Last year ACCURATE ended up fishing East Cape with the whole crew on Mark Rayor's boat out of Los Barriles. We had excellent tuna fishing with fish up to 70 pounds as well as a 50-plus-pound dorado. We caught our fair share of ?sailfish as well with the Halco plugs being tested exclusively on the trip. Doug landed the biggest tuna on 50-pound AccuBraid on our 500N 6.1 single speed. We had a pretty good thing going with the Max 130 trolling it close to the boat and we fished our BX series of rods. It was all about the small reel and the BX rods with the floating ?fulcrum. The harder we pulled, the deeper the bend in the rod and the less stress on the angler. The experience was enjoyed by all. The previous year we fished Australia with Laurie Wright for the big blacks on the reef. We have done this several times but this ?was Laurie's last season and on the trip both David and Douglas caught some nice 300 to 400-pound fish on the ATD 80's, as well as a ?variety of other game fish on Butterfly Jigs and plugs. The highlight of the trip was at Number 5 Ribbon Reef, where the twins would go for a dive every morning. The reef sharks were everywhere and the guys loved exploring their surroundings until one of the locals, a 6-foot grey reef shark, got pissed off and ?chased them out of the water. There was a different feeling in the air after that. As David lifted his head out of the water I could see the shark arching his back like a cat would hiss. It was definitely no bueno.

Last year we also fished in New Zealand out of Mount Maunganui for the infamous kingfish. Weather was cold and the wind up but our hosts insisted on taking us. What a ride it was, with 4 to 8 foot seas on a 17-foot tin boat out 30 miles offshore. We ended up behind a island and both Doug and I got lucky, catching one each before the worst Mr. Toad's Wild Ride I have seen in my life. We were wet, cold and wondering if we would make it back to port. We will never forget that ride of a lifetime.

Earlier in the year we had been to Dubai for the boat show, which was one of the coolest things, getting to see how everything is done in the middle east. The show was really fun with our friends from South Africa, France, and Germany attending. The best part was the fishing trip to the Sea of Oman with Nick Bowles where we first encountered GT's (giant trevally), which are the strongest, meanest fish I have personally encountered. After catching a couple smaller ones, I saw David hook one that had him going out of the boat until I intervened and grabbed his belt. Definitely scary stuff. The trip was amazing and we had another experience etched in our memories.

Ben Secrest

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