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Adventures of the "Snoozer"
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I Hope He Weighs 100 lbs
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One beautiful morning in late Sep. 97, my wife Donna and I (Larry) went on our usual weekend fishing trip. We were about 25 miles straight off of Barbers Point, along with two other boats chasing Aku. The seas were choppy and the bite was scarce so we decided to leave this school and find something closer inside. A couple of minutes later our starboard outrigger slammed down and line began stripping from the reel at a mind boggling rate. We cleared the remaining lines and Donna began to fight the fish while I worked the boat. Far in the distance we could see the fish jump as she fought to free herself. Donna worked to retrieved line as I backed down on the fish. She nearly spooled us several times before we had her under control. The seas were rough and becoming worse by the minute. With the boat in gear and the autopilot set, I went back to help Donna gaff her catch. By this time (45 minutes after hookup) Donna and the fish was exhausted. I could see the leader nearing the surface and the huge shadow of the fish attached to it. "Can you see it", I asked? "Wow...it's a Whale", she said. I leadered the fish as Donna prepared the flying gaff. In a matter of moments it was over. Although we could not get the fish aboard we had caught a 640 lb Blue Marlin. So we tied him off and headed for home. Donna's wish had come true.
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I Caught Mine...He LOST His.
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The Yellow Fin Tuna (Ahi) will break the fisherman and his equipment if provided the opportunity. On this day we hooked up with two Ahi about 12 miles straight out of Pearl Harbor. We had one on the center pole and the other on a corner. We worked the Ahi on the center pole first. As he broke the surface Donna missed with the gaff and he took off screaming line with him. The bird attached to the leader ripped the shirt off of my back and somehow I felt lucky. A few minutes later the gaff was set perfect and the 135 lb Ahi was onboard the Snoozer.
After a short rest I worked the other fish to the boat, but again he made a run that screamed out line. We were all set with the gaff after I got him to the boat again...all I needed was one more pull on the leader when it happened.... The fish got away after the leader line toughed the trim tab and broke cleanly.
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Workout Penn 9-O
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This was a very fun fishing trip and one where Donna caught her first Otaru. Half of these were caught using a Penn 9-O mounted on a tuna stick. That made for a very interesting and exciting haul. Boy did that pole bend under the pressure these fish put on it. Great Job Donna!
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