.

Tackle used,
Fatigued arms and back.
Rods - MC Works, Hot's, Valleyhill, Spinal.
Reels - Stella's and Studio Ocean Mark.
Jigs - Hot's, Shout, FCL Labo, Deep Liner, Seven Seas.
Line - Sunline, YGK and Varivas.

Day 3 4/10,
Crew on board Smoker with Captain Brynner and mate Scotty - Chris, John, Raymond, Sami and myself.
Getting out of the inlet was an amazing experience, Kudos to all the Captains! Again, the tunas were not found till late in the morning and as soon as we started marking them, everyone dropped their jigs, Ray was the first to hook up but lost the fish, next up was John and Myself who each had a hit but no hook ups...On the 2nd drift Chris and Sami had a double hook up, Chris's fish, what i thought Moby Dick was stubborn and stayed ahead of the boat all time and the captain had to constantly keep up with the fish, Sami had no choice but to loosen the drag and allow Chris to catch up to the fish, Sami had his fish to color numerous times but couldn't bring it in as Chris's fish just love staying ahead of the boat. Chris had the leader to his spool after what seems like an eternity and just as we thought we can finally take some cool shots, Moby Dick decided to give us the finger and made a dive 3ft from the surface. Chris's line parted from the reel and than a roar from him in dispair a quick check on Chris's drag, "it was locked down all the way" Sami was hanging on to his fish all this while when Chris was playing tug of war and as soon as Chris's was done with Moby, Sami went back to his "Gorilla mode" upped his drag and winch in his ~74inch fish in 5 minutes. The bite kind of shut off after the fight and we headed back to the inlet.

Tackle Used.
Fatigued arms and back.
Rods - MC Works, Hot's, Valleyhill,
Reels - Stella's and Studio Ocean Mark.
Jigs - Hot's, Shout, FCL Labo, Deep Liner, Seven Seas.
Line - Sunline, YGK and Varivas.

Thank you for the amazing trip guys!! Especially Captain Ned and Captain Brynner, both of you are top notch!
All fish are released as best as we possibly could!
Now for the photos of bent rods and surfacing fish!

Cheers,
Paul.

Oregon Inlet with our Japanese Guest March 17/18/19/21

2011-04-02T22:08:00.001-04:00

Despite all that have been happening in Japan and with all the destruction that the country suffered in the past week, our Japanese guests made a commitment awhile ago and it was finally time to fulfill the duty,

Mogi-san along with Yagara-san, Suzuki-san, Jun-san and kaneko-san made it to New York,
after a quick bite next to the shop we set the way to North Carolina with promising weather condition,
made it to the dock at 5:30 am to was greeted by Captain Ned and first mate George,
we had a smooth ride all the way and greeted by nice marks, Captain Ned give us the signal to drop the jigs, Yagara-san came in tight on the jig and brought the fish to boat side after 70 minutes estimated at 270lb while he is fighting the fish i decided to throwa new prototype stickbait that is given to me by Deepliner, i made 2 cast to come up tight on the Race Point and landed the fish under 5 minutes, the fish estimated at 240 lb according to Captain Ned and first mate George,
we released all the fishes in the water and tried our best to take quick photo to secure the survival rate of the fish, so i will be giving the estimate weight and measurement that have been giving to me by both Capt Ned and first mate George, we actually measured the fish in the water but again it is not 100% accurate, so i will give 20lb - or +,
Yagara-san does it again and bring another 200lb to the boat side after 130 minutes fight,
then came Jun-san and get tight on the Gamma using the Carpenter BLC 8340 fought the fish and get beaten but manage to finish the fight, his fish estimated at 300lb
Capt Ned give us the signal to drop the jig and this time Suzuki-san comes tight to be greeted by 250lb,
we notice that the fish are cruising on top water and you can actually see them, it was on of those days that you feel blessed to be on the water,
Yagara-san does it again and landed another 200lb on a Gamma lure,
we finish our first day going 5/9, you can't ask for a better day then that.
Day 2
we were the first to leave the dock and i made my mind to cast regardless of the marks, i knew by being first at the fishing ground the fish won't be spooky and the chance of getting hooked up on top water is high.
i made couple of cast and saw a big shadow coming to inhale the lure, i set the hook to feel the power of this fish, in the mean time we had a couple of hook up that been lost due to shaved leader,
i landed the fish in 9 minutes and the fish estimated at 280lb, the fish took a Moutoukenmaru Prototype lure.
Ned shout from the cockpit to drop the jigs, Jun-san is the lucky guy :)
Jun-san showed us an amazing angling skills, he landed the biggest fish i ever saw landed on a jig.
in estimated 320lb measured close to the 85 inches landed after 2 hours, the fish took a CB One jig and fought on my favorite rod: MC-Works Southern Deep Ultimate Monster 538XX,
it was such a pleasure to see all the guys tangle up with their biggest fish ever caught. took a quick picture to the boat side and released the fish to fight for another day.
we finished the day 2/12, with so many lost fish due to shaved leader.
Day 3,
the weather man was calling for a blow out until i received a phone call from Capt Ned saying it is doable,
we set the path and off again to be greeted by top water action, Yagara-san came in tight and the fight is on,
after 30 minutes we start casting and all of a sudden Kaneko-san and i comes in tight, 3 anglers screaming in each direction,
we lost all the fishes we hooked, Capt Ned believe that one of the fish get attacked by a shark while the other get lost due to line crossing,
it was such a shame, but from now on it will only get better,
Suzuki-san make a cast and boom fish on, he was greeted by a keeper, he landed an estimated 100lb measured at 63 inches,
Capt Ned signal to us to drop the jig,calling the mark at 120 feet, i drop 150 feet and in about 5 cranks, i am on,
i fought that fish for 25 minutes and had it to color, i only had about 3 to 4 crank to leader, and all of a sudden my line slackened, the line had been shaved,
i estimated that this is my biggest fish that i ever hooked, the fish took a 300g Shout Shab Shab in blue,
i decided to try my luck with the conventional set up and get greeted by a great run, the fish took a Deep liner jig, fought the fish and get it to color under 15 minutes,
the fish measured 80 inches and estimated at 280lb, mission accomplished today, after all the losses we finally made it happen,
George screamed at us that he is spotting tuna cruising with the wave,
Kaneko-san make a cast and come in tight, i have to say that Kaneko-san showed a lot of determination to finish the fight,
his biggest fish ever caught before was close to 30 lb, i saw in amazing fighting spirit that will mark a memory in my life as long as i will live,
after 70 minutes and with encouragement and cheers from everybody he landed the fish with tears and joys,
i had never seen such a touchy angling moment before, he was literally in tears, hugging and thanking everybody.
that give me such a joy to see somebody like him appreciate the fishery that we have in the US,
we end up the day with 3/7 and called the day off at 1:00 pm as mother nature decided to roll it's wave,
all fish hooked and fought by the same angler, no rod been passed to another angler and no fighting belt been used with strapped harness,
all fish been fought free style, that is the Japanese spirit and i really admire it!
it was such a pleasure to be part of this trip, we still have a shot on Monday so i will keep you guys posted and i encourage every one to go out and enjoy what we have in our back yard,
after all we have to appreciate our fishery and respect those fish by being responsible.
Mogi-san refrained himself from fishing for the next 2 month in consideration to Japan earthquake tragedy so he was the designated photographer for this trip and all pictures posted are taken from his camera.
we still have one day to fish so i will fill you guys up with the update on tuesday :)

our last day fishing was a day to be remembered.

the top action bite in on fire,
while marking fish 60 feet Yagara-san decided to cast a stickbait to see it disappear right away, that didn't take too long for the fish to gain it is freedom as he was using barbless hook.
in the mean time Jun-san and Suzuki-san both cast and boom, double hook up,
Jun-san fish estimated at 90lb took a Carpenter Gamma and made it to the deck in less then 10 minutes in the mean time Suzuki-san is struggling with his fish,
it is definitely a bigger class fish, while fighting i decided to cast my new Prototype Deep liner stickbait that was accounted to score a fish on the first day,
2 twitch and a 300lb went airborne 2 to 3 times in the air with the lure in the mouth, i set the hook and once i start hearing the lovely noise of the Stella my main line broke,
lucky i had Mogi-san behind me to record that moment, he took some awesome pictures.
in the mean time Suzuki -san struggled and end up loosing the fish.
Kaneko-san dropped his jig and get rewarded big time, he had 250g Deep liner jigs that get smacked with line getting dumped into the ocean,
we chased that fish around and he almost get spooled, he literally had 5 to 6 round of line around his spool,
luckily the fish stopped and we start gaining line to encounter such a great fight that Kaneko-san put through the whole day,
he fought a demon fish for 4 hours and 55 minutes by himself with no harness (free style) on the MC-Works Southern Blue 535SS, what this rod took in abuse is really hard to describe,
we manage to get the fish to leader 6 times but that was a demon fish that dragged us away 18 miles from the hook up point and was a true fighter. i estimated that fish to be anyware from 280lb to 300lb,
Kaneko-san showed us determination and consistency but we all know for that class of fish you wait for the fish to make a mistake,
that fish fought like a champion and did not make one single mistake during the whole fight.
unfortunately the line broke at the end as it was twisted badly, we checked his drag after the fight and was at 30lb,
can't thank enough Captain Ned and first mate George for such an astonishing trip!!!!!
Tight lines
Sami

Hatteras Feb 9th 2011 Bluefin Tuna catch report.

2011-02-18T22:01:00.000-05:00

Here's a short report of the trip i made with Igor, Basil, Bob, Jay and Mati on the Tuna Duck with Captain Dan and First mate Mike.
It was blowing 15-20kts when we left the dock at 6am.
Sailed to the tuna ground but no signs of them and were greeted by only False Albies, "this ain't what we came for" said Dan and we left for another spot, jig jig jig up came the Amberjacks at the end of everyones line, "this ain't what we came for either" said Dan and we left in search for what we came for, Blue Fin Tuna. Fishing was pretty slow that day and we went circling for hours untill at about 2:30pm i pointed to Dan that there were birds working in a distance and he went straight towards the commotion, as soon as he throttled down, i casted towards the birds and my Craft Bait Real Bait instantly got slammed, Fish On! My trusty Race Point started bending forward and the Shimano Stella started screaming. After about 10mins the 61" 120lbs (bled and weighted at the dock) fish was subdued, Basil had a hook up only to have his reel shaft snap from the body when he was setting the hook. Mati our good friend from overseas had a fish to the boat for a clean release when the Souls Hibiki lure hooked pulled alongside the boat. we left for the dock at 4:30pm which was an extra hour and a half of the usual 3pm. Thank you Igor for rounding the guys for the trip, and to everyone on the boat, we shall fish again really soon!
Captain Dan and Mike thank you for everything and the extra time spent, really appreciate it!

Tackle used,
Rod - Race Point, MC Works, Souls, Hot's Gipang, Black Hole, Fisherman.
Reels - Stellas, Accurates, Talica.
Lures - Craft Bait, OTI, Souls Hibiki and some rubber lures that Bob and Jay was using.
Lines - Sunline, Varivas, Jerry Brown.
Here are the pics.

Cheers,
Paul.

Hatteras, North Carolina Feb 6th & 7th

2011-02-13T23:48:00.000-05:00

In the past 3 years I tangled up with a couple of monster fish to lose them after a brutal battle. That left a sad memory but later I found out that things meant to be that way for the best of interest.

I thank God for that, and I thank God for having a great wife and kids that they pray for me and believe in what I do.
I have to admit that this time I encountered one of the best tuna bites in my career and what meant to be a 1 day fishing end up to be 2 days with a big pay off!
Dan Rooks from Tuna Duck was our Captain with his first mate Mike.
The anglers consist of: Milton, Mati, Evan, Arkady Raymond and I for the first day,
We landed multiple fish on the jigs and lost some but the highlight was when the afternoon bite spread wide open with tuna busting on top water.
I took the step and moved to the bow and made my first cast to the edge of the school to see my Moutoukenmaru lure get inhaled. I set the hook twice to see my lure disappeared with an amazing explosion.
The fish took off and in a split of a second my line broke; I found out later that my drag was set too high for the strike.
We went 8/15 on the first day with 5 on the jigs and 3 on stickbait. What more can you ask for?
while we were underway Arkady start to convince me to stay another day. I know that Mati had traveled a long way to fish for 1 day so i asked the guys if they are willing to stay.
Some had to go to work, so we end up with 4 crew for the next day - Arkady, Mati, Evan, and I to get a call later at 11:30pm from Shawn stating he can come fish with us as well.
We made our way straight to where we marked the fish the day before to find out that there was no life, we jigged to no takers.
Captain Dan decided to make a drastic move and try his instinct.
We get to the area and right before we dropped our lines to start jigging, Dan shouted from the tower that the fish are busting on top water. I ran to the bow and he handed me the rod from the top And what i saw was beyond what i can describe! Many big pods busting and some hefty one as well. I look behind me and saw Arkady next to me. 2 lures made it to the water to get inhaled with a massive explosion and the fight was on!
The run was amazing, i could see half of the spool out in a split of a second. After 15 minutes Arkady land his fish estimated at 170lb while i am still fighting. I knew i had a bigger class fish and decided to take my time and put my effort into landing that fish.
When the fish made it to color and i saw what i have, i felt i am in trouble - especially when the fish all of a sudden realize it is close to the boat. She made another initial run and again slowly but surely and steady i start gaining line again. After a couple of attempts the fish made it to poon and Mike stuck it in!
Captain Dan came down from the tower to give us a hand to lift the fish but got intercepted by my hugs. I was in tears as all what i can see the hard work and the rough time that we passed through and it all paid off now. It was a quick flash back with a perfect ending!
I am glad that i put the abuse on the Race Point and landed a class of fish that was originally meant to land on that rod. My mission is accomplished. So now i will be in the process of looking to develop a rod to target the 300lb mark.
Our day was getting better when Shawn and Evan were On,
Unfortunately Shawn lost his fish after 20 to 25 minutes. The fish went ballistic when saw the boat and all i heard that the line popped up. I will let Shawn to shine in for us what happen exactly.
In the other corner we had Arkady and Evan both hooked up and both getting yelled and screamed at, sorry guys i didn't mean it but i wanted you guys to land the fish!
Arkady's fish made it to the deck estimated at 71 inches and Evan close to the 170lb mark.
We where all cheering each other and things felt like a chaos.
The fish shied away as the boat traffic start to increase. Captain Dan decided to put the spreader and give it a shoot to see if we can raise them. After a couple of minutes the fish attacked the spreader and i casted the Souls Hibikii and sawed it inhaled. The velocity of this class fish leave a mark on you. Those are good size fish, fought the fish to leader and released the fish to fight another day. All fish caught are being tagged, Captain Dan screamed "I am marking fish!" Shawn dropped his jig and boom - fish on!
Shawn landed his biggest fish ever after a brutal dirty fight. I have to admit that he did all what it takes, but the gear that he had was not made up to finish the task easily. He landed the fish, took a quick shot and for the first time i called the day off - it won't get any better and i wanted to leave in good spirit.
I thank Captain Dan to put us through the feed and i can't thank enough first mate Mike - you guys are first class, i thank you for giving me the opportunity to claim my trophy on your boat for 2011 season!
i can't ask for better 77 inches 230lb!!

Tight lines
Sami

Tackle used
Jigging Rods: MC-Works Southern blue 516SS, Southern Deep 538XX, Southern Blue 556MS, Valley Hill, Smith
Popping Rods: Souls, Race Point, Tokara60, Sevenseas Big Pop,
Reels: Stella 18000 & 20000 and 10000FA with 16000 Spool.
Lines: Sunline, Varivas SMP & GT Max,
Lures: Moutoukenmaru, Shimano Ocea, Meron, Souls Hibikii, Shell Shaping lures,T'B Lures.
Jigs: Deep Liner, Sevenseas Hooker,Shout, Komo.

Gau & Wakaya Fiji Jan 2011

2011-01-24T23:54:00.000-05:00

Milton, Evan, Yaniv, Raymond and myself went on 5 days live on board on the Golden Eagle,
despite the experience that the guys have for Blue fin tuna, this was their 1st GT popping trip,
i have to say that i admired every bit of their consistency and determination to make this trip a successful trip!
we caught a total of 131 fish in 5 days, every person on board had the chance and the opportunity to land a decent fish, of course i don't have to mention beginners luck
we started our journey and headed out from Suva to make it to Gau, Gau is situated east of Suva, the condition on the first day was a bit rough as the wind was blowing close to 25 knots but the reef looked promising,
we had many different species caught on the first day and Evan manage to land a 30kg on the first day on a Craft bait GT3 popper while I lost a very nice fish about the same size as Evan's, with a locked drag the fish manage to reef me and I lost my entire leader rig with the popper at the end of course.
our Chef for the night was Milton, with the restaurant business background that he has, i have to admit that he cooked a great meal on board that was every anglers dream!
we started our 2nd day jigging and nailed a couple of Doggies and yellow fin tuna but nothing really big, later we switched over to popping and start getting some GTs in the 20kg to 25kg from the corner of my eyes I could see Raymond's huffing and puffing, after a couple of brutal minutes Raymond manage to have the fish close to the boat and i can still hear till now Milton's voice ringing in my head..Napoleon!
an estimated 32kg Napoleon wrasse made it to the deck, after couple of picture we released the fish back into the ocean, Raymond fish was the highlight of the day and in my opinion is one of the highlight for the whole trip, i have to admit that through my fishing career i only manage to land 2 Napoleon, i consider luck was in our favor that day and that fish was waiting patiently for Raymond's Shell shaping popper to be put right at it's door step! congrats brother you made my day!!
do i have to mention what we cooked that night? i guess not, the food was great
our 3rd day was planned to be a jigging day but seems that the fish where shy from the jigs, we still manage to lose a good amount of jigs and land some but we did not encounter any decent size fish, we tried to save the day and popped a bit of GT here and there but nothing was exceptional,
the locals from the island came in as usual and we did a bit of trading, we traded fish for Papayas and pineapples, we cooked again onboard and our Captain Tom and mate John went to the village that night for a quick bite and get together with the village chief!
on our 4th day we headed north to Wakaya island and before getting there we stopped and popped Batiki's reef and we saw the best action on this reef,
that day alone we landed 19 GTs and saw bait getting hammered by GTs, Milton had his chance and manage to land an estimated 40kg on his Sevenseas Big Pop 77,
the fish took a black Craft bait ultra big mouth popper and after a nice fight and a bit of yelling and screaming the fish hit the deck with a big smile all around, the guys worked really hard as a team and no matter who hooked up or landed a fish it almost felt it was a group effort, Raymond get his shot as well and had multiple fish in the 30kg+ with a broken Carpenter rod to find out later that it was high sticked, Yaniv had multiples hook up and lost all his fishes to the reef!
that night we took shelter and docked the boat at Wakaya island, it is a beautiful private island for the rich and famous, believe it or not as it was close to shore i had internet access so we manage to Skype Paul from and teased him with all the excitement.
on our last day we decided to pop a bit in the morning and headed to a new jigging spot to try our luck before we call the trip off,
after 10 minutes and my MC-Works SB 556MS hooked up to a monster doggie,
for the first 5 seconds i felt the weight of the fish before it started making the initial run with my heart pumping and my reel screaming.
the reel was on fire and the rod bend was second to none, palming and tightening the drag was not helping at all,
i could not stop that fish and after 40 second the fish manage to chew through the leader and i lost the jig and again my entire leader rig,
after that i had another 2 solid hook up and on one occasion i got reefed while the other chewed through the kevlar and i lost all the opportunity that i had that day,
from my observation on jigging I was getting more hook up then the rest of the guys, thanks to the better presentation that the rod gave me, the softness of the tip allowed the jig to dance and trigger a bite,
i lost 16 jigs and 1 popper for the entire trip.
i would like to thank all the guys that made this trip a memorable one and i know we will do more in the future
as for the Golden Eagles staff a big thank you for Captain Tom and first mate John, thank you guys for the effort and good time on board.
Tackle used,

Rod:
Sevenseas Big Pop 77
Smith Tokara
Smith Keyolhu
Saltywater Tackle Race Point
MC-Works SB 556MS & SB 516SS
Valley Hill 55XXB
Smith AMJ
Carpenter TBL 711/35RF

Reels:
Shimano SW18000 & SW20000
Shimano 10000/SOM 16000 spool
Studio Ocean Mark 120

Lines and leaders:
Sunline
Varivas SMP
Varivas Avani GT Max
Jerry Brown hollow

Lures:
Craft Bait real bait and poppers
Hammerheads stick bait and poppers
Shell Shaping lures
Carpenter gamma an bluefish
Yambal GT harrier
Orion Cono Cono, T Rex 150 & Big foot
Meronya
Tacklehouse
Souls

Jigs:
Sevenseas hookers
Deep liner jigs
Smith
Fisherman
Diamond
Komo
Shout

Tight lines
Sami

Musandam, Oman Dec 2010

2010-12-19T08:18:00.002-05:00

Musandam have always been a special place for me ever since I set foot on this place.
From the cliffs that meet the sea to the smugglers that are running along the coast,
I have to say that this place have a charm of its own,
Despite the good size GTs and the challenge that the terrain offers, I consider Musandam my holy city when it comes to GT fishing.
This is my 3rd trip to Musandam in 4 years.
The plan was to fish with Wahib and David as I had fished with them on my first trip to Musandam and since that time we became very close friends and mates,
Unfortunately David gets stuck in London with his plane due to a snow storm that hit Europe, so it ended up just Wahib and me,
Nick from Ocean Active picked me up to join Wahib for a quick bite and off to Musandam we went.
We fished for 3 days with rough conditions as the water temperature dropped and the water turned more greenish.
We managed to hook nice size fish but luck was not on our side,
Wahib landed a nice fish estimated between 38kg to 40kg according to the chart, he had the fish in less then 5 minutes and everybody thought it was a shark until it start moving the boat,
That was the highlight of the trip and the biggest fish landed on the first day, that was his biggest GT ever and what made him happy is, he caught it on his new Smith Komodo Dragon rod.
Unfortunately the lion jaw *a particular spot in the area* did not produce the same quality like before but we still jigged a couple of fishes here and there,
Our second day was really slow with 5 hits with no hook up, I was using barbless hook for the entire trip while targeting GT and that made me think for a second to change to barbed hooks but I kept on pushing my luck and I end up paying the price!
On our 3rd and last day Nick was pushing as fast as he could to catch the right tide, made it to the fishing ground as early as possible and it took less then 10 minutes to see Wahib getting smoked,
He landed an estimated 25kg GT followed by myself with 3 hook ups and 0 landed, the first hit was a black GT that literally cleared half of his body out of the water but unfortunately turn unbutton and so did the 2nd and the 3rd hit, we saw colors on my last fish to come unbutton 10 feet away from the boat,
We moved to a different area and Nick point to us where to cast,
It took Wahib 1 cast on his Orion Crazy Dog to disappear between the rocks with a singing reel; the GT fought like a beast and reefed Wahib.
Out of no where the long fin tuna start busting and we decided to give it a try, I cast my Moutoukenmaru only to see it going airborne with a missile attached to it,
The kingfish manage to leave a nice mark on the lure after catching our eyes with its spectacular aerial display.
To summarize the trip we had a great time and as always the service and effort that the guys from Ocean Active provided us is second to none,
I would like to thank Nick and Captain Keagan for the hospitality that they showered on us,
We will be back!
Tackle used
Rod: Smith komodo dragon
Race Point
Carpenter WV & SP78H-SHP
Sevenseas Big Pop
MC-Works
Hots
Lures: Craft bait, Hammerhead, Moutoukenmaru, Orion
Line: Jerry Brown, Sunline, Varivas
Tight lines
Sami

New Jersey Bluefin tuna on Top Water 11/22

2010-11-26T20:55:00.001-05:00

Had a call 9:00pm last night from Adam asking if I would like to join him for a Blue fin tuna hunt,
They’ve been some report in the past week, ended up catching 2 hours of sleep and back to Brooklyn to pick up my tackle from the shop,
Met up with Adam and Greg at 6:30 am, we launched out of Barnegat inlet to head North, after a good ½ hour we start spotting birds and splashes under the birds,
Made a cast to a nice pod and came in tight on the T’b lure prototype in 16cm 90g, I had the fish in less then 3 minutes in the boat on the Race Point,
A nice 58 inch hit the deck with cheerful joy around,
Adam kept on pushing north and we encounter another feed, all 3 lures went Airborne and I look at Adam’s face to see the joy and the sound of his reel ZZZZZZ,
Fish on, the fish took the lure 10 feet away from the boat, Adam landed a nice 56 inch fish on the BD rod and the lure that the fish hit was the Volador, took a quick photo and released the fish to fight another day,
The wind started to pick up and Adam came tight again on the Tailwalk Gunz in Pink, this was a nice hefty fish estimated in the 130lb range and over the 62 inch mark, we had it to boat side and after a nice fight we released it,
We called the day off at 11:00am, nice Monday to start the week J
I would like to thank Captain Sherer from Shore Catch Guide Service for a great day spent on the water.
Hope we will do it again.

Tight lines
Sami

Cape Cod Blue Fin Tuna Video.

2010-11-10T15:55:00.001-05:00

Paul's Tuna from Eric Kulin on Vimeo.
Compliments from Captain Eric Kulin (Snapshot).

Cheers,
Paul.

Cape Cod 10/19/2010

2010-10-21T22:24:00.001-04:00

Went up to the Cape with Sherman and Benson from New York.
Met up with Captain Eric and 1st mate Jason of Livewell charters in Green Harbour at 6am. Weather was chilly in the lows 40s, headed out to the fishing grounds and saw tunas scattered and jumping in all directions ranging from small 15-20 pounders to nice 200lb fish.
As usual the fishes dived as soon as we approached them and we had to depend on the birds to lead us, after a couple of cast, we saw a couple of birds flying low and staring at the water, casted 3-5 yds ahead of where the birds were heading and let the lure float on the surface for a couple of seconds before working it, i was working my lures really slow as they didn't seem to be really agressive. About 10yds from the boat and as soon as the lure stick its head out from the water, a huge boil came from behind.
@#$% he missed it! 4 times it happened to me on different lures!
Made another cast and again let it sit in the water and work it real slow, sweep...stop, sweep stop, another boil surfaced but this time the line went tight, FISH ON! i thought to myself and fought the fish in, it was a nice 53 inch keeper.
After the 1st fish was landed we headed towards the south east corner of the bank and was greeted by a whole fleet of boats, many familiar faces, Capt Josh, Capt Dom, Capt Richie...
After saying "Hi" to Dom and Konishi-san who was fishing with him we headed out in search of more fish and again i worked the lures slowly and was rewarded with another fish, it was slightly bigger then the 1st fish 56inch estimated and brought it alongside the boat only to have the belly split ring failed on me and the fish escaped before any photos could be taken.
It was a nice day out and even nicer with the fish coming back, been a real bad season and i'm glad they are back! On the way back we saw a commercial boat trying to haul a 800lb to their boat.
Here are the tackle used,

1st fish - Souls PS-075P3CS, Shimano Stella 10000FA with 16000 spool, Souls Nardo lure, Varivas SMP PE8 and our own 130lb loop to loop twisted shock leader with 130lb bite flouro leader.
2nd fish - Race Point Special, Shimano Stella 18000SW, Shout prototype lure, Varivas SMP PE8 and our own 130lb loop to loop twisted shock leader with 130lb bite flouro leader.
Other Rods - Smith Tokara
Reels - Shimano Stella 18000SW
Lures - Carpenter Gamma & Pandora, Daiwa Dorado sliders, Shimano Ocea pencils, Souls Brabus and Bombers.
Here are the some of the pictures, in case you guys don't recognize me...yes i cut my hair
Cheers,
Paul.

North Carolina with our Japanese guests 13/10, 14/10 2010

2010-10-21T18:42:00.002-04:00

I had the pleasure to be part of this great trip that took place in Wilmington North Carolina,
Mogi-san along with Shout field tester Ono-san and Aramaki-san ,Horiguchi-san and Sano-san and myself made it to the gulf stream to have a taste of pain,
Captain Mike from Liveline and Captain Rick from living waters were our guides
We started our day with triple hookups on almost every drift until the fish start to shy away and we changed places and still manage to get a fish here and there,
The highlight of this trip was Mogi-san AJ at 59inch estimated at 102lb according to Captain Mike chart followed by Ono-san from Shout,
I have to admit that I fished with one of the best jigger I have seen, Ono-san really impressed me with his jigging style and when the fish shy away from everyone he still manages to get a strike,
It was a pleasure to watch him jig and see his skills in jigging, not just speed jigging but sliding, jerking as well.
After all everybody was happy and we manage to have a shot on the second day.
Tackle used:
Rods: MC-Works, Shout, Valleyhill,
Reels: Shimano Stella, Daiwa Saltiga, Studio Ocean Mark,
Jigs: Shout, Deep liner,Smith,Sanme jigs,
Line: Sunline PE Jigger
Enjoy the picture
Tight lines
Sami

2010-10-16T14:11:00.003-04:00

I finally had the pleasure to fish alongside Carpenter’s president Konishi-san, Mogi-san, Beerman Okubo-san, Ajichi-san and Hiro-san,
This is not the first time that Mogi-san and his group fished Cape Cod,
In the past year Mogi-san and his group visited the US on 3 occasion,
They came all the way from Japan to have a shot at our Atlantic Blue fin tuna, we had to charter 2 boats for the group and the arrangements had all been made long ago,
I had Capt Dom of Coastal charters sportfishing and Capt Eric of Livewell charters teaming up for this group,
The guys have been sitting at the dock and waiting for the wind to die down for the past 2 days.
We took our shot yesterday and made it with very rough condition to have one hook up by Ajichi-san, unfortunately Ajichi-san lost the fish yesterday at the boat side,
so we called it off at around 10:00AM. The decision was right as the sea condition was really bad,
as the condition got better today in the morning we had multiple shots at the smaller fishes,
I came in tight first, landed and released a nice 50 inch fish,
We then started seeing birds working and Capt Dom put us in a great position with 3 lures being launched at the same time
3 anglers came in tight at once, it was the best feed of the day and some of the best shots in a long time and we made it happen,
Beerman Okubo-san came in tight first, follow by me and then Konishi-san!
We landed all 3 fish and released 1 and kept 1 over and 1 under,
the biggest was 58 1/2 while the other slob was 43 inch,
We had a great time on the water and we will be back at it tomorrow morning,
It was great to see Capt Josh on the water and to see my friend Raymond getting hooked up on his first Bluefin tuna on topwater.
I would like to thank Capt Dom and Capt Eric for their joint effort they put on the water today.
To summarize it, it wasn't bad at all to go 4 for 4!
rods: Carpenter prototype
Race point
Souls PS-075PC3S
Reels: Shimano stella 18000/20000
Line: Sunline, Varivas SMP,
Lures: Carpenter, Moutoukenamru, daiwa Dorado Pencil

3rd Saltywater Tackle RACE POINT SPECIAL Prototype.

2010-10-03T17:20:00.000-04:00

Here's a sneak preview of what's in store next tuna season!

Cheers,
Paul.

Amberjack Jigging 24th-25th September 2010

2010-09-27T13:47:00.000-04:00

Day 1, 24th September

Met up with Captain Mike of Liveline Charters at 0530 sharp, weather was amazing in fact I’ve never seen North Carolina this flat.
Raymond, Sherman, Ben and myself hopped on the 31ft Contender and we started making our way to the AJ’s ground.
As usual the bean bags made everyone slept like a baby on the way out. Halfway through the destination a sailfish started its acrobatic display of jumping and chasing baitfish on the surface about 400yds from the boat.
I decided to give a few cast with poppers but no takers…
We dropped our jigs when Mike gave us the signal and as soon as we lift the jigs up from the bottom… all the reels started screaming from the stern to the bow.
Yes, that was just the 1st drift and I was thinking to myself, it’s gonna be a painful day…and a painful day it was… every drift we made was a fish on, the quantity made up for the size with all the fish averaging 35lb – 70lb.
For the next couple of hours we were landing fish after fish with a blackfin and false albie mixed in. we ended the day with a nice Mahi. What a day it was.

Day 2 25th September

Today the wind felt like blowing...it was a bumpy ride out and we went South (correct if I’m wrong Mike) in search of the mama reef donkeys.
When we got to the Mecca of AJ’s we were greeted by storm clouds and nasty swells. All of us drop our jigs anyway, Mike was telling us “they should be here” as he squint his eyes on his Raymarine screen.
And hell yeah he was right. First drift and a 60inch followed by a 64inch (probably the biggest fish on Mike’s boat this year) and a high 50s inch fish came to the boat for some quick photos and release.
The current was ripping and we were drifting fast. Another 63inch fish was landed and released followed by another 60inch and numerous 50s.
It was mayhem when some of the fish decided to swim round everyone’s lines and we were all going merry go round up and under trying our best not to cut each other’s lines.
We called it a day after 4 hours of fishing and headed back to the dock with smiles on everyone’s face.
I could see from the smiles, everyone was thinking to themselves “Yes! I broke my personnel best!”
Me, I was smiling to myself…”Ray, Ben…you guys thrashed my best!” I’ll be back…
Till the next trip, thank you Captain Mike Jackson as always you never fail to amaze me.
To the guys, “thank you for making the trip happen” I’ll see you guys on the water soon.

Tackle use,
Rods – MC Works 538XX and 516SS, Valley Hill EXP55XXB and EXP56XB, Smith 52EX, Fisherman 5121
Reels – Studio Ocean Mark L120 Lo, Shimano Talica 12II, Shimano Torsa 20, Shimano Stella 20000SW, 10000SW, 8000SW(SOM No Limits 16000 spool) Daiwa Certate 3500, Accurate Boss Extreme 500,
Jigs – Shout, Deepliner, Smith, Komo jigs.

Cheers,
Paul.