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Just got back from a quiet PM shift with Pat and Holy mac. Few bird piles but we couldn't get to them, no bait, and one big fish splashing around that Pat almost got to put a good cast on. Worn out from a long day so I came in with them around 7:45.
The morning story was as follows. Made macs at the pier and headed out to the spot. Birds circling here and there. They finally key in on something and there are quickly some nice boils. Looked like YT. Put the megabait right on em a couple of times before they sank out but no hook up. Then slack was upon us and not much was happening. Thinking of calling it a day when I see Andy turned back outwards and notice the birds in the distance. Decide I might as well chase.
Long chase but finally close in as a group of birds form up. See a big gray splash, think WSB or thresher. Cast on it but nothing. Large schools of large macs and spanish balled up. Slow trolling along when I stop to check something. Look back and see the tip of the thresher tail as it whacks my bait. Doesn't seem to stick so I start reeling the bait in. Shark follows it in and goes right under me as I lift it up. A bit of a thrill. Toss the bait back out and see the fish head for it. Rod loads up so I swing...hookup.
I'm expecting the thing to go nuts and jump and all that stuff. It doesn't. It sits there, about 20ft off my starboard. I give another tug to make sure its hooked and it still does nothing. I'm now almost on top of it and getting nervous since the fish should still be completely green. It finally sees the yak and takes off, but not really a blistering run. Guess it was tuckered out from slashing mackerel. Long story short, it never really went off and only really ran strong once. The rest was just a circling game of me and Andy trying to grab its tail and see if it was done yet.
Took a while but we finally managed to get a tail rope on it and the stringer through its mouth so I could control it enough for Andy to slash the gills. Long paddle in with that girl in my lap. Measured out at just over 7ft. Guessing about 80lb.
Thanks to Andy for the help on the water and the great pics. I was a little nervous since this was the first thresher I've tried to land, but with some patience it went pretty smoothly. Grilled some today, delicious!
Ken, what's a spotty? :lol:
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